Want to learn the 11 mistakes keeping you from your best garden yet? Take years off the learning curve and check out our ebook! sassycarrot.com/yt/yL9m31xuJWY-1
I've used pine needles for years. Does well, especially for tomatoes. They make tomatoes taste the best! Pine needles decompose very well and makes the soil rich and dark.
You bring me back to my younger years ...I was a boy and my friends father used to mulch with pine needles for his tomatoes...and we would go over to my friends house for the most delicious and hearty tomatoes that you can imagine....Man that man could grow beautiful tomatoes with pine mulch...so thumbs up girl....
Point well taken! My experiece with pine needle mulch has taught me that it works great for keeping unwanted weeds out. If you want to sow seeds, you will need to either wait until the seeds germinate and then mulch, taking care not to cover them up. Bottom line is that the needles block a lot of light, but otherwise do a great job of helping to retain even moisture.
Thank you for this! I built and planted my first raised vegetable garden this summer. This week I was working myself up and getting frustrated that I hadn't done this or done that ... but then I realized that I actually DID accomplish the one thing I wanted to for this year: LEARN. I have so many notes and ideas for next year already. But in the meantime, there's still time to keep on learning and experimenting for the rest of this summer ... and beyond. This video makes me feel a bit smarter than I was feeling :)
The soil underneath the pine needles you're grabbing is very dark and actually looks like mulch/compost, so I think that probably gives you your answer as to whether or not it'll work well.
My grandfather used to use pine needles on his strawberry plants. They worked just fine and the plants lasted a few years. Now he didn't only use pine needles but when the reason was right, normally the fall he would have us cover the plants knowing that in the spring little would remain. He also used grass clipping and had a composting pile that most of the vegetable waste from the table went. He used what he had and very little actually went to waste. A lesson many should learn. Thanks for the video.
I could not agree more. It makes perfect sense that the natural mulch of your immediate environment would be a potential solution. Thanks for the upload. I find your honesty refreshing. All the best. Hans
Quite possibly the most gorgeous cat ever!! And with an awesome personality to boot. Reminds me a lot of my beloved boy who has gone on to glory. Good gardening info here. I love your optimism!
I have been using dead, dry pine needles for a few years here in high desert. Our very dry, hot summers keep a great mulch pile going year round. Smart lady! Happy success with your garden.
Love your videos. I like the fact that this whole endeavor utilizes a relatively modest budget. You can easily throw a ton of money to make things easier but the true skill is creating a quality product with limited budget, and I think you guys are doing that. Thanks for taking us on your journey.
Once I learned to always keep the soil covered and never trust anyone who says straw doesn't have seeds, my garden really improved. Each year I add a layer or two or three of something and never the same thing twice in a row. It helps expand the nutrients in the soil. I have had very good results with wood chips and shredded leaves and it reduced my watering considerably. Happy Gardening!
I generally like your channel because of the fact that you try things that are not "approved methodology." I find it fascinating that so many people will say that you just absolutely cannot compost animal manure (such as dog and cat) and safely use it on the garden, and it's just patently false. We have been composting chicken, dog, cat, horse, cow, and goat manure for a long time now with absolutely zero problems. People are afraid to experiment because they're uneducated and depend on "experts" to tell them what's safe. We've been using pine needles as mulch and as an additive to our compost as well. Keep up the good work and keep us updated on your progress! Thanks!
The universal answer to your question is everyone should use what is readily available. At my allotment we use straw where as at the big house we use dried leaves and pine needles coz there here and they all work great. 😃 I love watching your homestead come together. Bo and I are planning a similar journey we are going to start a homestead and build a small house with a huge greenhouse and garden in Canada while still spending our winters here in Europe in our soon to be finished tiny home. The reason you want to amend you're soil is simple as you use it your plants will use it up. If you mulch add home made composts and garden teas like rotten banana juice, egg shell power, fermented comfrey and nettle tea you'll be adding as much goodness if not more than your using and that's the real secret to gardening. Grow the soil and let the soil grow your food. Thanks for sharing! I love your story. Happy gardening, Scarlett 🍅
My friend you are so right about soil additives.This is something on our channel we try to stress.Not everything will work in all areas of the country.Find what works for you and just do it.While its true the soil and plants all need the same things to be healthy they can be achieved through different ways in different places.Thanks for sharing this part of your journey.
Another thing you can use for mulch now that you have one is the saw dust from your mill. I have a mill very similar to yours, and I added a hook to hang a 5 gallon bucket below the saw dust discharge, as the bucket gets full I empty it in to my lawn trailer so I can use it to mulch around my plants. You can also mix it in with compost/soil to help keep it loose for growing root crops such as patatos and onions, but you have to be careful as it will pull nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes. Love your videos, keep up the good work.
I really enjoyed that you didnt try to pose as those i-know-everything "experts", you have a really lovely personality. Great video with good tips! Thank you :-)
I agree whole heartedly. Always trying to find the middle ground between learning and starting. Way to go! Keep at it. Keeping at and looking at the bright side here.
Jesse and Alyssa: i love your attitude! In enjoying the learning process and continuing forward on your journey an illustration comes to mind: The wedding day is nice and will always be remembered fondly, but it's the marriage that counts. After nearly 21 years of marriage I still find delight in the journey. I love how straight forward and simple you make things for us out here. Our soil here in northeast Ohio is swampy so I'm not planning on planting much in it. But I do intend to set up raised beds for that purpose, and yes, aged pine needles are often times excellent for your garden. It's the green ones you need to be wary of due to their acidity. Love your videos folks. Keep up the good work.
I like that you have stared small with your garden and not gone massive. This year just figure out what grows well and exploit that for next year and expand in small increments over the years to come. Good luck! I am I tested to see how it turns out!
