Why Mulch is Sometimes Not Enough for BTE Gardens
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- Опубликовано: 14 авг 2021
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I’ve been following Charles dowding, Paul guatschi and the rest of the usual suspects. I also like experimenting each season. Although I’ve learned a lot I am always frustrated with my inconsistency in production. I also find my crops take much longer than theirs. You are speaking of manure which I just applied last week for the first time now (new experiment) it’s a box store product though. What we need to remember with Charles and Paul, if your watching them carefully, they do incorporate a lot of things into their compost/soil that a lot of us aren’t or may not have access to so readily as they do. Charles explains he never adds anything to the soil but he DOES add a lot of different things to his compost so when he is top dressing he is actually adding these materials all in one. Paul adds his excess soil from the chicken pen so he too is indirectly amending the soil. We just need to watch the videos a lot more carefully and understand HOW the are doing certain things. Just as what is being pointed out here in this video. Boost your soil with some natural materials or at least add it to the compost if you make your own so those added materials are in the soil somehow. It’s not just compost or mulch or wood chips. their videos are really focused on the subjects they’re trying to promote no dig/ wood chips etc. but again, they do add the other materials. If you go back and listen to Charles again ,for example, in his compost videos you’ll probably catch his ingredients list better, manure from a neighbor, coffee from a shop etc. so he is adding but through his compost. And like Paul explains, what’s happening when it snows and rains it’s drawing down into the soil feeding it.
Awesome episode! Ir CLEARLY explains how to BEGIN the type of gardens that you have now. I don't think I've ever seen it explained more clearly. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
This year I started Bokashi composting, and am burying it in my garden beds after the first 2 weeks of the process. I pick a place in the garden that does not have anything currently growing, so I do not "burn" the plants with the dump of hot compost. It is working amazingly well!! We have a 1/3 acre city lot, so a traditional compost pile is not an option due to space and odor limitations. I have a feeling that in the next couple years, out soil is going to be absolutely amazing - it was good to start, but this is going to take it to the next level quite quickly. Plus, as an added benefit, we are no longer sending ANY food scraps out with our trash. Everything ends up in the garden.
Also hard to work without animal poop.
BTE didn't work my first season, I'm going towards cover crops and I hope I work because I am trying to be a good Stewart of my tiny surburben garden full of rocks and improving in 5 years
Very true. I am in that position. Poor ground that was parked on for ten years. No till for three years now. It’s better but it’s not there yet.
6 months..... ahhhhhh no, maybe 3 months...... I strive to get my no-till garden almost as good as yours. Getting there!
Great video, I have had the same problem with beds that I did cardboard and mulch over my sad compacted soil (let's call it dirt). Last fall I did something similar to your hugelculture method and had amazing results. Dug a trench and put old tree branches, leaves, ashes with chunks of charcoal and emptied the contents of my swamp barrel into the trench then burried it. The swamp barrel consisted of pulled weeds and kitchen waste, Even meat and leftovers went in. I plan on continuing this each year in problem beds.
That's a great technique!
Very similar to my garden practice! I dig down @6-8” on garden borders, and fill them with compostables, then cover them in wood chips. After around 2 seasons, I’ll remove compost, and do it over and over...working very well!
Great video as always. I don't have access to manure, and the garden center bagged stuff is in my opinion, marginally beneficial. What has been outstanding for me is green manure. Photosynthesis is the best way to add fertility to any soil. Unquestionably the best way to add carbon to soil. Manure itself is the end product of photosynthesis. With about 40 days remaining in my growing season, I use all seeds that are 2 years or older, and plant them . They don't give me anything to eat, but they sure do feed the soil biology. After a killing frost, mulch gets applied . Come spring, I've got a fertile start for my plants.
Excellent.
Hey Greg - great video!!!
Yep...I am right there with you! I have a perpetual supply of horse manure and keep applying a few inches of it on my beds every fall and most springs!
I have beds that are amazingly loose and easy to work and I have few that are still a bit stiff and hard (clay based around here too!) But every year they improve a LOT!
Plus the amount of mulch I keep putting down is unreal! Grass clippings, leaves, cardboard, etc.,
Thanks for doing the video and have a great day!
Mike 🇨🇦🍁
Good stuff!
Very helpful, thank you.
