HI neighbor. Im from central southern IN. Its really good to find somone with weather close to mine. I will be adding 3 or 4 more vegetable beds & some beds for my blackberries & elderberry. We just moved to our new homestead last Nov. After my husband has of his foot amputated due to covid.
Very very good metod of making beds with organic matters , now I am too preparing soil for making beds to grow different kinds of vegetables for winter season OK thank you my sweet sister Jenna !
Since we have more or less a year round growing season here, I plant crimson clover as a winter cover crop. Then once it is in full bloom (typically late March), I cut it with my lawnmower and till it under the soil as a green manure. Also, I add my final addition of chicken manure from the henhouse to my compost pile around Thanksgiving, and periodically turn the pile over through the winter, so that it is ready to be added to my soil when I green manure the clover crop.
The chicken deal has worked great for us. East side to West side!!! Coop sets in the middle. This Year chickens are on clover in last years garden and garden is where the chickens were the year before, the garden next year will be where the chickens are now, rotating. We sow red clover in our corn after it gets up about a foot tall and when we harvest our corn a nice patch of clover awaits the chickens for next year. GREAT VIDEO and THANK YOU!!!
Well done...I am using four cover crops now (buckwheat, red clover, Sudan grass, and cow peas), and my Heugal pile is doing great after a year of stewing (the snakes love it). My chickens have totally cleared an old patio area I once had (the little heathens) - it's ready for a creative garden area soon. I am also creating garden micro beds using old tree stumps - I get about six of them and ring them and fill them in with good soil - a kind of au natural raised bed, only smaller. Really timely video - as always, keep up the good work.
We have been using old wood lumber from the demo of an old building on the property to fill the bottom half of our 30-inch tall raised beds. Instead of paying to have the old lumber hauled off to the dump, that material saves us the cost of filling those bottom 15-inches of our beds with good planting mix. And since it's all old, untreated lumber, it's just wood and should perform similarly to logs and branches. We get free wood chip mixed with horse and cow manure from the local landfill, and we compost that down for 6-18 months. By then, it has broken down enough to use it to fill the beds about another foot from the top of the lumber layer at 15-inches, to about 3 inches from the top of the beds. Then we fill the top 3 inches with bagged compost and well composted cow and horse manure and plant directly into that. This method has been working great in our garden for about 3 years now.
Hay Jenna I'm doing a small scale huliculter bed . As I had a few wooden sticks and branches from my suburban yard. I dug out 6 inch bed laid my debris adding some grass clipping and leaves which raised the bed 6 inches above ground and walked away in the fall and next spring planting 7 sunflowers on my small mound. So far no tilting. The second season I planted 3 interdependent tomatoes still no tilt and this season they have done great..Of 4 methods of gardening I judge them as the easiest way to raise a garden of tomatoes and they definitely are the easiest way to have tomatoes all summer. The 3 plants are still producing the 28th of September better than but one method of my gardening experience. The 4 and better method is almost as your number 1 favorite is in ground making drainage as in Columbus Ohio I also have clay base soil. Thanks and believe you are the better Gardener Lady. I believe 3 inches of mixture of mulch in fall and at planting time putting bell peppers in top off with 2 compose under brown paper is the best way to plant peppers as peppers love mulch more than other veggies. My 24 bell pepper plants given me over 200 stuff size bells. Thanks so much Thanks
LOL no encouragement needed for me to comment. 😆 But since you asked. I like to make my beds in the ground, slightly mounded exactly like what you do. I do pay attention to which direction the ground slopes and make my beds cut across the flow of water to keep that water in my garden. I've seen people all excited about permaculture always do that, and flood their gardens out. It really only makes sense to do that if you need more water in your system. Here its a toss up. It rains a lot, but the soil is well drained and my garden is on quite a slope, so my beds are on contour. I wonder if a cover crop of a nitrogen fixing plant on a fresh wood hugelkultur bed would be a good idea. Seems like it would be. Then just chop and drop for a season. 😀 Excellent video as always.
Considering the way the ground slopes and where water drains is so important- I’m glad you brought this up! And the bit about the cover crop- I actually did this with my first bed, planted it in cowpea cover crop the very first season. I have no idea if it helped, as I didn’t have a comparison, but it seems logical to me!
We're moving some things around this fall. I have rabbits, so we're moving them around first and then let the chickens do their work. We're going to try some hugelkulture in our taller raised beds, and around our blackberries. I don't particularly care for monocropping so I always stick plants wherever there's a blank space, like in between the blackberries. Very excited for next spring! It will be our 3rd year after planting some of the fruiting plants, and I can't wait to see them leap!
We're building a large 50'x60' Potager raised bed garden in SW Oklahoma. Good woven fabric is down and 1/2 of the beds are built. We're using landscape timbers lined with the same fabric. Getting even bulk soil and compost delivered is quite a hassle and expensive. Also planning to rake neighborhood leaves for compost and leaf mulch. Wish us luck. Thanks for all the great info.
Last spring I built two new beds using logs that had started to decompose and a garden mix of soil. Everything growing in the beds were giant! I was worried they may struggle due to lack of nitrogen but nope. I’m guessing it was because the wood had already started to decompose, I will find out as I’m building another bed the same way this fall. Great information Jenna!
Doing a dedicated bed for strawberries next year. Already killed off the grass with cardboard but not enough time this year for tiller radish. Will probably turn the soil with a fork and apply compost and leaf mold for the winter. Really wanted to let the radish break up some of my clay, but strawberries have pretty shallow roots and should be fine. My large tomato beds and another bed behind the garage are all hügelkultur beds. A lot of settling the 1st few years but it was worth the effort. All of my tomatoes send roots down deep into the woody layer for moisture in the heat of our dry summers. Enjoy your videos.
You are right about manure. We added about a foot of leaves to the garden every Fall, but after 25 years the soil was depleted of Nitrogen. We switched to raised beds and made new soil. We also got chickens at the same time and the chicken manure is hard to beat.
killing off dried out lawn with plastic tarp to provide more beds, at the top of a hill, it grows crab grass, sand wasps, and dust, that's about it. it will look better as a garden and i will get more food out of it, and i no longer have to cut that with the lawn mower. Winning!
Thanks Jenna that was a great summary for starting a new bed. Lately I've been doing a hybrid of hugelkultur and raised bed method. I make my own metal beds with corrugated roofing attached to a cedar frame. Before I replace my old bed I dig out all the soil and do the logs, horse manure/bedding and other organic material and then back fill with the soil. I also put in potato, garlic, and onion beds outside my fenced area since the critters don't seem to bother that stuff. With those beds I use logs I have laying around from trees that were taken down for making a border and simply lay down cardboard and fill with manure and different types of compost then mulch. I actually enjoy this time of the year more than then when I'm at peak harvest I think 😊. I find it enjoyable improving the garden for next year.
That sounds like an excellent technique, thanks for sharing!! I admit, I very much enjoy this time of year too. I feel like I can stop & take a breather!
Thank you for a great video. Glad to find someone in similar zone to my Indiana home. I had one small bed this year, and building 3 more for next year. I will do hugelkultur/raised bed combo. I am really hopeful for next year's growing season. Keep going, I'm following. Also enjoy all the comments.
i love your channel! im in the same part of the country and have a similar growing style to yours, i find your channel very informative and enjoy the focus on growing zones. hulglekulter raised beds is the best thing for a kitchen garden! over the last 5 years I've built 12 of them, in late fall I losen the soil and top dress with my compost from the year then all the leaves from the yard then I evenly add what chicken compost I have to the top of that. after all that I cover them with brown packing paper! it comes in a 3 ft wide roll that's 500ft long, you can get it online! it's perfect because all my beds are 3ft wide so you can reach across them! & they brake down by the next fall clean up!
