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Hello and welcome to this week's
episode of the Veg Grow Up podcast.

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My name is Richard and I want to
encourage and inspire more

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people to grow their own food.
And I do this by sharing what I'm

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doing on my own allotment and my own
vegetable garden or kitchen garden,

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or as I like to call it, sometimes,
the modern victory garden.

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Now coming up today we have been
down the allotment where we have

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been tending to quite a few of
our summer jobs.

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It's been busy down on the
allotment this week, actually.

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We've got a lot that we have
managed to tackle at home.

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We have managed to get some plant
bargains, and I want to share with

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you what I do with some of these
plant bargains that I pick up from

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a garden centre, and we finish
off with a bit of a note about if

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you are going away on holiday,
what you can do to look after your

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plots or your chickens while you
are away by telling you what I do.

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We also have a fantastic recipe
from Chef Scott.

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So without much ado,
let's head down to the allotment.

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While I'm here on the allotment
today, and I've been down here quite

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a bit over this last week. Of course.
It is a little bit windy today and

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we are getting the odd showers.
We had some really heavy rain over

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the last couple of nights as well,
which is really helped with the

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subject that I want to talk
about today.

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Now some occur on our allotment.
It's that time of year where as the

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sun gets hotter and hotter, certain
things become a bit of a problem.

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And for me, one of the things I've
been keeping a very close eye on is

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my brassicas, my summer cabbages,
my summer cauliflowers, my broccoli,

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because these are very prone when
they get overly hot to bolting.

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Now, I do find that by keeping the
ground moist and by covering with

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lawn clippings as a mulch, we do
tend to look after them quite well.

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And I've actually just today
harvested my first cabbage

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pretty much every day.
I've been squeezing my cabbages,

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particularly this one because I knew
it wasn't long until it was ready

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and just waiting for it to get firm
until I could harvest it today.

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It was nice and firm,
so I've harvested it and I'm

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enjoying it, but we're keeping a
close eye on the rest.

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Rain's just coming in, so I'm going
to get inside the greenhouse,

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but we're keeping a close eye on all
those cabbages that are remaining,

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making sure that we harvest them as
soon as they are ready and making

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sure that they don't bolt again.
Keeping the soil moist is

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probably the biggest tip that I
have from this.

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Some people will put up a bit of
shade cloth when it gets hot,

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or just a bit of cloth to try
and create a bit of shade.

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A bit too much work for my
liking and it's the same with

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the cauliflowers as well.
Now cauliflowers I do find to be,

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particularly in the summer,
very, very pernickety they will

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grow and grow and grow and they
look exactly ready.

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And then the next day they will
have gone too far.

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I've got one cauliflower at the
moment that is very, very,

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very nearly ready for harvesting.
I'm just keeping a very close eye

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on it to see when it is ready.
But cauliflowers are also a bit

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of a challenge in the summer.
I find they are quite well known

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for boating in the summer and again
people will put up shade cloth,

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keep the soil moist and mulches
to help it.

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And what other people will also do
is they would use the leaves and

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cover over the cauliflower curd,
the bit that we're going to

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harvest and tie it together to
shade out that cauliflower.

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I do find, and it's quite well
known that if the cauliflower

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just gets a bit too much sun,
they can start to turn it yellow,

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which is a bit of a problem,
but something that is quite natural.

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It just doesn't look very appetizing.
Now let me get on to the

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potatoes as well.
The potatoes are needing close

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monitoring.
Now blight is one of the biggest

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problems we have with potatoes
and late blight particularly,

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which we are getting a few
warnings is making an appearance.

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I actually was looking at some
of my potatoes today,

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and I can see a couple of plants
that are showing signs of blight,

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so we're going to have to harvest
those fairly quickly in order to make

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sure that the blight doesn't spread.
This is on my second early potatoes,

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Nicolette.
So it's about time that we're

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harvesting them anyway.
So it's not the end of the world.

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It's the main crops that we want
to keep a close eye on,

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to make sure that we don't get any
blight on those, because blight

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can literally just kill off within
a very short time any of the

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foliage and lead to the plants.
And it is horrible and absolutely

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horrible fungal disease.
It's well known, of course, to being

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the cause of the Irish potato famine.
I'm noticing I'm getting a bit of

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black spot on some of my potatoes,
which I don't think is a huge

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problem, but something I'm keeping a
close eye on. But again, potatoes.

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Another thing that we do have to
do is keep the soil moist.

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If the soil dries out and the potato
skin hardens because it's dried out,

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the potato can't grow anymore.
So just keeping that soil moist will

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encourage us to get some large,
decent potatoes.

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So just a bit of a tip there.
Just something to look out for.

