If this video was helpful, please "Like" it and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching🙂TIMESTAMPS here: 0:00 Garden Soil Protection Intro 0:58 Why Is Soil Health So Important? 2:48 Unprotected Soil Is Killing Your Garden 6:13 Soil Protection Tip #1 7:26 Soil Protection Tip #2 10:56 Soil Protection Tip #3 12:11 Soil Protection Tip #4 12:57 Compost Is NOT A Soil Cover! 14:13 Is Snow A Soil Cover? 16:26 Adventures With Dale
Only God knows how much grateful i am. After so much struggles I now own a new house and my family is happy once again everything is finally falling into place!!
I just looked her up, she’s a verified and registered broker with FINRA security I’m investing with her immediately. Thank you for this information it really means a lot to me and my family.......
I’m so grateful as well! Many memories growing up with large kitchen garden + great content here about current products and methods have me very hopeful about my foray into gardening!
I cover with my last mowing of my grass, then cover with cardboard. Most of it is broken down by spring, and if not, I just put my spring compost over, and then plant, and cover with my first mowing. It works really well.
I love the comparison of a healthy gut versus healthy soil for our veggies. This is exactly why I practice “no dig gardening”. IE: keeping the roots below the soil which degrade & bring nutrients to the soil ongoing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I made that mistake the first 5 years I gardened. Loosening the soil up in the spring was always a chore. For the past 10 years I've been adding mulch or growing a cover crop, and it makes a HUUUUUGE difference!
Experimenting with that myself. Half of my above ground is left covered with mulch from spring crop. Just tilled in my cover crop and covered the other half last Saturday. We'll see what works, in Central Florida.
My garden soil stays covered under about an inch of chopped leaves and green grass clippings at all times. From time to time I sprinkle some sandy/silty soil from a wash over this and I use it to make mounds mixed with leaves and grass clippings to grow tubers, squash & melons. I`ve already planted fall/winter tubers & greens and yesterday I sprinkled more chopped leaves and green grass clippings lightly all over the garden. The plants are about an inch tall and to plant I just threw various seeds of radish, carrots, mustard, turnips, rutabagas & lettuce everywhere and spray with the hose every morning. I have a more carefully planted garden made from forest soil in cardboard boxes in a different area with more winter sun that was a gravel parking area I`m slowly reclaiming. I add thick layers of grass clippings, cardboard boxes, pine straw and mowed leaves plus rotting forest branches and a little sandy soil under the canopy of my fig trees too. I`m always building soil to prevent root knot nematodes.
At the end of the season I top off beds with my compost then add about 2-4 inches of my shredded leaves. Then I cover with tarps but I poke some holes in the tarps to allow some drippage. I want the leaves to breakdown completely over the winter. If we get a winter thaw I uncover and water then cover again. Works very well for me.
For pete's sake, rake up leaves and put them on the soil if nothing else. I have a cutter and can put inches of leaves as a kind of winter mulch. then I add kitchen scraps under this bed all winter. In Spring there's lots of material to work with.
I was just thinking this the other day and I had already covered my soil, whether it was in pots with soil, no plant, or anything unused. Thank you for confirming that I was doing the right thing. Good, I'm on the right track.
I have heard to plant cover crops in your raised beds, then cut them off at soil level and compost the tops, leaving the roots intact, and no dig/till. I plan on trying this fall!
Nutrients can always be added to a garden, and this is something I have been learning about. Frankly never in a million years would I have been able to guess on my own how to provide nutrients to a garden, so thank goodness, for the internet. :) Preserving food is something else I have been learning about. Not getting enough sun to grow is a problem, so what I recommend people to do is learn how to preserve their food assuming that more than a enough can be grown.
Nutrients can always be added, but they do take time to break down. They aren't necessarily immediately bioavailable to the plants. It's important to keep your soil protected, because if it becomes depleted by spring, this could slow your plants down by weeks or months.
@@TheMillennialGardener I assume you already know preparations can be made indoors to grow outdoors, for when better weather develops. Protecting the soil is an option, but it is not the only option that exist. Starting from scratch to grow indoors can be done when the weather is about to change outside. So when it gets colder then gardeners can work indoors instead of outdoors for preparing to work outdoors when the weather is better. The outcome might not be the same when better weather develops, for all gardeners though. Because not everyone thinks alike.
I will make sure to cover my ground for this winter. Now, I know why my vegetable garden starts slow. Thanks for the great tip. Mr Dale has a button says “WALK” and he knows how to use it!! lol… What a smart boy🦮
Great content as always with this channel. Dale has my heart. This fall I'm experimenting with combined cover crops in my raised beds. I'm covering my large pots with straw and leaves. Another great benefit of covering your garden areas is avoiding all the tree seeds in spring propergating throughout the garden.
What's growing on!? This video came right on time. I am starting to grow corn in fall as in September, the beginning of fall. Definitely added to my watchbl later list to fully take notes!
I'm about an hour north of Wilmington nc and clover is a perfect cover crop for NC, it blooms in spring and brings all the bees but is cooked off by our sun and heat by late may early June
I haven't experimented with cover crops on my beds. I don't like disturbing the soil much, and the idea of having to till them or rip all the cover off doesn't seem attractive to me.
@TheMillennialGardener it looks like what you do works great. I'm still trying to fix up my sandy soil so the clover adds nitrogen. I use solo cups to transplant my corn, tomato, and cucumbers, so in the spring that size hole is all I dig up and just wait for the rest of the clover to die in the heat. No tilling needed
Your videos are great - thank you! We’re in Swansea, in South Wales, UK. A friend of mine puts down cardboard (with packing tape, staples, labels etc removed) over his soil in the autumn and lets the rain and cold decompose it over the winter: so you get protection and also add some structure to the soil. Also, Dale is an excellent dog!
Please I know the growing season is about over but it would be super helpful for another Q&A as sometimes stretching it out or I guess overwintering certain plants would be nice . You my favorite Q&A gardener as well as video gardener.!!!!! Thank you very much you are truly appreciated!!!
I bought legumes and spice seeds from the grocery store and deer food plot seeds from the farm/feed store and used those as cover crops. They’re looking great! Affordable and readily available. These are newer garden areas where I need to improve the soil. There are other areas where I want to use beneficial nematodes to help take care of pests. Can you do both in the same area?
@@TheMillennialGardener both in ground and raised beds. How does disturbing the soil fit in? To my understanding you apply beneficial nematodes in a water solution.
Cardboard blows away very easily. You'd probably need to mulch on top of it to hold it down. I'm hit or miss about cardboard. It helps to keep weeds down when planting a fruit tree, but I wouldn't want to use a ton of it in my garden. Paper contains a lot of chemicals. I wouldn't want to stack it on top of my garden soil like that.
