I've actually used this method this year using your Migardener seeds . I'm in zone 6 and I have harvested 3 lbs so far and haven't put a dent in the plants. Good video. I watched all winter the older videos and planned, plotted ,and schemed . You are an inspiration and this method is serving me quite well.✌🌞
My grandmother was born in Europe in the late 1800's. In her late teens she went to a school that taught her how to garden and how to take different plants and graft them together. She moved to the US in her early 20's. She always had a wonderful vegetable garden and her roses planted along the side of her house were beautiful. This is the way she taught me to plant lettuce. To just scatter the seeds on the ground, not in rows. And to pick off the outer leaves as the plant grows. I have always had an abundance of lettuce! It's nice to know grandma was right!
that story was great... we need to have more kids... I f people listen to the rich elites, which will never need any money or possessions, there won't be any grandma stories anymore. In the city a mouth to feed is a burden (because everyone is weak and dependent), in the country a human is a resource and is nothing but pure profit. To grow more than enough food to know what to do with is so easy, I hope most can tell these elites that tell us we are all dead from over pop, is such an obvious deception. Let Babylon burn themselves and lets grow more people, food and life and enjoyment!!
Is she is still able to Please encourage her to share her knowledge I would love to watch all that she knew. We have lost so much important information over the years
I want you to know that as the daughter of a large-scale farmer, it really makes me happy knowing people are working on better ways to grow food for our future population!
HI, I plant tomatoes in high density planting the plants about 6-8 inches apart. I make my own cages so the plants grows up instead of out I use wooden stakes and then pvc pipes to keep the tomatoes to grow up. my capacity of tomatoes in an area of 20X30 foot area last year was over 1300 pounds.
I know this is years later, but this year i grew tomatoes in ~15 gallon fabric pots with 2-3 large U shaped canes stacked together, and i just wrapped the vines around the outside of the canes and it worked out great!
My family has been growing leaf style greens for many, many years. Coming from Italy, we plant not only in rows but, with leaf lettuces, we plant a carpet of seeds like you would with lawn grass. In that way, you have a large area that you can continuously harvest your leaves and they produce continuously until the winter time. Over what you have just shown, one will get a higher concentration of leaves and allows it more protection from the elements and drought conditions. The major upside is that one maximises the ground on which it is planted. Rows, we reserve for plants that need more space i.e(tomatoes, peppers eggplants, etc.). Harvesting is very simple with scissors or a small paring knife leaving enough stem not to harm the plant allowing for it to regrow quickly. When the time is right you can allow a few plants to bolt and produce seeds for the following year without any discernible lessening of production for the table. We find that those 'home grown' seeds are actually better producers in the subsequent years. Try it, you'll be very pleased.
Question: why are you so hard on Jim... Ok so he put your stapler in jello among other things, put your stuff in a vending machine. If you haven't figured out what I'm talking about. It all started in a small town in Pennsylvania in an office with a man who grew beets....
Just stumbled upon this video and this is the way my dad's been doing it this way for years. With lettuce, he would do exactly how you do it, he'd just sprinkle the seeds into rows and he and my mom would pick the leaves and not the whole plant. They yield is amazing because that same plant just regrows the leaves that are harvested and you can get an entire seasons worth of lettuce from them. We're in southern New York, the garden is roughly 20x16 and once the lettuce starts growing we can go all the way to the end of October harvesting it. In the fall, my dad has this grass seed for a colder weather lettuce that as long as the ground isn't frozen it can grow and some years we can go to December harvesting that. The amount of money we save each year for a few packs of seed is unbelievable.
I am forced to do this on a patio in California- so I've developed my own method and thought I was the only one- this is great info. My method relied on starting plants indoors and then planting them into very rich fertilized soil and keeping everything fed and watered well. I run compost buckets with worms constantly and feed in rich inputs like seaweed and coffee grounds.
You can do intensive intercropping methods like growing radishes such as De 18 Jour in between your lettuce rows using it as both a trap crop for aphids, or flea beetles. When you harvest the radishes it aerates the soil and allows water to seep in deeper down to the lettuce roots without having to heavily soak the areas.
Last year I was able to do 4x10 tomatoes with 18 inch spacing. That's about as high intensity as you do. 4 is deep as you can go but you likely make it any length. You really have to manage the bottom branches early on so keep disease down. Keeping down suckers early on and allowing branching higher up helped a ton. Planting them deeper along with making mounds at the base after they established really helps with root production. I built a sort lattice grid framework out of 1inch strips of wood and brad nails. The tomatoes grew up through it and ended sitting up at the top. I only had it about 3 feet high but I could've made it higher but it was just an experiment to test dense planting. I think this year I am going to do 4 rows with Florida weaves.
Wow! I planted both my lettuce and kale varieties just like this, intending to harvest leaves instead of the entire plants at once. I was sure I'd messed up because they are growing just as dense as in your patch, but now I think it was a good idea. I subscribed and am looking forward to more!
You are by far the most informative and educational gardener on RUclips. You give good explanation on the do's and don'ts of gardening and why. This is my third year container gardening and I love it. Keep up the good work. ❤
it's funny how I've been gardening like this my whole life. because this is how my father taught me how to garden when I was a kid. so I just thought this was how you garden. I didn't know this was called high intensity gardening. I just thought it was called gardening.
Yo Luke I've been getting into growing veggies the past couple seasons and have been using these videos to help me maximize my space (I got a little 15x15 veggie garden). I got into gardening 10 years ago growing pot for financial reasons but I'm branching out now as a hobby... I'm trying to pack as many healthy vegetable plants into my garden space as I can. Videos like this one have given me a lot of guidance, I think between you and Gary Pilarchik's channel I've figured a lot out. Cheers bro and thanks for the work you put into making content, hope you have a good harvest this year 🤙.
One thing worth noting is dense plantings require better soil/more water. This is part of why our large scale agriculture doesn't adopt these methods, because they don't care about soil health, they just apply chemicals to dead soils; and they can't water enough on that scale, but they would need to, because there's almost no organic matter left to hold water.
If every planting on a large scale went the extra mile/effort/cost to plow in mulch/compost, it would hold enough water probably by itself, and add more nutrients in the soil.
If policies and tax laws were were written to benefit small farms, more small farms would exist, there'd be more food diversity and more food. As it stands right now, tax laws put farmers in eternal debt that they can never get out of, heirs are required to pay appalling tax rates just to inherit the farm, so more and more farms are being lost and land being sold to plant housing projects. 😯😟 NO FARMS, NO FOOD! Our land grant universities are not funded to teach these kinds of creative, productive, efficient food growing methods (and business models) only on traditional farms and traditional methods. They are well-intentioned, but government policies are clearly self-defeating. We need large-scale farms as well, but they should never be focused on to the exclusion of small and subsistence farmers.
Thank you so much for adressing this issue! As a gardener, the biggest limiting factor I have is the amount of space available. My backyard is sooo tiny, it can be measured in inches. so i really need some kind of high intensity system to grow a lot of veggies in a very very small area.
Thanks Luke! I'm so glad that I've come across this video again! It worked for me, I'm trying to convince my mom! Now I am going to share it straight from you!
Yayy great mate. Normal farms are wasteful and harvest once and are monoculture Bringing crop rotation in and cover crops Flowers on edges No chemicals i hope 💚💪
I just love lettuce! It grows readily even out here in India, with the climate so hot and dry, provided you plant it at the right time of the year and give it a really well-thought-out environment. I've grown Lollo Rossa, Iceberg, Romaine and more. All of 'em are my favourites!
