Seeing i live in the Caribbean ive got my gardem all planted out Pumpkin japanese squash Zucchini Marigold Basil Chinese cabbage Broccoli Sweet potatoes Potatoes tomatoes Corn okra peppers Sunflower cucumber Carrots beets radishes Dill spinach lettuce While spring starts for you guys next month...ill be prepping for hurricane season
Good morning Ben, you are so enthusiastic during every video, I am sure, viewers are so inspired with your happy and cheery chat about growing your own. Nasturtiums and Borage are great plants in the veggie patch. The colours are so soul calming, the most beautiful flue and the gorgeous orange. Many people do not like them as well as dahlias, but they miss out a lot. Happy gardening and the most useful information for practical gardening. So pleased you will enjoy lovely warm summers shortly. Our winter so far has been gorgeous almost better than the U.K. summers but our turn will come with some challenging cold days. Have a splendid day, not only in the garden patch. Kind regards.
Just planted some nasturtium transplants yesterday (I cheated, bought the starts!). I’m about to get those borage seeds in the ground. The flowers are lovely….eating them is a nice bonus! 👍🏻
You must have a terrible memory if you think this gov manipulated geo engineering is a uk summer or you havent been growing for 40 years. Either that or youve had your dna altered to accept anything the media spew out.
My highlights of the gardening year.... The smell of fresh raspberries on a warm summers evening. That , and harvesting and cutting open my first swede. The smell of a freshly cut swede is the smell of autumn
I cant wait for the first peas straight put of the pod, my new varieties of tomatos to try and hopefully getting to experience my first ever homegrown sweetcorn 😱🥰
Told my 3 year old grandson that I’m going rainbow coloured snotcorn. I have never seen any child get so exited over sweetcorn!! I can’t wait to see his reaction when they’re ready to harvest!
Don’t know where you are but it’s freezing in NW England (Chester)!! Potato tops are frosted, tomatoes won’t germinate, nor will the beetroot in modules in greenhouse. Getting pretty desperate here. However, I did start off my gladioli and they are doing well so at least I will have something to look at while my tummy rumbles through lack of food.
Oh Ben, you've done it again! A perfect inspiring, knowledgeable, happy and beautiful video! It's snowing here in Colorado today, but my greenhouses are bulging with plants almost ready to got into the cold frames. I plant a sweet corn named Temptress, and also "Gotta Have It", both magnificent croppers. I've gone away from celery and now plant Lovage, it's almost as good and very versatile. I wish you warm sun and gentle rain, happy gardening!
Holy moly, I had no idea I still had time for celery! I started some probably way too early, and it did not go very well. So happy I have a second chance!
Hi Ben. New subscriber from Portugal. The weather here is warm and really Nice. Got many tomatoes growing well and Just finished planting onions( about 120) hope ti have a Nice harvest this summer. Love your vídeos ☺
I grew beans as a kid, in school. However, at home, we had the bean plants as well. Lovely to eat directly, with the encasing around the beans inside. Very healthy too.
We are cooling the planet for global warming so they say! . Much more funny weather to arrive i suppose. Hopefully my crops still grow correctly. I know uk farmers are struggling due to bad weather!
I love the first tomatoes ! Already cutting much Kale. Nice crispy salads. We always plant two corn together. Something my parents taught us to do. I'm not sure why. my favorite is silver queen. Yummy with a fresh tomato and onion sandwich. No meat necessary !! As always, love your vid !!
I can relate to the soil in this video because I was lightly forked over by my employer this week but maybe it will improve my overall performance. For a different employer, obviously.
I’m most excited about the patty pans, I’ve raised some by seed, and bought a couple of plants just in case. The ones in the cold greenhouse are growing really well in a big bucket of good compost with a plastic bag over for double insulation. The ones outside under a single plastic cloche are still small, it’s still a bit chilly and windy in north Devon U.K. Looking forward to harvesting them small, slice and fry in organic butter, yum! Have you had Puffballs? Delicious cooked the same way. Years ago a retired vet/farmer invited me into his kitchen and fried some thick slices up, with an elderly parrot sitting on his shoulder, unforgettable 🥰😂
Borage - beware - it can get HUGE! It is beautiful but it can get massive = a good 4ft+ high - and wide.. It doesn't like being near onions or garlic though, so will stay very small near them.
Dear Ben, i don't know where you are but up in the Chilterns in rural Oxfordshire the temperature hasn't reached double figures in a fortnight. The rain is plentiful and freezing and the cold wind is blowing incessantly. Both greenhouse and sitting room are chock full of stuff waiting to be planted out. Our allotments are soggy. The only happy bunnies are the broad beans and onions. Even in the greenhouse germination has been very slow or non existentent. Fair to say I am getting grumpier by the day. Hope your cheerfulness rubs off soon.
Him: I'm going to direct sow my corn in early May Me: Oh dear Him: But I don't trust the weather, so I'm sowing indoors in cells for backup Me: Good lad
thanks to your lovely channel, i'll finally be trying chard this year! it's not readily available in grocery stores where i live, so as a certified salad lover i'm very excited. :) i'll be growing the bright lights and rhubarb varieties!
I find your videos so much more educative and very organised/positive then others. Please never stop! Cant wait for your next videos. Is the zone the same as in the netherlands as in uk?
I can see the first few peapods develop. But I haven't had one yet. Snails and slugs seems to love these more than anything else in my whole garden. I tried planting decoy crops that I remember them absolutely loving last year and before that, only for them to completely ignore them in favor of my peaplants.
