Thank you very much for all of your Content. I am currently putting together a CSA market garden plan to support a rapidly dying Agricultural institution that I have been involved in for years. We are being forced out of existence for lack of a sustainable model and urbanization. I would really like to establish a relationship with you if that is at all possible?
I've been using broadforks since the 1980s, when I was trained in the Jeavons tradition (which emphasizes ergonomics). The only fine point I would add to your excellent overview is to initially insert the tines at their true vertical angle. With a well designed broadfork, this means that the handles will be angled forward, which makes it easier to balance yourself at the beginning of the motion and leverages your body weight to maximum effect. When I teach, I always have my students step onto the fork and stand still until they feel perfectly balanced (to the point of being able to stand still with no hands on the fork). Then begin to settle in the tines to depth with small back-and-forth movements, as you demonstrate. Once fully inserted on the vertical, just leaning back gently should be enough to break the soil sufficiently. Also, I tell students that the distance you slide the fork back for each new insertion is not a fixed amount, but determined ergonomically. If your body weight is not enough to get the fork moving because the soil is compacted, just take smaller bites each time. When establishing new beds, you may have to move just 4-6 inches.
good tip, I found this out from only a week of experience after buying a meadow creature and glad that my conclusions were in accordance with the Jeavons program
For me I have been using 6 mm silage 36’x 100’ tarps on my 1 acre garden. I just laid the traps down after mowing the grass and weeds after a soaking rain. I left it for a year per section. In winter I pulled the traps off long enough to spread compost down to cover the surface, then re covered the area. All the vexation is killed off completely. Its sterile soil after a year. I pulled one tarp off at a time and formed my beds. Then I 100 yards of hardwood bark on to of beds and laid the traps back down until February. Everything was ready to plant. The only tilling I did was for water lines. I did this before I laid the silage tarps down in the beginning. I am real happy how it’s turned out.
2 points. First, it's been my experience that the average depth of tilling rarely approaches 12". It's probably closer to 6 or 8". Secondly, I see a great advantage to an initial deep tilling, 12" or even deeper if possible. Most topsoil has a much greater degree of organic material in it as compared to the subsoil. On the reverse, the subsoil has a much greater degree of minerals in it as compared to the topsoil. And successful gardening requires those minerals just as much as it needs the organics. I do agree with not tilling every season. And I do recognize that you did mention using tilling initially in some cases. What I resist is the notion that many have which says "never till". Never tilling can be just as much a mistake as tilling every season. If plants are showing any signs of mineral depletion, or you are adding minerals a lot to your soil, I'd suggest to dig a trial deep hole, take a sample and have it tested for its' mineral content. If the subsoil contains what you are missing, an occasional deep tilling to bring some of that material up is probably a better choice than supplementing minerals from a bag. I would doubt such a deep tilling would be needed more than every 4 or 5 years.
That’s a good point. However, not all minerals are plant-soluble. Plants need the biology/microbes to breakdown and transport minerals through the food web before the nutrients are available to the plant’s root systems. So while tilling deep may bring your minerals and heavier nutrients to the surface, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s making them more accessible to your plants. Deep roots and healthy microbiology get those nutrients up from the depths and into a plant available form, which depending on your conditions, will only get harder after tilling deep
@@BadAssCarson And an occasional deep tilling brings those minerals up into the area of the soil where the "biology/microbes" live so that they CAN make them available to plants. Otherwise, where is the biology/microbes going to get it? The microbes predominantly live in the upper layers of the topsoil and don't venture deeper for minerals. If minerals are not in the topsoil, you have only two alternatives. Either add them from a bag, or bring them up. Nature never uses bags, it brings them up from the depths, generally through trees. But people rarely want trees in their veggie garden. Therefore, I still hold that tilling deep does in fact bring mineral nutrients to where your plants can access them provided you have created healthy soil with plenty of biology and microbes in it to render it available. And if you've failed to create such soil, you'll never win anyway. As I mentioned before, such tilling should not be necessary very often. But an initial deep tilling is something I would recommend.
@@StephanieSomer Microbes predominantly live in the top 60cm of the soil, definitely deep enough to reach subsoil nutrients. Additionally, when water percolates into the ground, it brings minerals up to the level of the water table. Tilling causes your soil to lose minerals by exposing them to surface erosion.
My Main garden is about 12x 18' square. Great suggestions! I have been gardening this plot, going into my 7th year. I have added over 30 baled bags of soil....3 acres compost over 3 seasons, 3 truck loads of "veggie mix" soil over the same 3 years...in the last few years we dug in some old cherry wood 5 (small chunks) and used straw,( 3 bales worth, about 90 eggs worth of crushed shells. And compost in the fall as we have it. It was all hard compacted clay full of river rocks when I began. It is a nice loamy smelling feeder soil!
I have been falling down the soil building rabbit hole for months now. I havent watching any talks by Jeff Lownfels yet, on to the next. thanks. Love the videos! Blessed Be
Really concise summary of soil health and the pros and cons of different tillage philosophies. I like very much how you emphasize its all about context, current soil health, and the creation over time of the best possible soil. Thanks and well done!
Steven, EVERY video has so many takeaways for me in my first season of urbanish farming. Thank you for doing what you do. You're a integral part of the fledgling local foods system in Western South Dakota!
I love your videos and wish with all my heart that I was young again so I could use all your methods. I have a 35 year old garden that is devoted to mostly shade plants primarily hosta. I am so excited to see you develop your Tennessee property. I would like to request that you build a perennial flower garden and explore using your techniques in a garden in which the soil is rarely disturbed. I keep worms and I saw a video which suggested putting a plastic baskets in the ground and feeding red wigglers in the baskets allowing them to feed in the basket and enrich the soil around the area. Sounds like a good idea. Trying that in the spring. I have used your flow through bins for the first time. I love my worms even though in Indiana they have to live inside my house. Not a problem. I wish you great luck and really enjoy your videos and learning so much.