Makes sense, I’ve been watching my 5 or 6 lettuce plants grow all spaced out for a few months and they’re still tiny. I’m going to give your method a try. Thanks.
I had this same problem last year with my different lettuces! They struggled and were tiny. Figured my one gallon pots, per plant, where clearly not big enough as it had stated. This year, I'm totally trying this!!
I'll definitely try this out! My workplace is thinking of creating a community garden, and this kind of method would be amazing to try! Thanks for the info and I look forward to your other high intensity projects.
I tend to plant radishes between the rows of lettuce. They are so quick growing that you harvest before most lettuce are half grown. I also have planted EARLY spring lettuce and rows of carrots by the time the lettuce is done carrots take over growing space. Works for seeded kale too.
I'm VERY new to growing your own, and so I'm really interested in this series, (now that I've found it). Because I live in a flat (apartment) and I have a shared garden, so I've started growing plants in tubs and containers in my small part of the shared garden, and I really want to get the most out of the very small space that I have. But, as I was always told that you had to leave X amount of space between each plant, to get a good yield, I haven't really been optimising what I have to work with space-wise. But this video has given me the confidence to give this more intensive method a try, and, as I also live on very limited budget (0 hour contract...BOOOOOO) seeds are actually a lot cheaper to purchase, than plants and plugs, (but up until now I have gone with the plants and plugs option) but now that I know, I'll be using a lot more seeds instead. SO THANKS GUYS !!! =D
Ive only just started with High intensity fruit trees by accident. Your videos are fantastic, concise and very informative. Thanks and Ill now have to go through and watch all your videos.
Luke, I’m so glad that I watched this video about spacing! I only had three zucchini plants in my 32 square ft garden bed! I was definitely measuring wrong and I thank you! Rhode Island Gardener.
New at the game last year, I sprouted most of my plants last year in a window, then went outside with them. With the lettuces, I grew them from seed outside using the method you mention (just because I didn't know any other way to do lettuces). By August, I realized everything was a bust except for the lettuces! I will be using this method again this year. From my experience in a dry, windy climate, I'd say you're correct!
Thanks for the information, Luke! I tired this with my lettuce when I saw this video, and I have harvested tons of baby leaf lettuce since then! And it grows back so fast!
Thanks for this . Given the virus and the fact that we are on lockdown here in Louisiana, we need to grow food quickly. Put in a bed this morning with irrigation. Going to plant lettuce, onions, and cucumbers tomorrow. Will try this intensity gardening.
Chris Spahn Buried irrigation pipe up the middle of the bed with sprayers coming off in both directions. On timers to handle flow amend with a second branch coming off to water blueberry bushes and satsuma orange trees we also planted.
Talk about re-thinking inside the box. I love the idea and it's what I was doing because I was too impatient to space out the tiny seeds. Thank-you for quantifying how well it works.
I really enjoyed this! I knew nothing about High Intensity Gardening. I’m starting my first outdoor garden this week and I’m so excited! Your videos will definitely help me out! 🙏🏽
*SWEEEEEET* As I apparently lost complete track of seasonal time this winter for some reason, I've been doing a sort-of amended Winter Sow this week in No. Colorado Zone 5b. Last week we had 65-77 F' but this weekend it snowed & down to 31. Planted arugula, spinach, a nice Mesclun mix, HL Rouge lettuce, Green Envy Zinnia & 2 Marigold varieties all in a large planter box ~ L: 2.5' x W: 12"'. I intentionally overseeded it because I always thin & relocate these kinds of seedlings very successfully. But after watching this, believe I'm just gonna let them be for the most part (unless I see just ridiculously successful germination!) I'm headed to the garden beds tomorrow to start H.I. lettuce sowing there as well. LOVE this! THX for sharing as always! :)
high intensity gardening only works if you have altra-rich, nutrient-balanced soil, or you'll get a bunch of dwarfed and yellow plants, trust me i know :o( haha
I love your channel!! I just bought 15 leaf lettuce plants but did not plant them yet. Thankfully I stumbled upon your video tonight as I will be returning them for seeds tomorrow and then able to use your method. Its still April here in NH and at the beginning of the growing season. THANK YOU!!
Thank you for sharing your excellent gardening information. I live in a basement apartment. You just gave me the idea that I can grow some veg's in flower pots. I love gardening and I will have some fresh vegetables thanks to you. I have watched many of your videos and hope to watch them all. I am one of your subscribers. God bless and thank you. Donna Peers.
Thank you so much for posting this video.This is my first year of growing begetables in ground and I am going to grow lettuce ,spinach and raddish exactly as per your method shown here in this video.And yes I have subscribed your channel
really cool ! I've started a raised bed at a family ranch and found straw leaves cow dung bark and cardboard for the floor , also broken down wood from tree stumps. i put worms in there in the spring in the center area with a bit of real soils and leaves and a water feeder for hens to keep a moist area for the crawlers . I'll probably buy some potting soil for rooting . the breakdown of this method makes a light soil , my question is how to get the soil break down richer and heavier , ps, I've recently started to use a metal can with a lid and brick for kitchen mulch to keep rodents down and I never had much luck with grass clippings
Safe yourself a ton of time here. Bottom line ..... make a row, put a ton of seeds in it and let it grow. That is if you live in a climate that allows you to
I just discovered this video and will try it now... can’t wait to see how it does... Just need to get the fertilizer part right... I have the garden space and the seeds.... More to come....
we had a bit of a cold spell, and i planted my onions in my first hill culture raised bed! i have a seedling house that is packed waiting to get large enough to withstand the rains. your tips have been very helpful. i have grown flowers and tomato's for decades, i am going all out this year! after all, if one can grow flowers, one can grow food!
1st year growing and I did it this way following the instructions on the seed packs, Thanks for confirming that I'm doing something right for once. Glad I found your page.
Thank-you! New gardener and accidentally planted all my lettuce like this... they are growing like crazy and I thought there is no way I can thin these plants.
I'm trying to plant higher intensity this year. Since radish needs to be thinned I just seeded them in zig-zag shaped rows with additional plants between the zigs and some parsley between the radishes also. End result should be about twice as many radishes in the 1 ft wide "row" that the seed package recommended. With parsley ready to take over the gaps once the radishes are harvested. The main benefit in having these wider 1-1.5 ft rows as I see it is that it gives you somewhere to step (if you're not using raised beds).
Seems like spacing is traditionally intended not only for light, but to reduce disease and pests. When plants are crowded, foliage stays damp, air exchange is reduced, and plants can choke on the stale air at the stoma. Do you find you have more pests/disease with high intensity? I think this method sounds great, but want to understand the things to watch for if it all starts to go wrong.
I saw one guy from my country, that tried this method and some of his plants were rotten and caused disease to other plants. Reason of rotting was, that slower plants were killed by faster plants, because they didnt have access to "fresh" air, light and humidity under group of faster plants was much higher. Probably it can work with more resistant plants...
@@channon3 That seems like a good point. Perhaps a little space would benifit, but I do see his simple concept. It might help also to create a groove in between the rows for moisture to settle away from the plants. My mother used to do that . It seemed everything was -planted on humps and hills.
Thank you. I’ve just formed for beds measuring 32 feet long by 6 feet wide and I’m gathering up every bit of information I can get on planting my vegetables so I will be following you now that I found you and I appreciate your teachings. Thank you keep up the good work
Thats right high intensity produce as much as possible. You'll have to wrap your vegetable beds with berry bushes as well, I just ordered PIXIE grapes you gotta get them... 3ft dwarf everbearing grapes that produce the first year!!!! look them up.