Great video! My parents redid their entire 2000 sq ft garden in mini-hugelkultur beds (wooden raised beds) and they absolutely love it. They topped off the woody base with about 6-9” of compost and peat mixture.
This was timely. I intend to revamp many of my garden beds next week and this gives me some good ideas. I do intend to construct some raised beds in the fall. I know that means they take one winter's wear before they can be used, but this past spring I intended to build them and was too busy with other garden chores.
Great video Jenna...really enjoyed it. I added 2 new beds ( 3' x 17' each) last fall and me being lazy I just framed them in with 2 x 6 used cedar planks, laid down a couple layers of cardboard on the grass, piled on my excess leaves (walnut leaves and stems as that is all I had left) and topped with about 3 - 4" of my compost. This spring I threw down potatoes (Yukon gold) covered in about 10" of grass clippings, leaves, weeds, etc and left it alone. Potatoes grew like mad and ended up with a nice harvest for this winter and the soil in the bed is perfect. My base soil is "brickmakers" clay here so not easy to work with so I tend to raise my beds a few inches. Thank you for doing the video young lady and have a great day! Mike 🇨🇦 🍁 👍
I have friends who swear by alfalfa pellets, though I've never tried them. I use alfalfa hay in the garden and think that really helps my soil as it rots down.
Hi Jenna, @Growfully with Jenna I just finished ripping the grass and shaking the soil out of the roots. I took the grass and piled it into compost and will mix it and cover it with a tarp. As I mentioned in another video. Im preparing for fall vegetables like cabbage and green and such. FLORIDA. 😂. After harvest I plan to do winter prep. Not until end December early January. Way different and longer season here. I like the egg loo hower I have designed my garden in conjunction with chicken coop and plan to use Chicken Chunnels. Im making them to cover a row and walkway. Will have a permanent tunnel that runs down the north side of garden fence east to west. Each garden row and walk will have a door that I can channel them into row or walk I desire to be worked and pooped on👍 The Chunnel inside garden will run the length of the rows North to South and will be portable to cover desired row or segments. After harvest I will remove the portable Chunnel and open all the doors for the chickens to do their thing 💩 in the entire 30x30 fenced garden. I also have plans to incorporate my chickens into smaller raise gardens with Chunnel or tunnels as well. Still a work in progress but coming along nicely. Guess I should have made a RUclips video on it. May do that when I get to making the Tunnel system I designed. Great video and I either have or currently am using the methods you mentioned. Thank you for video. Now I'm off to Hurricane prep as we have one closing in on where I live. I have all essentials just need to make sure things are stored away and lawn furniture and the like are put away. Take care, Boon
Well we are no spring chickens😆but we managed to installed a hoop with cattle panels today as I need to move the grapes I planted this spring. I put them along a path and soon realized I couldn’t put a full hoop as we drive along path sometimes and the poplars and oaks seed everywhere. The food forest thing doesn’t work for me-too much competition. Today I made the decision to relocate them and tomorrow I will move the grapes. We just finished re-fencing the mini orchard to include the berries and got the cable strung for dwarf apples I’m trying in a columnar row fashion. This is all on the opposite side of house where main garden is and I’m getting ideas of including some raised beds on this new side. We have sandy loam and the soil looks darker in new area, but sadly no worms. We had Mr. skunk roam through tonight so I still have grubs.😂. I did hugelkultur in ground this year along both sides of cattle panels and the peppers and tomatoes seemed to like it. I will probably do raised beds with wood and compost on bottom to help hold moisture as it’s an issue here at Dusty Flats. I do find veggies seem to prefer the beds and I feel it contains the nutrients better with all the watering. I have trouble envisioning growing things like squash, pumpkins or corn in raised beds, but think it’s time to try. The popcorn I think will get the grow bag in kiddie pool treatment again as it was better than in ground. So yes hugel in raised or in ground is my preferred method. I throw everything at the beds and trenches🤣. We need semi loads! Like you, anything I can get my hands on. Husband just mentioned we might get chickens again-I’m jumping for joy and then sorta not. Hope we can stay bird flu free. This land has been terribly disrupted by previous owners for decades and there is absolutely no topsoil. Many years ago it was probably riverbed. So it’s probably best to stay above it all. Yes, I have lots of things running in my mind and where should things go as we have several acres but it’s narrow with woods at both ends so watering, fencing and underground wires and gas are always playing a part. So today I just jumped in and said we are doing this! Now to find the best spot for pole shed-we need one Big Time! Love the portable chix coop. We made one before, but love this lighter weight version I had seen it in your previous vid. I’ll check it out, thanks!
Wow! For not being spring chickens, you sure have a lot going on- that is awesome! Is avian flu prevelent in your area? Knock-on-wood we've not had any outbreaks here... I certainly hope it stays that way.
@@GrowfullywithJenna yes it is. It was this year and I just heard about a turkey farm, not sure where. We have a lot of geese that fly from the field to the water daily. I believe it’s the larger birds carrying it as they warned hunters this fall to be careful.
I have always done raised beds with the hugel method. But this year I made a large bean tepee in the ground. I have red Georgia clay and I added some bagged soil and mixed it with the clay. It has done really well. I have more pole beans than we can eat. I think i will experiment more with in-ground growing. Especially, since wood is so expensive.
Yes, beds are expensive right now. Corrugated metal is an option. However, last year I grew great squash by digging a small hole and put couple bags of compost in each hill. I am getting to the point that I prefer for ease of care and harvest to get as many beds done when time and money allows. I found this year I like bush beans better and after the sweat in my eyes from picking, I thought, why aren’t these in a raised bed so I don’t have to stand on my head?
Personally, I like having a mix of both raised beds & in-ground... but if I was forced to choose one it would be in-ground because I hate having to water and must do so with my raised beds much more frequently!
I made two raised beds this spring kind of like the huegleculture idea. Lots of small branches that fell over winter. All the leftover leaves from fall, grass clipping, compost, than garden soil. I know I will need to top it off next spring but I love the idea and I am making another larger raised bed in the next week. This process sure saves the expense of filling the whole bed with garden soil.
I built a 3 tiered raised bed this year and used the method of limbs in the bottom and then a layer of soil, then compost. It worked so good. It's my kitchen garden. I am changing my garden area to raised beds for next year. Thank you for this video.
I create the mini hugel beds in the fall with my raised beds they work great. Every fall I add to them as a refresh and cover with cardboard for winter. This keeps my soil from being drained of nutrients by weather. Every other year we add a load of fresh compost/mushroom mix to fill and refresh. All new beds get this too.
Always look forward to a new video from you! Here is what I did in the Fall to prepare a new garden spot. I bought a home 3 years ago in an oak/pines woods. Soil was very poor sandy. I dug out a plot with spade and fork, got some clay topsoil and straw from a local farmer. Mixed that topsoil and straw with ALL the leaves and branches scattered about from the oaks. Mixed the sod I dug out and cold composted that with more straw, leaves, and branches. There's a lot said about oak leaves not being good due to the tannins, but I don't buy that. I think their only issue is that they break down very slowly. The first year the soil was still too " "clayey", so I mostly grew potatoes on top of the soil under straw and dug in some composted manure in holes where I planted the other crops. That system worked great for me. It was cheap and effective but very labor intensive, but I had a great garden in a previous worthless patch the first year.
Thank you for sharing this! I'd agree with you on the leaves- I use walnut, oak and hickory leaves and have never had an issue with any of them negatively affecting my garden.