Amazing work! I've tried to back off of broadforking and I've seen decreased yield and corky carrots for example. That being said, I get heavy rain which cause compaction and clumping of the soil. if you don't get heavy rain I think you can certainly back off of broadforking after two years. One thing I'd recommend with broadforking is to stand in one pathway and have the broadfork slightly diagonal in the bed and walk backwards that way instead of straddling. It saves the knees and hips for sure!
Interesting on the yield reduction, I've heard Dowding talk about that as well, it makes sense. Great points about rain and clay! I'll try that tip on stance out and see how I like it, thanks man!
as i understand Drownings technique there is always an inch of compost on the surface to plant in which works great for transplants and I agree a a home gardener this has worked great for me... wonderful presentation for understanding soil care... thanks
I’m glad you stated the context point. Anyone who disagrees with that point, I will pay you airfare and $100 to come stomp that broad fork into my 100% solid compacted clay in North Mississippi. I’m all about no-till. We have chickens. We’re using chickens to compost wood chips with manure and scratching. We have two 1000 sq’ beds. The chickens are on one and the garden is on the other. We just rotated the chickens off of the first bed after two years of being on wood chips. We tilled last years garden under with the wood chips before putting the chickens on it. We also tilled their old bed (our new garden bed for this year. After tilling their bedding in we added 6lbs of 10-10-10 and tilled it again two days later. In Last years garden we tilled in 2” compost. We also dug trenches every 4’ and filled them with wood chips to allow for run off drainage. So far this method has given the fastest improvement to our extremely heavy clay soil. The wood chips buried in the trenches was some of the most broken down and best looking organic matter I’ve seen. Obviously we are not planning to till every single year.
GREAT video!! I’m an experienced gardener but Ive been looking for vodcasts that can help take me to the next knowledge level. After a long journey I’m Happy to have found you man. Awesome!!
I don't have a broadfork but I think it is a great tool that I will have to save for. Right now I have been using a garden fork recently to loosen the garden soil as I plant because it seems kinder on my earthworms. The broadfork is so much easier to balance on than my garden fork!
this video was eye opening to me! :) i wasnt sure if i should till or broadfork my land, but now i know! :) also i know how to broadfork now. thx a lot for taking the time and help me grow my own food! i just donated to you. its so important that education is free! when education is free we can all work together as humans to make the world a better more life supporting place.
I wish these videos that talk about "Charles Dowding's" no-dig method would get it right. Firstly, Dowding only uses 4" (100mm) of compost on the very first dressing over a layer of wet cardboard to smother weeds. Thereafter the no-dig method requires only a 1" (25 mm) dressing of compost annually. With inter cropping and successional planting it is possible to get up to double the normal annual crop from your ground. I have never used any ground breaking tools on my plot and the soil is soft and moist almost all year round. I do apply other thicker mulches such as grass cuttings, hay and leaves occasionally when the weather is particularly dry. Otherwise I enjoy your videos and often find them informative and entertaining. Thanks.
Bro.... I cant tell you how much I appreciate your channel. We share the SAME passion. I put hours into research and I love that your doing this the right way. I learn soooo much from you and am working on getting an informational channel going as well. This year Im making my permanent beds and have about 3 yards of homemade premium fully finished compost. As you know, thats a lot of turning to keep it omri certified early on in the process. Sorry about the rant..... just love your channel!
@ Nature's Always Right This video is probably one of the most informative videos for beginners I've seen around. Nice compilation of information. Context is the most important aspect that a lot of people forget and try to copy the exact stuff they see in videos. Well done.
I never comment on videos, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the great content you put out. You are a big inspiration to an aspiring market gardener like myself. This video in particular really helps me in developing ideas on how I want to manage my heavy clay soil once I start getting my plot established. We are having an extremely wet winter this year here in Texas, so everything is on hold at the moment. I love what you said about context. This video is full of so many important nuggets regarding soil health and soil management. Your videos are a huge help to me in starting a small market garden from scratch. Your farm looks excellent! Can't wait to see what content you have coming up. I also really enjoyed your episode on the Bootstrap Farmer podcast. Best of luck to you this season!
Well thank you for taking the time to comment your words mean a lot to me! I'm very happy my videos have helped you best of luck on your market garden, congrats on having the courage to go for it!
Amazing video. I’ve been personally subscribed for a while, but now have subscribed for our content channel. I appreciate how you take the time to address real life/real time context. We hope to launch a series of videos on our channel about gardening. Folks like you give us palatable knowledge and inspiration. You answered so many questions in one video. Thank you for taking the time to break down the fundamentals as well as addressing more advanced techniques.
The video I've been waiting for. Thank you. Love the tip for bed width with broad fork choice. Waisted effort for expectations. Keep the videos coming. Building, science, and economics. I wish you well.
Thanks. My entire life, I didn't realize that tilling the soil was bad for soil, although I've never tilled soil, since I don't have a big garden or farm.
one way to loosen up the soil is to plant broad beans or lupins or even together. This does require one season, but then you can carry on by applying compost using the no dig method.
Such good advice not to get too fanatical about things! I really don't know anything about gardening so forgive my simple question. I have a garden that's only had strawberries in it for like six years. I want to pull out some of it and start some vegetables. Do I need to do anything to the soil? I live in the Pacific Northwest and the soil is pretty sandy. I also have another two beds that really haven't had anything in them but a few weeds for years. I'm wondering if I need to disturb the soil at all or even add top soil. I just don't really know where to start!