I believe they are a bit smaller but they are everbearing with no maintenance, they're disease resistant and cold hardy. So easy way to get season long grapes and is the only chance for someone in an apartment to grow grow grapes.
Just found your video. Fantastic info, so glad you showed this. I stopped gardening veggies cuz it was so disappointing. I look forward to crowding my lettuce and spinach and harvesting much! Thanks.
good info. I used this method last weekend. spilled 400 turnips seeds in a 2 foot square space of damp soil. good germination rate today as I have a nice green carpet patch. will be thinning and eating the baby greens. don't be surprised when I order more seeds from MIgardener for a fall harvest with a plan on being a bit more careful. can't wait for the rest of our veg to take off - claytonia, mache, Tigger melon and Amish paste tomatoes to date.
Thanks Luke, I never thought of it as high intensity gardening because I have always grown my brassicas this way, but this made total sense. I never thin until late in the season (more so of when Im tired of harvesting, everyone in my community has had there fill, and my freezers are full) I had no idea we could do this with the squash family though and will be trying it. While I have zukes out already as transplants, being a gardener, I will just have to make some room elsewhere. Thanks for a great channel, long time subscriber.
Soil Samurai, how do brassicas grow in this manor? I can't imagine planting cauliflower like this? Broccoli? Please provide some more information. I'd love to know.
Things that form a head like cauliflower and broccoli are treated different than things like lettuce, mustard greens, etc. I harvest the leaves of both broccoli and cauliflower greens for green juice and a plethora of things. as I harvest those, I also start thinning. Ill get roughly 3 harvest from both of those before the heads are ready so that means 3 thinnings. By the time Im ready to harvest the broccoli main head, there is roughly 8 inches in between each plant, which is determined by thinning either weaker plants and/or plants grown for the leaves only. That spacing has been optimal for me to get a great main head and several side shoots until the heat makes everything bolt. With cauliflower I end up with about 12 inches of spacing being those heads tend to be much bigger, but the exact same concept with thinning.
I might have gotten carried away this year with high intensity planting. lol One 4x4 bed has 5 zucchini plants and 4 melon plants in it (the melons are growing up a trellis). The other beds are just as crowded.
We have tons of fertilizer going on. I have already gotten 3 bags of trifecta .....and have been adding in plenty of worm castings, and additional blood meal and compost. Everything is doing great.
Jennifermwb How was your crop? I have had good results on the past with growing squashes up onto a trellis but this was in part because the trellis was already there separating one part of the garden from another and the plants were not naturally grew up and into it. The following year the yield was nowhere near as good.
@@thebennt6130 I saw a video the other day that said squash are actually a vine, so this makes sense. Had never heard that before, though having watched one grow, they do trail along away from the main roots as time goes on. Keeping old lower/yellowing leaves removed and growing up the trellis should allow better airflow and pollination, and easier harvesting. I plan to trellis them from now on too.
Brilliant video! Have you considered growing peas or beans with leafy crops so that the lettuce can benefit from the nitrogen fixed by the pea/bean roots. Nitrogen is great for leafy growth and pea shoots can be harvested as a salad in their own right.
I love gardening videos, but when they are in real time, they are really frustrating. I wish I could see the lettuce grow and be harvested in the same video :(
@@josephhefley9701 This channel has enough videos now, that he should be able to go back and edit some together with full life cycle of plants. Not seeing that yet.
Grew up gardening with my father,if I encounter something new like raised beds (handicapped) I go to your videos or the book The Joy Of Gardening every thing else does not seem to work.checking something’s before I start my lettuce beds today. Up state NY.
Home Gardening Movement ? That's news to me. My Parents gardened every year, so did many of our neighbors in their neighborhood, in Westland, a suburb of Detroit. My husband and I have had a home garden every year since 1987, in another Detroit suburb.
It exists and is common practice in double-dig French Intensive gardening. You just have to know how to prune, get the right kinds of varieties, soil nutrients (both macro/micro) and so forth.
Claire Bonnstetter Look for the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I've had my copy since 1990 and it has been an excellent resource on intensive gardening. He has a newer version out that is even better. He is a bit anal about his growing media ideas.
Excellent, I particularly like the ongoing harvest. I have grown mesclun and arugula in containers, does very well. Love the smaller greens mixed with various lettuces for salads! Yum! Thanks again.
Krystal Seabron curtis stone urban farmer has a channel. he uses a very sharp knife and just cuts it an inch or two above the soil. his channel is a bit more commercial but is full of useful info.
KSea Plus like Carrie says, it is sometimes better to think of yourself eating young leaves like they serve in posh restaurants, rather than lettuce. If you plant a packet of mixed lettuce you can get a very tasty salad just from the different leaves and because it is your own garden you can maintain the nutrition by cutting just before you are ready to eat.
This is a interesting idea, I have trouble moving due to physical problems and this way with everything close together, and raised beds I can grow what I need and be healthier to boot. Thanks I am definitely going to give it a shot.
Maybe you misunderstood me. The plants draw nutrients out of the soil, and so with each harvest, there are less minerals in the soil to draw upon. The question is then, do you add specific nutrients back in based on what is grown, or do you just compost the unused parts of the plants etc., and assume that that will be enough to replenish everything?
Maybe he forgot to mention it, but each time you harvest in a cut and come again or any successive planting method or continual harvesting or interplanting method, you add compost. A smart organic gardener adds minerals that break down slowly as well as nutrients that give a quick boost too, so those slow acting minerals like rock dust don't have to be added so often but in most cases are added to your compost anyway. In any case, if you make a habit of adding compost or fertilizer each time you harvest, like maybe worm tea, your plants will rebound quickly with lots of nutrition, and using slow acting nutrients will also insure a steady stream of super-healthy production.
William D if growing plants like pumpkins or Zuchini I have found that I fail to get a decent crop of the same the following year, but could get a good crop of kale or broccoli or lettuce. I am in zone 7. I currently have kale, peas, garlic and red sprouting broccoli in my vegetable beds. I am going to continue to harvest the kale over the winter and in early spring I should have the sprouting broccoli. In the spring I am planning to pull up the kale out down a layer of compost a plant tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin, beans and more peas. I have a section of the garden that has not been in use for a number of years whilst my property was rented out. I am going to bring this back by planting potatoes using double the amount of compost that I will use in the other areas. Where the peas currently are I plan to plant intensive lettuce which I grow with a comfrey tea. Sometimes the sprouting broccoli comes into its own and will growing and produce another crop in the autumn. If not, I will just pull it out and plant more peas or beans in that space.
Want more high intensity growing on as many varieties as possible. Thank you I really enjoy watching your videos. I just ordered your book. I am waiting for it to arrive. I can’t wait to get into it. Thanks again!
I listened to about 10 min, and I come back to my thoughts of the past.. we are told to garden with x" spacing, and how that is the best for the plants, then I go back to my growing up years, and early driving years, and in all those years I've seen commercial gardening (grew up in CA), and it's BOGUS, even commercial gardens don't space the way we are told to for our gardens... everything is CLOSE, so close in fact, that they don't need racks for tomato plants, they support each other... BTW, don't forget to put your peas or beans along the edges Thanks for the vids
The way math works, You _EITHER_ get *Five times* MORE vegerables in the *SAME* space _OR_ You get *SAME* amount of vegetables in 500% *LESS* Space. _If_ you get 500% *MORE* vegetables *IN* 5 times *LESS* Space, _Then_ you are getting *25 times* vegetables for the *same space*.
