I am an enthusiastic, but quiet, regular viewer, from Australia. Not a commercial market gardener, but a community gardener building food security for my isolated, local community. I garden about half an acre of intensive beds. I have your book, and love it and wish I were in a position to be a Patreon member too. Sadly, here we are all living hand to mouth now (climate change impacts slamming us). So the best I can do is to say a deep and humble THANK YOU. You've taught me so much. More than I ever dreamed. With every video I can feel the time and effort you put in, and while my gratitude can't be financial, please know you are MASSIVELY appreciated.
The whole no-till growers project is so anyone and everyone can have access to this information freely and it is great to hear that it is helpful! Thank you. Wishing you the best! -Jesse
Hi Margi, good on you! Greetings from Tasmania. Have you ever watched RED gardens? Similar community garden, and runs lots of different trials to see what works best in his area. Best of luck.
Thank you, Cindy. I had not but will search him out. While I've always had a garden, I come from an entirely different professional background, and growing food at scale and with regularity is an artform I am still learning! Our community was smashed during the Black Summer wildfires, so this whole 'growing food' project has also kept us grounded with each other while we've rebuilt, and it's tuned our outlook, too.
@@MargiPrideaux-md7zn Fellow Aussie here, and a fan of No-Till Growers and RED Gardens too. Loads of good info to be had on these pages. The Weedy Garden is another (Aussie) channel worth checking out
@mannbat Agreed ... have been enjoying the Weedy Gardener from the start. Beautiful channel. I still haven't found anyone that comes even close to Farmer Jesse for the market gardening skill set. I just wish we could source even a quarter of the varieties US gardeners can get!!
"the weeds really appreciate, they send me cards"🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love that you"are not normal "and appreciate you showing what double looks like, i only have a small area
ive watched hours of garden videos every day for months and i dont even have a garden or plants yet lol but im trench composting and learning about eating the weeds already growing here
I've never been able to afford piling up 4-8" of compost over wide beds or a whole garden area. I generally only put it in narrow strips, or better still, dig planting holes and mix compost with the native soil I dug out, about 50/50. Each year I dig new holes between the old ones and eventually the whole row is amended nicely, full of roots that are breaking down to add organic matter. I do use the organic layer first to help suppress weeds, regardless.
Gotta work within the budget for sure! We do a lot of trials with no and low compost for that reason--not everyone can afford it or has access to good compost. Thanks for the comment
@@notillgrowers even if you can afford that much compost, doing it the way I described means you can get two acres going right away instead of one. OR use half that budget for something else. At least for stuff like maters and peppers... maybe not so much for greens etc that are right on top of each other. Have you had any drainage issues due to water perchment where compost meets the native soil? I've always felt that mixing it together with native soil is a good idea to avoid that, but I can't really prove it. And then of course it's not really "No-dig" so I understand some growers don't want to mess with that.
I needed the Disco music to really get into work at 5am... Chopping veggies for the animals and dreaming about bountiful gardens first thing in the morning to the beat of Disco music works wonders!
I think I learned about "rough" compost from y'all and im a big fan. Last season I did my first deep compost beds capped with rough compost and it was great. I pretty much only warered out of pure boredom, every time I peeled back the compost to check moisture it would be in that field capacity perfect moisture zone. On the other hand I chose to completely ignore everything in your cover crop videos and deeply regret it. After chop n dropped, looked next day and said "f*ck". Now it's all rye. So now I get to solarize beds instead of planting them. Yay gardening.
So, u did mean Sean of Edible Acres ? Just wondering. I was like, Sean who ? What am I missing out on ?! Then I thought of Edible Acres Sean as I started scrolling down to replies. I am a fan too. Also of the Perma Pastures guys, the "no dig guy with the delightful accent" to paraphrase Jesse :), Huw Richards too ( who could be who Jesse had in mind but I bet it was Charles Dowding) & Stephan Sobkowiak & more. Don't watch all their content, all the time like I have been with this channel, per my own current application ( not that I have a market garden exactly, either ... ), but love that they're there when I need or am in the mood to tune in there, too.
Also want to add...I have loved and appreciated most of your videos. This one, however, seems like a step above the rest. Seems really smooth and direct and informative, and pointing out specific other videos on parts of the process is great. It feels very respectful and welcoming to the viewer, especially someone like me who is VERY early in the journey (and that is putting it generously). Also, FWIW, I love how you address us all as nerds at the beginning of the videos. Really sets the tone.
i have been doing deep mulch to change the poor coarse sand soil native to where i am for over 30yrs. i did not grow much other than cover crops for the first decade! after that, my orchard became possible and i have absolutely great living soil. i rarely have to water my fruit trees and berry bushes because the soil holds water very well. i am glad i allowed the arborist chips just pile as this killed all the weeds. then on the 3rd year, i seeded a variety of cover crop seeds attracting wild life that ate and pooped all over. now i have the best soil and have to do very little to my 1 acre food forest / orchard / garden to generate 90% of what i eat and have much left over to sell or give away.
On poor, sandy soils, what's interesting is how Jim Kovaleski noticed in his FL yard/garden, the sweet potatoes did better in the more un-improved, very poor soil than the good stuff. They were mulched with wood chips or something like that, usually I think tho. Anyway, just mentioning it in case that helps anyone out who's reading your comment who's got poor, sandy soil & is nowhere near very improved yet.
@@ajb.822 lol, not this poor. there was absolutely no organic matter deeper than a few inches. it was more of a sieve than soil. in fact i used it straight as concrete aggregate and made the best concrete for my cabin. don't know how much better sweet potatoes can grow. i get huge yields with my soil as is. mine are as big as my whole arm and many of them. i have not tried it on pure sand and gravel though.
I tested out using mushroom compost last year and it worked great. It is has a decent amount of composted chicken and cow manure along with straw and other organics. I tried it out on one row last year and the results were fantastic. We just put down more this year...can't wait to see what happens!
Mushroom compost is a game changer for vegetable gardeners. Been using it for about ten years and couldn't imagine going back to just regular compost. Everyone I've introduced the benefits of it to are amazed at the results.
As a sidenote, the cardboard and deep mulch method is a fantastically easy way to do creative landscaping in the yard. Just cut cardboard to shape and add a nice border of some kind and you're golden. I've also taken to just making little mounds of compost on cardboard and sticking my squash in them. No need for clearing a whole area when the pumpkins will just take over anyway.