How did your garden do with Helene? I just saw the news and how bad North Carolina was hit. I'm in Georgia and it hit my city at category 1, lost 2 apple trees, my main fig tree and a few other plants, oh and chunks of the fence, but no damage to the house thank God. Lost electricity but it's back now, many people without water but we never lost ours. Also, thank you for inspiring me to grow fruits and veggies, we were able to eat those veggies and tuna fish sandwiches until yesterday when some grocery stores started opening. 😊
I agree that the sun will probably kill most of the bacteria on the surface of the soil, but not in the soil. Surface bacteria are about 0.01% of all bacteria in the garden bed, so it is insignificant. Even if the soil dries out bacteria can go dormant until water is available, so also a non-issue. The biggest issue with leaving garden soil unprotected is rain washing away the nutrients and without roots it becomes even easier.
It definitely isn't insignificant. Look at the root penetration of most plants. Much of what we grow only penetrate the soil by 3-4 inches, and regardless what you grow, every plant spends the first several weeks or months of its life sitting in the first 1-2 inches of soil. If the first 1-2 inches of your soil is depleted, you're dooming your plants to a slow, sluggish start. One of the reasons why my garden is so far ahead of many gardener's so early in the season is I don't let the first 1-2 inches of my soil get scorched. Then, you also have the enormous problem of erosion. For a backyard gardener growing in raised beds or in a small plot, there is no reason to leave soil unprotected.
Do a little research on Venus fly traps and see where they’re from and you’ll find out they only live in a 75 mile radius in the entire world.. they require zero nutrients to very very little nutrients to grow & flourish… guess where we live… lol. My county specifically is 62% water with 160,000 acres have pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps called pocosins. Bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and the Bogue Sound, the forest is defined by water. 😊 @TheMillennialGardner how do we manage to grow plants here again? lol information is definitely not insignificant whatsoever.
Do a little research on Venus fly traps and see where they’re from naturally. You’ll find out they live in a 75 mi.² radius in the entire world.. & requires zero nutrients to very little to thrive. guess where we live…lol my county specifically is 62%water with 160,000 acres of pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps called pocosins. Bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and the Bogue Sound, the forest is defined by water. How do we grow plants here again? @TheMellinnialGardner info was definitely not insignificant
@@TheMillennialGardener Do a little research on Venus fly traps and see where they’re from naturally. They require zero nutrients to very very little nutrients to thrive. You’ll find out they live in a 75 mi.² radius in the entire world.. guess where we live…lol my county specifically is 62%water with 160,000 acres of pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps called pocosins. Bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and the Bogue Sound, the forest is defined by water. How do we grow plants here again? info was definitely not insignificant @TerrainNodes 👆🏽
@@TheMillennialGardener sure, but as far as bacteria is concerned one inch is what a mile is to us. UV rays are not X-rays, they can't go inside the soil.. This is more of a problem for when tilling the land.
I always learn something valuable from your videos! Will definitely mulch this fall. We have loads of leaves and will chop them with the lawnmower and use them. Thank you!
Thanks for the information. What are your thoughts on overwintering Garlic? I usually plant at the end of October in a bare bed and harvest in July here in the pacific northwest. Perhaps shredded leaves or straw would help the soil from getting too leached from our long rainy season?
Do you have any problems with voles tunneling under the wheat straw? And regarding cover crops, never grow alfalfa in raised beds! I didn't realize it was a perennial! What a mess. Fortunately we had chickens at the time so they took care of it for me. I've also heard from our Extension coordinator that vetch is really hard to dig thru to plant in if used as a cover crop. I just amend my raised beds with compost and chipped up leaves and it works for me.
OMGOODNESS, perfect timing & lots of good sound info. I'm so thankful you do these videos. I'm planning on checking out you bed tarps & buying your clippers thru your Amazon store to help you out. ❤❤❤ u & your vids. Thank you
I’m just guessing but for most of us Canadians probably don’t have to worry about this too much. Where I am, your first snowfall might not stay but the next one a few days later does and then you have full snow cover for 4 - 4.5 months. The ground thaws and snow melts across 3 weeks in spring and it’s time to get potatoes and carrots in the ground. Our snow will be here in about 8 weeks and I have carrots, kale, peppers and tomatoes going lol.
If you aren’t growing in your garden and the soil isn’t covered, it is worth worrying about. I’m guessing you go at least 2-3 months total with exposed soil. That is plenty to cause damage. If your soil is firm and hard when you go to sow, that is a sign that you need soil cover.
@@TheMillennialGardener Here in Newfoundland, no. I have about a total of 5 weeks year round that my soil is exposed and unusable (3 of those weeks it’s frozen). About 3 weeks in spring and about 2 weeks in fall. Other than that it’s either snow covered or crops are planted. Our spring and fall is pretty short. Our winters used to be 7 months of snowpack but it’s down to about 4-4.5 months now. All the micro climate stuff you teach in your videos really helps out people that live in climates like mine.
We get so much wind and rain here in nz. I have tried straw, grass cuttings and even put compost on top. The wind blows it all away. Ive got birdnetting around the whole garden to keep the birds out, they destroy everything.
We were so far east it wasn’t really near us. We got 3 hours of off and on rain and some wind, not even half an inch. The folks inland got it this time 😔
@@TheMillennialGardener I weed-wack them as low as possible and keep everything that falls in place as mulch. Then I plant directly into that mulch. I rotate different cover crops in over time. It's a great way to keep the soil healthy.
Thanks for the great videos always. I'm building a large garden area similar to yours with raised beds. I want to use landscape cover over the pathways, what type and or brand is the one you use on your walkways in your garden and how sturdy is it? Would like any info. Thanks.
What do you think of hemp bedding from a chicken coop? I use it in my coop under there perches and turn it occasionally over the year. Plus it has a lot of chicken poop. Not sure what it would do in my garden bed. Thanks and love your videos!
It takes about 6 to 8 months for chicken manure to lose its extreme amount of nitrogen that will burn all of your plants cleaning your chicken coop around. Let’s say November December January is your best bet when putting it in your garden. I have a dedicated area in the back corner of my yard that I put chopped up leaves and wood chips and all my chicken coops remnants. You can also put it in containers like 5 gallon buckets and let it sit in the corner of your garage if that’s an option. I used this method last year. It has no smell whatsoever. And my plants are still thriving. My peppers literally have 25 to 35 peppers on each one of them. Okra are about 7 foot tall and produce one to two okra every 2 to 3 days each. Tomatoes are actually still green, not thriving, but they’re producing fruit and flowers but not nearly as many as they were a few months ago. I have a few tomatoes about 8 foot tall. 🤯 picked a big ol fat yellow boy this morning 5 okra & 26 ripe peppers b4 this storm hits 😇 i’ve only used bananas, chopped up in 1 inch pieces in rainwater once a week as fertilizer this year all other watering has been collected rainwater. You can check me out on the free app PlantIn. If you’re curious @OhGollyItsJolly is my handle there. Been a pretty amazing year with chickens and lots of plants. 🫶🏽😇🤙🏽
I know my question doesn’t pertain to this video, but my tomatoes (which I was very proud was doing so well) are now ripening…and turning yellow at the stem and shoulder area! I am in Raleigh, NC. I don’t know what the issue is, and was wondering if you’re familiar with this problem? I have them in very large grow bags, with the compost/peat/perlite mixture. Not sure if it’s an environmental issue (because of crazy heat), or if the excessive rain caused this. Also, I’m hoping you do another Q & A soon!
