Good evening Mister, if one member of your team speaks french, I recommand you "vivre avec la terre" (living with earth) - Charles Hervé-gruyer (ferme du bec hellouin). It's a 1000 pages of permaculture expérimentations (some documented by universities...) in Normandy (France) - comparable climat. Remarquable book. Sorry Bad english.
LEACS? Maybe more memorable is SCALE? Also aligns with your goal of larger reach in helping more folks. Either way, I look forward to your future vids.
Subscribed! I live next to the sea. I can't wait to see the results of experiments with resources gathered from the beaches. Also another experiment could be 'Does brewing beer/wine in a greenhouse improve plant growth?'. After all, if plants use a lot of CO2 to grow, surly the Co2 given off from Brewing will not only save pounds, but maybe have a noticeable effect on crop Yield at home? potentially saving more money!
also does the waste from brewing have uses in the garden... ...can the dead yeast and a bit of alcohol from the brewing process be thrown in the compost heap? what category of waste is the spent malt from beer making green or brown? can beer be used to lure slugs into a trap that doesn't kill them? (I can help with this I have a 3D printer) I can already imagine a whole video on brewing in the garden ending with a tipsy Huw! 😀
Just when I think things can't get better, you do this! Amazing, you're an incredible human Huw. I can see great things developing from these research projects. Not seen such energy and drive in UK horticulture/ self sufficiency since the early days of organic movement in the 70s 😏 you're shifting the paradigm. Well done champ 👍
Isn’t Huw just such a treasure?!!! I’m old enough to remember raising funds for African nations to teach villages how to become sustainable in meat/vegetables and water! Who’d have thought then that the UK would need help in returning to family/community sustainability and afford to eat and heat. 🤷♀️
Unfortunately with the state of todays economy more and more people are going back to their roots . Pun alert lol. I’ve started raised beds this year and excited for the journey . We all can start and grow something even out of a bucket on your window . Plus it tastes so much better . Society is slowly getting back to nature and this channel is the epitome of how it should be done . Let’s all keep hardening and sharing and bring humanity back together . Let’s share love and end all the war and fighting.
Huw, your commitment to learning and teaching are absolutely second to none! I have drastically limited my RUclips viewing to only those who spend time teaching in an area of interest to me and, needless to say, you are my main go-to gardening person. I think you are spot-on with your thinking about the need for us to grow more food in our garden and your commitment to give free information in absolutely inspiring. You are a great young man and I pray you will continue to find success in all you do. As always, greatly appreciate you. (Kentucky, USA)
I'm with you Huw. My thinking has ended up right there. I remember as a child during the 70's America had a huge run of inflation. People flocked to the garden and living off the land. Thanks mostly to Rodale, and I'm sure plenty of old timers still alive then who lived before electrification, there were many techniques passed around on how to garden simply and effectively. I know my parents used them, still have copies of the 70's versions of Rodale's Organic Gardening and the old PBS Victory Garden book, which was my first education on that subject. I've built on that, but really didn't come full circle till you introduced Korean Natural Farming and JADAM principles in one of your videos (Kitchen Garden Ferments I believe) , which really really opened my eyes to how self-sufficient you can actually be start to finish and make things a closed loop. I've been getting there starting my own plants and savings seeds among many things picked up or invented along the way, and I've bought some books including yours and Nigel Palmer's to add to the knowledge base and complete the circle. On that subject, I see bits and pieces scattered across RUclips, but there is no really comprehensive and fully developed concept (though you are as far ahead on this as anyone) being presented out there on one site that covers the whole garden cycle in detail. From seed starting to growing to soil science to microbes, to tools to fertilizing to preserving the harvest to seed saving to autumn preps for next year, and of course recipes and everything in between, and the various techniques, from a total inexpensive yet self-sufficient angle. I see your vision and it's exactly what is needed. I don't think inflation is going away soon, and it's time for another back-to-the-land movement would be a godsend to people with limited income. With that has been learned from the last bout of inflation, it's even easier than back then to do way more with less. Am excited to see what your efforts bring out.
You're a good man Huw.... The Spirit of the Earth is within you.... I'm so excited for you and all the incredible knowledge you'll be receiving!... This is exactly what the people need now more than ever.... thank you brother and I wish you all the success with your new journey...
Honestly, you are my favourite garden guy. Your efforts to make growing food accessible and approachable is commendable. And looking at your sunny, green Welsh garden makes me hopeful, looking at my overcast, snowy Canadian garden!
I think this whole idea is really brilliant and will potentially be really helpful. Its easy to become disillusioned with it all - especially scaling up - when you start looking into what things cost. Initially filling raised beds is a big one I feel most RUclipsrs and writers overlook so its something people don't tend to consider but in reality its a huge cost
It's crazy expensive to set up the raised bed garden. I have spent a lot of money this year but I am looking at it as an investment to grow my food, as much as possible. From now on I should be able to grow for very little cost and a huge amount of satisfaction. My mom is next door and although I learned from her she now has zero interest in growing food but when she comes to my garden she enjoys the fresh berries and tomatoes! Gardening is about sharing and that is my greatest joy.
@@bjbrown6884 Yes, it is expensive. but I set up my raised garden in 2008 and it is still growing strong. Filling the beds is a challenge for sure but so much depends on what you have around in your area that's free. Often someone else's 'waste' is another person's gold. I direct compost by burying my kitchen scraps directly into the beds on a rotational basis or using one bed for composting for 6 months, covering with soil and then growing winter squash into the bed. They seem to thrive on the stuff. I live in S. Portugal, so my challenges are very different to growing veg in the UK. Water is a huge issue so mulch is very important and this year I'm experimenting with some 14 year old bark chippings, as well as straw. Your investment will grow.
@@chichestermaritime8174 I live in Florida by Tampa so I have the advantage of weather. I am hoping for a delivery of free wood chips soon to use as mulch. The last delivery has really worked out well. My main problem is lack of rain so I have to rely on watering. I had hoped to set up a rain barrel system but chronic lack of rain leads me to believe it's not worth the investment. Happy gardening!
@@bjbrown6884 We have had another very dry winter but have invested in 7 x 1,000 litre tanks (same a Huw uses) and I also catch water for drinking. I use buckets and an electric pump as Portuguese rooflines aren't designed for guttering. The investment is definitely worth it just to be independent of municipal supplies or a possibly dry borehole. I used wood (hugelkultur) to half fill the raised beds and then topped off with soil. Over the years the wood has broken down. Maybe free wood chippings could be used to part fill the beds at the bottom to save valuable soil? Have fun.
We've had a lot of unseasonable rain here in Thailand and everything has exploded with growth, this is really good for my corn, beans and sweet potatoes, but the weeds and grass has also gone wild. So what I've been doing is composting it all, my 3 bins are filling up nicely, I'm gonna need it all, and probably more, for my future new no dig project on our 1/2 acre of land :)
Very rarely do I comment - in fact can't remember the last time that I did - but this has made me so happy to watch. The acknowledgement that some who are gardening toward self sufficiently and the homesteading lifestyle have become a little complicit in adding to peoples fears and overwhelm, as some vloggers and bloggers are making it seem like something SO big and expensive, or magic that is only for the few. It seems as soon as the first few tutorials are watched, there is a stream of hard sell for courses that enable watchers to 'join the club', or risk staying on the outside. You and others like Liz Zorab are going to such lengths to make information available to everyone, accessible and not at all scary. You clearly care about the greater impact and about the inequalities that this kind of resilience can help offset. This is so inspiring and helps people like me feel that there is more than one way to do things and that we can do this in ways that feel achievable to us and that more experienced people like you are active in helping us! Btw, a video introducing 'Team Huw' would be really interesting as you often talk about them, but we don't see them. I'm nosy!
Thank you Hew. We are starting a garden group through the local library to encourage and mentor new gardeners. The library has a seed library where anyone can pick up free seeds. We have been giving away grab and go bags with seeds a quart of potting soil and a 6 cell container. I look forward to incorporating and sharing your methods with the rest of our group. Yours in the soil food web, Bob Engstrom
I'm very fortunate in some ways that my back garden fence borders the edge of a farmers field. At this time of year there is a massive amount of nettles, green alkanet (slightly invasive borage), cow parsley, cleavers etc. I go along and harvest a metre or so directly behind my fence to stop weeds coming through which also supplies a lot of green for compost. I leave plenty for wildlife and the farmer doesn't care. For me it's actually harder to source brown material than green and I mainly use cardboard.
