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Allotment Garden Successes & Failures: Lessons Learned This Year | Gardening Tips & Advice Podcast
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Nov 15, 2024
🌱 Allotment Garden Successes & Failures: Lessons from the Past Year 🌱In this episode, we dive deep into the highs and lows of this year’s allotment garden. From successful harvests and thriving plants to unexpected challenges and learning moments, we'll share our top takeaways to help you improve your own gardening journey. Whether you're new to allotment gardening or a seasoned pro, you'll find valuable tips to maximize your garden’s potential and avoid common pitfalls.Highlights of this episode: • Key successes and what made them work • Common gardening mistakes and how to prevent them • Seasonal gardening tips for a better yield next year • Essential advice on soil, planting, and crop rotationTune in for an honest look at our allotment journey, packed with practical advice to help you grow a more resilient and productive garden!#GardeningTips #AllotmentAdvice #GardenSuccess #GrowYourOwn #OrganicGardening #GardenPlanning #AllotmentJourney #Podcast Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gardening-with-ben-garden-and-allotment-tips-and-advice-podcast--5150692/support (https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gardening-with-ben-garden-and-allotment-tips-and-advice-podcast--5150692/support?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss) .
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savings all in the Kroger app get three
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lb packs of Select varieties of Juicy
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Kroger seedless grapes for $3.99 each
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then get flavorful USDA Choice boneless
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chuck roast for £5.99 a pound all with
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your card and a digital coupon shop
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these deals at your local Kroger less
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than 5 miles away or tap the screen now
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and product availability subject to
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details
1:02
hello and welcome to gardening with Ben
1:05
your go-to podcast for all things green
1:07
and growing I'm Ben your allotment guide
1:10
and here to help you cultivate your
1:13
garden and your passion for plants
1:15
whether you're a seasoned Gardener or
1:17
just starting out this podcast is for
1:20
you each episode will'll dig into tips
1:23
tricks and techniques to make your
1:25
garden and allotment Thrive from
1:27
planting sewing and growing we will
1:30
share all the tips and AD advice we will
1:33
also have regular episodes talking about
1:36
what we have been up to on the alarm so
1:39
sit back grab a brute and enjoy today's
1:45
episode hey everyone and welcome back to
1:48
gardening with Ben on what seems to be
1:52
forever since we've done a podcast
1:55
episode but yes we are back now and
1:58
hopefully we're going to be getting
2:00
these podcasts out to you on a regular
2:02
basis now that I'm working normal hours
2:05
again and yeah it seems forever since
2:07
I've worked normal hours but yeah I'm
2:09
working 9 to 5 now and I've got my
2:11
weekends off my night's free so we're
2:14
hoping to get these podcast out to you
2:17
on a daily
2:19
basis for you to enjoy and hopefully
2:22
they'll be uploaded like for 7:00 in the
2:25
morning so you can listen to them on the
2:27
way to work or while you're having your
2:29
morning Brew or while you're taking the
2:32
dog for a walk or while you're at the
2:33
allotment the choice is down to you fall
2:37
into big savings all in the Kroger app
2:39
get three lb packs of Select varieties
2:41
of Juicy Kroger seedless grapes for
2:42
$3.99 each then get flavorful USDA
2:45
Choice boneless chuck roast for £5.99
2:47
aound all with your card and a digital
2:49
coupon shop these deals at your local
2:51
Kroger less than 5 m away or tap the
2:54
screen now to download the Kroger app to
2:56
save big today Kroger fresh for everyone
2:59
prices and product availability subject
3:01
to change restrictions apply see site
3:03
for
3:06
