It's almost like you have a little elf who sneaks in and works the garden in the night when your not around. I can't believe the amount of harvest with almost no working it through the year. Excellent.
I had an old neighbor who did this. His garden would typically be a foot or two deep of organic material just thrown on top. Basically it was his organic trash can. His garden at gotten completely shaded by trees and yet he had amazing crops every year.
thebossoftheswamp JC I see your channel referenced often in comments on other channels that I frequent when ever someone wants to reference a great channel to check out. Always referencing your channel as a great channel to see how to do things properly on a homestead. Won't be long before you are passing 100,000 subs. You have some of the highest views per vid of any channel with your subscriber numbers. You must be doing something right! LOL
Thank you buddy. I do get the views but my sub count still drags along. No complaints though, I get a LOT of really nice letters from folks and I find that very rewarding. Frankie enjoys it too :c)~
thebossoftheswamp Definitely, the subs are coming. Like a leak in a dam, it will start slow then progress rapidly. I always see folks asking me if I have seen your channel.. so you are a staple in the "homestead" genre of channels. Wranglerstar and Boss of the Swamp are the references I see most often! (Both great channels in my opinion)!
This totally the Back to Eden method. He says to use what you have and that's what you are doing. The only thing is that I would not worry about the evergreen/pine trees. We have lots in our mulch and it's works well! Thank you for your video. Your garden and place look so beautiful!
You all probably dont give a shit but does anybody know a method to get back into an Instagram account?? I somehow lost the password. I would love any tricks you can give me
@Eduardo Case I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Just had a family reunion at our place. Folks couldn't believe the mulch garden and how big everything was growing. Like you say, no water, no weeding, no fertilizer. Ruth Stout stumbled upon this method years ago and has a book on it. "How to have a green thumb, without an aching back" Can't wait to see the jacks all carved up. From the land, back to the land.- How did we get so distant from the natural world. Glad to see we are pulling in the slack, on the rope of life. Cheers Boss, always a good time hanging out.
I think man pulled away from this method so that they could sell us tillers, sprinklers, fertilizer and roundup... and we bought it. Every year I fuss over my broccoli plants and get a mediocre harvest. This year I was 300 miles away from my garden and all 6 plants grew huge picture perfect heads. I'll never go back to regular gardening.
I've watched this video so many times - I can't believe I haven't commented on it! You inspired me to start my own deep mulch garden. Something new I stumbled upon (after getting set up with a grow light indoors of course) is the concept of Winter Sowing seedlings in recycled milk jugs right out in the snow in the winter. You just cut the top off the jug except a small piece so it is sort of hinged & drill some holes for drainage in the bottom, put some potting soil in a plastic container (Milk jugs and larger seem to work the best) and make sure the soil is nice and moist. Plant your seeds right in the jug (I'm going to plant 3 tomato/pepper plants per jug, can do more for smaller plants) and then use duct tape to seal the jug back up. You leave them right outside, even in the snow. It is like a mini green house - the seedlings don't have to be hardened off, and by the time it is safe to plant, you have MASSIVE, strong plants. You should check it out, Boss! I don't think I'll start seeds another way after this year! :) Happy Gardening!
A deep mulch garden is also called lasagna gardening and/or the Ruth Stout method. Google them and you will find many beneficial articles and videos to watch and learn from.
Kerith Gaines - I just learned something new. I confess that the traditional method of "moving" seedlings around. A few times in the greenhouse with the worries of plant "shock", etc. It always made me scratch my head in doubt. But never add that "blink" moment to think that slight bit outside the box. ;-) Considering the fact I'm living in Norway a country with only two seasons. White Winter & green Winter (Local joke) Anything to deal with cold is welcomed. Thanks a bunch. Cheers
Great video, thank you. I second, I AM ORGANIC GARDENING, cut your plants off at ground level and leave the roots in the soil for your fungi to over winter.
Great looking Pumpkins JC , Your right Mulch Gardening is the way to go! I adopted the process myself back in 2011 and have not looked back! Well done my friend!
There is a Dr. Joel Wallach who is a regular guest on George Noory's radio program AM Coast to coast, and he talks about food nutrition and how wood ash was used years ago in compost heaps. Joel had been the chief pathologist for the St. Louis Zoo and a veterinarian, he became a medical doctor in 1982.
Smart! I love it! My Grandmother spent most of her days crawling around in the garden weeding..hours and hours. I've been wanting a garden but my husband told me the upkeep was all me. Ugh so you can imagine my happiness to find this method. It makes so much sense. I only wish my grandmother was able to use this method, but she is now 94 and last year she had to go to a home because she would get too weak and drop. Anyway, I am beyond happy I found your videos.
--yes well done video., but have to disagree with you on one thing. Pine needles, which are acidic, are great to cover and mulch the strawberry bed with , as they appreciate a more acidic environment! So pine needles are not all bad.......................
Dr. Joel Wallach who was a pathologist for the St. Louis zoo with Marlin Perkins, who is also a medical doctor has pointed out that when wood ash stopped being put into compost heap, a ton of nutrients were lost in vegetable gardens.