Thanks Hugh, for this commitment. Food here in the US has increased dramatically in price. We are increasing the size of our veg and soft fruit garden in USDA Zone 4b significantly and hope to supply at least 4 families this year. Your ideas and experimentation help us significantly. God's best to you.
Yesssss! This is great, more of this is needed. I live in an area of Wales where there's alot of poverty and short life expectancy and poor health are common. Part of this is poor diet, often caused by financial situations or poor education. I'm so passionate about gardening being brought to all class backgrounds in and affordable accessible way and also have an Instagram trying to empower people with disabilities and chronic conditions to grow food, even if on a tiny scale. It's helped me massively as a Fibromyalgia sufferer and I'm sure can help others. Keep doing what you're doing Huw
This is brilliant! I’m just setting up my first No Dig vegetable garden in my garden, and our local council has just asked for a meeting to discuss how we can support families in our community over the coming months, because I run a group called Ellesmere Elves which helps people in our rural community. Got to be honest I’m a long way out of my depth but I think we are just going to jump in and hopefully swim not sink! So this video and future ones is invaluable and I’ve shared it on Elves and with the council…thank you for sharing your knowledge, it’s so valuable
How exciting Huw, thank you for sharing your knowledge, we all need to go back to being much more self sufficient and most have forgotten how to survive without everything coming from a store. Of course that can be easier said than done but with your guidance and willingness to help people find their way I think there will be great success. Thank you so much Huw for your commitment to helping us all succeed and find our way back to Mother Nature and all that she offers. Wishing you great success and many blessings with your new projects 🙏🌻🦋🐝🌺
I'm so looking forward to seeing what you do with the mini garden! I've just taken on a mini plot at an allotment that isn't much bigger than your garden. It was nothing but grass but in the last week I've set up a compost area and have a few no dig beds ready to go. I've never grown much before so I'm really excited to take on board all the info you will be sharing. Here's to a fruitful growing season!
This is so exciting! With the ridiculous cost of food now, we need all the help we can get to produce our own veg within a small budget. Thank you so much, so many people will benefit from your work and experimental gardening ❤️ Helping us to help ourselves. If I was your mother I'd be really proud!!
I am very excited about your new project. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed your series on garden tours. Provides inspiration and they are a delight to the eye. 😊
We decided to up our gardening game for this year from level 20 to level 1000, we went from plain backyard to several raised/inground beds, looks like a garden center now lol. We can't wait to see the results throughout summer. You have been an excellent inspiration and resource. We are excited to watch the LEACS project progress! Good on you for taking the charge to produce this content. Thank you and keep it up! topic suggestion: various garden structure construction tips would be cool. example: like building, placing, and operations tips (like watering, work flow considerations, etc) for poly tunnels/greenhouses/etc. Garden workflow and permanent plant location planning is a major topic of interest for me.
Great plan. Making plant tea is a quick turn around as long as you can handle the stink. Also Chop and drop works well to suppress the weeds and keep the moisture in the soil and so much more. It's the least work for amending the soil.
I’m so glad you’re focusing on the self-sustaining garden going forward! I managed to make my small urban garden grow with very little annual investment for five years (after job loss and multiple surgeries) with only my kitchen vermicompost bin that I’ve had for nearly 20 years. Also excited to hear you’ll be talking about seed saving, which is a passion of mine that very few RUclips gardeners seem to focus on. I left one overwintered purple Vienna kohlrabi to go to seed this spring along with a bunching onion-because I’m out of seed and need more! Last year I left overwintered tatsoi to go to seed and shared that seed bounty far and wide and I have enough for my own needs for several years. So excited to follow along with you to learn even more ways of sustainability in the garden.
@@bdubb3178 I remember back when it was just us 5-6 worms, worming our way through the kitchen scraps. We'd have so much to choose from, and so much space. Now all those young worms have moved in with their families and it's all so noisy and they leave the place in a right mess with no thought to us older worms. 20 years, worm and baby, I've lived here but things are just changing so fast. The other day one of those young worms just wiggled right into me! Listening to his loud music, and tapping on his screen, he didn't even look up to apologise. We never had manners like that when I was that age. We used to slither right from one end of the bin to the other in a single day to pick up the best scraps. Worms these days just want it all delivered to them. They don't want to work for anything. I expect this summer will be my last. Probably get beaten up by one of those youths, stealing my last beetroot leaf.
@@bdubb3178 The vermicompost tends to get a bit seedy over time so I mostly bury it beneath my transplants. I have tons of red wrigglers surviving in my garden from the worm eggs that get buried with the compost. I also make vermicompost tea to water with-some vermicompost, a bucket, and a bubbler for aeration. It grows great bacteria for soil health. When I’m actively feeding the bin, I have more worms, when I’m not feeding the bin (due to multiple surgeries etc), the worms keep eating, but produce less offspring. There are 20 years of progeny in their bin home. Have never bought more worms. Vermicompost is truly black gold in the garden.
I love this Huw. This I think should be the goal for us all. I've took no dig methods, and also incorporated some other market gardening methods and ideas. Back in the day, people didn't buy all these other things so how can't we do the same. I have designed my allotment with the off grid mentality working towards complete on site self sufficient, growing plants is almost a secondary process as compost, water and a little power is the main goals. I built a mini version of Curtis stones passive solar greenhouse, I tried and tried all the compost "methods" till I found a compost geek and changed my world, genuine good compost in 30-40 days. Large water catchment from the large greenhouse roof. Raised beds with hinged cloches, some with netting, fleece and poly depending on the crop, lastly, 3 cheap 100watt solar panels and bits to have some power on site, just for light at night when it's dark, pumping the rainwater to water and charging my phone. Free plant feed I'm gna start. This series your doing will be really good and look forward to it.
Thank you Huw for looking out for the poor and struggling. You really are a facultative anaerobe, bringing our culture back to a place where it can breathe peaceful air.
For those of us with access to a bit of land even if this is small, we are privileged. What about the people living in flats and the inner city. I would like to see much more urban space provided for anyone who want to to grow fruit and veg so that anyone in the community can contribute to and also benefit from the produce. I am excited to see the results of your work, your enthusiasm is contagious.
I discovered your channel a few years ago and it has been one of my favorites ever since. The way you explain things and demonstrate things so that even the beginner can understand the why and how is just amazing. I am especially excited about this particular video as I think that now, more than ever before, we all need to be helping others learn to grown their own food. Thank you for all you do and I hope you will continue to put out the wonderful content you always have.
You are a natural born educator and in addition are exceptionally adept at incorporating all the great things others have learned and in turn taught you, along their journeys and passing that knowledge on. It is always a total gift to watch you and learn and then go off to our own gardens and growing spaces to implement and experiment too. I just love it.
Hallelujah! Thank you so much for recognizing and acting on the widespread need to feed ourselves, families and friends in the healthiest and least expensive ways.
All absolutely fantastic, rooting for you! As a newbie this all stresses me out 😅 but look forward to see new videos. My dad was telling me that my grandad back in the day would use horse manure, he used to get my dad when he was a boy to go on the train with a suitcase to fill it up and he used to have it in a huge tank of water and stir it every so often to agitate it and he would only ever water the crops with that water and apparently the crops where huge in size and there was tons of veg etc from it
Sarah Nolan- I was just telling my teenagers about how my grandfather grew incredible veg using similar methods! My father, in his pre-teen years during the war, was responsible for the meat rabbits they raised. He remembered his father using the hutch clean out to make manure tea.
Wow, this is so cool, Huw! Project LEACS looks like it will be one of the most exciting gardening projects in RUclips history. Am really looking forward to all your experiments and what outcomes you get. This is a real service to the wider public, thank you!
I’m a long time gardener. And, I hear from others how expensive gardening is and I tell them it really isn’t. I’m excited to watch the following videos on this project.
In the fall this year I'm going to try to use cover crops in replacement for compost to cover my 60 beds. I'm going to use diverse cover crops that are winter kill and then mulch over it in the spring. This growing season I'm going to focus on having at least 4 plant families in every bed because of the studies I've been reading on how well that helps plants be resilient and how the diverse micro biomes work together instead of competing. Your 10% rule has always stuck with me and I'll be using flowers to help round out the plant families. Another focus will be on increasing the ability of my plants to photosynthesis and add more exidates to the soil which should help me limit the amount of compost I need. And last inoculant and compost tea to stretch the compost I do have.