I love figuring out how the information you provide can be applied to my little raised beds city garden. In a perfect world, all of my neighbors would be growing at least one thing well and none of us would ever have to go to the grocery store again. My neighbor behind me has chickens and that's a start! ☺️
REALLY appreciate the Farmer Joe, I mean Jessie jokes, it makes these very fun to watch even though you're feeding the viewer very nutrient rich information, which means balancing the big smiles with brain focus. These videos give me another thing to look forward to on the weekend, YAY! Now I have two things to look forward to on the weekends. Right now I only have a couple raised beds to play with, in 2 - 3 more years that grows to about an acre, an acre of growing area or farming area, added with about a half acre of trees, and considering an acre is a bit much for annuals, I'm figuring out how I want to mix in perennials that don't require too much work along with more trees, and some trees grown to be a quick growing source of wood mulch. After watching a lot of videos that just seems like a good thing to do. Maybe we can get a heavy duty wood chipper/mulcher for the community. We'll see. But REALLY do appreciate your professionalism and the knowledge you get out there. Great stuff.
This is a great video. As most of them are . Drainage is something that is often overlooked. It’s in my opinion the most important thing. I love the fact that you mention pointing beds down hill . My garden is a mixture of vegetables with prenatal fruit trees and berries dividing blocks. Drainage was a major problem last year when we went from our normal 30 inch of rain to 60 plus. My beds were no dig beds 4 years old and they were swamped. I tilled them for the first time and raised my beds 8 inches. My normal compost person stopped turning compost because of fuel cost . All the other compost available is full of ground up plastic. So I have enlarged my growing space by a 1/3 and having at least 1/3 of it in cover crop at all times. Tarping to kill . Growing through some landscape fabric to combat weeds because 3/4 of an acre was tilled last year for drainage issues. So my point to all the rambling. My native clay soil will the compost till in then cover cropped mid summer last year with buckwheat first then oats radish peas and vetch. Is absolutely amazing looking and feeling. I think it’s texture is better that When I just added compost. Thanks for the cover crop video you have done. I would have been lost without them. Thanks for the amazing guest you have had on the podcast.
I thought about doing that I got so many truckloads from chip drop and gonna compost it in mass. I need a truck to pick up truckloads of horse poo though. I thought about buying a cheap one.
I'm very mu(l)ch in alignment with everything you say in this video. I saw that paper from Germany referencing your book! Promising indeed, at least for high-carbon composts. Deep mulching always felt wasteful and excessive to me, especially when it comes to P. I want to use as little compost as possible, only enough to supress annual weeds, which should be enough to build great soil over time. If I can get away with applying 1" GW compost every 2-3 years that would be really nice. I'm going to give it a try!
I've done that too, except for coco coir. Just a thin layer of screened compost directly on bare (weed free!) soil. Though you do need to keep it moist, it dries out quickly in my experience. But germination was great. Cool to see how little is actually needed.
You are sooo adorable. 🤩 I love your "not-normal-nerdyness". 🤓 Have been a hugelkultur compost gardener for years now and would never go back to tilling. I live in Ontario Canada, zone 5, and reapply compost every 2-3 years. I also direct compost/mulch with comfrey, weeds and leafy greens throughout the growing season. I grow everything compact or tight together so to protect the soil from sun exposure and to prevent weeds which means I don't weed at all and I don't have to have water until those 2 weeks of hot, dry August nights. Consequently my gardens are thriving. Am practicing this same ground-level gardening technique on my balcony garden. So far so good! You mentioned rock mineralization. I use a combination of coarsely ground and finely ground organic eggshells - works just as well. Love the channel. Newly subscribed.
Perfect timing for us up here in zone 3 (Canada), I'm just about to put down deep mushroom compost to build our one acre market garden. I had worried about the compost coming in too 'hot' or high in soluble salts to plant into right away. Thank you for the wisdom, it's always appreciated!
I needed this video! For the first time I just got about 8 yards of compost/ super soil locally and I am really putting it to the beds hard! I am looking forward to seeing how this affects my plants. Love experimenting with different things! 💚
Thanks for this video, super helpful. I tried this last year and failed miserably. I don’t arrogate at all here and the compost dried out and became hydrophobic. I’m trying a bit of a different approach this year and will be making a video about it at some point.
Useful information, as always. I started making my own compost for my small backyard garden using some of your tips. My system works great even though I use totes. I also started incorporating more chop and drop methods to keep the soil covered and feed the soil.
I do in-ground and raised bed gardening and I find the raised bed people rarely if ever address the problem with the drop in the depth of the growing medium. Here in SE Texas I have to refresh compost twice a year because it just disappears into thin air. It disappears off the in-ground beds too but it’s not so much of a problem.
I finally transitioned to raised beds last year and have been dealing with the same issue. The good news is that the drop in depth is partly due to the presence of friendly micro organisms doing their very important work! 👍
As expected another great Sunday Morning video, Thank You!!! Yet, at the same time it is also so frustrating and flustering too. We still have not successfully produced our first pile of compost. Still trying the No-Till method. Our soil is heavy clay. Although, for the most part it drains good. We are now basically 100% drip system. So far this year we have received less than one inch of rain. Only got five inches last year. So now juggling the heavy clay and the No-Till and the drip system and the NO RAIN! Time will tell like they say!
Hi from arid Australia! I consume youtube videos and have been very impressed by the regenerative approach, esp one in the chihuahua desert, and others in Africa. Building swales or the semi circle idea to trap any moisture might be the way to go? If you haven’t already, check those out. My woodchip pile is composting beautifully, I grew a pile of green manure too, and am busy putting in loads of biochar that I make myself. Maybe it will take a few years of getting the ground right. Last year, I dumped a 6 inch layer of wood chips, and just used composted cow manure in the very narrow row where I wanted to plant. I expected a disaster, but it was excellent for my garlic, and broke down really quickly. I am only a backyard gardener though. I think it is important to find someone who is growing in similar rainfall conditions to you so you don’t get deflated. Even layers of cardboard on top of clay will bring worms and a layer of better soil eventually Best of luck xxx
Another Australian question, if beds had composing worms in it the mulch layer would deteriorate due to the worms eating the organic material in its microbial forms but would leave you with worm castings in the growing layer of the root zone, so the trade off of the castings and the requirement of extra mulch be better or just not have the worms?