I have used pine needles as a much for many years in the garden. It is an excellent source for mulch as it keep the weeds down and maintains for good moisture level retention in the soil. And, as you have pointed out, in your case, it's FREE.
Love this attitude of just trying and learning for yourself. Different plants favor different conditions, so try a variety, observe what fails in this bed, then next time maybe try planting those things in another bed with different mulch. Oh and don't forget to celebrate the success of simply having overcome that paralysis and tried something!
noooo lol the coward that I had unleashed my fury on retracted his disgusting comment...leaving me to look as if I had a few issues of my own LMAOOOO that was not towards wayne
I wonder if it is a Bengal cat. It has the markings. They are freakishly smart cats. I've had cats my entire life but then I given a cat whose mother was a Bengal and it was a whole new experience.
Dearing to fail is one of the best mentalities to life in our opinion. Some of the greatest inventions in human history came from failure. So keep up the great work you're doing and you'll be just fine, even if some things fail now and again.
7 років тому
That's exactly my feeling sometimes - after so much research my conclusion is: "Can't do it, too complicated." Thanks for encouragement and some sound thinking!
We have some white pines in our back yard and over the years the needles that have fallen and decayed have compacted the ground quite a bit. Not much will grow there due to this an little direct sunlight. With your method of scattering the needles on top of your piles, it should at least bring the benefit of water retention to the soil below. Good luck! I look forward to seeing the results!
What a great idea. I have a mountain of pine and a broken tiller. Problem solved. Thanks. I think I'll make a video for my channel on this too. Thanks sooooo much.
+Pine Meadows Hobby Farm A Modern Homestead Let us know how it goes! We just planted some carrot seeds a few days ago and hoping to see some baby sproutlings in a while!
Thank you! I have pine trees that leave needles on my lawn.. I've been throwing them out each year. I'll just place them on my clay/sand ground and let them decompose. Who knows maybe it'll help improve my soil.
.....my friends, I have been watching your videos for a long while and really enjoy every video you both have posted. ...I must stop today to say I JUST LOVE YOUR KITTY. I have five inside kitties myself. Love your channel my friends.
Alyssa and Jesse, love your videos and your adventures into homesteading. Just a thought on working with your compost pile, a pitchfork will make life so much easier on you.
when I lived in Georgia, we used pine needles to mulch. After becoming a master gardener, the benefits of pine needles keep weeds out and as the needles break down they add acidity to the soil. For plants like blue berries or tomatoes they are great.
I had a patch of ground under the pine trees where the grass wouldn't grow because of the acid from the needles. I mixed ashes from the fireplace into the ground and the grass started growing for the first time in years. Ashes are very alkaline, so you might want to experiment mixing in ashes with your needles.
Love it! Just discovered you thanks to you mulch video. Mulch is my current obsession, and I've truly complicated the topic! Wish I had seen your video four years ago, when we moved to our vineyard...here at the base of a forrest of pine needles!! (I will first use up all 100 straw bales we just ordered.) Meantime, a walk in the wood will reveal the next source of mulch! Thanks and best wishes!
Eduardo89rp I’ve been telling my wife the same thing. She says they have that huge hill it seems like a waste..... I said the rest of the world like Spain and Tibet and France they all grow all massive hills..... you have the sun it would be perfect plus it’s not like you don’t have the rocks lol sorry for the jab. We are moving to the same issue I like yalls grizzle...... rebar and a welder? For 4.0?
I remember reading about archeologists puzzling about how ancient farmers grew crops in the high Andes mountains, all the fields were covered with rocks. It took them a while to realize that the rocks had been deliberately placed as mulch, because that was what the farmers had a lot of. Rocks covered the soil to prevent evaporation, helped warm up the soil and caused the dew to precipitate out of the air to help water the crops. Smart farmers! Lesson: use what you have!
I have used pine needles in my compost for 4 years now and have had no ill effects from them. I do want to say the dirt I think I saw under the pine needles looked pretty dark. I would try that as a growing medium as a test against the rest of the garden.
Various tree refuse can have various growth inhibitors. For instance, neighbors told me that oak leaves inhibit other plants growing. Pine needles in forests, depending on variety of pine/fir, could also inhibit some other plants growing. Compost is terrific. We got very lazy, though, and after trying various compost bins and systems, started directly dumping it at the bases of trees, grapevines, etc....or direct-digging it into the dirt in the garden. Oak leaves, I found, seem to do fine as compost to help new plants grow, IF it's been rotting long enough. IF the pine needles are too acidic, that's easy enough to remedy using baking soda. _But probably, once rotted, they're fine._ We get ahold of whatever gardeners are hired by the HOA here, to make sure they bring the leaves to our compost pile. Started that almost 3 years ago. It's mostly oak leaves from around the area. Saves them a costly dump-fee, and gives us plenty of stuff to compost. And, it turns out, plenty of things grow like crazy in it, despite the neighbor's warnings. Maybe Pine needles could do similarly, IF allowed to rot in a pile for several months?
He is SOOOO pretty! We also use the BTE garden. Keeps down loads of weeds for us! I use pine needles AND wood chips AND leaves and green grass and then throw on ground lime and let er sit awhile and bam yep we have nice soil for a garden.