Absolutely brilliant! This is much needed I really look forward to the results with your beds as I'm throwing all of those things at mine currently! Anyone who is inspired and helped to grow more of their own food is a massive win and this will help a huge amount.
Incredibly proud of the direction you're pivoting in, and impressed with the visions behind all of it. Extremely interested in the liquid amendments and the diverse practices available from what you're doing!
This is such a great video and the news you share with us are incredible! The new project is so big and awesome and I think you are doing something very important for all the people in the world! The only thing that I would like to suggest is that you team up with someone operating and gardening in a far drier climate: I always follow your videos and I also purchased and read your new book (loved it by the way) and I noticed that all your findings about gardening and many of the solutions and techniques that you propose are suitable for your Welsh climate, which is super humid! You are now famous all over the world and the majority of the people that follow you, as me (Italy) garden in much drier climate. Many of the techniques that you use are not suitable for gardening outside the UK that has a super particular climate, always raining. I personally had to adapt many of the techniques and I had to do the opposite sometimes, using other gardeners as example. What I am humbling suggesting you, Huw, is that you team up with someone from a drier climate, maybe Self Sufficient Me or others, so that you can help also the people from outside the UK, the majority of your public. To bring you an example I cannot use compost as a mulch here in Northern Italy because it's too hot and it is consumed by oxidation so quickly... I use hay instead because it lasts longer and we don't have slugs issues.
I can't express how excited I was about this news...actually watched de video twice🤗Mixing concepts and diferent techniques, experimenting and evaluating what works best its the true expression of "thinking out-of-the-box". I will be looking forward, every week, for a new video and experimenting along. Thank you for doing this and taking us on this journey with you.☺
Love Project ‘Leacs’! So you have tapped into a little idea that has been nudging me for the last year! I want to help grow vegetables in area where young children have food instability. So now I’m going to start that journey. Back ground work this spring and summer to find connections and locations. Then we will hopefully get rolling this summer. Exciting!
Food insecurity (something with which I personally have never had to deal or struggle or worry over for myself) is something which I find deeply concerning, and I know it affects people of *all* ages, from tiny children to senior citizens, and often in surprising places. I'm convinced, and passionately dedicated to the idea, that everyone needs to be able to grow some of their own food and that those of us who can help others toward that end ought to help: provide some seeds, provide a container, provide some growing medium; contribute/donate a trowel, a spade, a rake, a watering can, somewhere to someone. Pay for a soil test. Help to collect fallen leaves in the autumn, and amend the soil with them. Are you perchance in the U.S.? Oh, and of course: spread the good word about Huw's channel, but there are people who lack internet accessibility, too, so some additional work is needed, just getting out and talking with people. Check with schools, churches, temples, mosques; ask your municipality about a trade-off: a small organized group of gardeners offer to keep a vacant lot mowed and weeded (saves the landowner/city/municipality the cost of paying for the mowing) and shrubs trimmed and so on, in exchange for what may have to be a community garden of raised beds for growing food; ask about permaculture/growing perennials.
Hi Huw, I think there are a lot of RUclips gardeners who are growing food cheaply and accessibly, recycling, reusing and adapting what they can get hold of. They are small channels without sponsorship so they don’t get the attention. I grow to feed my household and help out friends with fresh produce, I don’t buy expensive gadgets and I use window sills and indoor spaces to bring on seedlings. I follow no dig and I do have to buy in some compost although the amounts are getting less, but I try to buy when compost is on offer…. I am sure there are other growers who just get on and do the growing. RUclips is a fantastic resource for passing on knowledge and community feeling.
This project is amazing, Huw! I love that the initiative addresses some of the "bigger picture" issues, and can't wait to see it progress. Cheers from the USA! 🌱
Good Morning Huw. I have really missed your knowledge but I'm back for more. The city in which I live collects all of the leafs, twigs, etc from the natural drain system. They compost it and when it is ready, they GIVE it to gardeners, farmers, etc. All we have to do is be there between a certain time once daily and get all we want. If you happen to have a dump truck and backhoe, you can take all you want at anytime. It is a great system. (the compost needs to be put through a screen / sifted to catch unwanted trash that may be buried within.) Everyone should check withe local administrators for information.
I love the information you provide and especially excited about content offering of learning how to make your own ferments! I feel one major aspect that you hadn't mentioned in regards to gardening not being accessible, is that many people can't afford to have a property with space to grow! Content on apartment growing (ie, sprouts, indoor herbs, growing on 10x 6 balcony, build a worm bin under your sink, etc) would be valuable as we continue to experience a housing crisis.
What an absolutely wonderful project to take on. Lots of people think growing your own food is really expensive, but it can be done very affordably & I’m excited to see this project take shape!
Thank you Huw, not since dear late Geoffrey Hamilton was on BBC doing experiments has anyone else been making so many comparisons I think. One of the best he ever did, was put up a fence to emulate an average sized small surburban new house garden, and see if he could grow enough veg in between flowers/shrubs to support a family of four almost all year and look decorative too. His compost bin was built to look like an old fashioned white beehive. Copying him, I cut the bottoms of wine demijohns (with a tile bath tile cutter slowly) put a piece of old hose round the bottom edge after sanding them a bit, then use them as mini cloches/slug protectors for new young plants. The cut off bottoms are also edge sanded, then used as under pot saucers in hot weather. I've subscribed :)
I just love this. I have followed you for 2-3 years and your content nearly always resonates with me. The cost associated with gardening can often times be discouraging. Any helpful insights on low cost plant supports, amendments, growing medium, etc. are always appreciated. Being organic and no dig is a commitment, but one that is well worth it. Looking forward to getting your book soon. I pre-ordered it through Amazon and am just waiting on it. No big deal! Just glad I could get it and support your endeavors as your content has so positively enriched my garden.
Just now seeing this. Needed this months ago but glad to have found it now. I’m disabled and having to use a wheelchair or a rolling garden seat to be able to access my garden I have my husband to help but he has some mobility issues as well and he’s 69. We need a self reliant food supply because of the rising costs of everything and we are both on a fixed monthly income. We have 2.75 acres. 1-1/2 acres roughly is full sun and the rest is further from the house and is a small forest small section with pine trees oak trees and a few cedar trees. We decided to get rid of our lawn and make it a food garden. Just laid cardboard down over the couch grass(UGH!) and put about 4 inches of hard wood mulch we got for free and sifted ourselves to about maybe 1/2 in size pieces and we put plants directly into that. I’ve planted thornless raspberry, choke berry, Concord grapes, some herbs and peppers and spaghetti squash and cukes and green beans. All the veggies have turned a very light yellow, so I’m trying to figure that out. I don’t think they like the mulch by I don’t know. I’m new to gardening and I’m learning as I go. If you have a book for all this new stuff that you mentioned in this video with instructions and so forth please send me the link. Thank you for helping us become more self sufficient to feed our families. I’m in zone 7b
This is the first video I have seen of yours and there is no doubt in my mind God brought me here. I am starting to grow our food and also herbs for medicines in our backyard and the price of getting started has been a fortune because our soil is very bad. Bottom line, your new plan is a blessing to me already and I cannot wait to see more. Hi from Md.,USA
Huw this project is so exciting and I can almost feel your energy and enthusiasm for it. Really looking forward to following this over time. Good luck and thank you. 👍👍👌👌
Thank you so much for this video. You have such a great mindset, always willing to learn and adapt. I recently watched another UK RUclipsr give a tip for saving money whereby you put your seedlings above a warm radiator, not very useful for people who can't afford to turn their heating on! Please could you consider making a video on worm composting as a way to improve soil. It can be started for free as long as you can get your hands on card board, a plastic bucket or tray and some dried leaves. You don't even need to buy worms, they can be coaxed out of the ground if you cover it with wet cardboard. It's small or large scale and very cheap (or free).
I’m so excited about the budget gardening section, as a pensioner on a very tight budget I am trying to grow as much food as I can in a relatively small garden. The ideas of making liquid feeds and saving water really appeal, I already make as much compost as I can but water is an expensive commodity for me as I never seem able to save enough. So once again well done Huw for bringing us lowly gardeners along with you on these exciting journeys..
I love the fact that this was your hobby and that now your love for it has taken you to another level. It's all sounds so interesting and i cant wait to see how it all goes.
Well done, Huw! I'm particularly excited to watch the small garden progress as I'm interested in finding more ways to grow and sustain my upcoming veg patch. Gardening is something that can and should be accessible to all and sharing knowledge with the community is such a huge part of that. Cheers!