I'm not sure what you mean by turning yellow. Tomatoes blush yellow before they turn colors in many instances. But, I wonder if you're referring to sun scald or something similar: www.ipt.us.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sunburn-tomatoes.jpg If you are seeing that, that's caused by sunburn. Online gardeners have convinced so many people to over-prune their plants, and that leads to sunscald. Leaves are what shield the fruits from damage, and it's a big reason why I almost never prune my tomato plants anymore.
I'm in zone 7b/8a in TN, and my tomatoes are basically doing the same thing. I have several younger clones in a raised bed that are blooming right now, but every one of them in containers have ripening fruit but also yellowing quite a bit. I can't figure out if it's a matter of nutrients, disease, or conditions. But I have many different plants in many different places (containers and raised beds) that I'm hoping will produce enough among them all even if they succumb to yellowing/disease/etc...
The storm didn't really affect us. A few hours of some minor wind. We are much too far east. Helene was an inland storm that missed most of the Southeast coast.
Good Morning MG! How do you winterize your grow bags? We just built a small greenhouse (will hold 18 ten gallon bags) so the bags will be under shade cloth cover through the winter. What do we need to do to winterize them?
What do you mean by winterize them? Are you going to grow in them or just let them sit for the winter? If you're just letting them sit, you can literally just stick them against the side of your house for protection and throw a tarp over them. If you want to know how I rehabilitate them, I have a video on that here: ua-cam.com/video/m-fvstZY-FY/v-deo.htmlsi=Eey5lLdjaCywXkH6
@@TheMillennialGardener Not going to grow in them till spring and they will be in the greenhouse, not outside. Is it too soon to add compost and mulch?
When is the best time to add the compost to your garden? The fall or the spring? If you add in the fall and then work it into the soil and then cover it with leaves is that okay?
We compost our horse bedding (straw mixed w/manure and urine) throughout the cold months, and it's been great as compost before spring planting. If you don't let it compost on it's own, I would think using it to cover your soil during the winter would work well and by the time it's time to plant, it should be broken down quite a bit... I'm in zone 7b/8a border. This last spring we took all the semi-composted bedding and added it to our new raised beds, after layering logs/branches/leaves/grass clippings but added mushroom compost/topsoil mix on top, and it seems to have really supercharged our raised beds. As long as you give it time to decompose a bit, and use full compost when planting early in the season, it should be really beneficial. At least it has been for me. Just not as mulch in peak growing season.
@@elikerr785 I do the same with cattle litter around stations where round bales are fed. I know the hay is free of pesticides and I deal with any seed sprouts. It's free to me.
Any suggestions to prevent rolly pollies in the soil next spring. Last year fall I pulled the dead plants and left in the bed to decompose. I guess It invited more pill bugs. How do I protect my garden bed soil this year fall from pill bugs that kills my baby plants in the next spring. Thanks
We live in Southern Colorado - draught...HOT temps...300+ days of sun per year...difficult to maintain a garden. Cannot find a farm supply that sells wheat straw. What would be the best alternative? Thanks....
I know covering soil is super important, BUT my straw mulch helped multiply an earwig and pillbug problem this year and I had to pull it all up. I’m terrified to cover it again. Any idea on what I can do so I’m not creating a perfect environment for these pests that made my gardening a hellacious battle this year?
Is that why they're so numerous? It's my first year gardening in this area and in use straw mulch and had whole crops get devoured by pill bugs and be able to grow.
I am using silage tarp for the first time it has been on there about a month. The rain runoff has flooded my High Tunnel a lot worse ( it floods normally.) how long do I leave the tarp on and on very hot days does it kill i.e. burn up the needed fungus and bacteria? I’m in Florence SC
@@TheMillennialGardener Same! I've even gotten used to carrying my wallet in my front pocket considering I'm in my gardening clothes for the majority of the day, so I'm not about to dress "up" to run some errands...
Usually, I wait for frost to kill them back. This year, I planted some things in an adjacent bed, so I may cut them early. I don't do anything to prepare them for winter. They're bulletproof in NC. If you want a pruning guide, I have one here: ua-cam.com/video/ST2GrFSbKIo/v-deo.htmlsi=3eBIbHnKzkEC8VMq
The bacteria are protected underneath. There is plenty of moisture in the soil with all the humidity in the air. It is crazy how much more quickly things break down with a tarp over it, which is a good indicator of soil health. If you think about it, things rot more quickly in dark, damp locations than in the sun. The sun prevents bacterial growth.
I have wood shavings from Tractor Supply. I had put some on my raised bed and noticed it isn't breaking down after 2 months. I looked up and couldn't find if TSC pine shavings are chemically treated. There isn't anything on the bag stating yes or no. Anyone have any advice?
Oh so I went to your Amazon site but did not see what you use to cover your garden in the winter. Saw the frost protection covers that are white but did not find the winter covers. Help
No. We are on the coast, which escaped the storm. This was an inland threat. We got 0.4 inches of rain, a couple hours of some mild wind and that was it.
A soil covered with a layer of compost or other plant matter gets an intermittent treatment of nutrient tea as rain percolates through the ground cover into the ground.
The comment about feeding soil instead of plants is one you exemplified in that experiment where you tried to grow tomatoes in a sterile medium and gave them only miracle gro.
Yes. Otherwise, you'll have to micro-manage them and add every ingredient manually. If your fertilizer doesn't have everything the plant needs, they'll die, and clearly, most off the shelf fertilizers are incomplete.
My Catahoula Cur dog Zack grew up in the house and had his own couch and he knew the entire English language and understood jokes. He could smile and laugh. He got a pork chop bone out of the trash one day. When I started talking about about him digging bones out of the trash he had the guilty look but then when I said he was gonna turn into a big fat pig he started smiling, laughing and snorting. He eventually stole the entire Thanksgiving turkey a few years later right after everyone made a plate and escaped out the back screen door. The bones killed him. He probably ate the entire thing. He had been injured internally and got a broke back chasing cars at 6 months old and I cared for him until he learned to hop on his back legs. He looked at me one day with a "Don`t let them put me down!" look so I refused that option and the vet gave him some injections and pills to get him back on his feet. He had a great life for 5 more years. He loved boating, hiking in the woods, chasing wild hogs, fighting other dogs, riding in the truck and loud Rock n Roll.
I don't personally like the cloth kind, because it's very cheap. The plastic kind is way better. But, if you lay it on thick enough and secure it down, that would effectively count as a tarp. Woven weed barrier would be a good choice in lieu of a tarp.
