I got serious about composting and building soil when I went through a time where I couldn't even afford one bag of soil,but even if I was rich I would still do it.Its the circle of life and draws me closer to the Creator seeing beautiful soil made out of castaways
Do you know how difficult it is to find videos that truly show building soil from scratch. I do it and I wanted to see what other people are doing, but almost all videos that are titled with something about making your own home made garden soil, entail people mixing bags of store bought stuff or mixes from a nursery. Thank you for your video.
however, saw dust + any manure is not soil. It's compost. Soil is clay, silt, and sand together. You can add compost to your native soil to feed soil bacteria and make your soil very fertile but in those blue thingies compost is being made, not soil.
Thanks for the systematic walk through the entire process. My best growing medium was accidentally achieved. I had a failed compost pile on which ended up a few broken bags of top soil. A few months later, I had dumped on top of it 20 straw bales, which got wet before they could be moved to the desired location (for straw bale gardening). On that pile I sprinkled a broken bag of high-nitrogen fertilizer, and leftvit alone. Coastal rain did the rest. With straw bales starting to break down, the entire pile continued settling. No stirring. No mixing. Now, I have a beautifully rich black soil. With a good stir, and a little more rain and sunshine, it is ready to host my plants.
Just before this winter we decided to put raised beds around our yard to keep people from coming in our front yard. I filled it with leafs. I don't have trees in my yard, but the school by me was more then glad to provide me with bags.....of leafs. I did add sand, rabbit poo, straw and clipping. OMG just tilled it for the 2nd time and its black gold. The neighbors think its great. I will beable to grow all the vegs we need and flower to attract the bees 🐝. Win winn. The worms look like small snakes so many I did good.
Another great video. Love your subtle sense of humor as well. Your knowledge base and your willingness to share it never fails to impress me. I feel so lucky to get to watch these. You just simply shine.
@@dirtpatcheaven There certainly has been some tumultuous times with you through the years. Your perseverance, bravery and intestinal fortitude have certainly been an inspiration for many. And most assuredly a point of attraction for me. ❤️
Such wise ways to use energy and yet conserve your time and effort. This is doable and sustainable. You combine the right ingredients and it make soil!
I am not strong enough to turn compost so this is how I can do it without massive labor inputs. It isn't a fast maybe but I can grow in the compost pile while I wait for it to break down.
Excellent video, thank you. Came here to mention Larry Halls gutter grow system which you could implement very easily and it works awesome to make a weeding free, auto watering container garden anywhere: decks, patios, driveways, fences, the yard, greenhouses, and even indoor gardens. You can also Daisy chain any number of them together which is great if you only have one water source like a rain barrel or faucet connection, I've became a huge fan and use it indoors and out. If you found/watched any of the thousands of videos of Larry Halls gutter garden or variations: some caveats and tips-You should wrap the net pot in a sock and fill with dirt before installing into the bottom of your bucket. The air pruning modified buckets use much more water, but I think the results of regular buckets are still great-only small yield differences. I've modified my systems in several ways: I glue a 3/16" vinyl airline pincushioned with hundreds of holes from a hot needle to the bottom of the gutters and utilize a 100 watt commercial air [pump] to aerate the water. I also use boards to separate the buckets at various distances and to block light. My favorite upgrade is I use a dedicated aquarium chock full of goldfish and algae eaters as well as various aquatic plants to provide bioactive water to the gutters through a continuous flood and drain system that uses gravity feed and float valves for a supply, and a timed pump for recirculation. If you've read all this and are not interested I apologize for wasting your time.
I read the whole way through, you're not wasting anyone's time! Although I have to admit I didn't fully understand the lingo, it sounds like a cool set up. My brother always wanted to have an in ground pond with fish to do stealth water preserving and add the fish for cleaning/fertilizing. Anyway, thanks for sharing 🤗 hope you have a nice day!
Thank u for sharing ur work. I was hesitant on adding rabbits to my beginning farm now I see more useful resources of having them ,they were always pets in my past .thankfully I found ur video
I absolutely love what you are doing and enjoy that you are teaching others while doing a phenomenal job of maintaining a reuse mentality. We all need creative people like oyu to emulate. I have never done a hot bed but do so want to learn to do them. At about 6:45 you said that alfalfa hay already has nitrogen in it. Technically you are correct because legumes have a little bit of nitrogen but no more so than say: grass. The main difference between wood chips and alfalfa is their carbon/protein ratios. Wood chips are almost entirely carbon, (with no nitrogen and protein), while greens, (including alfalfa), although containing carbons have far more proteins. Actually, as I understand the legume nitrogen fixing process; legumes remove nitrogen molecules from the ambient air as part of their specialized photosynthesis process. They then deposit this nitrogen into nodules attached to their roots. They thereby put nitrogen into the soil not into their stems and leaves. You still need the nitrogen rich animal droppings for soil containing legumes but not as much as for those rich in wood chips. Anyone please correct me if I am wrong, because I am always wanting to learn. I offer this to encourage public interchange. Hopefully each of us can learn through my putting this out there.
Yes, I hear you. But it looked pretty green regardless so, like green grass, will provide enough N. Hardly no one uses human urine for N. Do you know why that would be? It's free, sterile, and effective...