Life is never a negative, in my humble opinion. I even find myself wondering what kind of negative change I am making below the surface when I pull weeds. I'm not saying keep the weeds, I just wonder about things as I kill other things. But worms- gosh, I can't imagine any reason worms would be bad. I bought in about 20,000 and rejoice every day as I see their babies.
The worms are going to find their way into your organic matter if they like the conditions. You don’t have to bring the worms in on purpose, and I would definitely not try to remove them. Well, unless I take a few to catch panfish for supper.
This could even be better if you added some biochar to the mix. Think of it as cities for your biology. As it is not broken down over time, it helps to maintain the biodiversity of biology in your soil system. It's your biology that creates the cells of the plant, so the more, the better for the health of any soil system. :))
Two questions - What about cold and wet? (Wet side of WA state.) And if your garden gets an extreme pill bug infestation because your compost is excellent; how do we get rid of them organically? (Only in my tunnels so far. Chickens don't want them any more - too many. Using a blow torch, DE and a drip line to combat atm.)
According to my experience, sowing seeds in a thick compost does not give good results, however planting small plants in the soil through deep compost gives great results. Personally I try to start all my seeds in the greenhouse and only plant seedlings in the soil. My success rate is a lot higher.
@no-till growers, thank you for more insight. Have been listening to the podcast for several years and gaining perspective as we were starting our farm. How do you manage the living pathways from taking over the beds? We tried this one year and the grass creep seemed unstoppable while mowing regularly scattered grass into the beds.
We've been deep mulching for three years and I always question whether it's better to put immature compost in the field and let it sit for a while or let it sit in the pile and continue decomposing. We tend to steer towards the latter, but I'd love to see research on this.
Wish this was easy everywhere. Our community garden spaces have bindweed that you can't smother effectively without a year of no light. Before then it will poke through just about any organic or weed barrier material and explode all over again.
Hey Jesse an amateur gardener here from Greece! Just wanted to ask you what are the negatives of mixing compost with the soil. I usualy till my realy realy small garden every crop change mixing in some homemade compost but this year i also decided to till the soil beneath the top soil , add char with compost at the bottom beneath the freshly tilled soil. Should i ditch tilling and start 2 layer mulching with compost and straw? Thanks for your time in advance i realy admire your effort!
I absolutely agree. The best native soils are never ever 100% organic material. Chernozems (widely considered to be the best soils on the planet) are about 15-20% organic matter. Organic matter itself is usually pretty nutrient-poor. It's biggest benefit by far is that it allows soil organisms access nutrients from the soil substrate.
Hi! First of all, congratulations for your great work on the field and at the web. What do you think about path walks made with weeds cut often vs woodchips?
I am intrested in deep compost mulch topic quite a while. But It seems like this system require enormous amout of compost. Can your farm produce enough compost to be self sufficient and sustainable? Or you buy majority of compost?
Thanks for reminding us about soil temps and why lettuce gets unhappy. I totally forgot about how it absorbs light/heat more. 75* sunny day with zero cool breeze focused on one spot heats it way too much. My girlfriend spinach bolted way too fast this year so brought her some shade cloth. Now that’s another topic I’d love to hear about is shade cloth comparisons 30-50% filtering and white vs black material. (Video idea) 😅 I bought 110’ of 55% black shade cloth, it looks so flimsy and snags easily from a grower (I shall not name because ya know him). Is that typical for commercial shade cloth? The pest cloth that I also purchased rocks and can’t wait to setup my low-cat tunnels to try them out. 😉
@@notillgrowers ok now my curiosity is mega peeked so I will totally order that from Johnny’s to compare. Since I’m a newbie starting a farm from scratch ooooh the amount of choices are sometimes mind boggling .
It's not as convenient space-wise because the wheels are so wide but it never tips over and dumps all the compost out which is HUGE plus! Way easier on the body overall too
Im not sure why everyone is so afraid of weeds. I farm 3 acres and weed the entire thing by hand, leaving green spaces between my rows, which I cut down and use to cover my rows twice a season. Is it the extra work it takes? For me, its super relaxing and great exercise
I am establishing a new large garden and went with this method this spring. I'm definitely having "meh" production; I'm guessing salts in the root zone. I built a large hugelkultur bed with compost from the same source a year and a half ago and everything in it looks like it is going to the state fair. I also have a thin layer of the compost mulching other beds and they are doing just fine. So, something is out of balance in the compost-only system. It'll be fine. I'm deciding whether I am going to try to get anything out of it this year or just replace what I planted with a cover crop and let the system sort itself out. Based on my other results, I'm confident in the long run, just not this season.
does buying the book from Chelsea Green NOT support the channel? I don't mean this negatively - I honestly want to know. I was very close to buying it during their recent sale, but decided to read it first, and our library had it. I am loving it so far.
So buying it from Chelsea Green or Amazon or whomever means I personally still get a royalty (usually around $1.40 per book sold) but correct, it does not support the work of No-Till Growers.
ive got one chayote plant growing in the compost and this year so far this single plant gave me over 100kg harvest xD..... in 2 phases tho ! not at once
I live close to you...where do you suggest getting compost locally? I do make some, but have always just gone to Lowe's to purchase and use Black Kow since I'm unable to make enough on my own. I know my parents used to purchase mulch from a place in Versailles, but my guess is...if they even have compost...I'm thinking it's horse manure and I've heard that isn't the best choice. I've thought about just digging some dirt where cows have grazed since I have access to that. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Horse manure is only a problem if they have been fed hay that was sprayed with persistent herbicides like aminopyralid. Ask your horseman if he knows what his hay is sprayed with. If he doesn't know, don't take his manure.
For fertilizing compost go with Charlies. For mulch Throughbred's woodchip mix (standard bred) is the most reliable, though I'm always a little worried about things like herbicide contamination so that's a potential risk because they use horse manure.
Nitrogen is NEVER a pollutant (at least not in the natural world). We just call it a pollutant because we don't like the shift in ecology caused by eutrophication. However, there is nothing inherently bad about eutrophic waters and its associated change in ecology. One thing is sure, net primary production in aquatic systems will be higher under nitrogen-rich conditions. So, the point is that in nature everything has positives and negatives.