Oh, I've done 3 of these methods. My first raised beds were a hugelkultur method. This year I've got a terrible hill that I hate to mow so I've solarized/smothered as much as I can. The plan is that in the spring I'll come back to it, frame it and plant berry bushes throughout it along with digging in some steps to navigate it. There's also the chicken prep method here, where my old chicken run is now a bed that has a cover crop growing in it to prep it for spring. It's 4x15 with 2 feet of pathway all around it. I'm looking forward to using that bed next year but can't decide yet what to grow in it. The chicken prep bed was entirely inspired by a previous video of yours. It has turned out quite well so far and I look forward to seeing how well things grow in it next spring.
Tripling my garden space for next year. I am usually a no dig person but I have very compacted soil here. I have tilled, then tilled in aged horse manure, added cardboard and compost on top of that. I will finish with grass clipping and leaves to keep the soil in place. I will probably wait to make rows until spring so everything has a chance to break down well.
Sounds exciting! You may want to think on making rows this fall so they will drain faster and be workable a few weeks sooner in the spring. No harm in leaving them as is, I learned this lesson a couple years ago. ;)
I'll be revamping my raised beds this fall. At the present time, my chickens are busy at work out there. I've fenced off the beds that I don't want them to bother yet and let them go crazy with the rest. Once they've finished, I'll probably cover the beds with mulch and let them rest until spring.
Love this video, thank you. I have raised beds ranging from 3"-21". The deeper beds were made hugelcuture style and still work beautifully after 3 years. Every fall as I put beds to rest I add a thick layer of chicken coop clean out and rabbit pellets. In the spring I cover for 3-4 weeks with clear plastic to help the beds dry out and warm up prior to planting.
Lots of great ideas! I’m just thinking about an expansion for my little garden - I noticed some of our trees have really grown and are casting too much shade. Need to find some sunnier ground!
Yes, same problem. I trimmed oaks last winter and we just took out a water hog cedar on the west. Neighbor’s pines and oak on east side blocks sun til about mid morning. Luckily the sun gets higher during summer. Lol, this happened at my folks when mom planted a bunch of maples. Poor dad’s garden was getting smaller. It was all good though, he was about done gardening and the shade felt really good😊
It such a mixed blessing- it’s wonderful having big, beautiful trees for shade in the summer, but it does make garden planning challenging. I’d like to grow more food crops in the flower beds around my house, but those are all partial to full shade so I’m on the search for which edible plants will tolerate it best! Good luck!
I used plastic sheeting to kill off grass in a couple of areas this summer and after breaking up my clay soil I raked the areas and sowed them with winter rye about a week and a half ago. The compost that I have ready is going to be used to top off a new raised bed that settled A LOT so I didn't have any compost to add to the new beds before sowing the rye. The rye is already about 5 or 6 inches tall and I'm planning on adding a thick layer of chopped leaves to the beds to hopefully add some organics by spring when I terminate the rye. Thanks again for sharing the knowledge!
I am expanding my garden and plan to create in ground beds this fall. I made two hugelculture beds last spring and used well-rotted logs and the plant growth in these beds was very good as I topped them with native soil and compost. I am fortunate not to have to deal with heavy clay but we do have a lot of rocks as well as a significant a amount of weeds. I used a silage tarp to smother the weeds over the summer and just removed it last week so over the next few weeks I'll be at work preparing the beds for spring planting. Your videos are excellent, appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge!
I started my first garden in ground this year. I too have clay soil. I plan on using the hugelculture method in raised beds next season. I have a pile of old wood and twigs, not to mention a big ol pile of grass clippings. That's my plan for the fall.
I threw down some piles of fallen leaves on top of my beds. Though it too me until december. Also buried kitchen scraps. Need to lay down a tarp I think.
@@GrowfullywithJenna Biggest problem is the trees on the home I rent have invasive roots. I have to till constantly to keep them at bay, and it makes it hard to improve my clayish soil. Might switch to containers full time, but those have issues of their own.
OH man, you are right. I should be expanding my garden. Watching you dig I realize that your Ohio soil is even worse than the soil I had in Ohio. NO clay here in NY, but lots and lots of rocks. But it's insane how awesome everything grows here. I have butternut squash as big as a big watermelon... almost. lol I'm going to be sharing that link to that mobile coop. ;-)
Yes- and it doesn’t help any that it’s been so dry here- makes that clay soil a pain to dig! I’m glad that even for all your rocks things still grow well for you- I’d love to see that butternut!
no need to spend so much kompost or substrate for garden beds: i just fill up holes made below the irrigation valves with pindstrup urban garden substrate that has golden forest = wood fibers, results in carrots that almost have forearm thickness f.e., radish even more. i have heavy clay soil ,too. 1 sack of substrate lasts for 40 - 50 holes +or-.
Your channel has been so helpful for me! I'm in northeast Ohio, but grew up in Virginia, so your tips on timing different plantings have really helped me adapt to the zone differences. And seeing your beautiful, productive space is really inspiring! I do have one question, if you get the chance to answer: have you done a video on your pest control techniques? I've heard you mention BT spray and insect netting (and I would love to know where you got yours!), but am curious if you have covered it more in depth already. Thanks!
I’m so glad to hear this! Regarding the pests- I have one video specifically on cabbageworms ruclips.net/video/RVS-YVNVfcc/видео.html and plan to do more on specific pests soon, but nothing about general pest prevention yet. Are there any pests specifically that you would like to see covered? It get my BT spray here:www.gardensalive.com/product/green-step-ii-caterpillar-control
@@GrowfullywithJenna Well, this year I've fought with cabbage worms, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, carrot root flies, and voles! I got some insect cloth from Johnny's Selected Seeds, which helped a lot with the cabbage worms on my broccoli. I didn't realize until I opened it up that it is supposed to come off the plants when the temperature underneath of it gets above 90, which makes it a bit less effective, and higher maintenance than is practical some days. If you know of any alternatives that don't have as much of a problem with heat buildup, I'd love to know about them. Thank you so much!
We are creating a new garden bed this fall. It's on a slope and have clay soil so it's a bit more tricky but so far we've had the area covered with cardboard with wood chips on top, we've been getting lots of rain and it's been sitting like this for about 3 weeks, grass/weeds should be dead by now. Plan on created terraced ground beds (very low raised beds) so we can get some level growing area. Not sure if this is the best course of action but we shall see how it does❤️
I attempted a garden this year and it didn’t go very well. Rather than forcing a fall garden, I’ve decided to start prepping for next year. I’m trying to find a way to move the chickens around and then building raised beds on the “cleaned” space.
That sounds like a great idea, Angie! Honestly, I scaled back my fall garden this year too- focusing more on prep for spring. I typically love a big fall garden, but this year it still continues to be so dry that it's a struggle to get fall crops established.
I built two huegel culture beds last year and planted in them this year. Unfortunately ground hornets made a nest in one and Voles made the other one their hideout.
Where did the season go indeed? This year has flown! I don't necessarily do any areas as specific habitats, but do plant the flowers and shrubs they love all over the property and throughout the gardens.
Lovely video Jenna. Question about the chicken manure: can it be relatively fresh if you're spreading it on the beds in the Fall? Will it be broken down enough in time for the new season?
OK- full disclaimer, because I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting sick from chicken manure pathogens... it is NOT advised to use fresh chicken manure in areas where edible food is grown until it is composted & cured. But, personally, I've had no issue using fresh, uncomposted manure in the fall and planting the following spring.
I prefer sheet mulching to turning compost and I'm happy to see you put stall bedding onto your beds fresh because that saves a ton of work. Do you spread bedding around perennials as well?
