Ben, you are sunshine on a rainy day! It's so nice to have you here, encouraging us. I giggled when you said you learn something new every year. Aint that the truth! I have folks stopping by all of the time asking me to teach them how to garden. One family gave me a half hour, they had another appointment. At first I thought- AINT YOU SO CUTE! Then I realized they were serious. I love the idea that people are wanting to start gardening, but, they sort of expect you to fast food, what they need to know, in less than 1 hour. One lady stopped by a few of days ago- same question, and this time, I asked 1- How big do you want you garden to be? 2- What do you want to grow 3- What is your budget to get started? She said, I need to know all of that? I said, for the start, yes. 😆I then told her go home, get this list done, and then come back and we can start. She was going right home to do it....I have seen her since, but, I wonder why she looks away when she drives by? 🤔 🤣

My advice is to do as much as you want to. I think a lot of people get the idea from watching KZfaq that you need to constantly be growing and maximising the space to be as productive as possible. This level of intense gardening isn't for everyone. Gardening is a marathon not a sprint. The most important thing is to enjoy what you do.

30 years in and I'm still learning, That's the beauty of gardening. Great video Ben 🙏 🌱

As a disabled gardener I struggle some what... things some do in 5 minutes takes me most of the day. But I must say you're extremely up beat and practical approach just makes me say hell yeh let's get this done lol .... thanks your up beat attitude inspires me to get on with it lol 🙂👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Your so right Ben. I start the 60th year of my gardenig apprentiship this year and I think I will need another 60 years learning.

This video is so important. It is so easy to feel like a failure or discouraged early in your gardening career. I wish I could give such similar advice to myself years ago. Now I make sure to keep a solid rule in my head: if only 50% of what I plant is a success, then that is a 100% A+ success rate/grade. And if 0% of what I planted worked out, and I still had fun, then that is 100% successful too. Don't let results get in the way of happiness and the meditative aspects of the craft. Our expectations are self imposed, remember comparison is the thief of joy.

You were born to be a gardener. It's so nice to learn from your experience. Thanks for sharing.

As a gardener for several decades myself I spent the first couple of decades in all out war with weeds and pests ( as was the mindset at the time). At a point 15 years or so ago I just stopped, no pesticides/herbicides and I focused on soil health. Once you have that and trial the vegies and fruit for your area you will find what provides abundance with minimal intervention. As Ben mentioned it could be as simple as top dressing with some of your own compost once a year, basically mimicking die back and leaf fall. TIP: In my environment Super dilute 1/10th of what they say of fish emulsion at flowering stage for just about everything just once in raised beds. Weeds have become such an insignificant problem in my current temperate climate I tend to leave them if I think they may be insect friendly. By the by some weeds make really tasty teas.; About 20% of my sowing / propagating each year is for new/experimental plants of which something usually makes the grade. I have farmed and gardened on three continents - Tropical / Sub Tropical and Temperate Save money, time and effort, make good healthy soil.

Just moved into my first house at 36. We have a tiny plot for our area (suburban Western New York) .33 acres, but we really hit some gold

If gardening is easy, it wont be as fun. At least, that is what I tell my self when I saw a squirrel digging and uprooting my newly planted bare rooted strawberries. Unrelated note, I am now testing out the powers of black pepper. Learn something new every day!

Ben is my Gardening Guru - my Alton Brown of the gardening world!! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. We appreciate you!!

Thanks for the reminder of lessons learned. This year for the first time I'm co-gardening an allotment and am desperately trying to keep myself from attempting too much at once. It's going to be great though - full sun, protected from marauding deer, and with a community of other gardeners to swap seeds, plants, and advice

Hello from the Northeastern US! I’m always glad to see a new video from you. I think I’ve watched almost everything else!

I started gardening when I was 15, now at 62, I am still learning and trying new things. Gardening is a lifelong learning experience. I love it.💚

this is great! I am going to move to a new house in a month and have brand new raised bed space, I can't wait to plan things out!

You are, indeed sunshine! Thank you, Ben. Question: What is the word/phrase you used...”Scatter-gone”? I think that is a perfect description of the way I have always approached growing. I get SO excited, and CANNOT wait for a plan, then hopelessly create more work for myself and end up with disgust at the failures and infestations that ensue. But NOT THIS YEAR! 😃 It ENDS HERE! I will stop and plan TODAY, during the umpteenth rain of the year. 😆

Your enthusiasm and joy for gardening is infectious. Thanks so much for your videos 🥹

Hello from central Oregon! As always, I enjoyed your video! I’m looking forward to growing lettuces, peas, and kale!!

Good advise Ben,grow what you really want to eat,don’t waste time,effort and valuable space on veg you’re not so sure about,I am in my 4th year of gardening and will just concentrate on exactly the veg I know we will eat and enjoy👍

Hello from the great dividing range in Qld australia, your encouragement and advice helps me here too. Very inspiring and encouraging. Summer is our biggest challenge.