The crop I most await to ripen? Tomatoes!It's warm, 70°-80°F, for a week, then 30°F and cold rain the next with a sprinkle of frost in-between. Only things out are my potatoes, broad beans, onions, shallots, lettuce, and cabbage. Everything else is romping away in the greenhouse.
I do enjoy garden tomatoes, but every now and then I can buy them in the stores and they smell like a tomatoe. Not with cucumbers. They put so much bitter wax on them, that I enjoy taking the first cuc from the garden and eating it right there. 😊
Ohhh….interesting combo! Here in North Carolina, kale and lettuce have been growing for over a month as they do well with the chill. Lettuce will bolt soon with the heat. And…tomato seeds need heat to generate. Two totally different seasons for me. 🤷🏻♀ Good luck!
Great video, Ben, thank you. I was wondering - have you ever, or would you consider doing a UA-cam live video (or an Ask Me Anything on Reddit) where we can send in or pose questions on a variety of topics? I think it would be very popular.
Hi I don't have a heat mat I use my aquarium light if you have those old fashioned models with a flat top they are great for starting seeds on top of them. Perfect heat for seedlings but don´t forget as soon as they have germanated they need to be moved to a place with proper growlights, it workes well with those plants that need an earlier start or need more heat to start germinate.
My garden is invested with voles. Darn cats aren't doing their job-hunting and eating voles. Vole repellent isn't working either. The varments got my over flow potatoes, and have destroyed my shelling peas. I just did my first harvest of mustard greens. I'll get another harvest in two to three weeks. The pole beans have sprouted, and I have lots of herb seedlings, basil, dill, parsley, oregano, catnip, yarrow, chicory, marjoram, cilantreo, and peppermint. My Goji Berry Bushes are about 2 cm away from being transplanted into the ground. The summer squash, main crop potatoes, cucumbers, and melons are doing great. Some of my tomato plants are flowering, and I have peppers that are already fruiting. I just sowed seeds for a replacement crop of deeterment tomatoes. Cheers!
@@GrowVeg I'll get them. I wanted a crop of shelling peas this year, so they crossed a red line. It is war! Cats and repellent aren't working. I have sonic stakes on order. They will be here tomorrow. In the fall, I am going to dig out the raised beds and line the bottoms with rocks. Maybe sooner, if I don't get them under control.
@@leahwithheld783 Six of my raised beds are lined with 1/4 hardware cloth. I have enough 3ft wide hardware cloth to line two of my raised beds. I have four raised beds on crushed gravel. Voles aren't digging thrdough it, but I dare them to try. That leaves 2 four foot wide raised beds that need protection from voles. Four foot wide roles of hardware cloth are very expensive. I have a lot of rock, and crushed gravel around the yard that I can use to line the bottoms, about 2 inches deep. Voles won't be able to dig through packed gravel. For two beds, it is the most cost effective means of preventing voles, but it is a lot of labor.
I had a massive problem with voles last year. I had success using castor oil. Some castor oil and a drop of washing up liquid in the water in my watering can. Apparently they don't like the smell.
Hi, can you please tell me what I can grow in a large container that I grew sweet potatoes in last year? I’m in zone 5b, and I don’t want to grow garlic or onions (I can’t eat them anymore). I have several containers and a couple raised beds to grow in. Thank you so much Ben.
I am trying my hand at container gardening this year. I mostly have herbs, but I also have some containers of sorrel going and am planning on planting Swiss chard. Unfortunately, everything I planted from seed is taking forever to grow, despite being indoors by a large south facing window.
I love your channel! I am honna try to direct sow borage and nasturtium this year...where i am, nighttime temperatures are still occasionally hitting the 35 celsius range approximately. Will they germinate you think or its too early?
35 Celsius is very hot! But they may well germinate at that temperature. Unless you mean 35 Fahrenheit, in which case it’s probably just about okay so now. So long as they don’t get a frost.
It's often recommended to soak bean seeds for around 8-12 hours before sowing, so I think you should be fine. Soaking helps to speed up germination. Just keep things warm to help speed germination.
Bolting is when the plant flowers and goes to seed. For most vegetables it is triggered by warmth followed by cold making the plant believe winter is coming and it is time to produce seeds to ensure the next generation. Cool season crops (lettuce, brassicas-cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. and greens), celery and some herbs are especially susceptible IME. Many gardeners forget that plants don’t care about making vegetables for use to eat, they produce flowers and vegetables to reproduce. Now, the longer it stays warm the longer they can fruit ultimately producing more seeds for the next generation to ensure survival of their species. But, cold weather, I.e.winter, means need to hurry up and make seed babies. Many cool season crops do well being planted later in the summer to be harvested in the fall, just count back from your first average frost date in the fall the number of days to harvest (usually found on the back of the seed packets) and plant a few weeks before the number. For example if your first fall frost is usually October 15 and you have something that is 60 days to harvest then 60 days before would be August 15, so a couple of weeks before August 15 would be your last time to plant this (so you could ideally plant any time in July to possibly early August). Carrots are also a great late summer crop, they can be left in the ground up to freeze (and after if you are willing to dig frozen ground), many brassicas (especially Brussels sprouts) are even better and sweeter if the mature plants have experienced frost, it concentrates the sugars! Hope this was helpful. Happy gardening!