Great video, as always. Thanks Greg.
My pleasure!
Hello Greg, Perfect!! My garden has slowly been getting better with gardening waste and leaves. I also make my own compost with kitchen waste, but it is a slow process. I do wish there was a place close by where I could get manure.
Thank you for sharing Greg, much appreciated!😉👍🏼
Great observations. My thoughts? ...BTE doesn't work as well in northern climates. Things don't break down as quickly here like they do down south.
I found a lot of breakdown happening from late November to March (Canada here, too) - so maybe we have more efficient microbes? Or different species? Working probably slower than the tropics, but still efficient (my opinion).
I used the BTE method on my very sandy soil and it totally changed and improved the soil profile,however it did take 3 years to really start making a difference. Greg is correct ,the BTE method works great but it takes time.Use whatever is available in the meantime until the wood chips start to break down. I covered my entire garden with several inches of chips but when planting veggie starts I push the chips aside and dig the hole and fill it with compost and plant into that.The chips help hold the moisture,and slowly break down and ammend the soil.
I'm really interested in what is BTE method?
Instead of going BTE I'm going back to Grandpa Jude's horse and chicken poop.
I'm also doing less tilting and some no tilt for another season hopefully it'll kick up a notch
You have many great points,We might starve while waiting.
Gardener Scott adds the poop into his compose and it's hard to get enough "great mulch".
You nailed it Buddy
Great explanation!
Thanks!
Greg, please consider another cause for your unproductive, right next to this hill, garden bed: too much water in your clay soil. While adding organic material to your garden soil is always a good idea and I agree adding horse manure to your garden bed is a good plan, consider constructing a raised hugelkulture bed at this, right next to the hill, location. You get a lot of Spring rain in the Maritimes, and there is a lot of water coming off that hill. By creating a raised bed, you will improve drainage. The higher the raised bed the better the drainage. Poor drainage in your clay soil right next to the hill is also a likely cause of the poor growing conditions in this garden bed.
I think that's very possible and have been contemplating that. I may raise it up another 6-8 inches this spring, or just plant something there that doesn't mind the water
@@maritimegardening4887 please keep us posted. I too have clay soil and poor drainage. Perhaps that’s why I’m so sensitive to this garden problem. My solution to this drainage problem is raised beds. I am also interested in discovering plants that can do well in poor draining clay soil. Other than weeds and water Lillys, I have not been able to identify any water loving plants. I’d luv to know what you come up with.
What people don't realise is that for 13 years before Ruth Stout began her no-work Ruth Stout mulching method, she was applying large quantities of manure, mulch, compost, artificial fertilisers, lime etc to her garden, then having it all ploughed under every spring. So her plot already contained huge reserves of minerals and organic matter, and was very rich and healthy, before she began just to plant beneath layers of rotting hay mulch.
Same with Paul Gauci. He explains how he "worked hard to fail" in his garden for many years by applying all the recommended fertilisers and additives, and digging it in, before blanket mulching and planting beneath that. His soil was also a storage bank of whatever soil nutrients he had previously applied, by the time he began copying Ruth Stout's mulching method.
Although Paul encourages the use of whatever mulch is readily available to anyone, including rocks if that is all there is, it is obvious that if the soil is in good heart to begin with, results are going to be far superior when the soil was already been amended for years, and has high mineral fertility with excellent organic matter content, than if it is sand mulched with rocks, or clay mulched with pine bark.
Paul Gauci is blessed to have access to unlimited supplies of tree pruning mulch which contains all the leaves and young growing branches, therefore is high in nitrogen to assist breakdown, and many other nutrients. Straight woodchips or bark mulches are low in nitrogen, high in lignin, which resists breakdown, and rob the soil to do it.
Paul puts thick layers of wood chips in his chicken yard, along with all his garden and kitchen waste, where their droppings add nitrogen and it is constantly turned over and composted as they scratch it up. He then puts this wonderfully rich mulch on his vegetable garden, which is why his vegetables are so magnificent.
Nothing in, nothing out.
Really appreciate your frankness and honesty. I have had success with green manure (cover crop) in my beds. I have used winter rye and clover and the results have been dramatic and fast! I'm in Indiana so I don't have have a winter as long as yours but I would think that there would be some sort of cover crop that you could sow late in your season that would take before winter sets in. Thanks again!