I am getting a bit ahead of myself I have sowed 340 beetroot around 2000 lettuces! 60 cabbages about 30 tomatoes 20 peppers, 40 aubergines, 20 hot chillies a packet of celeriac, 60 broccoli about 400 onions, peas, 120 leeks, 30 cauliflower, 30 red orach, radishes and spinach. I have loads more to do, I am preparing for failure although so far most things look well, I can always swap or give away some of the small plants. My potatoes are chitting nicely and will be planted soon. I want to sow my kohl rabi but I’ve misplaced the seeds! X

Good thing to have KZfaq channel like yours, This is so helpful. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, tips, and ideas.

I will be happy to grow anything edible & it will be a first. Dwarf peas are underway (my first edible seeds 🎉) with loads more to come, seeds, plugs/starts (& seedlings from my daughter) ❤

I started gardening in the summer of 2016 with 1 tomato, pepper and cucumber plant and last year, I grew 22 tomato plants and a bunch of other veggies and am hooked on gardening. I now sow at least 95% of my seedlings. Every once in a while I come across a different variety and have to pick it up and find a space for it. I’ve also become a seed junky. 😂 ❤

I’m embracing my failures and choosing to learn and grow from them as a beginner! Thanks for another great video!

Another incredibly useful video, thank-you Ben

I love Ben!

Ben - thank you for another great video. I'm going to be growing lots of things this year. My most exciting thing that I'm going to try growing is melons - I now have a greenhouse so I am hoping it works out ok. Today I went to my local recycling centre - they are giving away free fertiliser - I am sure many areas are doing this. At my one you have to take your own container - bag or whatever - to put it in, but it's really great to get it for free. 👍😃

Happy soil makes happy plants

Really enjoyed this thanks Ben. And very cheerful as usual xx

9:19 😅😅 massacre brassica and I totally agree on “no failure but learning opportunities” great inspiration Ben have a great week, Ali 🌧️🇨🇦

I love your seed storage box! ❤️

Hello Ben! I love your garden videos. I’ve been gardening for 30 years and I still enjoy learning. I’ve got my brassica seeds already in my greenhouse in Washington state! Happy Gardening!❤

hey ben - i just started gardening this year. my grandma passed and now im slowly moving into her house - she always had a huge field in her garden where she grew a lot of crops. im doing the same now, i found some 10-15 year old potatoes that she put aside for planting but never got around to it well 2 months ago i planted them along with many other veggies and theyre looking great! thank you for all the videos you make - makes for a great binge watch!

Grand. Thank you Mr Ben : )

so delightful

More sensible advice. Thanks Ben.

Thank you for sharing!

Yes, Ben, like many others, I'm so glad I found you. You are my gardening guide and a joy to watch and listen to. You explain things so well which makes for easy understanding. I look forward to your regularly received videos. Thank you!

Awesome teaching Brother 😊 Thank you so much for teaching us all ❤😊

Hi Ben, great video with lost of useful tips. Thanks for sharing and take care 😊

you're the best, thank you 🙏🏼

what an adorable 11 yr old!!

My wife and I live in south west Missouri we garden and can a lot of produce to help with the groceries . We enjoy watching your videos thanks for the information you shared 🍅🌶️🥒🥦🫑🧅🥔🫛👍

Ben you are an excellent teacher. There are so many things to keep learning and new ways of doing things. Thankyou so very very much. My soil in my tiny garden is very shallow; I think I will try and make a hazel or willow woven fence to try and put more growing medium in. Do you have lots of ideas on this please, or should I just collect my long spindly twigs and interweave them and hope it turns out okay? I want my garden to look natural, its way too small to have long pieces of thick wood as in raised beds to support the soil, I would like something natural. my potential growing beds are 18" x 6', 2 beds in total this size. (these are either side of a very small lawn area).

Do love your content, for a newbie non-gardener your guidance is perfect, straight forward and not over complicated. Thanks Ben 😊

Thanks Ben…….love your positivity, it keeps me going when it’s bleak here in Scotland

Thank you so much! Concise and useful.

Never heard of pallet collars before. Had to look up what they were. That's a great little resource. I think I will try to salvage some and do the surface burn technique to help preserve them.

Very inspiring!

Hello from Kentucky! Your videos are full of information that I really need! You make it fun and never dull!😊

Hi from Australia. This year, as well as my usual crops like tomato, beans, onions, herbs, I decided to try to grow a cantaloupe (rockmelon). It was a bit hit and miss, but the other day I managed to harvest a beautiful one. I was so excited! Hopefully I will do better next season. 😊

Well, I feel fired up and ready to go! Thank you!😊

Using branches are a amazing idea I’ve been gardening for 4 years and learning every day thanks for the advice

Definitely couldn’t have said it better myself. I have been gardening most of the last 35 years like you have too. This year makes the 4th year with my current garden. I started with the worst soil ( heavy clay), and I made 100% all of these mistakes in it. It still shocks me how anything is growing in it now 🤣 Compost,compost, compost, mulch,mulch, mulch.