@@grumpygrannysgoatsngardens3185 are correct. All urine is high in nitrogen but because it is in liquid form it is more volatile. For example cattle urine can create a run water problem if it is not directed to a retention pond or somehow soaked up. The ammonia in urine can vaporize and some of its virtue lost., not counting the putrid smell. If we can capture our animal urine in wood chips it balances the high carb of the wood chips. Some are using composting toilets for the very purpose of retaining the nitrogen. Composting all human waste seems to me a bit risky for the little benefit received. I support them for the way a composting toilet functions more hygienically and earth friendly than our huge sewage treatment plants. As for me I frequently urinate in the cow pen if I feel the urge but I don't save it or run out every time I feel the urge and my wife thinks I am being gross to suggest she take advantage of the pen rather than running into the house. Who cares what a milk cow sees in the winter?
I wrecked my garden soil bringing in hay, straw,manures all from pastures sprayed with herbacide. Its a big con game... only source wild or honestly organic stuff. Every year things grew more poorly and i only found out a few days ago why. Heartbreaking. All my work.
I use sawdust and weedy hay as my carbon because it hasn't been sprayed. I also find that by applying lots of rabbit manure you can rescue soil that has been poisoned. I can't get straw bale gardening to work without rabbit manure because of all the pesticide and herbicides in the straw. The rabbit manure grows mushrooms and somehow the mushrooms seem to pull the poison out. I have had it work every time if I can get enough rabbit manure to make the mushrooms happy.
I made my garden with straw bales and it gave me incredible yields. The thing thay kept nagging at me was knowing the hay had to have been treated with pesticides and all kinds of chemicals, and these would leech into everything. I don't know of any organic growers and considered starting to grow some of my own just to build soil organically but alas, I'm renting and haven't wanted to invest too much into a place I won't be living permanently.
When I did the straw bale gardens I put a 2x4 retaining bed on top and filled it with rabbit manure. It starts growing mushrooms very quickly and then I can plant into the potting soil I put on top of the rabbit manure. The pesticides seem to be neutralized by the mushrooms.
Another wonderfully informative video! I don’t have rabbits, but I do have chicken manure. Still working on figuring compost with their manure. With the amount of rain we get here, compost can get anerobic fast
I found a pallet shop that will let me take all the sawdust I can haul. I have a 4x8 trailer with 1’ sides. It take 20 minutes to fill using a scoop shovel. Bungee a tarp on top and away I go. All free! I use sawdust in my hotbed but maintaining a proper compost ratio of 30:1, sawdust has a very high nitrogen:carbon ratio.
Yes, goat manure is great in the inner parts of the bed. Layer with carbon (wood mulch, old hay, straw) and it heats up nicely. I don't use it in the very top layer because it's a little hot for the plants. There you could use the rabbit manure/compost mix if you can get it. If you can't get it then make a peat moss or coconut coir soil mix with perlite the first time and then over years you can harvest your goat compost in the middle and use it as the top next time.
With the utmost of respect and gratitude for u and your work...how can we be sure that mushrooms from rabbit manure are sufficientdetours? How can we tell?
I created a 300 feet tunnel for my rabbits to run in plus 3 dog cages at different places so they have hide outs and play ground... I gather there poop for my garden WITHOUT DOING ANY ANIMAL CRUAULTY
what do you think about this tea fertilizer for garden? In a 5-gallon bucket, mix 1/4 cup of Epsom salts, 2 cups of urine (yes, good old pee pee), and 2 cups of wood ash (again, no lighter fluid or charcoal, please). • Fill the rest of the bucket about half way with grass clippings, pruned green leaves, or even green weeds pulled right out of the ground. • Fill the bucket to the top with water and allow the mix to steep for 3 days. • After steeping, strain the tea or decant into empty milk jugs or old 2-liter bottles. • Before use, dilute by 50% by mixing half water and half tea into your favorite watering can. • Apply this wonderful mix by pouring it directly onto the soil around your plants. Note: Only steep for 3 days. By the third day, most of the soluble nutrients will have seeped out into the water solution. Stopping now prevents fermentation, which you want to avoid. Fermented materials will smell bad, and their pH can change rapidly, so it’s important to stick with a 3-day steeping, and then use the concentrate within a day or 2.
What do you suggest for use rather than rabbit poo. I have NO animals. I can maybe ask around here and see if anyone has some I can have, but I don’t know anyone who raises rabbits
I don't have easy access to rabbits or birds but I can get all the cow poo my little heart desires. Organic to. Can I use that or does it need to be rabbit or birds? And the stuff I can get is over 3 months old do not overly hot.
Can you use paper towels? I thought the bleach in paper towels impedes the composting process...I do that throwing them away...is there a problem for you?
In a perfect world yes. For those of us who don't have good soil (I only have cobblestones on my property) or have major weed (bindweed) or pest (nematodes) problems creating soil with manure and carbon and creating raised beds in old swimming pools or pallets with fabric on them to hold the soil in is a good second best. Good run-on sentence right?
@@dirtpatcheaven Oh thank you for clarifying. I'm rather new to gardening and it just seemed strange to me that a lot of the time, people don't put ground into their mixes. Hope it all goes well, God bless 🌄🍀
Are you familiar with David the Good's Grocery Row Gardening system? It is fairly low input once you get it established and easy even in the beginning.