That's correct, unless of course Luke is suggesting this method produces up to 25x the yield (5 times more vegetables x 5 times less space). Also, he mentions that close seed planting works in part due to the competition each plant has with its neighbor. Then later in the video, he says plug planting does not work well for the same reason (competition). Seed planting may still produce higher yield as Luke suggests, but his reasoning about plant competition seems contradictory.
Except he presented his faulty math. 1 lb of lettuce vs. 5 lbs of lettuce. That's either 5 times more in the same space or the same amount in a 1/5 of the space. So 5x either way, not 25x.
hi, just want to say thanks. I am new to gardening, and i am having a go on a balcony garden in containers. and i grew some spinach from seed in a 1m long container, so far looks good... I am going to try the same method for some rocket... I am a first time gardening, growing in containers, :-) Thank you.
thanks man just about to put a bunch of pots out with lettuce in a small hothouse but this sounds awesome and looks great never knew , rule of thumb was always give them each room to grow but totally get it with greens this makes much more sense
Im new to the channel.. I find your tips very helpful so far.. i saw the video on the 87 year old seeds and the tomato plant that sprouted.. how did it end up doing? .
@Shane S, Archeologists found stored Date fruit while excavating King Nebuchadnezzar's palace. The Dates were from an extinct variety of Judean Date Palms. They planted the seeds and now there are live Judean Date Palms on earth after 2000 years.
It only took 2 videos to convince me to subscribe, this video being the 2nd I've watched (so far). I'm a home gardener and this video has shown me the limitless possibilities of H.I growing, especially with lettuce!
Oh man. I want to put in some planters in the backyard now. Anyone know the best fence to keep dogs out and how am I going to keep away the bunnies/squirrels?
On our Rocky Mountain Homestead we have a lot of deer and elk so we have put in a 9 foot fence (12 foot posts with 3 feet in concrete set 9 feet apart) with 3 rails and galvanized about 3 inch by 4 inch wire mesh in between. This would definitely keep out a dog...and if you bury the wire mesh in the ground coming out about 1.5 feet from the fence line, it will keep out burrowing critters such as bunnies, too....If you are wanting to keep out squirrels/chipmunks, you may have to go with a finer mesh...
For my little garden I just used chicken-wire and a few metal rods. I also put solar lights next to the plants animals like most. Go to the dollar tree and invest in a couple plastic snakes and also attach Walmart bags to your posts or use those pinwheels that spin when the wind blows. The only problem I had in my garden this year was something small was eating my strawberries... everything else was nibble free.
wire fence isn't the best. you could have deer crash through the fence it can be hard for animals to see. Wood fence would be better around a yard. the squirrels and bunnies? just plant extra... if you kept the dogs out, get a cat? when you want to get rid of the cat just let the dogs in... then rub the dogs belly... give it a cookie and say good doggie
I'm just using some thick 7 ft. Bamboo poles pounded into ground with plastic fencing going around. It's the cheapest most effective way I've found thus far. 🍀
Great video! I am pretty new to gardening and just winging it, lol I didn't know what I was doing and just sprinkled kale seeds in my garden bed and it came in so dense. I had Kale all winter and I Just pulled them out because they went to seed. I like this method especially if you don't have much space. Love your videos and your beautiful family :) Thank you!
Vertical Farming beats this with a PVC shelf system, this type of micro farming makes you harvest alot more times to get the same amount of yield of a PVC shelf System with Vertical Farming. this looks like a Dead End. i see no future in this.
Dude...Great Video. I was about to start my lettuce seeds on grow racks in 2x2 cups. BUT now i will not be wasting that time, and instead sowing them directly into the beds. THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!!! Saved me a ton of time
The way we do it is we just gently pull off the outside leaves that are the most mature every few days to week or so and let the center keep growing. Our lettuce stocks grew about 3 feet tall and gave us like 6-8 weeks worth of lettuce last year before they bolted, it was great.
Thanks for this teachings. Those informations are so consistent (don’t know if it’s the right word). It fits with the informations I already learned. Not only from you, but mostly.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I've actually used this method this year using your Migardener seeds . I'm in zone 6 and I have harvested 3 lbs so far and haven't put a dent in the plants. Good video. I watched all winter the older videos and planned, plotted ,and schemed . You are an inspiration and this method is serving me quite well.✌🌞
Brenda Smiley Face Is
Nice! Happy Father's Day everyone!!!
Happy Canada day ?
Thanks for the feedback +Brenda Smiley ! Can you speak of your previous yields using similar energy and inputs?
I am also in zone 6. I look forward to trying this method this season. Thank you for your input.
My grandmother was born in Europe in the late 1800's. In her late teens she went to a school that taught her how to garden and how to take different plants and graft them together. She moved to the US in her early 20's. She always had a wonderful vegetable garden and her roses planted along the side of her house were beautiful. This is the way she taught me to plant lettuce. To just scatter the seeds on the ground, not in rows. And to pick off the outer leaves as the plant grows. I have always had an abundance of lettuce! It's nice to know grandma was right!
that story was great... we need to have more kids... I f people listen to the rich elites, which will never need any money or possessions, there won't be any grandma stories anymore. In the city a mouth to feed is a burden (because everyone is weak and dependent), in the country a human is a resource and is nothing but pure profit. To grow more than enough food to know what to do with is so easy, I hope most can tell these elites that tell us we are all dead from over pop, is such an obvious deception. Let Babylon burn themselves and lets grow more people, food and life and enjoyment!!
Is she is still able to Please encourage her to share her knowledge I would love to watch all that she knew. We have lost so much important information over the years
@@meganmcgrory7525 agreed but she was born in the late 1800's and we are in the 2019/2023...
@bina nocht no.. let em perish in the city
I want you to know that as the daughter of a large-scale farmer, it really makes me happy knowing people are working on better ways to grow food for our future population!
HI, I plant tomatoes in high density planting the plants about 6-8 inches apart. I make my own cages so the plants grows up instead of out I use wooden stakes and then pvc pipes to keep the tomatoes to grow up. my capacity of tomatoes in an area of 20X30 foot area last year was over 1300 pounds.
I know this is years later, but this year i grew tomatoes in ~15 gallon fabric pots with 2-3 large U shaped canes stacked together, and i just wrapped the vines around the outside of the canes and it worked out great!
I would love a list of what all you did high intensity and what didn't work in high intensity!
My family has been growing leaf style greens for many, many years. Coming from Italy, we plant not only in rows but, with leaf lettuces, we plant a carpet of seeds like you would with lawn grass. In that way, you have a large area that you can continuously harvest your leaves and they produce continuously until the winter time. Over what you have just shown, one will get a higher concentration of leaves and allows it more protection from the elements and drought conditions. The major upside is that one maximises the ground on which it is planted. Rows, we reserve for plants that need more space i.e(tomatoes, peppers eggplants, etc.). Harvesting is very simple with scissors or a small paring knife leaving enough stem not to harm the plant allowing for it to regrow quickly. When the time is right you can allow a few plants to bolt and produce seeds for the following year without any discernible lessening of production for the table. We find that those 'home grown' seeds are actually better producers in the subsequent years. Try it, you'll be very pleased.
stephen gardin when is the best period to grow tomatoes and peppers in Italy?
stephen gardin thanks
Thank you!!!
stephen gardin QUESTION:
If I plant lettuce at the base of a plant, will the lettuce act as a mulch?
Question: why are you so hard on Jim... Ok so he put your stapler in jello among other things, put your stuff in a vending machine. If you haven't figured out what I'm talking about. It all started in a small town in Pennsylvania in an office with a man who grew beets....