I started composting last year in my apartment balcony. This year I'm using compost to grow tomatoes. I like your and other amazing gardeners on youtube, I learned a lot from you. Greetings from Turkey
Looking forward to all the things I will learn in this series! Last year I started a garden space with basically no money. I flipped the sod, gave the grass a couple weeks to die than manually chopped the soil up and planted straight in. I didn’t have money for a ton of compost or amendments so I bought one bag of compost and organic fertilizer and amended each hole I planted in. I mulched with grass clippings. All in all the garden was very successful! Can’t wait to learn more cheap methods I can afford to do!
Great direction to go in, Huw! How exciting for you! All the very best and I will watch your videos with great interest. Way to go, Stephanie! I too only put about 1cm of compost on my beds (not that I am saying I get the harvests you get! 😁)
This project is extremely timely with the current word/political climate and the importance of helping people ‘grow their own’ for food; especially for food security. As a relatively new grower (and an adoptee of no dig) I’m looking forward to seeing all the different techniques you are going to trial and no doubt implementing some of them myself. I appreciate all the time and dedication setting this up must have taken. Thanks Huw - I look forward to following this intently.
From south africa: been doing no dig for 2 years. I think u are 'on the money'. We need less space and more productivity/ harvest. Also, it is not just financial resources. It is also time . .... ! Thank you for sharing
I am so excited for this! I've also been struggling with the cost of gardening, a cubic yard of good compost is $100CAD here and that's without delivery. I make my own and even "steal" my neighbours leaf bags in the fall along with asking friends to drop their compost off. I'll definitely try using less going forward and am hopeful for a more sustainable and economical garden future.
First of all, congratulations on all the success that you have achieved, your content helps so many people around the world. Secondly, i think its absolutely fantastic that you are going to start making some of your videos more directed towards people who are on a tighter budget. You are really taking into account what is going on with the horrendous living costs and making this information available for all. Thirdly, i am super excited about this new project you are doing. That is certainly a lot of work but the things you, and subsequently, us all are going to learn from it will no doubt change the way people will garden for generations. Thank you for putting the hard work in and for continuing to develop your methods and being open to change you learn and grow too.
Glad to see the expansion of your projects Huw! You deserve to have your ideas and methods spread. This is going to be a game changer for your channel, for your knowledge base, and also especially for your viewers. Best of luck in all of these new endeavors!
I've been gardening for years (40yrs) and i agree it can get pretty expensive these days as its very trendy now. Your project looks absolutely fantastic, being a great believer in using everything you can in the garden, so i'll be watching with great interest. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and plans.
This makes me so excited!!!! Thank you thank you thank you for all that you are investing into the earth and into endless families and communities all over the world!
I watched this with a huge smile on my face! I’m thrilled to watch every single upcoming video!! I’ve never set alerts on RUclips but I will do so now. You are the BEST and I look forward to continuing to learn from you. Your courses have been invaluable and I know this new chapter will be too. (I’m particularly interested in the amendments.) Thank you for all you do. My garden wouldn’t be half what it is without you.
Can't wait to see how you make the most of the small garden space. I only found your channel last month, but I have already learnt alot, I love getting inspiration from all of the different gardens you show, I also have your latest book which is great for written reference. This year I have built 6 raised beds, I also bought a small 'flat packed' one, I have filled them, prepared one traditional bed, and filled 11 potato bags. The compost and top soil etc have been my biggest outlay, I don't want to think about how much I spent on it (it was done gradually) I do have a compost bin started now, but it is not very big due to lack of space. I am so excited at the moment seeing so many of my seeds become seedlings, I have grown in previous years, but not to this extent, and not with such diversity. I am trying lots of different veg, to see what works out best, I know there will be failures, but I am loving it.
Wow! What an exciting project, Huw! With my allotment time increasing with the season, I have had to reduce my RUclips video consumption, and yours always makes the cut. I appreciate your constant thirst for knowledge in your field, and your passion for sharing that knowledge. We get stuck in our ways about veg growing, and you are a breath of fresh air bringing alternative methods to the fore. I know that I am fortunate to have an allotment in a time when there are long waiting lists, and that’s where they are a thing. I am also fortunate to be at a point in my life where I can make purchases for it. But this may not always be the case, and being thrifty is a skill in itself. I look forward to upping my game with enhancements, as well as learning other methods to increase the quality of my produce. Thank you for your commitment, passion and generosity. May you and yours be blessed with abundance, always 🙏
I can't wait to see this entire project develop and the results of this. This will enable people to choose a "project type" based on their space and finance availability😊
I love what you're doing Huw, and what you've done in the past. Don't be angry with the cost of living though. It's a problem we've created ourselves, since it's been clear this was going to happen since the 90's. When a source is non-renewable, it means it will run out at some point. And most of us in our lives and in our politics, chose to ignore that simple fact, and continue with a life reliant on these resources (car to work, plane on holiday, everyone their own house, etc.). Now we're presented the bill.
Looking forward to watching the progress on this project. One way I have reduced the need for purchased resources was by increasing the size of the Back To Eden garden section. Using free wood chips I was able to triple the size of the BTE garden. Things like winter squash and pumpkin grow better in the BTE garden than they do in the no-dig gardens, and with the developing squash laying on the wood chips instead of soil prevents problems of the fruit rotting.
I´m so happy for you Huw! The growing areas look so inspiring, I can´t wait to follow these projects! Amazing. Please don´t exhaust yourself, have fun.
🎉 This is so exciting!!! You're addressing all of the top issues that I and fellow gardeners are meeting in our regenerative no dig gardens!! Thank you!! In your honour, my colleagues and neighbours are going to wear a leek on St. Davy's Day!!
Huw thanks so much for your determination to think of ways to enable others to work a garden of their own, and to do it affordably and simply as possible. This idea is so important in these times! The hardships we are now forced to live with are just the beginning and many folk do not know that things are about to (deliberately, from the powers that be) get so much worse sadly. We must prepare as best we can for this by taking control of our own food prodution now. You are a kind and generous soul and I am really grateful that you put so much thought into broadcasting your amazing ideas freely, in order to get this information out there. I love your thought process and your ideas sound very exciting. Looking forward to learning about this in your coming videos. Bless you.
WOW - what incredible comments! I will make every effort to reply over this weekend! So excited to hear all your thoughts and responses!
Good evening Mister, if one member of your team speaks french, I recommand you "vivre avec la terre" (living with earth) - Charles Hervé-gruyer (ferme du bec hellouin). It's a 1000 pages of permaculture expérimentations (some documented by universities...) in Normandy (France) - comparable climat. Remarquable book.
Sorry Bad english.
For compost you can use also tops of nettle 😉
All you have to do is to put a lot of it in barrel, fill it with water and let it rest for about an week
LEACS? Maybe more memorable is SCALE? Also aligns with your goal of larger reach in helping more folks. Either way, I look forward to your future vids.
Subscribed! I live next to the sea. I can't wait to see the results of experiments with resources gathered from the beaches. Also another experiment could be 'Does brewing beer/wine in a greenhouse improve plant growth?'. After all, if plants use a lot of CO2 to grow, surly the Co2 given off from Brewing will not only save pounds, but maybe have a noticeable effect on crop Yield at home? potentially saving more money!
also does the waste from brewing have uses in the garden... ...can the dead yeast and a bit of alcohol from the brewing process be thrown in the compost heap? what category of waste is the spent malt from beer making green or brown? can beer be used to lure slugs into a trap that doesn't kill them? (I can help with this I have a 3D printer) I can already imagine a whole video on brewing in the garden ending with a tipsy Huw! 😀
This man is a treasure.
Huw sitting on his' pallet throne as the self anointed King of budget gardening, brilliant!
Just when I think things can't get better, you do this! Amazing, you're an incredible human Huw. I can see great things developing from these research projects. Not seen such energy and drive in UK horticulture/ self sufficiency since the early days of organic movement in the 70s 😏 you're shifting the paradigm. Well done champ 👍
Isn’t Huw just such a treasure?!!! I’m old enough to remember raising funds for African nations to teach villages how to become sustainable in meat/vegetables and water!
Who’d have thought then that the UK would need help in returning to family/community sustainability and afford to eat and heat. 🤷♀️
Unfortunately with the state of todays economy more and more people are going back to their roots . Pun alert lol.
I’ve started raised beds this year and excited for the journey . We all can start and grow something even out of a bucket on your window .
