We had our first big rain in San Francisco; cool temps, and the green is returning! Thanks for the book tip on regenerative growing, will look for it at the library. Great video!
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how well edited and all the great angles/ transitions Huw uses just to create 1 video. I come for the content but his video quality really is by far the best gardening UA-camr. ❤👏
Yes, I agree with you 💯%! I feel like I'm watching a documentary with all of his videos. Very polished, very professional, in-depth and excellent step-by-step guide to the technique(s) he's sharing at the moment. And all done under 15 minutes, simplistic yet thorough. And his garden beds and entire layout of the garden is breathtakingly beautiful. Perfection..
I have a plan to collect seaweed after the next storm. Where I am compost isn’t an option (17, live with parents who have a pretty warranted fear with rats) so I use chop in drop, and also sometimes bury leaf scraps. Finally managed to revive our soil, which went from unable to grow anything (including weeds) to even have mushrooms and nettles now.
I piled my yard’s leaves on all my beds last winter. When I raked it back this spring it was alive with critters and the soil was black. It was like a different bed altogether. I’m definitely do this again this year.
I have done something similar. I built a hoop house over one of my garden beds. I put all the leaves off my lawn in there along with my chickens. The chickens added manure and kept stirring it all winter. Not many bugs in the spring but the soil looked great and grew the best tomato crop I've even had.
I pull my leaves to the edges and have a constant line of compost. When it comes time to plant, I pull the broken down compost into my dirt and clean up my edges at the same time. I have one acre and it’s a lot to plant. I’m on the lifetime plan. I literally broke my toe this morning but I still have things to do. I won’t be pushing soil today though. Yikes. 😎
Huw, perhaps this isn’t pertinent information right now for this season but I thought I’d share regardless for the simple reason that I had such success.. this year I saved my banana peels and placed them in a jar and covered with water.. left it for a week or so and when my tomato plants were beginning to set fruit, I took a sour cream container worth of it out and poured it into a small bucket and filled the rest with rain water.. what I did then was, went to each plant and “watered” them at the base, using that sour cream container (container was 500ml )... to my beautiful astonishment, it produced an abundance of big, juicy, perfect tomatoes without ANY blemishes whatsoever!! So guess, what I did when I noticed the performance??? I then did the same thing to all the pepper plants!! I have been giving away bags upon bags of tomatoes, peppers to everyone!! My smallest cayenne pepper is 6 inches long!!! I have some that are 10,13 AND 14 inches long!! Today I am pulling off all remaining fruits as here in Ontario Canada old man winter will so be upon us! Many thanks for all the wonder tips and knowledge you share! All my very best, Cindy aka Red.
@@redinthethevalley no thank you! How often did you apply the solution. My husband's work colleague had mentioned banana peels but I had never tried the tea. I think I will now :)
Curly Proverbz I appreciate the thanks!! Heck I didn’t think anyone would appreciate the tip if I’m honest! Now to answer your question, I only did it once!! Honestly m soil is nothing fancy at all, it has been 3 years since the ground was first tilled up and at the end of twenty nineteen we applied a light amount of composted cow/horse manure and nothing else since! Reason I wanted to try this is due to all the videos I have heard about blossom end rot and blemishes on tomatoes, gave me the idea about bananas and their potassium content! I figured if there’s a “tea” made with other natural materials why not use a direct source of potassium BANANAS!! Now all teas are watered down so that’s what I did with the peel solution.. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best! Please tell me know how it works out for you!♥️
First, beautiful video. Well done! Second, we don't use raised beds (we just plant in the ground i rows) and we use wood chips in between rows. I never thought if these wood chips as being a composting method! So cool! They really do break down over time, retain moisture, and provide a place for good bacteria + fungus to grow. Thanks for opening my eyes to that! :)
Oh my goodness! You put SO much information into your videos! You are helping me to be a much better gardener. We gardeners are learning how to pack our soil with nutrients; thank you for your videos, and keep them coming!!
@@HuwRichards I've had a renewal of my love for gardening in the past year, and your videos are a big part of the needed education, tips, etc that have propelled me forward. Even though our garden space is relatively small, we've had a gratifying harvest, along with the joy of working with God's creation! Thank you from Ohio, USA; and you have a lovely weekend as well!
I have found that the quickest way of dealing with leaves is to dig a hole and fill it will leaves. Then come May/June you plant beans around where the leaves have gone in. You can put the leaves on the surface but they dry out and blow away so they do need to be covered. Then when you finally pull up the beans the following Autumn there will be loads of worms around but very little sign of the leaves. I grow my beans in the same place each year. Worms seem to be attracted by leaves. So I am currently gathering as many leaves as possible and putting them along my bean trenches.
This year have have left the leaves on the surface and covered with lawn mowings which have already heated up. I have also filled a dalek compost bin with leaves, which I hope to cover my strawberries with it if gets a bit chilly.
I already started to make my own fermented plant juices and egg shell extraction. All thanks to you and Nigel Palmer!!! I will try now your tip about leaving the dead roots on the ground for aeration. Thank you again Huw !!!
Huw, when it comes to your videos the insight and knowledge you provide us is second to none! It was one year ago that I watched a video of yours and it encouraged/challenged me to grow my first vegetable garden. It was a year of learning and I'm so glad I did it. I'm already excited and ready for next year and today's video helped me understand what I need to do so I can put my garden 'to sleep' this fall.