Bolting is when a veg goes to seed. Some veg get a change in taste at this point. I like to leave a few plants to bolt as they shoot up some great flowers for pollinators.
Bolting is just when a vegetable flowers prematurely, which stops it being productive. You can tell when a plant is bolting by a tall, straight stem rising up from the middle of the plant.
Damn it's been soooo cold here in Suffolk.... We've really struggled to get things going even in the greenhouses..day before yesterday 27April we had -1c and heavy frost... And so much rain
Borage will overtake your area Ben! That’s one thing I can grow well lol.😂 Nastartiums are beautiful but for me hard to grow well. The slugs do like them as well.
Its super hot where I live, and summer can reach up to 50C, its my first year gardening and it's a real challenge. I'd love to know some veggies I can grow in this weather. Much love :)
Make sure you get plenty of shading up to help plants keep cooler, and water regularly of course. Warm-season crops like tomato, zucchini/eggplants, melons, corn etc should do well in a warmer climate.
The corn surprised me (& the celery tbh) considering the space, time & effort that could be better spent on other veg that aren't as cheap/accessible at local farms & stores...but everyone has different lists of what's important enough to plant asap. Edit: i guess the celery could fill areas that are otherwise too damp to be useful but I still don't see the point of the corn.
I grew corn for the first time last year (south east uk) & can safely say that the flavour when freshly picked and eaten was second to none. Completely worth the space. Just 20 plants didn’t take a huge amount of room 💚
@@pisees738 That's true, fresh picked sweet corn is hard to beat. It even tastes good raw. I'm lucky that I have an abundance of roadside farm stands nearby & that influences my view on what to spend. What prompted you to grow it?
@@pisees738 That's true, fresh picked sweet corn is hard to beat. It even tastes good raw. I'm lucky that I have an abundance of roadside farm stands nearby & that influences me. What prompted you to grow it?
Spring is definitely a "hit or miss" here in the west coast of Scotland. Think it was either last year or year before we had a spell of frost!! It was like someone had dropped a nuke In my garden! 😂 Myself and kids were devastated!! Thank god for good old hardy cabbage! I've never tried corn, so this video has my spider senses tingling... hmmm.. Another great upload, brother!!! 🫡💙🙌 Edit; "'turn hard times into Chard times" 😂😂 Love it, mate!
It is true nasturtium is a great companion plant with most vegetables since its a pollinator? Because I have it all over. (I'd rather have a covered garden then one full of pests!)
It is a great companion flower as it attracts pollinators into the garden and lures away some pests (like cabbage white butterflies), thereby saving the food crop. I reckon it adds so much cheer too!
Hello, I was wondering if you have any tips about Sweet Potatoes. I searched your channel but I found nothing. Please can you release a video on sweet potatoes :)
Ben...always a great video. I only wish I could grow corn...well I can but I have at least 30plus squirrels in my yard and last year they tasted every bit of my corn. It was tall it was full of corn it was delicious so say the squirrels 😅. I will say here in the deep south of Florida we know how to marinade squirrel ....lol so it's a trade off. These squirrels eat nothing but good stuff...peanuts..bread..crackers and what ever else we have 😅 so they should be good. I'm kidding I don't eat squirrel YET. 😊 PEACE&PLENTY
The "new gardener" here again. Great video as always! I did some sowing last month for the 1st time (vegetables) and got about 90% germination. However, because my conservatory is west-facing, my seedlings are getting too leggy. I've even tried some full-spectrum grow lights (red + blue) but not getting much of a luck. I wish I could have some experience gardener like you Ben to come over and give some practical tips! Happy for my garden to be one of your youtube video episode! I have a big garden which was abandoned for years and therefore being a new gardener, I guess I need a lot of encouragement and guidance to get going otherwise the garden will be left abandoned again :( Wish I could have a visit from you as an Eid-gift for myself 😄
Well done on getting such good germination. Just try to get your seedlings in as bright a position as possible. If it’s brighter outside, they may be best there in a more sheltered spot.
Watching this video, you had cardboard tubes with carrots sown in. Do you separate the carrot seedlings or plant the tube with the seedlings in? Thanks.
I plant them as little bunches of carrots, with space between each bunch. But if you were growing bigger carrots, for example for exhibition purposes, you'd thin them to leave just one seedling in each.
The onions I planted from seed are not doing will some germinated then grew a long root that pushed the seed hull up an the greens started 1/2" to 1" above the soil. What did I do wrong
The seed usually comes up with the green shoot, so it sounds like they are doing what they should be doing. As for compost, you can never have too much! Four inches of it sounds like a great amount. You can just leave it on the surface then plant into it, or dig/rototill it in if you wish.
My first sowing of climbing beans last month in the greenhouse were a 100% failure- and I noticed what looked like bean fly larvae in the seeds? Would this have come from the seed itself (Thompson & Morgan) or the soil? And would a warmer soil this month help the problem or will I still have the same issue this month? Thanks! :)
I would resow as beans perform so much better when it’s warmer. Give them another try now. I think any flies would have come in from elsewhere, not been on the seeds: www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/bean-seed-fly
Sow what do I do with my sweetcorn that s 6" high right now. and my potatoes that i will be lifting the first plants on Wednesday and pea pods I will pick those in 10 days as already have pods on.
The sweetcorn can go out as soon as there's no more risk of frost. Here in much of the UK that really means from about now, particularly as the coming week is set to be a lot warmer. Perhaps they could go in place of the potatoes, with fresh compost added to fuel the new growth of the sweetcorn?