I am interested in where you source manure and mulch. Do you collect your own or do you buy it in? We collect our own off a modest acreage and there is never enough. We ran the mulcher over around 10 acres and collected it and still didn't have enough. We collect cow manure by the trailer and again always seem to need more. Also interested in what you do with the rye you sow. Do you pull it out by the roots (weed it) or mow/slash it? If you don't weed it how do you stop regrowth? Do you then leave the rye in the bed to turn into compost? Perhaps you have a video on this process you could link for me? We have plenty of rye grass come up, we just didn't sow it.
I wish I could source it all myself and continue to work towards that goal. But for now, we rely on friends that have horses and cows wanted to get rid of excess manure. I purchase my alfalfa hay mulch currently, but collect all the grass we cut on our property, as well as collecting and chopping all our leaves in the fall. Regarding the rye, this video may help:ruclips.net/video/K662PZ5l4rg/видео.html
My yard sits on a 200 ft high ridge, so although i have heavy clay soil, i have incredible drainage. Actually too much drainage. I am thinking of pulling the soil out of at least one raised bed so i can line the bottom with plastic. when i harvested my potatoes, the soil 10" deep was dusty dry. also taking down a standing dead tree so i have lotsa well dried sticks to cover the plastic as well as lotsa leaves. what's your recommendation thanks
I would definitely focus on the addition of organic matter (especially good quality compost, composted manure). You might also consider building a hugelkultur style base to your beds.
I got confused on the last method. You said put a layer of grass clippings or twigs and things like that and then compost on top. Then you said top it off of soil, what exactly do you mean by soil? Because if that meant ground soil then I’d be putting clay on top. Wouldn’t compost be the last thing to put?
Sorry for the confusion, Jillian. Some folks opt for adding their native soil on top, other use bagged soil or top soil they've brought in. Regarding the compost- I've added it both prior to the soil and after, and it works well either way.
Madam I have watched your video about growing potato's under mulching , I want to know how to water them and after how many days should give water to them ? Sprinkling with jet ?
It very much depends on how dry your weather is. Aim for an inch of water per week if possible. I don't often water my potatoes because we tend to get enough rain in the spring, but when I do I just water with a sprinkler.
Do you have nutsedge in your area? If you do what do you do during the winter in your beds to get rid of it. Can be devastating in a loam soil because of the tuber growth. Thanks
I do- I have a lot of yellow nutsedge here. I use a 3 prong approach with sedge. I try to stay on top of pulling it out by hand when it's young or if it's a really thick patch, I smother it with something like a thick tarp or sheet of old plywood. Long term, I work on improving the drainage of the area, as the sedge thrives in the dampest areas of my garden.
I haven't yet- though I suppose if you made them steep enough you might have too. Also- weeds could certainly be an issue- but because I heavily mulch and cover crop everything it's not been an issue yet.
I seen something in your garden I need. We call them poison plants. They keep the moles from traveling thru the garden. Do you know the real name for those. I havent had any in a long time. I think they are also just a beautiful plant. I'll go back and look for them and tell you the minute mark when I seen them. Thank you so much.
I've found that you can really construct the hügelkultur anytime, but if you're starting with new, fresh wood, it's best to add a source of higher nitrogen before you cover your mound back over with soil, to help offset any nitrogen tie-up. I like composted animal manure.
I’ll be a newbie next spring raising chickens and was excited to see the Omlet coop for all its conveniences. Do you have the 8 foot coop so I can gage what I’ll need for just a few chickens? Thanks Jenna
Most of my covers are being planted in September, with the exception of rye which can be planted up until a month prior to the ground freezing. I like to use this tool www.midwestcovercrops.org/covercroptool/ to get an idea of planting times specifically for the crop I want to grow in my area.
Hi Jenna, I was given two 50 pound bags of rice bran. I heard they are nitrogen rich. However, the two bags have weevils in them. Is it alright to ammend my soil with the rice weevil infested rice bran? If you suggest getting rid of the weevils, what do you suggest I do? If it helps, I do not intend to grow rice or wheat in my garden anytime soon. Thanks.
Weevils aren't a pest I deal with, but my gut instinct would be to put the bags of rice bran in black trash bags and leave them in the sun for a while to cook (I'd opt for at least a week). I'm thinking that may kill off the weevils.
@@GrowfullywithJenna Thank you for your response and useful suggestion. They're currently in two layers of white trash bags. I'll replace them with black ones soon. It sure makes sense to use black :-) I sincerely appreciate your time and help.
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Jenna is the best 😀
😊❤️
HI neighbor. Im from central southern IN. Its really good to find somone with weather close to mine. I will be adding 3 or 4 more vegetable beds & some beds for my blackberries & elderberry. We just moved to our new homestead last Nov. After my husband has of his foot amputated due to covid.
Hello neighbor to the West! Glad to hear you're adding more beds. But I'm so sorry to hear about your husband.
Very very good metod of making beds with organic matters , now I am too preparing soil for making beds to grow different kinds of vegetables for winter season OK thank you my sweet sister Jenna !
Wonderful! Glad to hear you are preparing beds too!
@@GrowfullywithJenna OK thank very much
My preferred method is #4. I'm getting to the age where I dont want to get on my knees for weeding or planting. The higher the bed, the better.
Makes sense! Whatever allows us to enjoy the garden is the best method!
My go to new fall bed procedure is to cut and flip the sod, cover with 4 or so inches of my chicken compost and then mulch till spring.
Sounds like a great method!
Since we have more or less a year round growing season here, I plant crimson clover as a winter cover crop. Then once it is in full bloom (typically late March), I cut it with my lawnmower and till it under the soil as a green manure. Also, I add my final addition of chicken manure from the henhouse to my compost pile around Thanksgiving, and periodically turn the pile over through the winter, so that it is ready to be added to my soil when I green manure the clover crop.
Great method! Thanks for sharing!
The chicken deal has worked great for us. East side to West side!!! Coop sets in the middle. This Year chickens are on clover in last years garden and garden is where the chickens were the year before, the garden next year will be where the chickens are now, rotating. We sow red clover in our corn after it gets up about a foot tall and when we harvest our corn a nice patch of clover awaits the chickens for next year. GREAT VIDEO and THANK YOU!!!
Love the idea of putting that clover in- I’ll have to do this. Thanks for the tip!
Well done...I am using four cover crops now (buckwheat, red clover, Sudan grass, and cow peas), and my Heugal pile is doing great after a year of stewing (the snakes love it). My chickens have totally cleared an old patio area I once had (the little heathens) - it's ready for a creative garden area soon. I am also creating garden micro beds using old tree stumps - I get about six of them and ring them and fill them in with good soil - a kind of au natural raised bed, only smaller. Really timely video - as always, keep up the good work.
Haha- they are little heathens, aren’t they!? Sounds like you have a lot of wonderful garden areas going on!
We have been using old wood lumber from the demo of an old building on the property to fill the bottom half of our 30-inch tall raised beds. Instead of paying to have the old lumber hauled off to the dump, that material saves us the cost of filling those bottom 15-inches of our beds with good planting mix. And since it's all old, untreated lumber, it's just wood and should perform similarly to logs and branches. We get free wood chip mixed with horse and cow manure from the local landfill, and we compost that down for 6-18 months. By then, it has broken down enough to use it to fill the beds about another foot from the top of the lumber layer at 15-inches, to about 3 inches from the top of the beds. Then we fill the top 3 inches with bagged compost and well composted cow and horse manure and plant directly into that. This method has been working great in our garden for about 3 years now.
Smart!!
Hay Jenna
I'm doing a small scale huliculter bed .