*Are you growing your own straw for your compost? I fear Aminopyralids like grazon in straw or hay... which is turning out to be a big issue runing garden beds all over. Just to Deep South homestead and David the Good both had issues with herbicide contamination costing them $$*
I love those plastic bowls! Who makes them? Do u consume the Jerusalem artichokes or feed them to pigs/livestock? I heard DTG mention how difficult they can be to digest, but the sunchoke could be fed to pigs.
I’ve been trying to find someone to get rabbits from in our area of AZ for several months a d have had zero luck. I’ve put it on Facebook and called the 4H leader and no one has responded. The people in the area I was able to contact said that they either aren’t selling right now or don’t have rabbits anymore. I’ve talked to a couple managers of local farm stores and even they don’t currently know of anyone selling them. I really never in a million years thought it would be this hard to find a source fir rabbits. 🤷♀️
That is close to what we have here. I have all my breeding babies sold before they are weaned. Most other rabbits in the area are pretty awful and not economical to feed.
Great soil in the hot bed...I have a 50 ft raised bed about the same height as yours we built maybe 5 years ago that ive grown in and have been really successful with . Over time it has sunk, so Im currently re-doing, ive dug all the soil out onto a long tarp and covered it up. Ive come to the bottom, most of the fruit tree trimmings have broke down so I went to the green waste facility and got a truck load of rough wood chips about 1/3 full in bed. So in layering the bed my options for manure are horse poop chicken poop w/ pine bedding and leaves. Will this be ok to help fill it half way so I can get my soil back into the bed?
Yes! When I didn't have rabbit manure I used chicken and duck manure! Any manure is great in the compost layers with the carbon. I do find that in the very top layer there is no replacement for rabbit manure if you want red wrigglers to create worm castings right on the top of your growing medium.
@@dirtpatcheaven id love to have rabbit just have the fertilizer but im scared of them now as the only had jumped on me and bit my hand when I was putting food and water in cage. Hurt so bad I wanted a rabbit to be gone...fast. And he was gone. Lol.
The rabbits feet are fine, they don't get sores. I have had them in bigger cages without wire and they got sick. I am working on a new system that doesn't require wire floors. If you want to help me get it done you can donate at paypal with the email dirtpatcheaven@gmail.com
How much Jerusalem artichoke do you use for animal feed? I'm hoping to cut down on winter hay for my goats by cutting and drying that and comfrey over over summer.
The tubers your animals can eat but the stalks are prickly....like a sunflower. I haven't had any of my animals show interest in the stalks. The tubers I have given to my ducks and my pigs and they really like them. To cut back on Fall hay we feed the goats corn stalks while they are still green. All the animals get a lot of corn stalk in the Fall. We give a lot of locally grown organic wheat and sunflowers in the winter for extra calories. My goats don't really care for comfrey but my sheep like it pretty well. The rabbits will eat a tiny bit here and there but the ducks LOVE comfrey if it is well watered.
@@dirtpatcheaven by cutting stalks and tossing them over the fence while still green last year my goats happily defoliated the stalks. So they at least ate the leaves. But all my animals enjoy comfrey leaves. Goats, chickens, turkeys, and ducks. I live in a moist part of Texas so I also put raw Spanish peanuts in the ground and fed everyone peanut plants last year successfully. That along with sweet potato vines and all sorts of squash vines. I'm sticking pumpkin seeds everywhere in hopes of a good winter supply too. You've been at this way longer than I have though and I've appreciated gleaning from your experiences the past ?? 9 years now.
In the hotbed part you can because it heats up to kill weeds seeds and pathogens. You could only use cow manure in the little swimming pool planters if it had been sterilized in a hotbed or compost with heat some other way. Rabbit manure is a cool manure and weed and pathogen free because they were in cages and not on the ground.
Looks like ALOT of work. Most people dont have a huge space like you guys to devote to this. Plus waiting years for soil. !? Holy crap! How in the world do you keep flies out and maggots with all this open material ? Lastly its red Wigglers not red rigglers.
Hi what you do is very interesting. Where are the rabbbits now? Or do you keep them for food?I have only just subscribed to your channel as Huw Richards recommended so I havnt seen you grow anything yet but you doing great job with the compost. 👍
I feed mine both but we start with live tree branches and then mild garden greens. I am also very choosy about where I harvest clover and alfalfa from on my property. I steer clear of anywhere other animals have been to minimize parasites.
On the ground? No, the plastic of the swimming pool keeps them out too. I do have bindweed but it can't get past the ducks AND the plastic on the ground AND the swimming pool plastic AND a foot of mulch and planting medium without me seeing it.
I found some in my backyard. They're little round pellets. Perhaps you may find some if U look. It might help to inquire through free stuff ad's. Good luck 👍
@@esthersanchez2264 I never see rabbits around here where I am I thought maybe you bought them. I usually use chicken manure. I had a rabbit years ago so I know what they look like but there's none around here. I guess I'll stick with chicken shit. LOL LOL
Some rabbits don't do well on wire. Our are fine and it doesn't hurt them, their hocks (feet/leg) are very furry. If they look tender and shake their feet a lot we give them cardboard to stand on. We are working really hard on inventing a wire-free cage system as well. Materials are so expensive that I am struggling to get the money together
@@dirtpatcheaven thanks for your response. Iam looking into raising rabbit s and I like the idea of turning wood chips into soil. Thanks sending my love from South Africa 🇿🇦♥️.
