Hey Kevin, you mentioned tracking the sun in here. I use this, since I try to design living spaces around the sun. www.suncalc.org/#/47.7577,-122.3788,13/2020.08.31/15:45/1/3 It's a sun calculator that you can put any location in and any time of year. It's amazing to see how much the sun differs in winter vs summer, in my area. It even shows you where the sun reaches maximum "height".
Can absolutely confirm the neighborhood gardener. I was on a walk in my neighborhood and I always noticed this one house had perfectly manicured plants in the front yard. One day the old man (80+ with a thick German accent) was outside and he waved and I said "I love your Clematis!". He immediately started talking about where he got them, how old they were, the name of the cultivar... etc. 5 minutes later he had invited me into his back yard and was showing me literally every plant he had and the history of them. His wife brought us tea and we sat there talking about plants for 40-50 minutes. Nowadays we chat often and he is always asking me what I'm growing and how the plants are doing. He has also suggested several types of things for my various sun levels and even taught me how to properly trim my Azaleas. His name is Benjamin and we are still friends today. I have a bed of Tulips that are, no joke, the largest Tulip plants I have ever seen anywhere in my 43 years. I am always looking at other people's Tulips and they are never anywhere near the size of my monsters. I credit Benjamin and his soil advice. Anyway, if you get a chance to, try to say hi to anyone in your neighborhood who looks like they know what they're doing when it comes to plants. As Kevin said, they will be thrilled that someone else noticed all their hard work.
My plant journey started when a coworker took a cutting off a plant and stuck it in water and it grew roots. It wowed me so much that I/we now have 5 plants around the office and 9 cuttings being propagated by the window 😅 It’s really brightened up the department and everyone has “their” plant!
I wish i got into gardening when my grandpa was still alive cause he was definitely an epic gardener. I remember wondering why he was taping branches on the apple tree and 9 years later i learned thats called grafting lol.
I feel this way, too. My grandpa was an amazing gardener and raised birds. I had zero interest, even though he was more than willing to share his knowledge, had I just let him. Now here I am with a chicken coop and a garden and really wishing I had soaked up his wealth of knowledge (and maybe more importantly, that limited bonding time).
I can't believe I used to raise decent gardens without mulching. But since I discovered using my grass cuttings as mulch, the world got so much simpler!!! :)
My grass clippings are loaded with weeds and bugs 🐛 . But it DOES work for me! I put my clippings around all of my fruit trees, lilacs, irises and in my garden! On the first layer of clippings, a weed here or there might pop up. But by that time, it's time to mow again. So I'll add another layer of clippings. Weeds need light to grow, so I rarely have weeds pop up after the second layer. Black plastic or weed barrier works but you miss out on the nutrients when the clippings break down. When we have little rainfall and clippings are even more scarce, I have laid out a bail of straw, hay and or alfalfa and mow over it with my mower and use that for mulch. Yes, I could skip mowing over said bales and lay it down that way, but mowing said bales makes for a denser mulch, hence letting zero light in, for the weeds to grow. I might add, alfalfa is by far the best, next to grass/weed clippings. The nutrients your get from alfalfa and even grass clippings, is absolutely amazing. As far as bugs, whatever bugs you have in your yard the same will be in your garden. So I'm not introducing anything new by using clippings. Bales, maybe, but not clippings. I rarely have to use organic cold pressed neem oil spray but when I do I only use it in the area its needed. Any left over spray I store in the fridge or I'll use it as a preventative, in the soil, around my flowers, bulbs, rhizomes, trees, etc. Again, without light, weeds don't have a chance. As far a weeds in the sping...in the fall, you can cover your garden area with black plastic or weed barrier to have less weeds in spring. But I have very little so I don't even bother.
Rather than planting only veggies I like to eat, I decided on plants I wanted to grow and then learned to like them. That’s how I learned to love radishes and asparagus.
Asperigus is the best and is almost no work every year you can also try to plant strawberries in your asperigus bed it helps with moisture and they help each other
Just wanna say, as a first time gardener--you're gonna make mistakes. Don't let the fear of doing things wrong keep you from starting. If you're having trouble getting started and it feels overwhelming--just put something in the ground and water it. I've had plenty of plants die or fail to produce in my first year, but I've also had lots of little miracles, including sprouted potatoes and onions that became actual crops in my garden with little effort or knowledge! There are no failures, just opportunities to learn something. You'll overwater, underwater, lose plants to disease and insects, and you'll also have amazing things happen that you didn't expect! Try things and learn as you go, nobody gets it all right the first time :)
The cold and low light conditions pretty much means no gardening from oktober til march. Not often jealous but if there's one thing I wanna do that would be moving further south. I don't personally do photosynthesis but I feel their pain :p
So awesome Erick!! I am sure you will do great if you follow Kevin's tips. (The one about asking gardeners who have been doing this a while is really true. We love to talk about plants and gardening.😊) The Discord chat sounds really fun, too. Happy growing and good eating and some pretty flowers, too! (Pollinators ❤ flowers. 🌻🐝🪰🌺)
Keep in mind keeping a journal or spreadsheet on how things go can help you analyze what may be going wrong or even what is making something work really well. It can help you keep track of smaller details you won't expect to remember next season.
My husband and I have been gardening for about five years now. In the last three years, we've turned the tiny postage stamp of hard pack dirt in our front yard into something that resembles and forest garden. We had an incredible peach harvest last year, which was wonderful because our peach tree was nothing but a 4' sick with three leaves on it when we got it, but we definitely struggle with annual food crops. We had an ok carrot and radish harvest, and we pulled in a decent amount of blue corn and yellow squash, but our broccoli, kale, pumpkin, tomatoes, peppers, passion fruit, eggplant, cucumbers, strawberries, and blackberries all failed. I think there were others, but I can't remember. Thanks for the tips, Kevin. Hopefully we do even better this year. We need grow lights to start our seeds, as our last frost isn't until early June.
I've always studied what I needed to do, then threw that out the window and did whatever I felt like. 🙄 I'm doing way better this year! I've grown a few things in the past, but this year I'm going for epic! 🎉
Last year 2020 was my first real garden. I grew everything from seeds and it amazed me when I realized what a miracle gardening is. I have learned so much from you!
When i see this video, my bad days as a gardener come back to my mind, its horrible. Me of 9 years old was the most revomit gardener, but now (14) im a little bit better (i think)
Thanks--I was in my school's greenhouse club waaaaay back in high school, but I haven't had the space, time or money to do my own gardening again until 5 years ago, and now I'm doing container gardening on my balconies, and don't have access to a nicely set up greenhouse, so I've got a lot to learn and re-learn!
In my 60+ years of gardening, I've learned more from mistakes than from what I did right! :-) “The only source of knowledge is experience.” Albert Einstein
Ohiogardner can you send me your info I have so many questions we just bought our house in bakersfield 6 months ago and I want to plant some flowers in our front yard but the dirt looks like its been mixed hair sand and half dirt. Help what do I do?
Yuuuuuup this is verbatim what I did last year. I'm in zone 5 and I planted both too early and too late, I committed to projects that weren't realistic for my back, I threw everything in whatever soil was closest to me, I had containers way out beyond the reach of my hose, I took up space with stuff I don't eat. This year I'm looking closely at my schedule and designing where to put things. I've also got a plan for filler crops with my lettuces and onions, and some pollinator friendly flowers, so that I can diversify my containers and grow more of the things we eat a lot of. And I'm going to try to grow four tomato plants with plenty of room instead of 30 struggling ones. This is my promise to myself lol
@@epicgardeningI’m in zone 6b (rochester ny) and my tomatoes are doing so well my dad (vegetable expert) was tellin me exactly how to get the best yield he talked for 30 minutes with me about it over the phone 😂😂😂
Many of my friends are much older and wiser than me, and a few of them are gardeners! They give me a lot of advice and even leftover plants! They are so sweet and I'm so grateful to be learning from experienced people. Them, along with videos like these will hopefully lead me to a much better garden this year! Thanks for posting :-)
Awesome video as always. I have a small plot a while away from my home here in Croatia and access to water was a bit of a nightmare, until I remembered about gravity fed irrigation. A large barrel about a meter off the ground and split throughout the plot with drip emitters is really one of the best ways to do it if you don't have easy access to that sweet h2o. And if it's set up right, it can be a real set and forget kind of system that can last a few days even. Maybe make a video about it if it's something you think would be useful for folks.
i’m a beginner and something i struggle with is stressing about my plants, just breathe man, everything will work out, you can solve your problems, but you gotta keep your head up and happy, it translates into the fruits of your labor!