Mulch is used for different reasons, and that helps to know what kind of mulch works best at times. Down here where I live in Florida, near the beach, we have "dirty sand" for soil. Great drainage, but miserable nutrients. So, after watching the wood chips videos, I got a truck load dumped in my yard. I spread it around, knowing it would take a year at least for it to start really breaking down. Well, it's been about a year and a half, and my observation is that my fruit trees have sprung into action, and seeds I have planted around the base of the trees have started to grow, when other seeds, not in the mulch, died. I also use "whole" twigs for mulch. Anything I can snap apart in my hands becomes mulch around the trees and bushes. It keeps the moisture in the soil, and encourages bugs and earthworms to come and live there. It is amazing the life that hot sand will start to produce if you give the ground some shelter. Weeds are kept at bay, too. I like fruit trees over a garden, as they go deeper for moisture, and produce a ton of food. They don't take up any room, either, and one can still plant around the base. No soil prep needed, and you don't have to weed the trees. So, wood chips are free if you call your local tree cutters, and they work like magic. Try to get leaves in the mix, not just the wood.
awsome idea why not. it's already there and free so you go girl. also you are completely right about the acidity and I know because I had a bright idea of changing the acidity of my soil with ground pine needles to turn pink hydrangeas blue thinking the needless would turn the soul acidic. I used about a kilo of pine needles grind to a powder and alas! it didn't do a thing lol so I know although the pine needles are acidic they will have no effect on the acidity of your soil. best of luck to you guys I've been following your journey and your doing great I'm a little jells of your off grid living.
WELL DONE. Great to see you using a mulch to keep the soil cover. #1 and first helpful thing to do. Then you have to GROW SOIL next. This is done by keeping a living root in the ground all the time so plants and their roots can store carbon in the ground. Like nature has done from day one.. THANK YOU
"Information paralysis" - What a great term, a perfect description of the condition. Love your video, the pine needles should work great, just look at the quality of the soil they were covering. Plus the cat is really cute.
I don't know if you have seen Starry Hilders utube site but it is well worth a look. She and Mr. Hilder have been at the off grid life for some time now. Her site is very informative and entertaining. Starry is very upbeat and high energy and I enjoy watching. I also enjoy following you two as well, thank you. John P.S. What a wonderful soft kitty!
pine needles are perfectly fine to use as mulch , but they do tend to smother out new growth so i would rake them back if you are planting from seed and then use them to mulch around your plants after they sprout. have a fair amount of people in my area that use them to mulch flower beds
Your a very sensible Lady, and i am impressed, your doing fine, as ive been keeping up to date with all of the hard work you both do, and its very interesting, even though i'm an old Lady now, good luck sweet hearts hugs xxxxx
I've heard about pine needles affecting the soil pH too. I also have a tone of them on my property. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Beautiful cat!
THANK U ! PINE NEEDLES/ LEAVES COLLECTING TRICK; drag a tarp up hill, RAKE it all ONTO TARP & drag it where needed. It works for leaves. I have a bad back & I can pull things without pain & this works great 4 me. GOOD LUCK!
Hey I must say .... I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL AND I'M LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH YOU.. i CANT WAIT TO MOVE OUT TO THE COUNTRY MYSELF .. OHH PLEASE LOOK INTO GROWING COMFREY ... When you leave it to rot in water it becomes compost teas... I not sure if it will survive the cold but it is pretty renewable .. good luck !!!Cant wait for the harvest videos..
Couldn't agree more with An American Homestead and yourself more, use what you've got, get it done rather than wait for 100 % solution. Kirsten over at Milkwood do a pretty good video on composts as well. Keep up the great work.
I'm probably late to the game, but you did right here. Most plants actually like a mildly acidic soil anyway. And soil can always be amended, if you feel you messed up, just add a little lime. The biggest thing is to use as much organic material as possible to continue building soil, and to keep your soil ALIVE by avoiding synthetic salt based fertilizers and inorganic compounds.
I think what you guys are doing is inspiring! I'm English and working towards building my own timber framed house, land here is too pricey, so it's a dream at the moment but slowly it's becoming a reality. Your journey is inspiring and obviously there will be successes and learning grounds along the way, but it's the journey isn't it?! :-) Keep going guys! (from the United Kingdom) :-)
Hey Nathan! We keep hearing that land in your neck of the woods is pricey. Even if land is pricey, maybe your house can be super affordable? Glad our journey is inspiring you, and where there's a will there's a way! Best of luck to you and go after your dreams!
+Pure Living for Life hey, that's so true! It's so important to go after dreams. I am actually off to Estonia again in a few weeks to do a traditional log cabin building course. Should be interesting and a way of learning more skills, even though the house will actually be mortice and tenon timber framed.. it's a good chance to see how I can work with green wood, log peeling etc.. So much to learn :-)
excellent advice, work with what you have look around see what grows? and i had an allotment for many years some things fail others thrive .. good luck i would of course build up the mulch layer ...lol... yes its up and down but the thicker the better perhaps .. cheers from uk
Use what you can find. You can usually find all kinds of stuff for free. Wood Chips, pine needles, manures, etc. It all breaks down and makes good soil.
"I suffer from hardcore analysis paralysis" Thank you so much!! Finally I know what caused my countless sleepless nights and headaches! Hope you get better soon! Kind regards and all the best of success! A
I know this is over a year old, but from what I understand you use what you have or can get readily. I've been lucky to find some wood mulch at our local dump. When we move our horse here I'll use her spoiled hay. I've also used some of my chickens bedding with manure in it.
great positive vid. as always. Keep up the good work ! Don't forget coffee grounds for the compost heap, and tea bags. A ph meter is a cheap and reliable tool ; alot more reliable than other peoples opinions !
Get you berry bushes, fruit trees and vines in ASAP. The best time to plant an apple tree is five years ago. The second best time is now. You plant these things once.... And they will produce food for years.