Rabbits pee A LOT, and if they have a hard surface hutch, it just pools and gets gross. I had an indoor rabbit and he went through 6-8 jumbo puppy pads every DAY. Eventually he learned to use the litter box but still would pee on his bedding randomly. It was a big mess and not healthy for him or us.
@@dirtpatcheaven Thanks, but I grow plants that require a lot more PK a few months before harvest. I'm curious on how to increase those levels in soil in order to use that soil for transplanting.
Loved yor videos!! Do you sell starts to strawberries, raspberries or elderberries?? I am interested in plants that are climate to our area. From fellow Idahoan.
Hi Lapreal. My mom wanted starts this year so I don't have any right now but Town and Country Gardens has great bare root strawberries this time of year. Very affordable.
In the layers in the middle of the bed I use a lot of sheep, chicken, duck and goat manure. In the top layer I love to use rabbit manure because it is like yogurt for good red wrigglers to create worm castings and the plants do so well with the nutritional balance.
I have used biochar before and it did well in our soil. I haven't tried it in the hotbeds but if I have enough energy I will try to get some in there this year.
I live in a townhouse, so space is limited and we can only grow in containers. Please check out Robbie and Gary gardening on UA-cam to see how to compost in place. She composts in buckets and totes and grows food on the top.
I got serious about composting and building soil when I went through a time where I couldn't even afford one bag of soil,but even if I was rich I would still do it.Its the circle of life and draws me closer to the Creator seeing beautiful soil made out of castaways
What about coffee grinds and banana peels
@@tonyascreativespace3067 Yes I use those
Amen! ♥️
Wow likes plants 👍👍 very good girl 😍🌷🪴🌵😍😍
Beautiful statement of conviction 😊
Do you know how difficult it is to find videos that truly show building soil from scratch. I do it and I wanted to see what other people are doing, but almost all videos that are titled with something about making your own home made garden soil, entail people mixing bags of store bought stuff or mixes from a nursery. Thank you for your video.
Hurray! That makes my day.
however, saw dust + any manure is not soil. It's compost. Soil is clay, silt, and sand together. You can add compost to your native soil to feed soil bacteria and make your soil very fertile but in those blue thingies compost is being made, not soil.
@@davisbindejazz No. Read more.
@@MW-xv1sj What should I read more? Share links or books or maybe explain yourself in few sentences.
@@davisbindejazz soil is a right-wing conspiracy theory
You’re an amazing woman and I love how much you’re teaching your daughters!
Thanks for the systematic walk through the entire process.
My best growing medium was accidentally achieved. I had a failed compost pile on which ended up a few broken bags of top soil. A few months later, I had dumped on top of it 20 straw bales, which got wet before they could be moved to the desired location (for straw bale gardening). On that pile I sprinkled a broken bag of high-nitrogen fertilizer, and leftvit alone. Coastal rain did the rest. With straw bales starting to break down, the entire pile continued settling. No stirring. No mixing. Now, I have a beautifully rich black soil. With a good stir, and a little more rain and sunshine, it is ready to host my plants.
Just before this winter we decided to put raised beds around our yard to keep people from coming in our front yard.
I filled it with leafs. I don't have trees in my yard, but the school by me was more then glad to provide me with bags.....of leafs. I did add sand, rabbit poo, straw and clipping. OMG just tilled it for the 2nd time and its black gold. The neighbors think its great. I will beable to grow all the vegs we need and flower to attract the bees 🐝. Win winn. The worms look like small snakes so many I did good.
Oh I LOVE THAT! Good soil through mulching with free stuff is the best!
Picking up leaves from local schools = brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing!
Want bees throw a glob of ice cream down, simple!
@@dworkx1 around here, the ants would beat the bees to the ice cream.
@@mawmawshomesteadpreparedness 😂 you’d just have a bee antenna split.
Also your daughter is a blessing! She’s such a great help to you, I have a 15 yr old that will help, but not as contently as your sweet daughter 😁
Thanks for showing how to use wood waste & scrape... I like to reuse and compost, because I don't have animals anymore
Another great video. Love your subtle sense of humor as well. Your knowledge base and your willingness to share it never fails to impress me. I feel so lucky to get to watch these. You just simply shine.
I love when you comment! Reminds me of previous years and where we have been.
@@dirtpatcheaven There certainly has been some tumultuous times with you through the years. Your perseverance, bravery and intestinal fortitude have certainly been an inspiration for many. And most assuredly a point of attraction for me. ❤️
Such wise ways to use energy and yet conserve your time and effort. This is doable and sustainable. You combine the right ingredients and it make soil!
What you call sawdust would be called wood chips here I think. Shredded wood from tree services and such?
Yes sawdust is DUST, those are chips that a chipper makes.
This year we are going to really focus on learning to compost properly. I like your hot bed method!
