Appreciate you video, thank you. During the spring time (right now) people have bagged leaves at the curb for p/up by the trash trucks. Grab those and water them in and the will will you bed quick.
Thank you for posting the link for the raised bed! I’ve had that same bed in my Amazon cart for weeks and had mixed feelings about buying it reading the reviews. You convinced me to get it😊
I’ve used these type metal beds for 3 growing seasons, they are working out better than expected actually. I’ve bought a couple more every year👍. (Zone- 6b. ). They also- age better and at a lesser investment than the wood planters I already had.
@@dianelambert8281 I’m not very well versed in grass but I did find this article that might be helpful. When we bought this house the grass was already healthy and mature so all we have to do is maintain it. My guess is it is St Augustine grass which is super common here. sunriseirrigationandsprinklers.com/six-types-grass-florida-lawns/
Great video. I just purchased 4 of the beds as that is a great price. I tried making oak beds one years and it was a pain in the rear and ended up costing more than the galvanized beds that are on sale. I am a new subscriber and just found your channel. I live in Virginia but will be moving to Florida in about 3 years. Thanks for the information.
I am super torn right now. I've been eying some similar beds that are 2ft tall to help minimized how much I'm bending in the garden. They are very similar to this one but twice the price. If I get the 2ft tall ones, I can only get two. if I get these, I could get 4 for the same price. There's also the cost of filling the taller beds. 8x4x2 is a lot of dirt. Using your tricks though might make them easier to fill, though. I never considered using my amazon boxes in compost! Will definitely be doing that now!
That is a tough one. The bending does bother me after some time. But filling them takes a lot of time and effort. Here where I live the beds sink every few years so I do have to go through and top them off. It would be less effort to only have to do that to 2 beds versus 4 but then you have less growing space. I did a follow up video to this one telling the 5 pros and cons. Maybe check that out and it might help you make a decision.
Instead of black cow check your local Home Depot, they have another cow manure compost brand Earthgro. At my local Home Depot it’s only $1.87 a bag. And I’ve opened it up right against black cow and cannot tell a difference.
I wish it was that price here but it is around 3.50 The big difference I see is .05-.05-.05 for Earthgro vs .5-.5-.5 for Black Cow. edit: Let me point out to look where the decimal is, as I fell for the point 05 because of the 05. So hypothetically speaking one has say a teaspoon of manure vs a half gallon.
Hello Petrina! Would you know if the free wood chip compost site is still open? I’m nearby but the website says they are under 3 year quarantine because of snails 🐌 I’m not sure when they started their quarantine. I wondered if you had news on this service. Thank you so much for all your videos and help!
I remember when they found the snails recently. The quarantine applies to within the area so you can still get mulch but you shouldn’t move it outside the area. So as long as you live there, you can use it. If I was you, just stop by and see. I haven’t gone in awhile since I moved more north but they were always very helpful to me when I came to pick up mulch.
Still growing in containers, but I was taking notes, so I can fill the bottom of the large pots with pre-compost, and save the good stuff for the top 6 inches. Your plants attest to how good your method is! Thanks!
You are hilarious 😂. The beds i have fill our needs but things change( im thinking “i know she’s not gonna say she’s pregnant 😅) but of course your addicted we all are, thats why we’re watching 😂😂. I’m so tickled to see you grew your rosella in pots cuz thats my plan too but didn’t see any videos on it. I have no choice (per husband) i can’t plant in the front yard due to our septic tank and leach field. 😢
Haha 😆. No babies here. Roselle grows great in pots. Just start them in small ones and work your way up to the biggest pots you have. They grow in anything lol
Yes I do! I planted in it immediately so I started doing heavy deep watering right away. If you were not planning on growing in it right away, I’d just water it like normal for a couple weeks so the soil doesn’t get hydrophobic and the organic material can start to break down
Thank you for your informative videos. Im a canadian snowbird in valrico trying to grow stuff. It's getting downright hilarious at my failures. I won't give up. I have a question about palm fronds and chipping/ shredding....does the small electric shredder do the job? Thank you.
maybe also look at adding some biochar in your raised beds. The charged biochar will absorb the nutrients and act as a sort of reservoir for the nutrients and the plants can access them as needed. than might help with the nutrient leaching.
I am in Central Florida zone 9b and I just add compost and mulch to my beds without adding any additional dirt. Am I spinning my wheels trying to do it that way?
