I bought a leather Fanny pack to keep a pocket knife, zip ties, paper and pen etc. small stud I never know when I will need. Put it on when I head into the yard/garden in the morning. Has been wonderful.
For garden tools we have a large metal bucket with sand and we have mixed vegetable oil in it lightly. When we are done with our garden tools we have a paint scraper we used to scrape off the bigger clumps of dirt, then we plunge it into the bucket of oily sand a few times which helps get a lot of other dirt off of it too and coats it in oil. We then have an old hand whisk broom we used to brush off the excess sand. Then the tools are cleaned and oiled as soon as we are done.
One more, when you're pruning, keep a rag soaked in surgical spirit /Jeyes/disinfectant/or similar, in your pocket, belt, whatever, and clean the blade of your knife or secateurs when you finish one Bush /tree, before you move on to the next. This minimises cross infection.
Another! People seem to chuck out old plastic hanging baskets (I asked about locally and was given 30!) String strong wire between poles about 4ft high, plant strawberries in the baskets, and attach to the wires...... Saves a great deal of bending!
It makes me so happy to see someone pottering around a garden with so much enthusiasm. I am binging gardening videos to help fight the January blues (and the week long rain we've had). Thank you so much for the smiles and the fun, Ben.
I know what you mean, Just like today, pretty grotty as usual. Roll on spring. I wanted to start planting seeds for February, just as Ben kindly listed in his latest video, but I was told not to use the kitchen (!), so will await another day, keeping inside and warm 🙂.
I grow 3 lots of comfrey on my allotment (big clumps) . One for making comfrey juice, one for putting on the compost heap and the third to lay along the rows of crops in my raised beds. At any one time I let one of the clumps flower to encourage the insects. It seems to work well.
@@daveswords2112 It might as well be concrete!... and no, not as a cover, but as an aside to use for fermentation, animal feed, pollinators and such. Comfrey rhizomes are formidable foes in a veggie garden, but placing the harvest as a cover/amendment to feed the soil is a great use! Worms and top feeding roots/critters love the shade, moisture and nutrients derived through decomposition. I plant comfrey, for example, around my fruiting trees, but I would not plant them around greens, carrots, broccoli, peppers and such.
I do very similar…with 6 clumps…which I harvest in rotation, always allowing 2 clumps in flower and the others for adding to compost heap or making comfrey tea😀😀😀
I took all my tools and covered the cutting parts. Then I painted all the handles blaze orange with spray paint. Ever since then, they've been much easier to collect at the end of the day. Doing it daily as you wrap up your work is smart. That helps you avoid accidents, keep track of valuable tools, and be all set for the next day. I learned the hard way and just dug up the hori hori knife I "lost" two years ago. I feared it was lost (or tossed out), but I've been able to recondition it all. Now off to paint the handle ORANGE!
To control my garden hoses, I hammer a piece of quarter inch rebar into the ground as a stake about a foot tall and then put a PVC pipe over it to cover it. It then becomes roller, making it very easy to work with the hoses.
Cleaning the shovel was priceless!😂🤣🤣🤣. The bucket with sand is one of my favorite tips. Especially when you have no time to wash them. As always, great tips! 🙏
Last year I put up a large peg board in my garden shed, painted it black, hung up all my hand tools, then drew around each one in white chalk. In just a glance I can see if a tool has been left outside. It will have an empty outline... kind of like a murder victim ;)
On the farm, we used to put the oil in a bucket of sand next to the tool shed door. A quick thrust of the rinsed fork or spade or trowel oiled it for storage without breaking stride.
Thank you Ben. I've had a crappy day but even my mood couldn't stop me from laughing as you oiled that shovel!! I must get better at caring for my tools. Might make that my resolution for the year.
My husband sprays all my tool handles bright yellow, as I also work off our farm as a gardener one day a week. No more running over lost tools in the long grass with the ride in!!!!!!! Happy New Year and cheers, Muffy from Oz (Australia)
I use a power mower with it's bag attached for picking up leaves. (we have LOTS) Not only does it make quick work of the process, it also chops the leaves into a finer consistency so they compost faster. Rather than put all the leaves into the composter, I plastic bag a few batches to keep over the winter and use as mulch the following year.
I cut toilet paper rolls in half and use them to Mark where I have seeds planted. I just pushed the toilet paper roll into the soil a little bit so it won't move, and plant the seed in the middle.
