what I love about your channel is these kind of videos is that it changes a mindset, you don't have to do much to really improve yourself, your surroundings and ultimately nature by just changing a few habbits.
Fantastic idea for people who are not allowed to install a garden in the yard of their rental home or for small yards where a small moveable/mudular raised bed is needed.
I live in Houston too. I plant flower beds. Those plants plus the fixings: dirt, fertilizer, etc... collectively cost a lot of money. All I have to do is make sure they get regular feedings and water. This person doesn't seem to have been willing to do that. I personally don't have money to throw away, when I believe my health will prevent me from properly taking care of plants, I don't bother. You expended a lot of time & effort (see the 1st video) to help them set this unique 'raised garden' up and all they had to do (at the very least) was keep it 'Well watered'.
I really liked this follow up video because it shows the common pitfalls of the less fanatical or obsessed gardner and most importantly it offers practical solutions. I don`t have a drip irrigation system but then again I am out every single day and fussing over my babies.
i totally remember you installing that bed. I love how they look to be holding up. really cool setup, and a plus that they are free! keep the great videos coming buddy!
I love your videos. I am totally blind and have no trouble following what you’re saying the sound quality is excellent thank you so much and keep up the good work. You totally encourage me to continue to try and garden.
Thank you for this. I have found the "build-garden-out-of-pallets" way way too difficult. Yours is the best. Here in SOuth Africa, plastic crates will never be free but you can buy them from a chinese mall for very little. I AM going to do this. It's soo easy. I will line them with black refuse bags with holes in. Thanks again.
I absolutely loved the truth behind you statement about "lettuce being like a high maintenance girlfriend". You said they attract a lot of bugs and then grow maybe a month or two and them bolt and there gonna be done, lol. I feel ya bro, I've been there in the past and I don't like growing lettuce that is like that either. Thanks for the videos and info. God bless
I need a garden like this because I live in a very rocky mountain area where all underground is rocks. Thanks for the cool idea! Totally going to do something like this now I'm on my own little journey to health.
I tried growing some stuff in buckets this year. The peppers did the best. One thing I found out when watering was that when I poured water in, most of it would just run through and not reallly wet all the soil. Finally I got a big bucket, put the planter bucket in it when I watered and really soaked it and let it soak for an hour or so. This way, all the soil got wet and the plants did better. I am in Mass and have been bringing the tomatoes in at night and put out during the day to keep them going.
Another great idea is to plant out "cover crops" like clover in any compost you aren't using, then turn that stuff back into the compost or recompost it all. It breaks down the compost and infuses it with nitrogen that the plants take from air (then bacteria in the soil fix the nitrogen so it doesn't evaporate out).
Great video of your friend garden John, you looks exhausted at the end. But it's worth it for automatic irrigation system. Can't wait to see Update of it few months later
Thanks for the update! My husband and I are poor grad students so I think we're gonna hit up the local supermarkets to see if they have any of these crates they'd be willing to give away. One question, and a suggestion: 1. Are you worried about harmful chemicals leaching out from the plastic? 2. A suggestion: a nice layer of mulch on top of the soil layer would probably really help with the drying out problem. Thanks for a great video!!
Dude I wish I would've known you were going to be in Houston! I'm just in San Antonio I'm going to be getting the Tower Garden this spring to start my own garden thanks for all the information you have provided!
John mentioned a moisture meter in the vid. If you guys plan on buying this, make sure they also can test the available light in the area, as well as the PH of the soil. This is what I have at the moment, and it's really handy. Not only that, they are inexpensive.
John loves your videos. keep the good works. Just bought a 6 acres property on North Fort Myers, Florida. There are no fruit trees or vegetables plants. I need to work on the soil because it's sandy and have a lot ants mounts. Any suggestions on improving the soil on the big lots. thank you
Lol. I asked that before you said it in the video. Lol. Whoops. Do you save more seeds from plants that you've grown and they go to seed or do you buy more of them? I was just wondering.
