EP 438: Mistakes I Made Using Woodchips in the Garden (And How I FIXED Them) w/ Paul Gautchi
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- Опубліковано 30 січ 2025
- Multiple years ago I did a test in my garden where I covered half the garden in woodchips and used the Back to Eden no-till gardening method. Two years later, I did a soil test and was shocked by the results (they weren't what I expected). Now, a few years later, after speaking with Paul Gautschi himself, I finally learned what we did wrong.
Read the blog post before you use woodchips in the garden to avoid the same mistakes I made: melissaknorris...
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#woodchips #gardenmulch #backtoeden
I’m in my 3rd year of doing no dig/back to Eden gardening and my garden is flourishing this year with very little input from me. The first couple years it was a lot of work, but now I’m really reaping the benefits and I could not be happier.
All is a matter of increasing life in your soil by feeding it with carbon matter as nature does. More the number of microorganisme is high and more they can create a fertile soil. According to a few scientific researches I have read (especially from France) when you reach 5% of organic matter in your soil it creates a balance ecosystem which eliminates all major problems.
Happy to see Paul! He changed my life! I immediately got chip drop and took away half our grass with cardboard compost 5 or 6 inches and 6 inches of wood chips! I think this is yr 3! I have a whole orchard and everything grows beautifully! I've since done other sections of the property! God bless Paul.
Same exact for me, year 3 as well!
I started mulching at the community garden I volunteer at early this year. The soil was sandy and dry. 6 months later, it is rich, crumbly and black. Key points:
1. You must apply A LOT. Especially if you live in a very hot, sunny climate (we are in Zone 9B.) Wood chips shrink as they dry out so what feels like a thick layer becomes a 1/4 inch after it dries. Apply a good foot of wet mulch, not a few inches (in hot climates.)
2. You must add more mulch every few months. As the wood chips break down or shrink, dirt gets exposed. Keep the soil covered.
3. Not all wood chips are equal. Some is broken down/rotted, some is more solid. You will wait longer and need to apply less, the more virgin your chips are.
4. Always use organic, untreated wood. Never add wood that has been treated in any way! Your plants will suffer and may even become deformed in their leaves.
5. Mix mulch with compost or ash. Add organic material under the mulch when possible (just a little) to give it a boost. Carbon rich material and some greens work well.
6. SOAK your mulch as you apply it. Soak your soil, THEN mulch. And water it regularly. It will help create more fungi, lichen and mosses that will break down the wood. It will also attract bugs (millipedes and others) that will break it down further and add organic matter to the soil.
7. When adding seeds or transplanting, push away the mulch and add the seeds or plant. Once sprouted or adapted in the case of a transplant, remulch the area.
This is what has worked for me!
what a TREAT to have Paul in a conversation ... Terrific interview! THANK YOU!
I don’t want to be too hard on us for ‘mistakes we made.’ Because a lot of the problem is there are many gardening ‘influencers’ who are not necessarily educators. They unknowingly leave out crucial details (or leave crucial details behind a pay wall). They fail to account for different climates, conditions, pest and weed pressure, and the variability of available materials. E.g. not everyone can get “chip drop.” (I pay $40/yard for wood chips and have to drive my pickup 30 miles to pick it up.) And, I live in a small town where there is no printed newspaper… but I do have plenty of cardboard! Thanks to Melissa Norris for being an educator, not just an influencer ❤
Yep. Crucial detail: Some cardboard contains mineral oil. Be very wary or you poison your soil.
Crucial detail: I got very heavy soil which is much improved, using several different kinds of supplements, mostly sand, calciumcarbonate, and also mulch made from trees. But it is important what kind of trees, don't use oak or walnut. And even pine can be problematic.
@@donaldduck830 I have a local tree company that is willing to drop me some free chips And didn’t know the type of tree is important. If oak, Walnut and Pines aren’t good, what kind of trees are?
You are so right! Most Utube gardeners DO leave out crucial details, especially where they live. It is most important to plant to your own weather conditions.