We're OK. This storm was very far inland and had minimal affects here on the coast. The last 2 storms were what got us. Debby and PTC 8 were particularly bad here.
@@TheMillennialGardener I heard Ashville got hit hard. I get bad anxiety this time of year but here in Louisiana the severe weather never really ends. I have to keep all my power banks and solar batteries charged because thunderstorms easily catch me off guard this time of year and into December. And the actual inland paths of these hurricanes change too rapidly to predict. We had no power for 3 weeks after Laura. Nobody expected what happened. Looks like another one is forming.
Hey bruv, do you consider yourself a generalist? You seem to have a lot of knowledge in many different disciplines. Do you have many interests and a burning desire to integrate them all?
Cardboard will be pretty difficult to sit on top of your soil. It will get blown away easily. I wouldn't consider it much of a soil cover. You typically have to mulch over cardboard.
@@peaceofmyhearthomestead4611 Thank you for your input....my garden is small....so keeping it on wouldn't be a problem,but you're right about the edges curling!
Perfect explanation on effects of pesticides on humans. Now apply it to a dog and you'll know why I "harass" you (respectfully) about using them on Dale. When in doubt listen to yourself on this episode.
I don't know what you are referring to. If you are referring to giving Dale a monthly flea and tick and heartworm treatment, he would be dead by now if he didn't have them. We have done work at shelters for years. Over 50% of all dogs that come in are heartworm positive, which is fatal. Not giving your dog these monthly preventatives dooms them to an early grave. We have watched many die because people didn't want to spend $5/mo on a pill or did not care to do so, and those that were eventually able to be treated had to suffer for months, unable to play or go on walks. It was absolutely tragic, and they were miserable, all because of owner neglect and abuse. Other than that, 80% of what we feed Dale, we cook.
@@TheMillennialGardener can you share how you get the heartworm medicine for only five dollars a month? all the vets I’ve been to require you to bring the dog in for every refill to verify how much they weigh. I don’t think I’ve been able to get away from the vet for less than $200 each time. thank you
@@TheMillennialGardener I know heartworm is deadly and has to be prevented but not in a way of pesticides. For the same reasons you just beautifully explained in your video. It is the same type of chemicals with the same effects on live beings. I was not going to comment on that again until I heard you explain it so clearly today. If you know shelter environment you probably have seen unnatural amount of cancer, seizures, vomiting, loose stool or diarrhea with or without blood, anorexia, lethargy, salivation, tachypnea, and muscle tremors, pruritis, urticaria, erythema, ataxia, fever. All of those can be avoided by using safe products instead of toxic pesticides. Dogs are not much different from people in that matter and I would be inclined to say they are probably more sensitive. Their lifespan was cut in more than half since all the poisons started being used on them. I wonder what people did before somebody genius thought of dosing them in poison to make the hosts parasites can bite into and die at a very high cost of poisoning them. Anthony, you realize that 50% of dogs you saw infected were neglected, unprotected pets nobody cared about, unlike dogs like Dale and others pampered, living their lives at homes. In summary, you don't have to poison your dog to have him protected.
Is that monthly weighing for a growing puppy? To get correct dose. And also they shouldnt be charging if just weight check. Once you buy 6 mth- year Heartguard or whatever , our vet often has decent rebate.@peaceofmyhearthomestead4611
If this video was helpful, please "Like" it and share it to help increase its reach! Thanks for watching🙂TIMESTAMPS here:
0:00 Garden Soil Protection Intro
0:58 Why Is Soil Health So Important?
2:48 Unprotected Soil Is Killing Your Garden
6:13 Soil Protection Tip #1
7:26 Soil Protection Tip #2
10:56 Soil Protection Tip #3
12:11 Soil Protection Tip #4
12:57 Compost Is NOT A Soil Cover!
14:13 Is Snow A Soil Cover?
16:26 Adventures With Dale
Only God knows how much grateful i am. After so much struggles I now own a new house and my family is happy once again everything is finally falling into place!!
I just looked her up, she’s a verified and registered broker with FINRA security I’m investing with her immediately. Thank you for this information it really means a lot to me and my family.......
I’m so grateful as well! Many memories growing up with large kitchen garden + great content here about current products and methods have me very hopeful about my foray into gardening!
I cover with my last mowing of my grass, then cover with cardboard. Most of it is broken down by spring, and if not, I just put my spring compost over, and then plant, and cover with my first mowing. It works really well.
I love the comparison of a healthy gut versus healthy soil for our veggies. This is exactly why I practice “no dig gardening”. IE: keeping the roots below the soil which degrade & bring nutrients to the soil ongoing. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
I try to do that where I can, but with nightshades, it's not really possible here. The roots hold RKN's and disease, so they have to get yanked.
I made that mistake the first 5 years I gardened. Loosening the soil up in the spring was always a chore. For the past 10 years I've been adding mulch or growing a cover crop, and it makes a HUUUUUGE difference!
That’s something I failed to mention. Exposed soil becomes hard. Keeping it covered makes it so loamy. Great point!
Experimenting with that myself.
Half of my above ground is left covered with mulch from spring crop.
Just tilled in my cover crop and covered the other half last Saturday.
We'll see what works, in Central Florida.
@@TheMillennialGardener for sure! Bare soil is Dead soil. Too bad it took me half a century to know this.
At 71, I've known and forgotten a lot of things. Listening to you refreshes old knowledge as well as teaches new knowledge. Thanks Millennial!
You’re very welcome! I appreciate it!
My garden soil stays covered under about an inch of chopped leaves and green grass clippings at all times. From time to time I sprinkle some sandy/silty soil from a wash over this and I use it to make mounds mixed with leaves and grass clippings to grow tubers, squash & melons. I`ve already planted fall/winter tubers & greens and yesterday I sprinkled more chopped leaves and green grass clippings lightly all over the garden.
The plants are about an inch tall and to plant I just threw various seeds of radish, carrots, mustard, turnips, rutabagas & lettuce everywhere and spray with the hose every morning. I have a more carefully planted garden made from forest soil in cardboard boxes in a different area with more winter sun that was a gravel parking area I`m slowly reclaiming.
I add thick layers of grass clippings, cardboard boxes, pine straw and mowed leaves plus rotting forest branches and a little sandy soil under the canopy of my fig trees too. I`m always building soil to prevent root knot nematodes.
At the end of the season I top off beds with my compost then add about 2-4 inches of my shredded leaves. Then I cover with tarps but I poke some holes in the tarps to allow some drippage. I want the leaves to breakdown completely over the winter. If we get a winter thaw I uncover and water then cover again. Works very well for me.
For pete's sake, rake up leaves and put them on the soil if nothing else. I have a cutter and can put inches of leaves as a kind of winter mulch. then I add kitchen scraps under this bed all winter. In Spring there's lots of material to work with.