Your produce looks very good, but once compost is spent ( nutrients used up) you have to use more ,say every year. Not sustainable long term as every year you top up compost your plant roots get further away from the mineralised soil and they need the minerals. If you add 4 inch of compost a year that's 40 cm over ten years
I've always thought the microbial action and plant uptake removed a fairly large portion of the carbon bulk over time. I have created "beds" from piles of leaves that become loaded with worms and are half the size by spring. If that trend continues, 50% in six months, a six inch layer of compost is only 1.5" the following year.
@@Tippler0611 your talking compost yet to compost goes down in bulk after composting. I was talking compost that is finished composting that is complete in that process being used. The nutrients are good for growing for one year and then it's spent bulk material after that. If you add say 5 inch a year over 10 years that's 50 inches above the original mineralized soil. Let's say it reduces in bulk over the 10 year period by 50% ( which I doubt if it was properly composted before it's additional) your still 25 inches above your original mineralized soil, everything grown is not in contact with minerals as nothings roots can reach the original soil and then you should have problems..... I can't see it being sustainable long term therefore. I should add that the crops in the video are currently first class quality at the moment
Thanks for the video! Great content. We are just getting into no-till-deep compost system production at our startup farm in central PA. Keeping it small, making a ton of mistakes but making great progress in learning how to do it right. Next season I'm sure we'll have a much better success with the system even through that this year it was a bit of disaster as detailed in this video on our channel: ruclips.net/video/xL2tpAFWaqQ/видео.html Tomatoes in our regular beds without compost are doing extremely well though, looks like we'll have a bumper crop. Jessie, thanks for the videos, you're an inspiration! Without your content I don't think we'd ever start on the journey of organic farm setup.
Every time I watch one of your videos it makes me sad. Almost every piece of advice you give starts with "use a good compost" and there just isn't any available out here in Fort Wayne. I thought when I moved to farm country I'd be surrounded by options but alas it's all just guys selling various forms of peat, crappy store bagged stuff with more rocks, sticks and bits of plastic than compost, or the city trying to sell me literal human waste and whatever chemicals the various industrial facilities have dumped down the drain. Not a single source of leaf & veg compost out here. I actually considered bulk ordering some good stuff from a place like brunt worm farms in minnesota, but they want $500 for a yard of it plus another $500 just to ship it. $1000 per yard when you need like 15 yards of material is just a non-starter.
@@momcom5 how long do you suppose it will take to generate 15 yards of compost, at home, BEFORE I have a garden in which to produce lots of organic matter? Of course I know I can compost at home. I've been throwing food scraps and shredded cardboard in a compost bin for nearly a year now and it's so far turned into about 4 shovels full of finished compost lol.
I recently implemented the No-Till technique using compost sourced from a local compost facility. Unfortunately, my results have been disappointing. My plants have shown very little growth even after several months, with yellowing leaves indicating a lack of nutrients. When inspecting the garden beds, I noticed that the soil at the bottom had a foul odor and appeared waterlogged, suggesting poor drainage. I contacted the facility, and they informed me that growing directly in compost can be detrimental, as it may burn the plants. They recommended mixing compost with top soil, with a maximum compost content of 30%. Could you please provide some insights or advice on the proper use of compost in No-Till gardening? Specifically, does the compost need to be fully and finely composted for this technique? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Can wood composts tie up oxygen in sand, silt and clay soils when tilled too deep over time? I understand decaying sawdust rapidly turns to co2 tying up oxygen as well as nitrogen in the root zone. 💯✌️🦚
I am an enthusiastic, but quiet, regular viewer, from Australia. Not a commercial market gardener, but a community gardener building food security for my isolated, local community. I garden about half an acre of intensive beds. I have your book, and love it and wish I were in a position to be a Patreon member too. Sadly, here we are all living hand to mouth now (climate change impacts slamming us). So the best I can do is to say a deep and humble THANK YOU. You've taught me so much. More than I ever dreamed. With every video I can feel the time and effort you put in, and while my gratitude can't be financial, please know you are MASSIVELY appreciated.
The whole no-till growers project is so anyone and everyone can have access to this information freely and it is great to hear that it is helpful! Thank you. Wishing you the best! -Jesse
Hi Margi, good on you! Greetings from Tasmania. Have you ever watched RED gardens? Similar community garden, and runs lots of different trials to see what works best in his area. Best of luck.
Thank you, Cindy. I had not but will search him out. While I've always had a garden, I come from an entirely different professional background, and growing food at scale and with regularity is an artform I am still learning! Our community was smashed during the Black Summer wildfires, so this whole 'growing food' project has also kept us grounded with each other while we've rebuilt, and it's tuned our outlook, too.
@@MargiPrideaux-md7zn Fellow Aussie here, and a fan of No-Till Growers and RED Gardens too. Loads of good info to be had on these pages.
The Weedy Garden is another (Aussie) channel worth checking out
@mannbat Agreed ... have been enjoying the Weedy Gardener from the start. Beautiful channel. I still haven't found anyone that comes even close to Farmer Jesse for the market gardening skill set. I just wish we could source even a quarter of the varieties US gardeners can get!!
"the weeds really appreciate, they send me cards"🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I love that you"are not normal "and appreciate you showing what double looks like, i only have a small area
ive watched hours of garden videos every day for months and i dont even have a garden or plants yet lol but im trench composting and learning about eating the weeds already growing here
I've never been able to afford piling up 4-8" of compost over wide beds or a whole garden area. I generally only put it in narrow strips, or better still, dig planting holes and mix compost with the native soil I dug out, about 50/50. Each year I dig new holes between the old ones and eventually the whole row is amended nicely, full of roots that are breaking down to add organic matter.
I do use the organic layer first to help suppress weeds, regardless.
Do what you can with what you have. I never have enough compost, either.
Gotta work within the budget for sure! We do a lot of trials with no and low compost for that reason--not everyone can afford it or has access to good compost. Thanks for the comment
@@notillgrowers even if you can afford that much compost, doing it the way I described means you can get two acres going right away instead of one. OR use half that budget for something else. At least for stuff like maters and peppers... maybe not so much for greens etc that are right on top of each other.