Nutrient banking is something new that I've learned from this video 👍 In our climate it will just be difficult to keep the liquids frost free over winter 🤔
Thanks for the great suggestions and tips! I do need to put my garden beds to sleep and chopping up some plants to sprinkle on is a new one for me. And leaving the plants in but cutting off at ground level is something I just learned this year (from you, again) so I think you and Liz are my greatest teachers right now! Really appreciate all that you do!! Just bought your book How To Grow Food For Free! So many great ideas offered there as well!🙏🌿💕
Huw, wonderful video all around. I find that many gardeners do not take advantage of the free resources provided by their local municipality’s land fills. On this side of the pond (northern Virginia, like many other locations), the local land fill provides as much woods chips that one can want. The wood chips are about 6 - 8 months old and still cooking. And in addition, equal amounts of leaf mold is similarly availability and aged. I fill up during the spring, summer and fall as needed and at it to my home compost, use wood chips around my garden beds, and use small amounts of leaf mold as a top dressing. The only challenge is that you must have a vehicle to put it in and be physically able to do it. It is a great utilization of the local resources. Hope this helps someone’s garden efforts.
The liquid amendments really got me excited. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me before, more than once weeds have been forgotten in buckets or tubs from pulling them and slagged into liquid. It never occurred to use it as fertilizer. We do a lot to build the soil to maintain fertility, but manure and cover crops for example really require a tiller to put them in the ground. I have a wheel hoe that can work the ground but it really isn't made to till things in. It worries me if fuel prices skyrocket or become scarce with all the supply chain disruptions, using mechanized equipment may have to be done very sparingly. This would be a slick way around that problem.
I constantly snip all my herbs and put them in my compost. Mugwort, artemisia, mints, rosemary etc.Keeps the herbs looking great. I ‘WANT’ to think that this will make a ‘better’ compost. Don’t know, but wanted to share the idea. Thank you.
The weed soak method, I've been doing it for years. Cool to see it's actually something. Use the liquid in the garden, and gnarly weed grime goes in the compost.
I have never thought about watering it down, but I don't use it on young plants. So I don't think It really doesn't matter if you water it down or not. I haven't ever watered it down, and I use it mid way through summer up until a few weeks before harvest. I start using it as soon as Weeds start growing and it's had time to go anaerobic.
I use weed tea all the time on my plants and when I feed them with that tea they grow so nicely. I use fertilizer only once during transplanting. I am glad that you mention weed tea, it means I am in the right direction. Thanks for the information.
I just posted the making of liquid fertilizer on the The Prepared Homestead channel, I also passed this video title onto the same channel . I use this liquid for my house plants during the winter, and as you say, I have this on hand in the Spring to give the plants an early boost. It is amazing how sturdy my sweet peas and morning glories were this summer-plus all of the other plants.
I use a variety of techniques, compost in bins, barrels, and make tea for each location, but, this year I also composted in place, and the earthworms I found when turning the plots this year were Amazing!
I like the idea of banking. You inspired me to get a whole bucket full of comfrey leaves. It look a lot to fill the bucket. In a week or so they would have been a slimy mess so now if a great time.
would love to see a video on how you sow all of your items, specifically onions im having trouble. thx for the content, your spot on with a bunch of stuff people dont know and providing crucial content for people.
Brilliant video! I really appreciate your tips on composting. I though I had to buy high quality compost and mulch from the store to make healthy soil and grow the best crops. But your tips are sensible and low cost. I started putting my beds to sleep and I look forward to dreaming and planning my garden for next year!
I didn’t know about all the different plant juices, I’m definitely going to look more into that ! I really want to try bokashi composting for next year as well. Great video as always, I always learn so much from your videos thank you so much !
Don't wait until next year to start making Bokashi, start now! Bokashi is a wonderful way to make "winter compost" to enrich the gardens. After the Bokashi has completed its fermentation process, and aged, bury it in the garden where it will totally compost into black soil in about two weeks.
Bokashi is great, so glad you mentioned it. Four weeks from food scraps to soil. Yes, it is that fast. Then try growing tomatoes or basil in it (for exemple) and the benefits are clear. And you do not need a special bin, just use a bin with a lid that seals tights. Put newspaper at the bottom to absorb liquid and top or install a tap to get the bokashi tea. Full of nutrients and beneficial microogranisms.
I agree, getting enough material for the compost pile/bins on my plot is difficult. I’m lucky enough to have two allotment plots, one of which gets very wet. My solution is to grow green manure on the wet plot and when harvested place it on the compost. I’m also reducing the amount of compost by using a no dig system of a layer of cardboard covered with wood chip, into which I dig a 4inch diameter hole through the chip and cardboard but not disturbing the soil and fill this with compost. This enables me to build the compost into a mound into which I can sow.
My current kitchen compost practice is to save up a day's materials, chop them fine in one go in the food processor (not to paste, just fine chop), and put it in a bokashi bin. Once the bin is full, I take it's predecessor out to the main compost, let the one I just filled sit, and start filling the empty one. One of the biggest advantages of this system is that I get the bokashi liquid to use on my garden, but I have enough to share with friends, who all LOVE it. And because the material spends time in the bokashi system, it finishes composting outside much more quickly. I have two mid-sized tumblers, and I do a similar process with them--I use one in the spring, and then start filling it, while the other one cures for the rest of the year until I use it the following spring. I could use them faster, probably, but this gives them time to really decompose, so I get something that feels quite close to soil in the end. Now I just need to find a way to double the output! :)
What a fantastic video! I would love to see a video series on how to master vegetable growing, like "Complete guide to tomato growing in Wales" or "Leeks for dumbs: how to not kill your oniony friends"... Do you have any of those already? Truly amazing work!