i am going to do my garden like this and BTW THANK YOU for making video content that is just plan ole good, we don't have to worry about language and we might actually smile. always enjoy your video sir. so again thank you
'mornin, Boss; It is said you will reap what you sew. I'd dare to say you got some serious sewing to do 'Ole-Friend. Sure got a Bumper Crop This time-'round ! Thanks as always for sharing with us. Scratch for our 'Lil-Frankie ! ATB Terry God Bless
FANTASTIC Video...THANK YOU.... Just a helpful TIP... if you wish to - do not pull the vegetables plants out of the SOIL. This WILL HELP FOR BUILDING SOIL for next YEAR. The ROOTS BUILD SOIL are NATURES way to FEED the SOIL FOOD WEB..If you pull them out you are removing all the work it did on building soil health...Just cut the plant off at soil level. THANKS AGAIN
Good point but I'm also improving the soil because what I pull up is chopped with the mower and then deposited back over the garden like I showed. I think we're thinking along the same lines but just a different route to get there :-)
thebossoftheswamp I think what he means is that by leaving the roots in the soil they can continue to areate the soil and feed it as they break down and rot away. By pulling them it rips a hole in the "web of life" that has been built up around them. Besides that, leaving the roots in the ground just saves that much more labor, which is kind of the whole point right? I went back and forth on this issue myself for a few seasons and started experimenting. In whatever garden plot i had left the roots in the ground, my production was noticeably better that where i hadnt, even in areas where the same varieties were planted. I figured if God doesnt pull plants up bybthe roots in nature then it doesnt make sense for me to do so either. In any case, your garden looks fantastic and yes its pretty obvious the joy you have in sharing it! Best wishes and much success!
The back to Eden guy uses wood chips from tree trimming services like you said. But they also say that these services create the wood chips from branches and leaves. They also say they use wood ash, straw, grasses, and anything organic. The wood chips are just the main thing they add since its abundant from tree trimming. Didnt know if you knew that..
Definitely this method of gardening has worked amazingly for you. Awesome looking pumpkins, tomatoes and peppers. I have incorporated some of material you have used in my garden. After seeing the success of yours I think I need to add more to mine. Thank you for sharing such wonderful gardening advice. I will be implementing these materials as I put my garden to bed for the winter. I can't wait to share your channel with everyone. They will fall in love with Frankie for sure. Appreciate all you share. Take care.
This gardening method is just plain amazing. The less attention it gets, the better it produces and the soil gets better each season. Thank you for sharing my channel Pam :-))
You know how I feel about wood chips. When I first started using them about 4 years ago, all the master gardeners warned me that the chips would rob my plants of nitrogen. I wish you could see the deep green color on all my plants. If anything, they have too much nitrogen. lol. I've got a pepper plant that is over six feet tall and it is producing like crazy.
It's just plain awesome isn't it Paula? I planted ONE pumpkin plant and it grew 9 big jackolanterns. This is the perfect gardening method for my lifestyle. I plant it and then pick it. I don't even have to be home in between to tend it :-)))
Gardening With Puppies Hi and yes you are right. I've tried to explain this method to my dad (86yr old) but he thinks I'm crazy. He makes his garden at our house every year. We just help him and do it his way. I'm not gonna argue with him lol. Anyway I'm thinking to get a dump truck load of wood chips now, this fall, and just dump it over the mulched garden leftovers. Worst case scenario dad will make us till another garden in front of the old one in the spring. BUT I'm hoping he sees the rich soil under the mulch in the old garden and likes it. Thanks for sharing this info and take care-Debbie
Elizabeth L. Johnson said, the trick is not to mix your wood chips (not bark) with your soil. They are a covering; one of many. They are to cover, not to mix with, or to till in.
Great looking pumpkins! Harvest never really seems like work to me. It's almost like receiving an award. Keep up the good work, I love watching the progression throughout the year! God Bless my friend.
Thank you very much for these garden videos. My garden was a flop this year due to poor soil. I've recently built compost bins and am going to start using them to store particles to spread on the garden after I final harvest and start composting in the garden itself. Thanks JC.
it's amazing how many people I told about this method of gardening have found the same results. I am thrilled your able to get more things done and have such an amazing harvest. I started an area from the chips used from my guinea pigs bedding, great mild fertilizer and no oder from sitting all winter. next year will be a great garden. TC ATB Louise
I like your way of mulching...it makes sense to use a variety of mulch to give your garden the nutrients that it needs. In the Back To Eden method, he later incorporated chicken manure since he was finding that his garden was needing additional nutrients...you got it right! Yes, I too, have noticed that the pine trees are bare underneath them...you just have to look at nature and duplicate it...Good Job!
just did my first ever veggie garden...turned over the grass....tossed in leaves and vegetable table scraps....winter snow covered it deep....raked it in the spring...tossed on compost soil from the dump and the wood chips..planted a few trail plant..had almost drought conditions up here in Ontario Canada all summer...watered with water i used to clean off gold fish pond pump...had awesome results...just finally getting rain over the last 2 weeks and now grass clipping go on top of the wood chips and when season is over i will cover with veggie plant shreddings and leaves again...compost soil and wood chips are free from our dump...will cover all before winter with them
First time I had this experience was 30 years ago when I threw in 5 tomato plants next to an old shed that'd had firewood stacked against it for many, many years... within a few months the plants were monsters and I mowed half of the plants down intentionally because they were so overgrown, and repeated this 4 or 5 times throughout the summer. They still produced huge amounts of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten. It took 10 years before I realized why. Mulch is everything.
Another fantastic video, I should comment more on how much I appreciate your videos. I have grown tomatoes, shallots, red onions and Scotch bonnets this year and I got a patch to grow those beet greens next year. I hope you and Frankie are well, and i will keep on watching.
Awesome boss! I had the best pumpkin harvest Ive ever had this year and they where volunteers that came up from my compost pile. I am going to start filling my raised beds with the stuff you talked about making each one its own compost raised bed. Its amazing how we complicated so much when God had it so simple to start with lol God Bless you brother
I can't believe man took gardening so far away from the way God had it planned for us. I can't believe I toiled over a garden plot all these years. All I've done this year since I planted seeds was pick stuff. Gotta love it.
What an abundant amount of vegetables off your garden. Yummmm. Enjoy the fruits of your labor boss. 2 thumbs up. You won't go hungry anytime soon lol. Thanks for sharing. And I think I'll share this vid as well on another channel :). Very helpful instructions you gave to learn from. Keep up the good work and "Hi Frankie" Take care
Even Paul does not use straight wood chips in his garden. He starts with wood chips in the chicken pin then adds lots of greens from his garden and lets the chickens mix things up. In one video he said he used wood chips with horse manure in it and added that to the chicken pin.