Plus it tastes so much better . Society is slowly getting back to nature and this channel is the epitome of how it should be done . Let’s all keep hardening and sharing and bring humanity back together . Let’s share love and end all the war and fighting.
Huw, your commitment to learning and teaching are absolutely second to none! I have drastically limited my RUclips viewing to only those who spend time teaching in an area of interest to me and, needless to say, you are my main go-to gardening person. I think you are spot-on with your thinking about the need for us to grow more food in our garden and your commitment to give free information in absolutely inspiring. You are a great young man and I pray you will continue to find success in all you do. As always, greatly appreciate you. (Kentucky, USA)
Agreed!
From another Kentucky USA viewer.
Zone 7
Agreed - from a neighbor in Indiana, USA !
Fantastic news from your channel!
Another thumbs up from S. Portugal.
First time here from Alabama, USA. Thanks for sharing and all the best Huw.
Honestly, this couldn't be more timely. Thank you for pivoting to cost-savings. So many of us are in need of just that. 💖
That’s fantastic news! I can’t think of anyone better suited to take on this new challenge and new direction. I look forward to your future content 👍
I'm with you Huw. My thinking has ended up right there. I remember as a child during the 70's America had a huge run of inflation. People flocked to the garden and living off the land. Thanks mostly to Rodale, and I'm sure plenty of old timers still alive then who lived before electrification, there were many techniques passed around on how to garden simply and effectively. I know my parents used them, still have copies of the 70's versions of Rodale's Organic Gardening and the old PBS Victory Garden book, which was my first education on that subject.
I've built on that, but really didn't come full circle till you introduced Korean Natural Farming and JADAM principles in one of your videos (Kitchen Garden Ferments I believe) , which really really opened my eyes to how self-sufficient you can actually be start to finish and make things a closed loop. I've been getting there starting my own plants and savings seeds among many things picked up or invented along the way, and I've bought some books including yours and Nigel Palmer's to add to the knowledge base and complete the circle.
On that subject, I see bits and pieces scattered across RUclips, but there is no really comprehensive and fully developed concept (though you are as far ahead on this as anyone) being presented out there on one site that covers the whole garden cycle in detail. From seed starting to growing to soil science to microbes, to tools to fertilizing to preserving the harvest to seed saving to autumn preps for next year, and of course recipes and everything in between, and the various techniques, from a total inexpensive yet self-sufficient angle. I see your vision and it's exactly what is needed. I don't think inflation is going away soon, and it's time for another back-to-the-land movement would be a godsend to people with limited income. With that has been learned from the last bout of inflation, it's even easier than back then to do way more with less.
Am excited to see what your efforts bring out.
You're a good man Huw.... The Spirit of the Earth is within you.... I'm so excited for you and all the incredible knowledge you'll be receiving!... This is exactly what the people need now more than ever.... thank you brother and I wish you all the success with your new journey...
Helping show the world how to affordably feed itself...indeed a worthy endeavor! Thank you for your beautiful, kind heart ❤️
Honestly, you are my favourite garden guy. Your efforts to make growing food accessible and approachable is commendable.
And looking at your sunny, green Welsh garden makes me hopeful, looking at my overcast, snowy Canadian garden!
I think this whole idea is really brilliant and will potentially be really helpful. Its easy to become disillusioned with it all - especially scaling up - when you start looking into what things cost. Initially filling raised beds is a big one I feel most RUclipsrs and writers overlook so its something people don't tend to consider but in reality its a huge cost
It's crazy expensive to set up the raised bed garden. I have spent a lot of money this year but I am looking at it as an investment to grow my food, as much as possible. From now on I should be able to grow for very little cost and a huge amount of satisfaction. My mom is next door and although I learned from her she now has zero interest in growing food but when she comes to my garden she enjoys the fresh berries and tomatoes! Gardening is about sharing and that is my greatest joy.
@@bjbrown6884 Yes, it is expensive. but I set up my raised garden in 2008 and it is still growing strong. Filling the beds is a challenge for sure but so much depends on what you have around in your area that's free. Often someone else's 'waste' is another person's gold. I direct compost by burying my kitchen scraps directly into the beds on a rotational basis or using one bed for composting for 6 months, covering with soil and then growing winter squash into the bed. They seem to thrive on the stuff. I live in S. Portugal, so my challenges are very different to growing veg in the UK. Water is a huge issue so mulch is very important and this year I'm experimenting with some 14 year old bark chippings, as well as straw. Your investment will grow.
@@chichestermaritime8174 I live in Florida by Tampa so I have the advantage of weather. I am hoping for a delivery of free wood chips soon to use as mulch. The last delivery has really worked out well. My main problem is lack of rain so I have to rely on watering. I had hoped to set up a rain barrel system but chronic lack of rain leads me to believe it's not worth the investment. Happy gardening!
@@bjbrown6884 We have had another very dry winter but have invested in 7 x 1,000 litre tanks (same a Huw uses) and I also catch water for drinking. I use buckets and an electric pump as Portuguese rooflines aren't designed for guttering. The investment is definitely worth it just to be independent of municipal supplies or a possibly dry borehole. I used wood (hugelkultur) to half fill the raised beds and then topped off with soil. Over the years the wood has broken down. Maybe free wood chippings could be used to part fill the beds at the bottom to save valuable soil? Have fun.
We've had a lot of unseasonable rain here in Thailand and everything has exploded with growth, this is really good for my corn, beans and sweet potatoes, but the weeds and grass has also gone wild. So what I've been doing is composting it all, my 3 bins are filling up nicely, I'm gonna need it all, and probably more, for my future new no dig project on our 1/2 acre of land :)
Very rarely do I comment - in fact can't remember the last time that I did - but this has made me so happy to watch. The acknowledgement that some who are gardening toward self sufficiently and the homesteading lifestyle have become a little complicit in adding to peoples fears and overwhelm, as some vloggers and bloggers are making it seem like something SO big and expensive, or magic that is only for the few. It seems as soon as the first few tutorials are watched, there is a stream of hard sell for courses that enable watchers to 'join the club', or risk staying on the outside. You and others like Liz Zorab are going to such lengths to make information available to everyone, accessible and not at all scary. You clearly care about the greater impact and about the inequalities that this kind of resilience can help offset. This is so inspiring and helps people like me feel that there is more than one way to do things and that we can do this in ways that feel achievable to us and that more experienced people like you are active in helping us! Btw, a video introducing 'Team Huw' would be really interesting as you often talk about them, but we don't see them. I'm nosy!
Thank you Hew. We are starting a garden group through the local library to encourage and mentor new gardeners. The library has a seed library where anyone can pick up free seeds. We have been giving away grab and go bags with seeds a quart of potting soil and a 6 cell container. I look forward to incorporating and sharing your methods with the rest of our group. Yours in the soil food web, Bob Engstrom
I'm running a seed group too. This has got me thinking on how to share Huw's knowledge in my community too. Thanks @Robert
What an incredible project, Huw! So looking forward to seeing how the experiments turn out 🙌
Thank you so much Tanya!!
I'm very fortunate in some ways that my back garden fence borders the edge of a farmers field. At this time of year there is a massive amount of nettles, green alkanet (slightly invasive borage), cow parsley, cleavers etc. I go along and harvest a metre or so directly behind my fence to stop weeds coming through which also supplies a lot of green for compost. I leave plenty for wildlife and the farmer doesn't care. For me it's actually harder to source brown material than green and I mainly use cardboard.
Thanks Hugh, for this commitment. Food here in the US has increased dramatically in price. We are increasing the size of our veg and soft fruit garden in USDA Zone 4b significantly and hope to supply at least 4 families this year. Your ideas and experimentation help us significantly. God's best to you.
I'm so pleased to hear it helps! :)
What a fantastic use of your knowledge and talent. This will benefit so many people. And the planet! 🌱🙏🌻
You have solidified your place as my favorite RUclips gardener. What an honor. I love the project!
Looking forward to seeing all of the experiments. As a small space gardener, I’m excited to learn more.
Yesssss! This is great, more of this is needed. I live in an area of Wales where there's alot of poverty and short life expectancy and poor health are common. Part of this is poor diet, often caused by financial situations or poor education. I'm so passionate about gardening being brought to all class backgrounds in and affordable accessible way and also have an Instagram trying to empower people with disabilities and chronic conditions to grow food, even if on a tiny scale. It's helped me massively as a Fibromyalgia sufferer and I'm sure can help others. Keep doing what you're doing Huw
This is brilliant! I’m just setting up my first No Dig vegetable garden in my garden, and our local council has just asked for a meeting to discuss how we can support families in our community over the coming months, because I run a group called Ellesmere Elves which helps people in our rural community. Got to be honest I’m a long way out of my depth but I think we are just going to jump in and hopefully swim not sink! So this video and future ones is invaluable and I’ve shared it on Elves and with the council…thank you for sharing your knowledge, it’s so valuable
Most great projects start exactly that way. If you wait until you 'know enough'. you'll never start.