Love the idea about the hoops. Soak rusty tools in vinegar, and once they're clean soak in water and baking soda to stop the reaction. Vinegar is amazing at removing rust.
I have a tip with toilet rolls. I cut them in 4 and use them to space my carrots. It is time consuming to plant one seed at a time but there is no thinning to do and it saves the seeds that otherwise would have been pulled out.
I plant radish seed as markers for parsnips and long germination seeds and then they are up in less than a week and mark the row - plus if the radish pest dont get them too badly I can harvest them after the parsnips are up and thinned...Happy Gardening
I have spray painted the handles of all my tools a vibrant turquoise so they are easy to find in the garden, but more importantly easier to spot when loaned out so things actually make it back to me.
Brilliant tip with the croquet hoops, I will definitely be trying something like that as I always catch plants with the hose! Great tips as always, thank you. 😊
This as a great video with very useful tips. I don't know how useful this is outside the USA but I use 1 inch mini blinds in white or ivory/cream as plant markers. I cut them into the length I need and write on them with a #2 pencil. Sometimes it fades but I've only had a couple completely fade to obscurity and I've been using these for 8 or 9 years. I collect them at the end of the year, wipe them down, erase them, toss them in the dishwasher, and they are ready to use again.
I ve got one awesome hack which will help the spring time.. sow in the autumn (carrot parsnip radish parsley scorzonera etc etc). I donno what is the climate range this would work, but it works in finland at least (our winters: normally 2-5months fully or mostly frozen, the average coldest temp may be from -15c to -40c). It really helps the spring time not being soooooo busy.. plus the stuff will start growing a bit earlier this way 🙃
This might work well somewhere really cold in winter which has one thawing season. But in the UK the temperatures in the winter go up and down like a yoyo. A warm February day might get them excited when there is not enough sun, or they die off in a cold snap later or get ripped apart from a windy storm.
@@Digeroo123 yes i think so. I always watch a few british garden channels in envy, when theres spring in february and we are still waiting for it like 3more months 😂
@@joan-lisa-smith yes 🤗 basically most root veggies will work. Also salads and many perennial herbs. Sow quite late, like just before the snow comes. Though i ve heard you could also so ON the snow, at least if you can still locate your correct sowing place etc 😄
@@tiarianamanna973 February can feel very damp and dull. Seedling damp off. One day they are all jolly and the next a total wipeout due to moulds. Apart from snow peas and broadbeans I do not do much until March, and last year the rats ate most of them. We all have to make the most of what we have. But I have to admit that self sown seeds of carrots, parsley, parsnips etc do seem to know when it is time to pop up, so maybe sowing in the Autumn is a good idea. I got a special offer on carrot seeds so I have loads, so I should have some left. Though parsnips sown too early are very prone to canker.
You can mark out your parsnip row by mixing the seed with a bit of radish (use a long French Breakfast type rather than a globe shape) . If you sow in March, cover them and pull the radish young, you've got a bonus crop.
Good idea about the sticks as props for the peas. Laying the sticks on the beds also prevents the chickens from scratching up my beds when they accidentally get in!
🤣🤣 My hens are never in those beds “by accident”! 🐓🐓🐓 Those girls are a wee bit too clever (and found the berry plants way too quickly). I was just outside strolling about with the hens and figuring how I can be smarter this summer. I’m going with chicken wire fencing as needed.🐓🐓🐓
'Rake it to the tarp' is a brilliant idea! Thanks! I modified this into 'rake it to the cardboard', because tarp is a bit difficult to hold and carry, cardboard is much easy to pickup with the leaves on top of it.
@@GrowVeg Yes, if the weather is dry the cardboard can use for many days, but if the weather is wet i just through the cardboard together with leaves into the compost bin.
Hi we have a tip if you have more than one watering can on a big plot and wandering around looking for them why not keep them in one place. Put a long cane or old broom handle in the ground and put the watering cans handle over the cane one by one to form a tower there you have them altogether on one place and can always spot them👍
When planting bulbs i throw a handful of shredded bark mulch on top of the soil until im done and then top dress the whole lot. That way i know exactly where the bulbs are and it deters the squirrels and foxes from digging them up straight away!