I'm envious of your sandy soil! I'm in the PNW too, and most of our soil here is sticky clay. I know your comment is a year old, so I hope you've been able to develop a nice garden! :)
Thanks for another Great video. About the only different thing I've done was used Garden - potatoe fork, and when pulling back. I filled the void with compost.
Good video. Remember one thing that seems to get overloooked and not mentioned when taling about the dust bowl. Yes tilling and drout had a big impact but wiping out millions of buffalo to wip out the native americans meant there was not millions of buffalo adding all that organic matter through their faeces meant the plains were destroyed.
Aye about to break ground on a new garden out of my back yard. I plan on tilling in compost, rock dust, worm castings. I bet I get a million weeds the first year, but I bet it recovers pretty quick. We’ll see. I have a rough idea but I’m always willing to listen to advice ☘️
Thanks, I'll be using one, but I'll be breaking up the soil completely the first couple of times to help build up the life in it with mixed in additions. I'm in zone 9a, the high desert. Elevation 2,500 feet. A very long growing season, but the soil is lifeless, very compact and sandy. So, lots of gypsum(to start), compost, mulch, kitchen scraps, sterilized manure, compost teas and urine. We have good well water. By the end of the year, should have another jungle on my hands. ;-) Gonna try my hand at moringa trees this year to.
LOL. With the thought in mind that I would till my new garden in maybe October, the first two videos I come across lay out a fantastic reason to NOT do this. We are in California's Central Valley, in Chico, where the soil is excellent. Thanks for the explanation about why I would not want to disturb this rich soil. No tilling for us. Cheers,
Do you have a video on how u till it the very first time? I have rock hard clay and want to build to no till but not sure how to start exactly to soften the clay. I have a ton of compost ready and want to know how to mix it in the clay.
Hi there! I’m grateful to have found your channel! What would you suggest for a newbie who will be getting started for personal home garden and hoping for some surplus to sell at a small town market. Anyways specifically we will begin on a plot that has formerly established garden beds but have been intended for at least 3-5 years. Tons of overgrowth and we have no clue what is there or what we might want to save. How do you prepare the land where there are tons of established weeds/trees/shrubs/ who knows what?
Seaweed helps plant growth and disease resistance. They feed bacteria needed for plant health. And they promote the plant hormone Cytokinin. Learned this from Ag consultants who are trying to sell products but seaweed helps plants. Advancing Eco Agriculture. They have a YT channel and a website. Trying to learn how to do what they do without buying their products. I also recommend Korean Natural Farming.
Love this video and I just ordered my broad fork. Is that white cloth used for shade? My peppers got sun scald this year and need shade. I already use hoops. Where did you purchase the cloth? Thanks!
I am having a hard time dropping the cash for a broad fork I don’t see why they are so much. Going to ask a good buddy to make me one. Did you ever decide if the paint is coming off ?
My garden will be a 3rd year garden. The soil is clay, I till to mix in garden mature and leaves to help the soil with nutrients, also I crop rotate so I don't strip the soil. At the end of your video you show your neighbors yard soil, compared to your soil. My soil is like your neighbors, very high clay. How many years(seasons) did it take you to get your soil to the healthy level it is? During those years what was your method of breaking the soil? Like if you say it took 5yrs, did you still first 2 years and then broad fork for the last 3? I love to try the broad fork but my garden is hard like concrete, even through for 2yrs I have mixed in nutrients.
Thanks for the video - really helped clear a lot of misconceptions of No-Till. I just had one question, can I use a digging fork instead of a broadfork?
I have been looking for ways to get rid of grass and till in nice fluffy beds naturally. I've been using a hoe and the broadfork and then cover crop... but I thought what about better results with less work or time? It occurred to me that bringing chickens in right after I broadfork an area and then inoculating behind them could possibly be a really good way to do it. Like an augmented chicken tractor. They would just help it ratchet up a few notches and you wouldn't have to till or get micro plastics in the soil with a silage tarp. There is probably a lot more biology going on than a silage tarp too ,but the downside is you'd have to have chickens and a chicken tractor. What are your thoughts on that? Is tilling, sub soiling, and cover cropping or hand clearing and double digging and cover cropping the best way to get a place ready?
I would not use a tiller or a broad fork, IMO the best tool and to use only once is a deep soil ripper. It will bring air and humidity to the lower layers and will allow nutrients to go deeper. Applying liquid manure after ripping will accelerate the process. If the soil is not going to be used for few months sowing lucerne which has deep roots will improve the organic matter on the soil lower layers and also is an excellent green manure.
Ok, so how much tilling are we talking about in these studies? Are we talking about tilling weekly? Or just a one time tilling? Thank you. These are great explanations/ illustrations of these different concepts. You have put them in proper context and helped me to understand where each one is applicable. It gets confusing and frustrating when components of each technique make it seem like that is the ONLY correct way to use the land. Thank you! Well wishes for you and your family. So, I just bought a new tiller to cultivate some land that has not need used in many years. But, theoretically then, I would only use it once. Not a good financial investment. Would it be better to return the tiller, literally still in the box, and incest in a broad fork. I am a home Gardner with a plot of land that has dense grass and weeds in this unused area. Thank you.
I own a Gulland Forge and a Bully broad fork so my hands-on conclusion is it all depends on the scale of your garden. In my greenhouse I use a simple fork, in the main garden I stopped using the broadfork because the soil is easily worked. I just use the fork again to double check for loose soil under the main roots of the transplants. For the corn field I used my 2 wheel walk behind tractor to plow and disc then cultivate. You would not want to broad fork an quarter acre plot, trust me. And broad forks are counter productive since 'aerating' the soil will burn through your organic matter. I would say its only use is to 'break' new ground. What is not mentioned is that after doing that, use JADAM JMS to introduce microbes. Cover with a woven landscape fabric and your done. Stop working so hard.