Just stumbled upon this video and this is the way my dad's been doing it this way for years. With lettuce, he would do exactly how you do it, he'd just sprinkle the seeds into rows and he and my mom would pick the leaves and not the whole plant. They yield is amazing because that same plant just regrows the leaves that are harvested and you can get an entire seasons worth of lettuce from them. We're in southern New York, the garden is roughly 20x16 and once the lettuce starts growing we can go all the way to the end of October harvesting it. In the fall, my dad has this grass seed for a colder weather lettuce that as long as the ground isn't frozen it can grow and some years we can go to December harvesting that. The amount of money we save each year for a few packs of seed is unbelievable.
I am forced to do this on a patio in California- so I've developed my own method and thought I was the only one- this is great info. My method relied on starting plants indoors and then planting them into very rich fertilized soil and keeping everything fed and watered well. I run compost buckets with worms constantly and feed in rich inputs like seaweed and coffee grounds.
been doing this for about forty years now. Green beans work well too. Have a massive carpet of them every year for canning.
Good to know green beans work like this too! Thank you!
do you have photos?😋
Oh glad to know this about green beans as well. The climbers or bush?
Hey could you give a longer list of what vegetables and herbs are pro high density and ones that aren’t? That’d be sweet!
This!💜
YESSS please
Yes
You can do intensive intercropping methods like growing radishes such as De 18 Jour in between your lettuce rows using it as both a trap crop for aphids, or flea beetles. When you harvest the radishes it aerates the soil and allows water to seep in deeper down to the lettuce roots without having to heavily soak the areas.
This person Gardens.
Planning intercropping this year and I'm so excited.
Last year I was able to do 4x10 tomatoes with 18 inch spacing. That's about as high intensity as you do. 4 is deep as you can go but you likely make it any length. You really have to manage the bottom branches early on so keep disease down. Keeping down suckers early on and allowing branching higher up helped a ton. Planting them deeper along with making mounds at the base after they established really helps with root production. I built a sort lattice grid framework out of 1inch strips of wood and brad nails. The tomatoes grew up through it and ended sitting up at the top. I only had it about 3 feet high but I could've made it higher but it was just an experiment to test dense planting. I think this year I am going to do 4 rows with Florida weaves.
Wow! I planted both my lettuce and kale varieties just like this, intending to harvest leaves instead of the entire plants at once. I was sure I'd messed up because they are growing just as dense as in your patch, but now I think it was a good idea. I subscribed and am looking forward to more!
You are by far the most informative and educational gardener on RUclips. You give good explanation on the do's and don'ts of gardening and why. This is my third year container gardening and I love it. Keep up the good work. ❤
it's funny how I've been gardening like this my whole life. because this is how my father taught me how to garden when I was a kid. so I just thought this was how you garden. I didn't know this was called high intensity gardening. I just thought it was called gardening.
Me too. I learned from my grandparents. My mum used this method when she did have a veggie garden but she wasn't a keen gardener like my grandparents.
Very true. Its natural selection. U let the stronger bigger ones grow up out of the pile of seeds and wean out the smaller stagglers.
Have you ever densely planted baby bok choy? Not as tight as lettuce, but will it form normally if seeds of 3-4 to a clump are allowed to mature?
Lol.. Here Everybody learns something..👀
Exactly how my father taught me! I even had the nerve to question him when I started reading the recommendations in the packages of the seeds 😂
Yo Luke I've been getting into growing veggies the past couple seasons and have been using these videos to help me maximize my space (I got a little 15x15 veggie garden). I got into gardening 10 years ago growing pot for financial reasons but I'm branching out now as a hobby... I'm trying to pack as many healthy vegetable plants into my garden space as I can. Videos like this one have given me a lot of guidance, I think between you and Gary Pilarchik's channel I've figured a lot out. Cheers bro and thanks for the work you put into making content, hope you have a good harvest this year 🤙.
One thing worth noting is dense plantings require better soil/more water. This is part of why our large scale agriculture doesn't adopt these methods, because they don't care about soil health, they just apply chemicals to dead soils; and they can't water enough on that scale, but they would need to, because there's almost no organic matter left to hold water.
If every planting on a large scale went the extra mile/effort/cost to plow in mulch/compost, it would hold enough water probably by itself, and add more nutrients in the soil.
dead soil is just dirt
TOTALLY..
If policies and tax laws were were written to benefit small farms, more small farms would exist, there'd be more food diversity and more food. As it stands right now, tax laws put farmers in eternal debt that they can never get out of, heirs are required to pay appalling tax rates just to inherit the farm, so more and more farms are being lost and land being sold to plant housing projects. 😯😟
NO FARMS, NO FOOD!
Our land grant universities are not funded to teach these kinds of creative, productive, efficient food growing methods (and business models) only on traditional farms and traditional methods. They are well-intentioned, but government policies are clearly self-defeating.
We need large-scale farms as well, but they should never be focused on to the exclusion of small and subsistence farmers.
Thank you so much for adressing this issue! As a gardener, the biggest limiting factor I have is the amount of space available. My backyard is sooo tiny, it can be measured in inches. so i really need some kind of high intensity system to grow a lot of veggies in a very very small area.
Grow up! Vertical garden 💜
Will you please make a playlist for these Intensive Gardening videos? Thanks!
Thanks Luke! I'm so glad that I've come across this video again! It worked for me, I'm trying to convince my mom! Now I am going to share it straight from you!
Yayy great mate.
Normal farms are wasteful and harvest once and are monoculture
Bringing crop rotation in and cover crops
Flowers on edges
No chemicals i hope
💚💪
I just love lettuce! It grows readily even out here in India, with the climate so hot and dry, provided you plant it at the right time of the year and give it a really well-thought-out environment. I've grown Lollo Rossa, Iceberg, Romaine and more. All of 'em are my favourites!
Makes sense, I’ve been watching my 5 or 6 lettuce plants grow all spaced out for a few months and they’re still tiny. I’m going to give your method a try. Thanks.
I had this same problem last year with my different lettuces! They struggled and were tiny. Figured my one gallon pots, per plant, where clearly not big enough as it had stated. This year, I'm totally trying this!!
I'll definitely try this out! My workplace is thinking of creating a community garden, and this kind of method would be amazing to try! Thanks for the info and I look forward to your other high intensity projects.
I tell all my friends to grow like this. I will share this video often. Great job.
I tend to plant radishes between the rows of lettuce. They are so quick growing that you harvest before most lettuce are half grown. I also have planted EARLY spring lettuce and rows of carrots by the time the lettuce is done carrots take over growing space. Works for seeded kale too.
I'm VERY new to growing your own, and so I'm really interested in this series, (now that I've found it). Because I live in a flat (apartment) and I have a shared garden, so I've started growing plants in tubs and containers in my small part of the shared garden, and I really want to get the most out of the very small space that I have. But, as I was always told that you had to leave X amount of space between each plant, to get a good yield, I haven't really been optimising what I have to work with space-wise. But this video has given me the confidence to give this more intensive method a try, and, as I also live on very limited budget (0 hour contract...BOOOOOO) seeds are actually a lot cheaper to purchase, than plants and plugs, (but up until now I have gone with the plants and plugs option) but now that I know, I'll be using a lot more seeds instead. SO THANKS GUYS !!! =D
Ive only just started with High intensity fruit trees by accident. Your videos are fantastic, concise and very informative. Thanks and Ill now have to go through and watch all your videos.
Luke, I’m so glad that I watched this video about spacing! I only had three zucchini plants in my 32 square ft garden bed! I was definitely measuring wrong and I thank you!
Rhode Island Gardener.