@@GrowVeg They are out in the garden already and expect too harvest in late Jul and had new spuds and new carrots for tea tonight I send you some snaps, but not on here as don't know how and we had 0 c last night, but as my land is sloped too the west then no damage.
Ive watched the chemtrail drones going over the sky here in wiltshire 6 in the morning,what worries me is not getting plants out and the insect that can't find food
I tried growing a few cantaloupe plants 2 years ago….as a “lark”. Oddly enough, they were my best & my favorite harvest 🤣. Easy, too. The flavor is stunning! I grew them up an arbor I fashioned from a cattle panel. I used plastic vine clips I found on Amazon to secure the vines. Melons did not need any extra support. Definitely plant a couple this year as a treat! I’ve not grown watermelon as I can’t afford that much space. Good luck!
i absolutely love this guy. he should be on television, right? He just eats up the screen, and he is so knowledgable and his passion is infection.
Thank you so much, that's incredibly kind of you to say. Happy gardening! :-)
seconded! I feel like he is always simply sharing his enthusiasm and knowledge rather than lecturing
@GrowVeg, please do a TV show
Agreed, he is great, so enthusiastic and positive
Totally, mate! He's a feckin legend! The amount I've learned from him is phenomenal!
He makes me laugh such a nice chap😊 love his sense of humour. Also so many good tips for novice gardeners
Seeing i live in the Caribbean ive got my gardem all planted out
Pumpkin japanese squash
Zucchini Marigold
Basil Chinese cabbage
Broccoli Sweet potatoes
Potatoes tomatoes
Corn okra peppers
Sunflower cucumber
Carrots beets radishes
Dill spinach lettuce
While spring starts for you guys next month...ill be prepping for hurricane season
That’s a great list of crops you’re growing there. Fab stuff! 😀
the presentation the beauty of every video gets better and better.......any one who looks in will be inspired
Thank you for making Gardening exciting 🌱☺️
Good morning Ben, you are so enthusiastic during every video, I am sure, viewers are so inspired with your happy and cheery chat about growing your own. Nasturtiums and Borage are great plants in the veggie patch. The colours are so soul calming, the most beautiful flue and the gorgeous orange. Many people do not like them as well as dahlias, but they miss out a lot. Happy gardening and the most useful information for practical gardening. So pleased you will enjoy lovely warm summers shortly. Our winter so far has been gorgeous almost better than the U.K. summers but our turn will come with some challenging cold days. Have a splendid day, not only in the garden patch. Kind regards.
Just planted some nasturtium transplants yesterday (I cheated, bought the starts!). I’m about to get those borage seeds in the ground. The flowers are lovely….eating them is a nice bonus! 👍🏻
Have a splendid day also. Happy gardening! 😀
You must have a terrible memory if you think this gov manipulated geo engineering is a uk summer or you havent been growing for 40 years. Either that or youve had your dna altered to accept anything the media spew out.
@@joannc147i 0:50
I love your cheery , positive spirit ! You make your videos both informative and happy 😊
Thanks so much. 😀
My favourite part of gardening? Strawberries 🍓😍
Mine are full of blooms, I can't wait !
@@toniedalton5448 same here. exciting times!!!
My highlights of the gardening year.... The smell of fresh raspberries on a warm summers evening. That , and harvesting and cutting open my first swede. The smell of a freshly cut swede is the smell of autumn
Wonderful highlights! 😀
Top man, seems like I'm watching a very well produced professional tv programme.
I cant wait for the first peas straight put of the pod, my new varieties of tomatos to try and hopefully getting to experience my first ever homegrown sweetcorn 😱🥰
It's still so cold in Scotland! My plants are all taking over indoors cause it's too risky to get em out 😢
Warmer weather on the way soon I hope.
Yep, same here. My house looks like a botanical garden.
it's been ridiculously cold down south as well.
I'm in central Spain and it's the same here!
same here in Canada
Everything’s so slow with this weather. Doesn’t stop us gardeners keep trying though 🤞🏻 fingers crossed for warm sunny days 🤞🏻
Told my 3 year old grandson that I’m going rainbow coloured snotcorn. I have never seen any child get so exited over sweetcorn!!
I can’t wait to see his reaction when they’re ready to harvest!
That’s absolutely wonderful! 😂
Beans are truly glorious.
Don’t know where you are but it’s freezing in NW England (Chester)!! Potato tops are frosted, tomatoes won’t germinate, nor will the beetroot in modules in greenhouse. Getting pretty desperate here. However, I did start off my gladioli and they are doing well so at least I will have something to look at while my tummy rumbles through lack of food.
You need a heat mat in your house with grow lights
It's devasting so far this year.
Oh Ben, you've done it again! A perfect inspiring, knowledgeable, happy and beautiful video! It's snowing here in Colorado today, but my greenhouses are bulging with plants almost ready to got into the cold frames. I plant a sweet corn named Temptress, and also "Gotta Have It", both magnificent croppers. I've gone away from celery and now plant Lovage, it's almost as good and very versatile. I wish you warm sun and gentle rain, happy gardening!
And to you. Spring around the corner now. 😀🌱
Courgettes are what I look forward to most. I refuse to buy the bland ones from the shops so only eat it seasonally, they are my favourite veg.
I like he’s 😂funny silliness and of course his sowing.Keep on 🎉smiling
Thank you! So far you've kept me up-to-date with my gardening this year! We've many more months too!