Thank you I have clay loam soils and need to do a bit of de- compacting at the start of making new beds. What about grass pasture in an orchard would broad fork would help.
Last spring I devoted a plot to perennials (asparagus, blackberries and strawberries). northern Colorado, HEAVY clay soil. My husband tilled the plot with his kybota tiller the year before. I planted annual veggies that year after adding about 2" of compost. Ok results. The next year I turned the plot into dedicated perennials. I broadforked and put down about 2" of compost that had biochar in it. then i planted the asparagus roots, and berries. What can I expect for that soil... what can I do to continue to build that soil structure.(I also mulched those beds with hay last fall)
I would much rather use an ordinary fork than a broad fork,normal fork is much easier to push into the soil with one foot and much faster as you dont have to climb on the fork with both foots.Also save your self over a hundred bucks not having to buy a broad fork,less weight to carrry around,saving storage space, far easier normal fork for elderly people and younger office workers and ladies.SO stick with the normal narrow fork it has many advantages over broadfork.
Newbie here, first two years we did till. I’m currently building my beds for spring and don’t intend to till this year. I’m all over the board watching different ideas per say. Wood chips in paths only and currently building up planting area with composted horse manure and homemade chicken compost, I’ve yet to add lime adjustments. Should I cover my soil that I intend the plant in later approximately 3 months from now? In NW Florida
If the soil is bare then I would cover it with either straw mulch or a mulch that is easily raked away or a sileage tarp. It will keep everything moist and alive and prevent weeds. Best of luck with the garden, that's great you are switching to no till, it just gets better year after year.
I’ve covered with cardboard and have my seeds growing for tomatoes under a grow light, starting pepper seeds soon. Peas are coming up, install cattle panels today.
Do you agree with Dr. Ingham that fungal dominant compost and compost tea is best for annual veg? That you should not add molasses to compost tea, for example, but just fungal foods?
Hi Im catalina form argentina. I build kitchen garden in beds to different clients and last spring try the no dig method but we have heavy rains and some of my clients bed got really compacted although they have 30cm of compost. They are build in a hardwood box with no bottom. Started noticing when I rotated arugula and didn't grow well. What do would you recommend? Every change of season I put new compost. And one of that beds I already hand till with a shovel
So I live in southeastern VA, we have very hard sand and yellow clay. Which would you say is more beneficial for me to do? Using my ground soil wirh rolling the first year and broakfork in subsequent year's, or bypass the ground altogether and build raised beds to avoid the severely unhealthy soil?
Excellent stuff! Ultimately boils down to choosing whether or not you want to broad fork or not if you’re going for no till. I think depending on the soil structure and region you live in either will work better than the other. It’s up to you to figure out which.
I know you like to grow directly on the ground with soil amendments but what do you suggest for a raised bed application and were in SD can you get quality soil for the cheap? I know you can get aged compost from Miramar landfill but I know you don't want to use compost just for your soil. Any suggestion would be helpful.
I live at 7000 elevation at the end of a huge valley No rocks, only boulders the size of buffalo heads. The ratio of soil to rock might be 1:7 and it is ultra hard adobe clay. Any advice?
On seed packages, they say to plant 12 inches apart. Your plants look as if they are all bunched together. So What are your recommendations for planting different veggies?
The seed packs recommendations are not always the best for high production. I try to pack things as close as is possible to have a good harvest. Curtis Stone the urban farmer's book is a great reference for close planting.
So I started the no till last year. I put about 2" of mulch across it all. My question out there is should I rake back all the mulch on the top layer then add my compost etc...
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Thank you very much for all of your Content. I am currently putting together a CSA market garden plan to support a rapidly dying Agricultural institution that I have been involved in for years. We are being forced out of existence for lack of a sustainable model and urbanization. I would really like to establish a relationship with you if that is at all possible?
@@NaturesAlwaysRight thanks¡¡!
I've been using broadforks since the 1980s, when I was trained in the Jeavons tradition (which emphasizes ergonomics). The only fine point I would add to your excellent overview is to initially insert the tines at their true vertical angle. With a well designed broadfork, this means that the handles will be angled forward, which makes it easier to balance yourself at the beginning of the motion and leverages your body weight to maximum effect. When I teach, I always have my students step onto the fork and stand still until they feel perfectly balanced (to the point of being able to stand still with no hands on the fork). Then begin to settle in the tines to depth with small back-and-forth movements, as you demonstrate. Once fully inserted on the vertical, just leaning back gently should be enough to break the soil sufficiently. Also, I tell students that the distance you slide the fork back for each new insertion is not a fixed amount, but determined ergonomically. If your body weight is not enough to get the fork moving because the soil is compacted, just take smaller bites each time. When establishing new beds, you may have to move just 4-6 inches.
good tip, I found this out from only a week of experience after buying a meadow creature and glad that my conclusions were in accordance with the Jeavons program
Good additional info thanks for taking the time to leave it!
Thank you! This information really enhances the demonstration in this excellent video.
Everything you put out is always educational , great work appreciate it
For me I have been using 6 mm silage 36’x 100’ tarps on my 1 acre garden. I just laid the traps down after mowing the grass and weeds after a soaking rain. I left it for a year per section. In winter I pulled the traps off long enough to spread compost down to cover the surface, then re covered the area. All the vexation is killed off completely. Its sterile soil after a year. I pulled one tarp off at a time and formed my beds.
Then I 100 yards of hardwood bark on to of beds and laid the traps back down until February. Everything was ready to plant. The only tilling I did was for water lines. I did this before I laid the silage tarps down in the beginning. I am real happy how it’s turned out.