If I need to enhance light for seedlings and don't have enough window sill room for a large reflective board, or a supply of spare old aluminium foil, I turn crisp packets inside out, rinse off the salt from the silvery side, then pop them over a couple of sticks poked into the dark side of the plantpot or seed tray. Flexible, lightweight and absolutely free. And you can recycle the packets once you have finished with them. Cheers.
I wish people would stop calling tips "hacks". Maybe two on this list would qualify as a hack. TIP: If you don't mind dedicating a tarp for material transport, I sandwich one side of the tarp with furring strips. That keeps the tarp nice and flat, it helps keep it from blowing away before material has been placed on it, it keeps it from folding up while dragging it, and you can attach a rope to the furring strips and it becomes very easy to drag around. Bonus, you can roll it up and lean it against a wall for storage.
My rain gutters have a few spots where drips occur during heavy rains. I collect the water for later use in 5 gallon buckets on pavers or long neck watering cans if they occur on a plant.
I feel that tool handle comment in my soul. I've started going out of my way to look for tools that are that bright 'Safety Orange' since that is a color that doesn't occur often in my garden.
It's nice when your raised beds are at least 2 ft tall. Then you don't have to crawl on your knees with knee pads! Makes weeding and harvesting a lot easier too!
I am now 72 years of age and when i was in my 50's i tried using washed river sand to grow plants hydroponically -the area i set aside for this experiement was10 sq mtrs -what surprised me was the seed strike rate when planted in the sand and just watered -it was extremly good- so i continued that seed raising process up untill today where i have about 1/4 acre of ground growing all my vegies-if you are lucky enough to have a heat matt this works very well uner the sand and assists with striking of seeds..all the best for 2023 John
Heeeey my fav gardening man. You helped me get the craziest yield in the overgrown raspberry bush in our new home we purchased last year. Thank you so much. I literally love your energy and the way you speak about gardening. Thanks for keeping me company and teaching so well ♥
To fill my water butt, no hosepipes allowed, I have persuaded my plot neighbour to have a small post in the corner of his plot, so the pipe runs round his plot and I do not accidentally pull it over any of his plants.
Tip 8 Tried it Seeds expiration is last year which comes from the freebies (and the once I bought expiration is next year) 11 out of 30 seeds germinated
I would say just get some workpant like constructionworkers use. U can then put neepads inside the pants and have some great pockets to sore some tools. Like pruning shears are a meter.
A Southern Hemispshere tip from Auckland, in New Zealand ! I have struggled to keep Tamarillo trees alive, as they were persistently getting some kind of mildew attack. I finally came across this simple remedy - One part milk to 10 parts water, plus a teaspoon of baking soda. Spray this on the leaves, and hey presto, healthy plants. I am intending to use this magic mix on pumpkins next year, and hollyhocks. Cheap and effective.
Last summer I placed marigolds in with my tomatoes and they were earwig magnets! I have way too many in my area it really helped keep them at decent numbers just enough to deal the pests they enjoy 😅
I ask all my Friends to share their egg shells as most folk bin them.I then crush them and add to my compost for some magic recycled calcium not to mention free coffee grounds from the local coffee shop.The garden loves it
Had some spare heatproof tape from the poly tunnel wrapped around all my tools as being visually impaired it’s amazing I can see them amongst the grass and the cuttings and the flower beds
Thank you Ben for the gardening tips. I thought I was the only one that lost clippers and trowels in the garden. Last year I bought florescent pink spray paint can and I'm spraying all of my handles this spring. :)
I made the mistake of not starting nasturtiams first last year. Bugs ate all my first round of seedlings. Pill bugs too. I had to smash them and use sluggo plus. Diamatacous earth didn't really do it. They were everywhere. Now I'm gonna give a little sprinkle around my plants when I plant them and I started a bunch of nasturtiams early this year.
Cut the top section off a 4 pint or 6pint plastic milk you then have a free container to plant into punch holes in the bottom of coarse. You can make a compost scoop by cutting the bottom off a 2 pint plastic milk carton then shaping it perfect for filling you free pots
If you have an empty space but don’t want weeds, throw some red clover seeds and scratch them in. Cheaper and easier than mulch. If you want it gone, just hoe it up. If you want it to continue, let it seed. Bees love it.
Halo i have an allotment in north london i fill a big plastic container with water i add few handfull of chicken pellet stinging nettles and bananas peel let it rot and water vegetable with rich fertiliser love your videos
Hi love your enthusiasm. I use my ride on mower which has a catcher to pick up all the leaves. I drive over the leaves and then cut some grass, I get it all mixed up that way so I can dump it directly into the compost bins.