I am not strong enough to turn compost so this is how I can do it without massive labor inputs. It isn't a fast maybe but I can grow in the compost pile while I wait for it to break down.
I use concrete mixing tubs for my ducks and pigs. Going on 6 years and still no holes. They are much easier to dump and clean also.
True
Thank you! I live in a region ofBrazil which doesnot have garden centers!
You are providing extremely valuable information and enough detail to really replicate it. Thanks. The hot beds concept is really valuable.
I love the fact that none of it looks pretty or extravagant, too many focus on being showy than actual down to earth gardening.
Good job gus😍😍👍
Excellent video, thank you. Came here to mention Larry Halls gutter grow system which you could implement very easily and it works awesome to make a weeding free, auto watering container garden anywhere: decks, patios, driveways, fences, the yard, greenhouses, and even indoor gardens. You can also Daisy chain any number of them together which is great if you only have one water source like a rain barrel or faucet connection, I've became a huge fan and use it indoors and out. If you found/watched any of the thousands of videos of Larry Halls gutter garden or variations: some caveats and tips-You should wrap the net pot in a sock and fill with dirt before installing into the bottom of your bucket. The air pruning modified buckets use much more water, but I think the results of regular buckets are still great-only small yield differences. I've modified my systems in several ways: I glue a 3/16" vinyl airline pincushioned with hundreds of holes from a hot needle to the bottom of the gutters and utilize a 100 watt commercial air [pump] to aerate the water. I also use boards to separate the buckets at various distances and to block light. My favorite upgrade is I use a dedicated aquarium chock full of goldfish and algae eaters as well as various aquatic plants to provide bioactive water to the gutters through a continuous flood and drain system that uses gravity feed and float valves for a supply, and a timed pump for recirculation. If you've read all this and are not interested I apologize for wasting your time.
I read the whole way through, you're not wasting anyone's time! Although I have to admit I didn't fully understand the lingo, it sounds like a cool set up. My brother always wanted to have an in ground pond with fish to do stealth water preserving and add the fish for cleaning/fertilizing. Anyway, thanks for sharing 🤗 hope you have a nice day!
I will go check Larry out, thank you so much for sharing!
Oh, yes. That is how much mother grows her vegetable garden. In boxes or bags in a kiddie pool. Great info!
I have watched Larry Hall's video's for yrs. Love his creativity.
Thank u for sharing ur work. I was hesitant on adding rabbits to my beginning farm now I see more useful resources of having them ,they were always pets in my past .thankfully I found ur video
Worms and manure are good to take advantage of since it doesn't hurt the rabbits at all 🐇🐰
I absolutely love what you are doing and enjoy that you are teaching others while doing a phenomenal job of maintaining a reuse mentality. We all need creative people like oyu to emulate. I have never done a hot bed but do so want to learn to do them.
At about 6:45 you said that alfalfa hay already has nitrogen in it. Technically you are correct because legumes have a little bit of nitrogen but no more so than say: grass. The main difference between wood chips and alfalfa is their carbon/protein ratios. Wood chips are almost entirely carbon, (with no nitrogen and protein), while greens, (including alfalfa), although containing carbons have far more proteins.
Actually, as I understand the legume nitrogen fixing process; legumes remove nitrogen molecules from the ambient air as part of their specialized photosynthesis process. They then deposit this nitrogen into nodules attached to their roots. They thereby put nitrogen into the soil not into their stems and leaves. You still need the nitrogen rich animal droppings for soil containing legumes but not as much as for those rich in wood chips.
Anyone please correct me if I am wrong, because I am always wanting to learn. I offer this to encourage public interchange. Hopefully each of us can learn through my putting this out there.
Yes, I hear you. But it looked pretty green regardless so, like green grass, will provide enough N.
Hardly no one uses human urine for N. Do you know why that would be? It's free, sterile, and effective...
@@grumpygrannysgoatsngardens3185 are correct. All urine is high in nitrogen but because it is in liquid form it is more volatile. For example cattle urine can create a run water problem if it is not directed to a retention pond or somehow soaked up. The ammonia in urine can vaporize and some of its virtue lost., not counting the putrid smell.
If we can capture our animal urine in wood chips it balances the high carb of the wood chips.
Some are using composting toilets for the very purpose of retaining the nitrogen. Composting all human waste seems to me a bit risky for the little benefit received. I support them for the way a composting toilet functions more hygienically and earth friendly than our huge sewage treatment plants. As for me I frequently urinate in the cow pen if I feel the urge but I don't save it or run out every time I feel the urge and my wife thinks I am being gross to suggest she take advantage of the pen rather than running into the house. Who cares what a milk cow sees in the winter?
@@grumpygrannysgoatsngardens3185 I read about it; as long as it's diluted properly it shouldn't be a problem. Research before you try it.
I wrecked my garden soil bringing in hay, straw,manures all from pastures sprayed with herbacide. Its a big con game... only source wild or honestly organic stuff. Every year things grew more poorly and i only found out a few days ago why. Heartbreaking. All my work.
I use sawdust and weedy hay as my carbon because it hasn't been sprayed. I also find that by applying lots of rabbit manure you can rescue soil that has been poisoned. I can't get straw bale gardening to work without rabbit manure because of all the pesticide and herbicides in the straw. The rabbit manure grows mushrooms and somehow the mushrooms seem to pull the poison out. I have had it work every time if I can get enough rabbit manure to make the mushrooms happy.