I did this on a small garden this season, and it worked great. Mostly grass clippings and some wood chips. I am looking forward to expanding the garden next year. Thanks Boss.
I love that you started gardening with Dad. I get my boys into the garden with me and am hoping it all sinks in. It's such a wonderful experience for a kid, IMO. ~ Melanie
I will be prepping my garden over the winter (live in the south) to try this for the next season. Thanks for talking about the pine that was a question I had.
subscribed yesterday after binge watching your videos for the last few days. Plenty of great information! Your attitude and perspective can connect with anyone at all who may want to make a few, or a lot of changes, and I think your set up can appeal to those who are less "extremist" in their taste for simple living. I look forward to future updates, and best wishes from the east coast of Canada!
Loved the video - you keyed in on so many points I could identify with (and were so encouraging) ! Subscribed. Great to see all the pumpkins - and appreciate you mentioning they were from one plant alone. Great SOUND on the video as well - I look forward to checking out more videos - and set the notification so I will not miss them.
Just found your channel and love this mulching method! I've been doing this exact same deep mulching since 1994 and I can say honestly that no one I know gets the amount of harvest that I do. Its just a wonderful way to add nutrients and keep the soil healthy.I've had another banner crop of tomatoes this year with hopefully another 6 weeks to go...or till that first frost. Then it will be mulching with leaves and laying down a thick blanket of them as I put the garden to bed for the winter.
Just started using this method of gardening down at my allotment as the compost heaps filled up too quickly. I generate a lot of grass cuttings and general garden residue from my gardening round, this is a great way of dealing with the residue (I refuse to call it waste). I have just purchased a Viking GB 460 wood chipper/mulcher for the hedge clippings that I generate also (I chop stuff up with the mower too) which produces a wonderful mulch (and wood chips for smoking). I get double bubble by being paid to generate the residues as well as using it as a labour saving, weed suppressing, growing mulch mat. The customers benefit as I don't charge them to remove the residue from their gardens, so everyone's a winner:-)
I followed your advice last fall. Moved my grass clippings pile to garden. Dumped in two feet of all my leaves from fall. Now this spring there is 6 inches of mulch and bottom layer is black rich and rich mulch that has broken down. Went to place plants and it's super easy to dig holes. What used to be hard unworkable clay is soft moist and full of Earth worms. No need to rototill the garden. Still have my drip system ready, but will try going as long as I can without having to drip irrigate here in semiarid SO Colorado. So far I'm very impressed. No need for 20 leaf bags headed to landfill last fall. It's all right there in the garden and flattens down just fine! I'll keep you updated this growing season! Thanks for your videos Say hi to Frankie.
Happy to hear of your success. Your garden will improve every year now and by your 3rd year you will be amazed. No more watering, weeding or tilling. Plant it and pick it. Enjoy :-)
Hi Boss, I'm looking forward to trying this method. Been following you on this all summer, In my opinion it's the best way to go. Never was any good at weeding. Enjoy the harvest my friend, be safe and God Bless.
We put a fair amount of work into our garden this spring . Things got busy and needless to say the garden didn't do well . I really like this why of gardening it's a great idea . Thanks for sharing.
I have been building my mulch bed since last fall. Thanks to one of your other vids. No garden for me yet, but the soil will be ready when I get around to it. Thanks for the Vids
Love your videos. So relaxing and entertaining. I do a veggiegarden with deep mulch, strawbales and in raised beds. I just throw everything left over on a pile and at the end of the season spread it out on the deep mulch area and in the raised beds. I buy some new strawbales every two years and after use the go to the same pile. Easy easy...... Keep going with your videos. The more the better, i would say..
Excellent garden mulch video JC! I am encouraged to see you carrying the touch for us 1970's Mother Earthers. I teach and use the Rodale Press- Ruth Stout No Work Garden book. She was heavy on covering her garden in unschreded hay leaves- like thick carpet tiles. I use our own hay for this, combined with our Hereford cow manure and compost. New Hampshire is suffering a severe draught this summer and my kitchen garden produced similar to yours. i also grew in unstructured rows like your garden. The summer squash leaves shaded other vegetables from the scorching sun! We enjoyed a bounty with little to no watering and no weeding. Your varied diet is called a BROAD PALLET> very healthy way to eat and cover your nutrician needs. I am so thrilled to see you gardening in harmony with your woodland home setting. Well done my friend! HAPPY AUTUMN!P.S. - We are laying underground conduit today at our woodlot home site to put us on the grid :-)
So happy to hear things are moving forward for you guys. I know it's been a struggle for you. With this gardening method being so easy but yet so bountiful, how on earth did gardening become so complicated over the years? Working with mother nature is so much easier than working against her. All the best to you two :-))
The first year doesn't offer much results aside from keeping weeds down. The second year the soil is fertilized from the first year's mulch and then it gets better and better each year. Good luck my friend.
Thank you JC I worked so hard on my garden this year an I hardly got anything an weeds so high even though I hoe-ed ! I'm convinced your way is better!
LOL well now we wont see anything new from you for a while as you will be canning your backside off!!! have a good time with that! I am JEALOUS...I only have a small garden, and not in such a great location, too shaded! so my garden, while being of the back to eden style, didn't produce as well as it could have due to the shade...oh well, i think it will be an herb garden next year! as always LOVE your vids! happy canning =)
Paul essentially does the same, he sends all his scraps/grass clippings etc to the chickens and once they're done with it puts it on his garden. So technically he's not just using wood chips. Anyway awesome video thanks for posting!