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Potatoes are thirsty,
hungry plants and they do need

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quite a bit of watering.
Now something else I've been doing

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today is thinning my apple trees.
I spoke a few weeks ago that apples

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and other fruit trees have a tendency
to drop loads of fruit during June,

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what's known as a June drop.
Now this apple tree, it was

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absolutely full of mini apples,
which are looking absolutely

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fantastic, I've got to say.
Lots and lots of them,

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but there's too many on the the
tree itself, and all I've had to

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do is go along and thin them,
and they'll may have to thin

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them again in a few days time.
Basically, we reduced the amount of

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apples on them and I've got a huge
bucket full of these mini apple fruit

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lid set we can't do anything with.
Now, this does sound

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counterproductive when we do this,
but there's a very good reason

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that we do this.
And that is because the fruits that

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are left on the tree that we haven't
thinned will continue to grow.

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They will produce better fruit,
much better tasting, a decent size.

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But more importantly,
and I think this is a thing that

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often gets overlooked.
It will encourage more fruit in

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next year.
Some people tell me that some years

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they get a really, really good year
for apples, and then the following

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year they don't get any at all.
And it's often because the tree

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has just put all its energies
into the fruits the year before,

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and it's unable to produce any
flowers or fruits the following year,

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so So thin in the melt does make
quite a difference.

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How much do you think new apple
trees out by?

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That is a very difficult
question to answer.

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And the rule I go by is what Bob
flower Guy once said.

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I think on Gardener's Question
Time I had it.

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And that is you thin your apple
trees until you want to cry.

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You go away, have a cup of tea,
you come back and do some more.

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I think that's true because it
does sound very counterproductive.

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You want to basically just give
enough room for the apple trees to to

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grow and produce more without being
weighted down with loads of fruit.

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Now, another thing that I have also
been doing is pruning my cherry tree.

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Now we've had a good year for
cherries.

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We've had lots and lots of cherries
which are all in the freezer,

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but they have come to an end, which,
you know, we're happy with that.

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That's quite right.
What happens with stone fruits like

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cherries, peaches, nectarines if we
prune them in the winter, which,

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when I do most of my pruning, it can
lead to the tree catching a disease.

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So we only when it comes to stone
fruits, prune them in the summer when

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they're less likely to get infected.
And today was a day that I felt

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it was necessary to do that in
particular, to try and reduce the

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height we have height restrictions
here on the allotment,

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but to prune them during the
winter is almost impossible.

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So we wait until this time of year.
Then we give them a good prune

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and bring it down.
Now, during the week,

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I've been into a few garden centres
and I have brought myself another

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cherry tree for the allotment,
which is at home at the moment.

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But while I was there I also
found some bargains.

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Now, in a moment, I'm going to be
talking about how we deal with some

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of these bargain trees that we
buy from certain garden centres,

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how we can look after them to try and
ensure that they are successful.

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I've got to head home to do that.
In the meantime,

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let's find out what's been going on
in the supporters club this week.

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Well, I hope you are enjoying
this podcast so far.

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If you are, then please do rate and
review on your podcast. Provider.

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Only takes a few seconds,
but really helps the algorithms

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and gets us seen by more people.
It really is very very important.

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I really could do with a lot
more reviews.

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Now if you want to support the
work that we do and get something

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in return at the same time,
please consider becoming a

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member of our Supporters Club.
Our Supporters Club is set up to

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help, encourage and guide people
on how to grow more food.

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For just £5 a month.
To be a member, you get access to

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extra behind the scenes content.
These are usually in the form of

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an extra couple of podcasts a week
that share with you what I'm doing

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here at the Veg Grower podcast.
You also get a monthly seed pack

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from for your door, containing
usually six packets of seeds.

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And these seeds can be sown in
that very month.

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And you also get a copy of our
monthly newspaper.

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This is a mini newspaper that
comes out with the seeds.

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I'm constantly trying to add
things to the club, looking for

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new features to add to it as well.
Now if that is something you would be

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interested in joining and please do
head to the registrar podcast. Co.Uk.

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Now this week on the Supporters Club,
I have been talking about an incident

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that has happened down on the
allotment that I haven't discussed

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in this podcast at the moment
because it involves the police,

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but we've also been sewing a
couple of packets of seed.

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We've sown some of the salad leaf
seed. We spoke about that last week.

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This is a completely different
variety, but a really nice salad

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leaf that we have sown.
And we've also seen some turnips.