@@donaldduck830woodchips are great for breaking up clay but it takes years. As they are breaking down plant pelargoniums as their abundance of tough roots hurry the decomposition process Leave pelargonims a couple of years however the roots are not easy to dig out
Something that has worked absolute wonders for me is one season adding rough wood chips/nuggets and the next adding in horse stable bedding with urine and manure in. It fed the soil, released a lot of nitrogen in a space that wouldn't burn the plants. I had mushrooms popping up all over the place and the thicker bark chips quickly turned white with mycelium. Wood shavings, on the other hand, I have had very little success with as I find it to be hydrophobic and it doesn't hold moisture. It also blows away easily.
Thanks for some great insights 🌻
I just wanted to give you my experience, I love mulching, but I don't have super easy access to the wood chips with the greens, but what I have been doing that has been effective is I use pine shavings and use it to deep bed my chicken coop during the winter and then In spring use it for mulch in the garden and that has brought in the nitrogen missing and has been great.
Sometimes we have to use what is available! But the principle is the same in what you are using
You may know it. All conifers contain resin which, when fresh, prevents plants from growing, but once decomposed all the parts of a conifer can be used as a soil improver in the vegetable garden. Note that decomposition may take more than a year or even a few years. However, it's interesting to learn that resinous waste used as mulch for chickens seems to accelerate resin decomposition. Unless you've noticed a reduction in plant growth.
This info was really timely for me. I am preparing new garden beds some for veggies and some for pasture for two horses. I have been using wood chips from arborists in some of my flower and shrub beds for years with success. But this info just confirms what I am doing is correct! Thank you for a wonderful interview!
The reason why laying the wood chip down in autumn/fall is vital is because it will get broken down by fungi in the cold wet winters, fungi do not require nitrogen in order to break down cellulose material. If it is put down during the warmer season then it is broken down by bacteria which DO require nitrogen in order to break down the cellulose material, thus creating the dip in nitrogen you have seen.
Your statement seems to be FALSE because I did not find any scientific information confirming your statement. I only found data about the fact that fungi do need nitrogen to survive and decompose carbon matter.
Your statement is false because fungi need to produce enzymes to decompose the cellulose and the lignine and enzymes are made of nitrogen.
Everything is a matter of C/N ratio. The wood chips of small branches she talks about is Ramial Chipped Wood (in french: BRF : Bois Raméal Fragmenté). Its C/N ratio is close to 50 while saw dust is closer to 500. In France they use it since many years and a group called versdeterreproduction did many scientific experiences about adding carbon in soil. When you understand that carbon is the limite factor in agriculture and not the nitrogen as promoted by the chemical industry you start to understand how nature produce plants. When you do something wrong you must always ask yourself how nature does it, then you can understand your mistake.
Nature feed soil with carbon (leaves, branches, dead trees) and not nitrogen. Recent scientific discoveries have revealed that soil microorganisms feed by decomposing carbonaceous matter deposited on the soil, such as leaves and branches. However, to decompose this carbonaceous matter, they also need nitrogen, which they take primarily from humus, where it is readily available. So, the more carbon there is to decompose, the more these microorganisms deplete humus' nitrogen reserves, potentially causing temporary nitrogen starvation, which affects plant growth.
Fortunately, when nitrogen becomes scarce, free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria (distinct from those associated with legumes) step in. They capture N2 nitrogen from the air and introduce it into the soil, gradually restoring the nitrogen balance. What's more, the more carbon is added, the greater the number of microorganisms in the soil, accelerating the decomposition of organic matter over time. Initially, if the soil contains few microorganisms, more pronounced nitrogen starvation may occur, particularly when carbon-rich matter (with a high C/N ratio) is added. But as the microbial population increases, this nitrogen hunger gradually disappears, with the exception of certain localized cases.
All of which is to say that all carbonaceous matter is good for the garden, because it's what builds soil fertility through the action of microorganisms. Study how nature works and all your problems will go away.
