How to Plant & Grow Healthy Organic Strawberries for Food from Plugs/Roots in a No Till raised bed Garden part 2. Organic Gardening Method 101 using a Back to Eden with wood chips. Easy DIY Organic Home steps.
Strawberry Plugs USDA Certified Organic from: http://www.johnnyseeds.com/
Thanks for this update. Everything I grow in my urban backyard has to be contained. Unfortunately the soil is the victim of construction slag, (pieces of arsenic laced wood, lead based paint chips, etc), and RoundUp residue. Can you picture this? I have my strawberry pot inside a wrought iron dog kennel for protection from groundhogs and squirrels!
all the best – be well
After watching your video last year I decided to test growing strawberries in pots where I cut off the bottom of the pot so hopefully the root could work itself into the ground and not be root bound. I used pots thinking it would keep the fruits off the ground and away from the slugs.. They have grown well and I really enjoyed the fruits but the plants have filled most of the pot and seems a bit crowed. I plan to purchase more and will experiment using those black edging barrier which are approximately 4-5 inches high but I can make a wider diameter than the pots. Hope that makes sense. Thanks for the videos and aloha.
Thanks for the update Mark.
Hi Mark, I’m getting the bug problem with my watermelons again like last year because down here in S. Jersey we’ve had 10 straight days of cloud cover as I've been planting watermelons. Do we have to deal with this every year??? Thankfully the last two days have given us much needed sun and I can see the plants getting stronger. I’ve been studying Gabe Brown’s lectures after you mentioned him and everything is coming together now with the no-till method! The sun fuels everything. Duh!!! 🙂 Thank you! P.S. Are you growing watermelons this year?
Another excellent video .Thanks
Mark, I hear the annual rye grass and buckwheat can become weeds very easily is that true? Have you ever thought of using oilseed radish to loosen your soil?
I'm curious-what do you do organically to keep slugs away? They're big here in the PNW. I found a snail on a squash plant leaf in a big ceramic container that is 2 feet tall. It's sitting on rocks. Should I put salt around the perimeter of my pots? I do see ladybugs in my garden; all plants are grown in 26 various containers. only the 8 squash plants (in 3 huge pots) are sitting on rocks though.
What type or brand of clover are you using with your strawberries?
There's no such thing as a weed free garden unless you cover everything with plastic.
Hi Mark, i have been watching your videos in bulk lately and really like your method of growing soil and "befriending" the soil food web. I do have a few more questions about the method though if i may.
1. What about potatoes, turnips and other root crops? Would the soil food web be damaged if you lift them or does it not matter that much and is quickly regenerated? Do you use a special method/technique for harvesting such crops without disturbing your soil? Do you still wall up you potatoes by adding compost on the field or is the soil and the mulch as cover enough?
2. What about crop rotations? Do you still have to use them or are they not necessary in a healthy soil with permanent and varied plants in it? Would you have to rotate the cover crops as well or do you always use the same?
Great video. I have a problem with Bermuda Grass growing in my garden. The homemade Vinegar and salt solution kills off the top, but it just regrows and spreads from the root nodules. The root nodules are too far down to effectively get at. Does anyone have any ideas? I have about 2 inches of leaf mulch topped by 4 inches of wood chips and the Bermuda Grass is still growing through it. I do my best to stay away from Roundup as I prefer the organic methods, but I'm at my wits end. Any ideas?
Great video as usual Mark. I have strawberries that have been doing great, but are on their third year. Do you have an idea on how you plan to rejuvenate your strawberry bed? The easiest way I have seen is what Paul from Back to Eden does and just heavily mulch them every year or two and let the old ones die off.
Hello thanks for the update and for the tips
Mark, what was that device when you shaved that weed?
Alfalfa and clover inhibit micorrhizal growth, not compatible with strawberries
Great to know, thanks! Such good information!
Your videos are fantastic. Thank you! I have two questions: 1) I've always pulled weeds to get them by the root (I can still hear my dad telling me that as I weeded on Saturday mornings! Ha ha) Is it a good practice to cut them off like you did here in the video–is that good for all types of weeds? And if you catch them early, at the seedling stage, would it not be best (and easier) at that point to pull them completely out? and 2) I am catching on to the concept of leaving something living in the soil year-round as you reiterate in many of the comments. What types of year-round cover crops do well with what types of vegetables? I saw your one video with winter rye sown with the peas on top of potatoes. Then this vid shows other types. How do I know which crops to use with tomatoes? Spinach? Etc. Thanks in advance for any information. I will keep watching your videos. Best of luck to you and yours!
How do you control slugs and pests? And do you clip the runners and remove the blossoms and fruit the first year like some others do with their plants? Thank you for your informative videos. I enjoy them very much.
Thx from APSL India
Do you have a part 3?
What kind of clover is that ?
Very interesting how you plant crops all over where the strawberries grow. I always clear everything out thinking that extra plants will compete for water and nutrients of the plant I am interested in. I guess cover crops don't do that? Thanks so much for all your great videos and I am learning alot!
Thank you.