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Not one of my favorite vegetables,
if I'm honest with you, but it's

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a vegetable that we can grow.
And there must be ways that I can

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find recipes to make it tasty for me.
Now again, if that is something

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you would be interested in,
head to the vegetable podcast

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co.uk to find out more.
Well, I'm in my garden now and

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it's still a little bit windy.
I'm hoping this wind is going to

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die down quite soon.
Well, I want to talk to you today

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is that if you've listened to this
podcast for any length of time,

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you would know that one of the
things that I like to do is on the

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search for some bargain plants.
I often go into garden centres

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and I find that they have a
bargain corner where plants that

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they're not good enough to sell
is the way I would regard it.

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They're in very poor condition
for one reason or another.

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I often find these are what are
sold off fairly cheap in order

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to get rid of them.
Now, sometimes they're not

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really worth it.
I've gone across a few this week that

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basically pumpkins that are suffered
and really covered in mildew.

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I wouldn't bother with those to
be honest.

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I wouldn't bother with any
annuals like this.

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But perennials, fruit trees,
fruit bushes then I think they can be

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bargains. And the same with herbs.
Now this week when I've been

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visiting some garden centers, I have
discovered some of these bargains.

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I've got a couple of marjoram
implants that cost me 50 per year,

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which I'm very happy with that.
I think that is an absolute bargain.

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I've also got well, I'm just tending
to right now a gooseberry plant.

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Now gooseberry, of course,
I've got quite a few gooseberry

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plants in various locations, but this
plant cost me a pound and I couldn't

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resist because for £1 we can.
I'm pretty certain we can bring

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it back into good life.
But we can also get plenty of

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gooseberries out of it in the
coming years, as well as

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potentially make some cuttings.
Now this goose people aren't.

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To me, it looks like it's been laid
on its side because all the fresh,

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healthy growth is just coming
off one side.

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And I think that's why it's been
sold off cheap.

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The main stem does look a little
bit on the dark side,

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a little bit brittle, but the
fresh new growth is quite green.

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So there's a good chance that this is
going to survive and we're going

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to get a decent plant out of it.
Now what I've done,

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I bought this for £1.
The marjoram plants I do exactly the

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same things with as well as I brought
them home, and I've put them in some

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sort of water for a couple of days.
I often find that the compost that

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these plants are growing is in such a
poor condition that they haven't

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really watered or looked after,
so just put them into a bit of water,

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just get that compost hydrated
and get the the plants starting

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to get off to a good start.
I would leave it for a few days

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until the compost is fully hydrated,
and then I start with an expert,

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which is what I'm doing right now.
So what I want to do is get this

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gooseberry plant into a bigger pot,
give it a bit more room to grow

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00:13:50,650 --> 00:13:55,210
with some nice fresh compost.
I'm using a loan based compost

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00:13:55,540 --> 00:13:58,480
and that's usually best for when
we are growing fruit trees or

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00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,110
bushes in a pot anyway.
Because a bit more sand, a bit more

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00:14:02,110 --> 00:14:06,220
grit, a bit more texture to it than,
say, a multi-purpose compost.

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00:14:06,820 --> 00:14:11,330
Now what I'm doing is I've pulled the
gooseberry plant out of the pot,

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00:14:11,540 --> 00:14:14,870
and we're just looking at the
roots and inspecting those.

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00:14:14,870 --> 00:14:18,920
They're not in too bad condition.
To be fair, sometimes you find

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00:14:18,920 --> 00:14:22,520
that the roots can be pop bound,
where they've been winding around

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00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:26,090
and around the pot, and they
would often just need teas now,

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00:14:26,090 --> 00:14:29,870
which is where you sort of release
them from that pot shape and get

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00:14:29,870 --> 00:14:35,940
them to to stretch out and grow
on into a better situation.

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00:14:37,050 --> 00:14:39,750
These ones aren't too bad,
so I'm just going to put this

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00:14:39,750 --> 00:14:44,070
straight into a pot of compost
and we will again, we'll put that

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00:14:44,070 --> 00:14:47,550
in a source of water just to
encourage those roots to grow.

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00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:52,140
Now, another thing that I always
like to do is because these plants

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00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:55,680
are in a very poor condition,
they need a lot of TLC.

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00:14:55,710 --> 00:14:58,420
I'm not going to bother feeding.
There should be enough feed in

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00:14:58,420 --> 00:15:02,440
the compost to see it through,
but if we have any flowers,

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00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,620
we're going to remove those.
We don't really want it to

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00:15:05,620 --> 00:15:09,280
flower because it diverts energy
away from the roots.

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00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:13,000
What we really want is for the plant
to really develop some good root

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00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,800
system, potentially even some good
foliage, and then it should come

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00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:22,220
back absolutely fine next year.
Now, because this has actually got

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00:15:22,220 --> 00:15:27,140
some half decent foliage on one side,
I think there's a good chance we will

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00:15:27,140 --> 00:15:32,300
actually be able to to recover this,
but now we've potted it up.