+TheMrKrause Very excited to get the property producing fruits. Have FAR too many projects to do so we'll have to pace ourselves or die before we get to harvest. haha
We usually wait for the plants to come up and then spread newspapers around the plants. Then we put grass on top of the newspapers. It helps keep the weeds down. We have tried things like black plastic (ground cover) and the weeds just grew up through it. We do allow weeds to grow everywhere else around our property because the bees benefit from the weed flowers and we benefit from the bees.
In the UK we get 1 ton bags that sand is delivered in. About a cubic yard of capacity. You could take it up the hill, fill it, tie the top and roll it down or drag it. Save you a lot of trips with a bucket. Just a thought. Like your site.
I put pine needles in my garden and covered them with composted manure because of the addition of fungal dominated matter from forest products. The manure on top is bacteria dominated, this makes a good mix for the plants to thrive long-term. Pine needles do take forever to breakdown, but it was on the property.
Yes pine needles are very good for your garden just like leaves. They do have some problems though. 1. They take a long time to break down. It is best to shred them first. 2. They will take nitrogen from the soil in order to break down. It is best to go to the garden shop and buy a gallon of fish fertilizer (very high in nitrogen). One cap full per gallon once a week would be great and water the garden with the solution. You are correct they do not transfer acidity to the soil as they break down. Wood ashes are also great for the garden but as Jessie says they are very alkaline but they are very high in potassium and that is very good for the garden. You just need some material to counter act the alkalinity. Peat moss for example. I have even used tiny bits of vinegar in my irrigation water with good success. Good luck and God Bless
There is a canadian study that says that if you live on an area where it rains frequently, pine needles will not have an acid effect to your soil. Only in very dry areas. I also mulch with pine needles and they are great, special for fruit trees
i use them, and they do work fine as mulch. they rot very slowly, even slower than wood chips. to be effective at holding moisture they should be fairly thick, like 4 inches, as they arent very dense.
Patience is the best mulch! If it's organic and rots, use it. I've been organic gardening for 60+ years. What I had to use was leaves, grass clippings, rotten apples, rotten pears, manure from 250 homing pigeons and straw. Some was put directly on the garden and turned in with a garden fork. It was work, but pleasant work since my beloved Grandfather had been working this 1/4 acre for 30 years before I got involved. You can put mulch in the garden or on the garden. We put it in the garden since New Jersey had a much better climate for gardening. We also added agricultural gypsum. It improves the sulphur and calcium levels as well as improving soil structure, especially clay soils, so they absorb more water and there is less runoff. Now you have done something I highly recommend: you have a space between rows. I used to use a high wheel cultivator to create a drainage ditch between rows so there is less or no root rot. FYI, you can get a high wheeled cultivator from Lehman's on line. With our large garden (1/4 acre of 16 total acres) I could cultivate it in an hour. The other tool which I currently use to build my flower beds is a Mantis Tiller (buy from Mantis directly). The little bugger will take your arms off if you have rocks so it is most useful for an established garden. Raised (boxed) beds look nice but are expensive to build, maintain and manage the moisture level in. My suggestions and opinions use them as you will.
SUGGESTION: Next time, take a large tarp up with you. Pine needles are not heavy, so you should be able to get 5+ "bucketsfulls" into a tarp and just drag them all back down the hill to your garden. Love to you guys!
That cat is awesome! My brother has a bengal, and that little guy is just so full of personality. I really don't even like cats - I'm a dog guy - but this bengal has so much personality it's more like a dog; very entertaining.
Look at the forest floor where u took the pine needles from,I think u will see a very moist and dense six inches of compost. Those pine needles have been allowing that moisture to stay in the soil year after year as the prior season waste is decomposing. So take advantage of that six inches of free compost along w the needles for mulch.
The reason why wood chips are popular is because in mist suburban areas you can get massive quantities for FREE from your city's park's and recreation or tree trimming crews. Typically they are apply thickly (6+"), possibly more than once a year. They don't provide much nutrition (most mulches do not) but they keep the weeds down.
Want to learn the 11 mistakes keeping you from your best garden yet? Take years off the learning curve and check out our ebook! sassycarrot.com/yt/yL9m31xuJWY-1
I had never heard the phrase "analysis paralysis", even though I have suffered from it for decades. ;-) I love your four footed co-host too.
Bob
I've used pine needles for years. Does well, especially for tomatoes. They make tomatoes taste the best! Pine needles decompose very well and makes the soil rich and dark.
You bring me back to my younger years ...I was a boy and my friends father used to mulch with pine needles for his tomatoes...and we would go over to my friends house for the most delicious and hearty tomatoes that you can imagine....Man that man could grow beautiful tomatoes with pine mulch...so thumbs up girl....
Point well taken! My experiece with pine needle mulch has taught me that it works great for keeping unwanted weeds out. If you want to sow seeds, you will need to either wait until the seeds germinate and then mulch, taking care not to cover them up. Bottom line is that the needles block a lot of light, but otherwise do a great job of helping to retain even moisture.
Thank you for this! I built and planted my first raised vegetable garden this summer. This week I was working myself up and getting frustrated that I hadn't done this or done that ... but then I realized that I actually DID accomplish the one thing I wanted to for this year: LEARN. I have so many notes and ideas for next year already. But in the meantime, there's still time to keep on learning and experimenting for the rest of this summer ... and beyond. This video makes me feel a bit smarter than I was feeling :)
Failure is awesome. I couldn't learn without it.
Fail on, survive, and thrive.
The soil underneath the pine needles you're grabbing is very dark and actually looks like mulch/compost, so I think that probably gives you your answer as to whether or not it'll work well.
Use a tarp to drag the mulch, just pile all of it on it and drag. It's a ton faster!
+Michael Millen No a terrible idea! The mulch-o-nator! Thanks for the tip!