Hello John, I'm very new to your channel, i started my garden last year it didn't do that well but since then i have tried new thing which has help. I am in the Tampa Area and as you know we have very warm area.. but i wanted to tried starting a indoor garden but i am just getting started. I have very small are to started my garden and i'm having trouble trying to start my indoor garden please advise on which soil to use?.
Where did you find that laundry basket with small holes like that? The only ones I see at department stores and even dollar stores have large holes and not small slits like the one you got. I built a wooden box with hardware cloth but it is a lot smaller than the basket idea. I've been composting for 20+ years and finding something larger like the laundry basket for sifting will help me immensely.
Irregular watering- yep! Plus some like lots of water some not so much. Also, I'm not sure how much water is really get down deep when the top area seems soaked or is even over flowing. My poor Thai Peppers, some seemed to be wrinkled and have light rather than dark green leaves- is this from too much or too little "irregular" watering? Can't do the irrigation system in condo.
Three points: A.) The quality of brass hose fittings has diminished greatly. I had a brass Y fitting fracture and break. Recommend you buy the fittings in the plumbing department, rather than the gardening dept.. B) If the soil adsorbs and drains water very well, your drip timer should be set for "brackets of three cycles close together to thoroughly moisten the soil, C.) To measure moisture, use a bamboo skewer to poke ito the soil to see if the soil 3 inches down is moist.
John, I know you like using the pine pellets for the carbon aspect of compost, but I noticed there are a lot of leaves on that property and they have high carbon as well as minerals and such, would leaves provide enough carbon to use them instead of the pine pellets?
5 years late but they sure will, also they can bring in lots of trace minerals a bit like rockdust does. I use a mix of saved autumn leaves and some untreated hardwood sawdust for most of my brown compost content.
John, I like your vids and tips on growing fresh and untainted veggies. Free containers are not an option I see around here lately. Most are gathered up by those that see their worth to sell to others. The vid you did on Veteran Compost was also great but here, that resource is mostly not available as most groceries put past date produce in a compactor to be written off and taken to the land fill. So sad it's all about the money.
I try to use all the meat i buy, but should it expire, I have to throw it into the garbage bin. You can work on your shopping habits to reduce the amount of waste, freeze it if you want to use it later, prefer food with upcoming expiration date, feed it to your animals (cats/dogs) or depending on the area you live in donate it before it expires to someone else or give it to your neighbors/family. Maybe you can use it as fishing bait, or food as well. Sry I can't really offer any real worst case solution.
I don't know, but it looks to me that it didn't work out. I saw all the preparations that you did and didn't leave anything to chance yet when you returned all I saw were dry burned plants and others that didn't grow. I think it is too hard to be a hobby. In my case I would just go to the organic section and that's it. But in your case you have the time and enjoy doing it. I love veggies too. Have you tried cabbage and beets?
what I love about your channel is these kind of videos is that it changes a mindset, you don't have to do much to really improve yourself, your surroundings and ultimately nature by just changing a few habbits.
Fantastic idea for people who are not allowed to install a garden in the yard of their rental home or for small yards where a small moveable/mudular raised bed is needed.
love it
I live in Houston too. I plant flower beds. Those plants plus the fixings: dirt, fertilizer, etc... collectively cost a lot of money. All I have to do is make sure they get regular feedings and water. This person doesn't seem to have been willing to do that. I personally don't have money to throw away, when I believe my health will prevent me from properly taking care of plants, I don't bother. You expended a lot of time & effort (see the 1st video) to help them set this unique 'raised garden' up and all they had to do (at the very least) was keep it 'Well watered'.
I really liked this follow up video because it shows the common pitfalls of the less fanatical or obsessed gardner and most importantly it offers practical solutions. I don`t have a drip irrigation system but then again I am out every single day and fussing over my babies.
i totally remember you installing that bed. I love how they look to be holding up. really cool setup, and a plus that they are free! keep the great videos coming buddy!
I love your videos. I am totally blind and have no trouble following what you’re saying the sound quality is excellent thank you so much and keep up the good work. You totally encourage me to continue to try and garden.