Hats off to your hard work !!Liked how you r doing compost!
Wow! thank you, thank you for sharing this info. I'm new to gardening and composting and this answered all my questions. 🎯💪✌🏽🙏🏻
I made my garden with straw bales and it gave me incredible yields. The thing thay kept nagging at me was knowing the hay had to have been treated with pesticides and all kinds of chemicals, and these would leech into everything. I don't know of any organic growers and considered starting to grow some of my own just to build soil organically but alas, I'm renting and haven't wanted to invest too much into a place I won't be living permanently.
When I did the straw bale gardens I put a 2x4 retaining bed on top and filled it with rabbit manure. It starts growing mushrooms very quickly and then I can plant into the potting soil I put on top of the rabbit manure. The pesticides seem to be neutralized by the mushrooms.
@@dirtpatcheaven thank you for this! It is very helpful for me! ☺🤗🤗
I’m so jealous of your compost piles😻
The wire is very bad for their feet and I’m so glad you put some cardboard to use.
Another wonderfully informative video! I don’t have rabbits, but I do have chicken manure. Still working on figuring compost with their manure. With the amount of rain we get here, compost can get anerobic fast
Just a thought, cover your compost pile to block out some of the rain
Add a layer of grass clippings or leaves over the manure
This was wonderful. Gave me a few new things to try with our rabbit manure. Thank you
I would love to hear how it goes!
I found a pallet shop that will let me take all the sawdust I can haul. I have a 4x8 trailer with 1’ sides. It take 20 minutes to fill using a scoop shovel. Bungee a tarp on top and away I go. All free! I use sawdust in my hotbed but maintaining a proper compost ratio of 30:1, sawdust has a very high nitrogen:carbon ratio.
If you don't have rabbit manure will goat manure and bedding scraps do the same job?
If you don't have animals, grass clippings from mowing your yard, or from someone who puts grass clippings out for garbage pickup, will suffice.
Yes, goat manure is great in the inner parts of the bed. Layer with carbon (wood mulch, old hay, straw) and it heats up nicely. I don't use it in the very top layer because it's a little hot for the plants. There you could use the rabbit manure/compost mix if you can get it. If you can't get it then make a peat moss or coconut coir soil mix with perlite the first time and then over years you can harvest your goat compost in the middle and use it as the top next time.
@@dirtpatcheaven 😊 thanks
Do you put holes in the bottom of the pool for drainage?
I have a patio garden in pots.kinda in the suburbs but I have beautiful trees but they spray pesticides on the grass so that's out for grass clippings
With the utmost of respect and gratitude for u and your work...how can we be sure that mushrooms from rabbit manure are sufficientdetours? How can we tell?
I created a 300 feet tunnel for my rabbits to run in plus 3 dog cages at different places so they have hide outs and play ground... I gather there poop for my garden WITHOUT DOING ANY ANIMAL CRUAULTY
Grear compost. Enjoyed it very much.. war if I don't have sawdust or manure, wat can I use. I paper grass and can add garden soil
I was watching one of Deep South homestead Danny tape it six years ago and he said to watch your video so I am starting you video now ❤❤❤ them 👍👍👍
what do you think about this tea fertilizer for garden?
In a 5-gallon bucket, mix 1/4 cup of Epsom salts, 2 cups of urine (yes, good old pee pee), and 2 cups of wood ash (again, no lighter fluid or charcoal, please).
• Fill the rest of the bucket about half way with grass clippings, pruned green leaves, or even green weeds pulled right out of the ground.
• Fill the bucket to the top with water and allow the mix to steep for 3 days.
• After steeping, strain the tea or decant into empty milk jugs or old 2-liter bottles.
• Before use, dilute by 50% by mixing half water and half tea into your favorite watering can.
• Apply this wonderful mix by pouring it directly onto the soil around your plants.
Note: Only steep for 3 days. By the third day, most of the soluble nutrients will have seeped out into the water solution. Stopping now prevents fermentation, which you want to avoid. Fermented materials will smell bad, and their pH can change rapidly, so it’s important to stick with a 3-day steeping, and then use the concentrate within a day or 2.
Thank You for posting this. I don't have rabbits or chickens. I do have access to horse manure, That's fine , yes?
U hv a beautiful farm, n lots of experienced info
Can you show how you made the rabbit hutches?
What do you suggest for use rather than rabbit poo. I have NO animals. I can maybe ask around here and see if anyone has some I can have, but I don’t know anyone who raises rabbits
Very healthy for the plant
Hats off to you! Admirable work. Regards from Spain.
Thank you very much!
I don't have easy access to rabbits or birds but I can get all the cow poo my little heart desires. Organic to. Can I use that or does it need to be rabbit or birds? And the stuff I can get is over 3 months old do not overly hot.
How do you water from freezing for the rabbits? Or do you put the rabbits away in a building for the winter?
Thank you such a great video, very informative and I’m going to try this!
Thanks
nice idea, how to make soil with compost
I found out that you can get that dust for free with the website and also wood logs
Can you use paper towels? I thought the bleach in paper towels impedes the composting process...I do that throwing them away...is there a problem for you?