"Turn hard times into Chard times!" 🤣😂 you know it
Slow growing in Sweden. Your channel gives me hope and pleasure.
Not even started here in Edinburgh, Scotland.... Still bloody winter....damn north winds and rain!
Holy moly, I had no idea I still had time for celery! I started some probably way too early, and it did not go very well. So happy I have a second chance!
Hi Ben. New subscriber from Portugal. The weather here is warm and really Nice. Got many tomatoes growing well and Just finished planting onions( about 120) hope ti have a Nice harvest this summer.
Love your vídeos ☺
Lucky you!
Great job already Susan. Lovely to have you watching the videos. 😀
I grew beans as a kid, in school. However, at home, we had the bean plants as well. Lovely to eat directly, with the encasing around the beans inside. Very healthy too.
Hello from Western Kentucky, USA.
Hello. 👋🌱😀
Hello to you both from Western North Carolina! 😄
My wife was laughing as I said I'd love to buy you a few pints of ale and talk gardening. I'm a novice, so you're Master Yoda status to me.
Anyone offering a to buy me pints of ale and talk gardening has my undivided attention! :-)
Howdy, Ben!👋 Indeed, it is a wonderful time of year in the garden.👩🏾🌾
Certainly is Valorie. 😀
Thanks Ben ❤
Got my collies, savoy cabbage etc in the greenhouse climbing out of their plugs ,just 🙏 for it to warm up 😂😂. Too keen gardening 😊😊
You don't need to wait for the weather to warm up for cabbages,lettuces,etc. I would say now is the perfect time for them to go out.
It's bloody cold here at the moment...
Where I live too....not seen any sun yet! (Netherland...)
It’s freezing 🥶
wish I could be so lucky, had a heatwave for days and many more to come. "Only" 42 Celsius today here in Thailand.
In Québec, Canada, we went from -3C to +20C, plus wind and light snow in only a few days... lol... indoor sowing it is!
We are cooling the planet for global warming so they say! . Much more funny weather to arrive i suppose. Hopefully my crops still grow correctly. I know uk farmers are struggling due to bad weather!
Always a wonderful video and new details to learn…thank you!
I love the first tomatoes ! Already cutting much Kale. Nice crispy salads.
We always plant two corn together. Something my parents taught us to do. I'm not sure why. my favorite is silver queen. Yummy with a fresh tomato and onion sandwich. No meat necessary !!
As always, love your vid !!
Thanks for the tip about sweetcorn. I added extra perlite to my home made compost when I sowed mine last week.
luscious leaves and stupendous stems.....A+
Thanks Ben Awesome stuff.
Planted my Chard this evening, timely reminder!
Thank you for using both metric systems!!!! 🙂🙂
I can relate to the soil in this video because I was lightly forked over by my employer this week but maybe it will improve my overall performance. For a different employer, obviously.
Ah…bloom where you’re planted, Brad! 👍🏻
I’m most excited about the patty pans, I’ve raised some by seed, and bought a couple of plants just in case. The ones in the cold greenhouse are growing really well in a big bucket of good compost with a plastic bag over for double insulation. The ones outside under a single plastic cloche are still small, it’s still a bit chilly and windy in north Devon U.K. Looking forward to harvesting them small, slice and fry in organic butter, yum!
Have you had Puffballs? Delicious cooked the same way. Years ago a retired vet/farmer invited me into his kitchen and fried some thick slices up, with an elderly parrot sitting on his shoulder, unforgettable 🥰😂
I have had puffballs - love them! 😋
Good Show!
I just discovered your channel. Thanks for the how-to. Precious as I garden on the limited space of a balcony.
This year I'll try chayotes.
I'm so glad to report that 3 weeks later the TWO chayotes are doing great. I put them each in a pot under a bell.
Borage - beware - it can get HUGE! It is beautiful but it can get massive = a good 4ft+ high - and wide.. It doesn't like being near onions or garlic though, so will stay very small near them.
Dear Ben, i don't know where you are but up in the Chilterns in rural Oxfordshire the temperature hasn't reached double figures in a fortnight. The rain is plentiful and freezing and the cold wind is blowing incessantly. Both greenhouse and sitting room are chock full of stuff waiting to be planted out. Our allotments are soggy. The only happy bunnies are the broad beans and onions. Even in the greenhouse germination has been very slow or non existentent. Fair to say I am getting grumpier by the day. Hope your cheerfulness rubs off soon.
Don't be grumpy - warmer weather is arriving - and spring is finally here! I'm up in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, so the other end of the county. :-)
Him: I'm going to direct sow my corn in early May
Me: Oh dear
Him: But I don't trust the weather, so I'm sowing indoors in cells for backup
Me: Good lad
thanks to your lovely channel, i'll finally be trying chard this year! it's not readily available in grocery stores where i live, so as a certified salad lover i'm very excited. :) i'll be growing the bright lights and rhubarb varieties!
Great choice of varieties. 😀🌱
Here in Louisiana it is HOT and HUMID!! But my garden is doing amazing!! Thank you for the wonderful tips!! I miss living in Belgium.
So pleased your garden's doing okay despite the heat. :-)
It's so cold in the black country I've had to bubble wrap in the greenhouse
Weather picking up .... grow well friend
I find your videos so much more educative and very organised/positive then others. Please never stop! Cant wait for your next videos. Is the zone the same as in the netherlands as in uk?