That's funny, I was literally talking about how I'm doing this method next season to some family. I'm excited to give it a go. I'm sure I will find great success with it! Now that gardening season is over, time to focus on getting in the woods and harvesting some meat and fur! All the best to you my friend!
I'll be hunting in a few weeks Johnny but I'll let the critters populate until the prices come back. I'll run a few sets but that's about it. Cheers :-)
I have to tell you brother you are starting to open my eyes I am dedicating a spot in my garden to try your method I have been loading it up With grass clippings goat bedding rabbit Crap compost and this fall and plenty of leaves I like the way you think
I knew I was going to spend most of my summer in NH so I only put in a few things. 6, peppers, 6 broccoli, 12 tomatoes, 2 cukes, 1 pumpkin and tried brussle sprouts. Everything went nuts even with total neglect. I had the best harvest ever and did nothing. How did man ever come up with the bust ass method of gardening anyway? I have a 74" Tiller for sale if you want it :-))
We started expirementing with the Back to Eden method this year, the straight woods chips did ok, but I did a raised bed with wood chip that I planted tomatoes in and then kept mulching it with grass clippings. I have had a excellent crop of tomatoes with it. I think you are right it takes more than just wood chips for mulch. Thank you for sharing, you garden looks great,
The first year doesn't offer much results aside from keeping weeds down. The second year the soil is fertilized from the first and then it gets better and better.
excellent tutorial ! thanks for honest Tips ... I'm living without any chem.fertilizer on my lawn and big trees. Now that i 'm more at Home with least travelling. I've noticed + realized , the nature has corrected itself ..with time
It's almost like you have a little elf who sneaks in and works the garden in the night when your not around. I can't believe the amount of harvest with almost no working it through the year. Excellent.
I haven't touched it all summer except for picking stuff when I get back from NH. It's crazy.
So glad to go back and watch some UA-cam gold right here!
I love that you keep it simple. The results are definitely evident. Keep it up
I had an old neighbor who did this. His garden would typically be a foot or two deep of organic material just thrown on top. Basically it was his organic trash can. His garden at gotten completely shaded by trees and yet he had amazing crops every year.
Thank God I am in a forest swimming in leaves! Thank you for this vid
Great to see you posting so many vids now JC! You should be very proud of what you have accomplished this year. Best to you and Frankie
I post them when I have time to do so. I'll be back in NH soon so they may be another dry spell. It's been a productive year for sure.
thebossoftheswamp JC I see your channel referenced often in comments on other channels that I frequent when ever someone wants to reference a great channel to check out. Always referencing your channel as a great channel to see how to do things properly on a homestead. Won't be long before you are passing 100,000 subs. You have some of the highest views per vid of any channel with your subscriber numbers. You must be doing something right! LOL
Thank you buddy. I do get the views but my sub count still drags along. No complaints though, I get a LOT of really nice letters from folks and I find that very rewarding. Frankie enjoys it too :c)~
thebossoftheswamp Definitely, the subs are coming. Like a leak in a dam, it will start slow then progress rapidly. I always see folks asking me if I have seen your channel.. so you are a staple in the "homestead" genre of channels. Wranglerstar and Boss of the Swamp are the references I see most often! (Both great channels in my opinion)!
We do this to. Awesome. Shared to facebook.
Thank you.
This totally the Back to Eden method. He says to use what you have and that's what you are doing. The only thing is that I would not worry about the evergreen/pine trees. We have lots in our mulch and it's works well! Thank you for your video. Your garden and place look so beautiful!
Thank you :-)
JC, this I an absolutely amazing harvest!
Being the artist that you are, I can't wait to see the carvings of the pumpkins to become
Jack-O-Lanterns.
I might make a FrankoLantern lol. Might take a few beers to pull this off haha.
You all probably dont give a shit but does anybody know a method to get back into an Instagram account??
I somehow lost the password. I would love any tricks you can give me
@Giovanni Elliot Instablaster =)
@Eduardo Case I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and I'm waiting for the hacking stuff atm.
Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Eduardo Case It worked and I finally got access to my account again. I'm so happy!
Thank you so much, you saved my account !
The best pumpkin plant we ever had was a volunteer that sprang up in the compost pile and took over half the yard.
Just had a family reunion at our place. Folks couldn't believe the mulch garden and how big everything was growing.
Like you say, no water, no weeding, no fertilizer. Ruth Stout stumbled upon this method years ago and has a book on it.
"How to have a green thumb, without an aching back"
Can't wait to see the jacks all carved up.
From the land, back to the land.- How did we get so distant from the natural world.
Glad to see we are pulling in the slack, on the rope of life.
Cheers Boss, always a good time hanging out.
I think man pulled away from this method so that they could sell us tillers, sprinklers, fertilizer and roundup... and we bought it. Every year I fuss over my broccoli plants and get a mediocre harvest. This year I was 300 miles away from my garden and all 6 plants grew huge picture perfect heads. I'll never go back to regular gardening.
thebossoftheswamp
Very good point. Except this mulch method is regular gardening. The other method is just like you say. The money method.
Cheers !
I've watched this video so many times - I can't believe I haven't commented on it! You inspired me to start my own deep mulch garden. Something new I stumbled upon (after getting set up with a grow light indoors of course) is the concept of Winter Sowing seedlings in recycled milk jugs right out in the snow in the winter. You just cut the top off the jug except a small piece so it is sort of hinged & drill some holes for drainage in the bottom, put some potting soil in a plastic container (Milk jugs and larger seem to work the best) and make sure the soil is nice and moist. Plant your seeds right in the jug (I'm going to plant 3 tomato/pepper plants per jug, can do more for smaller plants) and then use duct tape to seal the jug back up. You leave them right outside, even in the snow. It is like a mini green house - the seedlings don't have to be hardened off, and by the time it is safe to plant, you have MASSIVE, strong plants. You should check it out, Boss! I don't think I'll start seeds another way after this year! :) Happy Gardening!