Have you had any drainage issues due to water perchment where compost meets the native soil? I've always felt that mixing it together with native soil is a good idea to avoid that, but I can't really prove it. And then of course it's not really "No-dig" so I understand some growers don't want to mess with that.
I needed the Disco music to really get into work at 5am...
Chopping veggies for the animals and dreaming about bountiful gardens first thing in the morning to the beat of Disco music works wonders!
🪩
I think I learned about "rough" compost from y'all and im a big fan. Last season I did my first deep compost beds capped with rough compost and it was great. I pretty much only warered out of pure boredom, every time I peeled back the compost to check moisture it would be in that field capacity perfect moisture zone. On the other hand I chose to completely ignore everything in your cover crop videos and deeply regret it. After chop n dropped, looked next day and said "f*ck". Now it's all rye. So now I get to solarize beds instead of planting them. Yay gardening.
Probably the most valuable content creator on RUclips. Well, maybe tied with Sean, but... You get the point.
Who?
@@lksf9820, I learn a lot from Sean at edible acres as well. A really different style, but he packs info into his vids much like Jesse.
🙌
So, u did mean Sean of Edible Acres ? Just wondering. I was like, Sean who ? What am I missing out on ?! Then I thought of Edible Acres Sean as I started scrolling down to replies. I am a fan too. Also of the Perma Pastures guys, the "no dig guy with the delightful accent" to paraphrase Jesse :), Huw Richards too ( who could be who Jesse had in mind but I bet it was Charles Dowding) & Stephan Sobkowiak & more. Don't watch all their content, all the time like I have been with this channel, per my own current application ( not that I have a market garden exactly, either ... ), but love that they're there when I need or am in the mood to tune in there, too.
Weird way to spell charles dowding
Also want to add...I have loved and appreciated most of your videos. This one, however, seems like a step above the rest. Seems really smooth and direct and informative, and pointing out specific other videos on parts of the process is great. It feels very respectful and welcoming to the viewer, especially someone like me who is VERY early in the journey (and that is putting it generously). Also, FWIW, I love how you address us all as nerds at the beginning of the videos. Really sets the tone.
i have been doing deep mulch to change the poor coarse sand soil native to where i am for over 30yrs. i did not grow much other than cover crops for the first decade! after that, my orchard became possible and i have absolutely great living soil. i rarely have to water my fruit trees and berry bushes because the soil holds water very well. i am glad i allowed the arborist chips just pile as this killed all the weeds. then on the 3rd year, i seeded a variety of cover crop seeds attracting wild life that ate and pooped all over. now i have the best soil and have to do very little to my 1 acre food forest / orchard / garden to generate 90% of what i eat and have much left over to sell or give away.
On poor, sandy soils, what's interesting is how Jim Kovaleski noticed in his FL yard/garden, the sweet potatoes did better in the more un-improved, very poor soil than the good stuff. They were mulched with wood chips or something like that, usually I think tho. Anyway, just mentioning it in case that helps anyone out who's reading your comment who's got poor, sandy soil & is nowhere near very improved yet.
@@ajb.822 lol, not this poor. there was absolutely no organic matter deeper than a few inches. it was more of a sieve than soil. in fact i used it straight as concrete aggregate and made the best concrete for my cabin. don't know how much better sweet potatoes can grow. i get huge yields with my soil as is. mine are as big as my whole arm and many of them. i have not tried it on pure sand and gravel though.
I tested out using mushroom compost last year and it worked great. It is has a decent amount of composted chicken and cow manure along with straw and other organics. I tried it out on one row last year and the results were fantastic. We just put down more this year...can't wait to see what happens!
I did the same thing last year with phenomenal success especially for a first year garden
Mushroom compost is a game changer for vegetable gardeners. Been using it for about ten years and couldn't imagine going back to just regular compost. Everyone I've introduced the benefits of it to are amazed at the results.
As a sidenote, the cardboard and deep mulch method is a fantastically easy way to do creative landscaping in the yard. Just cut cardboard to shape and add a nice border of some kind and you're golden. I've also taken to just making little mounds of compost on cardboard and sticking my squash in them. No need for clearing a whole area when the pumpkins will just take over anyway.
Glad you mentioned the ecology consideration of compost run off.
I love figuring out how the information you provide can be applied to my little raised beds city garden. In a perfect world, all of my neighbors would be growing at least one thing well and none of us would ever have to go to the grocery store again. My neighbor behind me has chickens and that's a start! ☺️
I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!
Amazing amount of detail in 12.49 minutes! Thank you - this is very helpful to me, a 7 year frustrated gardener!
Just a heads up 😊even when you get to 20 years of gardening, you will still be frustrated.😅
REALLY appreciate the Farmer Joe, I mean Jessie jokes, it makes these very fun to watch even though you're feeding the viewer very nutrient rich information, which means balancing the big smiles with brain focus. These videos give me another thing to look forward to on the weekend, YAY! Now I have two things to look forward to on the weekends.
Right now I only have a couple raised beds to play with, in 2 - 3 more years that grows to about an acre, an acre of growing area or farming area, added with about a half acre of trees, and considering an acre is a bit much for annuals, I'm figuring out how I want to mix in perennials that don't require too much work along with more trees, and some trees grown to be a quick growing source of wood mulch. After watching a lot of videos that just seems like a good thing to do. Maybe we can get a heavy duty wood chipper/mulcher for the community. We'll see.
But REALLY do appreciate your professionalism and the knowledge you get out there. Great stuff.
This is a great video. As most of them are .
Drainage is something that is often overlooked. It’s in my opinion the most important thing.
I love the fact that you mention pointing beds down hill .
My garden is a mixture of vegetables with prenatal fruit trees and berries dividing blocks. Drainage was a major problem last year when we went from our normal 30 inch of rain to 60 plus.
My beds were no dig beds 4 years old and they were swamped. I tilled them for the first time and raised my beds 8 inches. My normal compost person stopped turning compost because of fuel cost . All the other compost available is full of ground up plastic.
So I have enlarged my growing space by a 1/3 and having at least 1/3 of it in cover crop at all times. Tarping to kill . Growing through some landscape fabric to combat weeds because 3/4 of an acre was tilled last year for drainage issues. So my point to all the rambling. My native clay soil will the compost till in then cover cropped mid summer last year with buckwheat first then oats radish peas and vetch. Is absolutely amazing looking and feeling. I think it’s texture is better that
When I just added compost. Thanks for the cover crop video you have done. I would have been lost without them. Thanks for the amazing guest you have had on the podcast.