I live in N Idaho. I do worm beds on the ground, not in bins, that don't need to be turned. I layer old hay, manure at least 1 year old, veggies from grocery store, weeds, red worms from old pile, coffee grounds from coffee shop, forest soil for microorganisms and sand for worms. Add extra layer of greens before winter then put on three layers of plastic film with hay insulation in between. I open it up the week of Groundhog Day and the worms are on top and the soil is ready for pots. I have 7 piles going so I use the first ones I started first.
First of all, I envy your environment! I am on a high desert plains in the southwest, with brutal winds and extreme cold/heat fluctuations. However, I still get a lot of useful information with your videos. I spent quite a bit this summer on predatory beneficials bugs for our organic garden and planted for pollinators. It was successful beyond words! From one bee last year to thousands of varieties of mason bees and honey bees, thousands of butterflies, lacewings, stingless predatory wasps that targeted flies, lady bugs, etc., my question is this: does the drop and chop method work to help overwinter any of these bugs who have gone to soil? Is there any special thing I should do for my beneficials rights now? (This was also my first summer of having a greenhouse. That is a huge learning curve!)
I live in N Idaho. I do worm beds on the ground, not in bins, that don't need to be turned. I layer old hay, manure at least 1 year old approximately, veggies from grocery store, weeds, red worms from old pile, coffee grounds from coffee shop, forest soil for microorganisms and sand for worms. Add extra layer of greens before winter then put on three layers of plastic film with hay insulation in between. I open it up the week of Groundhog Day and the worms are on top and the soil is ready for pots. I have 7 piles going so I use the first ones I started first.
We do leaf mold in Texas. We bag the leaves in thick black bags, add a little water, set the bags behind the bushes and let the bags rot for 6 months. Works great! As for a liquid feed, we also make homemade “compost tea”. We take fresh compost and put it in a mesh bag (or wrap in cheese cloth). Take that bundle and put it in a bucket with an aerator. (You can make one or get one at a fish & tackle store.) We let the compost tea aerate for 24 hours. Either soil drench the plants or spray the leaves with the liquid and the plants are HAPPY!
Thanks for a video with great content👍 I have been using Bokashi composting for my kitchen waste for many years and can highly recommend it. This autumn, I take it a step further and ferment the garden waste with Microferm (EM). I also try to improve my soil by using biochar loaded with liquid such as bokashi juice or nettle juice. I also make leaf mould and have a cold compost, but it's hard to make enough compost.
Thankyou Huw. Very valuable and precise information on the 3 liquid composts. Also you are clear on putting the beds away for winter so they are ready for Spring. I was thinking to do this, but needed the info you just provided.
Hew, every morning at dawn I take my secateurs and fill up a large bucket with finely chopped woody prunings to add to one of my five compost bins. I've cut down on the material I was putting in the green waste bin and Im making lovely compost. It's also a relaxing way to start the day.
In my area there are a lot of horse barns. Many people including myself have learned, if you call ahead and bring your own truck/trailer they will let you take as much as you can load yourself. Unless they give directly to a farm or they farm themselves they have more than they can deal with.
The carrot top juice is new to me, I have never heard of that one before, so thanks for that Huw. With comfrey tea I always feel it is a little sketchy to advise a ratio to dilute to, simply because everyone's tea will be different when mature. I always advise to dilute comfrey tea so it is the colour of weak tea without milk...Steve...🙂
We always dig out the paths between beds and pile the dirt onto the beds and fill the paths with wood chips and grass clippings. The compost piles are used throughout the year for various things around the garden, flower beds, and as well as the lawn which we topdress so the piles are continually added to and the material not ready added to a new pile.
All of the paths between my raised beds are wood chips, which I refresh every year. After many years of having the wood chips there, the soil under the chips is more fertile than the soil in the beds. 😃
Its also a very good time to raise the beds with content from the compost bins, they will have a few extra months to proceed the composting proces till spring.
Loving the method of selecting specific plants for processing to target specific nutrients in order to treat nutritional deficiencies. Any suggestions for what kind of plant to process for phosphorus? Trying to avoid all animal-sourced nutrients. Great channel, learning a lot here!
A product like Azomite or rock dust can provide a nice balance of minerals. Think about the fertile areas of the world: Tigris/Euphrates, Nile River, Amazonian basin, etc. These were all flooded annually, replenishing an array of soil minerals from upstream sources.
This is my first visit to your channel and absolutely 💯loved the information and your presentation of it. Thank you for sharing. I'm applying to my garden and other perennials now.
Compost teas are an excellent way of getting rid of stubborn weeds like dandelions, ivy, nettles etc. Basically anything plant based you don't want in your compost turn into liquid tea. One thing about putting a veg bed to sleep if you add the compost before winter the nutrients in that compost will be washed out by the time you plant. I would add that to pre plant bed prep instead.