Thanks so much! I think we're in broadly the same zone (USDA zone 8) and have similar climates. :-)
I can see the first few peapods develop. But I haven't had one yet. Snails and slugs seems to love these more than anything else in my whole garden. I tried planting decoy crops that I remember them absolutely loving last year and before that, only for them to completely ignore them in favor of my peaplants.
There are a few tips in this video that might help: ua-cam.com/video/VJvUwkFZeOM/v-deo.htmlsi=SwyroesuO16uP8Li
The crop I most await to ripen? Tomatoes!It's warm, 70°-80°F, for a week, then 30°F and cold rain the next with a sprinkle of frost in-between. Only things out are my potatoes, broad beans, onions, shallots, lettuce, and cabbage. Everything else is romping away in the greenhouse.
Great video
I do enjoy garden tomatoes, but every now and then I can buy them in the stores and they smell like a tomatoe. Not with cucumbers. They put so much bitter wax on them, that I enjoy taking the first cuc from the garden and eating it right there. 😊
Hope it warms up in the UK soon! It's so cold for April and only my tomato, kale and lettuce seeds have only just started to germinate :(
You germinated tomatoes in the ground outdoors?
@@willbee7925 Yes! I never have much luck germinating inside the house, I get more success sowing directly in the ground oddly
Ohhh….interesting combo! Here in North Carolina, kale and lettuce have been growing for over a month as they do well with the chill. Lettuce will bolt soon with the heat. And…tomato seeds need heat to generate. Two totally different seasons for me. 🤷🏻♀ Good luck!
@@joannc147 Wow so cool and very different than here in London! Wishing you a happy growing season!!
Hard frost here in ireland this morning. Crazy stuff.
Great video, Ben, thank you. I was wondering - have you ever, or would you consider doing a UA-cam live video (or an Ask Me Anything on Reddit) where we can send in or pose questions on a variety of topics? I think it would be very popular.
Thanks for the suggestion. I have considered this, yes, and should probably get on and do one soon!
@@GrowVeg Excellent!
Joyful and informative 🌹
Many thanks from South Wales 🌺🌸🌼🌷🌹🌺
Thanks for another awesome video!
Hi I don't have a heat mat I use my aquarium light if you have those old fashioned models with a flat top they are great for starting seeds on top of them. Perfect heat for seedlings but don´t forget as soon as they have germanated they need to be moved to a place with proper growlights, it workes well with those plants that need an earlier start or need more heat to start germinate.
Great idea, thanks for sharing. :-)
- 2.0 Celsius forcast next 2 nites here in Halifax N.S. Canada. 😅
Still a bit of winter to go. 😀
Frost here this morning..... im starting to think the weather is changing..... feels a lot colder than it used to be.
I was *not* prepared for how large nasturtium plants get
My garden is invested with voles. Darn cats aren't doing their job-hunting and eating voles. Vole repellent isn't working either. The varments got my over flow potatoes, and have destroyed my shelling peas. I just did my first harvest of mustard greens. I'll get another harvest in two to three weeks. The pole beans have sprouted, and I have lots of herb seedlings, basil, dill, parsley, oregano, catnip, yarrow, chicory, marjoram, cilantreo, and peppermint. My Goji Berry Bushes are about 2 cm away from being transplanted into the ground. The summer squash, main crop potatoes, cucumbers, and melons are doing great. Some of my tomato plants are flowering, and I have peppers that are already fruiting. I just sowed seeds for a replacement crop of deeterment tomatoes. Cheers!
Those pesky voles! Hope you manage to beat them eventually.
@@GrowVeg I'll get them. I wanted a crop of shelling peas this year, so they crossed a red line. It is war! Cats and repellent aren't working. I have sonic stakes on order. They will be here tomorrow. In the fall, I am going to dig out the raised beds and line the bottoms with rocks. Maybe sooner, if I don't get them under control.
Better to line the bottoms with wire mesh. We call it hardware cloth.
@@leahwithheld783 Six of my raised beds are lined with 1/4 hardware cloth. I have enough 3ft wide hardware cloth to line two of my raised beds. I have four raised beds on crushed gravel. Voles aren't digging thrdough it, but I dare them to try. That leaves 2 four foot wide raised beds that need protection from voles. Four foot wide roles of hardware cloth are very expensive. I have a lot of rock, and crushed gravel around the yard that I can use to line the bottoms, about 2 inches deep. Voles won't be able to dig through packed gravel. For two beds, it is the most cost effective means of preventing voles, but it is a lot of labor.
I had a massive problem with voles last year. I had success using castor oil. Some castor oil and a drop of washing up liquid in the water in my watering can. Apparently they don't like the smell.
It’s too wet and cold here in Yorkshire for sewing seeds outside.
You and Charles Dowding are my David Attenborough of gardening.
That is incredibly high praise, thank you! ☺️
Good stuff top video
Great video 🇳🇿❤️
Good plant 10 season growing
Perfect
Hi, can you please tell me what I can grow in a large container that I grew sweet potatoes in last year? I’m in zone 5b, and I don’t want to grow garlic or onions (I can’t eat them anymore). I have several containers and a couple raised beds to grow in. Thank you so much Ben.
I reckon something like beans would be good - bush types. Or any type of root crop like carrots or parsnips.
I am trying my hand at container gardening this year. I mostly have herbs, but I also have some containers of sorrel going and am planning on planting Swiss chard. Unfortunately, everything I planted from seed is taking forever to grow, despite being indoors by a large south facing window.