I do this too. Also put a bird net or weed tarp on it to hold it in
I was just thinking this the other day and I had already covered my soil, whether it was in pots with soil, no plant, or anything unused. Thank you for
confirming that I was doing the right thing. Good, I'm on the right track.
I actually grew buckwheat cover crop as a test in my raised bed and it was very easy to simply pull out before it goes to seed and leave as a mulch.
I have that on my list to try - where did you source your seeds?
I have heard to plant cover crops in your raised beds, then cut them off at soil level and compost the tops, leaving the roots intact, and no dig/till. I plan on trying this fall!
I’m trying the same with cow peas aka black-eyed peas!
Nutrients can always be added to a garden, and this is something I have been learning about. Frankly never in a million years would I have been able to guess on my own how to provide nutrients to a garden, so thank goodness, for the internet. :)
Preserving food is something else I have been learning about. Not getting enough sun to grow is a problem, so what I recommend people to do is learn how to preserve their food assuming that more than a enough can be grown.
Nutrients can always be added, but they do take time to break down. They aren't necessarily immediately bioavailable to the plants. It's important to keep your soil protected, because if it becomes depleted by spring, this could slow your plants down by weeks or months.
@@TheMillennialGardener I assume you already know preparations can be made indoors to grow outdoors, for when better weather develops.
Protecting the soil is an option, but it is not the only option that exist. Starting from scratch to grow indoors can be done when the weather is about to change outside. So when it gets colder then gardeners can work indoors instead of outdoors for preparing to work outdoors when the weather is better.
The outcome might not be the same when better weather develops, for all gardeners though. Because not everyone thinks alike.
@@knowledgeandmultiskilledCircumstances are different every year with everyone.
It's all part of the fun but the rewards are so great.
I will make sure to cover my ground for this winter. Now, I know why my vegetable garden starts slow. Thanks for the great tip. Mr Dale has a button says “WALK” and he knows how to use it!! lol… What a smart boy🦮
You're welcome! I can't believe there is any battery left in that Walk button 😂
Great content as always with this channel. Dale has my heart. This fall I'm experimenting with combined cover crops in my raised beds. I'm covering my large pots with straw and leaves. Another great benefit of covering your garden areas is avoiding all the tree seeds in spring propergating throughout the garden.
I love using my dropped fig leaves for autumn mulch.
What's growing on!? This video came right on time. I am starting to grow corn in fall as in September, the beginning of fall. Definitely added to my watchbl later list to fully take notes!
That's a late planting! You must have a long growing season 😮 My fall corn didn't turn out. 3 tropical storms made short work of it 😔
I'm about an hour north of Wilmington nc and clover is a perfect cover crop for NC, it blooms in spring and brings all the bees but is cooked off by our sun and heat by late may early June
I haven't experimented with cover crops on my beds. I don't like disturbing the soil much, and the idea of having to till them or rip all the cover off doesn't seem attractive to me.
@TheMillennialGardener it looks like what you do works great. I'm still trying to fix up my sandy soil so the clover adds nitrogen. I use solo cups to transplant my corn, tomato, and cucumbers, so in the spring that size hole is all I dig up and just wait for the rest of the clover to die in the heat. No tilling needed
What kind of clover?
@richardroadcap7957 based on how it looks its white Dutch clover
Your videos are great - thank you! We’re in Swansea, in South Wales, UK. A friend of mine puts down cardboard (with packing tape, staples, labels etc removed) over his soil in the autumn and lets the rain and cold decompose it over the winter: so you get protection and also add some structure to the soil. Also, Dale is an excellent dog!
You explain things in a way that's easy to digest!
Please I know the growing season is about over but it would be super helpful for another Q&A as sometimes stretching it out or I guess overwintering certain plants would be nice . You my favorite Q&A gardener as well as video gardener.!!!!! Thank you very much you are truly appreciated!!!
Hoping you are all well after the storm.
Heard how much rain North Carolina got just pray u are ok cause I watch u and love all of your videos
You break it down. Very easy to follow. Thank you for sharing.
Glad it was helpful! I really appreciate it.
I bought legumes and spice seeds from the grocery store and deer food plot seeds from the farm/feed store and used those as cover crops. They’re looking great! Affordable and readily available. These are newer garden areas where I need to improve the soil. There are other areas where I want to use beneficial nematodes to help take care of pests. Can you do both in the same area?
Do you grow in ground? I don't think I can really do that with raised beds since I don't like disturbing that soil.
@@TheMillennialGardener both in ground and raised beds. How does disturbing the soil fit in? To my understanding you apply beneficial nematodes in a water solution.
What do you think of covering raised beds with cardboard over winter. Then tossing in compost pile come spring??
Cardboard blows away very easily. You'd probably need to mulch on top of it to hold it down. I'm hit or miss about cardboard. It helps to keep weeds down when planting a fruit tree, but I wouldn't want to use a ton of it in my garden. Paper contains a lot of chemicals. I wouldn't want to stack it on top of my garden soil like that.
I just love learning from you!!
Thank you!
How did your garden do with Helene? I just saw the news and how bad North Carolina was hit. I'm in Georgia and it hit my city at category 1, lost 2 apple trees, my main fig tree and a few other plants, oh and chunks of the fence, but no damage to the house thank God. Lost electricity but it's back now, many people without water but we never lost ours. Also, thank you for inspiring me to grow fruits and veggies, we were able to eat those veggies and tuna fish sandwiches until yesterday when some grocery stores started opening. 😊
I agree that the sun will probably kill most of the bacteria on the surface of the soil, but not in the soil. Surface bacteria are about 0.01% of all bacteria in the garden bed, so it is insignificant. Even if the soil dries out bacteria can go dormant until water is available, so also a non-issue. The biggest issue with leaving garden soil unprotected is rain washing away the nutrients and without roots it becomes even easier.
It definitely isn't insignificant. Look at the root penetration of most plants. Much of what we grow only penetrate the soil by 3-4 inches, and regardless what you grow, every plant spends the first several weeks or months of its life sitting in the first 1-2 inches of soil. If the first 1-2 inches of your soil is depleted, you're dooming your plants to a slow, sluggish start. One of the reasons why my garden is so far ahead of many gardener's so early in the season is I don't let the first 1-2 inches of my soil get scorched. Then, you also have the enormous problem of erosion. For a backyard gardener growing in raised beds or in a small plot, there is no reason to leave soil unprotected.
Do a little research on Venus fly traps and see where they’re from and you’ll find out they only live in a 75 mile radius in the entire world.. they require zero nutrients to very very little nutrients to grow & flourish… guess where we live… lol. My county specifically is 62% water with 160,000 acres have pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps called pocosins. Bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and the Bogue Sound, the forest is defined by water. 😊 @TheMillennialGardner how do we manage to grow plants here again? lol information is definitely not insignificant whatsoever.