Memrlagmwyyyhgomfkiot giitrngjtahryahe
@@redrunner3536 That really hits me where I live.
New at the game last year, I sprouted most of my plants last year in a window, then went outside with them. With the lettuces, I grew them from seed outside using the method you mention (just because I didn't know any other way to do lettuces). By August, I realized everything was a bust except for the lettuces! I will be using this method again this year. From my experience in a dry, windy climate, I'd say you're correct!
Thanks for the information, Luke! I tired this with my lettuce when I saw this video, and I have harvested tons of baby leaf lettuce since then! And it grows back so fast!
Thanks for this . Given the virus and the fact that we are on lockdown here in Louisiana, we need to grow food quickly. Put in a bed this morning with irrigation. Going to plant lettuce, onions, and cucumbers tomorrow. Will try this intensity gardening.
How did you do your irrigation?
Chris Spahn Buried irrigation pipe up the middle of the bed with sprayers coming off in both directions. On timers to handle flow amend with a second branch coming off to water blueberry bushes and satsuma orange trees we also planted.
Great advice Luke !
Lettuce is very tolerant to over crowding !
Keep harvesting it, it will keep regrowing new shoots !
Talk about re-thinking inside the box. I love the idea and it's what I was doing because I was too impatient to space out the tiny seeds. Thank-you for quantifying how well it works.
I really enjoyed this! I knew nothing about High Intensity Gardening. I’m starting my first outdoor garden this week and I’m so excited! Your videos will definitely help me out! 🙏🏽
How did it turn out?
*SWEEEEEET* As I apparently lost complete track of seasonal time this winter for some reason, I've been doing a sort-of amended Winter Sow this week in No. Colorado Zone 5b. Last week we had 65-77 F' but this weekend it snowed & down to 31. Planted arugula, spinach, a nice Mesclun mix, HL Rouge lettuce, Green Envy Zinnia & 2 Marigold varieties all in a large planter box ~ L: 2.5' x W: 12"'. I intentionally overseeded it because I always thin & relocate these kinds of seedlings very successfully. But after watching this, believe I'm just gonna let them be for the most part (unless I see just ridiculously successful germination!) I'm headed to the garden beds tomorrow to start H.I. lettuce sowing there as well. LOVE this! THX for sharing as always! :)
I ate fresh greens and cherry tomatoes all winter long using high intensity gardening. Great vitamin C!
high intensity gardening only works if you have altra-rich, nutrient-balanced soil, or you'll get a bunch of dwarfed and yellow plants, trust me i know :o( haha
I love your channel!! I just bought 15 leaf lettuce plants but did not plant them yet. Thankfully I stumbled upon your video tonight as I will be returning them for seeds tomorrow and then able to use your method. Its still April here in NH and at the beginning of the growing season. THANK YOU!!
Thank you for sharing your excellent gardening information. I live in a basement apartment. You just gave me the idea that I can grow some veg's in flower pots. I love gardening and I will have some fresh vegetables thanks to you. I have watched many of your videos and hope to watch them all. I am one of your subscribers. God bless and thank you. Donna Peers.
It is great to know I can cram more into my backyard garden. Last year, my first, I followed packet directions.
As someone who loves to get the most bang for my buck - this is an epic discovery as a beginner.
Thank you so much for posting this video.This is my first year of growing begetables in ground and I am going to grow lettuce ,spinach and raddish exactly as per your method shown here in this video.And yes I have subscribed your channel
I've used this method of growing and harvesting all my life. I learned it from my grandparents.
really cool ! I've started a raised bed at a family ranch and found straw leaves cow dung bark and cardboard for the floor , also broken down wood from tree stumps. i put worms in there in the spring in the center area with a bit of real soils and leaves and a water feeder for hens to keep a moist area for the crawlers . I'll probably buy some potting soil for rooting . the breakdown of this method makes a light soil , my question is how to get the soil break down richer and heavier , ps, I've recently started to use a metal can with a lid and brick for kitchen mulch to keep rodents down and I never had much luck with grass clippings
Safe yourself a ton of time here. Bottom line ..... make a row, put a ton of seeds in it and let it grow. That is if you live in a climate that allows you to
How do you know if it will work in your zone?
try it. You dont life in the Mountains or Dessert ? You can do it
What I want to know is how do you stop the birds from digging up the seeds you've sown.
Far too long, drawn out and repetitive. As the respondent above says, sow thickly and then see what happens...!!
@@hannahaidastitcher8098 Ever heard of a scare crow lmao
I just discovered this video and will try it now... can’t wait to see how it does... Just need to get the fertilizer part right... I have the garden space and the seeds.... More to come....
This is an incredibly interesting concept. Thanks so much for sharing Luke! Would you mind listing the food plants you're able to do this with?
I put them in a container too and it worked for me! Thx for your unconventional ways and thinking outside of the box! 👍😀
I grew my lettuce seeds from you, just like that and it's working great! Also using lettuce and spinach as borders around other stuff.
we had a bit of a cold spell, and i planted my onions in my first hill culture raised bed! i have a seedling house that is packed waiting to get large enough to withstand the rains. your tips have been very helpful. i have grown flowers and tomato's for decades, i am going all out this year! after all, if one can grow flowers, one can grow food!
Can't wait to see the high intensity cucumbers! I need to can I tensely this year. I'm out of pickles!
1st year growing and I did it this way following the instructions on the seed packs, Thanks for confirming that I'm doing something right for once. Glad I found your page.
Thank-you! New gardener and accidentally planted all my lettuce like this... they are growing like crazy and I thought there is no way I can thin these plants.
I'm trying to plant higher intensity this year. Since radish needs to be thinned I just seeded them in zig-zag shaped rows with additional plants between the zigs and some parsley between the radishes also. End result should be about twice as many radishes in the 1 ft wide "row" that the seed package recommended. With parsley ready to take over the gaps once the radishes are harvested. The main benefit in having these wider 1-1.5 ft rows as I see it is that it gives you somewhere to step (if you're not using raised beds).
I was thinking of trying this method and you convinced me. Thank you
Great!! We've been trying to figure out whether or not to thin out our lettuce and greens. THANK YOU!
Seems like spacing is traditionally intended not only for light, but to reduce disease and pests. When plants are crowded, foliage stays damp, air exchange is reduced, and plants can choke on the stale air at the stoma. Do you find you have more pests/disease with high intensity? I think this method sounds great, but want to understand the things to watch for if it all starts to go wrong.
karlInSanDiego did you find out if its safe or not?
I saw one guy from my country, that tried this method and some of his plants were rotten and caused disease to other plants. Reason of rotting was, that slower plants were killed by faster plants, because they didnt have access to "fresh" air, light and humidity under group of faster plants was much higher. Probably it can work with more resistant plants...
@@channon3 That seems like a good point. Perhaps a little space would benifit, but I do see his simple concept. It might help also to create a groove in between the rows for moisture to settle away from the plants. My mother used to do that . It seemed everything was -planted on humps and hills.
@conservativetothecor, can you explain a little more about the groove? Thanks
I had alot of bugs doing it this way....cutworms desimated the entire garden overnite wont plant this way again
This has been extremely helpful,for years my sisters,mom andI have been thinning and transplanting Kelly earth an various other vegetables .Thank you.
i planted my lettuce and spinach like this out of laziness actually haha. At least i now know its wont be a total disaster.
Hahaha. God bless you.
Same here.