We are in full swing with this method.
Time and patience.
Very helpful video Melissa. Great to see Paul still going. Thank you for this video. 👍
I use woodchips in the paths between and for browns in the compost pile when all I have are grass clippings(it prevents the grass from clumping up)
Very good interview and clarification of processes! Thanks for hosting Paul. He’s a treasure of knowledge!
While winning and success is a great healer, failure is a great teacher. You learn more from your failures than your successes. You make no changes when you’re successful. You just repeat what you’ve done. It when you fail that you change your behavior and your thinking. Embrace failure. It’s a life changing event!
Thank you for your video and thank you so much to have Paul on video I've missed him and his wisdom
Leaves do what wood chips do, but much faster in my opinion. I've been a huge fan of Paul Gautchi for years and have probably seen every tour anyone has recorded on YT, great information. But it's good to learn the concepts and try what works for your context with materials and limitations that you have. I have a farm and get loads of both arborist wood chips and leaves dumped in the Fall. Both great resources, both fungal dominant, mineral rich, great at insulating and moisture retention. But leaves are better in a few ways. Just spread 1-2 feet of leaves in the Fall, let it break down and compress, worms love eating them so free worm castings, they mat together and block weeds better than chips. The soil under them in the Spring will be much improved, but like Paul said, better every year. Chips are heavier but easier to shovel, dump, and rake them around after some time has passed since the leaves mat together. I don't mulch garden beds with wood chips anymore, as when you try to move them out of the way you'll never get them all and inevitably some will get buried, whereas leaves are very easy to move aside. I recommend checking out the YT channel Growit Buildit who shows the progression of dumpling over a foot of leaves in his garden over several years.
EDIT: I forgot to mention that we're on the prairie and get very powerful winds all Fall, Winter and early Spring. We all know wood chips don't blow around in the wind, and surprisingly leaves don't either. Even my shredded piles hold together perfectly since they quickly mat together. I have virtually no leaves that blow around, trust me I would know since our neighbor has a manicured lawn on the other side of the fence where the piles are (10 feet away) and he complains if anything gets on his property. So just another observation about chips vs leaves, hope it helps somebody.
I too throw leaves into my garden in the fall. I have a fence around the garden mainly to keep the leaves in all winter. I have the same neighbor. 🙂
I've never tilled my once lush lawn that's now a thriving garden. 👍
Only dry leaves blow in the wind so I just water them as soon as I put them down.
I find leaves to be a terrible weed barrier. Ive been using leaves over cardboard sheet mulch in my suburban garden and food forest the last few years. I have terrible Bermuda grass. The leaves have done well in my shaded areas, but I've dug out several combo flower and perrenial edible beds and spread with shredded leaves both in fall and again in early spring about a foot deep. By July you'd think no mulching was ever done there. The grass and weeds 100% took over in the sunny area. When you walk on it you can tell the soil is softer and area but it doesn't suppress weeds at all. My fruit trees done with cardboard and hardwood mulch around the drip line have just a little grass creeping into their mulch at the end of the growing season.
@@LC-wv7tz Yeah that's a good point, leaves don't always work, and I've done cardboard under woodchips for years, works great. Then again not all leaves are equal, not all weeds are equal, and not all sites are equal. If you use whole oak leaves and let them mat together that's much more effective than maple leaves at preventing weeds. Although maple leaves are larger and you'd think they'd mat together forming a better barrier, they break down very fast. I planted garlic into a bed that was neglected for over 10 years, full of pernicious weeds like thistle. The whole oak leaf mulch was so effective even the garlic had a hard time breaking through. That bed was completely weed free the whole year.
Thank you so much for this so informative, just what i needed, video.....This year garden has been a mess but next year will be better. Have an amazing week-end.