details but where have we been for the
3:08
last month but obviously like I said
3:11
we've been settling into our new job
3:12
getting uh used to our new schedules and
3:15
everything that we're working and also
3:17
I've been getting my YouTube channel
3:19
back up that has been my main focus for
3:22
last month getting lots of new videos up
3:25
on there for you all to enjoy so if
3:26
you're not following my YouTube channel
3:28
do give it a follow is absolutely loads
3:31
on there for you to watch and I've
3:33
started posting more YouTube videos
3:35
again this month and also I'm going to
3:38
be sharing daily questions as well for
3:40
you to get involved with on the comments
3:43
and I'll try and get back to all the
3:45
comments what come on the YouTube videos
3:47
and on I'll be posting them on Instagram
3:49
as well so wherever you follow me on the
3:52
platforms I will hopefully see all the
3:55
responses so we're going to be getting
3:58
them out as well on a daily BAS is so
4:00
we're doing lots more content for you
4:02
we're going to have as podcasts we're
4:03
going to have regular videos and yeah
4:05
going to be sharing lots and lots of
4:07
pictures as well for you all to enjoy so
4:11
how has our allotment year been this
4:15
year that is the question well it's been
4:19
a hell of a year with the weather to put
4:22
it mly we've not had a very good summer
4:25
whatsoever down at the allotment as you
4:28
will know it's some places have had nice
4:30
summer but where I've been we've not had
4:33
no summer this year it's been absolutely
4:36
awful I think it's nicer now than it was
4:38
in the summertime so yeah a bizarre one
4:41
we've certainly not had no droughts this
4:45
year but yeah hopefully we'll have a
4:48
nice Autumn and we'll be able to get us
4:50
allotments and Gardens prepared all the
4:52
way ready for next year and get them all
4:55
looking good ready for a new year and a
4:58
fresh start that's what I always see
5:00
with allotments like yeah you may have a
5:02
bad year but then you clear it all down
5:04
you start from scratch and you've got a
5:06
new year ahead of you and that's how I
5:09
always see I don't get upset if stuff
5:11
doesn't grow well and you just learn
5:14
from it and move on and we we do it all
5:18
again and that's the joy of gardening
5:20
just keep trying until you get a
5:22
fantastic crop now what has her crops
5:25
been like this year down on the
5:27
allotment well let's go through my
5:29
allotment and and I'll tell you how well
5:31
everything's done down on there so this
5:33
year my Plum Tree was an absolute
5:36
failure it looked really really healthy
5:39
to start off at the beginning of the
5:40
year but then it sent to whether it
5:43
caught a disease or got something wrong
5:46
with it but it all seemed to die off and
5:49
literally all the leaves dropped off it
5:51
and yeah it wasn't very healthy
5:53
whatsoever so I don't know if it got
5:55
Silver Leaf or got infected or something
5:58
like that or whether trees get flu I
6:01
don't know but it absolutely struggled
6:04
so the plum tree was an absolute failure
6:07
this year fall into big savings all in
6:09
the Kroger app get three lb packs of
6:11
Select varieties of Juicy Kroger
6:13
seedless grapes for $3.99 each then get
6:15
flavorful USDA Choice boneless chuck
6:17
roast for £5.99 a pound all with your
6:19
card and a digital coupon shop these
6:21
deals at your local Kroger less than 5
6:23
miles away or tap the screen now to
6:26
download the Kroger app to save big
6:28
today Kroger fresh for everyone prices
6:31
and product availability subject to
6:32
change restrictions apply see site for
6:36
details you never know fingers crossed
6:39
we might get some next year whether it
6:41
were just this year I don't know but
6:43
it's the first time it's ever done that
6:46
and we'll see how we get on and
6:48
hopefully get some plums on it next year
6:51
cooking apples I only got about six or
6:54
seven ckin apples off it this year not
6:57
many I know offer like cooking apple
7:00
trees about 20 years old it were one of
7:02
the first PL plants I planted in my
7:04
allotment and I gave it a
7:07
massive cutting back last year and
7:11
freshening up but hopefully we'll get a
7:14
lot more off it next year it's obviously
7:18
down to the pruning on it sometimes when
7:20
people say that if you prune them really
7:22
hard it stresses a tree out and it can
