Joesgarden

#ad Ad. Today we are back and I am showing you how by taking only a few minutes each day, I have continued my wellness journey from 2024, into 2025, and how this is the year you can join me too 😊🌱 It is currently more important than ever to prioritise our well-being, which is why I have teamed up with my friends @Audible to showcase the amazing wellness podcasts and audiobooks that can help us do this. Listening to an episode, or a chapter while carrying out tasks in the garden, going for a walk, or just doing chores around the house, really helps to transport me away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, even if it’s only for a few valuable minutes each day 🌱 Recently I have been delving deeper into my wellness journey by listening to Ikigai, which explores the Japanese concept of finding your purpose, to live a long and fulfilled life, (and luckily for me gardening is a recurring theme to longevity🤣) . This has allowed me to connect and think on a deeper level about what I am doing in the garden, to get the most out of each moment spent in nature 💚🌳 So please join me on my journey and listen to Ikigai on Audible today 😊, Thank you so much for watching, and I love you all, Joe 💚🌱😊 #audible #gardening #wellness #Sustainability #ikigai

Today we are back and I am showing you how anyone can grow more fresh summer strawberries, than you will know what to do with and it all starts with just a couple of cheap little plants from the shops. Now I adore growing fresh fruit at home and it is easier than many people might think. The best part about strawberries is not only are they vertically impossible to grow wrong, but they will thrive in small gardens, balconies and if it’s very sunny, even a windowsill, and with a few quick trips you will be growing more summer strawberries than you can eat! You can start strawberries from seed but this is quite a long a fiddly process. So I like to start with bare root plants if I am doing this from October to March, or potted plants from mid March onwards. Simply pot them on in a good compost, and after a few weeks they will grow leaps and bounds, possibly producing flowers too. You will notice these runners coming from your plant. Now these are what you use to propagate your plants to create more for free. Simply poke them into the soil, water and after a couple of weeks they will root. Each strawberry plant can easily produce 6 or more new plants, so you can see after a few years of doing this how you can end up with hundreds. It’s important to note when you have as many plants as you need, remove runners as they form as they take a lot of energy away from producing fruits. Strawberries are perennial, so they die back as it cools off and then come back the following spring. I’ve found most strawberries have a four year life cycle, then they need to be replaced with a new plant which will crop better. Thank you so much for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #Strawberry #gardening #gardentips #zerowaste #harvest

Today we are back and I am showing you from start to finish how anyone can grow more basil than you will know what to do with, and it all starts with just a couple of cheap plants from the supermarket. I adore growing fresh herbs and basil has to be one of my favourites. It pairs so well with crops such as tomatoes, and it really is the taste of the summer. I love to add it to fresh tomatoes, use it in my pasta sauce, or make delicious fresh pesto, and with a few quick tips, you can easily grow more than you will know what to do with. Now when you buy basil from the shops, you are usually getting more than you bargained for. They cram loads of individual basil plants in one small pot, which is usually why they die. Instead gently separate out into smaller clusters and pot out into larger pots, which often you can get 20 or more clusters from two small pots. As they grow keep harvesting the tips, above a side shoot, which will allow your plant to keep growing and growing, giving you a far larger and healthier basil plant. As they are annuals they will die off at the end of the year, but you can take a few cuttings to grow on, over winter inside to repeat the process the following spring. Thank you so much for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #basil #gardening #gardentips #zerowaste #harvest

Today we are back and I am showing you my journey of growing unlimited mint, and how you too can do this at home. This video shows the journey of my mint plants over the last 4 years, so if I look different in clips that is why 🤣😊 Mint for me is the king of herbs, as it has so many uses in the kitchen, beneficial uses in the garden and can be made in many cosmetics and so much more. It is also a really easy plant to grow and will thrive in even the toughest growing spots. The best part about mint is the fact it is so easy to propagate. Simply take a cutting, place it in water and in a few days roots will appear, then just change the water every few days and after about three weeks, you will have a fully developed root system. This can be used to grow an almost unlimited supply, but please make sure to grow your mint in strong pots and containers, as it is very invasive and will soon spread across your whole garden and even into your neighbours too! When it’s time to harvest instead of picking the leaves, pinch out the stems above a node which will allow the plant to keep bushing out, giving you the best harvest possible. Mint is a perennial herb, so in the winter it will die off, but please don’t throw it away. Simply prune it back and the the following spring it will come back to life once again 🌱😊 Thank you so much for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊💚🙏 #mint #propagation #zerowaste #gardentips #gardening #Sustainability