Thank you for giving us the information at the very start of the video, rather than try and lead us on for 10 minutes with fluff to make your video longer. I appreciate straight forward information. I am using wood chips from the council here cutting down trees and shredding all the branches. I look forward to seeing the results.
yup, i have 2' of wood-chips over my entire orchard before i planted it. then i make my mounds on top of that with 3+ year old chips that have composted. after 2nd summer, i planted deer salad which attracted wildlife that poops all over. the bugs attract birds that do same. that aged composted chips are what i grow in. very high fertility. but it does take several years. i did the whole acre in the 80's. i grow 90% of my food and have tones to sell and give away. i also give 20% of what i grow for wildlife still. no weeds, no fertilizer, very little watering because of all the humus that is my soil. the key is to work with nature instead of against it 🙂
I think a lot of these methods of natural gardening are really similar. Ruth Stout's Hay method is very similar to Paul's wood chips method and then you have the cover crop that is similar to both of those and then in really wet climates putting a layer of compost every year is good. All these methods are really similar, they all require that you cover the garden and feed it with natural material and it pays off over time. I think any of those methods are good depending on where you live and what material you have access to or that you can make yourself.
You got some great shots of Pauls garden.
I’m in the first year, lots of work phase, but I keep telling myself it will get better.
Oh and yes, chips with leaves are a must for proper burning. Thank you for bringing that to ever doubters attention.
Where i live it can get down to -40 F or more if you include the wind chill factor so not much decomposition happens during the winter.
Been using wood chips[ from tree trimmers] for 30 years. I found our about wood chips from a neighbor. They work and listen to Paul he is a master grower.
Wanted to say thank you for your tomatoe sauce recipe you posted a few years ago today i tried it and it was not only the easiest but great tasting.sauce i ever made and also the thickest. Will roast my tomatoes from now on and I shared your recipe with many of my Maine friends and they also agreed. Thanks again.
How can I get that recipe? 😊
When I went down route.. luckily there was a huge pile outside our plots which had been there for years..I started by digging an area taking out weeds rocks etc then covering in 6”of the woodchip from bottom of pile ..in September..left it till about April ..and when I planted I’d dig a hole and put well rotted (1 year)..chicken coop poop in hole and place the plant on top …once season was over I’d replenish the beds with a fresh 6” of woodchip…best thing I ever did ..and all my plot is covered now ..and no more digging..BACK TO EDEN.. change that for me in the uk..
Thank you Melissa for this! I have been trying to do back to Eden gardening and it has been challenging with the wood chips. Thanks again!
Wow. The great Paul Gauci!! 😮
Thank you for doing this interview!
I use woodchips in my chicken run then put that over to feed my woodchips in my garden
Thanks! My area in the Arizona desert has a free wood chip drop where they match arborists and gardeners. I had a huge chip drop nearly a year ago, in the autumn. Prior to that, I had all the gravel in the backyard taken up. Then about 8 inches of fresh wood chips were put down. I think I need at least about another year for the soil to heal though. But I have a large pine tree that needs trimming so I will ask the tree trimmers for the chips too since they mulch it all on site?
I also love the autumn leaves from the deciduous trees since they feed the soil very well.
And city code enforcement is trying to tell me, zoned agriculture, that they don't want to see dirt not covered with gravel or granite in my front yard which is 150 feet wide. Well I am now into farming the land and those coverings don't work for me. I just won a battle with them because they wanted two palm trees trimmed in April. We trimmed one and lost a bunch of baby birds. So we refused to do the second one. I even got the Federal Government involved to save migratory birds living in the trees. Guess what "It is a federal crime to destroy or trim a tree that has an active birds nest in it." The officials I talked to told me the trees can be trimmed the end of June. July first was the negotiated time I would have the trees trimmed by. Not one bird was lost then.
Great info. Thank you. I also appreciate the credit given to God vs mother nature or the universe. Keep speaking the truth as you teach! God bless you.
If is so comforting to wander in a back to Eden garden. Natural supply chains are sustainable and you sequester carbon.