I was definitely planning on renting an enclosed uhaul box truck. They are so handy when moving. But I got experience moving before I started gardening. Moved 4 times already, and the longest move was from DC to San Clemente, CA with a 2 week stop in WI. My next move will hopefully be less than 30 miles.
I love that you mentioned not growing what you won't eat. I just had this conversation with my husband the other day about how ridiculous the most recommended plants are. Most of the time it's herbs that people rarely use on a regular basis. 😂
6 is such good advice! My parents have always grown squash, zucchini, and cucumbers with great success, but they don't enjoy any of those vegetables. They pick them, sit on the counter until they spoil. When planning my first garden in our own house, my husband said " why don't we learn to grow the vegetables we like, even if they are more difficult to grow. We'll learn to get better over time " What a genius idea! I wish I had thought of it myself! 😅
If someone went to my grandparents house and asked about gardening... I don't think they would make it out without seeing the hot bed, potato cellar, canning room, orchard, mulching system, tool room, and of course the gardens. Papaw would be thrilled, slap on his back brace, and come to their house to check in on them routinely.
@@carolynloar3704 well what're you worried about?:) I'll relay a concern and see what he says:) Like what do you want to grow? How much sunlight will your garden get? And what grow zone are you in?:)
Last year 2020 was my first real garden. I grew everything from seeds and it amazed me when I realized what a miracle gardening is. I have learned so much from you!
A couple years ago we started a garden in our new location. We were so eager to plant tomatoes so we did nearly 20 varieties in a very small space. We had a problem: too much shade. We did much research and didn't find much except one guy grew tomatoes in shade, though he didn't recommend it. So we grew the tomatoes anyway, hoping for the best. They really sucked. Got half a dozen off most plants. it was incredibly sad. though we learned the hard way. We had some other successes though, that year. Tomatillos and peppers did great, in spite of the shade. So we've learned since then how to garden with so much shade. - A cold climate gardener.
I feel personally attacked with this video. 😂. Last year I did EVERYTHING WRONG. Hoping for better results this year with all I’ve learned from Kevin in the last 10 months. 🤞
I'm a new gardener, I didn't think I'd become one...With my bad hay fever but I'm loving it. I'm in the process of killing my lawn and converting it to a full blown vegetable garden. Your videos have helped me so much!
Great advice! Everything looks so colorful and tasty and I'm jealous because we're currently under two feet of snow with at least a week of below zero temps on the way. Spring time truly is a re-awakening here in Iowa.
Great tip about checking with others! In Florida, the Univ of FL extension office has month by month info on what to plant when by region. A great way to check your growing season in warmer climates is your local extension office. Some will offer classes while others will offer online advice from horticulturists and master gardeners.
I tried last year for the first time, too! Ended up letting my garden get overgrown because weeding was a NIGHTMARE. I would get exhausted trying to grab all of the ridiculously THICK weeds that would grow. I will be tilling my garden here in a couple weeks, then I think I will be setting up my pathways to where I will get little to no weeds in them. Which will HELP SO MUCH. Ugh.
@@LordOfTheRings897 Don't till...that will just result in more weeds as their seeds are brought to the top of the soil profile. Have a look at the "no dig" gardening on Charles Dowding's site. Top your soil with about 2 inches of compost and mulch heavily to prevent the weed seeds getting access to sunlight. If they are really bad lay down a layer of cardboard and put about 4 inches of compost on top of that and then mulch. You will be surprised at your success.
Yep last year was my first year! i grew 2 tomatoes and a jalapeño, out of both tomato plants they only yielded about 5 tomatoes, knowing what i know now... there heavy feeders! I just went out and got about 6 packets of seeds and i’m starting them all from a seedling this year! i’m hoping for the best
You did exactly the right thing with beets, IMO. Let them grow crowded and "thin" them as you harvest the young ones. Beets push away from each other as they grow, and keeping them together and harvesting the young, immature ones for greens and small beets, and leaving the next "burn" in the ground is the most efficient way I've found to grow beets.
i got a big bale of straw from a neighbor, good thing about living near farmers. one year later and i still have sooo much left for both my bunnies and garden. i usually mulch potted plants with weeds
I'm in the Netherlands and we barely get any snow during winter, but the last two days it has been snowing in the middle of spring. What is this weather. I am so glad I didn't put my poor seedlings outside yet last week when it was super warm and sunny.
Containers on wheels you can bring inside? Plant lights? If you have at least some degree of temp control some plants can be cared for indoors all year long pretty much. It’s limiting for options but there are options
I didn't realize other gardeners will talk your ears off too. I thought it was just me. Ive noticed my neighbors drift off while im talking. I so much just want to share my joy of gardening with them. I grow everything in the front yard. So quite visible to everyone. I constantly get comments from passerbys saying how nice the garden looks. I've got seven of the tall eight in one raised garden beds from birdees. This allows me to grow the vegetables up higher and seperatly from the flowers which all go in ground. All around the raised beds. I have one surrounded by chives, both garlic and onion.
Growing up, my mom, for some reason, put the garden she wanted to grow pretty far from the house. Like, it was an acre plot of land, the house was about a third of the way back from the road and the garden was created another third back from there. And that isn't a lot, not really, but when it's very hot in the summer and there is absolutely no shade and the nearest water source is a third of an acre away...it's not fun. I thought I hated gardening, but it turns out I just hated unnecessarily inconvenient gardening. ON a different note, I'm house hunting right now and trying to find a yard that has good sunlight, but one of the things I'm concerned about, being in the rustbelt, is finding out there's something dangerous in the soil, like lead or aesbestos. On the off chance you read this, do you have any tips for what you can do to deal with finding out really bad things about your soil? (Can you get a soil test done before you buy a house?)
Most state colleges/universities have soil testing facilities. Your local Extension office should be able to point you in the right direction. However, you might want to just create you garden with raised beds and/or containers. Then, you control what you're growing in so the native soil doesn't matter as much. You can even try to budget the cost of the garden into your house/remodeling budget. I wish you luck in your quest. 😊
You can make your contract subject to a satisfactory (to you) soil test just as you might make it subject to finance approval. If they object you can either return at night and take one anyway or you can keep looking elsewhere. They must have a reason for refusing and it probably means they know something they don't want you to find out.
Can't advise on how to get a soil test but I've always been a fan of raised beds as a good way to make sure you have complete control over what kind of soil your plants are growing in - which is very useful if you've got poor quality soil underneath you. Growing up our soil wasn't contaminated but it was just a very, very thin layer on top of heavy clay so you couldn't grow anything other than grass, weeds and trees without providing your own soil, and raised beds are perfect for that.
My garden went Fallow last year, it got inundated with Cabbage flies and Gnats. We redesigned it this year and have 4ft tall raised bed this year. 60 boxes we made from Cedar fencing. We also added low sprinkle water system, so it gets the plants near the bottom of plant instead of spraying from above. We live in the mountains and also have to deal with Moles, rabbits ect. So we put a 7 ft tall fencing.
I think my problem is asking other people for help, honestly. Like my whole life I've relied on people and I just wanted to do something and have something that was just mine. So asking others to help me is just.... But I do appreciate the knowledge, so I'm learning to be more active on the discord and FB page, cuz Google van only help you so far
If you struggle on asking for help, seeking knowledge via books and the internet counts as well. Take advantage of the knowledge people share of their own experiences. Just try to get info that is as localized as you can.
