Growing in the desert can be tricky by using this method of poly culture you can increase yields, reduce watering, and reduce pests at the same time. It can also apply to gardens in more temperate areas as well. Give it a shot!
VIDEO: This Desert Gardening Method Produces Insane Yields AND Reduces Pests!
Growing in the desert can be tricky by using this method of poly culture you can increase yields, reduce watering, and reduce pests at the same time. It can also apply to gardens in more temperate areas as well. Give it a shot!
I live in Las Vegas, NV. For the majority of the summer, we maintain highs of at least 105°F and generally we're over 110°F. Gardening here is a constant war against soil temperature and water use. We started our polyculture garden on accident (it was supposed to be a permaculture) in 2016. A ring of canopy trees now surround our property, from Mesquite and Shoestring Acacia to almond and various apples; after they established we noticed double the production in our leafy greens.
We don't have much cloud cover at all; there's a substantial surplus of light, and we've found that nearly any "full sun" crop is at least a "partial shade" crop here. Raised planters increase the soil temperature to points that at best heat-stress the plant, at worst outright kill it in a few days of the full summer. Our entire garden is planted into a 6-12" wood mulch because gravel conducts too much heat (increasing soil temperature), and dirt just turns our yard into a dry dustbowl stripped of all topsoil. To maintain our soil, we vermicompost into in-ground worm towers (5 gallon buckets with a bunch of holes drilled in them so the worms can move throughout the soil and distribute the castings).
I notice a chain on the gate and a lock, must be some bad neighborhood.
If it was only that easy! I recently moved from NW Washington (USDA plant zone 8a) to the high desert in SE Arizona (USDA plant zone 8b). Everything is different here and there are may challenges to overcome. The sun is intense, so you need to have shade cloth over your veggies. There are all sorts of burrowing rodents here (rats, mice, gophers, and rabbits) so you need to have a way to keep them from tunneling through your beds, climbing or jumping up into your beds and eating your garden. And then there's the wind which can be very destructive. Everything needs to be anchored or bolted down. I'm on acreage out in the country and there's nothing but short mesquite trees to break the wind, so there's really no wind break at all. The wind will beat the leaves on your plants to death, so you have to shelter them from the wind. There are huge mule deer and a lot of hungry birds. And insects… I'm not even sure what all of the insects are that I'll need to battle except for ants and flies. But I hear there are grasshoppers, grubs, caterpillars, and tomato horn worms. Eventually I'll put up a fence to keep snakes away. I hope I can overcome these challenges so I can have a garden again!
Amazing content! Lemons where super expensive for some time here in mexico city, I would love to have the space for a lemon tree!
By polyculture do you mean companion planting?
Super cool!
Can anyone help me. I have a white fungus growing on peat pots. Do I need to do anything
I have two Meyer lemon trees I bought last year. They have grown alot. Have one lemon growing and blossoms. They are planted in a glazed ceramic pot about 8” high. The tree is about 2 1/2 ft tall. Should I move to a bigger pot or not because I have my first lemon on it. And what type of pot should I move it to?
That's nice of you to let us peak into your vacation, enjoy! I'm planting some lemon trees and hope it will produce as much as that one. God bless you guys and bring you all home safe!
I knew it! As soon as the video started i asked, " is he in Mexico?" I live on the border of Texas and Mexico. Yes our gardening style is different.
last year I used straw to mulch, unfortunately I had a problem with weed seeds, is this a common issue with straw for core gardening? also, could anyone recommend a straw brand you have success with?
I had a bunch of different seeds in a bottom of a bag see my seeds fell out of package I threw it my garden will that be OK I know I will loose some of it
Amazing what can be grown in that climate. Being closed in by walls, I think that garden does well because of that created microclimate. Not sure the trees would do as well in the open desert. In my own experience, the best year I had for tomato production was when they were planted next to the neighbor's 6 foot privacy fence rather than the center of my back yard. That gave the plants a lot of protection from the wind. Thanks for another great video. Hope you and your family are having a great time in Mexico.
Welcome to Mexico! Hope you can share more videos from there!
Enjoy your vacation, it is really cold here in Michigan!
Hey Luke, hope your vacation is going well. I have 2 bakers creeks and 1 Johnny seeds catalog that are extra. Would like to give them to someone that did t get a chance to get one. So I left a message on here for anyone viewing this, so they can contact me and I mail it out to them. But I did need your help with seedlings that I've already planted and have germinated, but some are getting g leggy. Once their leggy, are they any good to continue with and repot and plant.
¡Espero que diviertas!
¡Eso es muy interesante!
¡Gracias!
Mejores deseos — Kate in Olympia, WA – 3/26/2022
Wow, is an understatement. This was such a great video.
BEAUTIFUL! We live in Northern Arizona. One of the challenges is the wide range of day and night temperatures. Also, some garden packet seeds say "full sun" and I ask is that Arizona sun?
Where in Mexico are you?
welcome to Mexico
Looks like it even grew a satellite dish!
New Mexico gardener here, I wouldn’t say it’s difficult to grow here but a thick straw mulch is definitely your friend out here, very high UV, very low humidity, and wind are the biggest factors to account for.
Isn't it so interesting what grows in some places and not in others. I got a kick out of Laura over at Garden Answer going on about how she can't grow rosemary in her area and another time watching how excited she was about the incoming elephant ears at her mom's place. I'm in Central Mexico (but a higher altitude) and the rosemary and especially the elephant ears will take over the garden if you aren't careful. My avocado tree that grew out of an old compost pile put out over 300 avocados in the fall and now the spring batch is coming in. I see another viewer mentioned that you and Kevin at Epic Gardening should get together. That would be such a great gardening geek-out blast!!
Did you get the owner’s authorization to film ???