Where did we go wrong...Our first year HOMESTEAD garden
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- Опубликовано: 22 июн 2024
- Our goal on our off-grid Tennessee homestead is to provide most of our food within the next few years. The first step to this was starting a garden...but so far, it has not at all gone how we planned. We dive I to what is going wrong with our garden and if there is any way to fix or prevent this problem
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Runaways where did we go wrong on our FIRST year OFF-GRID homestead garden...
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I noticed when you were watering your garden, in your intro, that you were spraying the foliage. The water isn’t needed there and it can burn the plants, if they are still wet when the sun gets hot. Point the spray towards the base of your plants. I know that sometimes it can’t be avoided. Farmers prefer flood irrigation, at ground level, over sprinklers, when possible.
Plant do like their leaves watered after the Sun passes them
you need to have the garden in the sun as much as possible. like all day
A few tips that might help...
1) don't water your foliage, water the soil. Drip irrigation. When you do water, water deep and allow the soil to get a little dry between waterings as it promotes deeper, stronger roots, plus it allows the soil to not become water logged and maintain good soil structure.
2) is this soil test company also testing for GRAZON? If not you may want to have that done before you go adding anything more to the beds. Danny, on Deep South Homestead (YT channel) has spoken many times about GRAZON and how it ruins your soil, meaning you will have to remove all of the soil and start from scratch. BTW, you will NOT be able to use any GRAZON contaminated soil for about a decade, if not forever. Being that you're going to have livestock this is something you will want to be fully aware of as it is commonly used on hay, probably straw too, that is fed to animals or used as bedding. Typically the supplier will not inform customers. Also, GRAZON does NOT breakdown in the digestive tract of cows, horses, etc. Please refer to Danny and Wanda for more detail. They are also using the Vego beds in large hoop houses. That's how he discovered the GRAZON contamination.
3) Typically, you would never want to put soil (from the ground) in a pot, or a raised bed like a pot. The Vego beds are like giant pots. If I were setting up Vego beds, I would use ProMix (potting soil = the BEST!), mushroom compost and go to the bait shop and get a cup of red wriggler worms for each Vego bed (I would NOT buy worm castings but buy the worms instead and put them directly in the Vego beds.
Your soil mix, looks to me like it has wood chips and has a heavy texture. Wood chips will rob nutrition away from your plants to breakdown, don't add such things to your garden bed soils either in ground or in a Vego bed. Additionally, if you brought/bring soil in for the beds, you have no idea what's in that soil. I would have it tested before bringing it in to be on the safe side.
Don't feel bad or like a failure. Gardening and producing crops is a skill that must be learned. It takes time. I would also recommend keeping a garden journal starting now so you can refer back to various things over time to better learn which things worked and which didn't. This is why preppers must start gardens now, so they can have failures now while times are still good. Imagine if you were doing this for the first time after a giant CME wiped out the grid. Yikes! Right? We've all failed at gardening... the more we fail the greater the successes. So get those failures accomplished and done with so you'll be that much better off into the future ;-)
Hello Matt & Cass. First of all, y'all did not FAIL! Starting a garden is a huge step. I've been planting for a few years now and I have hit and misses all the time. I was always told to just plant. Seeds want to grow. That's what they do. I watch MIgardener. He's full of good information .The main thing is to never give up. Winter crops are around the corner. Hopefully you'll be able to get the soil where it needs to be to plant garlic this fall. You could even try to find tomato plants, peppers or anything else and plant them in buckets so you at least have something. You've put a lot of hard work into the homestead. It's all coming together and so will the garden. I'm proud of the two of you. Take care. God bless.
You can not really learn how to garden from the internet, You just just do it and learn by doing. Mistakes are a great way to learn. You are just learning . This is the school of hard knocks , which is good .
Look at how much you've accomplished!!! All of the raised beds in, the fence in, getting a water source... these are HUGE strides!! I wouldn't consider this a fail, gardening is such a skill to learn. First it's one skill to be able to grow seedlings / plant starts. It's also a separate skill to grow in the garden. Each plant has so many different needs (from different bugs, different companion plants, different fertilizer needs). One downfall to gardening is that after you learn your lesson, it's a whole year before you can put it to practice again. Chalk it up to a wonderful learning experience!! I'm a 5 year gardener, and while I have learned SO much I still consider myself a beginner gardener on some things... but each season I learn something new. Keep going!! Build up your soil each year (leaves/compost/droppings), it only gets better and better.