How exciting Huw, thank you for sharing your knowledge, we all need to go back to being much more self sufficient and most have forgotten how to survive without everything coming from a store. Of course that can be easier said than done but with your guidance and willingness to help people find their way I think there will be great success. Thank you so much Huw for your commitment to helping us all succeed and find our way back to Mother Nature and all that she offers. Wishing you great success and many blessings with your new projects 🙏🌻🦋🐝🌺
I'm so looking forward to seeing what you do with the mini garden! I've just taken on a mini plot at an allotment that isn't much bigger than your garden. It was nothing but grass but in the last week I've set up a compost area and have a few no dig beds ready to go. I've never grown much before so I'm really excited to take on board all the info you will be sharing. Here's to a fruitful growing season!
This is so exciting! With the ridiculous cost of food now, we need all the help we can get to produce our own veg within a small budget. Thank you so much, so many people will benefit from your work and experimental gardening ❤️ Helping us to help ourselves. If I was your mother I'd be really proud!!
I am very excited about your new project. I will say I thoroughly enjoyed your series on garden tours. Provides inspiration and they are a delight to the eye. 😊
We decided to up our gardening game for this year from level 20 to level 1000, we went from plain backyard to several raised/inground beds, looks like a garden center now lol. We can't wait to see the results throughout summer. You have been an excellent inspiration and resource. We are excited to watch the LEACS project progress! Good on you for taking the charge to produce this content. Thank you and keep it up! topic suggestion: various garden structure construction tips would be cool. example: like building, placing, and operations tips (like watering, work flow considerations, etc) for poly tunnels/greenhouses/etc. Garden workflow and permanent plant location planning is a major topic of interest for me.
Great plan. Making plant tea is a quick turn around as long as you can handle the stink. Also Chop and drop works well to suppress the weeds and keep the moisture in the soil and so much more. It's the least work for amending the soil.
Love the direction you‘re going! Good on ya‘! Can’t wait to see the results on this channel!
THe one thing I appreciate about Huw, is he gets to the point quickly and stays on topic. Many thanks!!!
I’m so glad you’re focusing on the self-sustaining garden going forward! I managed to make my small urban garden grow with very little annual investment for five years (after job loss and multiple surgeries) with only my kitchen vermicompost bin that I’ve had for nearly 20 years. Also excited to hear you’ll be talking about seed saving, which is a passion of mine that very few RUclips gardeners seem to focus on. I left one overwintered purple Vienna kohlrabi to go to seed this spring along with a bunching onion-because I’m out of seed and need more! Last year I left overwintered tatsoi to go to seed and shared that seed bounty far and wide and I have enough for my own needs for several years. So excited to follow along with you to learn even more ways of sustainability in the garden.
20 year old vermicompost!?! I just started my first about 5 months ago, I'd love to hear your experience
@@bdubb3178 I remember back when it was just us 5-6 worms, worming our way through the kitchen scraps. We'd have so much to choose from, and so much space. Now all those young worms have moved in with their families and it's all so noisy and they leave the place in a right mess with no thought to us older worms. 20 years, worm and baby, I've lived here but things are just changing so fast. The other day one of those young worms just wiggled right into me! Listening to his loud music, and tapping on his screen, he didn't even look up to apologise. We never had manners like that when I was that age. We used to slither right from one end of the bin to the other in a single day to pick up the best scraps. Worms these days just want it all delivered to them. They don't want to work for anything. I expect this summer will be my last. Probably get beaten up by one of those youths, stealing my last beetroot leaf.
@@ricos1497 😂
@@bdubb3178 The vermicompost tends to get a bit seedy over time so I mostly bury it beneath my transplants. I have tons of red wrigglers surviving in my garden from the worm eggs that get buried with the compost. I also make vermicompost tea to water with-some vermicompost, a bucket, and a bubbler for aeration. It grows great bacteria for soil health. When I’m actively feeding the bin, I have more worms, when I’m not feeding the bin (due to multiple surgeries etc), the worms keep eating, but produce less offspring. There are 20 years of progeny in their bin home. Have never bought more worms. Vermicompost is truly black gold in the garden.
I love this Huw. This I think should be the goal for us all. I've took no dig methods, and also incorporated some other market gardening methods and ideas. Back in the day, people didn't buy all these other things so how can't we do the same. I have designed my allotment with the off grid mentality working towards complete on site self sufficient, growing plants is almost a secondary process as compost, water and a little power is the main goals. I built a mini version of Curtis stones passive solar greenhouse, I tried and tried all the compost "methods" till I found a compost geek and changed my world, genuine good compost in 30-40 days. Large water catchment from the large greenhouse roof. Raised beds with hinged cloches, some with netting, fleece and poly depending on the crop, lastly, 3 cheap 100watt solar panels and bits to have some power on site, just for light at night when it's dark, pumping the rainwater to water and charging my phone. Free plant feed I'm gna start. This series your doing will be really good and look forward to it.
Thank you Huw for looking out for the poor and struggling. You really are a facultative anaerobe, bringing our culture back to a place where it can breathe peaceful air.
For those of us with access to a bit of land even if this is small, we are privileged. What about the people living in flats and the inner city. I would like to see much more urban space provided for anyone who want to to grow fruit and veg so that anyone in the community can contribute to and also benefit from the produce. I am excited to see the results of your work, your enthusiasm is contagious.
I think not all channels will cover all of that.. I like to watch Kevin from Epic Gardening for urban gardening tips 😊
Spicy Moustache has some great content on urban/small space gardening
@@5ystemError agree!
What a wonderful project! That is what the world needs right now, encouraging young people like you. Thank you so much!
That's lovely of you to say. Thank you :)
I discovered your channel a few years ago and it has been one of my favorites ever since. The way you explain things and demonstrate things so that even the beginner can understand the why and how is just amazing. I am especially excited about this particular video as I think that now, more than ever before, we all need to be helping others learn to grown their own food. Thank you for all you do and I hope you will continue to put out the wonderful content you always have.
You are a natural born educator and in addition are exceptionally adept at incorporating all the great things others have learned and in turn taught you, along their journeys and passing that knowledge on. It is always a total gift to watch you and learn and then go off to our own gardens and growing spaces to implement and experiment too. I just love it.
Hallelujah! Thank you so much for recognizing and acting on the widespread need to feed ourselves, families and friends in the healthiest and least expensive ways.
I'm excited to see the results of your trials and the direction you take your channel!
from home gardening to creating the centre for regenerative agriculture.. very inspiring Huw!
All absolutely fantastic, rooting for you! As a newbie this all stresses me out 😅 but look forward to see new videos.
My dad was telling me that my grandad back in the day would use horse manure, he used to get my dad when he was a boy to go on the train with a suitcase to fill it up and he used to have it in a huge tank of water and stir it every so often to agitate it and he would only ever water the crops with that water and apparently the crops where huge in size and there was tons of veg etc from it
Sarah Nolan- I was just telling my teenagers about how my grandfather grew incredible veg using similar methods! My father, in his pre-teen years during the war, was responsible for the meat rabbits they raised. He remembered his father using the hutch clean out to make manure tea.
That is quite a project to start and be involved in Huw, I wish you all the very best of luck with it. It's a massive undertaking...Steve...😃
Wow, this is so cool, Huw! Project LEACS looks like it will be one of the most exciting gardening projects in RUclips history. Am really looking forward to all your experiments and what outcomes you get. This is a real service to the wider public, thank you!
Hi Huw!! We're really digging this video 😆💚
I’m a long time gardener. And, I hear from others how expensive gardening is and I tell them it really isn’t. I’m excited to watch the following videos on this project.
In the fall this year I'm going to try to use cover crops in replacement for compost to cover my 60 beds. I'm going to use diverse cover crops that are winter kill and then mulch over it in the spring. This growing season I'm going to focus on having at least 4 plant families in every bed because of the studies I've been reading on how well that helps plants be resilient and how the diverse micro biomes work together instead of competing. Your 10% rule has always stuck with me and I'll be using flowers to help round out the plant families. Another focus will be on increasing the ability of my plants to photosynthesis and add more exidates to the soil which should help me limit the amount of compost I need. And last inoculant and compost tea to stretch the compost I do have.