7:25
cause them to have a bad year so I think
7:28
that's the reason why so I'm not giving
7:29
giving it a prune this year I may just
7:31
Trimm the ends on the branches but I'm
7:33
not going to give it a massive prune at
7:36
all hopefully we'll get lots of cooking
7:38
apples on it next year because it's so
7:40
expensive to buy and I can't beat them
7:43
having them in my crumbles absolutely
7:45
delicious and talking of crumbles my
7:47
rubab my rubab did absolutely amazing
7:50
this year we had I had crumbles all the
7:53
way through summer literally every
7:55
single day my mom making them week after
7:57
week after week and that's the best
7:59
thing I grow it and she does the baking
8:02
out of it so I get a fantastic rhubarb
8:05
crumble out of it so hopefully we have
8:09
another good year next year of rhubarb
8:11
rhubarb always seems to do well whatever
8:13
you do it always grows well my eating
8:17
apple tree uh tree and my pear tree
8:20
again fantastic they did amazing
8:23
hopefully will get loads on it again
8:25
next year I don't think I'm going to
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give them a prune this year they've not
8:28
grown too big and hopefully we'll get
8:31
some more great produce out of them next
8:34
year my strawberries my strawberries did
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absolutely horrendous they didn't grow
8:41
very well and so I've ended up planting
8:44
200 plants Yes you heard it right 200
8:48
strawberry plants I've planted this year
8:50
ready for next year I've used all my
8:52
Runners off them planted them all up
8:55
they've all seem to have taken they look
8:56
like they're growing nice and healthy
8:58
and they're happy in the ground so
9:00
fingers crossed will get absolutely
9:02
loads of strawberries next year black
9:05
brez if you've not got a formless
9:08
blackbery get one honestly one of the
9:11
best things that I'm growing on my
9:12
alment I've got two Blackberry uh bushes
9:16
what I started and the canes on them are
9:18
growing absolutely massive or should I
9:20
call them whips they grow absolutely
9:22
massive and really long all the way down
9:24
the side of my plot now and you don't
9:27
get pH PHS in yourself they're formless
9:30
and the blackberries on them are
9:32
absolutely delicious and gorgeous and
9:34
massive and they seem to fruit for
9:36
longer as well than formless ones so if
9:39
you've not got a forless black break get
9:41
one they're a game
9:43
changer raspberries they did amazing as
9:46
well we had summer variety and we had
9:49
Autumn variety both did absolutely
9:51
fantastic we had some great crops off
9:53
them and yeah you can't beat homegrown
9:57
mbis so next up is tomatoes and
10:00
cucumbers now my tomatoes I grew them
10:03
outside again this year cuz I've grown
10:04
them the year before outside they took
10:06
longer to ripen this year like I said
10:08
we' not had much sunshine this year so
10:11
they took longer to ripen cucumbers I've
10:13
never grown cucumbers outside before
10:16
ever and this is the first year that
10:18
I've grown them outside I had three
10:20
plants in the poly tunnel only got a few
10:23
cucumbers off them grew all the spares
10:25
outside cuz I thought rather than throw
10:27
them well plant them and wow wow when I
10:30
were clearing the plants away I'd got 17
10:33
cucumbers off what I harvested what
10:36
we're all hiding everywhere they did
10:38
absolutely amazing and this is the
10:40
market more variety of cucumber that I
10:42
grew outside it did absolutely
10:45
phenomenal so I'm going to keep growing
10:47
my cucumbers outside every year save
10:50
buying the compost because I can plant
10:51
them straight in the ground and it's
10:53
cheaper fall into big savings all in the
10:56
Kroger app get 3B packs of Select
10:58
varieties of Juicy Kroger seedless
11:00
grapes for $3.99 each then get flavorful
11:02
USDA Choice boneless chuck roast for
11:04
£5.99 a pound all with your card and a
11:06
digital coupon shop these deals at your
11:09
local Kroger less than 5 m away or tap
11:12
the screen now to download the Kroger
11:14
app to save big today Kroger fresh for
11:17
everyone prices and product availability
11:19
subject to change restrictions apply see
11:21
site for
11:24
details and obviously the water as well
11:26
if it rains it rains it Waters them so
11:29