A real and practical video.
I'm really enjoying your channel. You learn new things from every homesteader. I got a referral to subscribe from Danny and Wanda at Deep South.
Don't plants need actual ground too, for minerals?
In a perfect world yes. For those of us who don't have good soil (I only have cobblestones on my property) or have major weed (bindweed) or pest (nematodes) problems creating soil with manure and carbon and creating raised beds in old swimming pools or pallets with fabric on them to hold the soil in is a good second best. Good run-on sentence right?
@@dirtpatcheaven Oh thank you for clarifying. I'm rather new to gardening and it just seemed strange to me that a lot of the time, people don't put ground into their mixes. Hope it all goes well, God bless 🌄🍀
try useing some of that potting soil to make an innoculant for seeds..(Dr's) Johnson-Su Bio-reactors....
We did it too and it takes only one week or two or one month ...
Are you familiar with David the Good's Grocery Row Gardening system? It is fairly low input once you get it established and easy even in the beginning.
Excellent work as always thank you
Thank you!
*Are you growing your own straw for your compost? I fear Aminopyralids like grazon in straw or hay... which is turning out to be a big issue runing garden beds all over. Just to Deep South homestead and David the Good both had issues with herbicide contamination costing them $$*
I love those plastic bowls! Who makes them? Do u consume the Jerusalem artichokes or feed them to pigs/livestock? I heard DTG mention how difficult they can be to digest, but the sunchoke could be fed to pigs.
IF YOU DONT HAVE RABBITS WILL BIRD MANURE WORK ??
I’ve been trying to find someone to get rabbits from in our area of AZ for several months a d have had zero luck. I’ve put it on Facebook and called the 4H leader and no one has responded. The people in the area I was able to contact said that they either aren’t selling right now or don’t have rabbits anymore. I’ve talked to a couple managers of local farm stores and even they don’t currently know of anyone selling them. I really never in a million years thought it would be this hard to find a source fir rabbits. 🤷♀️
That is close to what we have here. I have all my breeding babies sold before they are weaned. Most other rabbits in the area are pretty awful and not economical to feed.
love this one--such an important how to!
Que debe hacer para obtener el libro de bricomania
Great soil in the hot bed...I have a 50 ft raised bed about the same height as yours we built maybe 5 years ago that ive grown in and have been really successful with . Over time it has sunk, so Im currently re-doing, ive dug all the soil out onto a long tarp and covered it up. Ive come to the bottom, most of the fruit tree trimmings have broke down so I went to the green waste facility and got a truck load of rough wood chips about 1/3 full in bed. So in layering the bed my options for manure are horse poop chicken poop w/ pine bedding and leaves. Will this be ok to help fill it half way so I can get my soil back into the bed?
Yes! When I didn't have rabbit manure I used chicken and duck manure! Any manure is great in the compost layers with the carbon. I do find that in the very top layer there is no replacement for rabbit manure if you want red wrigglers to create worm castings right on the top of your growing medium.
@@dirtpatcheaven id love to have rabbit just have the fertilizer but im scared of them now as the only had jumped on me and bit my hand when I was putting food and water in cage. Hurt so bad I wanted a rabbit to be gone...fast. And he was gone. Lol.
where did you get your kiddie pools and cost please?
Good job, great family 👏👏👏
Where to get the sawdust from
Absolutely love your content
Thank you!
What's the metal you're putting on top of the pools for?
Bindweed was the bane of our existence when we were in Olympia. Have you tried pigs? I've heard they can eliminate bindweed, given enough time.
Poor rabbits' feet on those wire bottom cages 😟😔😥
The rabbits feet are fine, they don't get sores. I have had them in bigger cages without wire and they got sick. I am working on a new system that doesn't require wire floors. If you want to help me get it done you can donate at paypal with the email dirtpatcheaven@gmail.com
How much Jerusalem artichoke do you use for animal feed? I'm hoping to cut down on winter hay for my goats by cutting and drying that and comfrey over over summer.
The tubers your animals can eat but the stalks are prickly....like a sunflower. I haven't had any of my animals show interest in the stalks. The tubers I have given to my ducks and my pigs and they really like them. To cut back on Fall hay we feed the goats corn stalks while they are still green. All the animals get a lot of corn stalk in the Fall. We give a lot of locally grown organic wheat and sunflowers in the winter for extra calories. My goats don't really care for comfrey but my sheep like it pretty well. The rabbits will eat a tiny bit here and there but the ducks LOVE comfrey if it is well watered.
@@dirtpatcheaven by cutting stalks and tossing them over the fence while still green last year my goats happily defoliated the stalks. So they at least ate the leaves. But all my animals enjoy comfrey leaves. Goats, chickens, turkeys, and ducks. I live in a moist part of Texas so I also put raw Spanish peanuts in the ground and fed everyone peanut plants last year successfully. That along with sweet potato vines and all sorts of squash vines. I'm sticking pumpkin seeds everywhere in hopes of a good winter supply too.
You've been at this way longer than I have though and I've appreciated gleaning from your experiences the past ?? 9 years now.
Great video. Save money and be more self reliant at the same time.
Thank you!
