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Let's sew our broad beans. Welcome to
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Gardening with Ben. And today we're
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going to be sewing our broad beans.
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We're now in autumn. And when you're
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sewing broad beans in autumn, you need
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to make sure that you look for a hardy
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variety of broad bean. Now, this is the
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aquadullus, which is hardy to frost and
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to cold and to the snow, obviously. So,
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you need a good broad bean to be able to
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do that. So, make sure that it's an
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autumn growing variety. And the best
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thing about growing broad beans in the
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autumn is that they're ready to harvest
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before the blackfire appear. As you
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know, if you sew broad beans in like
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March, April time and you're harvesting
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them in summer, they're covered with
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blackfly, which is absolutely awful. So,
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these will be ready to harvest before
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the blackfly appear and you won't get
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swamped with them. And it's something
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else to grow during the autumn, winter
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months along with all your garlic and
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your onions, etc. So, it's something
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else to grow. Now, you can either grow
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these in containers like in troughs, uh,
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place them in a row, or you can grow
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them in the ground outside, whichever is
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best for you. Now, we're going to be
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growing ours in our poly tunnel as I'm
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going to be doing a lot of work outside
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in my a lotment during the winter time.
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So, I want it all as clear as possible.
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And obviously, it's a bit warmer in
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here, so hopefully we'll get some great
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crops. And it's making use of this poly
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tunnel in the winter time now that I've
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got all my new raised beds in. Now, if
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you're sewing them in the ground
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outside, I would suggest starting them
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off in pots first to grow them because
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during the winter months, there's not
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much food around for predators like
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birds or for squirrels or for rats and
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mice. So, if they see a shoot popping
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up, they'll probably nibble it or dig to
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find the bean and pinch it. So, you
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don't want to do that. So you want to
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grow them to a good size first before
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planting them. And once they get to a
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good size, then plant them outside where
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you want them to grow or in your poly
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tunnel. That is what I'd suggest what
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you do. And you'll get better success
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doing that as you don't want them all
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getting pinched by the squirrels or the
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mice. And yeah, you'll get some great
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crops from them. So let's get these sewn
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and let's get these growing.
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Now, we're going to be sewing ours in
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some individual cells. These quite deep,
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so they're pretty good for growing broad
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beans in. Now, I'm going to be putting a
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few in each one as obviously I don't
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want to use loads of trays and loads of
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compost. So, we're going to place a few
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in each tray and then when they're
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ready, then we'll divide them and we'll
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plant them outside. So, let's get all
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our broad beans placed and let's get
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So, these are the variety that I'm
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growing, the Aquadulus. Absolutely
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fantastic variety. Like I said, winter
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hard day, so it's absolutely perfect. So
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October to February. So these I've
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placed them two in a pack, so they're
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pretty spaced apart. So we're going to
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cover them with compost, keep them
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watered, then when they're big enough,
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then we'll separate them all out and we
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will plant them into our raised beds.
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And there we have it all covered over.
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So all we've got to do is keep them
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watered. And once they're big enough,
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then we'll separate them all out.
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So, that is all our tips and advice for
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growing broad beans through the autumn
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winter period. Like I said, it's
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something to keep you growing throughout
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the winter period. There's not much to
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be growing through the autumn winter.
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So, it's one thing to keep growing in
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the a lotment and garden. And obviously,
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broad beans are good with your Sunday
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dinner and with meals and like that. So,
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it's a great thing to grow and you'll
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get some great crops from them. You'll
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get an abundance of broad beans as long
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as you keep them watered and keep them
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alive. And obviously through the autumn
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winter period, you don't need to water
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them that much because there's plenty of
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rain. So that will keep them well
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watered and you should get some great
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crops. But obviously with me growing
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them indoors, I'll need to keep them
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watered throughout the autumn winter
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period as it stays dry in the poly
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tunnel at the moment. So while the
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roof's working, but yeah, absolutely a
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fantastic thing to do. So, that is one
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thing that I would continue to grow
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throughout the autumn winter period if
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you're wanting to keep sewing and keep
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growing. [snorts] So, let me know in the
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comments if you're going to be growing
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any broad beans down at your aotment.
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Also, remember to check out my podcast
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on Spotify and Apple Podcast and Alexa.
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Just search for Gardening with Ben and
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there's new podcasts every single day at
4:31
6:00. So, until next time everyone,
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remember, keep smiling, keep shining,
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and keep gardening with Ben, everyone.