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00:15:32,330 --> 00:15:35,300
It's just a waiting game to see
how it gets on.

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00:15:35,690 --> 00:15:37,910
Looking at some of this foliage,
though,

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00:15:37,910 --> 00:15:41,600
because of the way it's shaped,
we could probably train it into an

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00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:46,040
interesting and different shape.
This is one of the great advantages I

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00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:51,170
like about these discount plants,
is that it just means that if we

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00:15:51,170 --> 00:15:55,700
do cock something up, we do make a
mistake. We've not lost much money.

244
00:15:55,700 --> 00:16:00,590
A pound is nothing really.
And if it does survive, we get a

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00:16:00,590 --> 00:16:03,620
gooseberry plant for a pound.
That could produce lots of

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00:16:03,650 --> 00:16:07,610
gooseberries for a pound.
You know, it's not much money at all.

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00:16:07,820 --> 00:16:12,840
We can also take cuttings and end up
with more plants for just that £1.

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00:16:13,140 --> 00:16:16,260
I spoke about this a lot last year
because I'm a big fan of trying to

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00:16:16,260 --> 00:16:19,800
save as much money as possible.
And this is one of the ways that

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00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,010
I think we do it.
It's fantastic. I've got to say.

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00:16:23,940 --> 00:16:25,560
Now,
of course I do like gooseberries.

252
00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:30,000
I've got a few gooseberry plants.
This particular variety I've

253
00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,420
read about is a virtually
thornless variety.

254
00:16:33,420 --> 00:16:38,980
But to be fair, I can see there's
quite a few thorns on it already.

255
00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:42,730
There is a risk when it comes to
buying these that they are

256
00:16:42,730 --> 00:16:44,620
mislabeled.
It's definitely a gooseberry.

257
00:16:44,620 --> 00:16:48,460
I've got no questions about that.
I just don't think it is quite the

258
00:16:48,460 --> 00:16:54,820
right variety. That's not a problem.
Not a problem for me at all. Right.

259
00:16:54,820 --> 00:16:57,370
Well, that is the plants now
taking care of.

260
00:16:57,370 --> 00:17:01,700
It's time to go and see what
Chef Scott has for us this week.

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00:17:04,940 --> 00:17:07,160
Hi Scott here with this week's
recipe.

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00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:10,910
And this week we have the
Premier Seeds Direct Seed of the

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00:17:10,910 --> 00:17:13,610
month recipe.
And as you will know from last

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00:17:13,610 --> 00:17:16,970
week's podcast,
this month's seed is a type of salad

265
00:17:16,970 --> 00:17:21,620
mix called Gourmet Loose Leaf.
And with Richard Bean on a bit of

266
00:17:21,620 --> 00:17:25,740
a health kick, I thought I would
share a super healthy recipe using

267
00:17:25,740 --> 00:17:30,270
the salad leaf and other allotment
vegetables, and it is Vietnamese.

268
00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:34,800
Salad rolls and dipping sauce are
sometimes known as Vietnamese

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00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,610
spring rolls, but these are not
the cooked crispy rolls.

270
00:17:38,610 --> 00:17:43,590
They are a mix of sliced raw
vegetables, salad leaves and fresh

271
00:17:43,590 --> 00:17:47,740
herbs mixed with rice noodles
and wrapped in a rice paper.

272
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:53,470
The translation from Vietnamese to
English translates as rolled salad,

273
00:17:53,470 --> 00:17:57,460
and I think it's a great way of
eating salad and a great alternative

274
00:17:57,460 --> 00:18:01,780
to a sandwich for a packed lunch.
So let's head to the kitchen and

275
00:18:01,780 --> 00:18:05,230
hear how they're made.
As usual, you can find this

276
00:18:05,230 --> 00:18:11,210
recipe and others on the podcast.
Co.Uk and on my Instagram page.

277
00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:15,140
See to Table Plot 13,
where you will also find a video

278
00:18:15,140 --> 00:18:19,460
on how to make them.
For this recipe, you will need for

279
00:18:19,460 --> 00:18:25,580
the dipping sauce 25g of caster
sugar 30g of rice wine vinegar.

280
00:18:25,820 --> 00:18:30,260
30g of fish sauce and the juice
of one lime.

281
00:18:30,470 --> 00:18:34,160
Two sliced spring onions and one
red chilli, diced.

282
00:18:34,580 --> 00:18:38,400
And for the rolls,
six Vietnamese rice paper sheets.