I like how you travel to different places, to see the climate changes and irregularities throught the zones.
Thank you for this. I have found the "build-garden-out-of-pallets" way way too difficult. Yours is the best. Here in SOuth Africa, plastic crates will never be free but you can buy them from a chinese mall for very little. I AM going to do this. It's soo easy. I will line them with black refuse bags with holes in. Thanks again.
I absolutely loved the truth behind you statement about "lettuce being like a high maintenance girlfriend". You said they attract a lot of bugs and then grow maybe a month or two and them bolt and there gonna be done, lol. I feel ya bro, I've been there in the past and I don't like growing lettuce that is like that either.
Thanks for the videos and info.
God bless
I need a garden like this because I live in a very rocky mountain area where all underground is rocks. Thanks for the cool idea! Totally going to do something like this now I'm on my own little journey to health.
I really enjoy the low cost solutions to common problems! It would be interesting to see how he does in a year or so!
I tried growing some stuff in buckets this year. The peppers did the best. One thing I found out when watering was that when I poured water in, most of it would just run through and not reallly wet all the soil. Finally I got a big bucket, put the planter bucket in it when I watered and really soaked it and let it soak for an hour or so. This way, all the soil got wet and the plants did better. I am in Mass and have been bringing the tomatoes in at night and put out during the day to keep them going.
Another great idea is to plant out "cover crops" like clover in any compost you aren't using, then turn that stuff back into the compost or recompost it all. It breaks down the compost and infuses it with nitrogen that the plants take from air (then bacteria in the soil fix the nitrogen so it doesn't evaporate out).
Great video of your friend garden John, you looks exhausted at the end. But it's worth it for automatic irrigation system. Can't wait to see Update of it few months later
Thanks for the update! My husband and I are poor grad students so I think we're gonna hit up the local supermarkets to see if they have any of these crates they'd be willing to give away. One question, and a suggestion: 1. Are you worried about harmful chemicals leaching out from the plastic? 2. A suggestion: a nice layer of mulch on top of the soil layer would probably really help with the drying out problem. Thanks for a great video!!
Can we get another update video on this particular garden? I wonder how the winter crops turned out.
Just imagined John breaking into strangers gardens, building raised beds and planting vegetables. Would be a funny thing to see this happen.
I would tune in for that! :)
Great idea for a garden john. Thanks for the time you give for this info..
Dude I wish I would've known you were going to be in Houston! I'm just in San Antonio I'm going to be getting the Tower Garden this spring to start my own garden thanks for all the information you have provided!
John mentioned a moisture meter in the vid. If you guys plan on buying this, make sure they also can test the available light in the area, as well as the PH of the soil. This is what I have at the moment, and it's really handy. Not only that, they are inexpensive.
John, next time you are in Houston check out Natures Way Resources. They have some awesome compost, soil mixes and mulches.
stay tuned for the next video :)
Great video, I'm in S.E. Texas so this helps a lot.
if you haven't already, check out JNR Nursery, prefer it over RCW any day. and only 5 minutes away. another great video!
John loves your videos. keep the good works. Just bought a 6 acres property on North Fort Myers, Florida. There are no fruit trees or vegetables plants. I need to work on the soil because it's sandy and have a lot ants mounts. Any suggestions on improving the soil on the big lots. thank you
I have just started growing potatoes in containers and am well impressed. I videoed the whole procedure if you are interested. Great video.
Great vid, thanks for making it!
wow, still outside in the dark!
Lol. I asked that before you said it in the video. Lol. Whoops. Do you save more seeds from plants that you've grown and they go to seed or do you buy more of them? I was just wondering.
Hello John,
I'm very new to your channel, i started my garden last year it didn't do that well but since then i have tried new thing which has help. I am in the Tampa Area and as you know we have very warm area.. but i wanted to tried starting a indoor garden but i am just getting started. I have very small are to started my garden and i'm having trouble trying to start my indoor garden please advise on which soil to use?.
