Today, we are finally starting our FIRST No DIG in ground garden plot!
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Before I forget, I was talking with someone today about people that use chippers to produce material for compost and bedding and people (who might very well be people who care about sustainable rotational farming), who have burn piles and instead of sequestering carbon release it into the atmosphere. You can go either way. One way doesn't accelerate global warming so I just wanted to tell you guys thank you for using the chipper awhile back. Love you.
Clay and sand are both components of good soil along with organic matter. Clay slows the water down and sand keeps it from pooling, but both need to work in conjunction with organic matter to really sponge up the water and slow release it with nutrients. Your area sometimes turns swampy and sometimes dry and a good balance of organic matter, clay, and sand deals with all your problems and turns them into strengths.
Our best potato bed ever utilized a leftover spot where compost HAD been stored. It was left bare after we moved the compost to the actual garden. We planted our potatoes there and “hilled” them as they grew with only straw. They were a glorious crop. We experimented with 5 lb of red Pontiac seed potatoes and harvested 35 lbs from that tiny plot. So much fun and such delicious potato salad we had!
Once you plant your stuff and it rains what is going to keep the soil from easily washing away? Love this idea, but cant wrap my mind around that.
hiyas…. love your vid's you guys seem like just awesome people,,, idk if you know "Maritime Gardening" with Greg Otten. anyway he has a very short ruth stout potato bed video he made,, i'll leave the address,, have a look,, he is in nova scothia and has a VERY short growing season and has alot of great tips to deal with it. Anyway he seems like a great guy, thats generally the folks i enjoy most on Youtube, here is the link, hope you enjoy it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LIYckw8cPg
We love to experiment. Last your I grow a lot of potatoes using the easy Ruth Stout method, in hay and straw. It was so nice to look in the hay for the best ones for dinner. At the end of the season we harvested about 50 pounds from a 16' x 20'. The only problem we had we bind weed. We also do wood chips.
Go to Costco. They have big sheet of cardboard with no tape that separate flats of products. Tip I got from plant abundance a fellow youtube gardener.
This is the method I'm going to do this year. A friend of mine did it last year for his potatoes and he said it was the best method he's ever done. He's putting in 4 more plots this year just for potatoes. https://youtu.be/GlratwBT5OI
You need to be watching Gabe Brown, Ray Archeleta, David Brant. Three of my favorite sources for soil.
Great work!!! It is not poor soil, it is poor soil LIFE. Elaine Ingham has done a comparison of growing veggies using compost tea to bring back the soil life, even after tilling/digging. The compost soil life is the big deal for her (that's what she studies), while Charles Dowding, just doesn't destroy the soil life before he puts on his compost. Pretty wild that God put so much life in the soil, then used it to make us. Also why Roundup, being anti-microbial is so very bad for the soil.
Tape comes off easier if you wet the cardboard first.
I love that you love Charles Dowding! I’ve been following him a bit longer than your channel and I admire him so much. I also do no-dig and use compost NOT mulch. I think you’d be more successful with compost as well as opposed to bark/wood chips. For potatoes- I just dig holes and toss them in. Then add compost as they grow. Nothing tastes better than a homegrown potato. As big a difference as a tomato from the garden vs. store. Just make sure your potato bed isn’t overrun with wireworms.
Hey Jess, we plant potatoes on top of cardboard, under hay/straw/mulch with lots of success. The main thing to watch for is to make sure the potatoes don't become uncovered and meet the sun – just add a little more cover as they grow and you'll end up with little haystacks of potatoes! They're all clean, ready to eat and you can 'bandicoot' (Australian term) some out easily if you want young potatoes 🙂
I’m eager to hear more about the no-till garden. I’ll be starting my very first garden this Spring. I’ve been planning on only using raised beds, but there’s an area in my yard where the no-till method is worth trying.
When it comes to potatoes or any other vegetable Ruth Stout is where it’s at! Lay them on top of the ground and cover them with hay and compost. They are heavy feeders so that wonderful composted bedding you have is excellent for them-add hay between the potatoes and compost to encourage drainage and air movement. Harvesting will be so easy-especially if you like new potatoes but don’t want to disturb the whole plant.
I’ve known several gardeners who have thrown old potato vines in the compost bin only to have the potatoes grow in the bin and take it over. Planting on top of the ground is very similar to growing potatoes in the compost bin.
My in ground garden has been tilled the past couple springs for planting, but this year I decided to be lazy and just put composted manure on top, put my landscape fabric back to let any seeds that hadn't composted sprout underneath the fabric and die off, and I'll plant in the same spots I burned into the fabric for last year, but rotating where the plants are. After watching enough other people just layering their compost and manure on top without tilling, I figure this method might be a bit lazier, but better for the garden overall. We are also talking about doing some raised beds in front of the house, and we will be layering cardboard, downed branches and limbs and the compost and manure we accumulate from our farm. I'm excited for when we can get that started.
I get great results with potatoes by growing in big raised beds, like yours. I use a no-dig approach (aside from the actual digging of the potatoes, though this disturbs the soil a lot less than I imagined it would). I just mulch the beds each year and plant each seed potato with a handful of chicken manure.
I put my potatoes in my fall compost pile and let them winter. In spring I dig them up for new potatoes and reuse the compost in my spring garden. You could also leave a smaller compost pile and just let the potatoes mature for larger potatoes.
Thanks for sharing!!
I remember learning this method 20 years ago when it was called lasagna gardening. If you can find enough newspaper or cardboard it is perfect for establishing new beds. Especially in the fact that you can lay out the shape of the bed(s) you want before you start layering all of the natural organic goodness on top.
This method would be perfect for your cottage garden to Jess, as you can even create curved beds w/ your paper base.
Found your channel today and loving it! How do you grow the veggies when you have rocks and clay n the containers? It does not disturb the roots?
I heard you say “perfectionist” and I felt ATTACKED XDD lol. I must be the same way. Cheers, friend!
good start now start a worm bin and brew worm tea. It will add the soil Fungus that will start the process.
I recently started laying my cardboard down too! I’m excited to see how mine works out. I’m going to try melons.
how did your no-dig turn out for this planting season?
i would love to see some updates and get your feedbacks on planting them
Please connect me to your friend for a billboard tarp….I too am in central AR and having a hard time finding one! I called Lamar and they said they recycle theirs to a diff company 🙁
Ahh, Yes …analysis paralysis… I hear you sister 🙂
Well this will save a ton, I don’t have to rent a tiller
How do u do this in a raised bed? Do u just fill with compost or soil to