My garden with too much shade doesn’t produce much. My garden in the direct sunlight produces a lot. Maybe that could help you too. Keep going! You got this.
Thanks for sharing your adventures with us, it means alot to see down to earth people working hard on their dreams
So true! Gardening is an ever changing learning curve! We only learn from making mistakes! I laugh that I will never know everything about gardening! I've been doing it for about 40 years now! Mentors or neighbors who have grown in the area is a wonderful help!❤
Smart move to feed the grubs to your hens, but what your raised beds need are earthworms. If you don't have a place to dig for them, get some from a bait shop, but you need earthworms to be your underground gardeners. I love your videos. Thank you so much for sharing.
I'm a raised bed gardener so my heart goes out to you guys. Good idea about mixing the soil with topsoil. Good luck with the sample test and I look forward to your test results. I remember when you found out you couldn't live in the tiny house, you came up with solutions and the tiny house became an extremely handy building. Blessings from the Oregon coast.
My garden failed twice because of several reasons and after a freezing hailstorm came and wiped out my corn for the 2nd time I was ready to throw in the towel but my sweet 7 year old looked at it and said that's ok we'll just plant more seeds tomorrow. I didn't replant corn but I tore out two rows of "dead" corn and replaced them with potatoes. To my surprise that corn that I didn't tear out bounced back and is growing but for the most part at this stage of the season I am banking on mostly squash and cucumbers.
Don't even mention corn to me. I tried planting it one year but I had war with nature. Long story short, out of over 30 plants I ended up harvesting enough to have one small bowl of popcorn:-)
It was still fun though running around chasing rabbits, chip monks, squirrels, birds, racoons, some little brown animals (I think ground hogs). I think even skunks and cats were running around my garden when I wasn't looking! I'm stubborn though, if I ever live long enough to have my own property I might try again someday.
One trick I learned is to bury some whole eggs it helps with nutrition for the plants
Interesting strategy! I never thought of that but it makes sense. Only one problem. If you don't bury it deep enough wouldn't it just attract little critters? And if you bury it too deep, would the plant roots still be able to access the nutrients?
@@IyseHexxo-br8uo I never had problems with animals when I did it but I guess that's always a maybe personally I always added a egg and coffee grounds then some dirt then plant
Hey folks,
Liz from Delaware here. I wanted you to know that I am very proud of you 2 for the great job you are doing on the build of your homestead. I don't even know you. I am very envious too. I would love to have our own place like that. But age and a body that doesn't work right anymore, not gonna happen. It's good to have something worth watching. Keep u the good work. Until next time, blessings, Liz
Hey Liz, would ever consider being part of a community of people who are homesteading? I want to do things like that too. In a community though, people do what they can to provide. Your body may not let you do some things but there may be things you still can do. I think of the Amish people. I may not agree with all of their practices but they nailed down the concept of team work and working together as a solid community.
You have the correct approach for this season. Cutting the soil is the only immediate option at this point. I’ve experimented with a lot of container mix soils over the years. They take a long time to correct once they are imbalanced. Sometimes it’s just not worth the time and effort but you all have so much invested it would be a shame to scrap it all. One thing you could try is to lower the pH of your water. Below 6.5pH, phosphorus is less available and will bind with other minerals, resulting in less uptake by the plant. Maybe do an experimental bed watering with 6.0 pH… or even 5.5. If you have a lot of compost in the soil, there are natural buffers that will bring pH back up but it might be worth a shot at this point. Good luck this year! Have been enjoying your homesteading journey. Inspiring!
Edit: also, and of course hindsight, might be worth the cost of the test next time you want to add off-site compost to get an idea of how much nutrient load is in the product. It could have been the source of your problem. Cheers!
Not a failure. Gardening is hard. My parents used to have a half acre garden. Some years they couldn’t keep up with harvesting and others were slow to produce anything at all.
I have read many to your comments and no one that I saw wrote anything about making sure that your compost and soil are herbicide and pesticide free. Also, when I had rabbits and chickens, I made sure their feed and bedding was herbicide and pesticide free as well, as non - gmo and organic as much as possible. I had better luck when using rabbit manure. I enjoy your videos. Keep your chin up, things will get better.
If your chickens start to take an interest in your garden, small line of flags around the garden can help stop them from flying in and eat your plants or just dig up the beds.
Don't feel bad. I moved to NB 3 yrs ago. A different climate from where I lived in ON. I built some garden beds and my first year was very lackluster. I now have some good compost and manure. I mix that in my garden beds and things this year are doing great. But it took 3 yrs. Another thing to watch for. I know that TN has outlawed spraying in their skies but it hasn't stopped yet. If you are in an area of a lot of chemtrails, that will really affect your gardens. All the chemicals in the spray will make your plants look sick. Just something to watch for. Good luck.