I did a similar approach with clear plastic totes and had great results. Gotta love thinking outside the box. Cheers :-))
A deep mulch garden is also called lasagna gardening and/or the Ruth Stout method. Google them and you will find many beneficial articles and videos to watch and learn from.
Kerith Gaines - I just learned something new. I confess that the traditional method of "moving" seedlings around. A few times in the greenhouse with the worries of plant "shock", etc. It always made me scratch my head in doubt. But never add that "blink" moment to think that slight bit outside the box. ;-)
Considering the fact I'm living in Norway a country with only two seasons. White Winter & green Winter (Local joke) Anything to deal with cold is welcomed.
Thanks a bunch.
Cheers
Great video, thank you. I second, I AM ORGANIC GARDENING, cut your plants off at ground level and leave the roots in the soil for your fungi to over winter.
mighty fine looking tomatoes, boss.
you da man!
Thank you my friend.
Jeezzz o Peet everything you touch turns to gold!!!
Sir , you 've got my respect!. Thanks for sharing such an informative infomation.
The pumpkins are beautiful. Love to Frankie.
Great looking Pumpkins JC , Your right Mulch Gardening is the way to go! I adopted the process myself back in 2011 and have not looked back! Well done my friend!
Never looking back either. :-))
Excellent video. Thank you!
You my friend are a plethora of knowledge!!
Thank you my friend.
Nice video Boss. Thanks
My wife does all our
gardening,
I love to watch her.
There is a Dr. Joel Wallach who is a regular guest on George Noory's radio program AM Coast to coast, and he talks about food nutrition and how wood ash was used years ago in compost heaps. Joel had been the chief pathologist for the St. Louis Zoo and a veterinarian, he became a medical doctor in 1982.
i actually buy one of his supplements.
Smart! I love it! My Grandmother spent most of her days crawling around in the garden weeding..hours and hours. I've been wanting a garden but my husband told me the upkeep was all me. Ugh so you can imagine my happiness to find this method. It makes so much sense. I only wish my grandmother was able to use this method, but she is now 94 and last year she had to go to a home because she would get too weak and drop. Anyway, I am beyond happy I found your videos.
This is the best method I've ever used and will never go back to weeding and watering. Good luck.
Thanks for great video Boss. :~)
Awesome video! I'm sold. New subscriber and look forward to watching more of your videos. Thanks
Welcome to my channel Mike :-)
Well Done. So simple, practical, inspirational and empowering! My sincerest compliments from South Africa.
Glad you enjoyed :-)
--yes well done video., but have to disagree with you on one thing. Pine needles, which are acidic, are great to cover and mulch the strawberry bed with , as they appreciate a more acidic environment! So pine needles are not all bad.......................
We have a mixture of Back to Eden and permaculture and have had excellent results! Looks good!
Gotta love it.
Dr. Joel Wallach who was a pathologist for the St. Louis zoo with Marlin Perkins, who is also a medical doctor has pointed out that when wood ash stopped being put into compost heap, a ton of nutrients were lost in vegetable gardens.
i am going to do my garden like this and BTW THANK YOU for making video content that is just plan ole good, we don't have to worry about language and we might actually smile. always enjoy your video sir. so again thank you
Smiling's a good thing. Cheers :-D
Happy to share your vids on FB.
Thank you Karen. I appreciate that.
'mornin, Boss; It is said you will reap what you sew. I'd dare to say you got some serious sewing to do 'Ole-Friend. Sure got a Bumper Crop This time-'round ! Thanks as always for sharing with us. Scratch for our 'Lil-Frankie ! ATB Terry God Bless
I almost feel like I'm cheating because I did nothing besides plant and pick. My kind of gardening :-))
Where's that border collie... sleeping? I love this idea of gardening...easy is the name of the game! Always look forward to your videos, Thank JC!
Set it and forget it gardening. I love it. I spent most of the summer 300 miles away from my garden and look at it :-o
FANTASTIC Video...THANK YOU.... Just a helpful TIP... if you wish to - do not pull the vegetables plants out of the SOIL. This WILL HELP FOR BUILDING SOIL for next YEAR. The ROOTS BUILD SOIL are NATURES way to FEED the SOIL FOOD WEB..If you pull them out you are removing all the work it did on building soil health...Just cut the plant off at soil level. THANKS AGAIN
Good point but I'm also improving the soil because what I pull up is chopped with the mower and then deposited back over the garden like I showed. I think we're thinking along the same lines but just a different route to get there :-)
thebossoftheswamp I think what he means is that by leaving the roots in the soil they can continue to areate the soil and feed it as they break down and rot away. By pulling them it rips a hole in the "web of life" that has been built up around them. Besides that, leaving the roots in the ground just saves that much more labor, which is kind of the whole point right? I went back and forth on this issue myself for a few seasons and started experimenting. In whatever garden plot i had left the roots in the ground, my production was noticeably better that where i hadnt, even in areas where the same varieties were planted. I figured if God doesnt pull plants up bybthe roots in nature then it doesnt make sense for me to do so either. In any case, your garden looks fantastic and yes its pretty obvious the joy you have in sharing it! Best wishes and much success!
The back to Eden guy uses wood chips from tree trimming services like you said. But they also say that these services create the wood chips from branches and leaves. They also say they use wood ash, straw, grasses, and anything organic. The wood chips are just the main thing they add since its abundant from tree trimming. Didnt know if you knew that..
ceramics
Trudy Davis additional random words
Definitely this method of gardening has worked amazingly for you. Awesome looking pumpkins, tomatoes and peppers. I have incorporated some of material you have used in my garden. After seeing the success of yours I think I need to add more to mine. Thank you for sharing such wonderful gardening advice. I will be implementing these materials as I put my garden to bed for the winter. I can't wait to share your channel with everyone. They will fall in love with Frankie for sure. Appreciate all you share. Take care.