Today we are back and I am sharing with you the tip I use every year, which has saved me probably more money than any other in the garden. I grow nearly all of my crops, plants and flowers in raised beds and large pots, as they are ideal if you only have a small space. However, they can be super expensive to fill with soil and compost. The green raised bed in this video is amazing and I absolutely love it, but to fill from scratch with high quality compost, could easily cost over £200. This is why I use a tried and tested method called Hugelkultur. Now it’s worth noting what I am doing in this video isn’t the traditional way of doing it, but I’ve been using it for years, and it has worked very well for me. There is a lot of talk online about the issues surrounding this method, but over the last 15 years of filling my pots and raised beds like this, I’ve had no issues. You will find over time as the organic material starts to break down, the compost level will drop a bit, so it’s a good idea to add a layer of fresh compost at the start of each growing season. Always try to make sure you have at least 25cm of good high quality soil for your plants to grow in. There are many ways to fill up your containers, and I am not saying this is the only or best way, but I’ve found it to be very handy over the years, and it’s given me great results. Just make sure to remove any tape from your cardboard as that will not break down. I hope you are all having a lovely week, and I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚🙏 #raisedbeds #containergardening #ecotips #gardentips #zerowaste #gardening

Today we are back and I am showing you one of my favourite tips when it comes to watering your plants, specifically plants which you are growing in containers. Pots and containers are a great way to grow crops, plants, flowers and even trees, however, there is often one mistake we all make when it comes to watering them. Most containers will have a slight gap between the soil and inner side of the pot, this is especially the case with plastic pots. As water will always travel down the path of least resistance, it will funnel down the sides of the pot and out the drainage hole in the bottom. This can sometimes leave the middle of the root ball dry. Now to solve this issue it is often best to water plants (especially small plants in seed trays and small pots) through the drainage holes in the bottom. This way you guarantee an even drink all the way through the soil. The bowl in this video was more for show, I like to get big metal trays so I can do 20 or 30 pots at a time 😊 Obviously we all water from the top, myself included, and it is absolutely fine to do so. Just take the time to make sure the water has gone where you wanted it to go, by poking a finger down into the soil. But if you have the time and a large water tight tray try watering from the bottom from time to time too 😊 If you have large containers, you can’t water them from the bottom, but if you bury a smaller pot with drainage holes, you can water directly into this, which will funnel the water right to the plants roots where it’s needed most 😊 Thank you so much for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #watering #gardeningtips #planttips #zerowaste #ecotips

Today we are back and I am showing one simple plant which I believe has a place in every garden, no matter the size. Nasturtiums can be seen all over my garden, and there are so many reasons why I recommend you do the same. Not only are nasturtiums a very pretty and easy to grow flower, they are possibly the most useful plant I’ve got in the garden. Every part is completely edible, and I think is delicious when added to a summer salad, giving off a taste similar to rocket. They are super simple and easy to grow, and once planted out will pretty much look after themselves. But the main reason I grow them is for organic pest control. They are a magnet for slugs and other critters, which helps keep them away from your more prized crops. Not only that, cabbage butterflies love to lay their eggs underneath nasturtium leaves, which again keeps them off your brassicas and other more valuable plants. Not only are they super useful, but if you plant one or two nasturtium plants, you will have them pretty much for life. While they will die back each year, they will self seed. The following spring you will notice lots of little nasturtium seedlings popping up in that area. Thin them out and keep the strongest to start the cycle all over again. I hope you are all having a lovely week, thank you for watching and I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #nasturtium #gardening #Sustainability #gardentips #ecotips #zerowaste