I third this lol
It was a mess
so easy to grow all your salad greens and tomatoes for virtually free! fresh and no chemicals on them
Thank you. I’ve just formed for beds measuring 32 feet long by 6 feet wide and I’m gathering up every bit of information I can get on planting my vegetables so I will be following you now that I found you and I appreciate your teachings. Thank you keep up the good work
Thats right high intensity produce as much as possible. You'll have to wrap your vegetable beds with berry bushes as well, I just ordered PIXIE grapes you gotta get them... 3ft dwarf everbearing grapes that produce the first year!!!! look them up.
How big are the grapes? Are they mini?
I believe they are a bit smaller but they are everbearing with no maintenance, they're disease resistant and cold hardy. So easy way to get season long grapes and is the only chance for someone in an apartment to grow grow grapes.
John Doe ?
John Doe Thank you so much for that info on the grapes!
I'm new to gardening so I'm wondering, what do the berries serve please?
Coming here at the start of 2021 and I am so thankful for all of these videos!!
this is one of your great videos!
So this is where you get ideas for your videos!!
Jajajajaja!!
Te estoy jodiendo capo!
Muy buenos tus vids.
Saludos de Bs.As.!
Ajá! 🤩😂
Both are Genius 🥰 warm greetings!
I am a small space gardener and this sounds like the best idea just for me. Thanks peace n luv, Jean
Is there a list somewhere of the vegetables that can be grown in high intensity gardens?
none. use a PVC vertical Gardening technique if you want to shelf crops.
Just found your video. Fantastic info, so glad you showed this. I stopped gardening veggies cuz it was so disappointing.
I look forward to crowding my lettuce and spinach and harvesting much! Thanks.
good info. I used this method last weekend. spilled 400 turnips seeds in a 2 foot square space of damp soil. good germination rate today as I have a nice green carpet patch. will be thinning and eating the baby greens. don't be surprised when I order more seeds from MIgardener for a fall harvest with a plan on being a bit more careful. can't wait for the rest of our veg to take off - claytonia, mache, Tigger melon and Amish paste tomatoes to date.
Valerie Howden I never heard of Amish paste tomatoes, but I have looked them up and will be ordering some for the next growing year. Thank you.
We thin our seedlings and pot them on to sell. Also it is useful to stagger your seed planting...in line with moon phases to have a continuous crop.
Thanks Luke, I never thought of it as high intensity gardening because I have always grown my brassicas this way, but this made total sense. I never thin until late in the season (more so of when Im tired of harvesting, everyone in my community has had there fill, and my freezers are full) I had no idea we could do this with the squash family though and will be trying it. While I have zukes out already as transplants, being a gardener, I will just have to make some room elsewhere. Thanks for a great channel, long time subscriber.
Soil Samurai, how do brassicas grow in this manor? I can't imagine planting cauliflower like this? Broccoli? Please provide some more information. I'd love to know.
Things that form a head like cauliflower and broccoli are treated different than things like lettuce, mustard greens, etc. I harvest the leaves of both broccoli and cauliflower greens for green juice and a plethora of things. as I harvest those, I also start thinning. Ill get roughly 3 harvest from both of those before the heads are ready so that means 3 thinnings. By the time Im ready to harvest the broccoli main head, there is roughly 8 inches in between each plant, which is determined by thinning either weaker plants and/or plants grown for the leaves only. That spacing has been optimal for me to get a great main head and several side shoots until the heat makes everything bolt. With cauliflower I end up with about 12 inches of spacing being those heads tend to be much bigger, but the exact same concept with thinning.
This is awesome...I have done this in a planter on my deck...not paying any mind to space...ant to learn what other veg I can do on my deck this way.
I might have gotten carried away this year with high intensity planting. lol One 4x4 bed has 5 zucchini plants and 4 melon plants in it (the melons are growing up a trellis). The other beds are just as crowded.
Jennifermwb you might have to amend your soil with teas or fertilizers bc you are growing so much.
We have tons of fertilizer going on. I have already gotten 3 bags of trifecta .....and have been adding in plenty of worm castings, and additional blood meal and compost. Everything is doing great.
Jennifermwb I
Jennifermwb How was your crop? I have had good results on the past with growing squashes up onto a trellis but this was in part because the trellis was already there separating one part of the garden from another and the plants were not naturally grew up and into it. The following year the yield was nowhere near as good.
@@thebennt6130 I saw a video the other day that said squash are actually a vine, so this makes sense. Had never heard that before, though having watched one grow, they do trail along away from the main roots as time goes on. Keeping old lower/yellowing leaves removed and growing up the trellis should allow better airflow and pollination, and easier harvesting. I plan to trellis them from now on too.
Brilliant video! Have you considered growing peas or beans with leafy crops so that the lettuce can benefit from the nitrogen fixed by the pea/bean roots. Nitrogen is great for leafy growth and pea shoots can be harvested as a salad in their own right.
I love gardening videos, but when they are in real time, they are really frustrating. I wish I could see the lettuce grow and be harvested in the same video :(
Hollis and Nancy videos show the full cycle. Checking them out.
@@JaysWife Yes they do...I love Hollis and Nancy. Nancy is such a sweetheart too.
@@josephhefley9701 This channel has enough videos now, that he should be able to go back and edit some together with full life cycle of plants. Not seeing that yet.
Charles Dowding No Dig videos show full cycle.
Yall must be millenials 😁
Grew up gardening with my father,if I encounter something new like raised beds (handicapped) I go to your videos or the book The Joy Of Gardening every thing else does not seem to work.checking something’s before I start my lettuce beds today. Up state NY.
I have always done that with my lettuce. Including in containers.
Home Gardening Movement ? That's news to me. My Parents gardened every year, so did many of our neighbors in their neighborhood, in Westland, a suburb of Detroit.
My husband and I have had a home garden every year since 1987, in another Detroit suburb.
Please show how to grow high intensity zucchini, broccoli, and kale!!
Claire Bonnstetter vert growing please
Dawn McLaughlin ,
It exists and is common practice in double-dig French Intensive gardening. You just have to know how to prune, get the right kinds of varieties, soil nutrients (both macro/micro) and so forth.
Going vertical helps with veggies that grow on the vine.
Claire Bonnstetter Look for the book "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. I've had my copy since 1990 and it has been an excellent resource on intensive gardening. He has a newer version out that is even better. He is a bit anal about his growing media ideas.
Excellent, I particularly like the ongoing harvest. I have grown mesclun and arugula in containers, does very well. Love the smaller greens mixed with various lettuces for salads! Yum! Thanks again.
I'm starting 4 beds. But I'm in Las Vegas... (Covid-19 has changed life.) Any tips would help. Thank you and good luck
We just planted our lettuce like this too. Dense narrow rows. Same deal with spinach. Thanks for sharing!
Can you show how you harvest high intensity lettuce? I want to make sure I'm doing it correctly.
Krystal Seabron curtis stone urban farmer has a channel. he uses a very sharp knife and just cuts it an inch or two above the soil. his channel is a bit more commercial but is full of useful info.
KSea Plus like Carrie says, it is sometimes better to think of yourself eating young leaves like they serve in posh restaurants, rather than lettuce. If you plant a packet of mixed lettuce you can get a very tasty salad just from the different leaves and because it is your own garden you can maintain the nutrition by cutting just before you are ready to eat.
This is a interesting idea, I have trouble moving due to physical problems and this way with everything close together, and raised beds I can grow what I need and be healthier to boot. Thanks I am definitely going to give it a shot.
Just wondering if you've ever done testing to see if how much the nutrition goes down with each harvest, and if so, what you do to prevent that?
Nutrition doesn't go down with harvesting because it is alive and growing.