Excellent video, we are currently making some new raised beds ready for next year so some excellent tips on how to keep them ready for new plants in spring
Hey Huw, I've come across a number of articles about letting plant material sit in water, and I've found that it causes the bacterial process to become anaerobic. The beneficial bacteria that work with plants need air. By steeping nettles in the water you're effectively killing those bacteria off and harbouring "undesirable bacteria including pathogens like salmonella and e-coli". To make proper compost tea you need to suspend compost and plant matter in a big muslin bag and aerate the water with a bubbler or a jacuzzi pump. I hope this helped.
Actually a lot of beneficial bacteria are anaerobic, for example bokashi composting creates incredible compost for the garden using an anaerobic process :)
Brilliant video! Learning all about different plant juices and compost. Plus helpful how to prepare my raised bed. As new gardener the Video's have be very helpful thank u.
Bright video! I would put 10 "likes" if I could. Let God be helpfull to you with all your good work and givings! Just as you said, by this days I decided (for the first time) that I must use ALL of materials that I collected (leftovers from veggies, grass, weeds, green and brown leaves, branches from pruning, tree peel,...) and that I can additionaly find in my neighborhood (not used lands). And I am feeling very hapy about that. Much of matterial I have used for mulching garden beds. I have use all weeds, even with seeds - when it was submerged under water for a few months, their seeds become dead (and consenquently - not harmfull) and I got shining liquid compost that smells almost as nettle compost, with much of nutrients for my next-year veggies and fruits. Only one dillema I have - will liquid compost be useful at spring if it got frozen? I have no room for saving much of it through the winter.
"Put it in a place where there is no frost and in February..." lol, by that time here we are at -10 to -15 F and frozen solid. Unfortunately, I dont want these thing stinking up my basement (the only cool place that isnt frozen). That being said, I'm very interested in the fermented weeds.
What do you think of covering all of my in-ground garden beds with fallen leaves, and then covering everything with a tarp until Spring. Would that work well?
I did that with my beds last fall, and it worked beautifully. Lots of worms and critters living under the mulch, and it all disappears eventually, integrated into the soil. Good luck!
Anyone else much happier now that the weather is cooler or is that just me?
After the sweltering hot summer we had, I am really enjoying the nice fall weather!
I’m loving feeling as though I’m catching up with the garden instead of it running away from me!
Yes I can definitely relate 🤣
We had our first big rain in San Francisco; cool temps, and the green is returning! Thanks for the book tip on regenerative growing, will look for it at the library. Great video!
I love the autumn, its much more peaceful and reflective in general and love being in the garden when I'm not being frazzled 😜
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how well edited and all the great angles/ transitions Huw uses just to create 1 video. I come for the content but his video quality really is by far the best gardening UA-camr. ❤👏
You have made my day with this comment, thank you so so so much!!😊🙏
Totally agree. Beautiful work Huw 🤙🏽
Another brilliant watch, thank you... You knock spots off gardens world!
Yes, I agree with you 💯%! I feel like I'm watching a documentary with all of his videos. Very polished, very professional, in-depth and excellent step-by-step guide to the technique(s) he's sharing at the moment. And all done under 15 minutes, simplistic yet thorough. And his garden beds and entire layout of the garden is breathtakingly beautiful. Perfection..
Is that you Huw,lol
I have a plan to collect seaweed after the next storm. Where I am compost isn’t an option (17, live with parents who have a pretty warranted fear with rats) so I use chop in drop, and also sometimes bury leaf scraps. Finally managed to revive our soil, which went from unable to grow anything (including weeds) to even have mushrooms and nettles now.
Compost is GOLD in the eyes of a gardener!
It DEFINITELY is!😍
Black Gold, that is....
I piled my yard’s leaves on all my beds last winter. When I raked it back this spring it was alive with critters and the soil was black. It was like a different bed altogether. I’m definitely do this again this year.
this is a great idea, thanks
I have done something similar. I built a hoop house over one of my garden beds. I put all the leaves off my lawn in there along with my chickens. The chickens added manure and kept stirring it all winter. Not many bugs in the spring but the soil looked great and grew the best tomato crop I've even had.
I pull my leaves to the edges and have a constant line of compost.
When it comes time to plant, I pull the broken down compost into my dirt and clean up my edges at the same time.
I have one acre and it’s a lot to plant. I’m on the lifetime plan.
I literally broke my toe this morning but I still have things to do. I won’t be pushing soil today though. Yikes. 😎
What I love is that you are so well balanced and practical. Thanks for mentioning that it's okay to do things short term to have healthy plants!
The pleasure is mine😊
Have been making leaf mould for years. Our neighbours trees provide loads of leaves. Fabulous stuff.
It sure is!
Same! I shred them and mulch everything with them. Always need to “feed” the soil.
Huw, perhaps this isn’t pertinent information right now for this season but I thought I’d share regardless for the simple reason that I had such success.. this year I saved my banana peels and placed them in a jar and covered with water.. left it for a week or so and when my tomato plants were beginning to set fruit, I took a sour cream container worth of it out and poured it into a small bucket and filled the rest with rain water.. what I did then was, went to each plant and “watered” them at the base, using that sour cream container (container was 500ml )... to my beautiful astonishment, it produced an abundance of big, juicy, perfect tomatoes without ANY blemishes whatsoever!! So guess, what I did when I noticed the performance??? I then did the same thing to all the pepper plants!! I have been giving away bags upon bags of tomatoes, peppers to everyone!! My smallest cayenne pepper is 6 inches long!!! I have some that are 10,13 AND 14 inches long!! Today I am pulling off all remaining fruits as here in Ontario Canada old man winter will so be upon us! Many thanks for all the wonder tips and knowledge you share! All my very best, Cindy aka Red.