My grandfather used to use pine needles on his strawberry plants. They worked just fine and the plants lasted a few years. Now he didn't only use pine needles but when the reason was right, normally the fall he would have us cover the plants knowing that in the spring little would remain. He also used grass clipping and had a composting pile that most of the vegetable waste from the table went. He used what he had and very little actually went to waste. A lesson many should learn.
Thanks for the video.
I could not agree more. It makes perfect sense that the natural mulch of your immediate environment would be a potential solution. Thanks for the upload. I find your honesty refreshing. All the best. Hans
Quite possibly the most gorgeous cat ever!! And with an awesome personality to boot. Reminds me a lot of my beloved boy who has gone on to glory. Good gardening info here. I love your optimism!
I have been using dead, dry pine needles for a few years here in high desert. Our very dry, hot summers keep a great mulch pile going year round. Smart lady! Happy success with your garden.
Love your videos. I like the fact that this whole endeavor utilizes a relatively modest budget. You can easily throw a ton of money to make things easier but the true skill is creating a quality product with limited budget, and I think you guys are doing that. Thanks for taking us on your journey.
Once I learned to always keep the soil covered and never trust anyone who says straw doesn't have seeds, my garden really improved. Each year I add a layer or two or three of something and never the same thing twice in a row. It helps expand the nutrients in the soil. I have had very good results with wood chips and shredded leaves and it reduced my watering considerably. Happy Gardening!
I generally like your channel because of the fact that you try things that are not "approved methodology." I find it fascinating that so many people will say that you just absolutely cannot compost animal manure (such as dog and cat) and safely use it on the garden, and it's just patently false. We have been composting chicken, dog, cat, horse, cow, and goat manure for a long time now with absolutely zero problems. People are afraid to experiment because they're uneducated and depend on "experts" to tell them what's safe. We've been using pine needles as mulch and as an additive to our compost as well. Keep up the good work and keep us updated on your progress! Thanks!
The universal answer to your question is everyone should use what is readily available. At my allotment we use straw where as at the big house we use dried leaves and pine needles coz there here and they all work great. 😃 I love watching your homestead come together. Bo and I are planning a similar journey we are going to start a homestead and build a small house with a huge greenhouse and garden in Canada while still spending our winters here in Europe in our soon to be finished tiny home.
The reason you want to amend you're soil is simple as you use it your plants will use it up. If you mulch add home made composts and garden teas like rotten banana juice, egg shell power, fermented comfrey and nettle tea you'll be adding as much goodness if not more than your using and that's the real secret to gardening. Grow the soil and let the soil grow your food.
Thanks for sharing! I love your story.
Happy gardening,
Scarlett 🍅
My friend you are so right about soil additives.This is something on our channel we try to stress.Not everything will work in all areas of the country.Find what works for you and just do it.While its true the soil and plants all need the same things to be healthy they can be achieved through different ways in different places.Thanks for sharing this part of your journey.
Thanks for the comment and I do think that's a good message to spread. There is rarely a one-size-fits-all solution!
Keep doing what works for you and you will do just fine.
Another thing you can use for mulch now that you have one is the saw dust from your mill. I have a mill very similar to yours, and I added a hook to hang a 5 gallon bucket below the saw dust discharge, as the bucket gets full I empty it in to my lawn trailer so I can use it to mulch around my plants. You can also mix it in with compost/soil to help keep it loose for growing root crops such as patatos and onions, but you have to be careful as it will pull nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes.
Love your videos, keep up the good work.
I really enjoyed that you didnt try to pose as those i-know-everything "experts", you have a really lovely personality. Great video with good tips! Thank you :-)
Ive used pine needles on my garden this year and it did great. I plan to do it again
I agree whole heartedly. Always trying to find the middle ground between learning and starting. Way to go! Keep at it. Keeping at and looking at the bright side here.
Jesse and Alyssa: i love your attitude! In enjoying the learning process and continuing forward on your journey an illustration comes to mind: The wedding day is nice and will always be remembered fondly, but it's the marriage that counts. After nearly 21 years of marriage I still find delight in the journey. I love how straight forward and simple you make things for us out here. Our soil here in northeast Ohio is swampy so I'm not planning on planting much in it. But I do intend to set up raised beds for that purpose, and yes, aged pine needles are often times excellent for your garden. It's the green ones you need to be wary of due to their acidity. Love your videos folks. Keep up the good work.
Here in South Carolina they call pine needles "pine straw" and bale it up like straw and use it as a ground cover.
Beautiful Malik is happy with the life you are giving him...and I love your attitude and positive spirit!
I like that you have stared small with your garden and not gone massive. This year just figure out what grows well and exploit that for next year and expand in small increments over the years to come.
Good luck! I am I tested to see how it turns out!
Started small lol sorry
I have used pine needles as a much for many years in the garden. It is an excellent source for mulch as it keep the weeds down and maintains for good moisture level retention in the soil. And, as you have pointed out, in your case, it's FREE.
Love this attitude of just trying and learning for yourself. Different plants favor different conditions, so try a variety, observe what fails in this bed, then next time maybe try planting those things in another bed with different mulch. Oh and don't forget to celebrate the success of simply having overcome that paralysis and tried something!
What a beautiful cat.
Gawd, it's just a comment on a nice cat. Le PETIT Poulet, your mind is in the gutter.
noooo lol the coward that I had unleashed my fury on retracted his disgusting comment...leaving me to look as if I had a few issues of my own LMAOOOO that was not towards wayne
Then you too can delete your comment.
I wonder if it is a Bengal cat.
It has the markings.
They are freakishly smart cats.
I've had cats my entire life but then I given a cat whose mother was a Bengal and it was a whole new experience.
His colors are amazing.