Maybe you misunderstood me. The plants draw nutrients out of the soil, and so with each harvest, there are less minerals in the soil to draw upon. The question is then, do you add specific nutrients back in based on what is grown, or do you just compost the unused parts of the plants etc., and assume that that will be enough to replenish everything?
Maybe he forgot to mention it, but each time you harvest in a cut and come again or any successive planting method or continual harvesting or interplanting method, you add compost. A smart organic gardener adds minerals that break down slowly as well as nutrients that give a quick boost too, so those slow acting minerals like rock dust don't have to be added so often but in most cases are added to your compost anyway. In any case, if you make a habit of adding compost or fertilizer each time you harvest, like maybe worm tea, your plants will rebound quickly with lots of nutrition, and using slow acting nutrients will also insure a steady stream of super-healthy production.
William D if growing plants like pumpkins or Zuchini I have found that I fail to get a decent crop of the same the following year, but could get a good crop of kale or broccoli or lettuce.
I am in zone 7. I currently have kale, peas, garlic and red sprouting broccoli in my vegetable beds. I am going to continue to harvest the kale over the winter and in early spring I should have the sprouting broccoli. In the spring I am planning to pull up the kale out down a layer of compost a plant tomatoes, peppers, pumpkin, beans and more peas. I have a section of the garden that has not been in use for a number of years whilst my property was rented out. I am going to bring this back by planting potatoes using double the amount of compost that I will use in the other areas. Where the peas currently are I plan to plant intensive lettuce which I grow with a comfrey tea. Sometimes the sprouting broccoli comes into its own and will growing and produce another crop in the autumn. If not, I will just pull it out and plant more peas or beans in that space.
Want more high intensity growing on as many varieties as possible. Thank you I really enjoy watching your videos. I just ordered your book. I am waiting for it to arrive. I can’t wait to get into it. Thanks again!
This is gonna be a fun series to watch, can't wait to see the hi intensity zucchini
a farming comedy ...
I listened to about 10 min, and I come back to my thoughts of the past.. we are told to garden with x" spacing, and how that is the best for the plants, then I go back to my growing up years, and early driving years, and in all those years I've seen commercial gardening (grew up in CA), and it's BOGUS, even commercial gardens don't space the way we are told to for our gardens... everything is CLOSE, so close in fact, that they don't need racks for tomato plants, they support each other... BTW, don't forget to put your peas or beans along the edges
Thanks for the vids
The way math works, You _EITHER_ get
*Five times* MORE vegerables in the *SAME* space
_OR_
You get *SAME* amount of vegetables in 500% *LESS* Space.
_If_ you get 500% *MORE* vegetables *IN* 5 times *LESS* Space,
_Then_ you are getting *25 times* vegetables for the *same space*.
ShahJahan Khan Reported.
That's correct, unless of course Luke is suggesting this method produces up to 25x the yield (5 times more vegetables x 5 times less space).
Also, he mentions that close seed planting works in part due to the competition each plant has with its neighbor. Then later in the video, he says plug planting does not work well for the same reason (competition). Seed planting may still produce higher yield as Luke suggests, but his reasoning about plant competition seems contradictory.
My god dont get caught up in the math guys hes just making a point
Except he presented his faulty math. 1 lb of lettuce vs. 5 lbs of lettuce. That's either 5 times more in the same space or the same amount in a 1/5 of the space. So 5x either way, not 25x.
I'm glad someone mentioned it
hi, just want to say thanks. I am new to gardening, and i am having a go on a balcony garden in containers. and i grew some spinach from seed in a 1m long container, so far looks good... I am going to try the same method for some rocket...
I am a first time gardening, growing in containers, :-)
Thank you.
I planted lettuce in a solid patch about 3x4 and it kept all the weeds down next to my cucumbers.
Judith Allen Great idea.
irunamuk p
thanks man just about to put a bunch of pots out with lettuce in a small hothouse but this sounds awesome and looks great never knew , rule of thumb was always give them each room to grow but totally get it with greens this makes much more sense
Im new to the channel.. I find your tips very helpful so far.. i saw the video on the 87 year old seeds and the tomato plant that sprouted.. how did it end up doing?
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I am curious about that tomato plant as well :0
Shane Smith it is doing well!
thats amazing.. keep us updated with a followup video in the future..
circumsision
@Shane S, Archeologists found stored Date fruit while excavating King Nebuchadnezzar's palace. The Dates were from an extinct variety of Judean Date Palms. They planted the seeds and now there are live Judean Date Palms on earth after 2000 years.
Ok. I'm trying this today. Can't wait to see the results. Beautiful garden u have and ty for sharing!
I was just about to thin my lettuce that looks exactly like that, now I won't .
It only took 2 videos to convince me to subscribe, this video being the 2nd I've watched (so far). I'm a home gardener and this video has shown me the limitless possibilities of H.I growing, especially with lettuce!
Oh man. I want to put in some planters in the backyard now. Anyone know the best fence to keep dogs out and how am I going to keep away the bunnies/squirrels?
On our Rocky Mountain Homestead we have a lot of deer and elk so we have put in a 9 foot fence (12 foot posts with 3 feet in concrete set 9 feet apart) with 3 rails and galvanized about 3 inch by 4 inch wire mesh in between. This would definitely keep out a dog...and if you bury the wire mesh in the ground coming out about 1.5 feet from the fence line, it will keep out burrowing critters such as bunnies, too....If you are wanting to keep out squirrels/chipmunks, you may have to go with a finer mesh...
For my little garden I just used chicken-wire and a few metal rods. I also put solar lights next to the plants animals like most. Go to the dollar tree and invest in a couple plastic snakes and also attach Walmart bags to your posts or use those pinwheels that spin when the wind blows. The only problem I had in my garden this year was something small was eating my strawberries... everything else was nibble free.
wire fence isn't the best. you could have deer crash through the fence it can be hard for animals to see. Wood fence would be better around a yard. the squirrels and bunnies? just plant extra... if you kept the dogs out, get a cat? when you want to get rid of the cat just let the dogs in... then rub the dogs belly... give it a cookie and say good doggie
Buy a .22 and add some to protein in with your greens.
I'm just using some thick 7 ft. Bamboo poles pounded into ground with plastic fencing going around. It's the cheapest most effective way I've found thus far. 🍀
Great video! I am pretty new to gardening and just winging it, lol I didn't know what I was doing and just sprinkled kale seeds in my garden bed and it came in so dense. I had Kale all winter and I Just pulled them out because they went to seed. I like this method especially if you don't have much space. Love your videos and your beautiful family :) Thank you!
video starts at 3:11 the guy talks in circles about "high intensity" before that
Hayley Puzo thank you. Oof, he talks a lot in loops at the beginning of his videos. Good content though.
Thank you lol, he had good info but yeah, does that with a ton of his videos
Vertical Farming beats this with a PVC shelf system,
this type of micro farming makes you harvest alot more times to get the same amount of yield of a PVC shelf System with Vertical Farming.
this looks like a Dead End. i see no future in this.
Dude...Great Video. I was about to start my lettuce seeds on grow racks in 2x2 cups. BUT now i will not be wasting that time, and instead sowing them directly into the beds. THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO!!! Saved me a ton of time
Will you be doing a video on harvesting these lettuces? This cut and come again method you talk about?
The way we do it is we just gently pull off the outside leaves that are the most mature every few days to week or so and let the center keep growing. Our lettuce stocks grew about 3 feet tall and gave us like 6-8 weeks worth of lettuce last year before they bolted, it was great.
Thanks for this teachings. Those informations are so consistent (don’t know if it’s the right word). It fits with the informations I already learned. Not only from you, but mostly.