Great episode Greg! I loved seeing the comparison. The one caution with horse manure is it often comes with other bedding. Most often we use wood shavings in our barn for bedding the horses, and while the manure breaks down and is usable the next year, wood shavings take longer to compost. One year when I was still tilling my garden we tilled in the fall and then mulched with several inches of manure and shavings which we tilled into the soil in the spring. That year everything was stunted - even the weeds! The year after was awesome though. One summer we could not get shavings, and so we used peat moss bedding for the horses and we applied it in the fall - awesome production the next year. Peat is too expensive to use regularly though. We have piles of aged manure and will be applying that this year. I managed to convert the 2/3 of the tilled area into beds this year. Very productive and I am able to stay on top of the weeds. We will do the rest this fall.
Great point. The horses where I get my stuff are bedded with hay
@@maritimegardening4887 Actually they would be bedded on straw, which is quite different from hay, which is what horses eat.
@@rubygray7749 You're right - good point. It must be straw
Ask 100 Grandmas how to make bisques and they all can have great bisques and 100 ways,
Mulch is never the same anywhere you go, I don't think you can grow much in 💯 percent"mulch. Just saying we do need to learn to build great soil, So clay is a great base but by itself almost cement on a dry day.
Thank you for the teaching,
Really timely video. I'm out near Western Quebec and have been doing some vegetable gardening here for the last dozen years. I have noticed a big difference over the years in the productivity. I have decided to start doing this mulching type of gardening but have decided to amend my soil FIRST then begin the mulching lifestyle
I think that's a good idea :)
@Maritime, I know what you are saying about the clay dirt, I have terrace beds, and the first 6 inches has been amended and it is a more gray in color, but just about 8 inches down it turns red. And I have added rabbit poo by the 5 gallon buckets and I still can't grow squash or most ANYTHING, the dirt is like a brick, I can kinda get some plants to grow in buckets with mostly rabbit poo, coffee grounds, maybe a little potting soil & a mix of the natural dirt from here
Just last week I've discovered a local source of horse manure. On Monday a trailer of it comes to upgrade the quality of my beds :-) I can testify that I have a bed that was whole year mulched with grass but the soil in it is still very hard and shows very little signs of a soil life. I hope the manure will help to revive it.
I think you'll be happy with your results
Great video when I first started I used alit it horse poo but now we have rabbits but do need to find some horse poo this fall
Wish I had rabbits!
Agreed.
I’ve been trying my best to follow the no dig/mulch method but not seeing the results I expected. I was wondering what was going on - but now I know. You make a lot of practical sense, thank you for doing this video. .
Thanks
After following your videos for some time I finally munched most of my gardens with grass clippings this year (more to go). I'm always excited after I mow the grass to grab the excess😁 . Glad you made this video to clarify about the benefits of adding manure. I will spread chicken manure from the run this fall so the beds are ready for spring. Great video!
That is awesome!
And I didn't "munch" the garden beds....mulched of course! Should have had my glasses on.
Yep. Had a similar issue this year. Just added composted chicken manure and I’ll hope it’ll help. Can’t use horse manure in my area because of the amount of aminopyralids farmers use as a spray.
I would have loved to buy some straw bales and use to mulch the potatoes, but can't trust my available sources :(
@@siege919 Gotta wonder if there’s much spraying done up in NS where Greg lives. I’m sure it’s pretty rare in most places, I’ve just been burned enough to stay away from horse manure.
My takeaway from the BTE film was not to plant directly into the woodchips. Plant into the soil, woodchips are on top. woodchips tie up the nitrogen on the surface, so if you are planting directly into the woodchips you will get yellow plants. Also Paul used woodchips in his orchard and perienail area. If you look at his annual beds, he planted many of his annuals into soil with woodchips in the aisle similar to what CD does.