283
00:18:38,430 --> 00:18:43,230
You can find these online or in
your local Asian supermarket.

284
00:18:43,650 --> 00:18:49,500
50g of vermicelli, rice noodles and a
selection of salad leaves, herbs and

285
00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:53,160
other vegetables from the allotment.
I won't give you specific words

286
00:18:53,160 --> 00:18:56,250
because depending on what you use,
the weights will be different,

287
00:18:56,670 --> 00:19:01,150
but I use the gourmet salad mix.
Thinly sliced radish.

288
00:19:01,270 --> 00:19:05,080
Thinly sliced raw courgette.
Thinly sliced carrots.

289
00:19:05,230 --> 00:19:10,990
Fresh raw peas, thinly sliced
peppers, thinly sliced cucumbers and

290
00:19:10,990 --> 00:19:15,280
sliced spring onions and chopped
coriander and basil. Method.

291
00:19:15,310 --> 00:19:19,510
Start by cooking the rice noodles
for one minute in boiling water,

292
00:19:19,510 --> 00:19:23,750
then drain and run under cold water
to completely cool and then set

293
00:19:23,750 --> 00:19:28,670
aside. Now make the dipping sauce.
Do this by whisking together all

294
00:19:28,670 --> 00:19:32,960
the ingredients for the sauce and
whisk until the sugar has dissolved.

295
00:19:33,350 --> 00:19:38,000
Now prepare your choice of solid
leaves, herbs, and vegetables.

296
00:19:38,090 --> 00:19:40,520
You just want everything thinly
sliced.

297
00:19:40,970 --> 00:19:45,860
Now we can make the rolls to do this.
Take a rice paper sheet and dip

298
00:19:45,860 --> 00:19:49,110
into hot water.
The water needs to be bath

299
00:19:49,110 --> 00:19:52,680
temperature and you just want to
dip it to get it wet.

300
00:19:52,710 --> 00:19:56,940
Do not circuit in the water.
Now put the sheet on a work

301
00:19:56,940 --> 00:20:01,260
surface and then add to the
center of the sheet some noodles,

302
00:20:01,260 --> 00:20:05,520
salad leaves, herbs and veggies.
Then spoon over a little bit of the

303
00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,730
dipping sauce and then roll them up,
tucking the ends in.

304
00:20:09,090 --> 00:20:11,500
You can see how this is done in
the video.

305
00:20:12,070 --> 00:20:15,460
Wouldn't you have made them all
serve with the rest of the sauce

306
00:20:15,460 --> 00:20:19,090
to dip into and enjoy?
And that's the recipe done.

307
00:20:19,090 --> 00:20:24,580
And that's it from me this week.
Well, I don't know if you're thinking

308
00:20:24,580 --> 00:20:28,330
about going on holiday this year.
Some holiday season is nearly

309
00:20:28,330 --> 00:20:29,950
upon us.
It's certainly not something

310
00:20:29,950 --> 00:20:33,490
that I am personally looking at.
But, you know,

311
00:20:33,490 --> 00:20:36,430
it would be nice to go away.
I think some of us could do with a

312
00:20:36,430 --> 00:20:39,460
bit of a break from time to time,
but when we do go away in the summer,

313
00:20:39,460 --> 00:20:43,330
we do have to think about how do we
look after our vegetable plants,

314
00:20:43,330 --> 00:20:46,300
how do we look after our livestock,
such as chickens?

315
00:20:46,390 --> 00:20:50,590
It is a big consideration.
I always think now that summer

316
00:20:50,590 --> 00:20:54,610
holidays with school,
they were time to have time off set.

317
00:20:54,670 --> 00:20:59,140
The kids were there to help
parents bring in the harvest.

318
00:20:59,360 --> 00:21:02,690
Obviously we were much more
agriculture economy back then.

319
00:21:02,690 --> 00:21:07,280
We relied on the agriculture much
more for our jobs, and the six weeks

320
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,700
of the summer holiday were designed
to coincide with harvest time.

321
00:21:10,700 --> 00:21:14,690
So the kids were off school, but they
were still working out in the fields,

322
00:21:14,690 --> 00:21:18,890
bringing in the the harvest.
The parents had worked hard on

323
00:21:18,890 --> 00:21:23,850
the farms to grow.
And that to me kind of signifies the

324
00:21:23,850 --> 00:21:28,140
problem we've going on holiday during
this time is that there are plants

325
00:21:28,140 --> 00:21:32,550
that need a lot of care, they need
harvesting and things like that.