Do a little research on Venus fly traps and see where they’re from naturally. You’ll find out they live in a 75 mi.² radius in the entire world.. & requires zero nutrients to very little to thrive. guess where we live…lol my county specifically is 62%water with 160,000 acres of pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps called pocosins. Bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and the Bogue Sound, the forest is defined by water. How do we grow plants here again? @TheMellinnialGardner info was definitely not insignificant
@@TheMillennialGardener
Do a little research on Venus fly traps and see where they’re from naturally. They require zero nutrients to very very little nutrients to thrive. You’ll find out they live in a 75 mi.² radius in the entire world.. guess where we live…lol my county specifically is 62%water with 160,000 acres of pine forests, saltwater estuaries, bogs and raised swamps called pocosins. Bordered on three sides by tidal rivers and the Bogue Sound, the forest is defined by water. How do we grow plants here again? info was definitely not insignificant @TerrainNodes 👆🏽
@@TheMillennialGardener sure, but as far as bacteria is concerned one inch is what a mile is to us. UV rays are not X-rays, they can't go inside the soil.. This is more of a problem for when tilling the land.
I always learn something valuable from your videos! Will definitely mulch this fall. We have loads of leaves and will chop them with the lawnmower and use them. Thank you!
You’re welcome! Glad the video as helpful.
Thanks for the information. What are your thoughts on overwintering Garlic? I usually plant at the end of October in a bare bed and harvest in July here in the pacific northwest. Perhaps shredded leaves or straw would help the soil from getting too leached from our long rainy season?
Do you have any problems with voles tunneling under the wheat straw? And regarding cover crops, never grow alfalfa in raised beds! I didn't realize it was a perennial! What a mess. Fortunately we had chickens at the time so they took care of it for me. I've also heard from our Extension coordinator that vetch is really hard to dig thru to plant in if used as a cover crop. I just amend my raised beds with compost and chipped up leaves and it works for me.
OMGOODNESS, perfect timing & lots of good sound info. I'm so thankful you do these videos. I'm planning on checking out you bed tarps & buying your clippers thru your Amazon store to help you out. ❤❤❤ u & your vids.
Thank you
I appreciate it! Glad the video could be timely.
I’m just guessing but for most of us Canadians probably don’t have to worry about this too much. Where I am, your first snowfall might not stay but the next one a few days later does and then you have full snow cover for 4 - 4.5 months. The ground thaws and snow melts across 3 weeks in spring and it’s time to get potatoes and carrots in the ground. Our snow will be here in about 8 weeks and I have carrots, kale, peppers and tomatoes going lol.
If you aren’t growing in your garden and the soil isn’t covered, it is worth worrying about. I’m guessing you go at least 2-3 months total with exposed soil. That is plenty to cause damage. If your soil is firm and hard when you go to sow, that is a sign that you need soil cover.
@@TheMillennialGardener Here in Newfoundland, no. I have about a total of 5 weeks year round that my soil is exposed and unusable (3 of those weeks it’s frozen). About 3 weeks in spring and about 2 weeks in fall. Other than that it’s either snow covered or crops are planted. Our spring and fall is pretty short. Our winters used to be 7 months of snowpack but it’s down to about 4-4.5 months now. All the micro climate stuff you teach in your videos really helps out people that live in climates like mine.
We get so much wind and rain here in nz. I have tried straw, grass cuttings and even put compost on top. The wind blows it all away. Ive got birdnetting around the whole garden to keep the birds out, they destroy everything.
Simply a great idea thank you. Its a beautiful spring day here in Auckland New Zealand that sun is starting to heat up Yes!.
Lucky 😊 Love spring! It is always tough watching the days grow so short.
Yo, Anthony, i hope you ride out this hurricane/tropical storm with little to no damage. Please, be safe, bro!
We were so far east it wasn’t really near us. We got 3 hours of off and on rain and some wind, not even half an inch. The folks inland got it this time 😔
I love all the options! I do use tarps, crushed brown dry leaves and some mulch. what do you think about cardboard boxes?
I always use cover crops in my raised beds. The results are incredible.
How do you remove them?
@@TheMillennialGardener I weed-wack them as low as possible and keep everything that falls in place as mulch. Then I plant directly into that mulch. I rotate different cover crops in over time. It's a great way to keep the soil healthy.
@@mikecf1I have thought about changing cover crops year to year. Great idea.
Thanks for the great videos always. I'm building a large garden area similar to yours with raised beds. I want to use landscape cover over the pathways, what type and or brand is the one you use on your walkways in your garden and how sturdy is it? Would like any info. Thanks.
Always a beautiful knowledge filled presentation.
Thank you! I really appreciate that.
What do you think of hemp bedding from a chicken coop? I use it in my coop under there perches and turn it occasionally over the year. Plus it has a lot of chicken poop. Not sure what it would do in my garden bed. Thanks and love your videos!
It takes about 6 to 8 months for chicken manure to lose its extreme amount of nitrogen that will burn all of your plants cleaning your chicken coop around. Let’s say November December January is your best bet when putting it in your garden. I have a dedicated area in the back corner of my yard that I put chopped up leaves and wood chips and all my chicken coops remnants. You can also put it in containers like 5 gallon buckets and let it sit in the corner of your garage if that’s an option. I used this method last year. It has no smell whatsoever. And my plants are still thriving. My peppers literally have 25 to 35 peppers on each one of them. Okra are about 7 foot tall and produce one to two okra every 2 to 3 days each. Tomatoes are actually still green, not thriving, but they’re producing fruit and flowers but not nearly as many as they were a few months ago. I have a few tomatoes about 8 foot tall. 🤯 picked a big ol fat yellow boy this morning 5 okra & 26 ripe peppers b4 this storm hits 😇 i’ve only used bananas, chopped up in 1 inch pieces in rainwater once a week as fertilizer this year all other watering has been collected rainwater. You can check me out on the free app PlantIn. If you’re curious @OhGollyItsJolly is my handle there. Been a pretty amazing year with chickens and lots of plants. 🫶🏽😇🤙🏽
@@baddogcustoms7496 Oh wow, the 5 gallon bucket idea is great!
How are y’all up there from Helene?
Hopefully all well.
I know my question doesn’t pertain to this video, but my tomatoes (which I was very proud was doing so well) are now ripening…and turning yellow at the stem and shoulder area! I am in Raleigh, NC. I don’t know what the issue is, and was wondering if you’re familiar with this problem? I have them in very large grow bags, with the compost/peat/perlite mixture. Not sure if it’s an environmental issue (because of crazy heat), or if the excessive rain caused this.
Also, I’m hoping you do another Q & A soon!
I'm not sure what you mean by turning yellow. Tomatoes blush yellow before they turn colors in many instances. But, I wonder if you're referring to sun scald or something similar: www.ipt.us.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Sunburn-tomatoes.jpg
If you are seeing that, that's caused by sunburn. Online gardeners have convinced so many people to over-prune their plants, and that leads to sunscald. Leaves are what shield the fruits from damage, and it's a big reason why I almost never prune my tomato plants anymore.