As I had a few wooden sticks and branches from my suburban yard. I dug out 6 inch bed laid my debris adding some grass clipping and leaves which raised the bed 6 inches above ground and walked away in the fall and next spring planting 7 sunflowers on my small mound. So far no tilting. The second season I planted 3 interdependent tomatoes still no tilt and this season they have done great..Of 4 methods of gardening I judge them as the easiest way to raise a garden of tomatoes and they definitely are the easiest way to have tomatoes all summer. The 3 plants are still producing the 28th of September better than but one method of my gardening experience.
The 4 and better method is almost as your number 1 favorite is in ground making drainage as in Columbus Ohio I also have clay base soil.
Thanks and believe you are the better Gardener Lady.
I believe 3 inches of mixture of mulch in fall and at planting time putting bell peppers in top off with 2 compose under brown paper is the best way to plant peppers as peppers love mulch more than other veggies. My 24 bell pepper plants given me over 200 stuff size bells.
Thanks so much
Thanks
Glad to hear this, John. And WOW-- 200 peppers-- awesome!
LOL no encouragement needed for me to comment. 😆 But since you asked. I like to make my beds in the ground, slightly mounded exactly like what you do. I do pay attention to which direction the ground slopes and make my beds cut across the flow of water to keep that water in my garden. I've seen people all excited about permaculture always do that, and flood their gardens out. It really only makes sense to do that if you need more water in your system. Here its a toss up. It rains a lot, but the soil is well drained and my garden is on quite a slope, so my beds are on contour.
I wonder if a cover crop of a nitrogen fixing plant on a fresh wood hugelkultur bed would be a good idea. Seems like it would be. Then just chop and drop for a season. 😀
Excellent video as always.
Considering the way the ground slopes and where water drains is so important- I’m glad you brought this up! And the bit about the cover crop- I actually did this with my first bed, planted it in cowpea cover crop the very first season. I have no idea if it helped, as I didn’t have a comparison, but it seems logical to me!
We're moving some things around this fall. I have rabbits, so we're moving them around first and then let the chickens do their work. We're going to try some hugelkulture in our taller raised beds, and around our blackberries. I don't particularly care for monocropping so I always stick plants wherever there's a blank space, like in between the blackberries. Very excited for next spring! It will be our 3rd year after planting some of the fruiting plants, and I can't wait to see them leap!
Ooh- that is very exciting!
We're building a large 50'x60' Potager raised bed garden in SW Oklahoma. Good woven fabric is down and 1/2 of the beds are built. We're using landscape timbers lined with the same fabric. Getting even bulk soil and compost delivered is quite a hassle and expensive. Also planning to rake neighborhood leaves for compost and leaf mulch. Wish us luck. Thanks for all the great info.
Best of luck, John- sounds like a wonderful venture!
Last spring I built two new beds using logs that had started to decompose and a garden mix of soil. Everything growing in the beds were giant! I was worried they may struggle due to lack of nitrogen but nope. I’m guessing it was because the wood had already started to decompose, I will find out as I’m building another bed the same way this fall. Great information Jenna!
I’m so glad to hear this, Tina!
Your name caught my eye as it was my grandma’s name as well☺️. Yes, hugel really gets the plants going!
I can't believe we are back here again....it went so..so...fast....it's great to again to see your enthusiasm....👍
I know it!!
Doing a dedicated bed for strawberries next year. Already killed off the grass with cardboard but not enough time this year for tiller radish. Will probably turn the soil with a fork and apply compost and leaf mold for the winter.
Really wanted to let the radish break up some of my clay, but strawberries have pretty shallow roots and should be fine.
My large tomato beds and another bed behind the garage are all hügelkultur beds. A lot of settling the 1st few years but it was worth the effort. All of my tomatoes send roots down deep into the woody layer for moisture in the heat of our dry summers.
Enjoy your videos.
Thanks for sharing, Brian-- and this reminds me, I need to get working on my new strawberry are too!
You are right about manure. We added about a foot of leaves to the garden every Fall, but after 25 years the soil was depleted of Nitrogen. We switched to raised beds and made new soil. We also got chickens at the same time and the chicken manure is hard to beat.
Rabbit manure is amazing also and can be used instantly. :)
It is really a gift to the garden!
killing off dried out lawn with plastic tarp to provide more beds, at the top of a hill, it grows crab grass, sand wasps, and dust, that's about it. it will look better as a garden and i will get more food out of it, and i no longer have to cut that with the lawn mower. Winning!
Definitely winning!! Great idea!
Thanks Jenna that was a great summary for starting a new bed. Lately I've been doing a hybrid of hugelkultur and raised bed method. I make my own metal beds with corrugated roofing attached to a cedar frame. Before I replace my old bed I dig out all the soil and do the logs, horse manure/bedding and other organic material and then back fill with the soil. I also put in potato, garlic, and onion beds outside my fenced area since the critters don't seem to bother that stuff. With those beds I use logs I have laying around from trees that were taken down for making a border and simply lay down cardboard and fill with manure and different types of compost then mulch. I actually enjoy this time of the year more than then when I'm at peak harvest I think 😊. I find it enjoyable improving the garden for next year.
That sounds like an excellent technique, thanks for sharing!!
I admit, I very much enjoy this time of year too. I feel like I can stop & take a breather!
I have two eglu coops. I love them!!!
Glad to hear it! It’s certainly a handy coop to have around!
Thank you for a great video. Glad to find someone in similar zone to my Indiana home. I had one small bed this year, and building 3 more for next year. I will do hugelkultur/raised bed combo. I am really hopeful for next year's growing season. Keep going, I'm following. Also enjoy all the comments.
Hooray! I'm so glad to hear you're adding more beds- that's always exciting!
i love your channel! im in the same part of the country and have a similar growing style to yours, i find your channel very informative and enjoy the focus on growing zones.
hulglekulter raised beds is the best thing for a kitchen garden! over the last 5 years I've built 12 of them, in late fall I losen the soil and top dress with my compost from the year then all the leaves from the yard then I evenly add what chicken compost I have to the top of that. after all that I cover them with brown packing paper! it comes in a 3 ft wide roll that's 500ft long, you can get it online! it's perfect because all my beds are 3ft wide so you can reach across them! & they brake down by the next fall clean up!
Thank you, Matt! And I appreciate you sharing what has worked well for you- great tip on the paper!
Great video. Good information presented in an easy to consume manner. Nice work
Thank you!
Very informative video. I'm in AZ, and trying my best. I'm jealous of how green your land is.
I’m always impressed by folks growing in such challenging environments!
and it was 28 degrees this am...then soon back to 100 degrees.
Great video! My parents redid their entire 2000 sq ft garden in mini-hugelkultur beds (wooden raised beds) and they absolutely love it. They topped off the woody base with about 6-9” of compost and peat mixture.
Thanks, Ben! Glad to hear your parents are also fans of the hugel method!
This was timely. I intend to revamp many of my garden beds next week and this gives me some good ideas. I do intend to construct some raised beds in the fall. I know that means they take one winter's wear before they can be used, but this past spring I intended to build them and was too busy with other garden chores.
But it's so nice having them all ready to go first thing in the spring!
Great video Jenna...really enjoyed it. I added 2 new beds ( 3' x 17' each) last fall and me being lazy I just framed them in with 2 x 6 used cedar planks, laid down a couple layers of cardboard on the grass, piled on my excess leaves (walnut leaves and stems as that is all I had left) and topped with about 3 - 4" of my compost. This spring I threw down potatoes (Yukon gold) covered in about 10" of grass clippings, leaves, weeds, etc and left it alone. Potatoes grew like mad and ended up with a nice harvest for this winter and the soil in the bed is perfect. My base soil is "brickmakers" clay here so not easy to work with so I tend to raise my beds a few inches.
Thank you for doing the video young lady and have a great day!
Mike 🇨🇦 🍁 👍
This is excellent- love hearing your process & results!