I converted a number of beds a couple years ago and this year I noticed some changes. I was going to do some compost tea but had just not gotten to it yet. Will have to get on that. I created a new guild this year using cardboard (I used on the original as well) and it seems to be working although I need to get more chips on there - I have to ration them as pure hardwood chips are hard to get where I live. Thanks for the interview and information.
This was very helpful info, Melissa. Thanks. 😊
I get my mulch for free from our town works department. What I receive has the leaf/stick mixture because they shred the whole tree. In my area, your “basic” mulch that you’d pay for is $22/yard, minimum. This option is great if your town offers it. The downside can be that you may have to take a minimum of 20 yards.
Nitrogen? If you cut grass in the spring to early summer, or often enough to prevent seed formation, the clipping provide more than enough material that breaks down into nitrogen. You may want to try mixing the clippings with the wood chipped materials. In old gardening talk the grass clippings are your green feed, and the wood products the brown since they take a lot longer to break down and feed the soil critters. The key is the soil critters. If they are happy, your plants are happy and well fed. What any garden system, or method is trying to do is memic what they see near forests and fields of weeds and grasses, but tend to not learn from what they see.
Paul is right. I seen a simple Mom & Pop country store yes it’s open all year ( BUT ) as for Vegetables you only seen them in the store from August through October. You buy products & can or fermented them from year to year. Now seeing product in the store all year long as you seen it now.
Thanks Mrs.'s K. You rock!
Something else you might want to do is make charcoal of some the larger pieces of wood, smash it down to tiny parts and mix the charcoal in with the chips and clippings. Some talk about charcoal, not the store stuff, as biochar. The idea sawdust won't grow weeds is misleading. All sorts of sawdust made from wood cutting will produce weeds over time. It just takes a lot of time for the sawdust to become food for the soil critters that feed the plants and while it is breaking down feeds from the soil it is on. Again, it is the soil critters that feed the plant roots. At some point you will notice the soil critters like weeds and grass and have survived by and fed the weeds and grasses for all of the time they have existed. Break that bond between plants and soil critters and what you grow will suffer. Part of the reason we space our food plants in the hope they will provide more to eat and not be a disappointing crop.
I highly recommend soaking your charcoal in compost tea before putting it in your soil. It will hold and attract minerals and bacteria very efficiently, so load it up with the good stuff!
i agree there is an awareness of growing your own food for better health. Funny that now i am hearing how some places are "banning" back yard gardens or growing food, raising chickens and such. It's like they dont want you not depended on the 'system'. 🤔
Thank you for your video. We have had trouble with leaves, but grass layered over chips works as a mulching process. Each land is different and worth experimenting with. I give you a lot of credit, you tried so hard to get more out of him...he was pretty closed. Not sure why. But your questions were helpful. No mention of the benefits of urine..that is a shame. God sure gave us plenty of that to work with and clean bodies with no medications supply much to break down even the most depleted chips.
Wonderful info!
Thank you both!
God Bless!
I work in a box shop. 📦 The only cardboard that you should look out for is anything with a white coating. The white has bleach in it. Other than that cardboard is fine and better in my opinion. Newspaper has a ton of ink I actully avoid it. So like wise with cardboard avoid stuff with lots of ink. Even tho in cardboard the ink is actully food grade.
I think they were talking about the glue that is used to make the actual cardboard itself. Correct me if I'm wrong. Does anyone know what the actual cardboard is comprised of?
Coucou
Formidable vidéo
À bientôt
I subscribed to your UA-cam channel yesterday Mrs. Kanorris
Joel Sorrads composted wood chips on his pastures as well in the manure spreader
It's funny that you mention it, I use sawdust to put down on my new trails so nothing grows on them
Why does the type of wood matter? Can you explain what types of wood should or should not be used?
Really great info. Thanks for sharing!
In my neighborhood so many sidewalks are overgrown with green leaf branches desperatlly in need of pruning ! If you need a free source of green leaf mateial is possibly near by. Rocks are better then using Toxic Black Plastic Tarps and people wonder why their soil does not breathe !