Great info. This explains why certain seeds never germinated.
Me too - an ahah moment - thank you Jesse!!
It's only one of multiple possibilities.
I am moving my 5,000 square foot garden to a deep compost approach, so thank you for this video!
I thought about doing that I got so many truckloads from chip drop and gonna compost it in mass. I need a truck to pick up truckloads of horse poo though. I thought about buying a cheap one.
@@mathgasm8484 I wish! Chipdrop has just been me waiting and checking my order but I also live in the middle of nowhere haha!
I'm very mu(l)ch in alignment with everything you say in this video. I saw that paper from Germany referencing your book! Promising indeed, at least for high-carbon composts.
Deep mulching always felt wasteful and excessive to me, especially when it comes to P. I want to use as little compost as possible, only enough to supress annual weeds, which should be enough to build great soil over time. If I can get away with applying 1" GW compost every 2-3 years that would be really nice. I'm going to give it a try!
i love the neatly arranged rows of chaotically random lettuce heads
At Greener Bay Compost, we have had success starting almost all seeds in a layer of 1/4" screened compost atop a blend of top soil and coco coir.
I've done that too, except for coco coir. Just a thin layer of screened compost directly on bare (weed free!) soil. Though you do need to keep it moist, it dries out quickly in my experience. But germination was great. Cool to see how little is actually needed.
You are sooo adorable. 🤩 I love your "not-normal-nerdyness". 🤓 Have been a hugelkultur compost gardener for years now and would never go back to tilling. I live in Ontario Canada, zone 5, and reapply compost every 2-3 years. I also direct compost/mulch with comfrey, weeds and leafy greens throughout the growing season. I grow everything compact or tight together so to protect the soil from sun exposure and to prevent weeds which means I don't weed at all and I don't have to have water until those 2 weeks of hot, dry August nights. Consequently my gardens are thriving. Am practicing this same ground-level gardening technique on my balcony garden. So far so good!
You mentioned rock mineralization. I use a combination of coarsely ground and finely ground organic eggshells - works just as well.
Love the channel. Newly subscribed.
Perfect timing for us up here in zone 3 (Canada), I'm just about to put down deep mushroom compost to build our one acre market garden. I had worried about the compost coming in too 'hot' or high in soluble salts to plant into right away. Thank you for the wisdom, it's always appreciated!
Usually with a great accent. Shouts to Charles!
Farmer Jesse, you’re so inspiring to the farming and gardening community! Ever grateful for your knowledge and uplifting videos ❤ 🌱
“‘No dig system,’ usually with a great accent” 😂
Ok just started watching your videos and aside from the wealth of info you provide, your music choices are on point!
Love your book and Russ and I loved our visit. Keep up the great work. Your “accent” is perfect for this side of the pond. Ha.
I needed this video! For the first time I just got about 8 yards of compost/ super soil locally and I am really putting it to the beds hard! I am looking forward to seeing how this affects my plants. Love experimenting with different things! 💚
I am south of you in central AL. I have similar weather and results pertaining to "how long can you go between applications of mulch".
Thanks for this video, super helpful. I tried this last year and failed miserably. I don’t arrogate at all here and the compost dried out and became hydrophobic. I’m trying a bit of a different approach this year and will be making a video about it at some point.
Useful information, as always. I started making my own compost for my small backyard garden using some of your tips. My system works great even though I use totes. I also started incorporating more chop and drop methods to keep the soil covered and feed the soil.
I do in-ground and raised bed gardening and I find the raised bed people rarely if ever address the problem with the drop in the depth of the growing medium. Here in SE Texas I have to refresh compost twice a year because it just disappears into thin air. It disappears off the in-ground beds too but it’s not so much of a problem.
I finally transitioned to raised beds last year and have been dealing with the same issue. The good news is that the drop in depth is partly due to the presence of friendly micro organisms doing their very important work! 👍
This is directly related to my situation, thank you, much appreciated. ❤
As expected another great Sunday Morning video, Thank You!!! Yet, at the same time it is also so frustrating and flustering too. We still have not successfully produced our first pile of compost. Still trying the No-Till method. Our soil is heavy clay. Although, for the most part it drains good. We are now basically 100% drip system. So far this year we have received less than one inch of rain. Only got five inches last year. So now juggling the heavy clay and the No-Till and the drip system and the NO RAIN! Time will tell like they say!
best of luck!
Hi from arid Australia! I consume youtube videos and have been very impressed by the regenerative approach, esp one in the chihuahua desert, and others in Africa. Building swales or the semi circle idea to trap any moisture might be the way to go? If you haven’t already, check those out.
My woodchip pile is composting beautifully, I grew a pile of green manure too, and am busy putting in loads of biochar that I make myself. Maybe it will take a few years of getting the ground right.
Last year, I dumped a 6 inch layer of wood chips, and just used composted cow manure in the very narrow row where I wanted to plant. I expected a disaster, but it was excellent for my garlic, and broke down really quickly. I am only a backyard gardener though. I think it is important to find someone who is growing in similar rainfall conditions to you so you don’t get deflated.
Even layers of cardboard on top of clay will bring worms and a layer of better soil eventually
Best of luck xxx
I don't till but I do shallow digging with a cultivator, I find that it does not upset the various levels of micro activity below the layers of soil.
Great information and great presentation. Thanks for your efforts!
So cool you got referenced in the literature, that's like, nerd level 11 :)
totally!
Another Australian question, if beds had composing worms in it the mulch layer would deteriorate due to the worms eating the organic material in its microbial forms but would leave you with worm castings in the growing layer of the root zone, so the trade off of the castings and the requirement of extra mulch be better or just not have the worms?
Life is never a negative, in my humble opinion. I even find myself wondering what kind of negative change I am making below the surface when I pull weeds. I'm not saying keep the weeds, I just wonder about things as I kill other things. But worms- gosh, I can't imagine any reason worms would be bad. I bought in about 20,000 and rejoice every day as I see their babies.
The worms are going to find their way into your organic matter if they like the conditions. You don’t have to bring the worms in on purpose, and I would definitely not try to remove them. Well, unless I take a few to catch panfish for supper.