2 points. First, it's been my experience that the average depth of tilling rarely approaches 12". It's probably closer to 6 or 8". Secondly, I see a great advantage to an initial deep tilling, 12" or even deeper if possible. Most topsoil has a much greater degree of organic material in it as compared to the subsoil. On the reverse, the subsoil has a much greater degree of minerals in it as compared to the topsoil. And successful gardening requires those minerals just as much as it needs the organics. I do agree with not tilling every season. And I do recognize that you did mention using tilling initially in some cases. What I resist is the notion that many have which says "never till". Never tilling can be just as much a mistake as tilling every season. If plants are showing any signs of mineral depletion, or you are adding minerals a lot to your soil, I'd suggest to dig a trial deep hole, take a sample and have it tested for its' mineral content. If the subsoil contains what you are missing, an occasional deep tilling to bring some of that material up is probably a better choice than supplementing minerals from a bag. I would doubt such a deep tilling would be needed more than every 4 or 5 years.
That’s a good point. However, not all minerals are plant-soluble. Plants need the biology/microbes to breakdown and transport minerals through the food web before the nutrients are available to the plant’s root systems.
So while tilling deep may bring your minerals and heavier nutrients to the surface, that doesn’t necessarily mean that’s making them more accessible to your plants. Deep roots and healthy microbiology get those nutrients up from the depths and into a plant available form, which depending on your conditions, will only get harder after tilling deep
@@BadAssCarson And an occasional deep tilling brings those minerals up into the area of the soil where the "biology/microbes" live so that they CAN make them available to plants. Otherwise, where is the biology/microbes going to get it? The microbes predominantly live in the upper layers of the topsoil and don't venture deeper for minerals. If minerals are not in the topsoil, you have only two alternatives. Either add them from a bag, or bring them up. Nature never uses bags, it brings them up from the depths, generally through trees. But people rarely want trees in their veggie garden.
Therefore, I still hold that tilling deep does in fact bring mineral nutrients to where your plants can access them provided you have created healthy soil with plenty of biology and microbes in it to render it available. And if you've failed to create such soil, you'll never win anyway. As I mentioned before, such tilling should not be necessary very often. But an initial deep tilling is something I would recommend.
@@StephanieSomer Microbes predominantly live in the top 60cm of the soil, definitely deep enough to reach subsoil nutrients. Additionally, when water percolates into the ground, it brings minerals up to the level of the water table. Tilling causes your soil to lose minerals by exposing them to surface erosion.
My Main garden is about 12x 18' square. Great suggestions!
I have been gardening this plot, going into my 7th year. I have added over 30 baled bags of soil....3 acres compost over 3 seasons, 3 truck loads of "veggie mix" soil over the same 3 years...in the last few years we dug in some old cherry wood 5 (small chunks) and used straw,( 3 bales worth, about 90 eggs worth of crushed shells. And compost in the fall as we have it. It was all hard compacted clay full of river rocks when I began. It is a nice loamy smelling feeder soil!
I have been falling down the soil building rabbit hole for months now. I havent watching any talks by Jeff Lownfels yet, on to the next. thanks. Love the videos! Blessed Be
Really concise summary of soil health and the pros and cons of different tillage philosophies. I like very much how you emphasize its all about context, current soil health, and the creation over time of the best possible soil. Thanks and well done!
Steven, EVERY video has so many takeaways for me in my first season of urbanish farming. Thank you for doing what you do. You're a integral part of the fledgling local foods system in Western South Dakota!
I love that you addressed the context and other factors. I agree! Thanks for the great video.
I love your videos and wish with all my heart that I was young again so I could use all your methods. I have a 35 year old garden that is devoted to mostly shade plants primarily hosta. I am so excited to see you develop your Tennessee property. I would like to request that you build a perennial flower garden and explore using your techniques in a garden in which the soil is rarely disturbed. I keep worms and I saw a video which suggested putting a plastic baskets in the ground and feeding red wigglers in the baskets allowing them to feed in the basket and enrich the soil around the area. Sounds like a good idea. Trying that in the spring. I have used your flow through bins for the first time. I love my worms even though in Indiana they have to live inside my house. Not a problem. I wish you great luck and really enjoy your videos and learning so much.
really like your mindset and your general approach to life
I've been broadforking for 2 years now. My technique was way off! You learn something new everyday, thank you for the lesson.
Amazing work! I've tried to back off of broadforking and I've seen decreased yield and corky carrots for example. That being said, I get heavy rain which cause compaction and clumping of the soil. if you don't get heavy rain I think you can certainly back off of broadforking after two years. One thing I'd recommend with broadforking is to stand in one pathway and have the broadfork slightly diagonal in the bed and walk backwards that way instead of straddling. It saves the knees and hips for sure!
Interesting on the yield reduction, I've heard Dowding talk about that as well, it makes sense. Great points about rain and clay! I'll try that tip on stance out and see how I like it, thanks man!
as i understand Drownings technique there is always an inch of compost on the surface to plant in which works great for transplants and I agree a a home gardener this has worked great for me... wonderful presentation for understanding soil care... thanks
I’m glad you stated the context point.
Anyone who disagrees with that point, I will pay you airfare and $100 to come stomp that broad fork into my 100% solid compacted clay in North Mississippi.