they get more water than probably what
11:31
they would do in a poly
11:32
tunnel so I'm going to grow my market
11:35
more varieties of cucumbers outside
11:37
again next year that's the thing if you
11:39
don't try stuff and give it a go you'll
11:43
never know if it works or not so that is
11:45
what I'm doing again next
11:47
year next up is my sweet corn my sweet
11:51
corn did absolutely amazing we had some
11:54
fantastic harvests off it so impressed
11:56
with how well it all grew and it
11:59
absolutely tasted
12:02
delicious potatoes my potatoes again
12:05
they did absolutely amazing I didn't
12:07
grow them in the ground again this year
12:09
I grew them in boxes because i' grown
12:11
them in boxes the year before and
12:13
they've done absolutely amazing so I
12:15
thought I'm growing them in boxes again
12:17
rather than in the ground because
12:19
growing them in boxes they seem to not
12:22
get as many pests eating them or holes
12:24
in them from wire worms and stuff like
12:27
that
12:29
obviously it costs a lot of money for
12:31
the compost but overall the crop did
12:34
absolutely fantastic and the best thing
12:36
we grow them in boxes is that when
12:38
they're ready you just empty the boxes
12:40
out and pull all the potatoes out you
12:43
don't have to dig for them and you don't
12:45
end up chopping them all in half or
12:46
stabbing them with the fork or with
12:49
chopping them with uh the Spade as
12:51
you're digging them up so yeah you get
12:53
100% good crop out of them and I had
12:56
absolutely loads and yes I didn't always
12:59
water them I forgot to water them
13:00
sometimes so they probably could have
13:01
been even better if I'd have watered
13:03
them all the time but yeah they did
13:06
absolutely amazing so again next year
13:08
we're going to be growing them in boxes
13:10
because if you don't try stuff and see
13:13
if it works you'll never know will you
13:15
so hopefully in a few weeks time I'm
13:18
going to be harvesting my Christmas
13:19
potatoes all the plants are dying off on
13:22
them now so they're ready for harvesting
13:24
probably a bit earlier than what I hoped
13:25
I were hoping to harvest them towards
13:27
Christmas but the plants are dying off
13:30
now so we'll have to start Harvest them
13:32
and get them all in uh my flat ready for
13:36
some chippies because I'm cooking chips
13:38
out of all my potatoes this year my air
13:40
fryer absolutely love it and I've got a
13:44
chopping machine so it's chops them all
13:45
into nice chips decent sizes and I just
13:50
Chu them in the air fry it with some
13:52
cheesy spice on um I don't know what
13:55
it's called but it's like a cheesy sauce
13:57
one and you just sprinkle it on it and
13:59
absolutely fantastic they tastes
14:01
delicious so hopefully we've got some
14:04
nice potatoes ready for harvesting so
14:07
make sure you stay tuned on YouTube for
14:09
the potato reveal and I'll show you if
14:12
they've grown or if they've not grown so
14:15
we'll share it all together and the
14:18
excitement next up is cett and
14:21
squashes rubbish I had no cett no
14:25
squashers no Patty pans no butternuts
14:29
squash absolutely pathetic rubbish
14:32
pumpkins however I managed to get some
14:34
pumpkins they took forever to ripen but
14:38
we got some pumpkins off so I happy with
14:40
them not as big as what I'd hoped but
14:42
next year we're going to concentrate on
14:44
them and see if if we can grow some
14:45
really massive ones so let's see how big
14:48
we can actually grow a pumpkin and we'll
14:51
be sharing that uh Journey Through the
14:53
videos sharing our tips and advice on
14:55
how to grow a massive pumpkin I'll be
14:57
feeding it regularly I'll be watering it
15:00
all the time and making sure that we get
15:02
a nice size pumpkin on it for harvesting
15:05
for Halloween next year which is
15:07
exciting but I know Halloween seems
15:10
forever away next year because it's only
15:12
just been but we'll be starting them off
15:14
in March so it's not far away when we're
15:16
going to be sing our seeds for
15:19
pumpkins so we've got all that to do and
15:22
what else have we had we've had lettuce
15:26
that's done amazing as beetroots done
15:28
amazing
15:30
as peas absolutely phenomenal we had two
15:33
Harvest of peas did absolutely fantastic
15:36
I'm so pleased with my peas this year
15:38
usually I grow them in the ground and