Trust me, I get it!! I can be WAY too "independent" sometimes. However, I would like to offer a different perspective that helped me be more open to asking others for help. When you receive information from others, that doesn't make your garden any less your own. YOU still make the decisions: where to plant, how much to plant, when to plant, what to grow & which varieties, how much fertilizer & what type or no fertilizer at all, how to deal or not deal with pests & diseases. Knowledge is power, my friend. The more informed you are, the more successful you will be. But, that knowledge will not EVER replace the decisions that YOU make for your garden. AND, unless you choose to physically allow someone else to help you, you & ONLY you are responsible for your decisions! Plus, since Nature will ALWAYS teach us what we least want to learn (& usually when we least want to learn it!), is "our garden" ever really ours to begin with? I try to remind myself that I am just Nature's caretaker. The more knowledge I have, the better capable I am of fulfilling my role. I can make more informed decisions, have more freedom to express myself & truly enjoy what I am doing. Then, someday when I have experience to share, I am "paying forward" all of the experience that I was blessed to receive back when I knew oh so little. Gardening is a gift of knowledge. No one & noThing can ever take that from us.
Planting too late in the spring can be a problem also. My garden grows but doesn't produce at 5000 ft above sea level in mid July thru mid-late Sept when the temperature is 95° f either.
My first year gardening and already I've learned not to take on too many plants at once! I'll be focusing on a few easier crops going forward. Also, distance and water are spot on! I would up putting a secondary garden within walking distance of the house for easy access. I notice how much better the crop looks because I'm getting to it more often
My garden/little farm is 3km away from my home with no water source available at the location. I have to carry water in 20L cans or petbottles. Yet, that hasn't stopped me from getting amazing yield even from some plants which do like a lot water like cucumbers or tomatoes. What I have realized is, trees are pretty strong at surviving and even if you don't provide them optimum conditions they can still grow and give you results. Just now I have a coriander in my garden which did perfectly fine throughout the winter and even tolerated one heavy snowfall!! Nature is amazing!
Fruit trees just came in here yesterday. I went today to look and the prices were triple what I paid last year for the same trees. I hope this isn't the case when the other stores get them.
9:00 If you happen to grow something you dont like or are like me and sow way more than you can actually consume within the time period between harvest and rot, consider charities like food banks. They love some nice nutritious veggies for those who are in need.
This channel changed my life. I now grow a lot of food (GREW STUFF FROM SEED FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR), and I’m lucky that we have enough places for me to experiment and try things. It’s been my project over the lockdowns, and my 17th birthday gift was a cold frame (they are awesome, I really needed some warmer spaces for my tomatoes), and most people are shocked with how quickly I’ve progressed. I love helping stuff grow.
Fun fact: 2:11 a fireplace built on the outside of a wall like that loses more heat to the outside than it puts into your room. It might be a dismal spot for a garden bed, but that'd be a great spot for a little bedroom or study - any room you normally use after dark, so it doesn't matter that the room never gets direct sun either.
I’ve been growing stuff for a year or two now and I haven’t had any huge harvest, being in a small apartment doesn’t allow much but living in a 10b climate in south Florida, no one tells you that the hardiness zone is only based off of cold. No one says that the plants that northern people grow in the summer, is what I can grow in the winter!!! I love this video, it’s the first time I’ve heard someone actually spell it out and I appreciate it :)
Regarding the mulch, as someone who works with horses, I would suggest seeing if there is a ( large ) stable or a barn nearby, big bags of hay often have a lot of bits that are to short to be efficiently fed to the horses, so it stays in the plastic and gets thrown out, but it would make for really good mulch, as it is the exact consistency of the stuff you are using. It might be a little more of a hassle though as you would have to collect it yourself and you would have to 'wait' for a pack to be empty. Though the barn I work at has approximately 25-30 horses ( depending on the amount of horses that are sold and foals that are born ) and they go trough a pack in 2 days in winter, in summer it takes longer, because they are out on the pasture and don't require as much
I’m 19. Always thought gardening was stupid honestly. Over this summer I have a new found love for it thought and idk why. Your videos have kept my garden alive though. Hoping to feed thousands one day
Awesome vid!!! I made all of those mistakes 🤣, but today I harvested a decent size daikon radish, and it tasted good!! Blanched the greens and added it to our kim chee jar and will eat the root part maybe in a soy sauce based broth. Never would've gotten such an epic (well, epic for me) harvest without your channel!!! Thank you!!!
First try was spring 2021 and almost total success we grew tomatoes potatoes kale carrots green beans and green peppers successfully zucchini and summer squash didn't do well but I've since learned how to hand pollinate
Well said! Where I live in Alberta Canada the growing season is June -sept generally speaking. Over the years I have sort of homed in on plants that grow and produce FAST! When I first attempted a garden I planted tomatoes,which was fine,but I planted large varieties and simply ran out of time for them to ripen. Now I just plant tomatoes (like cherry types) that will at least ripen some of their fruits before the cold hits. It can make gardening a lot more fun once you just know what will grow in your area and what is a purely experimental exercise if you try it. I love to try season extending things,but sooner than later it’s -20c outside.😂
Plus it was way too wet for a decent garden last year. Was a swamp in our region and unless you are indoors it really sucks losing crops to weather or short growing season.
4:48 I'm obsessed with Mulch, I'm a Mulchinator. And it is awesome. Im Mulch everything, except my cornflakes :-P I use the grass (? - no native english speaker, sry) after lawning with my lawn mower. Just be sure, to lawn before some grass or clover is blooming or you have a very bad time :-D (lots of weeds in your bed)
I've been gardening all my life and I'm still so obsessed 💖 Once a gardener, always a gardener! I even have a farm now so I can't wait to fill it with plants
I'm in 9b in Florida and it has gotten sub-30's hear the last few years. About 7 years ago, it almost got into the teens. Usually only for a few days to a week, then it's usually 40's-50's. But it still gets cold here during the winter. Not usually, but it does.
Just started my first garden in March (in Texas). Thank you so much for all your helpful videos and your website. My garden is doing well with some diseases that your website has helped me recognize and i can hopefully get them taken care of so i dont loose some plants.
Preserve cilantro: chop very very fine; pack into an ice cube tray; fill with water; pack tightly; freeze; put into baggie; you now have 1-2 teaspoons of fresh-frozen cilantro to add to your cooking. Works great with soups, and skillet meals, also with cilantro lime rice. Just always take the extra water of the melting ice cube into account. ❤️🌱
@@dodopson3211 lol! I’m guessing that those that think cilantro tastes like soap probably wouldn’t be wanting to grow it for food, much less preserve it. 😂😂😂
@@kitdubhran2968 true, except novices who didn't know they are the "lucky" owners of the genes responsible for the soapy taste 🤭 we found out the hard way that it's not the type of herb we want to grow.
Oh yeah people are waking up now to see the importance of homesteading. I just started this year and hope to learn as much as I can. I am learning quickly that full sun in Texas is hard on any plant even super hardy plants. I’ve already been chatting up Charles Dowding recently too lol. He is like a magic gardener. Thank you for your awesome videos!
Sometimes "inconvenient locations" creep up on you. When we got our latest batch of pullets, I had no idea how pesky they would be compared to the adult heavy hens. I have had to fortify my chicken exclusion zones with so much chicken wire and bird netting, that accessing them is a pain in you know what, lol!
Here in Egypt weather doesn’t change much. You can grow a cactus in winter. So really I can plant whatever plant I want any time. But I’ll make sure to choose wisely outside the country
My mother moved from Michigan to Houston, Texas a few years ago and she is an avid gardener with a green thumb and loves to grow herbs, veggies, plus a bird and butterfly garden. She was very knowledgeable for her zone and region in Michigan but it’s been very challenging finding things that she can grow in Houston area where it’s 100+ for weeks at a time. She does two gardening seasons now in spring and fall and has found some heat hardy plants that butterflies and hummingbirds like. But it took a lot of research and some trial and error to find out what worked and what didn’t since she spent 60+ years in one zone and had to adapt to another
You literally got me into gardening last year and here i am into my second year! Thank you! Your knowledge has honestly been the best help and gardening has become a source of therapy for me.
So glad to see this out so quick! Love how responsive and accepting you are to your communities suggestions. Great video Epic Kevin, I've made every single one of these mistakes XD
It's a little silly to worry about if you "like" something if you're starving. There's a reason people look up the quickest thing to grow. Nutrients and calories.