Not at all but compost can be expensive for some folks to fill a whole raised bed with it. Also, you may want to consider some of the native sandy soil to your beds to help with drainage. Compost is really good at holding water which can cause some issues if it gets too good at that lol
Hi Petrina, I’m getting ready to finally try my hand at some raised beds. I’ve been watching all of your videos, but I still have some questions before I get started. Is there a good place to ask you questions? I didn’t want to just post a really long comment here. Thanks 😊
So is your garden NOT considered “organic” since you’ve used cardboard, trimmings and such that may have already had fertilizer/pesticides on them? I’m a newbie gardener in the TB area so lots of questions. Thanks
I guess it depends on what you consider organic. According to the USDA, cardboard is fine. All my trimmings are from my own yard and I don’t use pesticides or any non organic fertilizers so those should be fine too. The USDA has guidelines for organic commercial farmers that you can try to abide by but I’m not aware of any agency that would define organic gardening in the home garden besides saying that they should use organic labeled products.
quick question...... For you comenters (Viewers) I have heard several bloggers say to use grass clipping in gardens (Ground and raised beds) will weeds/grass grow in my beds?
That’s a great question. The trick to using grass clippings as a mulch is to make sure the grass you are collecting isn’t overgrown. If it is, some seed heads might have formed and those would cause some grass to form in your beds. I had that happen to me once and it took just a little time to weed it out and after that I just make sure I only use grass that isn’t too high when it’s cut.
Absolutely 💯 I also use them as a mulch. I shred them with my home chipper but you could definitely put them down whole as one of the bottom layers to help fill the bed.
Normally the cardboard in the bottom is to block weeds from the ground. It’s not really necessary in containers but if you are doing it as a way to compost in place, yes! Go for it 💚
So you said the beds sink too fast with wood chips? That’s why you don’t use them. Do the beds sink with this method? What is making it not sink now if so or is it the whole combination of what you’re doing
The composted mulch actually acts as soil. When mulch is allowed to break down and compost, it, turns into soil. It’s such a crazy phenomenon, but it makes the most beautiful enriched soil.
My dog absolutely love all kind of fertilizers 😂. Thanks for the video, I have been thinking about buying metal Raices beds but I am afraid they will rust. Are they durable?
What is it about dogs and fertilizer 🤦♀️ My beds have been amazingly durable. Galvanized steel doesn’t rust easily. It would take some serious water damage for that to happen. None of my beds have any rust…
They have never asked me to prove residency. If you wanted to dig yourself, you don’t ever even see anyone, lol. The guy who comes with the tractor never even gets off to talk to you, lol.
I hope it's okay to ask a question... I have a cockatoo that loves shredding lots of paper and cardboard and such, and I have saved some of his handy work to put into the garden bed. It should work great, but there are little bits of food with seeds, like jalapenos, a few sunflowers, various things like that. I just sort of swept up the whole mess and put it into a bag. If I put that stuff into the garden bed and fill it with good soil on top, am I really just going to start a garden of bird food? Will I get little jalapeno plants and such?
It’s possible that the pepper and sunflower seeds might sprout. If you don’t want those plants, you can just pull them when they are young. It’s pretty quick to weed them out. I do it all the time because I get seeds from my compost bin.
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a Weeding them out! Why didn't my brain think of that? That's exactly what I would do if I saw something I didn't want in the garden LOL I really should have thought of that! But hooray for my squawky birdie making me some garden bed filler! Thank you for answering!
Great info... my only suggestion would be to put a 2 foot space between the beds so you don't have to walk all the way around to get to the back of the beds. Just sayin...
To purchase this raised bed, click here 👉 amzn.to/3cQHARs
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Just found you!! I'm excited to start my small bed. I'm in New Port Richey!! Youre awesome. Thanks for posting👍❤️
Welcome neighbor!
Appreciate you video, thank you. During the spring time (right now) people have bagged leaves at the curb for p/up by the trash trucks. Grab those and water them in and the will will you bed quick.
Thanks for sharing 💚
Thank you so much for this! I am about to fill mine tomorrow and I needed a little tutorial. This was the perfect length and great info!
Perfect timing! Good luck with the new bed!
Thank you for posting the link for the raised bed! I’ve had that same bed in my Amazon cart for weeks and had mixed feelings about buying it reading the reviews. You convinced me to get it😊
Yay! I think you will really like it.
I’ve used these type metal beds for 3 growing seasons, they are working out better than expected actually. I’ve bought a couple more every year👍. (Zone- 6b. ). They also- age better and at a lesser investment than the wood planters I already had.
Totally agree. Wood is hard down here with all the heat, humidity and rain
Hi Petrina! Thanks for sharing this great step by step realistic guide on filling a bed. Great information for a new gardener!!