326
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:36,660
So what I thought I would do is
just share with you today what I

327
00:21:36,660 --> 00:21:38,640
do when I go on a holiday.
Now, as I said,

328
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,630
I usually go away in the autumn.
It's a little bit windy again here,

329
00:21:42,630 --> 00:21:46,710
but I usually go away in the autumn
when it's a little bit cooler and

330
00:21:46,710 --> 00:21:50,710
there's a little bit less to do.
And I think that for me is a

331
00:21:50,710 --> 00:21:52,960
much better time.
We don't have kids, so it's easier

332
00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,530
for us to go away during that time,
but that's not for everybody.

333
00:21:56,530 --> 00:22:00,430
Of course, now I usually do get
my brother to house,

334
00:22:00,430 --> 00:22:04,480
sit our house for us so that he
can look after our chickens in,

335
00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:07,540
particularly every morning.
They need opening and closing.

336
00:22:07,540 --> 00:22:12,080
We need to make sure they got
food and water at all times. now.

337
00:22:12,380 --> 00:22:17,480
We could fit a automatic opener
to let the chickens in and out.

338
00:22:17,900 --> 00:22:21,350
It's a bit of an expense and it's.
But it's certainly something we

339
00:22:21,350 --> 00:22:24,590
could do.
And with food and water,

340
00:22:24,590 --> 00:22:28,760
they do generally have enough to
last them a few days.

341
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,030
But water particularly I think,
is very important to keep an eye

342
00:22:32,030 --> 00:22:36,300
on and, and make sure they have
fresh water every day.

343
00:22:36,900 --> 00:22:41,340
So somebody would at least need
to visit the chickens on a daily

344
00:22:41,340 --> 00:22:45,630
basis to ensure that they are happy.
So having a somebody house it

345
00:22:45,630 --> 00:22:49,050
for us just works out fantastic.
They may not always be an option.

346
00:22:49,050 --> 00:22:52,530
We're not sure what we're going to
do if it wasn't for my brother,

347
00:22:52,530 --> 00:22:57,600
but, we'll come up with
something when that problem arises.

348
00:22:57,990 --> 00:23:01,240
The garden here at home does
tend to look after itself.

349
00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:05,110
To be honest, I've spent a long time
adding organic matter to the soil,

350
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,810
particularly in the beds and mulches,
which does help.

351
00:23:07,810 --> 00:23:11,740
They still do need watering,
and I tend to use my watering cans

352
00:23:11,740 --> 00:23:16,420
using rainwater to water my garden.
But what are you do when we go

353
00:23:16,420 --> 00:23:21,280
away is I do say to my brother,
you can use the hosepipe, I hate it,

354
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,770
I absolutely hate it, but I think
it's fair for him to use it.

355
00:23:24,770 --> 00:23:27,380
It's he's given up a lot of time
looking after our garden,

356
00:23:27,380 --> 00:23:30,620
and if I was to water my garden
on a daily basis and do it

357
00:23:30,620 --> 00:23:33,470
properly would take an hour.
That's a large chunk of a day

358
00:23:33,470 --> 00:23:38,270
for somebody to do us a favor.
So hosepipe.

359
00:23:38,270 --> 00:23:41,060
So we could set up some sort of
irrigation system that

360
00:23:41,060 --> 00:23:44,000
automatically water things.
And it's just something we're doing

361
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:46,760
with veggie pods at the moment.
Now, I love my veggie pods,

362
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:51,210
but the sprayer system that is
inbuilt with those does tend to

363
00:23:51,210 --> 00:23:53,880
work off mains pressure.
We've been experimenting with

364
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,850
water pumps and they are working
quite well.

365
00:23:56,850 --> 00:23:59,850
You've got to get a decent one,
but we are seeming to be able to

366
00:23:59,850 --> 00:24:02,640
get enough pressure to get that
sprayer working and that's working

367
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,990
really well and we can put a
timer onto that to make sure it

368
00:24:06,990 --> 00:24:12,690
does kick in and in our pots.
Now, I've often said in the past that

369
00:24:12,700 --> 00:24:15,580
we're trying to move away from pots.
Until I started doing the front

370
00:24:15,580 --> 00:24:19,210
garden, that was because pots do
demand a lot more care.

371
00:24:19,210 --> 00:24:23,290
They often in the height of summer,
do need watering on a daily basis,

372
00:24:23,290 --> 00:24:26,890
otherwise they go dry and the
plants struggle for it.

373
00:24:27,250 --> 00:24:30,220
Now when we go away, well,
I tend to do is place all my pots

374
00:24:30,220 --> 00:24:34,660
in a tray that holds on to water
and I fill that tray up with water.

375
00:24:34,660 --> 00:24:37,250
And that does seem to work quite
well. again.