That’s annoying. I hope growth picks up as weather and light levels improve.
I sprinkled a box of Poundland wildflower seeds 3 weeks ago into a raked border, will they germinate with all these cold UK nights?
Yes, absolutely, they should eventually germinate.
Wildflower seeds often need a bit of cold to get them going, it's called stratification. They're tough little monkeys, good luck.
I love your channel! I am honna try to direct sow borage and nasturtium this year...where i am, nighttime temperatures are still occasionally hitting the 35 celsius range approximately. Will they germinate you think or its too early?
35 Celsius is very hot! But they may well germinate at that temperature. Unless you mean 35 Fahrenheit, in which case it’s probably just about okay so now. So long as they don’t get a frost.
@GrowVeg 😅😅 yes my apologies. Meant 35 Fahrenheit...I appreciate it :) will check for possibilities and hope for best.
Thank you!
Just found your channel.I am new to veg gardening and have soaked some dwarf rondo beans,have I made a mistake.?😁Any advice would be great.
It's often recommended to soak bean seeds for around 8-12 hours before sowing, so I think you should be fine. Soaking helps to speed up germination. Just keep things warm to help speed germination.
Hi ben sorry i am new to growing veg , what is bolting? and how can you tell a plant has indeed bolted? Thank you
Bolting is when the plant flowers and goes to seed. For most vegetables it is triggered by warmth followed by cold making the plant believe winter is coming and it is time to produce seeds to ensure the next generation. Cool season crops (lettuce, brassicas-cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, etc. and greens), celery and some herbs are especially susceptible IME. Many gardeners forget that plants don’t care about making vegetables for use to eat, they produce flowers and vegetables to reproduce. Now, the longer it stays warm the longer they can fruit ultimately producing more seeds for the next generation to ensure survival of their species. But, cold weather, I.e.winter, means need to hurry up and make seed babies. Many cool season crops do well being planted later in the summer to be harvested in the fall, just count back from your first average frost date in the fall the number of days to harvest (usually found on the back of the seed packets) and plant a few weeks before the number. For example if your first fall frost is usually October 15 and you have something that is 60 days to harvest then 60 days before would be August 15, so a couple of weeks before August 15 would be your last time to plant this (so you could ideally plant any time in July to possibly early August). Carrots are also a great late summer crop, they can be left in the ground up to freeze (and after if you are willing to dig frozen ground), many brassicas (especially Brussels sprouts) are even better and sweeter if the mature plants have experienced frost, it concentrates the sugars! Hope this was helpful. Happy gardening!
Bolting is when a veg goes to seed. Some veg get a change in taste at this point. I like to leave a few plants to bolt as they shoot up some great flowers for pollinators.
Bolting is just when a vegetable flowers prematurely, which stops it being productive. You can tell when a plant is bolting by a tall, straight stem rising up from the middle of the plant.
Where are your arches from please? I can’t find any that are as sturdy as yours look
They’re from Agrs. 😀 www.agrs.co.uk/products/elegance-round-arch?_pos=6&_sid=223b5875b&_ss=r
Damn it's been soooo cold here in Suffolk.... We've really struggled to get things going even in the greenhouses..day before yesterday 27April we had -1c and heavy frost... And so much rain
Warmer weather on the way! :-)
It's still Winter in Bristol 🥶 Things aren't germinating or growing.
I think spring may be coming next week! :-)
Borage will overtake your area Ben! That’s one thing I can grow well lol.😂 Nastartiums are beautiful but for me hard to grow well. The slugs do like them as well.
Slugs don’t usually eat Nasturtiums??
Its super hot where I live, and summer can reach up to 50C, its my first year gardening and it's a real challenge. I'd love to know some veggies I can grow in this weather. Much love :)
Make sure you get plenty of shading up to help plants keep cooler, and water regularly of course. Warm-season crops like tomato, zucchini/eggplants, melons, corn etc should do well in a warmer climate.
@@GrowVeg Thanks! I already ordered my shade net and watering system and hopefully I can grow my veggies soon :D
Very helpful and encouraging as always ... Where do you get your bean arches? 🙏🙏
Thanks so much. :-) The arches are from Agrs: www.agrs.co.uk/products/elegance-round-arch
The corn surprised me (& the celery tbh) considering the space, time & effort that could be better spent on other veg that aren't as cheap/accessible at local farms & stores...but everyone has different lists of what's important enough to plant asap.
Edit: i guess the celery could fill
areas that are otherwise too damp to be useful but I still don't see the point of the corn.
I grew corn for the first time last year (south east uk) & can safely say that the flavour when freshly picked and eaten was second to none. Completely worth the space. Just 20 plants didn’t take a huge amount of room 💚
@@pisees738 That's true, fresh picked sweet corn is hard to beat. It even tastes good raw. I'm lucky that I have an abundance of roadside farm stands nearby & that influences my view on what to spend. What prompted you to grow it?
@@pisees738 That's true, fresh picked sweet corn is hard to beat. It even tastes good raw. I'm lucky that I have an abundance of roadside farm stands nearby & that influences me. What prompted you to grow it?
Spring is definitely a "hit or miss" here in the west coast of Scotland.
Think it was either last year or year before we had a spell of frost!! It was like someone had dropped a nuke In my garden! 😂 Myself and kids were devastated!!