Rodent bedding from the pet store makes for AWESOME mulch for small spaces. It's kiln-dried to kill any pathogens, and one package goes farther than you might think. Plus the fact that it's totally dry means if you have to store it, it's not going to get moldy. It's more expensive than a lot of other mulches, but for me, it's been totally worth it.
I started new beds last year in full Sun. I did have to carry water. Everyday. I used my cart n could fit 2 five gallon buckets and 2 two gallon buckets and than filled the cart. Other day I had to fill 2 carts. I am like a block away from the house. It was worth all the work. I had a huge harvest and got some extra exercise. This year I am running a hose back there. Was a lot of work. And many days I did not NOT want to carry water. But I knew how important it was I nurtured my food source. My plants gave back so much n I thanked them Everytime I took from them.. I also talk to my plants.
Gardening tip, don't buy a 7 dollar microgreen kit from a dollar store unless you wanna use the soil it came with for mulch.. Because it's just mulch and seeds.
I really don't like kale, but I did plant a couple different kinds in the hopes that I kind find one that works for me. And if I don't like them, at least they look cool.
We started with hydroponic lettuce and had the same revolting experience. I appreciate that you have a practice of "get it done, not perfect"-like with the hose-splitter until you can get your irrigation ready. It's encouraging as a new gardener to see that not everything has to be just right at first!
Asking? In Australia, where I live, many cities have gardening clubs /organisations that have monthly meetings and annual events. In Brisbane, the organisation is BOGI (Brisbane Organic Growers Incorporated; the acronym is a play on a soil condition) set up by contemporaries of Bill Mollison. I learnt a lot from the collected wisdom and from those who had contagious enthusiasm for growing organically. While BOGI has predominantly older members, it also has younger members (some grandparentsbring their grandchildren occasionally) who can teach their elders a thing or two.
Very considerate and informative. Thank you! Man I live in Tennessee and I can't wait for my planting season to start. I started stuff like kiwi and borage already but will transfer them later on. Got plenty of seeds to introduce to the ground this year. I cant wait to try and attempt bringing luffa gourd to life. Thank you for being an inspiring person!
I'm in south central Kentucky, you might want to think about starting your luffa plants soon inside as they're such a long grower. If you can make a ball of damp potting mix (snowball style) you can reduce root disturbance when transplanting. Or wrapping some potting soil in a single layer of cotton cheese cloth and then you can just put the whole ball into your planting spot. Think I'll be doing that tomorrow!
The first thing I ever grew was a tomato plant that I ended up with almost on accident, and even though I have never liked tomatoes, I discovered that I loved growing them. Now I grow things I actually eat, but I’ll always grow tomatoes too out of tradition. I love giving them away.
Love to over sow certain crops. Beets for one. You thin them and get beautiful baby greens to cook! Love, love, love baby beet greens! Baby carrots! Chard, spinach... ect😍😍
With the world going in its current direction, growing fruits and veg should be considered prime knowledge. I'm starting small with a single tomato plant.. want to gain some confidence and go slow, but I'm enjoying everything so far! Great content 👌
The first plant I ever tried to grow was habanero plants, spent all this time and effort researching how to grow them, and (like most people) couldnt even eat them, haha. Was a fun learning experience and now im my friend groups "salsa guy" since salsa was the only thing i did with them. Growing tomatos this year and im taking what i learned and am doing better with them.
I have that exact issue w water. One spigot on the side of the house that's away from my garden. I solved it the same way w the 2 long hoses. I admit I was lazy and planted directly into my soil without prepping it and luckily my plants liked it. Whew. Mulch arriving next week. I don't love leaf mulch. Mines loaded w ticks and such and I like pre-screened denser mulch better but whatever works for everyone
My best producing garden was a 4ft x 4ft square foot salad garden. 🥗 2 types of lettuce, 3 types of tomatoes, cucumber, small carrots... I'm doing another one this year because the last two bigger beds sucked
Last year I grew up tomatoes 🍅 , Jalapeño and herbs. I did not got much of it, but they taste good. This years I’m stepping my game and I’m growing lots of more stuff.
Happily I didn’t make these mistakes. Lots of these things are actually prevent by one simple thing: pots. Since I ain’t allowed to take over my parents garden I have to grow in pots, I can move them to warmer, darker, lighter, colder etc places. And I got farmer blood so I got a lot of places to ask for help :)
Hang out with more Epic Gardeners in our Discord server: discord.gg/UPNuGHBeYr
Anyone here on Clubhouse?
Hey Kevin, you mentioned tracking the sun in here. I use this, since I try to design living spaces around the sun. www.suncalc.org/#/47.7577,-122.3788,13/2020.08.31/15:45/1/3
It's a sun calculator that you can put any location in and any time of year. It's amazing to see how much the sun differs in winter vs summer, in my area. It even shows you where the sun reaches maximum "height".
Can you do some vids on micro greens and which are the most nutritious. I’ve heard sprouts and cauliflower
make that north facing wall the 100f retreat.
This discord will be my new home. A place with like minded people. Finally I can have some real time chats with others! :)
Can absolutely confirm the neighborhood gardener. I was on a walk in my neighborhood and I always noticed this one house had perfectly manicured plants in the front yard. One day the old man (80+ with a thick German accent) was outside and he waved and I said "I love your Clematis!". He immediately started talking about where he got them, how old they were, the name of the cultivar... etc. 5 minutes later he had invited me into his back yard and was showing me literally every plant he had and the history of them. His wife brought us tea and we sat there talking about plants for 40-50 minutes.
Nowadays we chat often and he is always asking me what I'm growing and how the plants are doing. He has also suggested several types of things for my various sun levels and even taught me how to properly trim my Azaleas. His name is Benjamin and we are still friends today. I have a bed of Tulips that are, no joke, the largest Tulip plants I have ever seen anywhere in my 43 years. I am always looking at other people's Tulips and they are never anywhere near the size of my monsters. I credit Benjamin and his soil advice.
Anyway, if you get a chance to, try to say hi to anyone in your neighborhood who looks like they know what they're doing when it comes to plants. As Kevin said, they will be thrilled that someone else noticed all their hard work.
this comment made me happy
I aspire to be that old man someday
This is so wholesome
So, all I have to do is walk up to the magical garden lady and say hello and enjoy tea??! I'm on it....
SPILL THE SOIL SECRETS!!
My plant journey started when a coworker took a cutting off a plant and stuck it in water and it grew roots.
It wowed me so much that I/we now have 5 plants around the office and 9 cuttings being propagated by the window 😅
It’s really brightened up the department and everyone has “their” plant!
That’s the best way to get into gardening : having someone take your hand and show you really how easy it is. Cut, put in water, wait, roots !
Incredible definitely some new age vibes
That's awesome!
What plant(s) are you using?
@@Dr.la.pena28 idk some would argue gardening and plant life be definite old world vibes.....
I wish i got into gardening when my grandpa was still alive cause he was definitely an epic gardener. I remember wondering why he was taping branches on the apple tree and 9 years later i learned thats called grafting lol.
That's awesome
I feel this way, too. My grandpa was an amazing gardener and raised birds. I had zero interest, even though he was more than willing to share his knowledge, had I just let him. Now here I am with a chicken coop and a garden and really wishing I had soaked up his wealth of knowledge (and maybe more importantly, that limited bonding time).
Me too. My grandfather always had peppers, tomatoes and beans.
Was thinking the same today by grandma was a pro at gardening. My mum is too but she is in Africa 🤣🤣
I miss grandpa’s garden too he gave me a BB gun and told me to shoot robins.
I can't believe I used to raise decent gardens without mulching. But since I discovered using my grass cuttings as mulch, the world got so much simpler!!! :)
I am worried about using grass clippings, do you have a lot of trouble with weeds and bugs?
@@teampenit exactly what I was thinking
My grass clippings are loaded with weeds and bugs 🐛 . But it DOES work for me!
I put my clippings around all of my fruit trees, lilacs, irises and in my garden!
On the first layer of clippings, a weed here or there might pop up. But by that time, it's time to mow again. So I'll add another layer of clippings.