I'm not familiar with your area but one thing a lot of people forget about is pollinators. A lot of farmers keep one beehive in the area. And a little honey for the table is good also. But first though you need to get the soil right to get to the flowering stage,
Picloram, clopyralid, and aminopyralid can remain active in hay, grass clippings, piles of manure, and compost for an unusually long time. These herbicides eventually break down through exposure to sunlight, soil microbes, heat, and moisture.Feb 19, 2020
My morning starts at 4 am in Stewart TN. Getting feed and water for my animals off Friday with a small generator and solar. Been off grid for the past 6 years
I use top soil from the hardware store, it's cheap around $3 a bag, I also pick up a bag of manure which is $3 a bag, then I amend my soil with Perlite, Vermiculite, and slow release fertilizer pellets that I sprinkle in and mix through the soil, to save on dirt, you should fill the bottom half of your raised beds with branches and logs that you cut around your property, then fill the rest with soil
You haven't failed. Growing from seeds are tough. Blood meal, and bone meal is a life saver. Peppers and tomatoes don't like to get wet, water from beneath. Raised beds take more water than ground planting. Don't give up!! Your top soil is a great idea. I used mushroom compost in 2 of my raised beds, I had to mix in a lot of dirt to weaken it, now it's fine.
You guys got this! I have a similar story. I also live in clay and have put in soil to have a good top layer. My issue this year was I had got a garden compost mix and it was very rich and still had more composting to do. Thick leaves, sticks and other organic material that was just very dense. I tried growing my garden all from seed this year and used that compost mix and what a horrible idea that was haha. It was so thick it made it hard for the seeds to germinate and then to allow the roots to grow to their full potential. A lot of my plants when brought to the garden then died. Big losses this year between no germination or dying when transplanted. After I got my frustration out with the situation, I focused up and did some more research and compared my notes from previous years and figured out what I need to do differently going forward. Came up with plans to do it better next time.
Around the fruit trees use the natural compost from the woods around you. It will help with the trees. I'd also use it in the beds after the plants start to grow
you need to time the number of hours each tube gets sun. THEN COMPARE THIS TO number of hours sunshine required for each plant. Plants don't like shade. Seems like you have to miny trees in your garden.
I've read a few of the comments and most are right you Haven't Failed... but you may consider some adjustments and experments. 1) Hugelkutur and Lasagne style filling your raised beds. 2). Soil... not dirt, rocks and gravel. Rocks and gravel take up space in a raised and roots can't do anything positive with them. I'd pull out All the dirt you added to these beds and sift it through 1/4" hardware cloth to remove ALL rocks and gravel. 3) Soil not dirt. Dirt is what you get dig a hole 2 feet deep or more. Soil is what you find on a forest floor with lots of leaves, needles, sicks, twigs and other organic mater 4 or more inches deep, that is decomposing into the dirt. When I started our hillside garden over 5 years ago we terraced part of it and tried to plant directly into it and got very little. Then there is the issue of gophers. Even though we had sifted all the soil with 1/2" hardware cloth and removed all but pea gravel, and compacted the soil behind the terrace blocks, the gophers tunneled through. The terrace blocks we used can be space up to 9" apart leaving pockets in the face to plant into. We planted a mix of flowers and vegtables. I had to remove all the dirt in the pockets one by one, cut and press in 1/2" hardware cloth in to the back of the blocks to keep the gophers out and then mix the dirt with compost 50/50%, now the veggtables and flowers will grow. 4) Worm composting. In our garden we have several composting bins that have Red Wiggler worms in them. I call myself a "Lazy Gardener". I don't get crazy about turning the pile a lot... I let the worms a bugs help decompose it and leave behind some of the best compost and worm castings. What do we put in these composting bins? Anything that once was alive, including but not limited to All garden trimmings and waste, card board (is like ice cream to the worms... damp of course), grass clippings, weeds, leaves, wood chips, a dead bird, gopher or lizard the cat caught and killed, kitchens scraps and waste, shreaded paper. Top with enough dirt to cover your greens and browns add about a thousand Red Wiggler worms, top the dirt with a layer of cardboard (Amazon and Home Depot boxes are great), wet the cardboard and cover with bird seed bags to keep the moisture in the pile. Keep the pile damp and keep adding to the pile and within a year you'll have Great compost to top your garden beds. Here are a few links to help you get going. ruclips.net/video/iV4DjBZqTXQ/видео.htmlsi=Pklmy9wBs4iPQa-d. ruclips.net/video/JrPcc7p-XVc/видео.htmlsi=XZPjaJPOOjPx3UFf.