@@johndyer9232, very true. I was just impatient and wanted an army. That's the only reason I bought them rather than foster the existing population.
Yeah, no need to get rid of the worm castings I suppose unless you just have an abundance in those beds and can use them elsewhere?
Thanks!
Thank YOU!
This could even be better if you added some biochar to the mix. Think of it as cities for your biology. As it is not broken down over time, it helps to maintain the biodiversity of biology in your soil system. It's your biology that creates the cells of the plant, so the more, the better for the health of any soil system. :))
The weeds send you cards. 😆😆😆
Two questions -
What about cold and wet? (Wet side of WA state.)
And if your garden gets an extreme pill bug infestation because your compost is excellent; how do we get rid of them organically? (Only in my tunnels so far. Chickens don't want them any more - too many. Using a blow torch, DE and a drip line to combat atm.)
THANK YOU!!!! I REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR INFORMATION (AND HUMOR!!!)
According to my experience, sowing seeds in a thick compost does not give good results, however planting small plants in the soil through deep compost gives great results. Personally I try to start all my seeds in the greenhouse and only plant seedlings in the soil. My success rate is a lot higher.
@no-till growers, thank you for more insight. Have been listening to the podcast for several years and gaining perspective as we were starting our farm. How do you manage the living pathways from taking over the beds? We tried this one year and the grass creep seemed unstoppable while mowing regularly scattered grass into the beds.
seedlings LOVE LOVE worm castings
We've been deep mulching for three years and I always question whether it's better to put immature compost in the field and let it sit for a while or let it sit in the pile and continue decomposing. We tend to steer towards the latter, but I'd love to see research on this.
Wish this was easy everywhere. Our community garden spaces have bindweed that you can't smother effectively without a year of no light. Before then it will poke through just about any organic or weed barrier material and explode all over again.
Good Morning. Was looking at the cart you're using for compost spreading. Name and source.... much appreciated..
Hey Jesse an amateur gardener here from Greece! Just wanted to ask you what are the negatives of mixing compost with the soil. I usualy till my realy realy small garden every crop change mixing in some homemade compost but this year i also decided to till the soil beneath the top soil , add char with compost at the bottom beneath the freshly tilled soil. Should i ditch tilling and start 2 layer mulching with compost and straw? Thanks for your time in advance i realy admire your effort!
Good one Jesse. What do you think about commercial green waste compost that is watered in the composting process with reclaimed water?
Do you have a link to the study mentioned? I'd love to read it.
Oops I thought I had put it in the notes! Here ya go www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/5/1080
This was great, thank you Jesse!
Interesting. I learned something that I apprently needed to know. Thanks!
I absolutely agree.
The best native soils are never ever 100% organic material. Chernozems (widely considered to be the best soils on the planet) are about 15-20% organic matter. Organic matter itself is usually pretty nutrient-poor. It's biggest benefit by far is that it allows soil organisms access nutrients from the soil substrate.
Hi!
First of all, congratulations for your great work on the field and at the web.
What do you think about path walks made with weeds cut often vs woodchips?
You can till if you replace active biomass
Got ur book.. cover to cover in 3 days... the back 20 pages are worth 20x the price of the book... index of cover crops and critical weed period...❤❤
Is being normal ever a goal?
For me, No!
Keep up the good work, thanks for all you bring to the garden
I am intrested in deep compost mulch topic quite a while. But It seems like this system require enormous amout of compost.
Can your farm produce enough compost to be self sufficient and sustainable? Or you buy majority of compost?
Thanks for reminding us about soil temps and why lettuce gets unhappy. I totally forgot about how it absorbs light/heat more. 75* sunny day with zero cool breeze focused on one spot heats it way too much.
My girlfriend spinach bolted way too fast this year so brought her some shade cloth.
Now that’s another topic I’d love to hear about is shade cloth comparisons 30-50% filtering and white vs black material. (Video idea) 😅
I bought 110’ of 55% black shade cloth, it looks so flimsy and snags easily from a grower (I shall not name because ya know him).
Is that typical for commercial shade cloth?
The pest cloth that I also purchased rocks and can’t wait to setup my low-cat tunnels to try them out. 😉
40% or less shade cloth is going to be flimsy, yes.
Interesting. I use 30% shade for summer greens that I get from Johnnys. It's pretty solid stuff. No issues there!
@@notillgrowers ok now my curiosity is mega peeked so I will totally order that from Johnny’s to compare. Since I’m a newbie starting a farm from scratch ooooh the amount of choices are sometimes mind boggling .
Do you 0:22 like that wheel barrow over the traditional one wheeler, is it better?
Two wheeled barrows are the bee's knees
It's not as convenient space-wise because the wheels are so wide but it never tips over and dumps all the compost out which is HUGE plus! Way easier on the body overall too
with regards to stopping mulching, "the weeds are really greatful for it, they send me cards" LOLOLLLLLLZ.
Im not sure why everyone is so afraid of weeds. I farm 3 acres and weed the entire thing by hand, leaving green spaces between my rows, which I cut down and use to cover my rows twice a season. Is it the extra work it takes? For me, its super relaxing and great exercise
I am establishing a new large garden and went with this method this spring. I'm definitely having "meh" production; I'm guessing salts in the root zone. I built a large hugelkultur bed with compost from the same source a year and a half ago and everything in it looks like it is going to the state fair. I also have a thin layer of the compost mulching other beds and they are doing just fine. So, something is out of balance in the compost-only system. It'll be fine. I'm deciding whether I am going to try to get anything out of it this year or just replace what I planted with a cover crop and let the system sort itself out. Based on my other results, I'm confident in the long run, just not this season.
first seasons can be tough on deep compost. Definitely a thing. sorry to hear.
Charles Dowding says nutrients aren't washed out of composts, they're attached to it and the soil.
does buying the book from Chelsea Green NOT support the channel? I don't mean this negatively - I honestly want to know. I was very close to buying it during their recent sale, but decided to read it first, and our library had it. I am loving it so far.