I’m adding alfalfa pellets this fall to the garden , never tried this before I expect the mice will love it. Lol
I have friends who swear by alfalfa pellets, though I've never tried them. I use alfalfa hay in the garden and think that really helps my soil as it rots down.
Hi Jenna, @Growfully with Jenna
I just finished ripping the grass and shaking the soil out of the roots. I took the grass and piled it into compost and will mix it and cover it with a tarp. As I mentioned in another video. Im preparing for fall vegetables like cabbage and green and such. FLORIDA. 😂. After harvest I plan to do winter prep. Not until end December early January. Way different and longer season here.
I like the egg loo hower I have designed my garden in conjunction with chicken coop and plan to use Chicken Chunnels. Im making them to cover a row and walkway. Will have a permanent tunnel that runs down the north side of garden fence east to west. Each garden row and walk will have a door that I can channel them into row or walk I desire to be worked and pooped on👍 The Chunnel inside garden will run the length of the rows North to South and will be portable to cover desired row or segments. After harvest I will remove the portable Chunnel and open all the doors for the chickens to do their thing 💩 in the entire 30x30 fenced garden.
I also have plans to incorporate my chickens into smaller raise gardens with Chunnel or tunnels as well.
Still a work in progress but coming along nicely. Guess I should have made a RUclips video on it. May do that when I get to making the Tunnel system I designed.
Great video and I either have or currently am using the methods you mentioned.
Thank you for video. Now I'm off to Hurricane prep as we have one closing in on where I live. I have all essentials just need to make sure things are stored away and lawn furniture and the like are put away.
Take care,
Boon
I'd love to see a video on that chicken set up- that sounds very interesting!
Well we are no spring chickens😆but we managed to installed a hoop with cattle panels today as I need to move the grapes I planted this spring. I put them along a path and soon realized I couldn’t put a full hoop as we drive along path sometimes and the poplars and oaks seed everywhere. The food forest thing doesn’t work for me-too much competition. Today I made the decision to relocate them and tomorrow I will move the grapes.
We just finished re-fencing the mini orchard to include the berries and got the cable strung for dwarf apples I’m trying in a columnar row fashion. This is all on the opposite side of house where main garden is and I’m getting ideas of including some raised beds on this new side. We have sandy loam and the soil looks darker in new area, but sadly no worms. We had Mr. skunk roam through tonight so I still have grubs.😂. I did hugelkultur in ground this year along both sides of cattle panels and the peppers and tomatoes seemed to like it. I will probably do raised beds with wood and compost on bottom to help hold moisture as it’s an issue here at Dusty Flats. I do find veggies seem to prefer the beds and I feel it contains the nutrients better with all the watering. I have trouble envisioning growing things like squash, pumpkins or corn in raised beds, but think it’s time to try. The popcorn I think will get the grow bag in kiddie pool treatment again as it was better than in ground.
So yes hugel in raised or in ground is my preferred method. I throw everything at the beds and trenches🤣. We need semi loads! Like you, anything I can get my hands on. Husband just mentioned we might get chickens again-I’m jumping for joy and then sorta not. Hope we can stay bird flu free. This land has been terribly disrupted by previous owners for decades and there is absolutely no topsoil. Many years ago it was probably riverbed. So it’s probably best to stay above it all.
Yes, I have lots of things running in my mind and where should things go as we have several acres but it’s narrow with woods at both ends so watering, fencing and underground wires and gas are always playing a part. So today I just jumped in and said we are doing this! Now to find the best spot for pole shed-we need one Big Time!
Love the portable chix coop. We made one before, but love this lighter weight version I had seen it in your previous vid. I’ll check it out, thanks!
Wow! For not being spring chickens, you sure have a lot going on- that is awesome!
Is avian flu prevelent in your area? Knock-on-wood we've not had any outbreaks here... I certainly hope it stays that way.
@@GrowfullywithJenna yes it is. It was this year and I just heard about a turkey farm, not sure where. We have a lot of geese that fly from the field to the water daily. I believe it’s the larger birds carrying it as they warned hunters this fall to be careful.
I have always done raised beds with the hugel method. But this year I made a large bean tepee in the ground. I have red Georgia clay and I added some bagged soil and mixed it with the clay. It has done really well. I have more pole beans than we can eat. I think i will experiment more with in-ground growing. Especially, since wood is so expensive.
Yes, beds are expensive right now. Corrugated metal is an option. However, last year I grew great squash by digging a small hole and put couple bags of compost in each hill. I am getting to the point that I prefer for ease of care and harvest to get as many beds done when time and money allows. I found this year I like bush beans better and after the sweat in my eyes from picking, I thought, why aren’t these in a raised bed so I don’t have to stand on my head?
Personally, I like having a mix of both raised beds & in-ground... but if I was forced to choose one it would be in-ground because I hate having to water and must do so with my raised beds much more frequently!
@@GrowfullywithJenna that is so true that raised beds dry out quickly.
I made two raised beds this spring kind of like the huegleculture idea. Lots of small branches that fell over winter. All the leftover leaves from fall, grass clipping, compost, than garden soil. I know I will need to top it off next spring but I love the idea and I am making another larger raised bed in the next week. This process sure saves the expense of filling the whole bed with garden soil.
It does save a lot and ends up giving you better quality soil than many storebought mixes!
Now after 5 months any updates on your beds?
I built a 3 tiered raised bed this year and used the method of limbs in the bottom and then a layer of soil, then compost. It worked so good. It's my kitchen garden. I am changing my garden area to raised beds for next year. Thank you for this video.
I'm so glad to hear it worked well for you, Teresa!
I create the mini hugel beds in the fall with my raised beds they work great. Every fall I add to them as a refresh and cover with cardboard for winter. This keeps my soil from being drained of nutrients by weather. Every other year we add a load of fresh compost/mushroom mix to fill and refresh.
All new beds get this too.
Sounds like a great method, Lori! Thanks for sharing!
Always look forward to a new video from you!
Here is what I did in the Fall to prepare a new garden spot. I bought a home 3 years ago in an oak/pines woods. Soil was very poor sandy. I dug out a plot with spade and fork, got some clay topsoil and straw from a local farmer. Mixed that topsoil and straw with ALL the leaves and branches scattered about from the oaks. Mixed the sod I dug out and cold composted that with more straw, leaves, and branches.
There's a lot said about oak leaves not being good due to the tannins, but I don't buy that. I think their only issue is that they break down very slowly.
The first year the soil was still too " "clayey", so I mostly grew potatoes on top of the soil under straw and dug in some composted manure in holes where I planted the other crops.
That system worked great for me. It was cheap and effective but very labor intensive, but I had a great garden in a previous worthless patch the first year.
Thank you for sharing this! I'd agree with you on the leaves- I use walnut, oak and hickory leaves and have never had an issue with any of them negatively affecting my garden.
I have clay in NE Missouri zone 5b, I appreciate your content.
😀💚
Oh, I've done 3 of these methods. My first raised beds were a hugelkultur method. This year I've got a terrible hill that I hate to mow so I've solarized/smothered as much as I can. The plan is that in the spring I'll come back to it, frame it and plant berry bushes throughout it along with digging in some steps to navigate it. There's also the chicken prep method here, where my old chicken run is now a bed that has a cover crop growing in it to prep it for spring. It's 4x15 with 2 feet of pathway all around it. I'm looking forward to using that bed next year but can't decide yet what to grow in it.
The chicken prep bed was entirely inspired by a previous video of yours. It has turned out quite well so far and I look forward to seeing how well things grow in it next spring.
I'm so glad the chicken prep bed has turned out well so far! And I hope your hill planting turns out great!