Can you use cow manure?
In the hotbed part you can because it heats up to kill weeds seeds and pathogens. You could only use cow manure in the little swimming pool planters if it had been sterilized in a hotbed or compost with heat some other way. Rabbit manure is a cool manure and weed and pathogen free because they were in cages and not on the ground.
Looks like ALOT of work. Most people dont have a huge space like you guys to devote to this. Plus waiting years for soil. !? Holy crap! How in the world do you keep flies out and maggots with all this open material ? Lastly its red Wigglers not red rigglers.
Hi what you do is very interesting. Where are the rabbbits now? Or do you keep them for food?I have only just subscribed to your channel as Huw Richards recommended so I havnt seen you grow anything yet but you doing great job with the compost. 👍
Great video!!
Thank you for the video. Where do you get those water bowls, please?
Great video, very informative. Thank you for sharing.
Can you feed rabbits clover over Alfalfa?
I feed mine both but we start with live tree branches and then mild garden greens. I am also very choosy about where I harvest clover and alfalfa from on my property. I steer clear of anywhere other animals have been to minimize parasites.
@@dirtpatcheaven Thanks! We started growing some in our garden for the rabbits
Lovely video, thanks
Where do you find those rabbit bowls with the latch on bottom? I've searched and searched.
You might find the bowls at a local feed store, if you have a Tractor Supply or an ACE hardware might have them.
I would think with all the holes in that tarp the bind weed will easily grow...
On the ground? No, the plastic of the swimming pool keeps them out too. I do have bindweed but it can't get past the ducks AND the plastic on the ground AND the swimming pool plastic AND a foot of mulch and planting medium without me seeing it.
Where do you get rabbit manure?
I found some in my backyard. They're little round pellets. Perhaps you may find some if U look. It might help to inquire through free stuff ad's. Good luck 👍
@@esthersanchez2264 I never see rabbits around here where I am I thought maybe you bought them. I usually use chicken manure. I had a rabbit years ago so I know what they look like but there's none around here. I guess I'll stick with chicken shit. LOL LOL
Wow this is good
Hi new to your channel. I have one question what do you mean when you say she kept 12?
Twelve survived past the first few days. If she doesn't have enough milk the smallest ones don't make it.
@@dirtpatcheaven Thanks!
Why are you using duck beds, I didn't understand a thing from this video.
Are those wire cages comfortable for the rabbit s?
Some rabbits don't do well on wire. Our are fine and it doesn't hurt them, their hocks (feet/leg) are very furry. If they look tender and shake their feet a lot we give them cardboard to stand on. We are working really hard on inventing a wire-free cage system as well. Materials are so expensive that I am struggling to get the money together
@@dirtpatcheaven thanks for your response. Iam looking into raising rabbit s and I like the idea of turning wood chips into soil. Thanks sending my love from South Africa 🇿🇦♥️.
Rabbits pee A LOT, and if they have a hard surface hutch, it just pools and gets gross. I had an indoor rabbit and he went through 6-8 jumbo puppy pads every DAY. Eventually he learned to use the litter box but still would pee on his bedding randomly. It was a big mess and not healthy for him or us.
No
*Enjoyed your Video .. thank you for the great content*
thank you!
How do you increase phosphorus and potassium levels?
Rabbit manure analysis % is NPK 2.4:1.4:0.6
@@dirtpatcheaven Thanks, but I grow plants that require a lot more PK a few months before harvest. I'm curious on how to increase those levels in soil in order to use that soil for transplanting.
That was a so much needed tutorial! Thank you
I am glad you liked it! We had fun just hanging out in the garden making it.
Loved yor videos!! Do you sell starts to strawberries, raspberries or elderberries??
I am interested in plants that are climate to our area. From fellow Idahoan.
Hi Lapreal. My mom wanted starts this year so I don't have any right now but Town and Country Gardens has great bare root strawberries this time of year. Very affordable.
great video thanks
Wonderful video! 😊 when you said put enough of rabits manure in how many inch ? Can goat manure do the
same ? Thank for helping. God blessed.
In the layers in the middle of the bed I use a lot of sheep, chicken, duck and goat manure. In the top layer I love to use rabbit manure because it is like yogurt for good red wrigglers to create worm castings and the plants do so well with the nutritional balance.
@@dirtpatcheaven thanks you so much ! I bought your ebook for the hot bed . I just love learning from you ❤
What county are y'all in and what is y'all's elevation? I'm in Treasure Valley Idaho.
Blessings, julie
Can you use horse? I have plenty of that!!
Yes, definitely. I would compost in the hotbed before using it as a planting medium because it will have weed seeds that need burned up by the heat.
@@dirtpatcheaven thank you!
Subed...such clear advice/info!!!
Why do you give your bunnies cardboard?
BIOCHAR , BIO CHAR . BIOCHAR
I have used biochar before and it did well in our soil. I haven't tried it in the hotbeds but if I have enough energy I will try to get some in there this year.
There is nothing sexier than a woman who knows what shes doing! Especially when it comes to gardening/homesteading.
I live in a townhouse, so space is limited and we can only grow in containers. Please check out Robbie and Gary gardening on UA-cam to see how to compost in place. She composts in buckets and totes and grows food on the top.