This gardening method is just plain amazing. The less attention it gets, the better it produces and the soil gets better each season. Thank you for sharing my channel Pam :-))
You know how I feel about wood chips. When I first started using them about 4 years ago, all the master gardeners warned me that the chips would rob my plants of nitrogen. I wish you could see the deep green color on all my plants. If anything, they have too much nitrogen. lol. I've got a pepper plant that is over six feet tall and it is producing like crazy.
It's just plain awesome isn't it Paula? I planted ONE pumpkin plant and it grew 9 big jackolanterns. This is the perfect gardening method for my lifestyle. I plant it and then pick it. I don't even have to be home in between to tend it :-)))
Gardening With Puppies Hi and yes you are right. I've tried to explain this method to my dad (86yr old) but he thinks I'm crazy. He makes his garden at our house every year. We just help him and do it his way. I'm not gonna argue with him lol.
Anyway I'm thinking to get a dump truck load of wood chips now, this fall, and just dump it over the mulched garden leftovers. Worst case scenario dad will make us till another garden in front of the old one in the spring. BUT I'm hoping he sees the rich soil under the mulch in the old garden and likes it.
Thanks for sharing this info and take care-Debbie
You might want to mix a little manure in those chips to speed up the decomposition process so that by Spring they will be well on their way.
Elizabeth L. Johnson said, the trick is not to mix your wood chips (not bark) with your soil. They are a covering; one of many. They are to cover, not to mix with, or to till in.
Thanks, Boss, for your words of wisdom on mulch gardening. We're in the process of preparing our garden for next year.
BTW, try that catsup recipe mentioned on Facebook. Only 4-5 pounds if tomatoes can make a sizeable amount for one person. 😉
Great looking pumpkins! Harvest never really seems like work to me. It's almost like receiving an award. Keep up the good work, I love watching the progression throughout the year! God Bless my friend.
The harvest is fun. Putting up the harvest is work. Picked a bunch of tomatoes again today. Crazy garden this year.
Best way to garden ..thank you for such a great idea
Great video. Those are some of the best pumpkins I have ever seen in a home garden.
I'm thrilled with them. I planted one plant and there's pumpkins everywhere :-))
Ok thanks for the reply. I'm always trying to work on my soil.
Thank you very much for these garden videos. My garden was a flop this year due to poor soil. I've recently built compost bins and am going to start using them to store particles to spread on the garden after I final harvest and start composting in the garden itself. Thanks JC.
Throw as much as you can directly on the garden and your soil will get better every year. Good luck.
Amazing Harvest!!!!
Subscribed. I am also a devotee of back to eden.
JC what a beautiful harvest....so abundant with so little work. I love your beautiful pumpkin snot to mention the tomatoes and peppers...amazing!
I was 300 miles away from my garden most of the summer. I never watered or weeded and look at it. I'm more than thrilled :-))
You should be--wish I knew about this method years ago.
OMG me too.
it's amazing how many people I told about this method of gardening have found the same results. I am thrilled your able to get more things done and have such an amazing harvest. I started an area from the chips used from my guinea pigs bedding, great mild fertilizer and no oder from sitting all winter. next year will be a great garden. TC ATB Louise
It just keeps getting better and better and with less and less attention. Love it.
I like your way of mulching...it makes sense to use a variety of mulch to give your garden the nutrients that it needs. In the Back To Eden method, he later incorporated chicken manure since he was finding that his garden was needing additional nutrients...you got it right! Yes, I too, have noticed that the pine trees are bare underneath them...you just have to look at nature and duplicate it...Good Job!
Can't beat nature. It's been at the game longer than we have :-))
you did it again this year thanks for sharing with us
Actually, I did nothing but plant stuff. The garden took care of itself ;-))
just did my first ever veggie garden...turned over the grass....tossed in leaves and vegetable table scraps....winter snow covered it deep....raked it in the spring...tossed on compost soil from the dump and the wood chips..planted a few trail plant..had almost drought conditions up here in Ontario Canada all summer...watered with water i used to clean off gold fish pond pump...had awesome results...just finally getting rain over the last 2 weeks and now grass clipping go on top of the wood chips and when season is over i will cover with veggie plant shreddings and leaves again...compost soil and wood chips are free from our dump...will cover all before winter with them
That's awesome. Just keep dumping on the mulch and it'll get better every year.
wow what a beautifull place atmosphere
Thank you
Great video JC! Of all I have watched, you have never made a bad one. Pet Frankie for me!
Happy to hear that. Thank you
Awesome garden JC!! Please mark your "To Do List" for a video on canning! Thank You
I have one on canning meat. The only veggies I can are tomatoes but I do have footage on other veggie prep I may use for a video.
That's exactly what I've been doing. I just haven't planted any annuals yet.
Grass clippings, pine straw, pine cones, sticks, wood chips, any bio mass I can find.
It's such a great way to garden.
First time I had this experience was 30 years ago when I threw in 5 tomato plants next to an old shed that'd had firewood stacked against it for many, many years... within a few months the plants were monsters and I mowed half of the plants down intentionally because they were so overgrown, and repeated this 4 or 5 times throughout the summer. They still produced huge amounts of the best tomatoes I've ever eaten. It took 10 years before I realized why.
Mulch is everything.
Ol mother nature was trying to tell you something :-)
Another fantastic video, I should comment more on how much I appreciate your videos. I have grown tomatoes, shallots, red onions and Scotch bonnets this year and I got a patch to grow those beet greens next year. I hope you and Frankie are well, and i will keep on watching.
Thank you Rich. All the best to you.
Thank you for this video. I've been watching a lot of videos and planning for an eventual off grid life in about 2 or 3 years. Very helpful.