Absolutely brilliant! This is much needed I really look forward to the results with your beds as I'm throwing all of those things at mine currently! Anyone who is inspired and helped to grow more of their own food is a massive win and this will help a huge amount.
Incredibly proud of the direction you're pivoting in, and impressed with the visions behind all of it. Extremely interested in the liquid amendments and the diverse practices available from what you're doing!
The designers did a fantastic job on the logo, animation and font.
I am so excited to see how this project progresses! I love this whole idea...and that the projects will be low or no cost is even better!!
This is such a great video and the news you share with us are incredible! The new project is so big and awesome and I think you are doing something very important for all the people in the world!
The only thing that I would like to suggest is that you team up with someone operating and gardening in a far drier climate: I always follow your videos and I also purchased and read your new book (loved it by the way) and I noticed that all your findings about gardening and many of the solutions and techniques that you propose are suitable for your Welsh climate, which is super humid! You are now famous all over the world and the majority of the people that follow you, as me (Italy) garden in much drier climate. Many of the techniques that you use are not suitable for gardening outside the UK that has a super particular climate, always raining. I personally had to adapt many of the techniques and I had to do the opposite sometimes, using other gardeners as example.
What I am humbling suggesting you, Huw, is that you team up with someone from a drier climate, maybe Self Sufficient Me or others, so that you can help also the people from outside the UK, the majority of your public. To bring you an example I cannot use compost as a mulch here in Northern Italy because it's too hot and it is consumed by oxidation so quickly... I use hay instead because it lasts longer and we don't have slugs issues.
This is brilliant Huw!
Sustainable, affordable and doable! That’s what we need 💪
I can't express how excited I was about this news...actually watched de video twice🤗Mixing concepts and diferent techniques, experimenting and evaluating what works best its the true expression of "thinking out-of-the-box". I will be looking forward, every week, for a new video and experimenting along. Thank you for doing this and taking us on this journey with you.☺
Love Project ‘Leacs’! So you have tapped into a little idea that has been nudging me for the last year! I want to help grow vegetables in area where young children have food instability. So now I’m going to start that journey. Back ground work this spring and summer to find connections and locations. Then we will hopefully get rolling this summer. Exciting!
Food insecurity (something with which I personally have never had to deal or struggle or worry over for myself) is something which I find deeply concerning, and I know it affects people of *all* ages, from tiny children to senior citizens, and often in surprising places. I'm convinced, and passionately dedicated to the idea, that everyone needs to be able to grow some of their own food and that those of us who can help others toward that end ought to help: provide some seeds, provide a container, provide some growing medium; contribute/donate a trowel, a spade, a rake, a watering can, somewhere to someone. Pay for a soil test. Help to collect fallen leaves in the autumn, and amend the soil with them. Are you perchance in the U.S.?
Oh, and of course: spread the good word about Huw's channel, but there are people who lack internet accessibility, too, so some additional work is needed, just getting out and talking with people. Check with schools, churches, temples, mosques; ask your municipality about a trade-off: a small organized group of gardeners offer to keep a vacant lot mowed and weeded (saves the landowner/city/municipality the cost of paying for the mowing) and shrubs trimmed and so on, in exchange for what may have to be a community garden of raised beds for growing food; ask about permaculture/growing perennials.
Hi Huw, I think there are a lot of RUclips gardeners who are growing food cheaply and accessibly, recycling, reusing and adapting what they can get hold of. They are small channels without sponsorship so they don’t get the attention. I grow to feed my household and help out friends with fresh produce, I don’t buy expensive gadgets and I use window sills and indoor spaces to bring on seedlings. I follow no dig and I do have to buy in some compost although the amounts are getting less, but I try to buy when compost is on offer…. I am sure there are other growers who just get on and do the growing. RUclips is a fantastic resource for passing on knowledge and community feeling.
This project is amazing, Huw! I love that the initiative addresses some of the "bigger picture" issues, and can't wait to see it progress. Cheers from the USA! 🌱
Good Morning Huw. I have really missed your knowledge but I'm back for more.
The city in which I live collects all of the leafs, twigs, etc from the natural drain system. They compost it and when it is ready, they GIVE it to gardeners, farmers, etc. All we have to do is be there between a certain time once daily and get all we want. If you happen to have a dump truck and backhoe, you can take all you want at anytime. It is a great system. (the compost needs to be put through a screen / sifted to catch unwanted trash that may be buried within.)
Everyone should check withe local administrators for information.
I love the information you provide and especially excited about content offering of learning how to make your own ferments! I feel one major aspect that you hadn't mentioned in regards to gardening not being accessible, is that many people can't afford to have a property with space to grow! Content on apartment growing (ie, sprouts, indoor herbs, growing on 10x 6 balcony, build a worm bin under your sink, etc) would be valuable as we continue to experience a housing crisis.
I'm really excited and looking forward to this new direction. It will be so helpful to gardeners all over the world. It's a brilliant idea!
What an absolutely wonderful project to take on.
Lots of people think growing your own food is really expensive, but it can be done very affordably & I’m excited to see this project take shape!
This was by far my favourite video you have EVER made huw. The excitement in your voice! I'm excited for you! Looks fantastic!!! Danny
Thank you Huw, not since dear late Geoffrey Hamilton was on BBC doing experiments has anyone else been making so many comparisons I think. One of the best he ever did, was put up a fence to emulate an average sized small surburban new house garden, and see if he could grow enough veg in between flowers/shrubs to support a family of four almost all year and look decorative too. His compost bin was built to look like an old fashioned white beehive. Copying him, I cut the bottoms of wine demijohns (with a tile bath tile cutter slowly) put a piece of old hose round the bottom edge after sanding them a bit, then use them as mini cloches/slug protectors for new young plants. The cut off bottoms are also edge sanded, then used as under pot saucers in hot weather. I've subscribed :)
I just love this. I have followed you for 2-3 years and your content nearly always resonates with me. The cost associated with gardening can often times be discouraging. Any helpful insights on low cost plant supports, amendments, growing medium, etc. are always appreciated. Being organic and no dig is a commitment, but one that is well worth it.
Looking forward to getting your book soon. I pre-ordered it through Amazon and am just waiting on it. No big deal! Just glad I could get it and support your endeavors as your content has so positively enriched my garden.
Just now seeing this. Needed this months ago but glad to have found it now. I’m disabled and having to use a wheelchair or a rolling garden seat to be able to access my garden I have my husband to help but he has some mobility issues as well and he’s 69. We need a self reliant food supply because of the rising costs of everything and we are both on a fixed monthly income. We have 2.75 acres. 1-1/2 acres roughly is full sun and the rest is further from the house and is a small forest small section with pine trees oak trees and a few cedar trees. We decided to get rid of our lawn and make it a food garden. Just laid cardboard down over the couch grass(UGH!) and put about 4 inches of hard wood mulch we got for free and sifted ourselves to about maybe 1/2 in size pieces and we put plants directly into that. I’ve planted thornless raspberry, choke berry, Concord grapes, some herbs and peppers and spaghetti squash and cukes and green beans. All the veggies have turned a very light yellow, so I’m trying to figure that out. I don’t think they like the mulch by I don’t know. I’m new to gardening and I’m learning as I go. If you have a book for all this new stuff that you mentioned in this video with instructions and so forth please send me the link. Thank you for helping us become more self sufficient to feed our families. I’m in zone 7b
Never been so excited for someone else's projects!! Can't wait to watch it all, especially the confined space garden!
You are such an inspiring gardener!! I can’t wait to see how this evolves! I’m certainly looking forward to it!! Thank you so much!!!
I love this! I'm looking forward to seeing ever single update.
This is the first video I have seen of yours and there is no doubt in my mind God brought me here. I am starting to grow our food and also herbs for medicines in our backyard and the price of getting started has been a fortune because our soil is very bad. Bottom line, your new plan is a blessing to me already and I cannot wait to see more. Hi from Md.,USA
Huw this project is so exciting and I can almost feel your energy and enthusiasm for it. Really looking forward to following this over time. Good luck and thank you. 👍👍👌👌
Thank you so much for this video. You have such a great mindset, always willing to learn and adapt.
I recently watched another UK RUclipsr give a tip for saving money whereby you put your seedlings above a warm radiator, not very useful for people who can't afford to turn their heating on!