I’m all about no-till. We have chickens. We’re using chickens to compost wood chips with manure and scratching. We have two 1000 sq’ beds. The chickens are on one and the garden is on the other. We just rotated the chickens off of the first bed after two years of being on wood chips. We tilled last years garden under with the wood chips before putting the chickens on it. We also tilled their old bed (our new garden bed for this year. After tilling their bedding in we added 6lbs of 10-10-10 and tilled it again two days later. In Last years garden we tilled in 2” compost. We also dug trenches every 4’ and filled them with wood chips to allow for run off drainage. So far this method has given the fastest improvement to our extremely heavy clay soil. The wood chips buried in the trenches was some of the most broken down and best looking organic matter I’ve seen.
Obviously we are not planning to till every single year.
GREAT video!! I’m an experienced gardener but Ive been looking for vodcasts that can help take me to the next knowledge level. After a long journey I’m Happy to have found you man. Awesome!!
Elaine Ingam is the bomb. Great Video.
I really want a broad fork now ! I really love your videos .
I appreciate that lesson at 14 minutes always good to have those reminders
I don't have a broadfork but I think it is a great tool that I will have to save for. Right now I have been using a garden fork recently to loosen the garden soil as I plant because it seems kinder on my earthworms. The broadfork is so much easier to balance on than my garden fork!
Fantastic video!! I'm glad i found your channel.
this video was eye opening to me! :) i wasnt sure if i should till or broadfork my land, but now i know! :) also i know how to broadfork now. thx a lot for taking the time and help me grow my own food! i just donated to you. its so important that education is free! when education is free we can all work together as humans to make the world a better more life supporting place.
So glad this really helped you :) Thanks so much for your donation totally agree we need to get more people into growing food naturally.
Great video! Thanks. I am heading out to broad fork my garden.
Thanks for the video. Got a broadfork for this year . It's a workout for sure.
Thanks, I have a new broad fork and appreciate your teaching.
Love your channel! Always great to discover another great no-till, organic gardening video educator!
Love your open philosophy! So true! Explore and experiment and listen to others...
I wish these videos that talk about "Charles Dowding's" no-dig method would get it right. Firstly, Dowding only uses 4" (100mm) of compost on the very first dressing over a layer of wet cardboard to smother weeds. Thereafter the no-dig method requires only a 1" (25 mm) dressing of compost annually. With inter cropping and successional planting it is possible to get up to double the normal annual crop from your ground. I have never used any ground breaking tools on my plot and the soil is soft and moist almost all year round. I do apply other thicker mulches such as grass cuttings, hay and leaves occasionally when the weather is particularly dry. Otherwise I enjoy your videos and often find them informative and entertaining. Thanks.
Bro.... I cant tell you how much I appreciate your channel. We share the SAME passion. I put hours into research and I love that your doing this the right way. I learn soooo much from you and am working on getting an informational channel going as well. This year Im making my permanent beds and have about 3 yards of homemade premium fully finished compost. As you know, thats a lot of turning to keep it omri certified early on in the process. Sorry about the rant..... just love your channel!
Thanks so much Eric! Keep up the great work!
Just bought one using your discount code. Thanks!
Thank you so much! Very informative! I do no tilling garden and happy with it.
@ Nature's Always Right
This video is probably one of the most informative videos for beginners I've seen around. Nice compilation of information. Context is the most important aspect that a lot of people forget and try to copy the exact stuff they see in videos. Well done.
I never comment on videos, but I just wanted to say THANK YOU for all the great content you put out. You are a big inspiration to an aspiring market gardener like myself. This video in particular really helps me in developing ideas on how I want to manage my heavy clay soil once I start getting my plot established. We are having an extremely wet winter this year here in Texas, so everything is on hold at the moment. I love what you said about context. This video is full of so many important nuggets regarding soil health and soil management. Your videos are a huge help to me in starting a small market garden from scratch. Your farm looks excellent! Can't wait to see what content you have coming up. I also really enjoyed your episode on the Bootstrap Farmer podcast. Best of luck to you this season!
Well thank you for taking the time to comment your words mean a lot to me! I'm very happy my videos have helped you best of luck on your market garden, congrats on having the courage to go for it!
Amazing video. I’ve been personally subscribed for a while, but now have subscribed for our content channel. I appreciate how you take the time to address real life/real time context. We hope to launch a series of videos on our channel about gardening. Folks like you give us palatable knowledge and inspiration. You answered so many questions in one video. Thank you for taking the time to break down the fundamentals as well as addressing more advanced techniques.
The video I've been waiting for. Thank you. Love the tip for bed width with broad fork choice. Waisted effort for expectations. Keep the videos coming. Building, science, and economics. I wish you well.
IF you don't till the first year you could be planting on large rocks. Try the no till the second year.
Thank you man! Very interesting content! Hope i can replicate your teachings here in Brazil . See you in the next one!
Thank you for a very clear synopsis of the different prep. methods. Just ordered a Treadlite broadfork ! Thank you.
Very happy to hear it was clear and helpful. Awesome Jay! You will love it, it's just so easy and comfortable to work with.
Thanks. My entire life, I didn't realize that tilling the soil was bad for soil, although I've never tilled soil, since I don't have a big garden or farm.
Always dropping dimes, every time. Love the knowledge on the tilling technique and especially soil biology.
Another great video Steven...glad to see them...Keep Growing !
This is great man. Very informative and in-depth explenations 👌
one way to loosen up the soil is to plant broad beans or lupins or even together. This does require one season, but then you can carry on by applying compost using the no dig method.
Thank you for sharing you have so much experience. You are helping a lot!
Such good advice not to get too fanatical about things!
I really don't know anything about gardening so forgive my simple question. I have a garden that's only had strawberries in it for like six years. I want to pull out some of it and start some vegetables. Do I need to do anything to the soil? I live in the Pacific Northwest and the soil is pretty sandy. I also have another two beds that really haven't had anything in them but a few weeds for years. I'm wondering if I need to disturb the soil at all or even add top soil. I just don't really know where to start!