Today we are back and I am showing you from start to finish how to grow more fresh summer tomatoes than you will know what to do with, and it all starts with just a handful of heirloom seeds sown in a pot. I adore growing fresh tomatoes at home, as the taste is unrivalled to those you buy in the shops, and they also have so many amazing uses in the kitchen. Tomatoes are surprisingly easy to grow, and pretty much anyone can grow them at home as they come in all shapes and sizes. It is worth noting the advice in this video is for the most part for vining varieties. Bush varieties can just be left to grow and you don’t have to worry about supports, planting deep or removing side shoots. As you tomatoes grow they will benefit from a by weekly feed of liquid seaweed or similar. I usually start to feed as the first flowers start to appear. To guarantee the best harvest grow in a warm sunny location and keep the soil moist throughout the growing period. Towards the end of the season prune back branches and leaves to allow the remaining fruits to ripen, and any green tomatoes can be harvested before the first frost, and ripened in a draw with a banana. If you are growing heirloom seeds, don’t forget to keep a few before the plant dies back, to use again and again each year. Plus each year the seed will become more suited to your growing space, which is a big bonus. Thank you so much for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊💚🙏 #tomato #gardening #gardentips #zerowaste #harvest

Today we are back and I am showing you how to build one of my favourite zero waste projects and the best part is this one is completely free. As you know by now I love using pallets in the garden to make various bits and pieces, but this project is by far my favourite! I’m always asked where and how to get pallets, and the best way to get them for free is to simply ask your local garden centre or industrial unit. They will be more than happy for you to have them as they have to pay to have them taken away anyway. When getting your pallets just make sure to get ones which are stamped with HT which means they are heat treated and and safe to use. I love to protect my pallets using a good wood preserve, but this is optional (although I highly recommend). To create the planting areas, there are a few ways this can be done, but by far the easiest is to simply attach the slats you’ve removed back under the remaining slats, which then create a perfect DIY planting trough. These make ideal containers for small gardens and balconies, and I love to use them as small herb kitchens or floral displays. If you have very strong screws or bolts, you can even attach these planters to walls or fences, but be careful because they can be heavy when loaded with soil. Thank you so much for watching, and let me know if you have any questions, I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #verticalgarden #verticalplanter #zerowaste #palletproject #Sustainability #gardeningtips

Today we are back and I am showing you how to use your beautiful rose petals at home, to make one of the most amazing ingredients to have around the house, rose water. Roses are one of my favourite flowers to grow in the garden, and we have varieties growing which are nearly 50 years old, still going strong, planted by my great grandmother! However, like most flowers, the blooms soon pass and before long the petals are all over the garden floor. Just before this happens I like to save a few and turn them into rose water. Rose water has so many benefits, and is used in perfume, cooking and cosmetics. You can buy rose water in the shops, but once you see the price, it becomes pretty clear why I like to make my own 🤣, and the process is quite fun too. It Now I’m not saying this is the only, or even the best way to make rose water, but it is the way I’ve found gives me the best, most fragrant results. It might be worth noting I use home grown, chemical free, organic roses which I know are safe to use. If you decide to try this using left over roses from Valentine’s Day, or from the florist, I would avoid using it for anything edible or cosmetic, but you can still make fragrance sprays for your home 😊🌱 I hope you all are having a lovely week, and I really appreciate you watching, Joe 😊💚🙏 #roses #rosewater #gardentips #zerowaste #gardening #ecotips

#ad Today, we're back, and I'm sharing my top watering tips for your garden and houseplants this spring with Affinity Water. Spring is the time of year when our gardens and houseplants come to life, which, for me, is the most exciting time. However, it's also when our water usage can dramatically increase. Luckily, there are many quick and easy tips we can use at home to reduce our water consumption while keeping our plants healthy and happy. Many are as simple as upcycling waste destined for the bin or reusing water from cooking, which not only cuts down on waste but can also help save you money! So, consider how you might save water around your home, and please share any ideas in the comments below. If you'd like to be rewarded for saving water at home, please join me in Affinity Water's My Water Footprint Challenge, where you can win fantastic prizes such as Water Butts, RHS and National Trust memberships, family trips to Hertfordshire Zoo, gardening bundles, and more. You can join via the link in my bio. 😊 Thank you for watching. Joe #gardeningtips #watering #affinitywater #zerowaste #planttips #SaveOurStreams #AffinityWaterChallenge