376
00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:41,210
I have to get my brother to top
these up at least once a day,

377
00:24:41,210 --> 00:24:44,270
or check on them at least once a
day anyway, in order to make

378
00:24:44,270 --> 00:24:48,800
sure the plants can survive.
One thing that I have been

379
00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:52,190
experimenting with a lot this
year is the auto pot system,

380
00:24:52,190 --> 00:24:56,240
which I've spoken about before,
and I'm still trying them,

381
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,630
but I'm really impressed with them.
At the moment there is a discount

382
00:24:59,630 --> 00:25:02,480
code if you are interested in Auto
Potter, which you can find on

383
00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,200
the blog post for this episode.
What I like about this auto pot

384
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:08,600
system,
the two pot system that I have.

385
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:12,590
Basically you have a trade two
pot sitting there and is a valve.

386
00:25:12,590 --> 00:25:18,530
It uses no electricity, no power.
It's all done by gravity and it

387
00:25:18,530 --> 00:25:23,180
just floods the tray.
When the levels drop water,

388
00:25:23,180 --> 00:25:25,890
soak it up.
It's very, very good as long as

389
00:25:25,890 --> 00:25:29,520
the reservoir is full.
And so far I've only had to fill

390
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:33,750
the reservoir up once since we
set it up at the end of May.

391
00:25:34,110 --> 00:25:38,010
So it is a very, very good system.
Now I bring this up because what I

392
00:25:38,010 --> 00:25:42,810
have actually seen on auto part,
they have a option to just buy the

393
00:25:42,810 --> 00:25:46,950
valve, which you can attach to a
reservoir and place that valve in

394
00:25:46,950 --> 00:25:50,830
any tray, which will be great if
you are going away on holiday.

395
00:25:50,830 --> 00:25:53,470
I do like it quite a bit,
and I think that's definitely

396
00:25:53,470 --> 00:25:58,150
something to think about as well.
Other systems include.

397
00:25:58,150 --> 00:26:01,270
I've got a solar powered
irrigation system that drips

398
00:26:01,270 --> 00:26:04,570
water into my greenhouse, which
I've used for a couple of years.

399
00:26:04,570 --> 00:26:07,510
It's not working so well this year.
I'll be honest with you.

400
00:26:07,510 --> 00:26:11,740
I've got a really drag it all out
and check it all over and really

401
00:26:11,740 --> 00:26:14,570
try and assess what's going on.
Well,

402
00:26:14,570 --> 00:26:18,830
I've got a couple of these actually,
and we're going to set those up.

403
00:26:18,830 --> 00:26:22,160
If we were going away, we're going to
set them up to drip water into our

404
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:26,840
hanging baskets using rainwater.
But to water these so they work

405
00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:30,170
quite well for that.
I don't know if they still make

406
00:26:30,170 --> 00:26:32,210
them to be honest,
because I've struggled to see them,

407
00:26:32,210 --> 00:26:36,350
but I'll have a look online and see
if they are still available again.

408
00:26:36,350 --> 00:26:39,900
They do use power, these ones,
but it's all done through solar

409
00:26:39,900 --> 00:26:43,770
powered, which again is something
I like and it is a case of set it

410
00:26:43,770 --> 00:26:46,860
up and forget about it, which is
also something I like, especially

411
00:26:46,860 --> 00:26:51,780
when we are going away on holiday.
Now a lot of this is applied here

412
00:26:51,780 --> 00:26:56,550
at home, and particularly with the
watering asking my brother to try and

413
00:26:56,550 --> 00:26:59,760
weed up beds when we go away might
be a little bit daunting for him.

414
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,680
He's not an experienced gardener.
He doesn't necessarily know what

415
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,750
we're doing.
So I try and make sure that

416
00:27:04,750 --> 00:27:08,860
everything has had a very,
very thorough weed before we go away.

417
00:27:08,860 --> 00:27:11,920
And I'll be aware that when we
come back we have to really give

418
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:17,260
everything a really good weeding as
well. I have to just live with that.

419
00:27:17,260 --> 00:27:19,900
There's not much more we can do
about that.

420
00:27:19,900 --> 00:27:23,710
Our beds here at home and also
down on the allotment.

421
00:27:23,710 --> 00:27:27,920
We've had plenty of organic matter.
We mulch, which does help hold on

422
00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,980
to the water near the allotment.
My brother can't go down to the

423
00:27:30,980 --> 00:27:33,050
allotment again.
It would take an hour to water

424
00:27:33,050 --> 00:27:36,920
that if he did it well, and that's
a lot of commitment for him.