Tripling my garden space for next year. I am usually a no dig person but I have very compacted soil here. I have tilled, then tilled in aged horse manure, added cardboard and compost on top of that. I will finish with grass clipping and leaves to keep the soil in place. I will probably wait to make rows until spring so everything has a chance to break down well.
Sounds exciting! You may want to think on making rows this fall so they will drain faster and be workable a few weeks sooner in the spring. No harm in leaving them as is, I learned this lesson a couple years ago. ;)
Woohoo! Triple the garden space is what I like to hear!!
I'll be revamping my raised beds this fall. At the present time, my chickens are busy at work out there. I've fenced off the beds that I don't want them to bother yet and let them go crazy with the rest. Once they've finished, I'll probably cover the beds with mulch and let them rest until spring.
Glad to hear your chickens are helping out in the garden too!
Love this video, thank you. I have raised beds ranging from 3"-21". The deeper beds were made hugelcuture style and still work beautifully after 3 years. Every fall as I put beds to rest I add a thick layer of chicken coop clean out and rabbit pellets. In the spring I cover for 3-4 weeks with clear plastic to help the beds dry out and warm up prior to planting.
Thank you! Sounds like an awesome way to put your fall beds to rest, Amber!
Lots of great ideas! I’m just thinking about an expansion for my little garden - I noticed some of our trees have really grown and are casting too much shade. Need to find some sunnier ground!
I have the same issue. 20 years ago the entire garden was in the sun all day. Now with growing trees I get about 60% of the previous sun.
Yes, same problem. I trimmed oaks last winter and we just took out a water hog cedar on the west. Neighbor’s pines and oak on east side blocks sun til about mid morning. Luckily the sun gets higher during summer.
Lol, this happened at my folks when mom planted a bunch of maples. Poor dad’s garden was getting smaller. It was all good though, he was about done gardening and the shade felt really good😊
It such a mixed blessing- it’s wonderful having big, beautiful trees for shade in the summer, but it does make garden planning challenging. I’d like to grow more food crops in the flower beds around my house, but those are all partial to full shade so I’m on the search for which edible plants will tolerate it best! Good luck!
I used plastic sheeting to kill off grass in a couple of areas this summer and after breaking up my clay soil I raked the areas and sowed them with winter rye about a week and a half ago. The compost that I have ready is going to be used to top off a new raised bed that settled A LOT so I didn't have any compost to add to the new beds before sowing the rye. The rye is already about 5 or 6 inches tall and I'm planning on adding a thick layer of chopped leaves to the beds to hopefully add some organics by spring when I terminate the rye. Thanks again for sharing the knowledge!
That sounds like a great plan, Randy- thanks for sharing!
Thank you very much for your wisdom! You have a lot to teach, and we have a lot to learn. Your passion for growing is so contagious. Love 😍
You're welcome! I'm happy to share!
I'm adding two 2'x5' oval raised beds to my garden layout this Fall-I will try the mini hugelkultur method you mentioned in this video!
I hope you love this method as much as I do!
I am expanding my garden and plan to create in ground beds this fall. I made two hugelculture beds last spring and used well-rotted logs and the plant growth in these beds was very good as I topped them with native soil and compost. I am fortunate not to have to deal with heavy clay but we do have a lot of rocks as well as a significant a amount of weeds. I used a silage tarp to smother the weeds over the summer and just removed it last week so over the next few weeks I'll be at work preparing the beds for spring planting. Your videos are excellent, appreciate you sharing your wealth of knowledge!
Excellent! Can't wait to hear how your gardens are thriving next season!
Great video! I plan to build 2 large raised beds using your suggestions. Thanks for the advice and can’t wait to get growing!
Sounds great!
I started my first garden in ground this year. I too have clay soil. I plan on using the hugelculture method in raised beds next season. I have a pile of old wood and twigs, not to mention a big ol pile of grass clippings. That's my plan for the fall.
Sounds like a great plan!
I’m doing a Hugel Kultur bed this fall. I have 3 huge wild cherry trees and now will have a way to use up some of the debris from them.
Excellent! Glad to hear it!
I threw down some piles of fallen leaves on top of my beds. Though it too me until december. Also buried kitchen scraps. Need to lay down a tarp I think.
Sounds good!
@@GrowfullywithJenna Biggest problem is the trees on the home I rent have invasive roots. I have to till constantly to keep them at bay, and it makes it hard to improve my clayish soil. Might switch to containers full time, but those have issues of their own.
OH man, you are right. I should be expanding my garden. Watching you dig I realize that your Ohio soil is even worse than the soil I had in Ohio. NO clay here in NY, but lots and lots of rocks. But it's insane how awesome everything grows here. I have butternut squash as big as a big watermelon... almost. lol
I'm going to be sharing that link to that mobile coop. ;-)
Yes- and it doesn’t help any that it’s been so dry here- makes that clay soil a pain to dig! I’m glad that even for all your rocks things still grow well for you- I’d love to see that butternut!
Very detailed Jenna🤗🤗🤗💚🌱💚
😀
I may have to give the hugelkulture this a whirl in a garden I take care of in Sunbury. Tons of clay, and super poor drainage.
I hope you try it!
I have found straw works better than wood logs etc. It's cheap and as it breaks down I just have more room to add compost or composted manuar.
Thanks for sharing!
Great content Jenna.
Thank you
Excellent video and helpful! I plan on expanding my garden this fall for the spring.
Thank you! Glad to hear you're going with more garden space- that's exciting!
no need to spend so much kompost or substrate for garden beds: i just fill up holes made below the irrigation valves with pindstrup urban garden substrate that has golden forest = wood fibers, results in carrots that almost have forearm thickness f.e., radish even more. i have heavy clay soil ,too. 1 sack of substrate lasts for 40 - 50 holes +or-.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jenna!
You’re welcome!
Your channel has been so helpful for me! I'm in northeast Ohio, but grew up in Virginia, so your tips on timing different plantings have really helped me adapt to the zone differences. And seeing your beautiful, productive space is really inspiring!
I do have one question, if you get the chance to answer: have you done a video on your pest control techniques? I've heard you mention BT spray and insect netting (and I would love to know where you got yours!), but am curious if you have covered it more in depth already. Thanks!
I’m so glad to hear this!
Regarding the pests- I have one video specifically on cabbageworms ruclips.net/video/RVS-YVNVfcc/видео.html and plan to do more on specific pests soon, but nothing about general pest prevention yet. Are there any pests specifically that you would like to see covered? It get my BT spray here:www.gardensalive.com/product/green-step-ii-caterpillar-control
@@GrowfullywithJenna Well, this year I've fought with cabbage worms, cucumber beetles, squash bugs, carrot root flies, and voles! I got some insect cloth from Johnny's Selected Seeds, which helped a lot with the cabbage worms on my broccoli. I didn't realize until I opened it up that it is supposed to come off the plants when the temperature underneath of it gets above 90, which makes it a bit less effective, and higher maintenance than is practical some days. If you know of any alternatives that don't have as much of a problem with heat buildup, I'd love to know about them. Thank you so much!
We are creating a new garden bed this fall. It's on a slope and have clay soil so it's a bit more tricky but so far we've had the area covered with cardboard with wood chips on top, we've been getting lots of rain and it's been sitting like this for about 3 weeks, grass/weeds should be dead by now. Plan on created terraced ground beds (very low raised beds) so we can get some level growing area. Not sure if this is the best course of action but we shall see how it does❤️
Terraced beds on a slope like that sound like a great idea!
Very useful👍 thanks
I’m glad you think so!
I attempted a garden this year and it didn’t go very well. Rather than forcing a fall garden, I’ve decided to start prepping for next year. I’m trying to find a way to move the chickens around and then building raised beds on the “cleaned” space.
