NO TILL Back to Eden Method Homesteading Organic Vegetable Gardening Soil Building with deep mulch – wood chips for beginners 101, Pt 7. Soil improvement . Also How to build healthy soil – You can use composting leaves too.
VIDEO: NO TILL B2E Method Organic Vegetable Gardening Soil Building with mulch for beginners 101. Pt 7
NO TILL Back to Eden Method Homesteading Organic Vegetable Gardening Soil Building with deep mulch – wood chips for beginners 101, Pt 7. Soil improvement . Also How to build healthy soil – You can use composting leaves too.
One other thought is think about the habitat you are creating for Peponapis pruinosa, the squash bee. The timing of the flowers on the cucurbits will usually find them closed when the common eastern bumblebee is active and pollinating. The squash bee is a solitary bee that builds it's nest in the ground. It may have a hard time in your wood chips, but anywhere there is open ground (such as in your raised beds) it should be an ideal habitat.
I am planning to implement this type of gardening if I move back to Maui. Do you think that I could use rice in place of winter rye? I won't be using a flooded system.
Thank you for the update, Mark…You also have a great 4th!
Another great video Mark. I planted my zucchini and patty pan squash a bit earlier than you, and using your advice of establishing a habitat for beneficial insects, all is going great so far. In fact, we harvested our first patty pan squash yesterday and grilled the slices on the grill. Fantastic! Thanks for all you do. Just out of curiosity…How many people do you have to help you there on the farm?
I thank you so much for all your videos. I am trying your methods. In February I put in willow branches to root in my garden. They are all growing and I plan to copice them so they don't cast too much shade. I have ordered some rye and oats to plant this fall. One end of my garden is too wet. I hope the roots help with drainage.
I had some blueberries in a wet area. One died and I planted a cranberry plant and it colonized the area. The other blueberry plant has survived and is growing with the cranberry plants around it. I am thinking the cranberry roots help the rain to soak into the ground. They need the same fungus although I didn't know that until you published it.
Great video series and anxious to follow thru the summer and fall. Thinking of using some wheat straw in the place of leaves for some raised beds. This straw is damaged and has started the decomposition process. What's your thoughts on that?
Hi, Mark. The sunflower is beautiful. I am glad to see all of your plants are doing well. You should have ripe tomatoes in no time. Happy 4th to you too. E 🙂
I like it!
Thanks so much for your videos. I have a small backyard and am looking for easier ways of growing both flowers and veggies. You've shared some great information!
Great tips Mark. I wanted to let you know how I successfully fought squash bugs so far this season and have been much more successful harvesting. The borers are now taking some hold but I am happier than in past years without spraying. Tons of dill, dill and more dill along with peppermint. My squash is doing great, but the brassicas without dill and peppermint eaten to death.
mark been loving your show,have watch the side by side of leaves and chips,,im really interested in how you are gonna o with these squash vine boer ,i been wiped out 2 years in a row now,,also,with the chips do you have any problems with snakes and scorpions in the chips,,im in south texas and its a real problem here,,my main problem is the rough snake,they eat all my worms and skaire the crap out of you,,the cover crops seems like a great idea,,but there is the snakes again,got a magic bullet for this problem
good info again
be well
Help me understand, by encouraging diversity of beneficial bugs and planting in a natural area you will encourage predatory action on the bugs that are pests. Is there a predator insect that targets the squash bug? The squash bug in particular?
I planted a bed with all the cover crops to see what happens (no squashes planted this year) – very interesting (and a little alarming for allotment committee). Next year I'll do the same and add some squash seeds. The cover crops do seem to provide a home for slugs, though, so I'll put in plenty of seeds.
Mark, your videos are awesome!
I'm a new farmer (5 year gardener) and I'm in the process of setting up new beds (30'x100'). I'm getting overwhelmed / confused from watching too many videos on how to build soil. My current and only bed, I killed in the early spring (with silage tarp) and tilled (to break up the bottom soil clay) packed on new compost and wood chips and have been feeding it compost tea (it's performing OKAY, no great)
What would you recommend I do to create the next bed? I'm tarping it at the moment to kill the weeds. Once that is done should I just pile on leaves and chips in the fall? import a ton of compost and soil? grow cover crops and mow them in the spring? (I only have a BSC tiller and ride on lawnmower for equipment) Ideally I'd like to be growing in this next bed for spring of 2018.
Thanks so much in advance!
hi mark ik had een vraagje over planten. . kan ik de pompoen ook in potten beginnen daarna uitplanten in me tuin
Very interesting! I'm anxious to see how your squash do. I was going through and mulching with woodchips over some grass and weeds around some of my squashes this week and have more that are surrounded by wood sorrel that I was going to cover over too but maybe I'll let them be and see if there is any difference in how they grow. Where do you purchase your seed for clover/rye/etc?
I never once thought about it like this. I'm using a lasagna method with straw, and clover has popped up. I love clover, and it's there to stay! I had something start to eat my potatoes, but I've left the foliage that is popping up and keep it dusted with Diatomaceous Earth. The miracle stuff 🙂 Subscribed, and thanks for the great video! I hope to once day be just as knowledgeable in my channel! 🙂
How are your carrots doing planted directly into the winter rye? I would love to see an update. Love the videos.
Happy 4th to you and your family. Cant wait to see how you do with the squash's. Lost mine to the vine borers but its ok I get to replant this fall. Still working out my logistics on this 1st year garden but very please with my results. I'm only 5 ft and my tomatoes overgrew my 54" cages and I would say they are about 10ft tall. Thinking of doing the Florida weave next season. any suggestions? We already have 46" of rain this year but this method is handling it just fine. Happy 4th again and thanks for the tutorials.
Any thoughts on corn for a 5 foot diameter bed? All other veggies I have figured out. My guess would be about 12 stalks in the bed. Is that enough to get pollination for all?
I tried this myself in one of my beds after I watched this video and it worked incredible! fastest and best germination I've ever seen! Thank you!
maybe I missed on other video. why sedum? Thanks again for all your hard work.
so it's my understanding that you don't ever water your veggie garden? thats the part that intrigues me. i live in CA near the coast.
Your method has been revolutionary for me. Thanks a hundred times! We are on 25 acres, where nobody has lived or farmed for 75 years. Last year I planted squash and it's like I rang the dinner bell. This year I'm not crying over squash bugs. (I could talk about Japanese beetles but that's for another time, and thank goodness they're done now)… I have a lot of frogs and toads, my faithful helpers, and the natural grass/undergrowth encourages them to hang out among my squash plants. I even put a 99c solar stake light on each plant to invite them there. You helped me see that isolating a squash plant makes it that much easier for the bugs to hit on. Planted in this natural way, all the beneficial insects in the grass & weeds have access to the emerging nymphs. I see some squash bugs if I really look hard but now I don't worry about them causing damage. They're few and far between, and they don't have long to live 🙂 I'm harvesting some beautiful white marrow squash and the cantaloupe and pumpkins are loving life. IOU.
How did they do. Were you successful?
My garden is no til also. I thought in order to kill winter rye cover crop one should wait until it is 70% pollen shed. Your method of waiting until the stem starts to look like straw is much earlier. So your rye doesn't sprout back when you cut it at this young straw stage?
I hope to plant right into the soil as you do. I don't have a seeder and wonder if there is a faster way than your dry wall knife to make a slit in the ground.
I'm going to be working with students on a no til garden this summer. Are there books, videos, or articles you recommend to explain the soil food web and your no til method?
bring in all the good bugs and things are great i love it but do you have rabbit problems with all this clover an things you are growing
u the best