I’m so glad it was helpful 💚
So happy to know about the mulch compost.I live in holiday. We are close.
Hi neighbor 👋 It’s a great program!
Thanks for the info I’m in Spring Hill this is great!
I have these beds! ❤ i just went n checked on amazon, and they are currently $39.48. I bought 4 more 🤣
They are such a great price!
New follower, PH neighbor here!!! I learned so much from these videos
Aww thanks so much for watching
There is never enough beds!!!!! 😂 Ben and I were talking about continuing to expand the backyard Veg garden… that we just put in 😅
😂😂😂 we can’t help ourselves! And Jason is so supportive about it. He just says that it’s less grass he has to cut
Thank you for some great tips for filling my raised garden bed.👍👍
My pleasure!
Awesome! So glad you have this channel. This Ky girl is learning new seasons and when to plant and how. I am in Spring Hill Fl. Howdy neighbor!
Hi Neighbor! Florida gardening take a little get used to but u will be swimming in veggies before you know it!
What grass seed do you recommend? I put weed n feed down and apparently I had all weeds. I need a quick grow for the dogs
@@dianelambert8281 I’m not very well versed in grass but I did find this article that might be helpful. When we bought this house the grass was already healthy and mature so all we have to do is maintain it. My guess is it is St Augustine grass which is super common here. sunriseirrigationandsprinklers.com/six-types-grass-florida-lawns/
Great video. I just purchased 4 of the beds as that is a great price. I tried making oak beds one years and it was a pain in the rear and ended up costing more than the galvanized beds that are on sale. I am a new subscriber and just found your channel. I live in Virginia but will be moving to Florida in about 3 years. Thanks for the information.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Thanks so much for subscribing 💚
Great idea. Thanks for sharing information.
You are so welcome!
I am super torn right now. I've been eying some similar beds that are 2ft tall to help minimized how much I'm bending in the garden. They are very similar to this one but twice the price. If I get the 2ft tall ones, I can only get two. if I get these, I could get 4 for the same price. There's also the cost of filling the taller beds. 8x4x2 is a lot of dirt. Using your tricks though might make them easier to fill, though. I never considered using my amazon boxes in compost! Will definitely be doing that now!
That is a tough one. The bending does bother me after some time. But filling them takes a lot of time and effort. Here where I live the beds sink every few years so I do have to go through and top them off. It would be less effort to only have to do that to 2 beds versus 4 but then you have less growing space. I did a follow up video to this one telling the 5 pros and cons. Maybe check that out and it might help you make a decision.
Instead of black cow check your local Home Depot, they have another cow manure compost brand Earthgro. At my local Home Depot it’s only $1.87 a bag. And I’ve opened it up right against black cow and cannot tell a difference.
OMG. I just found this stuff and it’s awesome. So much cheaper than black kow. Thank u!
Be careful. Manure can contain persistent herbicides like Grayzon, etc.
@@larpbusters Thanks for the reminder 💚
I wish it was that price here but it is around 3.50 The big difference I see is .05-.05-.05 for Earthgro vs .5-.5-.5 for Black Cow.
edit: Let me point out to look where the decimal is, as I fell for the point 05 because of the 05.
So hypothetically speaking one has say a teaspoon of manure vs a half gallon.
Also, if i remember correctly, it says somewhere on the bag,or description, not organic!@@2olvets443
Hello Petrina! Would you know if the free wood chip compost site is still open? I’m nearby but the website says they are under 3 year quarantine because of snails 🐌 I’m not sure when they started their quarantine. I wondered if you had news on this service. Thank you so much for all your videos and help!
I remember when they found the snails recently. The quarantine applies to within the area so you can still get mulch but you shouldn’t move it outside the area. So as long as you live there, you can use it. If I was you, just stop by and see. I haven’t gone in awhile since I moved more north but they were always very helpful to me when I came to pick up mulch.
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a thank you!
Welldone Mam !
your job is great ❤
This is fantastic and practical
Glad you liked it!
Great tutorial. Thanks for sharing 😁👍
My pleasure 😊
Still growing in containers, but I was taking notes, so I can fill the bottom of the large pots with pre-compost, and save the good stuff for the top 6 inches. Your plants attest to how good your method is! Thanks!
They definitely love all the organic stuff. Even the stuff that’s not completely broken down. 💚
You are hilarious 😂. The beds i have fill our needs but things change( im thinking “i know she’s not gonna say she’s pregnant 😅) but of course your addicted we all are, thats why we’re watching 😂😂.
