I am so excited to announce a new project for the vegetable garden which involved ripping out 3 raised beds. The inspiration came from deciding what to do with the old raised beds and also an interest in seeing if there can be an effective system of growing food using only hay for the UK climate. There has been a lot of speculation with hay and other mulches in the UK due to them creating perfect environments for slugs to hide and breed. But how I see it is that there must be a solution to every problem, and with grass being such an abundant natural resource it makes sense to do a trial to see if you can grow productive annual and tuber vegetables instead of just using it as a mulch for perennials. I don’t think every vegetable will work, especially salads, but then again if we look at effective slug control such as using ducks then perhaps it won’t be as big of a problem as initially thought.
Of course, this whole experiment could turn out to be a huge flop, but you would just never know the answer if you never try. And even if only a few annual vegetables work well, I would consider it a success because of how little work is required to look after them. The project will be running for 3 years and I will be documenting every step of the way, sharing the successes and failures. I start this with an open mind and mentally prepared for failures, but I know one thing will happen, there will be an end result and time will tell what that result will be. In this video I also highlight the 5 rules I must follow during this no-dig experiment, which I must strictly follow.
This year I am also going to experiment with composting a mix of hay and fresh grass to see if that is worth the time and effort and what ratios of both are needed. I would love to hear your thoughts about this video.
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Hi Huw thanks for all the great videos. How did this experiment work out? We live in wales and thinking of trailing a similar method! X
Grow your raspberries on the tree line where they would naturally grow
Consider the type of potato or brand which may change or help the harvest such as rusette, yellow gold US types for example. tweek the experiments which should be helpful for you.
"Hey" people! Any comments on what happens if use Straw instead of Hay?
I found that, in a dry climate, this doesnt work so well as the hay doesnt break down
hey guy-that is not a pick ax, that is a MADDOX.two types-spiked and double bit(yours-double bit)…it's even mentioned in the bible,,,,,love your farm GOD BLESS and keep you safe and productive ps. i use a slightly smaller version,,,easier on the back and just as productive,,,,it won't tire you like that "heavy guy"
Another great video Hugh, I love that your sharing your journey of learning.
I think your gonna be the next great gardening guy in England…keep em coming my friend.
Hugh Ireland calling try using damaged round bail silage it is brilliant no weeds
does it work with straw ??
https://youtu.be/6HvpqtBrWaI
Yes, don't forget the soil she started on, she had tilled for at least 10 years. So if you want to kick start your Ruth Stout garden, till it first, especially in its 1st year
I live in Northern Germany where we used to get a lot of rain but not so much in recent years. I use straw instead of hay. It does not compact as much as hay and I like it a lot for mulching and keeping weeds down. It breaks down faster than hay although it might not have as many nutrients as hay – this I do not know. I am very happy with the results.
Raspberries requires some sort of fertiliser. Otherwise the crop will disappoint.
If you do it right you might not need bamboo sticks. Max height 2.5 meters.
There are raspberries which blooms and produce crops until the frost comes. However you need fertiliser in order to get a good crop.
I don’t like raised beds. I prefer a food forest style
I just watched the Ruth Stout video and she said she always puts cotton seed meal on the seeds to give them nitrogen.
I started doing this last year as I wanted to make good use of the hay left over from my quails. I shake the hay gently to make sure there's no food particles as that just causes mould and it goes into the bin along with most of the newspaper I line our small shed with. See a comment by Ruth Goodman in her book 'How to be a Tudor', in regard to hay mats in the house. I use 3% hydrogen peroxide on the slugs and plants as it's a dual purpose. I've been trying to build up the soil in this garden for nearly 20 years with humus (compost), no dig, and a combination of Rock Dust and coffee grinds. We are on the East of Scotland in a 'rain shadow' from the mountains to the west so we don't get more than 2ft rain on average. With the Grand Solar Minimum in full swing I was also concerned about shorter seasons and more cold wet weather for the next few years. Potatoes seem to do well, I planted earlies and have 'wild' potatoes for some years, along with Bak Choi and garlic. It's too dank to plant early seeds in and none of the herbs and wild plants did at all well, but I'm finding that planting them as plugs helps them to take root better. Looking forward to hearing about your results.
I love raspberry and their expensive , they are my favs. Good choice
Love interesting gardens ❤️ subscribed
my ducks LOVE fat, yummy slugs
Use hay, or straw? There is a big difference.
Raspberry canes make a good fence, as does
All the thorned berries. Nust be careful.
Hi Huw. Did you continue with this method and if not, why not? I'm curious as I'm looking into creating living soil for my vegetables after years of traditional gardening. It looks like you now use a method similar to Charles Dowding with compost mulches. The comment below from Nicolas Bertin is very interesting and something I'd like to learn more about and I've assumed (as you research everything!) you may have some knowledge about it.
Ruth Stout advocated using any type of organic material on top of the beds. Spoiled hay was what she had readily accessible in the greatest quantities. Also she didn't water because she had a dug well and had to conserve, although the mulch did save her from losing crops due to drought.
Did you ever post a video on your results?
Since you dug the soil and then added manure this is NOT the Ruth Stout method. She did not break the soil, no digging, no tilling. She threw hay or straw down, then threw her seed potatoes on the hay and covered it all with more hay. No digging, no tilling, no plowing, no watering, no weeding. Just threw her seed potatoes on the hay and covered them and later moved the hay out of the way and gathered her harvest.
thank you1
Ruth Stout would have just thrown straw down and any thing else to hand (cabbage stalks, cob heads, dead mice – she was not purely straw). She was we now call 'no dig' – that means pick axe and fork NOT! She would have just flattend those rasberry stalks (in the Autum) and left the root in the ground. Nothing at all like what you have done.
Even though I live in the states your videos are some of my favorite for gardening content as I'm in a very wet part of the PNW (zone 8b) and our climates are very similar! Slugs are an issue here, too. This video is very helpful, thank you.
did it work for you?
I'm doing Ruth's method this year. I started a small patch over last years woodchips. It's turned into a many forest. Garlic, bunching onions, peanuts, potatoes, ginger, green beans, 3 different peppers all growing together. It's amazing. But I tried it with a twist also this spring, biochar was added on too of the woodchips on the next patch. You might be shocked to see that difference. Together, ruth and char are simply amazing. So I'm all in on ruth. I'm putting charged char down before mulching. Water and nutrients retention even better. Would love to see this one product added in your expirement. For next spring I'm adding hugle culture to this. I built a base of woods, big stock 3 – 5 " double cross tacked high. Then added a pile of brush atop. Big pile. Lit it up and allowed it to burn into big stock at bottom. Doused it and placed manure fish and compost on the char. Then I built a grass char compost mix lasagna bed atop this to cook a bed in place. Then topping off with deep mulch. No nutrient or drop of water can be lossed.