I'm in zone 7b/8a in TN, and my tomatoes are basically doing the same thing. I have several younger clones in a raised bed that are blooming right now, but every one of them in containers have ripening fruit but also yellowing quite a bit. I can't figure out if it's a matter of nutrients, disease, or conditions. But I have many different plants in many different places (containers and raised beds) that I'm hoping will produce enough among them all even if they succumb to yellowing/disease/etc...
Great video. Thanks for sharing
I hope your fruit trees in FL are okay after Helene 🙏
The storm didn't really affect us. A few hours of some minor wind. We are much too far east. Helene was an inland storm that missed most of the Southeast coast.
@@TheMillennialGardener I meant your homestead in North Central Florida
@@Vincdil I think his 4 acre property is in east central Florida maybe Titusville area
@@darceyschultz2370 in his videos he says north central Florida 🤷♂️
Good Morning MG! How do you winterize your grow bags? We just built a small greenhouse (will hold 18 ten gallon bags) so the bags will be under shade cloth cover through the winter. What do we need to do to winterize them?
What do you mean by winterize them? Are you going to grow in them or just let them sit for the winter? If you're just letting them sit, you can literally just stick them against the side of your house for protection and throw a tarp over them. If you want to know how I rehabilitate them, I have a video on that here: ua-cam.com/video/m-fvstZY-FY/v-deo.htmlsi=Eey5lLdjaCywXkH6
@@TheMillennialGardener Not going to grow in them till spring and they will be in the greenhouse, not outside. Is it too soon to add compost and mulch?
Last few years I’ve dealt with blight here in Brunswick NC. Any tips on avoiding or at least managing it when it pops up?
When is the best time to add the compost to your garden? The fall or the spring? If you add in the fall and then work it into the soil and then cover it with leaves is that okay?
I was waiting for you to show the covering of grow bags.
I throw a tarp over them or mulch over them. This year, I am probably going to put that 40ft tarp over them.
Would landscape paper be a good choice to cover garden beds for the winter? I am in Sacramento area 9B
What do you think about using horse bedding for mulch
What is it made out of? As long as it is a natural wood or grass product with no fillers, it should be fine.
We compost our horse bedding (straw mixed w/manure and urine) throughout the cold months, and it's been great as compost before spring planting. If you don't let it compost on it's own, I would think using it to cover your soil during the winter would work well and by the time it's time to plant, it should be broken down quite a bit... I'm in zone 7b/8a border. This last spring we took all the semi-composted bedding and added it to our new raised beds, after layering logs/branches/leaves/grass clippings but added mushroom compost/topsoil mix on top, and it seems to have really supercharged our raised beds. As long as you give it time to decompose a bit, and use full compost when planting early in the season, it should be really beneficial. At least it has been for me. Just not as mulch in peak growing season.
@@elikerr785 I do the same with cattle litter around stations where round bales are fed. I know the hay is free of pesticides and I deal with any seed sprouts. It's free to me.
Hi, is it posable to get a video of adding biochar into your containers and raised bed, thank you
That isn’t something I do. Because I live in a neighborhood with a small yard, and we don’t have fireplaces or stoves beee, I do not burn.
Any suggestions to prevent rolly pollies in the soil next spring. Last year fall I pulled the dead plants and left in the bed to decompose. I guess It invited more pill bugs. How do I protect my garden bed soil this year fall from pill bugs that kills my baby plants in the next spring. Thanks
Here hoping for an answer to the same question!
Me too!
We live in Southern Colorado - draught...HOT temps...300+ days of sun per year...difficult to maintain a garden. Cannot find a farm supply that sells wheat straw. What would be the best alternative? Thanks....
I know covering soil is super important, BUT my straw mulch helped multiply an earwig and pillbug problem this year and I had to pull it all up. I’m terrified to cover it again. Any idea on what I can do so I’m not creating a perfect environment for these pests that made my gardening a hellacious battle this year?
Is that why they're so numerous? It's my first year gardening in this area and in use straw mulch and had whole crops get devoured by pill bugs and be able to grow.
I am using silage tarp for the first time it has been on there about a month. The rain runoff has flooded my High Tunnel a lot worse ( it floods normally.) how long do I leave the tarp on and on very hot days does it kill i.e. burn up the needed fungus and bacteria? I’m in Florence SC
How will oxygen get to the covered soil over the winter?
Soil is naturally aerated, and tarps are not airtight. They protect against sun damage and water washout, but they don't stop air.
What do you use for boards for your beds?
PT 2x8’s.
Where do you get your green covers please. I am doing leaves and also chop and drop for the plants. I am getting it turned into a no till.
If I have nothing planted in a bed, I add compost and cover with pine straw
Amazing videos as per usual! Can you do a video on growing tropical plants like bananas in your zone and colder? @Themillennialgardener
Would covering up with leaves and cardboard on top with bricks to keep it from flying away work as well?
Can you use grass clippings for cover
Athletic shorts, t-shirt, flip-flops and a hat are exactly what I live in these days!
11 months a year for me. If it weren’t for Januaries here, it would be 12!
@@TheMillennialGardener Same! I've even gotten used to carrying my wallet in my front pocket considering I'm in my gardening clothes for the majority of the day, so I'm not about to dress "up" to run some errands...
I see you haven't cut back your asparagus yet. I planted mine this year and they are huge! How do I prepare them for the winter here in NC?
Usually, I wait for frost to kill them back. This year, I planted some things in an adjacent bed, so I may cut them early. I don't do anything to prepare them for winter. They're bulletproof in NC. If you want a pruning guide, I have one here: ua-cam.com/video/ST2GrFSbKIo/v-deo.htmlsi=3eBIbHnKzkEC8VMq
What do you do if you use Buckets? Do you bring them inside?
Take a look at charles dowding, he has a big property and does only no dig gardens
Can I use landscape fabric as a replacement to the tarp? I’m in zone 6b
Yes, if you have a way to secure it.
I'm surprised by the tarp method. Wouldn't a lack of sunlight and rain that create a shockingly different environment for bacteria to grow in?
The bacteria are protected underneath. There is plenty of moisture in the soil with all the humidity in the air. It is crazy how much more quickly things break down with a tarp over it, which is a good indicator of soil health. If you think about it, things rot more quickly in dark, damp locations than in the sun. The sun prevents bacterial growth.
"You are a minority in your own body" is perfect and I'm definitely borrowing that 😂
It's true. Your body has a lot of little creatures in it helping it, and it's important we keep them healthy, or we won't be 😀
I have wood shavings from Tractor Supply. I had put some on my raised bed and noticed it isn't breaking down after 2 months. I looked up and couldn't find if TSC pine shavings are chemically treated. There isn't anything on the bag stating yes or no. Anyone have any advice?
Can't find your winter covers for my garden in your Amazon store? Help
Whats growing on guys?!
Thanks for watching!
