Ben The Grower - Ben Thornton

Ben The Grower - Ben Thornton Disabled Gardener & Designer🌿
Rare Spinal AVM Injury - 2009 🏥🩸
Award Winning Designer 🥇🌿
NoDig, YouTube & More 🇬🇧

03/10/2026

Trying to get on top of jobs I let slip 🫣🍅🌿🫠

Ummmmmm… ONE plant I decided to stick at the edge of a bed because I had a spare bit of space 😳😂🥒🌿I’d already harvested ...
01/10/2026

Ummmmmm… ONE plant I decided to stick at the edge of a bed because I had a spare bit of space 😳😂🥒🌿

I’d already harvested about 30 cucumbers from it before this lot as well! I eventually gave up harvesting them and just let them keep growing for the chickens because there comes a point where you really don’t want to eat another cucumber 😂🫠

Safe to say this has been my one unwanted glut of 2026 😂🥒

Safe to say Natural Grower is some sort of organic magic feed!

The beetroot this year has been crazy 🤯🙌🏼😍🌿 I’ve honestly lost count of how much I’ve harvested!Hands down one of the ea...
01/10/2026

The beetroot this year has been crazy 🤯🙌🏼😍🌿 I’ve honestly lost count of how much I’ve harvested!

Hands down one of the easiest vegetables for me to grow, and it just keeps on giving. I absolutely love the different colours too — especially those bright pink stems 😍

Definitely one crop I’ll be growing plenty of again next year!

How has your beetroot done this year? 🌿

01/10/2026

Supporting Dahlia’s Late In the season 🌿🌸

What an amazing day at the Malvern Autumn Show on Saturday 🌿🎃I’ve wanted to go for years, and with life being pretty s**...
30/09/2026

What an amazing day at the Malvern Autumn Show on Saturday 🌿🎃

I’ve wanted to go for years, and with life being pretty s**t recently, it was exactly the day out I needed. Me and my good friend Emma headed up together, had a proper wander around, looked at far too many plants and just enjoyed having a day away from everything.

And can we talk about the giant veg?! 😳 I have genuinely never seen vegetables so bloody big. Pumpkins the size of cars, enormous onions, monster leeks, watermelons, peppers and even a world-record beetroot. Absolutely ridiculous 😂

Such a brilliant show, such a good day with Emma, and I came home with my head absolutely full of ideas.

Now I just need to work out how to grow an onion bigger than my head… 🧅😂

Great to see the amazing Caley Brothers doing there thing 🙌🏼😍

RHS Malvern Spring Festival / Malvern Autumn Show

30/09/2026

These aluminium hoops and netting from Garden Naturally have honestly done wonders for my veg this year 🌿

The carrots have been brilliant, but this whole bed has gone absolutely crazy — leeks, self-seeded brassicas and more peppers than I know what to do with 😅 Everywhere I look there’s another one!

I made this setup specifically for my raised beds using their aluminium hoops, extension posts, anchors and ultra-fine netting. You can build your own like I did or they have ready-made options too.

Definitely worth looking at if you’re trying to grow naturally and keep pests away without reaching for chemicals.

Gifted by 🌱

29/09/2026

How have your outdoor tomatoes produced this year? 🌿🍅

I decided to plant my leftover tomato plants outside, and honestly, it’s been the best decision I made! 😍

They’ve absolutely surprised me with how well they’ve done. 🍅🌿

29/09/2026

The squash has officially taken over the allotment 😂🎃

At this point in the season, I’m not really interested in encouraging loads of fresh growth that isn’t going to produce anything.

So I’ve started cutting back the long sections of squash that are covering the paths but have no fruit, no flowers and nothing useful happening on them.

That means I can concentrate on the fruit that is already there, open everything up to more light and air, and stop wasting water and feed on loads of excess growth.

I’ve also been removing old and damaged leaves around the developing squash so they’re much more exposed as we head further into autumn.

What was meant to be a quick path-clearance job turned into a MUCH bigger tidy-up… and somehow I even found a squash completely wedged between the raised bed and the path 😂

No idea how I missed that one.

At least I can actually walk around the beds again, harvest properly, and everything I removed is heading straight to the compost bin 🌱

Very satisfying job done.

29/09/2026

If there’s one winter squash I’ll happily grow every single year, it’s Kuri squash 🎃🌱

I’ve got six plants growing on the allotment this year and there must be 15+ squash growing across the beds already.

One plant alone has managed to produce eight fruits climbing over an arch… and the rest are happily wandering through beds and across the paths 😂

I was first introduced to Kuri squash after seeing Monty Don grow it vertically on Gardeners’ World, and it’s been such a good one for growing up arches and supports.

It saves space, looks absolutely beautiful as the fruits hang down, and judging by this year’s crop, it’s seriously prolific too.

If you’re looking for a winter squash to try next year, put Kuri on the list 🎃

29/09/2026

What a bloody nightmare 😭🎃 I knew this squash was getting heavy and should’ve supported it, but I left it too long. One tiny movement of the arch and SNAP.

Lesson learned — if you’re growing squash vertically, support the heavier fruits with a sling, bag or old T-shirt. Now I’m just hoping it’s ripe enough inside 🤞

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