I love my foam kneeler! I even take it to the all you can pick strawberry fields. I work a little faster and happier when I am not muddy. It fits perfectly in my bucket of tools so I don't loose it or it doesn't blow away!
Tip: Used coffee grounds keeps cats away from using beds as their toilet. I planted cherry tree in October and covered the area around the tree with fresh compost as mulch and long release feed. Few days later I saw a cat using it as a toilet. This happened again three times and after I spread grounds this cat has left it alone.
@@GrowVeg Cats don't like the smell of coffee, benefits are twofold, it works as a deterrent and fertilizer at the same time. Smell doesn't disappear quickly, at least for cats. I reckon even mixing more with fresh compost would work well.
For those in America, harbor freight has some really affordable and comfortable knee pads. I prefer the ones that are extra thick cloth covered with no gel, as a mechanic the ones I got from there have been saving my knees and back a lot of strain for the last few years.
One tip I've been taught is to put seeds in the freezer if you won't be using them for a while. Then, let them thaw when you're ready to plant. We just put them in baggies marked with what the seeds were, and popped them in the freezer. I've got seeds in the freezer that are still good that are from some plants my Grandmother gave my mom when I was young and I'm in my thirties. I've planted from them recently, too.
I got a set of knee pads, but to keep them from moving around I had to strap them so tight they cut off the circulation, so I didn't use them that much. So I got a pool noodle (I don't know if they're called something else outside the US) and cut it in half and taped the two bits side by side. And I use that to save my knees.
To remove rust we soak in vinegar. We use it on cast iron when refinishing. Found a pair of hoof nippers while collecting stall clean out from neighbor and they were really rusty. Gave them a soak and handed the neighbor back his lost nippers.
Tip: For standard spacing of plants, get a piece of furring strip or strapping (it's like a wooden yard stick) and mark with a sharpie your intervals. I have one for 18", 12" and 6". Then you can lay them on your row and plant your seeds or starts perfectly. Just pick up the stick when you reach the one end, and place the stick edge at the last plant or seed you planted. If you drill a small hole on one side, you can hang them from a nail or peg on a pegboard and keep them out of the way.
I drill lots of fine holes about 1 mm in the screw top of plastic milk cartons and use them with the carton full of water to water seedlings as it more gentle than a watering can and does not disturb seeds or seedings
Love the channel. I am so glad you stressed the importance of knee pads. Upright, we enjoy the shock absorption provided by our toes, foot bones, ankles, and knees. When on our knees, however, we are driving the forces from our weighted movements into our hip joints directly, risking the damage or destruction of the very delicate blood supply to our hip bones. This is partly the reason for so many hip joint replacement surgeries.
Absolutely my favorite gardening show. One comment. I live in the desert, and the most common tool is a curved, toothed knife called a mahahsha. They are made only by hand, and made with a wooden grip....a brown tool in a brown environment. I was always looking for my mahahsha until I spray painted the handle red !
I got an old CD/DVD 3-ring binder for my seed packets and put seeds in airtight cubbies (I use a tray meant to sort embroidery floss). I use a permanent marker to mark a number on the cubbies, and mark the corresponding CD page with those numbers, matching seed to packet. Saves loads of room if you keep seeds chilled. Set up a separate set of pages for packets of seeds that need stratifying, and for items like corms and roots that won't fit in a little box, but still come with cultivation info. Also, if you get sheets that are guides to cultivating greens or whatever in general, you can put them in 3-ring clear report inserts (recommended, if you're planning to haul binders to the garden) or just 3-hole punch them and tuck them in the back. I've been developing this system for literally decades, and remember how excited I was when CDs came out and the CD pages got to be cheap and available! Also, I plan my garden on graph paper, and use those bookmark/signature Post-Its to layer successions and intercrops. It rarely stands up to reality, but it's easy to adjust. Organizing is half the success of a garden!
Burgon & Ball now make tools in neon pink and yellow, they tend to be sold off as people don't want to buy them but they're amazing - you can see them a mile off so it makes doing a check around before you pack up for the day really easy.
Investing in some drip tape and an a watering timer makes even a pretty large garden VERY manageable. You won't have to worry about forgetting to water the plants, nor burning them by watering at the wrong time.