That sounds like a great idea, Angie! Honestly, I scaled back my fall garden this year too- focusing more on prep for spring. I typically love a big fall garden, but this year it still continues to be so dry that it's a struggle to get fall crops established.
I built two huegel culture beds last year and planted in them this year. Unfortunately ground hornets made a nest in one and Voles made the other one their hideout.
Oh no! I'm sorry to hear this!
Im planting wheat and crimson clover different spots now.
Nice! Are you using the wheat strictly as cover crop, or also for harvest?
I would like to harvest but realy dont know if it will be ready by the time Im ready to plant so i will say mostly for cover
This is so great!
Omg i want that coop!
Thank you, Dana! I have to admit that coop is awfully handy- especially for a small flock!
Yes, it's the time of the year. Where did the Season go for Zone 6ers? Do you do any habitat for Pollinators, Benificials Insects?
Where did the season go indeed? This year has flown!
I don't necessarily do any areas as specific habitats, but do plant the flowers and shrubs they love all over the property and throughout the gardens.
Lovely video Jenna. Question about the chicken manure: can it be relatively fresh if you're spreading it on the beds in the Fall? Will it be broken down enough in time for the new season?
OK- full disclaimer, because I don't want to be responsible for anyone getting sick from chicken manure pathogens... it is NOT advised to use fresh chicken manure in areas where edible food is grown until it is composted & cured. But, personally, I've had no issue using fresh, uncomposted manure in the fall and planting the following spring.
I prefer sheet mulching to turning compost and I'm happy to see you put stall bedding onto your beds fresh because that saves a ton of work. Do you spread bedding around perennials as well?
If I'm using around existing perennials, I give it a chance to compost & age before spreading, as I don't want to risk burning existing plants.
@@GrowfullywithJenna cheers!
Love you and this video... but can you say Broad Fork on RUclips?
Well they haven’t stopped me from saying it yet 😆
I am interested in where you source manure and mulch. Do you collect your own or do you buy it in? We collect our own off a modest acreage and there is never enough. We ran the mulcher over around 10 acres and collected it and still didn't have enough. We collect cow manure by the trailer and again always seem to need more.
Also interested in what you do with the rye you sow. Do you pull it out by the roots (weed it) or mow/slash it? If you don't weed it how do you stop regrowth? Do you then leave the rye in the bed to turn into compost? Perhaps you have a video on this process you could link for me? We have plenty of rye grass come up, we just didn't sow it.
I wish I could source it all myself and continue to work towards that goal. But for now, we rely on friends that have horses and cows wanted to get rid of excess manure. I purchase my alfalfa hay mulch currently, but collect all the grass we cut on our property, as well as collecting and chopping all our leaves in the fall. Regarding the rye, this video may help:ruclips.net/video/K662PZ5l4rg/видео.html
@@GrowfullywithJenna ty
My yard sits on a 200 ft high ridge, so although i have heavy clay soil, i have incredible drainage. Actually too much drainage. I am thinking of pulling the soil out of at least one raised bed so i can line the bottom with plastic. when i harvested my potatoes, the soil 10" deep was dusty dry. also taking down a standing dead tree so i have lotsa well dried sticks to cover the plastic as well as lotsa leaves. what's your recommendation thanks
I would definitely focus on the addition of organic matter (especially good quality compost, composted manure). You might also consider building a hugelkultur style base to your beds.
6:15. Little Deuce Coop?
👍👍👍👍
I got confused on the last method. You said put a layer of grass clippings or twigs and things like that and then compost on top. Then you said top it off of soil, what exactly do you mean by soil? Because if that meant ground soil then I’d be putting clay on top. Wouldn’t compost be the last thing to put?
Sorry for the confusion, Jillian. Some folks opt for adding their native soil on top, other use bagged soil or top soil they've brought in. Regarding the compost- I've added it both prior to the soil and after, and it works well either way.
Madam I have watched your video about growing potato's under mulching , I want to know how to water them and after how many days should give water to them ? Sprinkling with jet ?
It very much depends on how dry your weather is. Aim for an inch of water per week if possible. I don't often water my potatoes because we tend to get enough rain in the spring, but when I do I just water with a sprinkler.
@@GrowfullywithJenna thank you
Do you have nutsedge in your area? If you do what do you do during the winter in your beds to get rid of it. Can be devastating in a loam soil because of the tuber growth. Thanks
I do- I have a lot of yellow nutsedge here. I use a 3 prong approach with sedge. I try to stay on top of pulling it out by hand when it's young or if it's a really thick patch, I smother it with something like a thick tarp or sheet of old plywood. Long term, I work on improving the drainage of the area, as the sedge thrives in the dampest areas of my garden.
Jenna, do you buy your cover crops pre-mixed or do you do the mixture yourself?
For the most part I mix them myself- but I have been using Johnny’s spring green manure mix which is oats, winter peas and vetch.
do you have to occasionally scoop back up dirt onto the hugelkultur mounds? does the surrounding weeds creep onto the mound?
I haven't yet- though I suppose if you made them steep enough you might have too. Also- weeds could certainly be an issue- but because I heavily mulch and cover crop everything it's not been an issue yet.
@@GrowfullywithJenna allrighty, thank you, I'll give it a shot
I seen something in your garden I need. We call them poison plants. They keep the moles from traveling thru the garden. Do you know the real name for those. I havent had any in a long time. I think they are also just a beautiful plant. I'll go back and look for them and tell you the minute mark when I seen them. Thank you so much.
I’m guessing you saw the castor beans?
Hi Jenna, do you think starting a hugelculture raised bed in Feb is too late/not enough time for it to breakdown? I'm in Maryland.
I've found that you can really construct the hügelkultur anytime, but if you're starting with new, fresh wood, it's best to add a source of higher nitrogen before you cover your mound back over with soil, to help offset any nitrogen tie-up. I like composted animal manure.
I’ll be a newbie next spring raising chickens and was excited to see the Omlet coop for all its conveniences. Do you have the 8 foot coop so I can gage what I’ll need for just a few chickens? Thanks Jenna
Ooh! I’m so glad you’re going to start raising chickens- how fun! I have the large coop with the 9 ft. run.
What time frame do you plant your winter cover crop? Thanks
Most of my covers are being planted in September, with the exception of rye which can be planted up until a month prior to the ground freezing. I like to use this tool www.midwestcovercrops.org/covercroptool/ to get an idea of planting times specifically for the crop I want to grow in my area.
@@GrowfullywithJenna thank you
Good show?
Thanks?
Thanks Jenna, the raised beds with 2 boards - are they 2 by 6 or 2 by 8?
You’re welcome, Amy! Those beds are 4 x 8’
@@GrowfullywithJenna not sure, but I think she was asking how wide the boards are for your raised beds…I think.😊
Hi Jenna, I was given two 50 pound bags of rice bran. I heard they are nitrogen rich. However, the two bags have weevils in them. Is it alright to ammend my soil with the rice weevil infested rice bran? If you suggest getting rid of the weevils, what do you suggest I do? If it helps, I do not intend to grow rice or wheat in my garden anytime soon. Thanks.
Weevils aren't a pest I deal with, but my gut instinct would be to put the bags of rice bran in black trash bags and leave them in the sun for a while to cook (I'd opt for at least a week). I'm thinking that may kill off the weevils.
@@GrowfullywithJenna Thank you for your response and useful suggestion. They're currently in two layers of white trash bags. I'll replace them with black ones soon. It sure makes sense to use black :-) I sincerely appreciate your time and help.
Is that your Wheel Horse garden tractor with the tiller on it at the 1:47 mark in the video?
It's my husbands
@@GrowfullywithJenna I love those little tractors!