Thank you for the encouraging advice, I’ve been using egg boxes to start seeds in, but it was becoming a soggy problem to move them, so I put each one in a ready meal container, fits perfectly, don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner 😂 I’d love to see a video on revamping a little old greenhouse, our little 8x6 aluminium one is old and patched, but still my favourite place. It’s had a rough winter, I’m going to have to get creative. We’ve bought second hand before, and even sold one, helping the new owners carry it down the road 😂 From experience getting the base right is key, so the glass fits. I’d rather not go through that hassle, revamping our old one is best option. Any ideas, tips and thoughts much appreciated!

Ben, you are always so informative and seasonally encouraging even if it is wall to wall rain at the moment 🙏

Thanks Ben! You are always a happy moment when it’s raining outside but I still want to absorb myself in all things veg plants

I am still playing in the garden at 60 and learning thanks to your videos. Very happy to see poached egg plants germinating on my window sill and in my winter sown jugs outside. Encouraged they can handle the Canadian climate!

Ben you always brighten up my Sunday morning. Your enthusiasm and pure enjoyment of gardening is catching and uplifting. I used to be a flower and shrub gardener but now it’s vegetables. This year I am also going to have a healing garden and grow things like self heal Prunus Vulgaris, calendula and comfrey for making salves, mullein and a host of other medicinal plants. I’m really excited, but no doubt like with everything there will be successes and failures, but as you said that’s how we learn. Thank you for constantly inspiring me.

Excellent video as always Ben. I love growing beetroot, leeks, peas in the pod and fine beans. I sow broad beans seeds in the autumn for an early start. Rhubarb has to be my favourite plant. Nothing nicer than seeing the fresh growth and leaves emerge in late winter. I also plan to plant more companion flowers this year.

Absolutely love your enthusiasm! I get a nice dose of positivity with every video I watch. Thank-you so much for all you share with us!

Howdy, Ben! Cute pics from your younger days.😃 Thanks for the knowledge and encouragement. This year I plan to grow winter squash, melons, strawberries, kale, potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, green onion, herbs, lettuce, spinach, popcorn, okra, roselle, figs, mulberries, lemons, and lots of different flowering plants...many are edible landscaping.👩🏾‍🌾💕

Great video like the idea of adding grass cuttings throughout the growing season. Thank you

Brilliant tips fella, great video

Nice video! My rule is to replace 125% of the organics removed with organics to feed the soil. As for weeds, use them for mulch. For weeds outside the garden bed, just cut at ground level and then lay it down for mulch in the garden bed. Be sure it doesn't have a seed head. For garden weeds. Pull them out with the roots, shake the dirt off, and then lay them between the rows, layered end to end so the roots are always on top of another weed top. Do this in bright sun so the sun kills the roots. Remember; weeds are organics taken out if you throw them away. Grass mulch is a requirement in my gardens. I enjoy your enthusiasm! Onion starts don't need cells that big. I start 3 to 4 onion plants in very small cells. It uses less soil and space. Happy growing!😀

His enthusiam is unmatched.

Ben is the best!

Blessings to you!

Thank you Ben for all your videos. We (in NZ) have enjoyed a bountiful summer garden, and I watched many of your videos when preparing and planting, so you contributed to the success. I tried Zucchini Rampicante for the first time this summer and it’s one of my new fav veggies, plus it’s very prolific. Highly recommend.

Thank you for all the great advice!!!

You are an absolute gem!! Love your work and expertise :)

This is invaluable advice as we set off on our gardening journey - thanks! :)

Such wonderful advice! Thanks for sharing it with everyone

Off to sow my tomatoes, peas, Broad beans and sweet peas today. Looking forward to my garden plans this yr including putting in a pond

Ben is so great, would love to see more “bio/how I got here” vids!

Great advice! Thank you for your experience.

Love love love your channel!

I love your positivity Ben! always gives me a little lift when its pouring with rain outside and Ive just got drenched doing a bit of weeding 😆 Thank you, I just love the realism balanced with optimism, the kindness to nature and your energy.

Fantastic show... presentation 🎉🎉🎉

I really love this channel. It's so inspiring, calming and gives me such a good mood.

