We all love a handy hint, a thrifty tip, an inspirational idea, especially when they save us time, effort and money. Ben has quite a few tricks up his green sleeves and in this week’s episode, he spills the beans as he shares some of his genius garden hacks.
For more ingenious haks, watch these next:
Want to grow in straw bales?
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19 Comments
These are great hacks, some of them I have already been doing!!
Thank you Ben 🎉🎉
❤ the photo album for seed packets. 👍🏼
I love your creative tips & warmth, but the use of plastic is a concern. We need to protect soil from micro plastics which leach into soil & end up in our bodies as a result.
Thank you Ben, for all these hacks and your many encouraging and well paced videos–I will be using straw bales next March for a cold frame (and other purposes!) along with milk spray, photo albums (will start that tomorrow as I do final seed sorting and storage for the year) will be saving tic-tac boxes from now on as well, and I had to laugh @ the hair elastics–my daughter used to complain about finding them used in all kinds of situations. Ilook forward to what you come up with next…
This year I am using envelopes that come in bills and other types of mail for my seeds. I am seed saving and decided that these are free and they hold my seeds wonderfully! I also use the desiccants that come in pill bottles and such and throw those inside the envelopes and also in the plastic bin that I store them in. I then put that in my storage room that is insulated and nice and cool!
If you leave a hose running, for ANY reason, quickly set a timer in your phone. Cannot count how many times I have forgotten a hose!
In our rural area of Scotland farmers give sheep and cattle supplements that come in large rectangular plastic containers. When they are empty they are no longer needed so to save the farmer having to recycle them we collect them, drill drainage holes in the bottom and use them to grow veg. Because they are rectangular they fit side by side and give us extra growing space. When they are not needed we empty the soil onto our pile of soil and stack them to store until we need them again. Then we use the soil plus manure to fill them again.
I live in a dry climate so ventilation of seeds and dessicants aren't a big requirement…. So I put labels on a post-it note and put that and the seeds in zip loc bags. I bought a lot of them in the size which the seed packets fit into since I never throw away seed packets. I find the information printed on them soooo valuable, especially for any which I have saved, so I will be able to refer back to that information.
The fat in milk can clog soil pores, causing water to run off rather than soak in, according to my research. A little is probably okay, but avoid saturating a large area. (from a former US Department of Agriculture analyst)
Hacks? HACKS? Listen, your videos are great and informative but please don't say HACK!!! This stupid word was invented about two years ago and now the old faithful ENGLISH word "trick" (or tip) is never used. Just like the horrific term "awesome"…be true to your nature and don't allow your excellent content to be contaminated by this tidal wave of vacuous internet-borne Americanisms.
Some good tips Ben, I’ve been holding off planting my garlic because it’s so wet, however inside my greenhouse in the raised bed I have Pakchoi spinach and carrots growing on nicely for hopefully and early crop of carrots and some tasty leaves to add to salads.
I've used empty medicine or vitamin bottles for seed storage. After washing them of course.
Fantastic tips! Thanks Ben!
What do you do against slugs Ben. my lettuces are full of them at present and I will not plant chinese leaf in August next year at they now look like lace!
I enjoyed your video, lots of great tips!
Thanks, Ben, some great ideas as ever! Instead of buying coffee filters to line plant pots, I reuse the plastic mesh bags that supermarket garlic can come in (not having enough space to grow my own). Also keeps out slugs – & I have read vine weevil but I'm not sure if that's true. I also line seedling and cuttings plant pots with the plastic 'string bags' citrus fruit comes in, which makes it easier to lift them out without damaging the roots when transplanting.
Thank you Ben l love you video,s and l love you book its a brilliant book to have with me l love gardeners and have an Allotment too 😊
I need to start eating TicTacs again 😂 #GreatTip