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does an a lotment cost you a lot of
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money and is it worthwhile That is
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today's question that we're talking
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about And if you've not checked out all
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these previous episodes go and check
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them out as we're doing a little series
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of them all So welcome to Gardening with
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Ben And welcome to today's episode And
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is it worthwhile having a lotment Does
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it cost a lot of money That question is
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yes and no And the reason why it's yes
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because when you're starting on a
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lotment the best thing to do is look
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online at Facebook Marketplace Gum Tree
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ads and see what free stuff you can get
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because there's so much free stuff out
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there that you can get
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And I'm always on the lookout for paving
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slabs as paving slabs are like gold to
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have all my paths paved would be
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brilliant Some paths are wood chipped at
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the moment but as I find more and more
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paving slabs for free I keep getting
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them and putting them down on my a
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lotment but as soon as you see them
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advertised people have already got them
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and whipped them away So have a look
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around and see what free paving slabs
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you can get for your paths The same goes
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for green houses You see so many people
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giving away green houses Like green
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houses can cost about
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£400,4 to500 So it is expensive So if
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you can get a free greenhouse even if
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it's just the frame and you fill it in
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with all the perspects or the glass
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you've got yourself a bargain to get
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started with And it's the same goes for
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building all your beds on your a lotment
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People are always throwing wood away and
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there's woodyards around and you can
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always see what you can get And a place
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near me they got a double glazing place
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and you see like window frames and stuff
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like that So you can always repurpose
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And when you get an aotment you end up
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being a skip diver You're always driving
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past skips and looking inside seeing if
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you can get anything whether it be
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bricks whether it be wood or whether it
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be anything useful for your a lotment
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You can always find certain things that
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you can get And I've become a bit of a
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wood hoarder If I see any planks of wood
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I'm straight on it and I grab them and
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they always come in handy for a lotment
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You can never have enough wood at an
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aotment Even if you end up burning
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certain bits of it you I've always got a
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storage pile of wood to build things
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with Not Not that I'm a very good
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builder I'm an absolute rubbish builder
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But yeah everything that I buy get
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is basically free A lot of it But I do
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purchase a lot of stuff as well
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Obviously you've got to buy your screws
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which cost you money And you've also got
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to buy your seeds which I tend to go to
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the range where they sell the Wilco
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brand I always used to go to Wilos to
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get my seeds from and they're pretty
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cheap there to get your seeds Now I
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believe they are a branded company but
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they just put the Wilkos name on it I
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can't remember which company it is but
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Wilco seeds always do well and they're
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cheap as well And obviously now there's
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more and more ranges around now that
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they've taken over home bases So there's
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plenty of ranges around there So if
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you're wanting cheap and cheerful seeds
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go to the range and get some Wilco
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branded seeds Now what else do we have
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to pay for We have to pay for plant food
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which again can be expensive unless you
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make your own which you can make from
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nettles or comfrey So another way of
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saving money is making your own plant
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also possibly buying horse manure
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because some places don't give it away
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for free now They see it as a lucrative
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thing Now that more and more gardeners
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are growing they tend to sell it But if
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you can get it for free from a farm or
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somewhere near you have a look around
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and see what you can get Sometimes you
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have to end up taking it away So make
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sure you save some bags for it and get
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as much as you can And the most
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expensive thing now is compost Compost
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used to be a good cheap price but now
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it's got more and more expensive But if
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you can make your own compost from your
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weeds from your kitchen waste try and
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make your own compost Obviously it won't
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be ready for a few years So you'll be
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spending money on compost to start off
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with but if you can make your own
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compost that will be fantastic So does
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an a lotment cost you a lot of money Yes
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and no If you try and do it as free as
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possible you will have a decent way of
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living not having to spend any money on
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it But this is my only garden I've not
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got a garden at home so I don't mind
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spending money on my a lotment But yeah
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there's your answer So I hope you've
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enjoyed this little episode Make sure
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you do give us a follow to stay up to
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date with all the episodes that we're
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recording So until next time everyone
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remember keep smiling keep shining and
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keep gardening with Ben everyone