Dearing to fail is one of the best mentalities to life in our opinion.
Some of the greatest inventions in human history came from failure.
So keep up the great work you're doing and you'll be just fine, even if some things fail now and again.
That's exactly my feeling sometimes - after so much research my conclusion is: "Can't do it, too complicated." Thanks for encouragement and some sound thinking!
We have some white pines in our back yard and over the years the needles that have fallen and decayed have compacted the ground quite a bit. Not much will grow there due to this an little direct sunlight. With your method of scattering the needles on top of your piles, it should at least bring the benefit of water retention to the soil below. Good luck! I look forward to seeing the results!
What a great idea. I have a mountain of pine and a broken tiller. Problem solved. Thanks. I think I'll make a video for my channel on this too. Thanks sooooo much.
+Pine Meadows Hobby Farm A Modern Homestead Let us know how it goes! We just planted some carrot seeds a few days ago and hoping to see some baby sproutlings in a while!
Thank you! I have pine trees that leave needles on my lawn.. I've been throwing them out each year. I'll just place them on my clay/sand ground and let them decompose. Who knows maybe it'll help improve my soil.
It's certainly worth a try!
.....my friends, I have been watching your videos for a long while and really enjoy every video you both have posted. ...I must stop today to say I JUST LOVE YOUR KITTY. I have five inside kitties myself. Love your channel my friends.
Just keep piling on the mulch and it will be an awesome garden! Leaves to and bunches of mulch. Can't wait to see how it does for you!!
I love your passion and you ability to see out of the box for other ways and the energy to do it!!!! peace
Alyssa and Jesse, love your videos and your adventures into homesteading. Just a thought on working with your compost pile, a pitchfork will make life so much easier on you.
when I lived in Georgia, we used pine needles to mulch. After becoming a master gardener, the benefits of pine needles keep weeds out and as the needles break down they add acidity to the soil. For plants like blue berries or tomatoes they are great.
I had a patch of ground under the pine trees where the grass wouldn't grow because of the acid from the needles. I mixed ashes from the fireplace into the ground and the grass started growing for the first time in years. Ashes are very alkaline, so you might want to experiment mixing in ashes with your needles.
Love it! Just discovered you thanks to you mulch video. Mulch is my current obsession, and I've truly complicated the topic! Wish I had seen your video four years ago, when we moved to our vineyard...here at the base of a forrest of pine needles!! (I will first use up all 100 straw bales we just ordered.) Meantime, a walk in the wood will reveal the next source of mulch! Thanks and best wishes!
Building a terraced garden would be very cool on that hill.
+Eduardo89rp No kidding! I think this is what we'll look into for a long-term solution but having it on the flat is easy for now.
+Pure Living for Life terraced gardens are cool , on that hill though you may need to install escalators lol
Eduardo89rp I’ve been telling my wife the same thing. She says they have that huge hill it seems like a waste..... I said the rest of the world like Spain and Tibet and France they all grow all massive hills..... you have the sun it would be perfect plus it’s not like you don’t have the rocks lol sorry for the jab. We are moving to the same issue I like yalls grizzle...... rebar and a welder? For 4.0?
I remember reading about archeologists puzzling about how ancient farmers grew crops in the high Andes mountains, all the fields were covered with rocks. It took them a while to realize that the rocks had been deliberately placed as mulch, because that was what the farmers had a lot of. Rocks covered the soil to prevent evaporation, helped warm up the soil and caused the dew to precipitate out of the air to help water the crops. Smart farmers! Lesson: use what you have!
This is perfect. Use what you have! Any mulch is better than no mulch.
I have used pine needles in my compost for 4 years now and have had no ill effects from them. I do want to say the dirt I think I saw under the pine needles looked pretty dark. I would try that as a growing medium as a test against the rest of the garden.
We love that Root beer too! Got a case in my storage closet. You guys are doing great. It all takes time. Enjoy the journey!
You have a really terrific attitude!
I just love your videos! The way you put your thinking in perspective,, so great! Please, dont stop filming, i learn from your videos :-)
Various tree refuse can have various growth inhibitors. For instance, neighbors told me that oak leaves inhibit other plants growing. Pine needles in forests, depending on variety of pine/fir, could also inhibit some other plants growing.
Compost is terrific. We got very lazy, though, and after trying various compost bins and systems, started directly dumping it at the bases of trees, grapevines, etc....or direct-digging it into the dirt in the garden. Oak leaves, I found, seem to do fine as compost to help new plants grow, IF it's been rotting long enough.
IF the pine needles are too acidic, that's easy enough to remedy using baking soda.
_But probably, once rotted, they're fine._
We get ahold of whatever gardeners are hired by the HOA here, to make sure they bring the leaves to our compost pile. Started that almost 3 years ago. It's mostly oak leaves from around the area. Saves them a costly dump-fee, and gives us plenty of stuff to compost. And, it turns out, plenty of things grow like crazy in it, despite the neighbor's warnings.
Maybe Pine needles could do similarly, IF allowed to rot in a pile for several months?
He is SOOOO pretty! We also use the BTE garden. Keeps down loads of weeds for us! I use pine needles AND wood chips AND leaves and green grass and then throw on ground lime and let er sit awhile and bam yep we have nice soil for a garden.