Thank god for good old hardy cabbage!
I've never tried corn, so this video has my spider senses tingling... hmmm..
Another great upload, brother!!! 🫡💙🙌
Edit; "'turn hard times into Chard times" 😂😂 Love it, mate!
Cheers for watching! Good ol' hardy cabbage is always a winner! :-)
It is true nasturtium is a great companion plant with most vegetables since its a pollinator? Because I have it all over. (I'd rather have a covered garden then one full of pests!)
It is a great companion flower as it attracts pollinators into the garden and lures away some pests (like cabbage white butterflies), thereby saving the food crop. I reckon it adds so much cheer too!
Hello, I was wondering if you have any tips about Sweet Potatoes. I searched your channel but I found nothing. Please can you release a video on sweet potatoes :)
Thanks for the suggestion. We don't have a sweet potato video (yet!), so this is one to consider for the future. :-)
It’s so cold and wet here in Cornwall , I can’t see there being time to grow anything except my potatoes 😂
Dont put soil on your celery seeds they need light to germinate, Mine are doing great and iv managed to overwinter some :)
Ben...always a great video. I only wish I could grow corn...well I can but I have at least 30plus squirrels in my yard and last year they tasted every bit of my corn. It was tall it was full of corn it was delicious so say the squirrels 😅. I will say here in the deep south of Florida we know how to marinade squirrel ....lol so it's a trade off. These squirrels eat nothing but good stuff...peanuts..bread..crackers and what ever else we have 😅 so they should be good. I'm kidding I don't eat squirrel YET. 😊
PEACE&PLENTY
They clearly have very good tastes! 😅
@@GrowVeg lol....yes they do on both ends of the spectrum. Haha 😂
The "new gardener" here again.
Great video as always!
I did some sowing last month for the 1st time (vegetables) and got about 90% germination. However, because my conservatory is west-facing, my seedlings are getting too leggy. I've even tried some full-spectrum grow lights (red + blue) but not getting much of a luck.
I wish I could have some experience gardener like you Ben to come over and give some practical tips! Happy for my garden to be one of your youtube video episode!
I have a big garden which was abandoned for years and therefore being a new gardener, I guess I need a lot of encouragement and guidance to get going otherwise the garden will be left abandoned again :(
Wish I could have a visit from you as an Eid-gift for myself 😄
Well done on getting such good germination. Just try to get your seedlings in as bright a position as possible. If it’s brighter outside, they may be best there in a more sheltered spot.
Are the thin metal trellises bought from somewhere or do you have a video on how you made them?
The metal arches are from Agrs: www.agrs.co.uk/products/elegance-round-arch
Watching this video, you had cardboard tubes with carrots sown in. Do you separate the carrot seedlings or plant the tube with the seedlings in? Thanks.
I plant them as little bunches of carrots, with space between each bunch. But if you were growing bigger carrots, for example for exhibition purposes, you'd thin them to leave just one seedling in each.
@GrowVeg thank you Ben 😊
No link to the yearly garden layout website in the description.
Sorry about that. Here’s the link: www.growveg.com/garden-planner-intro.aspx
@@GrowVeg thank you! 😁
I would love a list in the description of the ones to do
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm trying to include most lists of suggested/recommended varieties in future videos. :-)
@@GrowVeg thank you
The onions I planted from seed are not doing will some germinated then grew a long root that pushed the seed hull up an the greens started 1/2" to 1" above the soil. What did I do wrong
The seed usually comes up with the green shoot, so it sounds like they are doing what they should be doing. As for compost, you can never have too much! Four inches of it sounds like a great amount. You can just leave it on the surface then plant into it, or dig/rototill it in if you wish.
My first sowing of climbing beans last month in the greenhouse were a 100% failure- and I noticed what looked like bean fly larvae in the seeds? Would this have come from the seed itself (Thompson & Morgan) or the soil? And would a warmer soil this month help the problem or will I still have the same issue this month? Thanks! :)
I would resow as beans perform so much better when it’s warmer. Give them another try now. I think any flies would have come in from elsewhere, not been on the seeds: www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/bean-seed-fly
Sow what do I do with my sweetcorn that s 6" high right now. and my potatoes that i will be lifting the first plants on Wednesday and pea pods I will pick those in 10 days as already have pods on.
The sweetcorn can go out as soon as there's no more risk of frost. Here in much of the UK that really means from about now, particularly as the coming week is set to be a lot warmer. Perhaps they could go in place of the potatoes, with fresh compost added to fuel the new growth of the sweetcorn?
@@GrowVeg They are out in the garden already and expect too harvest in late Jul and had new spuds and new carrots for tea tonight I send you some snaps, but not on here as don't know how and we had 0 c last night, but as my land is sloped too the west then no damage.
Ive watched the chemtrail drones going over the sky here in wiltshire 6 in the morning,what worries me is not getting plants out and the insect that can't find food
I really feel for you guys up in england
Let's go back through your videos looking to see if you had anything on watermelon or cantaloupe
Nothing on those yet. 😀
I tried growing a few cantaloupe plants 2 years ago….as a “lark”. Oddly enough, they were my best & my favorite harvest 🤣. Easy, too. The flavor is stunning! I grew them up an arbor I fashioned from a cattle panel. I used plastic vine clips I found on Amazon to secure the vines. Melons did not need any extra support. Definitely plant a couple this year as a treat! I’ve not grown watermelon as I can’t afford that much space. Good luck!