425
00:27:37,460 --> 00:27:42,020
What I tend to do, I do get on well
with many of my allotment neighbours,

426
00:27:42,020 --> 00:27:45,770
and if I'm going away, I just sort
of say to them that, can you water

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00:27:45,770 --> 00:27:50,790
this every couple of days for me?
And anything you can see that is

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00:27:50,790 --> 00:27:54,570
ready for harvesting, harvest it and
help yourself to it and enjoy it.

429
00:27:55,170 --> 00:27:57,060
That way they get something out
of it.

430
00:27:57,060 --> 00:28:00,570
I get somebody looking after my
plants and I return the favor in

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00:28:00,570 --> 00:28:04,140
the future as well.
They happen to be going away too,

432
00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:10,080
so it all works very, very well in
this sort of system of cooperation.

433
00:28:10,800 --> 00:28:12,660
It's all about making our lives
easier for us.

434
00:28:12,660 --> 00:28:16,000
Again, if you are going away on
summer holidays, you know this is

435
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,450
something you have to think about.
Enjoy your trip away. Of course.

436
00:28:19,450 --> 00:28:23,320
Enjoy your trip away. Right.
Well, it is time to wrap this

437
00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,860
week's podcast up, so I'll meet
you back in the potting shed.

438
00:28:29,800 --> 00:28:33,040
Well, we are approaching the end
of this week's podcast.

439
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,740
I hope you have enjoyed it.
I've certainly enjoyed talking

440
00:28:35,740 --> 00:28:41,360
to you as always. Now I have.
Now I do ask you if you would be kind

441
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:45,890
enough just to leave us a rating and
review on your podcast provider.

442
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:48,350
It really does mean the world to us.
It really does.

443
00:28:48,350 --> 00:28:51,620
It gives us some important feedback,
but it also.

444
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:57,830
Helps the algorithms and helps
more people find us,

445
00:28:57,830 --> 00:29:01,940
which is really, really important.
Now on Facebook, Nigel Sadler said

446
00:29:01,940 --> 00:29:04,890
this This is exactly what he was
looking for on the back of last

447
00:29:04,890 --> 00:29:09,540
week's podcast, because he's had
a lot of trouble with seeds being

448
00:29:09,540 --> 00:29:13,350
eaten by slugs and snails, that
he's looking for more seeds to sow.

449
00:29:13,350 --> 00:29:16,890
So last week's podcast helped
him with that.

450
00:29:16,920 --> 00:29:20,520
On Pod Pain, I think it was Graham.
It didn't show his name,

451
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:24,420
but I think it was Graham.
He has said a great podcast as

452
00:29:24,420 --> 00:29:30,720
always. Richard, thank you so much.
And of course over on and of

453
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,680
course over on Spotify.
Lynn has said that she has got

454
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:38,220
two of her veggie pods, which she
never heard of until she heard this

455
00:29:38,220 --> 00:29:42,780
podcast, but now she's got them.
She absolutely loves them.

456
00:29:43,050 --> 00:29:46,230
I've got my veggie pod.
It's been one of the best things I've

457
00:29:46,230 --> 00:29:50,650
ever bought and it's really given me.
And that was a few years ago now,

458
00:29:50,650 --> 00:29:54,790
and I still say it.
The auto parts are coming along

459
00:29:54,790 --> 00:29:57,970
in the same way. I'm.
I keep talking about the auto parts,

460
00:29:57,970 --> 00:30:01,390
but because I am really,
really impressed with them.

461
00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,370
Now please just leave us a rating
review on your podcast provider.

462
00:30:06,370 --> 00:30:10,480
Just head to wherever you are
now headed to that if you want

463
00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:12,730
to get in touch.
My email address is Richard at

464
00:30:12,730 --> 00:30:16,370
the Veg Grab podcast. Co.Uk.
Alternatively,

465
00:30:16,370 --> 00:30:20,030
head to the podcast. Co.Uk.
Leave a comment on the end of a

466
00:30:20,030 --> 00:30:23,900
blog post or leave a voicemail.
We do love getting voicemails

467
00:30:23,900 --> 00:30:25,760
from time to time.
We haven't had any for a while,

468
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:28,700
but just simply head there,
hit the button and it will

469
00:30:28,700 --> 00:30:33,770
record to our server.
Of course you can find me on social

470
00:30:33,770 --> 00:30:37,070
media as well. Just head just.
Of course you can find me on

471
00:30:37,070 --> 00:30:40,020
social media as well.
Just search for the Veg Grow Up

472
00:30:40,020 --> 00:30:43,110
podcast and don't forget to
please consider becoming a

473
00:30:43,110 --> 00:30:47,400
member of our supporters club.
We will be back again next time.

474
00:30:47,400 --> 00:30:49,890
So until then, please take care.