Great suggestion!
Curly Proverbz thank you friend! I appreciate that!
@@redinthethevalley no thank you! How often did you apply the solution. My husband's work colleague had mentioned banana peels but I had never tried the tea. I think I will now :)
Curly Proverbz I appreciate the thanks!! Heck I didn’t think anyone would appreciate the tip if I’m honest! Now to answer your question, I only did it once!! Honestly m soil is nothing fancy at all, it has been 3 years since the ground was first tilled up and at the end of twenty nineteen we applied a light amount of composted cow/horse manure and nothing else since! Reason I wanted to try this is due to all the videos I have heard about blossom end rot and blemishes on tomatoes, gave me the idea about bananas and their potassium content! I figured if there’s a “tea” made with other natural materials why not use a direct source of potassium BANANAS!! Now all teas are watered down so that’s what I did with the peel solution.. I hope this helps and I wish you all the best! Please tell me know how it works out for you!♥️
@@redinthethevalley That is amazing! Excited for spring so I can try this out :))
Lots of info packed into this video. Thank you.
First, beautiful video. Well done! Second, we don't use raised beds (we just plant in the ground i rows) and we use wood chips in between rows. I never thought if these wood chips as being a composting method! So cool! They really do break down over time, retain moisture, and provide a place for good bacteria + fungus to grow. Thanks for opening my eyes to that! :)
Oh my goodness! You put SO much information into your videos! You are helping me to be a much better gardener. We gardeners are learning how to pack our soil with nutrients; thank you for your videos, and keep them coming!!
Comments like this is why I create these videos😊 Have a lovely weekend and thank you so much!
@@HuwRichards I've had a renewal of my love for gardening in the past year, and your videos are a big part of the needed education, tips, etc that have propelled me forward. Even though our garden space is relatively small, we've had a gratifying harvest, along with the joy of working with God's creation! Thank you from Ohio, USA; and you have a lovely weekend as well!
I have found that the quickest way of dealing with leaves is to dig a hole and fill it will leaves.
Then come May/June you plant beans around where the leaves have gone in. You can put the leaves on the surface but they dry out and blow away so they do need to be covered.
Then when you finally pull up the beans the following Autumn there will be loads of worms around but very little sign of the leaves. I grow my beans in the same place each year. Worms seem to be attracted by leaves. So I am currently gathering as many leaves as possible and putting them along my bean trenches.
This year have have left the leaves on the surface and covered with lawn mowings which have already heated up. I have also filled a dalek compost bin with leaves, which I hope to cover my strawberries with it if gets a bit chilly.
I already started to make my own fermented plant juices and egg shell extraction. All thanks to you and Nigel Palmer!!! I will try now your tip about leaving the dead roots on the ground for aeration. Thank you again Huw !!!
Huw, when it comes to your videos the insight and knowledge you provide us is second to none! It was one year ago that I watched a video of yours and it encouraged/challenged me to grow my first vegetable garden. It was a year of learning and I'm so glad I did it. I'm already excited and ready for next year and today's video helped me understand what I need to do so I can put my garden 'to sleep' this fall.
You are a legend keep up the positive work for humanity.
Thank You so much! I will always try my best :)
Nutrient banking is something new that I've learned from this video 👍 In our climate it will just be difficult to keep the liquids frost free over winter 🤔
Thanks for the great suggestions and tips! I do need to put my garden beds to sleep and chopping up some plants to sprinkle on is a new one for me. And leaving the plants in but cutting off at ground level is something I just learned this year (from you, again) so I think you and Liz are my greatest teachers right now! Really appreciate all that you do!! Just bought your book How To Grow Food For Free! So many great ideas offered there as well!🙏🌿💕
Huw, wonderful video all around. I find that many gardeners do not take advantage of the free resources provided by their local municipality’s land fills. On this side of the pond (northern Virginia, like many other locations), the local land fill provides as much woods chips that one can want. The wood chips are about 6 - 8 months old and still cooking. And in addition, equal amounts of leaf mold is similarly availability and aged. I fill up during the spring, summer and fall as needed and at it to my home compost, use wood chips around my garden beds, and use small amounts of leaf mold as a top dressing. The only challenge is that you must have a vehicle to put it in and be physically able to do it. It is a great utilization of the local resources. Hope this helps someone’s garden efforts.
The liquid amendments really got me excited. I don't know why it didn't dawn on me before, more than once weeds have been forgotten in buckets or tubs from pulling them and slagged into liquid. It never occurred to use it as fertilizer.
We do a lot to build the soil to maintain fertility, but manure and cover crops for example really require a tiller to put them in the ground. I have a wheel hoe that can work the ground but it really isn't made to till things in. It worries me if fuel prices skyrocket or become scarce with all the supply chain disruptions, using mechanized equipment may have to be done very sparingly.
This would be a slick way around that problem.
I constantly snip all my herbs and put them in my compost. Mugwort, artemisia, mints, rosemary etc.Keeps the herbs looking great. I ‘WANT’ to think that this will make a ‘better’ compost. Don’t know, but wanted to share the idea. Thank you.
The weed soak method, I've been doing it for years. Cool to see it's actually something. Use the liquid in the garden, and gnarly weed grime goes in the compost.
hi, the weed soak, when putting it on the garden, should it be watered down, mix with water, would it be too strong as is?