Oh I think soil is pretty sexy Ben! I make water kefir - used to salt pickle but it's cheaper and nicer to make a drink for the stomach! Been working hard sowing have bought Moringa seeds and are trying to grow those the leaves etc have a great deal of vitamins! Decided not to grow corn as not enough space and too much work chasing ants - so understand what you mean about not suitable crops. I have bought sticky collars for the young trees. Because I am permaculture i just need to change the year on the garden planner. Love your hazel stems! I am using metal crid shades to plant pumpkins and melons to shade the berries hoping this works. I always sow into pots now as too dicy to do otherwise even my roots! Just planted cabbage out and now beets and onions (all brought on). Hot crops doing well and lots of other stuff - chickens jumped on my outdoor shelf and tucked into cabbage but had another lots anyway!

Thank you so much!! I love your videos

Perfect timing for me as I’ve built my raised beds and have been moving them around to determine best placement before I fill them. And yesterday we put the wood chip on the paths. And I’m going to take your tip of putting branches and leaves in the beds to take up some of the volume to save on compost. Genius! Thanks for your videos they are as someone else has said a ray of sunshine and full of useful information for a home gardener. ❤

I have my first ever garden this year - and I'm hoping to grow herbs and veggies for my bunnies! I'd like to plan a backyard that will be both pretty and 100% bunny-safe so they can play among the plants when the weather is nice! 🥰

I've become addicted to watching your videos in the morning. I started our garden about 2 years ago and it's grown to include a small greenhouse inspired by your seed sowing video. It was all I wanted for my birthday/Christmas gift from my husband and kids lol. I was highly insistant on going to get mulch from the city they have a sandbag and mulch pile for free. The second trip was a huge pile of black soil looks just like what you add to your box in this video! We filled out pickup truck and brought home the lottery winnings!! I've never been more excited over dirt and wood chips lol! As a kid I Gardened with my mom now I'm teaching my teens and toddler the best parts of it all. Thank you Ben for all the amazing information and tools you make available like the online planner. I'm excited to see the growing process this year, is there anywhere to share photos like Instagram?

I'm so happy you shared these tips! I'm a rather experienced gardener, but I'm always learning something new! Every year since 2021, we have planted at least one variety we have never tried to grow before (or had no success with more than a decade ago) and have not been disappointed with the results. For example, I learned I rather enjoy the "Cucamelon", but it takes ages to really get growing! We had a couple of plants that stayed very small for the entire Spring and half of Summer. Then, just when we were about ready to call it quits, the vines began to grow fast and set blooms! Before we knew it, we had a productive and tasty addition to salads, a quick garden snack, and a yummy fermented something with those delightful tiny tart cucumbers. We also began to journal for the garden last year, so we can either try the same methods or tweak methods to see if we can get a better result rather than trying to remember what we did the year before.

I'm beginning my third Spring In Indiana (Zone 6) , with my last two in FL (zone 9b/10a). It's quite a change. I am going to grow lettuces, cucumbers, tomatoes, a bunch of spices, and lots of flowers. It's going to be wonderful! Thanks for all your shared experience. It has helped me!

You had me at the kimchi! Eating that and homemade sauerkraut with almost every meal. I so appreciate you sharing your many years of knowledge with us!

I experimented with luffa and quinoa last year and plan on planting more this year. I also built three beds with wire trellises to grow more beans and peas. Lastly I put up two cattle panel arches to grow some climbing squashes on.

Lovely video, thanks

May our Lord bless you and yours Ben. I love learning from you and your experiences I am 69 years old and learn new things all of the time. I was telling my sister-in-law about you yesterday and I said “I wish that he was my grandson.”. So,I have adopted you from across the pond….lol. Thanks for all you do Ben, it means a lot to many people.

Beans, beans and more beans! Last year the runners and borlottis crossed, so I have some weird hybrid seeds to experiment with!

I have an allotment plot now so I am doing a lot of prep work and got my son involved too.

Good job

Love your videos! ❤❤❤

Lovely Ben! Here's my main mistake after four years gardening... More plants does not equal more yield. Space those babies!

Ben, I live in a maritime swampy climate (PNW America), and slugs are an enormous problem. I would love to mulch with hay, straw, or grass clippings, but I'm afraid that would just make more slug habitat! I do use wood chips and bark (it's called "hogsfuel" here), especially for pathways and around strawberries and other slug favorites. If you have more advice, I welcome it.

Muchas gracias por tu tiempo, deberías estar en un programa de televisión, yo tengo 4 macetones grandes y me compré. Un pequeño cubo de bokashi, espero está temporada tener mejores resultados, el problema donde vivo , España, es que hace mucho calor, un saludo

Lovely video as always! We are all learning as we go... Ben, if you haven't already done so, could you make a video about the vegetables which you think taste noticeably better when home grown? Of course, they all do, but for those of us with limited space, it's an important factor. New potatoes? Sweetcorn? Peas? Do home grown onions taste better than shop-bought ones? I don't know, I haven't the space to grow them. All advice gratefully received.