Everything is a matter of C/N ratio. The wood chips of small branches she talks about is Ramial Chipped Wood (in french: BRF : Bois Raméal Fragmenté). Its C/N ratio is close to 50 while saw dust is closer to 500. In France they use it since many years and a group called versdeterreproduction did many scientific experiences about adding carbon in soil. When you understand that carbon is the limite factor in agriculture and not the nitrogen as promoted by the chemical industry you start to understand how nature produce plants. When you do something wrong you must always ask yourself how nature does it, then you can understand your mistake.
Nature feed soil with carbon (leaves, branches, dead trees) and not nitrogen. Recent scientific discoveries have revealed that soil microorganisms feed by decomposing carbonaceous matter deposited on the soil, such as leaves and branches. However, to decompose this carbonaceous matter, they also need nitrogen, which they take primarily from humus, where it is readily available. So, the more carbon there is to decompose, the more these microorganisms deplete humus' nitrogen reserves, potentially causing temporary nitrogen starvation, which affects plant growth.
Fortunately, when nitrogen becomes scarce, free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria (distinct from those associated with legumes) step in. They capture N2 nitrogen from the air and introduce it into the soil, gradually restoring the nitrogen balance. What's more, the more carbon is added, the greater the number of microorganisms in the soil, accelerating the decomposition of organic matter over time. Initially, if the soil contains few microorganisms, more pronounced nitrogen starvation may occur, particularly when carbon-rich matter (with a high C/N ratio) is added. But as the microbial population increases, this nitrogen hunger gradually disappears, with the exception of certain localized cases.
All of which is to say that all carbonaceous matter is good for the garden, because it's what builds soil fertility through the action of microorganisms. Study how nature works and all your problems will go away.
I used some chips I had made and they only lasted about a year then had to be
replaced. I like bark chunks they sell at home depot. They are bigger and last longer.
!
Friendly FYI We brought in poison hemlock to our property through wood chips.
Just to say, keep an eye out for unexpected weeds coming from wood chips especially chipped near "wild" areas, ditches etc.
We've used this method for years. The only complaint I have is that it is an ideal habitat for slugs, snails and earwigs and therefore I combat them in the garden.
I've never seen a slug, but I sure have seen wolf spiders!
The slugs didn't increase for us with the wood chips, they were there regardless, but ducks will take care of all those pests
I would recommend adding some diatomaceous earth as a deterrent
@@magapefarmshomestead6453 ineffective as soon as it gets wet
@@MelissaKNorris true
Hey there ! What does everyone use to make wood chips ? Grande shredders tend to make more fine chips instead of large wood chips. Thank you!
Oh great I mulched my whole new garden beds with shavings, granted it’s not a vegetable garden, all perennials but still. I did take care not to mix any shaving into the soil but now I’m wondering if this fall I should top dress with blood meal ? I also used cardboard 🥺 maybe it’s okay because we’re not eating any of the plants ? Bummer. 🌺💚🙃 NEWS PAPER IS ALSO IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO FIND IN MY AREA. 🌺💚🙃
Stuff weeds and other green material into a container and add water. Let steep for a few days and water the wood chips with it. You can add in some active compost or charcoal to jump start stuff, but the basic water covered green matter is enough. If you have a barrel, just keep stuffing more green matter into the "tea" and top off with water. Set up the barrel on the edge of the garden area. Less walking the weeds over and less hauling of water.
@@tjeanvlogs9894 thank you, I’ll give that a try ! 🌺💚🙃
I love the way Paul continually gave glory to God!
Long time subscriber and great interview with Paul ! Where can I buy his book ?
@@michaelide9380 Paul will be featured in the October issue of Homesteading Monthly magazine, you can order it here homesteadliving.com/product/annual-subscription/
If you’re not making any mistakes you’re not doing nothing
Very true. When you think you are failing then stop and try something different
@@neilclarke4338 yes absolutely agree !!