I'm envious of your sandy soil! I'm in the PNW too, and most of our soil here is sticky clay. I know your comment is a year old, so I hope you've been able to develop a nice garden! :)
Thanks for another Great video.
About the only different thing I've done was used Garden - potatoe fork, and when pulling back. I filled the void with compost.
Good video. Remember one thing that seems to get overloooked and not mentioned when taling about the dust bowl. Yes tilling and drout had a big impact but wiping out millions of buffalo to wip out the native americans meant there was not millions of buffalo adding all that organic matter through their faeces meant the plains were destroyed.
Aye about to break ground on a new garden out of my back yard. I plan on tilling in compost, rock dust, worm castings. I bet I get a million weeds the first year, but I bet it recovers pretty quick. We’ll see. I have a rough idea but I’m always willing to listen to advice ☘️
Thanks buddy..
Much soil love from Australia!
Very informative vid.. A+++ 👍
Thanks, I'll be using one, but I'll be breaking up the soil completely the first couple of times to help build up the life in it with mixed in additions. I'm in zone 9a, the high desert. Elevation 2,500 feet. A very long growing season, but the soil is lifeless, very compact and sandy. So, lots of gypsum(to start), compost, mulch, kitchen scraps, sterilized manure, compost teas and urine. We have good well water. By the end of the year, should have another jungle on my hands. ;-) Gonna try my hand at moringa trees this year to.
Well put truth. Education is awesome. Keep speaking truth!
Awesome video, thank you. Greetings from Bosnia
Your farm is looking good. Makes me want to get out in mine but it's covered in snow and 20 degrees F. Good video. Thank you
Thanks for the tips. These explanations helps a bunch. :)
LOL. With the thought in mind that I would till my new garden in maybe October, the first two videos I come across lay out a fantastic reason to NOT do this. We are in California's Central Valley, in Chico, where the soil is excellent. Thanks for the explanation about why I would not want to disturb this rich soil. No tilling for us. Cheers,
Do you have a video on how u till it the very first time? I have rock hard clay and want to build to no till but not sure how to start exactly to soften the clay. I have a ton of compost ready and want to know how to mix it in the clay.
Have you find the solution? As im also looking for answers of your above questions.
In California our gophers do all the subsurface aeration we need! 😖
Hi there! I’m grateful to have found your channel! What would you suggest for a newbie who will be getting started for personal home garden and hoping for some surplus to sell at a small town market. Anyways specifically we will begin on a plot that has formerly established garden beds but have been intended for at least 3-5 years. Tons of overgrowth and we have no clue what is there or what we might want to save. How do you prepare the land where there are tons of established weeds/trees/shrubs/ who knows what?
Excellent video! Thank you. We have clay and are thinking of tilling to get started the using the broad fork after that.
super educational and helpful.. thanks
Seaweed helps plant growth and disease resistance. They feed bacteria needed for plant health. And they promote the plant hormone Cytokinin. Learned this from Ag consultants who are trying to sell products but seaweed helps plants. Advancing Eco Agriculture. They have a YT channel and a website.
Trying to learn how to do what they do without buying their products.
I also recommend Korean Natural Farming.
Love this video and I just ordered my broad fork. Is that white cloth used for shade? My peppers got sun scald this year and need shade. I already use hoops. Where did you purchase the cloth? Thanks!
by mid july the clay in yard is 14 inch thick concret, requiring a 50 mega ton blast to penetrate
I am having a hard time dropping the cash for a broad fork I don’t see why they are so much. Going to ask a good buddy to make me one. Did you ever decide if the paint is coming off ?
My garden will be a 3rd year garden. The soil is clay, I till to mix in garden mature and leaves to help the soil with nutrients, also I crop rotate so I don't strip the soil.
At the end of your video you show your neighbors yard soil, compared to your soil. My soil is like your neighbors, very high clay.
How many years(seasons) did it take you to get your soil to the healthy level it is? During those years what was your method of breaking the soil? Like if you say it took 5yrs, did you still first 2 years and then broad fork for the last 3?
I love to try the broad fork but my garden is hard like concrete, even through for 2yrs I have mixed in nutrients.
Thanks for the video - really helped clear a lot of misconceptions of No-Till.
I just had one question, can I use a digging fork instead of a broadfork?
Definitely will just take a bit longer.
Also I note that you do not use wood chipping as paths. This keeps all the soil covered, retaining moisture.
Excellent content. Thank you!🙏
Great video !
I have been looking for ways to get rid of grass and till in nice fluffy beds naturally. I've been using a hoe and the broadfork and then cover crop... but I thought what about better results with less work or time? It occurred to me that bringing chickens in right after I broadfork an area and then inoculating behind them could possibly be a really good way to do it. Like an augmented chicken tractor. They would just help it ratchet up a few notches and you wouldn't have to till or get micro plastics in the soil with a silage tarp. There is probably a lot more biology going on than a silage tarp too ,but the downside is you'd have to have chickens and a chicken tractor. What are your thoughts on that? Is tilling, sub soiling, and cover cropping or hand clearing and double digging and cover cropping the best way to get a place ready?
Do you think the dryness of SD makes no dig more difficult? Generally wetter areas tend to break down organic matter more quickly.
I would not use a tiller or a broad fork, IMO the best tool and to use only once is a deep soil ripper. It will bring air and humidity to the lower layers and will allow nutrients to go deeper. Applying liquid manure after ripping will accelerate the process. If the soil is not going to be used for few months sowing lucerne which has deep roots will improve the organic matter on the soil lower layers and also is an excellent green manure.
I have seen it recommended to plant daikon radishes to break up deep soil because they can grow up to 2 feet.
Thank you.