Mulch is used for different reasons, and that helps to know what kind of mulch works best at times. Down here where I live in Florida, near the beach, we have "dirty sand" for soil. Great drainage, but miserable nutrients. So, after watching the wood chips videos, I got a truck load dumped in my yard. I spread it around, knowing it would take a year at least for it to start really breaking down. Well, it's been about a year and a half, and my observation is that my fruit trees have sprung into action, and seeds I have planted around the base of the trees have started to grow, when other seeds, not in the mulch, died. I also use "whole" twigs for mulch. Anything I can snap apart in my hands becomes mulch around the trees and bushes. It keeps the moisture in the soil, and encourages bugs and earthworms to come and live there. It is amazing the life that hot sand will start to produce if you give the ground some shelter. Weeds are kept at bay, too. I like fruit trees over a garden, as they go deeper for moisture, and produce a ton of food. They don't take up any room, either, and one can still plant around the base. No soil prep needed, and you don't have to weed the trees. So, wood chips are free if you call your local tree cutters, and they work like magic. Try to get leaves in the mix, not just the wood.
Your videos are very well produced. Thanks for taking the time!
awsome idea why not. it's already there and free so you go girl. also you are completely right about the acidity and I know because I had a bright idea of changing the acidity of my soil with ground pine needles to turn pink hydrangeas blue thinking the needless would turn the soul acidic. I used about a kilo of pine needles grind to a powder and alas! it didn't do a thing lol so I know although the pine needles are acidic they will have no effect on the acidity of your soil. best of luck to you guys I've been following your journey and your doing great I'm a little jells of your off grid living.
WELL DONE. Great to see you using a mulch to keep the soil cover. #1 and first helpful thing to do. Then you have to GROW SOIL next. This is done by keeping a living root in the ground all the time so plants and their roots can store carbon in the ground. Like nature has done from day one.. THANK YOU
"Information paralysis" - What a great term, a perfect description of the condition. Love your video, the pine needles should work great, just look at the quality of the soil they were covering. Plus the cat is really cute.
I don't know if you have seen Starry Hilders utube site but it is well worth a look. She and Mr. Hilder have been at the off grid life for some time now. Her site is very informative and entertaining. Starry is very upbeat and high energy and I enjoy watching.
I also enjoy following you two as well, thank you.
John
P.S. What a wonderful soft kitty!
pine needles are perfectly fine to use as mulch , but they do tend to smother out new growth so i would rake them back if you are planting from seed and then use them to mulch around your plants after they sprout. have a fair amount of people in my area that use them to mulch flower beds
Your a very sensible Lady, and i am impressed, your doing fine, as ive been keeping up to date with all of the hard work you both do, and its very interesting, even though i'm an old Lady now, good luck sweet hearts hugs xxxxx
I've heard about pine needles affecting the soil pH too. I also have a tone of them on my property. Can't wait to see how this turns out. Beautiful cat!
yes its true..they will effect PH bigtime..PH is very important for nutrient uptake.
they make fine mulch, just keep pilling them up, they will breakdown at some point, to speed it up, add greens and kitchen scraps.
THANK U ! PINE NEEDLES/ LEAVES COLLECTING TRICK; drag a tarp up hill, RAKE it all ONTO TARP & drag it where needed. It works for leaves. I have a bad back & I can pull things without pain & this works great 4 me. GOOD LUCK!
Hey I must say .... I LOVE YOUR CHANNEL AND I'M LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH YOU.. i CANT WAIT TO MOVE OUT TO THE COUNTRY MYSELF .. OHH PLEASE LOOK INTO GROWING COMFREY ... When you leave it to rot in water it becomes compost teas... I not sure if it will survive the cold but it is pretty renewable .. good luck !!!Cant wait for the harvest videos..
Couldn't agree more with An American Homestead and yourself more, use what you've got, get it done rather than wait for 100 % solution. Kirsten over at Milkwood do a pretty good video on composts as well. Keep up the great work.
I'm probably late to the game, but you did right here. Most plants actually like a mildly acidic soil anyway. And soil can always be amended, if you feel you messed up, just add a little lime. The biggest thing is to use as much organic material as possible to continue building soil, and to keep your soil ALIVE by avoiding synthetic salt based fertilizers and inorganic compounds.
I think what you guys are doing is inspiring! I'm English and working towards building my own timber framed house, land here is too pricey, so it's a dream at the moment but slowly it's becoming a reality. Your journey is inspiring and obviously there will be successes and learning grounds along the way, but it's the journey isn't it?! :-)
Keep going guys! (from the United Kingdom) :-)
Hey Nathan! We keep hearing that land in your neck of the woods is pricey. Even if land is pricey, maybe your house can be super affordable? Glad our journey is inspiring you, and where there's a will there's a way! Best of luck to you and go after your dreams!
+Pure Living for Life hey, that's so true! It's so important to go after dreams. I am actually off to Estonia again in a few weeks to do a traditional log cabin building course. Should be interesting and a way of learning more skills, even though the house will actually be mortice and tenon timber framed.. it's a good chance to see how I can work with green wood, log peeling etc.. So much to learn :-)
I love using pine needles for mulch. It is very light weight and free!
Great! Analysis paralysis-that's me. But, great about the pine needles. I was told not to use by a friend. But now, yes! Thank you.
Love your cat! And I did not know that needles do not acidify the soil. Looks great folks ! Be well
You should read "The Third Plate" by Dan Barber. Lots of info about healthy gardening, continuous crop rotation, and anial integration.
excellent advice, work with what you have look around see what grows? and i had an allotment for many years some things fail others thrive .. good luck i would of course build up the mulch layer ...lol... yes its up and down but the thicker the better perhaps .. cheers from uk
Use what you can find. You can usually find all kinds of stuff for free. Wood Chips, pine needles, manures, etc. It all breaks down and makes good soil.
+An American Homestead Thanks for validating this simple mindset!
That cat looks like a little tiger
Ahh... a fellow analysis paralysis sufferer. Yep, sometimes one has to "just do it." Experience is almost invariably the best teacher.