@@TheMississauga333 Huw said to dilute weed soak with water 1:50 before application
I have never thought about watering it down, but I don't use it on young plants.
So I don't think It really doesn't matter if you water it down or not. I haven't ever watered it down, and I use it mid way through summer up until a few weeks before harvest.
I start using it as soon as Weeds start growing and it's had time to go anaerobic.
By far, one of the best videos you have made. Thanks so much for your dedication and hard work!
Awh Thank You, it means a lot! You're very welcome! :)
I use weed tea all the time on my plants and when I feed them with that tea they grow so nicely. I use fertilizer only once during transplanting. I am glad that you mention weed tea, it means I am in the right direction. Thanks for the information.
I just posted the making of liquid fertilizer on the
The Prepared Homestead channel, I also passed this video title onto the same channel . I use this liquid for my house plants during the winter, and as you say, I have this on hand in the Spring to give the plants an early boost. It is amazing how sturdy my sweet peas and morning glories were this summer-plus all of the other plants.
I use a variety of techniques, compost in bins, barrels, and make tea for each location, but, this year I also composted in place, and the earthworms I found when turning the plots this year were Amazing!
This is a truly brilliant video! Thank you for all the effort that went into this!
It's my absolutely pleasure!😊
Now thats how you make tea! This vid is a game changer! Thanks Huw!
I like the idea of banking. You inspired me to get a whole bucket full of comfrey leaves. It look a lot to fill the bucket. In a week or so they would have been a slimy mess so now if a great time.
would love to see a video on how you sow all of your items, specifically onions im having trouble. thx for the content, your spot on with a bunch of stuff people dont know and providing crucial content for people.
Brilliant video! I really appreciate your tips on composting. I though I had to buy high quality compost and mulch from the store to make healthy soil and grow the best crops. But your tips are sensible and low cost. I started putting my beds to sleep and I look forward to dreaming and planning my garden for next year!
I didn’t know about all the different plant juices, I’m definitely going to look more into that ! I really want to try bokashi composting for next year as well. Great video as always, I always learn so much from your videos thank you so much !
Thank you so much Manon I am so pleased they're helpful! :)
Don't wait until next year to start making Bokashi, start now! Bokashi is a wonderful way to make "winter compost" to enrich the gardens. After the Bokashi has completed its fermentation process, and aged, bury it in the garden where it will totally compost into black soil in about two weeks.
Fab tips thank you!!!
@@ohio_gardener Ooh that's perfect then, I will do that ! Thank you!
I just love your videos! Always have and always will! And the quality is hands down THE best!!!🙌❤️✨
Awh Sadia that's amazing to hear thank you so much! Have a lovely weekend 😊
Bokashi is great, so glad you mentioned it. Four weeks from food scraps to soil. Yes, it is that fast. Then try growing tomatoes or basil in it (for exemple) and the benefits are clear. And you do not need a special bin, just use a bin with a lid that seals tights. Put newspaper at the bottom to absorb liquid and top or install a tap to get the bokashi tea. Full of nutrients and beneficial microogranisms.
I agree, getting enough material for the compost pile/bins on my plot is difficult. I’m lucky enough to have two allotment plots, one of which gets very wet. My solution is to grow green manure on the wet plot and when harvested place it on the compost.
I’m also reducing the amount of compost by using a no dig system of a layer of cardboard covered with wood chip, into which I dig a 4inch diameter hole through the chip and cardboard but not disturbing the soil and fill this with compost. This enables me to build the compost into a mound into which I can sow.
Thank you Huw. Loved hearing about the different feeds other than comfrey and nettle. Going to have fun experimenting this season.
You're Welcome! Sounds great, Good luck with your experiments! :)
Inspirational. And all the more appreciated knowing how long production time each video takes 😬 promise I won't skip ads anymore 😉
Awh thanks Matt I appreciate it so much!😊
Thanks Huw Richard for another fantastic video and making one about how to have a highly productive garden/allotment.
I love the way you are open to all ideas concerning healthy soil. I use nettle tea and it really is as efficient as you say.
Thanks so much Kim! That's why I believe it's important that people can see all the different methods out there available to use😊
So so good! So informative, priceless and the video quality is ridiculous good!!!:)) Thank you Huw !
Thats lovely of you to say. Thanks so much :)
Thank you very much for showing the organic liquide fertilizers and for sharing your tips🙏🌻
It's my pleasure Pamela!
My current kitchen compost practice is to save up a day's materials, chop them fine in one go in the food processor (not to paste, just fine chop), and put it in a bokashi bin. Once the bin is full, I take it's predecessor out to the main compost, let the one I just filled sit, and start filling the empty one. One of the biggest advantages of this system is that I get the bokashi liquid to use on my garden, but I have enough to share with friends, who all LOVE it. And because the material spends time in the bokashi system, it finishes composting outside much more quickly. I have two mid-sized tumblers, and I do a similar process with them--I use one in the spring, and then start filling it, while the other one cures for the rest of the year until I use it the following spring. I could use them faster, probably, but this gives them time to really decompose, so I get something that feels quite close to soil in the end. Now I just need to find a way to double the output! :)
What a fantastic video! I would love to see a video series on how to master vegetable growing, like "Complete guide to tomato growing in Wales" or "Leeks for dumbs: how to not kill your oniony friends"... Do you have any of those already? Truly amazing work!