15:40
the rats and the mice seem to eat them
15:42
but we grew them all in pots this year
15:46
first got them growing got them to a
15:48
decent size then we planted them all
15:50
outside and they did absolutely amazing
15:53
this time so if you're growing Peas I
15:55
advise to grow them in pots first and
15:57
then plant them out when they're a
15:59
decent size and you'll get some amazing
16:01
crops in the garden so yeah and my Runa
16:05
beans have done amazing as well and
16:06
hopefully we've got some RAB bean seeds
16:08
for next year what we' saved from all
16:10
their leftovers what they're on the
16:11
plant and hopefully we'll get some of
16:14
those but yeah my allotments done
16:16
absolutely fantastic this year that's
16:18
all my vegetables and all my food as
16:20
that's done well my flowers on my
16:23
alotment I'm absolutely amazed with my
16:25
flowers my spring bulbs did amazing
16:28
we've got some beautiful spring bulb
16:30
displays the sunflowers were huge they
16:33
did amazing probably one of the best
16:35
sunflower displays I've had on my
16:37
allotment we had some amazing sweet peas
16:39
which smell absolutely fantastic I've
16:42
got all my sweet peas in now I've
16:45
planted them earlier this year rather
16:47
than planting them in March I've planted
16:48
them now and hopefully the plants will
16:51
be stronger for next year and we'll get
16:53
more crops off them so watch this space
16:55
I've been sharing videos on my sweet
16:57
peas on YouTube so if if you've not seen
16:59
them check them out and you'll be able
17:01
to see how well my sweet peas are
17:03
doing but yeah they did amazing and then
17:06
we had
17:08
our
17:11
uh G pansies from seed hopefully we get
17:15
some flowers on them but yeah I can't
17:17
remember what the name of my other
17:18
plants are but I've done well uh we've
17:21
got some amazing fuches as hyres we've
17:24
got some cuttings off them which have
17:26
done well but yeah I'm so with how well
17:29
my flowers have done this year we're
17:31
going to try even more flowers next year
17:33
I'm loving trying new flowers because I
17:36
never used to grow flowers but now I've
17:38
got into it and I enjoy it and trying
17:40
different flowers because I've got
17:42
flower borders now and trying different
17:45
things down there it's absolutely
17:47
phenomenal like I grew different
17:48
varieties of pansies not pansies poppies
17:51
this year and they were gorgeous so
17:53
we're going to try loads of different
17:55
varieties of poppies for next year as
17:56
well we've saved all the seed from this
17:59
year to hopefully grow next year and
18:04
produce even more poppies so stay tuned
18:06
for that so yeah I'm glad to be back
18:08
doing these podcast episodes like I said
18:11
we're going to get them out on a regular
18:12
basis the next episode what will come up
18:15
we'll be talking about all the things
18:17
that you can plant in November and then
18:20
the episode after that will be all the
18:22
jobs which need doing in the garden and
18:24
the allotment in November as well so
18:26
stay tuned for them two episodes make
18:28
sure you come with you notebook because
18:29
then you can take notes and write down
18:32
all the jobs which you need doing for
18:33
next year ready for the
18:35
allotment so I hope you've enjoyed this
18:38
episode like I said if you're not
18:40
following us do give us a follow and I
18:42
think you can leave comments as well now
18:44
in these podcasts and also give them a
18:46
rating so please do that and it'll help
18:49
push it out to other people and feel
18:51
free to share it as well if you've got
18:53
anything to share it on to so until next
18:56
time everyone remember keep smiling keep
18:58
keep shining and keep gardening with bed
19:03
everyone thank you for joining me on
19:05
this episode of gardening with Ben I
19:08
hope you have found some useful tips and
19:11
inspiration for your own gardening and
19:13
allotment Journey if you have enjoyed
19:15
today's episode please make sure to
19:18
follow And subscribe to the podcast so
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have a moment I'd love for you to leave
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happy gardening and until next time
19:47
remember keep smiling keep shining and
19:50
keep gardening with Ben
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