I have access to free horse bedding compost. Yes it's from the wood shaving you'd use in the chicken nest or for small animal bedding. Would this horse compost that has chewed up hay in it be good compost if mixed with chicken compost for my garden or planter boxes?
It’s mind blowing to think not that long ago you only ate what was in season. You couldn’t eat tomatoes in the winter or even broccoli in the summer. If you didn’t grow and store root vegetables and alliums like onions and garlic once or twice a year you just didn’t have it. So a lot of vegetables were a special thing to have when time came to grow and harvest them.
Yes, maybe if u keep adding it enough, deep enough, the woodier bite below break down faster/be they become a nitrogen-tie up problem as much as they can, and I did get very green, fresh & leafy loads, but wasn't able to add to it last yr. . As for paper, some say it smothers too much, can cause lack of air/make this anaerobic. Also plenty of cardboards don't have any glues on them. I can't stand working w (news) paper, the slightest breeze moves them b4 u can get even a few sq. ft. covered and stop and water em to stay put. It was very worth it even on a tight budget for me to buy rolls of contractors paper instead, once I finally found it/fig. out what ppl were talking about. It's aka rosin paper, apparently. Find it at Home Depot etc. . Still don't walk on it when wet, b4 covering w mulch, it'll rip up ! But much easier to weigh down w a brick here and there, get a couple rows ( overlapped of course) rolled out, then water &/or cover ( I used hay. Added lil mounds of compost to plant my corn into and it worked great). Also, ask local trailer mechanics for door panel cardboard : large, glue-free, plain pieces.
Jesse & Jim are open to learning and refining as well, very much so, but I think Jesse has a point about the newspaper/anaerobic thing. Not sure if rosin paper, being thicker/halfway towards cardboard, is dif. or not. I had dry years and sandy soil I did this on.
Get you a mulch fork instead of that snow shovel. Made my back hurt watching you shovel out of that barrow. 😉 They are pitch forks with more tines like 8-9 or something.
The right tool for the job.
Good advice
🍃🕊🍃
Removing all the trees is also a problem with our atmosphere.
Nobody is talking about removing all trees. Educate yourself! Jeepers!
thank you!
So... any tips for how to do this if you have a yard full of bindweed?
We had a yard full of bind weed, then we moved and have no bindweed. But, in our old yard we took up a cement pad that had probably been there 10 years and underneath we found the long roots of coiled bindweed laying dormant just waiting to feel light and moisture to awaken it from dormancy. Deep deep wood chips makes pulling it out easy. Keep pulling it to weaken the roots and eventually after many years it will be gone. Also I’ve heard to spray with chemicals when it’s flowering.
@@emilycenatiempo4917 guess i'll just have to move then
Great video. Thank you
I believe our city has FREE orchard mulch. Is that save for raised beds and pots?
GM
❤from eastern Colorado
Add something to your garden every year. It doesn't have to be woodchips, straw, leaves, "chop and drop", just add something. How do you mess that up
I've used them and every year I got lovely potatoes this year I was like nah and no potatoes
How to tell if wood chip and horse manure is safe to plant in?
Dump the entire amount on concrete or blacktop, water lightly, mix cover partly with anything & check every week
When you see that night crawlers have crawled in,it safe
Nightcrawlers only like Neutral PH..😉
Thank you
Here's what I do. Call a local arborist and request a chip drop. It is free. Putting it down in the fall is the best.
Where does one get newspapers anymore?? 🥴
This lady is beautiful and crunchy! Nice combination
Search Allan Savory for more about greening the desert in Africa by putting animals back on the land at rather high density, moving often; rotational grazing.
We do this on our pastures but you can't do this in an annual vegetable garden during the growing season
Great video. Was wondering, when you say wrong wood chips, is there a certain species that I should stay away from? TIA
You need green wood chips, using sawdust or chips from dried wood without the bark, branches, leaves etc is what to avoid
Another important element is light.