Ok, so how much tilling are we talking about in these studies? Are we talking about tilling weekly? Or just a one time tilling? Thank you. These are great explanations/ illustrations of these different concepts. You have put them in proper context and helped me to understand where each one is applicable. It gets confusing and frustrating when components of each technique make it seem like that is the ONLY correct way to use the land. Thank you! Well wishes for you and your family. So, I just bought a new tiller to cultivate some land that has not need used in many years. But, theoretically then, I would only use it once. Not a good financial investment. Would it be better to return the tiller, literally still in the box, and incest in a broad fork. I am a home Gardner with a plot of land that has dense grass and weeds in this unused area. Thank you.
I own a Gulland Forge and a Bully broad fork so my hands-on conclusion is it all depends on the scale of your garden. In my greenhouse I use a simple fork, in the main garden I stopped using the broadfork because the soil is easily worked. I just use the fork again to double check for loose soil under the main roots of the transplants. For the corn field I used my 2 wheel walk behind tractor to plow and disc then cultivate. You would not want to broad fork an quarter acre plot, trust me. And broad forks are counter productive since 'aerating' the soil will burn through your organic matter. I would say its only use is to 'break' new ground. What is not mentioned is that after doing that, use JADAM JMS to introduce microbes. Cover with a woven landscape fabric and your done. Stop working so hard.
THIS WAS AN AMAZING VIDEO. lotta helpful stuff. tytytyty
Thank you I have clay loam soils and need to do a bit of de- compacting at the start of making new beds. What about grass pasture in an orchard would broad fork would help.
Love the dramatic intro
Last spring I devoted a plot to perennials (asparagus, blackberries and strawberries). northern Colorado, HEAVY clay soil. My husband tilled the plot with his kybota tiller the year before. I planted annual veggies that year after adding about 2" of compost. Ok results. The next year I turned the plot into dedicated perennials. I broadforked and put down about 2" of compost that had biochar in it. then i planted the asparagus roots, and berries. What can I expect for that soil... what can I do to continue to build that soil structure.(I also mulched those beds with hay last fall)
was thinking about slow solutions vs fast solutions to develop the soil and how the slow solutions are better in the long run
I would much rather use an ordinary fork than a broad fork,normal fork is much easier to push into the soil with one foot and much faster as you dont have to climb on the fork with both foots.Also save your self over a hundred bucks not having to buy a broad fork,less weight to carrry around,saving storage space, far easier normal fork for elderly people and younger office workers and ladies.SO stick with the normal narrow fork it has many advantages over broadfork.
Newbie here, first two years we did till. I’m currently building my beds for spring and don’t intend to till this year. I’m all over the board watching different ideas per say. Wood chips in paths only and currently building up planting area with composted horse manure and homemade chicken compost, I’ve yet to add lime adjustments. Should I cover my soil that I intend the plant in later approximately 3 months from now? In NW Florida
If the soil is bare then I would cover it with either straw mulch or a mulch that is easily raked away or a sileage tarp. It will keep everything moist and alive and prevent weeds. Best of luck with the garden, that's great you are switching to no till, it just gets better year after year.
I’ve covered with cardboard and have my seeds growing for tomatoes under a grow light, starting pepper seeds soon. Peas are coming up, install cattle panels today.
Do you agree with Dr. Ingham that fungal dominant compost and compost tea is best for annual veg? That you should not add molasses to compost tea, for example, but just fungal foods?
Yes I don't add molasses
Great info thanks
Love the video!
Hi Im catalina form argentina. I build kitchen garden in beds to different clients and last spring try the no dig method but we have heavy rains and some of my clients bed got really compacted although they have 30cm of compost. They are build in a hardwood box with no bottom. Started noticing when I rotated arugula and didn't grow well. What do would you recommend? Every change of season I put new compost. And one of that beds I already hand till with a shovel
I am 5'4" woman and not very strong. Our soil is very rocky (small and large) clay. Will the broadfork work for me and my soil?
So I live in southeastern VA, we have very hard sand and yellow clay. Which would you say is more beneficial for me to do? Using my ground soil wirh rolling the first year and broakfork in subsequent year's, or bypass the ground altogether and build raised beds to avoid the severely unhealthy soil?
Do you recommend broadforking before or after spreading soil ammendment? Or both before and after
Excellent stuff! Ultimately boils down to choosing whether or not you want to broad fork or not if you’re going for no till. I think depending on the soil structure and region you live in either will work better than the other. It’s up to you to figure out which.
So the when microorganisms feed on carbon is that the process that happens during compost? And would adding carbon to compost aid the process?
Hi, very informative video. Does broadfork use destroy soil capillarity (soil capillary system)?
I know you like to grow directly on the ground with soil amendments but what do you suggest for a raised bed application and were in SD can you get quality soil for the cheap? I know you can get aged compost from Miramar landfill but I know you don't want to use compost just for your soil. Any suggestion would be helpful.
I live at 7000 elevation at the end of a huge valley No rocks, only boulders the size of buffalo heads. The ratio of soil to rock might be 1:7 and it is ultra hard adobe clay. Any advice?
On seed packages, they say to plant 12 inches apart. Your plants look as if they are all bunched together. So What are your recommendations for planting different veggies?
The seed packs recommendations are not always the best for high production. I try to pack things as close as is possible to have a good harvest. Curtis Stone the urban farmer's book is a great reference for close planting.
Are you direct sewing seeds after broadforking or do you further mix the soil
Thank you very much.
excellent info
So I started the no till last year. I put about 2" of mulch across it all. My question out there is should I rake back all the mulch on the top layer then add my compost etc...
Yes rake back. You don't want thick wood chips in between soil and the compost you pile on top.