I live in N Idaho. I do worm beds on the ground, not in bins, that don't need to be turned. I layer old hay, manure at least 1 year old, veggies from grocery store, weeds, red worms from old pile, coffee grounds from coffee shop, forest soil for microorganisms and sand for worms. Add extra layer of greens before winter then put on three layers of plastic film with hay insulation in between. I open it up the week of Groundhog Day and the worms are on top and the soil is ready for pots. I have 7 piles going so I use the first ones I started first.
love the one at 5.09 on liquid feeds,great idea
I am into vermicomposting . I started 3 years ago….and I love it !
First of all, I envy your environment! I am on a high desert plains in the southwest, with brutal winds and extreme cold/heat fluctuations. However, I still get a lot of useful information with your videos. I spent quite a bit this summer on predatory beneficials bugs for our organic garden and planted for pollinators. It was successful beyond words! From one bee last year to thousands of varieties of mason bees and honey bees, thousands of butterflies, lacewings, stingless predatory wasps that targeted flies, lady bugs, etc., my question is this: does the drop and chop method work to help overwinter any of these bugs who have gone to soil? Is there any special thing I should do for my beneficials rights now? (This was also my first summer of having a greenhouse. That is a huge learning curve!)
I’m really impressed with your knowledge and abilities in demonstrating that knowledge. Thanks been at it a while and still learning.
Thank you so much Tyler! Glad you enjoyed it😊
This is the single most helpful gardening video I've ever seen. Thank you!
Wow! Thank you thats great to hear :)
I live in N Idaho. I do worm beds on the ground, not in bins, that don't need to be turned. I layer old hay, manure at least 1 year old approximately, veggies from grocery store, weeds, red worms from old pile, coffee grounds from coffee shop, forest soil for microorganisms and sand for worms. Add extra layer of greens before winter then put on three layers of plastic film with hay insulation in between. I open it up the week of Groundhog Day and the worms are on top and the soil is ready for pots. I have 7 piles going so I use the first ones I started first.
We do leaf mold in Texas. We bag the leaves in thick black bags, add a little water, set the bags behind the bushes and let the bags rot for 6 months. Works great! As for a liquid feed, we also make homemade “compost tea”. We take fresh compost and put it in a mesh bag (or wrap in cheese cloth). Take that bundle and put it in a bucket with an aerator. (You can make one or get one at a fish & tackle store.) We let the compost tea aerate for 24 hours. Either soil drench the plants or spray the leaves with the liquid and the plants are HAPPY!
Absolutely amazing and beneficial video! Thanks for all of the fine details and well thought out wisdom you shared.
Wow! Lovely comment, glad you found it useful. Thank you :)
Thanks for a video with great content👍
I have been using Bokashi composting for my kitchen waste for many years and can highly recommend it. This autumn, I take it a step further and ferment the garden waste with Microferm (EM). I also try to improve my soil by using biochar loaded with liquid such as bokashi juice or nettle juice.
I also make leaf mould and have a cold compost, but it's hard to make enough compost.
Thankyou Huw. Very valuable and precise information on the 3 liquid composts. Also you are clear on putting the beds away for winter so they are ready for Spring. I was thinking to do this, but needed the info you just provided.
Brilliant glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching :)
Thanks for all this is. I look forward to applying them to my garden. Thanks for sharing 👍
You're very welcome! Thanks for watching
Hew, every morning at dawn I take my secateurs and fill up a large bucket with finely chopped woody prunings to add to one of my five compost bins. I've cut down on the material I was putting in the green waste bin and Im making lovely compost. It's also a relaxing way to start the day.
In my area there are a lot of horse barns. Many people including myself have learned, if you call ahead and bring your own truck/trailer they will let you take as much as you can load yourself. Unless they give directly to a farm or they farm themselves they have more than they can deal with.
The carrot top juice is new to me, I have never heard of that one before, so thanks for that Huw. With comfrey tea I always feel it is a little sketchy to advise a ratio to dilute to, simply because everyone's tea will be different when mature. I always advise to dilute comfrey tea so it is the colour of weak tea without milk...Steve...🙂
An extraordinary video of how to prepare the special nutrients for the plants.Thanks for share with us.
You're so welcome and I'm so pleased you enjoyed it!!😊
We always dig out the paths between beds and pile the dirt onto the beds and fill the paths with wood chips and grass clippings. The compost piles are used throughout the year for various things around the garden, flower beds, and as well as the lawn which we topdress so the piles are continually added to and the material not ready added to a new pile.
I like the idea of filling the paths with grass clippings too! Will have to give that a go! Thanks so much for watching
All of the paths between my raised beds are wood chips, which I refresh every year. After many years of having the wood chips there, the soil under the chips is more fertile than the soil in the beds. 😃
Thank you for another inspiring video!
It's my pleasure!😊
Nigel Palmer's book is a great resource for garden amendments. Highly recommended!
How I wish I have a property to plant vegetables, like you do!
Its also a very good time to raise the beds with content from the compost bins, they will have a few extra months to proceed the composting proces till spring.
Loving the method of selecting specific plants for processing to target specific nutrients in order to treat nutritional deficiencies. Any suggestions for what kind of plant to process for phosphorus? Trying to avoid all animal-sourced nutrients.
Great channel, learning a lot here!
Double check me here but have you like up banna based fertiliser that you can make at home?