Best of luck with your plans :-)
What would be some tips you have for keeping gardens alive throughout the winter?
I've never done that so really can't offer advice.
We plan to do raised beds for a while because our property is so rocky. We love your videos. Thanks!
Raised beds should work well for you there.
Awesome boss! I had the best pumpkin harvest Ive ever had this year and they where volunteers that came up from my compost pile. I am going to start filling my raised beds with the stuff you talked about making each one its own compost raised bed. Its amazing how we complicated so much when God had it so simple to start with lol God Bless you brother
I can't believe man took gardening so far away from the way God had it planned for us. I can't believe I toiled over a garden plot all these years. All I've done this year since I planted seeds was pick stuff. Gotta love it.
What an abundant amount of vegetables off your garden. Yummmm. Enjoy the fruits of your labor boss. 2 thumbs up. You won't go hungry anytime soon lol. Thanks for sharing. And I think I'll share this vid as well on another channel :). Very helpful instructions you gave to learn from. Keep up the good work and "Hi Frankie" Take care
Thank you for sharing my channel. I appreciate that.
Super excited to try this way!
Even Paul does not use straight wood chips in his garden. He starts with wood chips in the chicken pin then adds lots of greens from his garden and lets the chickens mix things up. In one video he said he used wood chips with horse manure in it and added that to the chicken pin.
I did this on a small garden this season, and it worked great. Mostly grass clippings and some wood chips. I am looking forward to expanding the garden next year. Thanks Boss.
It'll be that much better next year when this topping breaks down. Just keep topping it, don't till it in.
Many thanks going to try this fed up weeding all the time
I love that you started gardening with Dad. I get my boys into the garden with me and am hoping it all sinks in. It's such a wonderful experience for a kid, IMO. ~ Melanie
I would have enjoyed it so much more if we had mulched haha. OMG, my job was weeding back then :-/
Ha...we girls had to mow the lawn and shovel!! We did NOT enjoy it! LOL!
Congradulations!! You are very talented and hardworking does pay off..very rewarding!!! Thank you for this Awesome Video!!!
Thank you Karen :-)
You have an awesome garden and some great ideas. Thanks for sharing!
All I did was plant and pick. I spent most of my summer 300 miles away from my garden. It took care of itself and I'm thrilled with this method ;-))
This is a great way to garden!
Absolutely :-))
I will be prepping my garden over the winter (live in the south) to try this for the next season. Thanks for talking about the pine that was a question I had.
Best of luck with your garden.
subscribed yesterday after binge watching your videos for the last few days. Plenty of great information! Your attitude and perspective can connect with anyone at all who may want to make a few, or a lot of changes, and I think your set up can appeal to those who are less "extremist" in their taste for simple living. I look forward to future updates, and best wishes from the east coast of Canada!
Welcome to my channel. Thanks for subbing.
Loved the video - you keyed in on so many points I could identify with (and were so encouraging) ! Subscribed. Great to see all the pumpkins - and appreciate you mentioning they were from one plant alone. Great SOUND on the video as well - I look forward to checking out more videos - and set the notification so I will not miss them.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for subbing :-)
Just found your channel and love this mulching method! I've been doing this exact same deep mulching since 1994 and I can say honestly that no one I know gets the amount of harvest that I do. Its just a wonderful way to add nutrients and keep the soil healthy.I've had another banner crop of tomatoes this year with hopefully another 6 weeks to go...or till that first frost. Then it will be mulching with leaves and laying down a thick blanket of them as I put the garden to bed for the winter.
Isn't it great? I absolutely love this gardening method. Best of luck to you and welcome to my channel.
Just started using this method of gardening down at my allotment as the compost heaps filled up too quickly. I generate a lot of grass cuttings and general garden residue from my gardening round, this is a great way of dealing with the residue (I refuse to call it waste). I have just purchased a Viking GB 460 wood chipper/mulcher for the hedge clippings that I generate also (I chop stuff up with the mower too) which produces a wonderful mulch (and wood chips for smoking). I get double bubble by being paid to generate the residues as well as using it as a labour saving, weed suppressing, growing mulch mat. The customers benefit as I don't charge them to remove the residue from their gardens, so everyone's a winner:-)
Sounds like a great win win situation you've got going. WTG my friend :-)
I followed your advice last fall. Moved my grass clippings pile to garden. Dumped in two feet of all my leaves from fall. Now this spring there is 6 inches of mulch and bottom layer is black rich and rich mulch that has broken down. Went to place plants and it's super easy to dig holes. What used to be hard unworkable clay is soft moist and full of Earth worms. No need to rototill the garden. Still have my drip system ready, but will try going as long as I can without having to drip irrigate here in semiarid SO Colorado. So far I'm very impressed. No need for 20 leaf bags headed to landfill last fall. It's all right there in the garden and flattens down just fine! I'll keep you updated this growing season! Thanks for your videos Say hi to Frankie.
Happy to hear of your success. Your garden will improve every year now and by your 3rd year you will be amazed. No more watering, weeding or tilling. Plant it and pick it. Enjoy :-)
Glad your garden went great for ya!!
Plant and pick with no work in between. Gotta love it buddy.
Hi Boss, I'm looking forward to trying this method. Been following you on this all summer, In my opinion it's the best way to go. Never was any good at weeding. Enjoy the harvest my friend, be safe and God Bless.
The first year will be good but then it gets better and better after that :-))
We put a fair amount of work into our garden this spring . Things got busy and needless to say the garden didn't do well . I really like this why of gardening it's a great idea . Thanks for sharing.
It seems the more I neglect this garden, the better it does. Mulch it up next year :-)
I have been building my mulch bed since last fall. Thanks to one of your other vids. No garden for me yet, but the soil will be ready when I get around to it. Thanks for the Vids
I've been stacking up the mulch at the cabin and will prep the ground just before winter.