Weeds need light to grow, so I rarely have weeds pop up after the second layer.
Black plastic or weed barrier works but you miss out on the nutrients when the clippings break down.
When we have little rainfall and clippings are even more scarce, I have laid out a bail of straw, hay and or alfalfa and mow over it with my mower and use that for mulch.
Yes, I could skip mowing over said bales and lay it down that way, but mowing said bales makes for a denser mulch, hence letting zero light in, for the weeds to grow.
I might add, alfalfa is by far the best, next to grass/weed clippings. The nutrients your get from alfalfa and even grass clippings, is absolutely amazing.
As far as bugs, whatever bugs you have in your yard the same will be in your garden. So I'm not introducing anything new by using clippings. Bales, maybe, but not clippings.
I rarely have to use organic cold pressed neem oil spray but when I do I only use it in the area its needed. Any left over spray I store in the fridge or I'll use it as a preventative, in the soil, around my flowers, bulbs, rhizomes, trees, etc.
Again, without light, weeds don't have a chance. As far a weeds in the sping...in the fall, you can cover your garden area with black plastic or weed barrier to have less weeds in spring. But I have very little so I don't even bother.
thats a great idea!
I’ve been using fall leaves and it’s great
Rather than planting only veggies I like to eat, I decided on plants I wanted to grow and then learned to like them. That’s how I learned to love radishes and asparagus.
Im planting tomatoes wish me luck😂😂🤢
@@thetongueofangels1882 If you've only ever eaten tomatoes from the supermarket, you'll discover that homegrown tomatoes have much better flavor.
Buttered bread, with a pinch of salt and slices of radish on top makes a wonderful snack.
Asperigus is the best and is almost no work every year you can also try to plant strawberries in your asperigus bed it helps with moisture and they help each other
@@thetongueofangels1882 As someone who loves tomatoes, I am deeply offended. Also goodluck!
Just wanna say, as a first time gardener--you're gonna make mistakes. Don't let the fear of doing things wrong keep you from starting. If you're having trouble getting started and it feels overwhelming--just put something in the ground and water it. I've had plenty of plants die or fail to produce in my first year, but I've also had lots of little miracles, including sprouted potatoes and onions that became actual crops in my garden with little effort or knowledge! There are no failures, just opportunities to learn something. You'll overwater, underwater, lose plants to disease and insects, and you'll also have amazing things happen that you didn't expect! Try things and learn as you go, nobody gets it all right the first time :)
"You colder climate gardeners have it easier" *Stares permafrostly
😂😂
LOL sorry
The cold and low light conditions pretty much means no gardening from oktober til march. Not often jealous but if there's one thing I wanna do that would be moving further south. I don't personally do photosynthesis but I feel their pain :p
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Right?! Lol I’ve got like 4 months of growing ha ha
This is helpful because I am a 13 all most 14 year old gardener that is kind of a beginner!!
You got this!
I started around that age too! I killed them all during repotting the first year🤣
Same!
So awesome Erick!! I am sure you will do great if you follow Kevin's tips. (The one about asking gardeners who have been doing this a while is really true. We love to talk about plants and gardening.😊) The Discord chat sounds really fun, too. Happy growing and good eating and some pretty flowers, too! (Pollinators ❤ flowers. 🌻🐝🪰🌺)
Keep in mind keeping a journal or spreadsheet on how things go can help you analyze what may be going wrong or even what is making something work really well. It can help you keep track of smaller details you won't expect to remember next season.
My husband and I have been gardening for about five years now. In the last three years, we've turned the tiny postage stamp of hard pack dirt in our front yard into something that resembles and forest garden. We had an incredible peach harvest last year, which was wonderful because our peach tree was nothing but a 4' sick with three leaves on it when we got it, but we definitely struggle with annual food crops. We had an ok carrot and radish harvest, and we pulled in a decent amount of blue corn and yellow squash, but our broccoli, kale, pumpkin, tomatoes, peppers, passion fruit, eggplant, cucumbers, strawberries, and blackberries all failed. I think there were others, but I can't remember. Thanks for the tips, Kevin. Hopefully we do even better this year. We need grow lights to start our seeds, as our last frost isn't until early June.
That is the story of every first time gardener, don't worry, keep trying
I've always studied what I needed to do, then threw that out the window and did whatever I felt like. 🙄 I'm doing way better this year! I've grown a few things in the past, but this year I'm going for epic! 🎉
Ha! I have done the same thing, with excellent results. Go with your gut. Gardening is supposed to be fun!
All plants really need is tlc ✅😁
All plants really need is tlc ✅😁
I just pulled my first potato harvest! 10 Potatoes turned into 130! 😁 Pumpkin seeds just went in they're place.
My best gardens were the least planned..all the info is retained somewhere..but yeah..my random way will always win out for me 😂
I lean on your knowledge so intensely that I'm surprised you haven't fallen over yet 😂💖
It's hard being the atlas of the garden 😂
He definitely gives some great tips lol
@@gardeningwithprincess I couldn't agree more!
😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Last year 2020 was my first real garden. I grew everything from seeds and it amazed me when I realized what a miracle gardening is. I have learned so much from you!
When i see this video, my bad days as a gardener come back to my mind, its horrible. Me of 9 years old was the most revomit gardener, but now (14) im a little bit better
(i think)
Thanks--I was in my school's greenhouse club waaaaay back in high school, but I haven't had the space, time or money to do my own gardening again until 5 years ago, and now I'm doing container gardening on my balconies, and don't have access to a nicely set up greenhouse, so I've got a lot to learn and re-learn!
In my 60+ years of gardening, I've learned more from mistakes than from what I did right! :-) “The only source of knowledge is experience.” Albert Einstein
your right
If he’s right then I’m left
Aaamen 👍!
I raised myself to fail at something before I try to exceed at the subject.
Ohiogardner can you send me your info I have so many questions we just bought our house in bakersfield 6 months ago and I want to plant some flowers in our front yard but the dirt looks like its been mixed hair sand and half dirt. Help what do I do?
Yuuuuuup this is verbatim what I did last year. I'm in zone 5 and I planted both too early and too late, I committed to projects that weren't realistic for my back, I threw everything in whatever soil was closest to me, I had containers way out beyond the reach of my hose, I took up space with stuff I don't eat. This year I'm looking closely at my schedule and designing where to put things. I've also got a plan for filler crops with my lettuces and onions, and some pollinator friendly flowers, so that I can diversify my containers and grow more of the things we eat a lot of. And I'm going to try to grow four tomato plants with plenty of room instead of 30 struggling ones. This is my promise to myself lol
You got this
We got that late frost though too, so dont take too much blame.
@@epicgardeningI’m in zone 6b (rochester ny) and my tomatoes are doing so well my dad (vegetable expert) was tellin me exactly how to get the best yield he talked for 30 minutes with me about it over the phone 😂😂😂
Many of my friends are much older and wiser than me, and a few of them are gardeners! They give me a lot of advice and even leftover plants! They are so sweet and I'm so grateful to be learning from experienced people. Them, along with videos like these will hopefully lead me to a much better garden this year! Thanks for posting :-)
Awesome video as always. I have a small plot a while away from my home here in Croatia and access to water was a bit of a nightmare, until I remembered about gravity fed irrigation. A large barrel about a meter off the ground and split throughout the plot with drip emitters is really one of the best ways to do it if you don't have easy access to that sweet h2o. And if it's set up right, it can be a real set and forget kind of system that can last a few days even. Maybe make a video about it if it's something you think would be useful for folks.
getting a heavy metal test to find out if it‘s funky? Now that‘s what I call the best of both worlds 🤟🏼🕺🏼
i’m a beginner and something i struggle with is stressing about my plants, just breathe man, everything will work out, you can solve your problems, but you gotta keep your head up and happy, it translates into the fruits of your labor!
"There is a certain limit upon which you can cram things in" sounds so poetic at first and then ends on "cram things"
I have been gardening for about 30 years, but there is always something to learn
My biggest mistake last year was taking my plants on a open trailer on a freeway when we moved. They did NOT like that. 🤣
I did that once too! Learned the hard way!