I’m so tickled to see you grew your rosella in pots cuz thats my plan too but didn’t see any videos on it. I have no choice (per husband) i can’t plant in the front yard due to our septic tank and leach field. 😢
Haha 😆. No babies here. Roselle grows great in pots. Just start them in small ones and work your way up to the biggest pots you have. They grow in anything lol
WOW KNOXVILLE , TENNESSEE !!!
Great video. One question, do you water the bed at this point?? Heavy watering if you do?? Thanks, Al
Yes I do! I planted in it immediately so I started doing heavy deep watering right away. If you were not planning on growing in it right away, I’d just water it like normal for a couple weeks so the soil doesn’t get hydrophobic and the organic material can start to break down
I've enjoyed watching your videos and getting ideas and tips for the future. I can't garden yet because of my work..What are the names.of your dogs?
Thanks so much for watching 💚. The white and black on is Chloe and the brown one is Bella.
Thank UA-cam very much!❤❤❤
Welcome!
This is great! Thanks
Glad you liked it!
Thank you for your informative videos. Im a canadian snowbird in valrico trying to grow stuff. It's getting downright hilarious at my failures. I won't give up.
I have a question about palm fronds and chipping/ shredding....does the small electric shredder do the job? Thank you.
Yes but I have to wait for them to brown and dry out. If they are still green, they tend to gunk up the grinder since they contain so much water.
Great video!
Thanks so much!
I notice that you live in Springhill Florida ❤ I drive school bus for Hernando County, in springhill
I love your videos
Aww hi neighbor 👋. Thanks so much!
maybe also look at adding some biochar in your raised beds. The charged biochar will absorb the nutrients and act as a sort of reservoir for the nutrients and the plants can access them as needed. than might help with the nutrient leaching.
Thanks! I’ll definitely check that out.
I am in Central Florida zone 9b and I just add compost and mulch to my beds without adding any additional dirt. Am I spinning my wheels trying to do it that way?
Not at all but compost can be expensive for some folks to fill a whole raised bed with it. Also, you may want to consider some of the native sandy soil to your beds to help with drainage. Compost is really good at holding water which can cause some issues if it gets too good at that lol
Didn’t know the tape was recyclable!! I was pulling the tape like crazy on all those boxes 😂
I did the same thing until I looked it up 😀
Good idea .thank
You’re welcome!
Hi Petrina, I’m getting ready to finally try my hand at some raised beds. I’ve been watching all of your videos, but I still have some questions before I get started. Is there a good place to ask you questions? I didn’t want to just post a really long comment here. Thanks 😊
I’m available on Instagram or your can email me at petrinahomegrownflorida@gmail.com. Happy to help.
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a you are awesome, thank you so much for the help!
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a I sent you an email! Thanks!
My grass has white Dutch clover in it, is it a good or bad idea to compost the grass clippings and/or put the clippings straight into the bed?
I’m not super familiar with that but if it is an aggressive weed, you might want to skip that part.
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a ok thank you
Keeping a few laying hens for fresh eggs would give you the chicken manure for the garden. Throw in earth worms and watch the compost form black soil.
Great tip 💚
NEVER ENOUGH BEDS 😂😂😂 I just put in 3 more and now I have 12.
And I see you have room for another 😆
😮😬
So is your garden NOT considered “organic” since you’ve used cardboard, trimmings and such that may have already had fertilizer/pesticides on them? I’m a newbie gardener in the TB area so lots of questions. Thanks
I guess it depends on what you consider organic. According to the USDA, cardboard is fine. All my trimmings are from my own yard and I don’t use pesticides or any non organic fertilizers so those should be fine too. The USDA has guidelines for organic commercial farmers that you can try to abide by but I’m not aware of any agency that would define organic gardening in the home garden besides saying that they should use organic labeled products.
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a that makes sense. Thanks
How much sun do you get in that area
During the winter it’s about 4 hours. During summer it’s more like 6 hours
wonderful beauty ❤🦋🦋❤
quick question...... For you comenters (Viewers) I have heard several bloggers say to use grass clipping in gardens (Ground and raised beds) will weeds/grass grow in my beds?
That’s a great question. The trick to using grass clippings as a mulch is to make sure the grass you are collecting isn’t overgrown. If it is, some seed heads might have formed and those would cause some grass to form in your beds. I had that happen to me once and it took just a little time to weed it out and after that I just make sure I only use grass that isn’t too high when it’s cut.
Great video! Where did you get the raised bed from?