Yes - they make that very clear
Are the purple flowers Spotted Knappweed? That is a noxious weed in my area. We have some but do our best to get rid of it. I would hate to have so much around my garden. Love your videos. I follow your gardening practices. Thanks
I think that's what it is - and yes it's everywhere - and lots of other weeds too. It's all part of it - but yes - I'd rather not have them :)
Good points Greg.... BUT I think what some people miss about Paul's BTE garden is when Paul started his garden he said that he pulled many tons of rocks out of his garden and he said he very poor soil also; he always tilled the earth with a tiller. BTE he never started with rocked filled dead earth, he said that he tilled and added organic matter every year, before that his complaint was that not that the soil was poor quality his soil was good quality, his complaint was all the problems he had with growing crops was all the weeds, he spend all day, many a days weeding, also he stated after a few days all the soil he tilled became packed down again and the plants had to force their way through. so his soil was in good shape when he started BTE garden. The reason BTE method was started was the weed suppression and what he found after doing the BTE method is that his soil stayed soft and fluffy and the plants moved easily through the soil.
Also he never started growing crops in his orchard until just a couple of years ago because it wasn't broken down enough. He filled his orchard with a foot or more of wood chips when he first started if I remember correctly.
I also noticed Greg in ur garden just now when you tried to pull a weed you couldn't, the weed broke it never pulled because the ground is to hard. Just saying lol lol cheers...
Perhaps a weed broke when I pulled it - but most things come out easily because everything is mulched and the soil is not compacted. I'm sure Paul has weeds that break when he pulls them too. It happens. As I said in my video, they don't SAY in the the BTE video that all you need to do is JUST mulch - my point was that many people come away with that impression DESPITE the caveats discussed in the video.
Gauci uses chicken manure under his mulch. So it's not just mulch. People don't appear to pick on that information.
That's a detail that's really not addressing the BTE video - though if you really look into it, you;re right, his garden is chicken powered :)
Thats the best gardening video I've seen in ages. Can I give some feedback though? I had to mostly listen rather than watch... I dont know if you drank a really strong coffee before you filmed the garden tour but you swing the camera so fast, and wave your hands in front of the camera real quick too! I felt a bit seasick! 😅 I have subscribed though.
Thanks for the tips! I'm working on my camera skills :)
When I started planting trees at my ranch, I used a lot of horse manure, and they all did great. I didn't use it in the garden, because many folks say it's not safe for your food crop. But I have begun using it this year, because of the results you have.
I'm curious, most of my garden is in 200gal smart pots, due to my massive gopher issue....is adding horse manure once a year sufficient...? Not sure with all the drainage from the pots.
Most of my beds haven't had an y h-manure added for 5+ years - so yes, as long as you keep it mulched you don't need to add it year after year
I love this video because it shows the true ups and downs of gardening. My question is---when you use the horse manure is it fresh or composted? Do you think that it would work the same on perennials as it does on your annual vegetables? And I have heard a question in other videos about horses that has been dewormed and that having effect on the native worms in our soil that I have in abundance. What do you think?
I use composted - but in fall, on a bed that's done growing I sometimes use fresh horse manure, but I bury it in the bed. I've never had a problem with de-worming drug affecting my soil. The guy at the stable I get mine from said that they only ever use medication, of any kind, on their horses if they need it - so any pharmaceuticals that might find its way into the manure is in small amounts, and most of them break down over time anyway,
Thank you so much. I know you're busy but you took the time to give me the answer I was looking for. You have inspired me for a long time but today you put a smile on my face
it depends on the type of mulch but I've never ever heard of it, just to improve your soil. Mulch is to suppress the weeds and keep the soil moist, less evaporation than just soil. Before snow time to I'd cut and drop what plants are left, pile cardboard then manure on top and top off with at least 6 inches of mulch. Come spring just plant in it, by hand digging a hole in the remains of the old much then add 2 inches of mulch. Come summer add another 2 to 3 inches of mulch. Full agree with the waste of time with the 7 years expecting mulch to improve your garden that way. It improves with less evaporation and weed suppression lolollolol
Mulch is consumed and excreted by organisms that live in the soil. By virtue of that process, it becomes compost, and by virte of that, it improves the soil in the same way that compost improves soil; the catch is that it takes a lot of time and a lot of mulch to make even a small amount of compost. Of course, all the other benefits that you mentioned are in play as well
Off topic I realise but I can't remember why you changed from woodchips to sand walkways? Thanks for the content. Love it.
To retain heat. In Canada, you need heat to grow plants. Wood chips cool the ground. Sand heats up the garden. Climate makes up a big part of Greg’s gardening!