Gfuel has lead in it because the company planted spinach in a lead-rich environment
Ungrateful little plants. 😂
I was definitely planning on renting an enclosed uhaul box truck. They are so handy when moving.
But I got experience moving before I started gardening. Moved 4 times already, and the longest move was from DC to San Clemente, CA with a 2 week stop in WI. My next move will hopefully be less than 30 miles.
This made me spit out my tea, laughing. 🤣
I love that you mentioned not growing what you won't eat. I just had this conversation with my husband the other day about how ridiculous the most recommended plants are. Most of the time it's herbs that people rarely use on a regular basis. 😂
6 is such good advice! My parents have always grown squash, zucchini, and cucumbers with great success, but they don't enjoy any of those vegetables. They pick them, sit on the counter until they spoil.
When planning my first garden in our own house, my husband said " why don't we learn to grow the vegetables we like, even if they are more difficult to grow. We'll learn to get better over time " What a genius idea! I wish I had thought of it myself! 😅
If someone went to my grandparents house and asked about gardening... I don't think they would make it out without seeing the hot bed, potato cellar, canning room, orchard, mulching system, tool room, and of course the gardens. Papaw would be thrilled, slap on his back brace, and come to their house to check in on them routinely.
They sound wonderful ❤️
can I borrow your Papaw? lol I'm putting in my first garden next Spring and I'm nervous
@@michellekaiser4853 yeah I love them (^_^)♡ just went and got zucchini, tomatoes, peach and blackberry jam, and green beans :)
@@carolynloar3704 well what're you worried about?:) I'll relay a concern and see what he says:)
Like what do you want to grow? How much sunlight will your garden get? And what grow zone are you in?:)
Last year 2020 was my first real garden. I grew everything from seeds and it amazed me when I realized what a miracle gardening is. I have learned so much from you!
Indeed its a miracle!
A couple years ago we started a garden in our new location. We were so eager to plant tomatoes so we did nearly 20 varieties in a very small space. We had a problem: too much shade. We did much research and didn't find much except one guy grew tomatoes in shade, though he didn't recommend it. So we grew the tomatoes anyway, hoping for the best. They really sucked. Got half a dozen off most plants. it was incredibly sad. though we learned the hard way.
We had some other successes though, that year. Tomatillos and peppers did great, in spite of the shade. So we've learned since then how to garden with so much shade.
- A cold climate gardener.
I feel sorry for people not into gardening being with gardeners, we talk and talk about gardening
So true lol
Their eyes glaze over lol
straight up lmao, im sure it wont be long before someone just rips my head off bc i wont stfu about gardening
Thats my poor wife.
I'm like the gardening Borg you will be assimilated.
I feel personally attacked with this video. 😂. Last year I did EVERYTHING WRONG. Hoping for better results this year with all I’ve learned from Kevin in the last 10 months. 🤞
LOL you got this
Don't be discouraged! It's all about learning as you go and adjusting to make it even better next year.
I've murdered so many strawberry plants, trial and error my friend
OMG, me too! I was so sad...😢most things did not bloom, I resorted to hand pollination, did NOT work. This year is going to be succesful🥰🥬
Even 10 years in you can find out you have been doing things wrong! That's the beauty of gardening it is NEVER the same 2years in a row!
I'm a new gardener, I didn't think I'd become one...With my bad hay fever but I'm loving it. I'm in the process of killing my lawn and converting it to a full blown vegetable garden. Your videos have helped me so much!
"A plant isn't going to automatically die because it knows it's the wrong season to be planted in"
My Story of Seasons and Stardew Valley crops:
😂 I honestly think Stardew ignited my interest in gardening.
Thankfully the new Story of Seasons lets us plant in the winter now!
Well, Stardew has quite a harsh winter XD
I am here learning and interested growing my own veggies because of Stardew valley
Great advice! Everything looks so colorful and tasty and I'm jealous because we're currently under two feet of snow with at least a week of below zero temps on the way. Spring time truly is a re-awakening here in Iowa.
I legitimately laughed out loud when he said his brother almost threw up eating his cucumbers.
Great tip about checking with others! In Florida, the Univ of FL extension office has month by month info on what to plant when by region. A great way to check your growing season in warmer climates is your local extension office. Some will offer classes while others will offer online advice from horticulturists and master gardeners.
As one of the many gardeners who began last year (with mixed results), I appreciate this video a great deal.
I tried last year for the first time, too! Ended up letting my garden get overgrown because weeding was a NIGHTMARE. I would get exhausted trying to grab all of the ridiculously THICK weeds that would grow. I will be tilling my garden here in a couple weeks, then I think I will be setting up my pathways to where I will get little to no weeds in them. Which will HELP SO MUCH. Ugh.
@@LordOfTheRings897 Don't till...that will just result in more weeds as their seeds are brought to the top of the soil profile. Have a look at the "no dig" gardening on Charles Dowding's site. Top your soil with about 2 inches of compost and mulch heavily to prevent the weed seeds getting access to sunlight. If they are really bad lay down a layer of cardboard and put about 4 inches of compost on top of that and then mulch. You will be surprised at your success.
Yep last year was my first year! i grew 2 tomatoes and a jalapeño, out of both tomato plants they only yielded about 5 tomatoes, knowing what i know now... there heavy feeders! I just went out and got about 6 packets of seeds and i’m starting them all from a seedling this year! i’m hoping for the best
@@amandag9099 Good luck with it.
You did exactly the right thing with beets, IMO. Let them grow crowded and "thin" them as you harvest the young ones. Beets push away from each other as they grow, and keeping them together and harvesting the young, immature ones for greens and small beets, and leaving the next "burn" in the ground is the most efficient way I've found to grow beets.
“For the Love of the Grow”! Bam! Sounds like a perfect thing to put on your merch site for us Epic Sprouties! lol.
My garden is right out my back door and having it RIGHT. THERE. is super helpful.
You have gotten so much done on the new property in such a short amount of time! Thank you for the continued education and inspiration!
i got a big bale of straw from a neighbor, good thing about living near farmers. one year later and i still have sooo much left for both my bunnies and garden. i usually mulch potted plants with weeds
You’re talking about spring gardening and I’m here in Vermont buried in snow 😩 so jealous!
I'm in the Netherlands and we barely get any snow during winter, but the last two days it has been snowing in the middle of spring. What is this weather. I am so glad I didn't put my poor seedlings outside yet last week when it was super warm and sunny.
Containers on wheels you can bring inside? Plant lights? If you have at least some degree of temp control some plants can be cared for indoors all year long pretty much. It’s limiting for options but there are options
I didn't realize other gardeners will talk your ears off too. I thought it was just me. Ive noticed my neighbors drift off while im talking. I so much just want to share my joy of gardening with them. I grow everything in the front yard. So quite visible to everyone. I constantly get comments from passerbys saying how nice the garden looks. I've got seven of the tall eight in one raised garden beds from birdees. This allows me to grow the vegetables up higher and seperatly from the flowers which all go in ground. All around the raised beds. I have one surrounded by chives, both garlic and onion.
Growing up, my mom, for some reason, put the garden she wanted to grow pretty far from the house. Like, it was an acre plot of land, the house was about a third of the way back from the road and the garden was created another third back from there. And that isn't a lot, not really, but when it's very hot in the summer and there is absolutely no shade and the nearest water source is a third of an acre away...it's not fun. I thought I hated gardening, but it turns out I just hated unnecessarily inconvenient gardening.
ON a different note, I'm house hunting right now and trying to find a yard that has good sunlight, but one of the things I'm concerned about, being in the rustbelt, is finding out there's something dangerous in the soil, like lead or aesbestos. On the off chance you read this, do you have any tips for what you can do to deal with finding out really bad things about your soil? (Can you get a soil test done before you buy a house?)
I am also interested in it.
And who should do the soil test? What kind of a specialist?