Amazon. I put a link in the video description if you want to check them out
I can't locate where you posted the number for composted wood mulch in New Port Richey. I live in NPR and I'm interested. Thanks
It was in the description but here you go - Composted Mulch Program - 6420 Pine Hill Road, New Port Richey, FL 727-841-4544
Can palm fronds be used as one of the bottom layers? We have quite a few palms and get fronds coming down as yard litter after storms
Absolutely 💯 I also use them as a mulch. I shred them with my home chipper but you could definitely put them down whole as one of the bottom layers to help fill the bed.
What was the white powder stuff you put in before you dumped the yellow bag
It was just extra fertilizer that I had laying around.
Would it be ok to use a lot of cardboard inside my grow bags I plan to use?? Thank you very much.
Normally the cardboard in the bottom is to block weeds from the ground. It’s not really necessary in containers but if you are doing it as a way to compost in place, yes! Go for it 💚
lol I just got 4 of these beds in brown color. Ive got 2 together so far.
Yay! I’m in love with them. I have 9 and I’m still considering a 10th 😳
So you said the beds sink too fast with wood chips? That’s why you don’t use them. Do the beds sink with this method? What is making it not sink now if so or is it the whole combination of what you’re doing
Can you use pine cones as part of the bottom layer of organic materials when making a “lasagna” in a raised bed?
Sure! Anything organic works
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a thank you!
Btw….love your channel
@@stephaniestuff1651aww thanks to much!
wow❤
I’m new to gardening so this will sound dumb or ignorant but where is the soil? Or is the composted mulch acting as the soil?
The composted mulch actually acts as soil. When mulch is allowed to break down and compost, it, turns into soil. It’s such a crazy phenomenon, but it makes the most beautiful enriched soil.
What if you skip the cardboard part? I just ripped up the grass and then filled with dirt,. Did I mess up?
No, you did great. The cardboard is mainly to suppress the grass so if you pulled it up, that covers you.
My dog absolutely love all kind of fertilizers 😂. Thanks for the video, I have been thinking about buying metal Raices beds but I am afraid they will rust. Are they durable?
What is it about dogs and fertilizer 🤦♀️ My beds have been amazingly durable. Galvanized steel doesn’t rust easily. It would take some serious water damage for that to happen. None of my beds have any rust…
You could put chicken litter in there as well.
Good idea! I don’t usually have access to it on the regular but when my sister visits, she brings me some from her chickens.
Where did you get them? I can't afford those $150+ beds.
Just checked Amazon and these are $54 right now. amzn.to/3cQHARs
Do you have to be a resident to get the compost?
They have never asked me to prove residency. If you wanted to dig yourself, you don’t ever even see anyone, lol. The guy who comes with the tractor never even gets off to talk to you, lol.
Canadian?
I hope it's okay to ask a question...
I have a cockatoo that loves shredding lots of paper and cardboard and such, and I have saved some of his handy work to put into the garden bed. It should work great, but there are little bits of food with seeds, like jalapenos, a few sunflowers, various things like that. I just sort of swept up the whole mess and put it into a bag.
If I put that stuff into the garden bed and fill it with good soil on top, am I really just going to start a garden of bird food? Will I get little jalapeno plants and such?
It’s possible that the pepper and sunflower seeds might sprout. If you don’t want those plants, you can just pull them when they are young. It’s pretty quick to weed them out. I do it all the time because I get seeds from my compost bin.
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a Weeding them out! Why didn't my brain think of that? That's exactly what I would do if I saw something I didn't want in the garden LOL I really should have thought of that!
But hooray for my squawky birdie making me some garden bed filler!
Thank you for answering!
@@strawberrymage8593 My pleasure 😀
Great info... my only suggestion would be to put a 2 foot space between the beds so you don't have to walk all the way around to get to the back of the beds. Just sayin...
Good tip!
What raised beds are you using?
It’s a bed I got on Amazon. Here is a link if you want to take a look - amzn.to/3cQHARs. I also added it to the description of the video
@@HomegrownFloridaZ9a sorry. Thanks
Zašto NEMA prevod na hrvatski? Da li je ovaj video isključivo englesko govorno područje? Thank you
I’m a smaller channel so maybe that’s why but I’ll see if I can figure that out today and get back to you.
I added subtitles for Croatian. Could you check and make sure it’s working for you now?
Ace Hardware has composted manure much more economical than Black Kow
Thanks for the tip!
👏👏👏👏👏👏❤
Be careful the metal top edge will slice your hands. 😮
These actually have a curved edge so they are not sharp but the corners are so definitely be careful around those.
looks expensive to me. Not a lot of third world recycling going on here