Please could you consider making a video on worm composting as a way to improve soil. It can be started for free as long as you can get your hands on card board, a plastic bucket or tray and some dried leaves. You don't even need to buy worms, they can be coaxed out of the ground if you cover it with wet cardboard. It's small or large scale and very cheap (or free).
I’m so excited about the budget gardening section, as a pensioner on a very tight budget I am trying to grow as much food as I can in a relatively small garden. The ideas of making liquid feeds and saving water really appeal, I already make as much compost as I can but water is an expensive commodity for me as I never seem able to save enough. So once again well done Huw for bringing us lowly gardeners along with you on these exciting journeys..
I love the fact that this was your hobby and that now your love for it has taken you to another level. It's all sounds so interesting and i cant wait to see how it all goes.
I love the direction of the channel! It has become my favorite of all the gardening channels. What you are doing is so very important.
Well done, Huw! I'm particularly excited to watch the small garden progress as I'm interested in finding more ways to grow and sustain my upcoming veg patch. Gardening is something that can and should be accessible to all and sharing knowledge with the community is such a huge part of that. Cheers!
I started composting last year in my apartment balcony. This year I'm using compost to grow tomatoes. I like your and other amazing gardeners on youtube, I learned a lot from you. Greetings from Turkey
Looking forward to all the things I will learn in this series! Last year I started a garden space with basically no money. I flipped the sod, gave the grass a couple weeks to die than manually chopped the soil up and planted straight in. I didn’t have money for a ton of compost or amendments so I bought one bag of compost and organic fertilizer and amended each hole I planted in. I mulched with grass clippings. All in all the garden was very successful! Can’t wait to learn more cheap methods I can afford to do!
Thank you Huw. Extremely relevant right now. This is what the world needs, not big ag and lab-grown “meat”.
Interesting project Huw, especially looking forward to your seed-saving efforts. Grand looking broccoli also. Good luck.
Great direction to go in, Huw! How exciting for you! All the very best and I will watch your videos with great interest. Way to go, Stephanie! I too only put about 1cm of compost on my beds (not that I am saying I get the harvests you get! 😁)
Huw, I think that green manures or cover crops is another way to substantially improve your soil!
Oh most definitely!!! Will be planting some on the terraces to get those going, and experimenting more in beds too🤞🌱
I'm dividing my comfrey and use it as chop and drop throughout the year.. Using it as an ornamental around trees till I harvest some.
Yes indeed! Just grow legumbres cover crops and till them in - saves a ton of compost!
This project is extremely timely with the current word/political climate and the importance of helping people ‘grow their own’ for food; especially for food security. As a relatively new grower (and an adoptee of no dig) I’m looking forward to seeing all the different techniques you are going to trial and no doubt implementing some of them myself. I appreciate all the time and dedication setting this up must have taken. Thanks Huw - I look forward to following this intently.
From south africa: been doing no dig for 2 years. I think u are 'on the money'. We need less space and more productivity/ harvest. Also, it is not just financial resources. It is also time . .... ! Thank you for sharing
What a wonderful human being you are Huw! Thank you for using your platform for helping people in need 🙏🏼👩🏻🌾
I will support this all the way. 🎈
I am so excited for this! I've also been struggling with the cost of gardening, a cubic yard of good compost is $100CAD here and that's without delivery. I make my own and even "steal" my neighbours leaf bags in the fall along with asking friends to drop their compost off. I'll definitely try using less going forward and am hopeful for a more sustainable and economical garden future.
Thank you for doing this. Your enthusiasm for helping gardeners learn to get the best out of our home gardens is an amazing gift.
It's my pleasure :)
First of all, congratulations on all the success that you have achieved, your content helps so many people around the world. Secondly, i think its absolutely fantastic that you are going to start making some of your videos more directed towards people who are on a tighter budget. You are really taking into account what is going on with the horrendous living costs and making this information available for all. Thirdly, i am super excited about this new project you are doing. That is certainly a lot of work but the things you, and subsequently, us all are going to learn from it will no doubt change the way people will garden for generations. Thank you for putting the hard work in and for continuing to develop your methods and being open to change you learn and grow too.
Glad to see the expansion of your projects Huw! You deserve to have your ideas and methods spread. This is going to be a game changer for your channel, for your knowledge base, and also especially for your viewers. Best of luck in all of these new endeavors!
I've been gardening for years (40yrs) and i agree it can get pretty expensive these days as its very trendy now. Your project looks absolutely fantastic, being a great believer in using everything you can in the garden, so i'll be watching with great interest. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas and plans.
This is so exciting!! Wow. I can’t decide what I’m most excited to see more off. Just absolutely marvellous 🤩
Thank You! We're all very excited too! :)
This makes me so excited!!!! Thank you thank you thank you for all that you are investing into the earth and into endless families and communities all over the world!
I watched this with a huge smile on my face! I’m thrilled to watch every single upcoming video!! I’ve never set alerts on RUclips but I will do so now. You are the BEST and I look forward to continuing to learn from you. Your courses have been invaluable and I know this new chapter will be too. (I’m particularly interested in the amendments.) Thank you for all you do. My garden wouldn’t be half what it is without you.
Can't wait to see how you make the most of the small garden space. I only found your channel last month, but I have already learnt alot, I love getting inspiration from all of the different gardens you show, I also have your latest book which is great for written reference. This year I have built 6 raised beds, I also bought a small 'flat packed' one, I have filled them, prepared one traditional bed, and filled 11 potato bags. The compost and top soil etc have been my biggest outlay, I don't want to think about how much I spent on it (it was done gradually) I do have a compost bin started now, but it is not very big due to lack of space. I am so excited at the moment seeing so many of my seeds become seedlings, I have grown in previous years, but not to this extent, and not with such diversity. I am trying lots of different veg, to see what works out best, I know there will be failures, but I am loving it.
Wow! What an exciting project, Huw! With my allotment time increasing with the season, I have had to reduce my RUclips video consumption, and yours always makes the cut. I appreciate your constant thirst for knowledge in your field, and your passion for sharing that knowledge. We get stuck in our ways about veg growing, and you are a breath of fresh air bringing alternative methods to the fore. I know that I am fortunate to have an allotment in a time when there are long waiting lists, and that’s where they are a thing. I am also fortunate to be at a point in my life where I can make purchases for it. But this may not always be the case, and being thrifty is a skill in itself. I look forward to upping my game with enhancements, as well as learning other methods to increase the quality of my produce. Thank you for your commitment, passion and generosity. May you and yours be blessed with abundance, always 🙏
I can't wait to see this entire project develop and the results of this. This will enable people to choose a "project type" based on their space and finance availability😊
I love what you're doing Huw, and what you've done in the past. Don't be angry with the cost of living though. It's a problem we've created ourselves, since it's been clear this was going to happen since the 90's. When a source is non-renewable, it means it will run out at some point. And most of us in our lives and in our politics, chose to ignore that simple fact, and continue with a life reliant on these resources (car to work, plane on holiday, everyone their own house, etc.). Now we're presented the bill.
Looking forward to watching the progress on this project. One way I have reduced the need for purchased resources was by increasing the size of the Back To Eden garden section. Using free wood chips I was able to triple the size of the BTE garden. Things like winter squash and pumpkin grow better in the BTE garden than they do in the no-dig gardens, and with the developing squash laying on the wood chips instead of soil prevents problems of the fruit rotting.
Can't wait! Don't forget to tell people to use their grass clippings as mulch. Lessens the need for compost etc so often and it's free.
I´m so happy for you Huw! The growing areas look so inspiring, I can´t wait to follow these projects! Amazing. Please don´t exhaust yourself, have fun.
🎉 This is so exciting!!! You're addressing all of the top issues that I and fellow gardeners are meeting in our regenerative no dig gardens!! Thank you!! In your honour, my colleagues and neighbours are going to wear a leek on St. Davy's Day!!
Huw thanks so much for your determination to think of ways to enable others to work a garden of their own, and to do it affordably and simply as possible. This idea is so important in these times! The hardships we are now forced to live with are just the beginning and many folk do not know that things are about to (deliberately, from the powers that be) get so much worse sadly. We must prepare as best we can for this by taking control of our own food prodution now.
You are a kind and generous soul and I am really grateful that you put so much thought into broadcasting your amazing ideas freely, in order to get this information out there. I love your thought process and your ideas sound very exciting. Looking forward to learning about this in your coming videos. Bless you.