I switch to sand to reduce the risk of ticks for me & my kids especially. A key side benefit was the amount of heat that the sand gathers up during sunny days
@@maritimegardening4887 that’s right! Tick safety for your children!!!
I found that horse manure attract the slugs a lot.
Wondering if soil temperature might be an issue wth the slope beds.
I don't know what you mean.
I'm wondering is top dressing with manure enough? I'm getting some mycelium from the wild compost I added (punky wood etc composted by chickens ) and want to preserve it. I'm thinking that means the organic matter is potent but not ready for plants.
If adding manure was insufficient my garden would not look as good as it does, since manure & mulch is all it's ever had. In terms of sourcing mycelium - it's kind of everywhere anyway unless a given ecosystem has been devastated in some way. The mulch just gives it the ideal conditions to proliferate. The mycelium can't do much for your plants if the soil is low in organic matter - it can only work with what it has.
@@maritimegardening4887 What I mean is I don't want to till the manure in. Just top dress. I believe the mycelium is breaking down organic matter that is not yet ready for the plants. I don't want to disrupt it's activity.
How many inches of manure have you used/plan on using?
about 4" is probably all that's needed to make a big difference
Sooo... why horse manure and not cow manure? (Talking about availability at Canadian Tire and me having a really tiny garden).
I use h-manure because I can get it for free, and it is not as strong as cow manure. If you are buying at c-tire, it doesn't matter so much, use the cow manure if that's all there is.
You don’t seem to mention cow manure. At least that I recall.
Is there a reason for that?
Horse manure doesn't need to be worked inot the soil and can often be gotten for free that's all. Cow manure, when worked into the soil will also work just fine
Is chicken manure just as good. You showed what a huge difference
Chicken manure is very strong by comparison and needs to be worked into the soil - but it will work for sure!
@@maritimegardening4887 thanks for the tip. I’m in Connecticut so as soon as things start to die I’ll lay it on the ground and it’ll be ready by spring
elmer fudd :)
I have a tough question, Greg...do you or your viewers have any tips for a vegan gardener? I use compost, alfalfa, kelp, seaweed, rock dust and worm castings with good but not great results. Some things thrive and others struggle.
Please define for me what a vegan gardener is? I know what a vegan diet is, but I don't understand what a vegan gardener is. If your issue is with regard to the use of horse manure - how is that different from worm manure?Is it about domestication? Help me understand where you're coming from.
@@maritimegardening4887 You're right, Greg...worm castings aren't vegan. But I have an area near my compost that's rich in decayed leaves and filled with worms and their castings. So vegan gardening would involve not using products that contain animal or fish by products. Thought you or one of your followers may have some other hints besides what I'm using. I really enjoy your videos. Love a lot of your cooking videos, too. You're so practical.
@@helen2061 I too would like some clarification, please. My understanding is that veganism is about being ethical regarding animals…so what is unethical about eating plants which grew in )and undoubtedly used nutrients from)soil containing animal droppings? If your soil is healthy, it's teeming with insects, all of whom leave droppings of some sort. Wouldn't "by products" mean things that were left after slaughter? Help me out here.
@@siege919 Hi! Thanks for commenting. I stay away from commercial products that clearly have animal matter in them which no doubt comes from slaughterhouses. I also have no problem with what animals and insects leave behind in my soil naturally. I thought Greg or his viewers might have some more great additives besides the ones I'm using that are plant based.
I think your results from "vegan gardening" highlight how animals, plants and soil are intended for each other, and disappointing results come from exclusion of the animal contribution.
Animal manures belong on the soil, including our own when properly composted. Manures are what encourages all soil life, and feeds the plants. Horses today are the most pampered well-fed animals, and their generous by-products should be welcomed and utilised as the magnificent soil blessing they are.
Where you’re pointing at the weeds, it looks like knapweed. We had issues with that in our yard. I think it exudes something that suppresses other plants. It’s also very hard to control. Could it be leaching into the bed?
Those are the same weeds that border my entire garden, so it's probably not the problem :)
Hey there, great info. Which tomato varieties would you recommend for a foggy beach town. My summers here are an average of 60 F. About 16 C. Thanks in advance.
Determinate varieties with short days to maturity times.
@@maritimegardening4887 I guess I should give up my dream of one or two pounders. Oh well, cherries it is. Thank you again.
Until you get more horse manure, put urine on it.