"I suffer from hardcore analysis paralysis"
Thank you so much!! Finally I know what caused my countless sleepless nights and headaches!
Hope you get better soon!
Kind regards and all the best of success!
A
I know this is over a year old, but from what I understand you use what you have or can get readily. I've been lucky to find some wood mulch at our local dump. When we move our horse here I'll use her spoiled hay. I've also used some of my chickens bedding with manure in it.
great positive vid. as always. Keep up the good work ! Don't forget coffee grounds for the compost heap, and tea bags.
A ph meter is a cheap and reliable tool ; alot more reliable than other peoples opinions !
Cow poop is free in Idaho.
Get you berry bushes, fruit trees and vines in ASAP. The best time to plant an apple tree is five years ago. The second best time is now. You plant these things once.... And they will produce food for years.
+TheMrKrause Very excited to get the property producing fruits. Have FAR too many projects to do so we'll have to pace ourselves or die before we get to harvest. haha
We usually wait for the plants to come up and then spread newspapers around the plants. Then we put grass on top of the newspapers. It helps keep the weeds down. We have tried things like black plastic (ground cover) and the weeds just grew up through it. We do allow weeds to grow everywhere else around our property because the bees benefit from the weed flowers and we benefit from the bees.
Y'all have a awesome attitude .You will succeed.God Bless.
love your vlogs, I wish I was you . you are so lucky having someone to love. you take care.
In the UK we get 1 ton bags that sand is delivered in. About a cubic yard of capacity.
You could take it up the hill, fill it, tie the top and roll it down or drag it. Save you a lot
of trips with a bucket. Just a thought. Like your site.
Wow, Malik is a handsome cat! I've never seen patterning quite like that before.
Paul G. of back to eden fame said pine needles work just fine.
Your cat is so pretty. She looks like a little tiger.
spot on with pine needles. THEY WORK GREAT. I spread those, chips, leaves, pretty much any tree material.
Sand, for drainage, is about the only thing I suggest for sure. Great update. Beautiful cat.
You two are awesome. Wish you the very best.
I put pine needles in my garden and covered them with composted manure because of the addition of fungal dominated matter from forest products. The manure on top is bacteria dominated, this makes a good mix for the plants to thrive long-term. Pine needles do take forever to breakdown, but it was on the property.
Yes pine needles are very good for your garden just like leaves. They do have some problems though. 1. They take a long time to break down. It is best to shred them first. 2. They will take nitrogen from the soil in order to break down. It is best to go to the garden shop and buy a gallon of fish fertilizer (very high in nitrogen). One cap full per gallon once a week would be great and water the garden with the solution. You are correct they do not transfer acidity to the soil as they break down. Wood ashes are also great for the garden but as Jessie says they are very alkaline but they are very high in potassium and that is very good for the garden. You just need some material to counter act the alkalinity. Peat moss for example. I have even used tiny bits of vinegar in my irrigation water with good success. Good luck and God Bless
There is a canadian study that says that if you live on an area where it rains frequently, pine needles will not have an acid effect to your soil. Only in very dry areas. I also mulch with pine needles and they are great, special for fruit trees
This is not a mulch but a natural great cover barrier for keeping in moisture. Love that Cats colors and markings.
This is the first time I've seen you Cat. That is a beautiful critter.
i use them, and they do work fine as mulch. they rot very slowly, even slower than wood chips. to be effective at holding moisture they should be fairly thick, like 4 inches, as they arent very dense.
Patience is the best mulch! If it's organic and rots, use it. I've been organic gardening for 60+ years. What I had to use was leaves, grass clippings, rotten apples, rotten pears, manure from 250 homing pigeons and straw. Some was put directly on the garden and turned in with a garden fork. It was work, but pleasant work since my beloved Grandfather had been working this 1/4 acre for 30 years before I got involved. You can put mulch in the garden or on the garden. We put it in the garden since New Jersey had a much better climate for gardening. We also added agricultural gypsum. It improves the sulphur and calcium levels as well as improving soil structure, especially clay soils, so they absorb more water and there is less runoff. Now you have done something I highly recommend: you have a space between rows. I used to use a high wheel cultivator to create a drainage ditch between rows so there is less or no root rot. FYI, you can get a high wheeled cultivator from Lehman's on line. With our large garden (1/4 acre of 16 total acres) I could cultivate it in an hour. The other tool which I currently use to build my flower beds is a Mantis Tiller (buy from Mantis directly). The little bugger will take your arms off if you have rocks so it is most useful for an established garden. Raised (boxed) beds look nice but are expensive to build, maintain and manage the moisture level in. My suggestions and opinions use them as you will.
SUGGESTION: Next time, take a large tarp up with you. Pine needles are not heavy, so you should be able to get 5+ "bucketsfulls" into a tarp and just drag them all back down the hill to your garden.
Love to you guys!
Love your attitude and energy! Great video. Looking forward to see how the garden goes. Hard root beers are cool . . . enjoy!
In life there are no failures. Just experiences and our reactions to them.
That cat is awesome! My brother has a bengal, and that little guy is just so full of personality. I really don't even like cats - I'm a dog guy - but this bengal has so much personality it's more like a dog; very entertaining.
Look at the forest floor where u took the pine needles from,I think u will see a very moist and dense six inches of compost. Those pine needles have been allowing that moisture to stay in the soil year after year as the prior season waste is decomposing. So take advantage of that six inches of free compost along w the needles for mulch.
The reason why wood chips are popular is because in mist suburban areas you can get massive quantities for FREE from your city's park's and recreation or tree trimming crews.
Typically they are apply thickly (6+"), possibly more than once a year. They don't provide much nutrition (most mulches do not) but they keep the weeds down.
Love the video. That is one gorgeous cat!