Most state colleges/universities have soil testing facilities. Your local Extension office should be able to point you in the right direction. However, you might want to just create you garden with raised beds and/or containers. Then, you control what you're growing in so the native soil doesn't matter as much. You can even try to budget the cost of the garden into your house/remodeling budget. I wish you luck in your quest. 😊
You can make your contract subject to a satisfactory (to you) soil test just as you might make it subject to finance approval. If they object you can either return at night and take one anyway or you can keep looking elsewhere. They must have a reason for refusing and it probably means they know something they don't want you to find out.
Can't advise on how to get a soil test but I've always been a fan of raised beds as a good way to make sure you have complete control over what kind of soil your plants are growing in - which is very useful if you've got poor quality soil underneath you. Growing up our soil wasn't contaminated but it was just a very, very thin layer on top of heavy clay so you couldn't grow anything other than grass, weeds and trees without providing your own soil, and raised beds are perfect for that.
My garden went Fallow last year, it got inundated with Cabbage flies and Gnats. We redesigned it this year and have 4ft tall raised bed this year. 60 boxes we made from Cedar fencing. We also added low sprinkle water system, so it gets the plants near the bottom of plant instead of spraying from above.
We live in the mountains and also have to deal with Moles, rabbits ect. So we put a 7 ft tall fencing.
I always put mesh cloth on the bottom first. We have voles here in FL. And this prevents them from coming up into the bottom. 👍
I think my problem is asking other people for help, honestly. Like my whole life I've relied on people and I just wanted to do something and have something that was just mine. So asking others to help me is just....
But I do appreciate the knowledge, so I'm learning to be more active on the discord and FB page, cuz Google van only help you so far
If you struggle on asking for help, seeking knowledge via books and the internet counts as well. Take advantage of the knowledge people share of their own experiences. Just try to get info that is as localized as you can.
Trust me, I get it!! I can be WAY too "independent" sometimes. However, I would like to offer a different perspective that helped me be more open to asking others for help. When you receive information from others, that doesn't make your garden any less your own. YOU still make the decisions: where to plant, how much to plant, when to plant, what to grow & which varieties, how much fertilizer & what type or no fertilizer at all, how to deal or not deal with pests & diseases. Knowledge is power, my friend. The more informed you are, the more successful you will be. But, that knowledge will not EVER replace the decisions that YOU make for your garden. AND, unless you choose to physically allow someone else to help you, you & ONLY you are responsible for your decisions! Plus, since Nature will ALWAYS teach us what we least want to learn (& usually when we least want to learn it!), is "our garden" ever really ours to begin with? I try to remind myself that I am just Nature's caretaker. The more knowledge I have, the better capable I am of fulfilling my role. I can make more informed decisions, have more freedom to express myself & truly enjoy what I am doing. Then, someday when I have experience to share, I am "paying forward" all of the experience that I was blessed to receive back when I knew oh so little. Gardening is a gift of knowledge. No one & noThing can ever take that from us.
Planting too late in the spring can be a problem also. My garden grows but doesn't produce at 5000 ft above sea level in mid July thru mid-late Sept when the temperature is 95° f either.
My first year gardening and already I've learned not to take on too many plants at once! I'll be focusing on a few easier crops going forward. Also, distance and water are spot on! I would up putting a secondary garden within walking distance of the house for easy access. I notice how much better the crop looks because I'm getting to it more often
My garden/little farm is 3km away from my home with no water source available at the location. I have to carry water in 20L cans or petbottles. Yet, that hasn't stopped me from getting amazing yield even from some plants which do like a lot water like cucumbers or tomatoes. What I have realized is, trees are pretty strong at surviving and even if you don't provide them optimum conditions they can still grow and give you results. Just now I have a coriander in my garden which did perfectly fine throughout the winter and even tolerated one heavy snowfall!! Nature is amazing!
Fruit trees just came in here yesterday.
I went today to look and the prices were triple what I paid last year for the same trees.
I hope this isn't the case when the other stores get them.
9:00 If you happen to grow something you dont like or are like me and sow way more than you can actually consume within the time period between harvest and rot, consider charities like food banks. They love some nice nutritious veggies for those who are in need.
This channel changed my life. I now grow a lot of food (GREW STUFF FROM SEED FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR), and I’m lucky that we have enough places for me to experiment and try things. It’s been my project over the lockdowns, and my 17th birthday gift was a cold frame (they are awesome, I really needed some warmer spaces for my tomatoes), and most people are shocked with how quickly I’ve progressed. I love helping stuff grow.
Fun fact: 2:11 a fireplace built on the outside of a wall like that loses more heat to the outside than it puts into your room. It might be a dismal spot for a garden bed, but that'd be a great spot for a little bedroom or study - any room you normally use after dark, so it doesn't matter that the room never gets direct sun either.
I’ve been growing stuff for a year or two now and I haven’t had any huge harvest, being in a small apartment doesn’t allow much but living in a 10b climate in south Florida, no one tells you that the hardiness zone is only based off of cold. No one says that the plants that northern people grow in the summer, is what I can grow in the winter!!! I love this video, it’s the first time I’ve heard someone actually spell it out and I appreciate it :)
Regarding the mulch, as someone who works with horses, I would suggest seeing if there is a ( large ) stable or a barn nearby, big bags of hay often have a lot of bits that are to short to be efficiently fed to the horses, so it stays in the plastic and gets thrown out, but it would make for really good mulch, as it is the exact consistency of the stuff you are using. It might be a little more of a hassle though as you would have to collect it yourself and you would have to 'wait' for a pack to be empty. Though the barn I work at has approximately 25-30 horses ( depending on the amount of horses that are sold and foals that are born ) and they go trough a pack in 2 days in winter, in summer it takes longer, because they are out on the pasture and don't require as much
I’m 19. Always thought gardening was stupid honestly. Over this summer I have a new found love for it thought and idk why. Your videos have kept my garden alive though. Hoping to feed thousands one day
Awesome vid!!! I made all of those mistakes 🤣, but today I harvested a decent size daikon radish, and it tasted good!! Blanched the greens and added it to our kim chee jar and will eat the root part maybe in a soy sauce based broth. Never would've gotten such an epic (well, epic for me) harvest without your channel!!! Thank you!!!
Hey that's a win!
I only have minimal sun, so..... I don't plant much that needs to ripen. Lots of lettuce and green beans. Small tomatoes
These tips are my kind of tips. Tips for people that have a extremely fluctuating stream of motivation.
First try was spring 2021 and almost total success we grew tomatoes potatoes kale carrots green beans and green peppers successfully zucchini and summer squash didn't do well but I've since learned how to hand pollinate
Well said! Where I live in Alberta Canada the growing season is June -sept generally speaking. Over the years I have sort of homed in on plants that grow and produce FAST! When I first attempted a garden I planted tomatoes,which was fine,but I planted large varieties and simply ran out of time for them to ripen. Now I just plant tomatoes (like cherry types) that will at least ripen some of their fruits before the cold hits. It can make gardening a lot more fun once you just know what will grow in your area and what is a purely experimental exercise if you try it. I love to try season extending things,but sooner than later it’s -20c outside.😂
Plus it was way too wet for a decent garden last year. Was a swamp in our region and unless you are indoors it really sucks losing crops to weather or short growing season.
@@dragoonTT true that! And then hail storms 🙄 but you know how it goes for crazy garden ppl...we just keep after it lol
4:48 I'm obsessed with Mulch, I'm a Mulchinator. And it is awesome. Im Mulch everything, except my cornflakes :-P
I use the grass (? - no native english speaker, sry) after lawning with my lawn mower. Just be sure, to lawn before some grass or clover is blooming or you have a very bad time :-D
(lots of weeds in your bed)
I've been gardening all my life and I'm still so obsessed 💖
Once a gardener, always a gardener!
I even have a farm now so I can't wait to fill it with plants
👆This is VERY TRUE! It’s in my blood and an obsession! 🤣
@@FloridaGirl- ay florida gang
I'm in 9b in Florida and it has gotten sub-30's hear the last few years. About 7 years ago, it almost got into the teens. Usually only for a few days to a week, then it's usually 40's-50's. But it still gets cold here during the winter. Not usually, but it does.
Just started my first garden in March (in Texas). Thank you so much for all your helpful videos and your website. My garden is doing well with some diseases that your website has helped me recognize and i can hopefully get them taken care of so i dont loose some plants.