I don't work with just wood chips I also mix hay in with it a good hey I do manure and chickenshit and rabbit s*** and then I put biochar in it so just putting wood chips out there I did that for driveways you know and it takes a long time for wood chips to start breaking down but when they start breaking down you got a pretty good top soil amendment.
I used to mow a lawn, and weed whack. Took half a days of hard work per week. Wife wanted it neat and tidy. We have a Shuswap Climate Action initiative ‘Ditch the Lawn’. Now nature thrives here. Birds and insects, wildlife maybe? Nothing thrives on cut lawns, except intellectual conversations on soil repair? That’s a bit of an oxymoronic situation. Sorry, but I have learned to really dislike the unnatural… which extends to the manicured lawn. The planet is in crisis, and we all can have a part in healing the earth.
The bison of North America were the keepers of the Great Plains until we wiped them out. What a sad loss, especially to the cultures around them.
Pure wood chips or composite wood chips
From the movie that was done on him it looked like he also used chicken manure on his garden. I thought the wood chips were more for the perennials. But this interview it sounds like he uses wood chips everywhere. But I think with his chickens he has wood chips in the chicken run and then he takes those every couple of years and puts it on his vegetable garden.
He uses them everywhere and while he has chickens he uses wood chips that aren't in the coop on the garden
My neighbors have horses & use wood chips in the barn, they love it. They don't have a garden
I Love Them!!!!!??
The wife saw my garden............
Yup..thier starting a garden next year...
It's OK...they don't understand why I started a Garden with
Soooo many potatoes
Im growing emergency seed potatoes for next spring, that should be able to start 5 other peoples gardens next spring
I hope Im stuck with a lot of potatoes next year
Now, why am I growing All these black beans instead of green beans
And pinto beans
Wanna guess why?
Question. Do wood chips ever draw termites? I have been leery for that reason.
It's not been an issue for us or Paul
I have found termites in some areas of my woodchips.
@@emilycenatiempo4917 that’s been a concern for me.
Increased earwigs are our problem. They love strawberries!
why are you both wearing the same shoes and where can I get some? brand name?
Read Allan Savory's book Holistic Management...
The formations of deserts in the Sahara Desert is due to the Malikov cycles. There's a lot of anecdotal opinion-based asserted as facts in this video.
The wood chips are the nitrogen. They just release their nitrogen slowly.
I used wood chips and got termites
I have been using wood chips from an arborist company for years now I don't have termites. I used to see more termites WHEN I wasn't using wood chips. Try just keeping the chips further from your home.
Glad he discouraged cardboard usage. Thick layers of cardboard killed many of our fruit trees.
Correct, That is sawdust not woodchips.
Paul does not grow in woodchips. The plants have soil contact and his woodchips have been processed through the chicken yard. My suggestion would be compost the woodchips with animal manure or another high nitrogen source first. Or let them sit and breakdown.
@@leedza any plant is planted in the soil but he had lots of chips in use that were not from the chicken yard when I was there.
Paul screens his wood chips to a smaller size, like compost size and he plants his annuals in the screened wood chips that's mixed with chicken manure
If I don't believe in God will wood chips work for me?
😄 yes, because He is good to you!
It depends!
It doesn't hurt to ask God for help, whether you believe or not.
Using the whole tree in arborist wood chips is like the concept of eating nose to tail for nutrition. Just as our gut microbiome is not that different in some respects from the soil food web microbiome
What happened in 1948 that people quit growing their own food? I googled and found nothing that fit the bill
@@scottburgle4889 research the post war years...
At first the term “truck farming” happened: everything was grown on the outskirts of towns within a drive of the big markets in town. Town grocers were small momnpop businesses: the bakery and the butcher were separate shops. New York City had huge market sections where restauranteurs and florists would shop for supply ingredients. Then wholesalers trucked food directly to larger groceries and national grocery chains developed and food was imported from all over the globe. In the 1960’s people would have to go to a foreign country to experience its unique products. Now it’s imported and available everywhere.
❤
Do you do grocery row gardening incorporating anuals with fruit trees?
Biochar