So buying it from Chelsea Green or Amazon or whomever means I personally still get a royalty (usually around $1.40 per book sold) but correct, it does not support the work of No-Till Growers.
ive got one chayote plant growing in the compost and this year so far this single plant gave me over 100kg harvest xD..... in 2 phases tho ! not at once
I live close to you...where do you suggest getting compost locally? I do make some, but have always just gone to Lowe's to purchase and use Black Kow since I'm unable to make enough on my own. I know my parents used to purchase mulch from a place in Versailles, but my guess is...if they even have compost...I'm thinking it's horse manure and I've heard that isn't the best choice. I've thought about just digging some dirt where cows have grazed since I have access to that. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Horse manure is only a problem if they have been fed hay that was sprayed with persistent herbicides like aminopyralid. Ask your horseman if he knows what his hay is sprayed with. If he doesn't know, don't take his manure.
For fertilizing compost go with Charlies. For mulch Throughbred's woodchip mix (standard bred) is the most reliable, though I'm always a little worried about things like herbicide contamination so that's a potential risk because they use horse manure.
Whoa! Who's the nerd now, Jesse. Getting quoted in science papers! a-ha! Joking aside, that is really cool
Teknik cara penanaman dan pupuk organik sangat
Nitrogen is NEVER a pollutant (at least not in the natural world).
We just call it a pollutant because we don't like the shift in ecology caused by eutrophication.
However, there is nothing inherently bad about eutrophic waters and its associated change in ecology. One thing is sure, net primary production in aquatic systems will be higher under nitrogen-rich conditions. So, the point is that in nature everything has positives and negatives.
THANK U!!!🎉
Good stuff.
Love it!!
Great work!
Great video ❤
Use anaerobic fertilizer to kill weeds. Plant vinegar 😋
Lol i like when he calls us nerds.
Cheers - great accent
LOVE
Your produce looks very good, but once compost is spent ( nutrients used up) you have to use more ,say every year. Not sustainable long term as every year you top up compost your plant roots get further away from the mineralised soil and they need the minerals.
If you add 4 inch of compost a year that's 40 cm over ten years
I've always thought the microbial action and plant uptake removed a fairly large portion of the carbon bulk over time. I have created "beds" from piles of leaves that become loaded with worms and are half the size by spring. If that trend continues, 50% in six months, a six inch layer of compost is only 1.5" the following year.
not true because each year the compost gets digested so it doesn't add up. nothing is sustainable unless you do nothing and watch nature take over.
@@Tippler0611 your talking compost yet to compost goes down in bulk after composting. I was talking compost that is finished composting that is complete in that process being used. The nutrients are good for growing for one year and then it's spent bulk material after that. If you add say 5 inch a year over 10 years that's 50 inches above the original mineralized soil. Let's say it reduces in bulk over the 10 year period by 50% ( which I doubt if it was properly composted before it's additional) your still 25 inches above your original mineralized soil, everything grown is not in contact with minerals as nothings roots can reach the original soil and then you should have problems..... I can't see it being sustainable long term therefore.
I should add that the crops in the video are currently first class quality at the moment
1 ton of carbon across 1 acre = 20,000gal water retention.
Roots so deep, you can see the devil down there" documentary
1789th!
Wow thats a lot of compost lol
👍🏻👍🏻
Thật tuyệt. Chắc hẳn bạn mất rất nhiều thời gian để xuất bản video này
so the main takeaway is, that growth won't be great when you plant into compost the first year.
Tell that to my MJ plants this year…
Thanks for the video! Great content. We are just getting into no-till-deep compost system production at our startup farm in central PA. Keeping it small, making a ton of mistakes but making great progress in learning how to do it right. Next season I'm sure we'll have a much better success with the system even through that this year it was a bit of disaster as detailed in this video on our channel: ruclips.net/video/xL2tpAFWaqQ/видео.html Tomatoes in our regular beds without compost are doing extremely well though, looks like we'll have a bumper crop. Jessie, thanks for the videos, you're an inspiration! Without your content I don't think we'd ever start on the journey of organic farm setup.
Because I can't be normal...
ants?
Every time I watch one of your videos it makes me sad. Almost every piece of advice you give starts with "use a good compost" and there just isn't any available out here in Fort Wayne. I thought when I moved to farm country I'd be surrounded by options but alas it's all just guys selling various forms of peat, crappy store bagged stuff with more rocks, sticks and bits of plastic than compost, or the city trying to sell me literal human waste and whatever chemicals the various industrial facilities have dumped down the drain. Not a single source of leaf & veg compost out here. I actually considered bulk ordering some good stuff from a place like brunt worm farms in minnesota, but they want $500 for a yard of it plus another $500 just to ship it. $1000 per yard when you need like 15 yards of material is just a non-starter.
You know you can compost at home from food scraps, yard debris, and paper items, right?
@@momcom5 how long do you suppose it will take to generate 15 yards of compost, at home, BEFORE I have a garden in which to produce lots of organic matter? Of course I know I can compost at home. I've been throwing food scraps and shredded cardboard in a compost bin for nearly a year now and it's so far turned into about 4 shovels full of finished compost lol.
well then buy some chickens, have a few more kids, offer to take everybody's leaves, and get over your phobia of human waste
Didn't really think this through before you posted it did ya. It's less clever than you think.
were you spraying chemicals atthe end of the video? ew.
You know compost exists right? Most people spray it on.
Have you been following Jesse long???
It's disgusting how much dihydrogen monoxide and other chemicals such as humic acid that he uses to grow food.
Lol No. No chemicals. @teebob made me laugh tho.
@@teebob21 There will ALWAYS be haters and then some people do have a life!
I did not enjoy this video. Thanks for trying though.
I recently implemented the No-Till technique using compost sourced from a local compost facility. Unfortunately, my results have been disappointing. My plants have shown very little growth even after several months, with yellowing leaves indicating a lack of nutrients. When inspecting the garden beds, I noticed that the soil at the bottom had a foul odor and appeared waterlogged, suggesting poor drainage.
I contacted the facility, and they informed me that growing directly in compost can be detrimental, as it may burn the plants. They recommended mixing compost with top soil, with a maximum compost content of 30%.
Could you please provide some insights or advice on the proper use of compost in No-Till gardening? Specifically, does the compost need to be fully and finely composted for this technique? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Can wood composts tie up oxygen in sand, silt and clay soils when tilled too deep over time? I understand decaying sawdust rapidly turns to co2 tying up oxygen as well as nitrogen in the root zone. 💯✌️🦚
Thanks!
thank YOU!
Thanks!
Thank YOU!