Where did you find that laundry basket with small holes like that? The only ones I see at department stores and even dollar stores have large holes and not small slits like the one you got. I built a wooden box with hardware cloth but it is a lot smaller than the basket idea. I've been composting for 20+ years and finding something larger like the laundry basket for sifting will help me immensely.
You can watch the original install episode when I built this garden at
How to Build a FREE Plastic Crate Raised Bed Garden
+Learn Organic Gardening at GrowingYourGreens
John, Did you lose very much soil from the crates?
That's awesome!
Irregular watering- yep! Plus some like lots of water some not so much. Also, I'm not sure how much water is really get down deep when the top area seems soaked or is even over flowing. My poor Thai Peppers, some seemed to be wrinkled and have light rather than dark green leaves- is this from too much or too little "irregular" watering? Can't do the irrigation system in condo.
Three points: A.) The quality of brass hose fittings has diminished greatly. I had a brass Y fitting fracture and break. Recommend you buy the fittings in the plumbing department, rather than the gardening dept.. B) If the soil adsorbs and drains water very well, your drip timer should be set for "brackets of three cycles close together to thoroughly moisten the soil, C.) To measure moisture, use a bamboo skewer to poke ito the soil to see if the soil 3 inches down is moist.
Great video
John, I know you like using the pine pellets for the carbon aspect of compost, but I noticed there are a lot of leaves on that property and they have high carbon as well as minerals and such, would leaves provide enough carbon to use them instead of the pine pellets?
5 years late but they sure will, also they can bring in lots of trace minerals a bit like rockdust does.
I use a mix of saved autumn leaves and some untreated hardwood sawdust for most of my brown compost content.
Put cardboard on the inside of crates and wrap with burlap to keep in moisture.
How did it goes after the irrigation system???
Why used raised bed, versus digging out space in the ground and putting in high quality soil? I heard that doesn't dry out as much as a raised bed.
haha nice comparison to high maintenance partner!
John, I like your vids and tips on growing fresh and untainted veggies. Free containers are not an option I see around here lately. Most are gathered up by those that see their worth to sell to others. The vid you did on Veteran Compost was also great but here, that resource is mostly not available as most groceries put past date produce in a compactor to be written off and taken to the land fill. So sad it's all about the money.
You did not speak of cabbage, I have good luck with Early Dutch. Here in the Spring/ The Woodlands area.
Where on earth did you get those crates for free? I'm in TN and we don't have anything like that around here....
Is rice and meaty foods OKAY in a compost bin? If not, what do we do with it?
Rice is fine. Meat shouldn't go into your compost, because it attracts bad kinds of bacteria, it starts to smell and can attract annoying animals.
so what do you do with meat?
I try to use all the meat i buy, but should it expire, I have to throw it into the garbage bin. You can work on your shopping habits to reduce the amount of waste, freeze it if you want to use it later, prefer food with upcoming expiration date, feed it to your animals (cats/dogs) or depending on the area you live in donate it before it expires to someone else or give it to your neighbors/family.
Maybe you can use it as fishing bait, or food as well. Sry I can't really offer any real worst case solution.
Where can I get FREE crates? Exactly what I need for my herbs, and they have bigger surface areas than pots.
John, where do you get all of your seedlings?
The seedlings in this video were purchased at SouthWest Fertilizer
I don't know, but it looks to me that it didn't work out.
I saw all the preparations that you did and didn't leave anything to chance yet when you returned all I saw were dry burned plants and others that didn't grow. I think it is too hard to be a hobby. In my case I would just go to the organic section and that's it.
But in your case you have the time and enjoy doing it. I love veggies too. Have you tried cabbage and beets?
should try some Chinese Flowering Cabbage. :) John
Where can I get that plastic crates?
Most compost is dark rich black in color.. Why is that compost soooo brown?
You can call those plants by their respective names as if they're humans lol. Harvest Moon life is interesting
SNIP YOUR BASIL LEAVES...FREEZE IS SMALL AMOUNT OF OLIVE OIL & GARLIC IN A FREEZER BAF, CHIP OFF AS NEEDED!!! yuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm
Do you call this a garden?