I learn something new every time I watch your videos! What a great idea to mulch up the plants at the end of the year.
The garden itself helps to fertilize the soil for the next spring planting. Just the way it's done in nature... except I use a lawnmower :-))
Another great video boss I did miss Frankie though hope hes on another frizzbee bender :)
He took the day off again.
Thanks so much for sharing your information. Very helpful
You're welcome. Happy gardening :-)
Great video and tutorial my friend. Many thanks.
Thank you buddy.
boss you sure got a awesome garden.lots of veggie for the winter.
Crazy garden for being away from it most of the summer :-))
It is a natural compost that turns into good nutrients for the garden. Good video.
Absolutely. Best fertilizer I've ever used :-)
: )
Fantastic "way to go for sure"
You're the best. Use pine and other acidic parts for apple trees and blueberries
Love your videos. So relaxing and entertaining. I do a veggiegarden with deep mulch, strawbales and in raised beds. I just throw everything left over on a pile and at the end of the season spread it out on the deep mulch area and in the raised beds. I buy some new strawbales every two years and after use the go to the same pile. Easy easy...... Keep going with your videos. The more the better, i would say..
Love this method. Easiest garden ever :-))
Excellent garden mulch video JC! I am encouraged to see you carrying the touch for us 1970's Mother Earthers. I teach and use the Rodale Press- Ruth Stout No Work Garden book. She was heavy on covering her garden in unschreded hay leaves- like thick carpet tiles. I use our own hay for this, combined with our Hereford cow manure and compost. New Hampshire is suffering a severe draught this summer and my kitchen garden produced similar to yours. i also grew in unstructured rows like your garden. The summer squash leaves shaded other vegetables from the scorching sun! We enjoyed a bounty with little to no watering and no weeding. Your varied diet is called a BROAD PALLET> very healthy way to eat and cover your nutrician needs. I am so thrilled to see you gardening in harmony with your woodland home setting. Well done my friend! HAPPY AUTUMN!P.S. - We are laying underground conduit today at our woodlot home site to put us on the grid :-)
So happy to hear things are moving forward for you guys. I know it's been a struggle for you. With this gardening method being so easy but yet so bountiful, how on earth did gardening become so complicated over the years? Working with mother nature is so much easier than working against her. All the best to you two :-))
WOW nice pumpkins JC. Almost time to carve one for Frankie.
Yep, one Frank-o-Lantern coming up ~(:c)
Great garden tips, makes sense to me.
Funny how man complicated the process over the years.
Great job I really enjoy your videos. thanks tom
Thank you Tom :-))
I'm doing this for sure next year!
The first year doesn't offer much results aside from keeping weeds down. The second year the soil is fertilized from the first year's mulch and then it gets better and better each year. Good luck my friend.
Thank you JC I worked so hard on my garden this year an I hardly got anything an weeds so high even though I hoe-ed ! I'm convinced your way is better!
Wish I was as knowledgeable and handy like you Boss.
God bless.
HOLY eden JC!!! awesome!!!
That's what I said when I came home from the cabin :-o The garden's gone nuts :-))
LOL well now we wont see anything new from you for a while as you will be canning your backside off!!! have a good time with that! I am JEALOUS...I only have a small garden, and not in such a great location, too shaded! so my garden, while being of the back to eden style, didn't produce as well as it could have due to the shade...oh well, i think it will be an herb garden next year! as always LOVE your vids! happy canning =)
Paul essentially does the same, he sends all his scraps/grass clippings etc to the chickens and once they're done with it puts it on his garden. So technically he's not just using wood chips. Anyway awesome video thanks for posting!
I may have only seen one video of his operation but he's got a great thing going over there for sure :-)
That's funny, I was literally talking about how I'm doing this method next season to some family. I'm excited to give it a go. I'm sure I will find great success with it! Now that gardening season is over, time to focus on getting in the woods and harvesting some meat and fur! All the best to you my friend!
I'll be hunting in a few weeks Johnny but I'll let the critters populate until the prices come back. I'll run a few sets but that's about it. Cheers :-)
Awesome, can't wait to start my 1st garden next year
Good luck Johnny.
I have to tell you brother you are starting to open my eyes I am dedicating a spot in my garden to try your method I have been loading it up With grass clippings goat bedding rabbit Crap compost and this fall and plenty of leaves I like the way you think
I knew I was going to spend most of my summer in NH so I only put in a few things. 6, peppers, 6 broccoli, 12 tomatoes, 2 cukes, 1 pumpkin and tried brussle sprouts. Everything went nuts even with total neglect. I had the best harvest ever and did nothing. How did man ever come up with the bust ass method of gardening anyway? I have a 74" Tiller for sale if you want it :-))
+thebossoftheswamp I might be putting my up for sale also
your bottom layer can also be wet cardboard and paper
N
I am going to try that method next year boss. Thanks for sharing. Ray
The first year will be good and then it will get better and better each season. You'll love it.
Great stuff brother. Can't wait to get the garden in again next year.
The garden gets better and better every year with this method. Good luck.
We started expirementing with the Back to Eden method this year, the straight woods chips did ok, but I did a raised bed with wood chip that I planted tomatoes in and then kept mulching it with grass clippings. I have had a excellent crop of tomatoes with it. I think you are right it takes more than just wood chips for mulch. Thank you for sharing, you garden looks great,
The first year doesn't offer much results aside from keeping weeds down. The second year the soil is fertilized from the first and then it gets better and better.
Thank you for the info on it, I well keep going with it. I like your videos.
excellent tutorial ! thanks for honest Tips
... I'm living without any chem.fertilizer on my lawn and big trees. Now that i 'm more at Home with least travelling. I've noticed + realized , the nature has corrected itself ..with time
This gardening method is top notch. I'll never go back to traditional methods.