I thought of you as Helene passed by you! I hope you and your family are safe and ok.😢 You did post yesterday so I’m assuming you’re well!😊
Oh so I went to your Amazon site but did not see what you use to cover your garden in the winter. Saw the frost protection covers that are white but did not find the winter covers. Help
I placed a link for the tarps in the video description. It is the first link in the description.
@@TheMillennialGardener thank you. Found them so picked up a couple. Thanks for info
Live in Valdosta
What is difference between biology and anatomy?
Did Helene cause and damage for you?
No. We are on the coast, which escaped the storm. This was an inland threat. We got 0.4 inches of rain, a couple hours of some mild wind and that was it.
A soil covered with a layer of compost or other plant matter gets an intermittent treatment of nutrient tea as rain percolates through the ground cover into the ground.
The comment about feeding soil instead of plants is one you exemplified in that experiment where you tried to grow tomatoes in a sterile medium and gave them only miracle gro.
Yes. Otherwise, you'll have to micro-manage them and add every ingredient manually. If your fertilizer doesn't have everything the plant needs, they'll die, and clearly, most off the shelf fertilizers are incomplete.
My Catahoula Cur dog Zack grew up in the house and had his own couch and he knew the entire English language and understood jokes. He could smile and laugh. He got a pork chop bone out of the trash one day. When I started talking about about him digging bones out of the trash he had the guilty look but then when I said he was gonna turn into a big fat pig he started smiling, laughing and snorting.
He eventually stole the entire Thanksgiving turkey a few years later right after everyone made a plate and escaped out the back screen door. The bones killed him. He probably ate the entire thing. He had been injured internally and got a broke back chasing cars at 6 months old and I cared for him until he learned to hop on his back legs.
He looked at me one day with a "Don`t let them put me down!" look so I refused that option and the vet gave him some injections and pills to get him back on his feet. He had a great life for 5 more years. He loved boating, hiking in the woods, chasing wild hogs, fighting other dogs, riding in the truck and loud Rock n Roll.
Are you safe from Helene?
Yes. We only got a little bit of wind and less than half an inch of rain. We were very far east of the storm, so it didn't affect our area much.
@@TheMillennialGardenerGlad y'all are safe 🙏
What do you do for your container soil?
I either cover them with tarps or dump bags of mulch on top of them.
Hi❤❤❤❤
What if i used landscape fabric? Cloth, not the plastic kind.
I don't personally like the cloth kind, because it's very cheap. The plastic kind is way better. But, if you lay it on thick enough and secure it down, that would effectively count as a tarp. Woven weed barrier would be a good choice in lieu of a tarp.
@TheMillennialGardener in AZ, low desert, it gets plenty hot. It's temporary until I can get another crop in. But it's cooling off now.
Are you ok after the storm?
We're OK. This storm was very far inland and had minimal affects here on the coast. The last 2 storms were what got us. Debby and PTC 8 were particularly bad here.
@@TheMillennialGardener I heard Ashville got hit hard. I get bad anxiety this time of year but here in Louisiana the severe weather never really ends. I have to keep all my power banks and solar batteries charged because thunderstorms easily catch me off guard this time of year and into December. And the actual inland paths of these hurricanes change too rapidly to predict. We had no power for 3 weeks after Laura. Nobody expected what happened. Looks like another one is forming.
leaves and other plant debris lay on top of the soil naturally shielding it from the sun… so you’re just doing it artificially with a tarp😬
Cover is cover. And if you look, there is matter under the tarp.
I think next spring you should apply stain to your posts.
They’re pressure treated. I might make some changes to my layout this winter.
Hey bruv, do you consider yourself a generalist? You seem to have a lot of knowledge in many different disciplines. Do you have many interests and a burning desire to integrate them all?
LIKE 👍 👍👍👍👍 😻 💝 😻 💝 😻 💯💥 💯💥 💯
Oat straw is the only straw available here.
That works just fine.
I’m wondering where all of you other gardeners store your tarps when they’re not in use.
Did Dale enjoy his w-a-l-k?
He always does. He lives for them. They are the highlight of his life.
@@TheMillennialGardener Dogs are so much fun to tease, aren't they? :)
What about cardboard? I know not the film covered or bright colors!😊
Cardboard will be pretty difficult to sit on top of your soil. It will get blown away easily. I wouldn't consider it much of a soil cover. You typically have to mulch over cardboard.
@@TheMillennialGardener one thing I have found is the cardboard curls around the edges when it gets wet
@@peaceofmyhearthomestead4611 Thank you for your input....my garden is small....so keeping it on wouldn't be a problem,but you're right about the edges curling!
Perfect explanation on effects of pesticides on humans. Now apply it to a dog and you'll know why I "harass" you (respectfully) about using them on Dale. When in doubt listen to yourself on this episode.
I don't know what you are referring to. If you are referring to giving Dale a monthly flea and tick and heartworm treatment, he would be dead by now if he didn't have them. We have done work at shelters for years. Over 50% of all dogs that come in are heartworm positive, which is fatal. Not giving your dog these monthly preventatives dooms them to an early grave. We have watched many die because people didn't want to spend $5/mo on a pill or did not care to do so, and those that were eventually able to be treated had to suffer for months, unable to play or go on walks. It was absolutely tragic, and they were miserable, all because of owner neglect and abuse. Other than that, 80% of what we feed Dale, we cook.
@@TheMillennialGardener can you share how you get the heartworm medicine for only five dollars a month? all the vets I’ve been to require you to bring the dog in for every refill to verify how much they weigh. I don’t think I’ve been able to get away from the vet for less than $200 each time. thank you
@@TheMillennialGardener I know heartworm is deadly and has to be prevented but not in a way of pesticides. For the same reasons you just beautifully explained in your video. It is the same type of chemicals with the same effects on live beings.
I was not going to comment on that again until I heard you explain it so clearly today.
If you know shelter environment you probably have seen unnatural amount of cancer, seizures, vomiting, loose stool or diarrhea with or without blood, anorexia, lethargy, salivation, tachypnea, and muscle tremors, pruritis, urticaria, erythema, ataxia, fever. All of those can be avoided by using safe products instead of toxic pesticides.
Dogs are not much different from people in that matter and I would be inclined to say they are probably more sensitive. Their lifespan was cut in more than half since all the poisons started being used on them. I wonder what people did before somebody genius thought of dosing them in poison to make the hosts parasites can bite into and die at a very high cost of poisoning them.
Anthony, you realize that 50% of dogs you saw infected were neglected, unprotected pets nobody cared about, unlike dogs like Dale and others pampered, living their lives at homes.
In summary, you don't have to poison your dog to have him protected.
Is that monthly weighing for a growing puppy? To get correct dose. And also they shouldnt be charging if just weight check. Once you buy 6 mth- year Heartguard or whatever , our vet often has decent rebate.@peaceofmyhearthomestead4611
@TheMillennialGardener I wrote a long response to your last comment and I don't see it anymore... not sure what happened with it