Preserve cilantro: chop very very fine; pack into an ice cube tray; fill with water; pack tightly; freeze; put into baggie; you now have 1-2 teaspoons of fresh-frozen cilantro to add to your cooking.
Works great with soups, and skillet meals, also with cilantro lime rice. Just always take the extra water of the melting ice cube into account.
❤️🌱
Or you could grate up some soap ;) at least for 4-14% of the population it tastes like that 🤭
@@dodopson3211 lol! I’m guessing that those that think cilantro tastes like soap probably wouldn’t be wanting to grow it for food, much less preserve it. 😂😂😂
@@kitdubhran2968 true, except novices who didn't know they are the "lucky" owners of the genes responsible for the soapy taste 🤭 we found out the hard way that it's not the type of herb we want to grow.
@@dodopson3211 aww! Oh no! 🤢😭
My first garden was 2020, planning for my second garden.
Excellent- welcome to the club!
This will be my second year too. I've really enjoyed learning all about it!
@@suziecordova2765 Its a journey, isn't it?
Oh yeah people are waking up now to see the importance of homesteading. I just started this year and hope to learn as much as I can. I am learning quickly that full sun in Texas is hard on any plant even super hardy plants. I’ve already been chatting up Charles Dowding recently too lol. He is like a magic gardener. Thank you for your awesome videos!
Sometimes "inconvenient locations" creep up on you. When we got our latest batch of pullets, I had no idea how pesky they would be compared to the adult heavy hens. I have had to fortify my chicken exclusion zones with so much chicken wire and bird netting, that accessing them is a pain in you know what, lol!
I feel you!
Here in Egypt weather doesn’t change much. You can grow a cactus in winter. So really I can plant whatever plant I want any time. But I’ll make sure to choose wisely outside the country
Im at zone 13 and everything grows here... The cold weather crops like potatoes and broccoli,not that well, but they still grow
What if you grow potatoes in a bit of shade??
My mother moved from Michigan to Houston, Texas a few years ago and she is an avid gardener with a green thumb and loves to grow herbs, veggies, plus a bird and butterfly garden. She was very knowledgeable for her zone and region in Michigan but it’s been very challenging finding things that she can grow in Houston area where it’s 100+ for weeks at a time. She does two gardening seasons now in spring and fall and has found some heat hardy plants that butterflies and hummingbirds like. But it took a lot of research and some trial and error to find out what worked and what didn’t since she spent 60+ years in one zone and had to adapt to another
I literally love your videos , i gotta get back into gardening, it's a vibe✌
You literally got me into gardening last year and here i am into my second year! Thank you! Your knowledge has honestly been the best help and gardening has become a source of therapy for me.
So glad to see this out so quick! Love how responsive and accepting you are to your communities suggestions. Great video Epic Kevin, I've made every single one of these mistakes XD
It's a little silly to worry about if you "like" something if you're starving. There's a reason people look up the quickest thing to grow. Nutrients and calories.
Rodent bedding from the pet store makes for AWESOME mulch for small spaces. It's kiln-dried to kill any pathogens, and one package goes farther than you might think. Plus the fact that it's totally dry means if you have to store it, it's not going to get moldy. It's more expensive than a lot of other mulches, but for me, it's been totally worth it.
I started new beds last year in full Sun. I did have to carry water. Everyday. I used my cart n could fit 2 five gallon buckets and 2 two gallon buckets and than filled the cart. Other day I had to fill 2 carts. I am like a block away from the house. It was worth all the work. I had a huge harvest and got some extra exercise. This year I am running a hose back there. Was a lot of work. And many days I did not NOT want to carry water. But I knew how important it was I nurtured my food source. My plants gave back so much n I thanked them Everytime I took from them.. I also talk to my plants.
Gardening tip, don't buy a 7 dollar microgreen kit from a dollar store unless you wanna use the soil it came with for mulch.. Because it's just mulch and seeds.
I really don't like kale, but I did plant a couple different kinds in the hopes that I kind find one that works for me. And if I don't like them, at least they look cool.
All these tips are extremely helpful with gardening and these motivated my sister to start gardening keep up the motivation 👍
We started with hydroponic lettuce and had the same revolting experience. I appreciate that you have a practice of "get it done, not perfect"-like with the hose-splitter until you can get your irrigation ready. It's encouraging as a new gardener to see that not everything has to be just right at first!
That Cali weather is so perfect.
As someone originally from the Palm Springs area, I like reading comments like this 😆
Asking? In Australia, where I live, many cities have gardening clubs /organisations that have monthly meetings and annual events. In Brisbane, the organisation is BOGI (Brisbane Organic Growers Incorporated; the acronym is a play on a soil condition) set up by contemporaries of Bill Mollison. I learnt a lot from the collected wisdom and from those who had contagious enthusiasm for growing organically. While BOGI has predominantly older members, it also has younger members (some grandparentsbring their grandchildren occasionally) who can teach their elders a thing or two.
Very considerate and informative. Thank you! Man I live in Tennessee and I can't wait for my planting season to start. I started stuff like kiwi and borage already but will transfer them later on. Got plenty of seeds to introduce to the ground this year. I cant wait to try and attempt bringing luffa gourd to life. Thank you for being an inspiring person!
I'm in south central Kentucky, you might want to think about starting your luffa plants soon inside as they're such a long grower. If you can make a ball of damp potting mix (snowball style) you can reduce root disturbance when transplanting. Or wrapping some potting soil in a single layer of cotton cheese cloth and then you can just put the whole ball into your planting spot. Think I'll be doing that tomorrow!
Great episode-- thanks! RE: mulch. I've found leaf mulch is an invitation to earwigs and pillbugs which can import them. I do prefer straw.
The first thing I ever grew was a tomato plant that I ended up with almost on accident, and even though I have never liked tomatoes, I discovered that I loved growing them. Now I grow things I actually eat, but I’ll always grow tomatoes too out of tradition. I love giving them away.
Love to over sow certain crops. Beets for one. You thin them and get beautiful baby greens to cook! Love, love, love baby beet greens! Baby carrots! Chard, spinach... ect😍😍
With the world going in its current direction, growing fruits and veg should be considered prime knowledge.
I'm starting small with a single tomato plant.. want to gain some confidence and go slow, but I'm enjoying everything so far!
Great content 👌
The first plant I ever tried to grow was habanero plants, spent all this time and effort researching how to grow them, and (like most people) couldnt even eat them, haha. Was a fun learning experience and now im my friend groups "salsa guy" since salsa was the only thing i did with them. Growing tomatos this year and im taking what i learned and am doing better with them.
Respecting the time of the seeds, great point.
I have that exact issue w water. One spigot on the side of the house that's away from my garden. I solved it the same way w the 2 long hoses.
I admit I was lazy and planted directly into my soil without prepping it and luckily my plants liked it. Whew. Mulch arriving next week. I don't love leaf mulch. Mines loaded w ticks and such and I like pre-screened denser mulch better but whatever works for everyone
I heard you can put cilantro in ice cube trays with a bit of water so you can use it all year
Frozen
My best producing garden was a 4ft x 4ft square foot salad garden. 🥗 2 types of lettuce, 3 types of tomatoes, cucumber, small carrots... I'm doing another one this year because the last two bigger beds sucked
On the flip side, a garden far from your house gives you a great place to hide from your kids! 😋
😅😅😂😂😂
I could have put a garden INSIDE the house, and they would still have been invisible. 😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
Last year I grew up tomatoes 🍅 , Jalapeño and herbs. I did not got much of it, but they taste good. This years I’m stepping my game and I’m growing lots of more stuff.
Happily I didn’t make these mistakes. Lots of these things are actually prevent by one simple thing: pots.
Since I ain’t allowed to take over my parents garden I have to grow in pots, I can move them to warmer, darker, lighter, colder etc places.
And I got farmer blood so I got a lot of places to ask for help :)
Using autumn leaves is a great idea... we bag them up and save them for spring mulching every year.
Note to self: Mulch
Ditto! Lol
Bermuda grass is my nemesis. I've spent countless hours pulling it. I haven't won but it's better.