A product like Azomite or rock dust can provide a nice balance of minerals. Think about the fertile areas of the world: Tigris/Euphrates, Nile River, Amazonian basin, etc. These were all flooded annually, replenishing an array of soil minerals from upstream sources.
This is my first visit to your channel and absolutely 💯loved the information and your presentation of it. Thank you for sharing. I'm applying to my garden and other perennials now.
Well firstly a very warm welcome to the channel and secondly a massive thank you for watching and commenting 😊🌱
what an inspiration 🙏
I'll try! Thank you.
Thank you 🙌🧤👒🦘🐨🇦🇺Karen from Oz
Words of wisdom to share. Thanks for sharing.
It's my pleasure!:)
Excellent!!
Compost teas are an excellent way of getting rid of stubborn weeds like dandelions, ivy, nettles etc. Basically anything plant based you don't want in your compost turn into liquid tea. One thing about putting a veg bed to sleep if you add the compost before winter the nutrients in that compost will be washed out by the time you plant. I would add that to pre plant bed prep instead.
Maybe not so much if it's covered with a layer of cardboard?
So interesting! Thanks Huw!
It's my pleasure, thank you for watching!😊
Excellent video, we are currently making some new raised beds ready for next year so some excellent tips on how to keep them ready for new plants in spring
Best of luck Charlie with your new beds and a massive thank you for watching!!
Outstanding advice Mr. R., thanks! Subscribed!
Thank you so so much!!:)
Muchas gracias Huw!!! Como siempre muy clara la explicación!!!!
Thanks Hew,very informative
Thankyou so much for this you are so accessable in the way you share your information really appreciate it!!
The pleasure is mine Ella, I really appreciate you watching and commenting:D!
Hey Huw, I've come across a number of articles about letting plant material sit in water, and I've found that it causes the bacterial process to become anaerobic. The beneficial bacteria that work with plants need air. By steeping nettles in the water you're effectively killing those bacteria off and harbouring "undesirable bacteria including pathogens like salmonella and e-coli". To make proper compost tea you need to suspend compost and plant matter in a big muslin bag and aerate the water with a bubbler or a jacuzzi pump. I hope this helped.
Actually a lot of beneficial bacteria are anaerobic, for example bokashi composting creates incredible compost for the garden using an anaerobic process :)
I love your videos, 😊 I learned something new everytime I watched it
as always an excellent video, and some exceptional advice. Thank you very much for the Spanish subtitles. greetings from Argentina
That was so much incredible information.
Thanks so much from Aussie.
You're very welcome! Glad it's useful :)
Im starting to grow my own veg very soon 🌎🌸 your information is so helpful and very appreciated.
Brilliant! Glad you find it helpful. Good luck with your growing!
What a beautiful, informative and well made video Huw. Excellent!!
Thank you so much. That's lovely to hear
Thanks for all the great information- time to put my beds to sleep.
You're welcome! :)
Brilliant video! Learning all about different plant juices and compost. Plus helpful how to prepare my raised bed. As new gardener the Video's have be very helpful thank u.
I'm so pleased to hear it!! I tried to fit in as much as possible in this video😊🌱
Bright video! I would put 10 "likes" if I could. Let God be helpfull to you with all your good work and givings!
Just as you said, by this days I decided (for the first time) that I must use ALL of materials that I collected (leftovers from veggies, grass, weeds, green and brown leaves, branches from pruning, tree peel,...) and that I can additionaly find in my neighborhood (not used lands). And I am feeling very hapy about that.
Much of matterial I have used for mulching garden beds.
I have use all weeds, even with seeds - when it was submerged under water for a few months, their seeds become dead (and consenquently - not harmfull) and I got shining liquid compost that smells almost as nettle compost, with much of nutrients for my next-year veggies and fruits.
Only one dillema I have - will liquid compost be useful at spring if it got frozen? I have no room for saving much of it through the winter.
You mentioned carrot top fermentation, I couldn't find that instructions. Please post it sometime
always enjoyable huw well done
"Put it in a place where there is no frost and in February..." lol, by that time here we are at -10 to -15 F and frozen solid. Unfortunately, I dont want these thing stinking up my basement (the only cool place that isnt frozen). That being said, I'm very interested in the fermented weeds.
Same! Always a little jealous of some of these UA-cam gardeners that live in more temperate climates. It seems they can grow just about anything.
Can i just cover my raised beds with a thick layer of shredded leaves before winter?
What do you think of covering all of my in-ground garden beds with fallen leaves, and then covering everything with a tarp until Spring. Would that work well?
I did that with my beds last fall, and it worked beautifully. Lots of worms and critters living under the mulch, and it all disappears eventually, integrated into the soil. Good luck!
Awesome information. Thank you.
Thanks again xx
Very useful Huw, thanks!
It's my pleasure!😊
I loved this video. This is the first time I've watched your content and am now subscribing. Thanks 😊
Awh thanks you so much I'm so glad to hear it!😊
Been putting off sorting all the finished plants into the compost (its a bit depressing!) - this helped me get off my backside, cheers!
Best of luck Jordan!
This is the first I've seen these videos....very informative. The host is articulate and knowledgeable! Thank you!
Very beautiful 👍👌🌱
Thanks :)!
Thank you for these timely tips! I now have a weekend to-do list! Question: can rotted chicken manure 3 years scold be safely used with veg?
Be sure to peel back the mulch and leaves a couple weeks before planting. Otherwise doodle bugs, and snails eat little plants! - From central Texas.