You two absolutely have not failed at anything I've seen you do.
I think more sunlight is your best next step. Keep trying, gardening is not easy and does not all happen at once. Check soil quality/fertilizer quality/water quality etc.
Find what works, then concentrate on that a bit more next time. Don't try to do it all at once!!
I noticed your garden has a lot of shade. Perhaps during the day your plants may get more sun, but many plants and vegetables need different light profiles so growing things in different places could help. I would try direct in ground grows. Get a tiller, clear a full sun area, break the soil up with a Maddox, till the row, add some of the compost from the raised bed, till it again, Sow or plant, finally water. Espoma gardentone is a fantastic product to add to your soil as well. Captain jacks dead bug is awesome too.
If you want to garden on a larger scale make rows with a tiller and use the raised bed for other things. You might need to move that fencing too. Those are my thoughts. Good luck gardening is hard. You might still be able to get a good crop of green beans, Squash, zucchini, and catch some deal on some late season tomatoes and peppers from your local garden center.
Keep in mind the metal you used to house the dirt in, could have made the soil far too warm/hot.
Depends on the specific plant, but ideal temperature matters.
The dirt seems to contain alot of mulch, and when watered holds a lot of heat in the surrounding top area.
Too much of a mulch layer hinders water from reaching the plant roots, as well as oxygen.
Also one must consider that mulch tends to spark fungal growth, which can easily destroy plants.
We know that specific watering times makes a difference, always best to water in the evening.
Today it's 6/24/2024, and I went outside last night about 2:00 am and noticed the ground was really condensed with moisture.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area.
Although were heading into the dog days of summer, it's still a nice amount of dew that's settling.
As a side note, compost should NEVER CONTAIN MEAT!
If you want a natural way of fertilizing your plant beds, then seed it with ordinary earthworms.
They provide a lot of nutrients as well as helping to oxygenate the soil.
[edit]
Another tip I learned in my youth, fish love cheese ;)
Y2 good point about the metal and it's very high too going to raise the heat but also shade some plants from direct sunlight
Honestly you didn't fail! I also started new raised beds and had a truck load of 'garden' soil and after talking to people regarding my problems realized that everyone says it takes a couple of years to get the soil right! The second year is better and the 3rd is usually back to normal! So don't worry so much about all the testing just add some good compost etc next year and mix it in and it will get better with time. Love my garden and every year it gets better 😃
Try using the Mittleider Method: 5x the production on the same amount of land with less work per unit of produce. Ideal for those who want to grow food as if their life depended on it. With step-by-step instructions - like a recipe - even beginners can raise highly productive gardens. No soil testing required. Grow any vegetable in virtually any soil in any climate with minimal water and effort per unit of produce.
Hi Matt and Cass, great episode, different veggies need different soil ph levels other well grow anywhere. A drip line irrigation system works the best. So far on our homestead here in southern Alabama we have grown all kinds of squash, carrots, potatoes, millet for our parrots and watermelon. All grown in raised beds except the watermelon. No critters or bugs have bothered the squash, but the bunny rabbits found the carrots and a simple solution to that is to plant marigolds close to the carrots. The rabbits like mosquitoes can't handle the smell the marigolds put off. Nothing has bothered the potatoes for some odd reason....
With raised beds, you really should look into something known as Mel's Mix. You mix the 3 ingredients in a tarp in equal parts and use that for the top 6"-8" of soil in your raised bed. Also, good thing to know your NPKs. Some things do better with higher PK levels.
Check into gypsum. It can reduce high potassium and phosphorus levels. Adds calcium to the soil.
Hello!' So sorry your having issues with your planting beds. You say it's the soil. Hope you are able to correct the problem.Your homestead is looking good. Don't be hard on your selves. It takes tome with learning. I wish you both luck. Don't stop trying.❤😊
FWIW we've had really good luck with the garden soil from Lowes. We had a pallet of it delivered and filled our raised beds with it. You could always just remove about a foot of your soil from your beds and put it on top.
I think something else that contributed really well was our auto drip system. Had a water pump connected to a rain barrel and then on the other side was a timer and the drip lines. It was a set and forget for the most part. Just ensuring the rain barrel had water in it. Worked really well when we would travel for a week or so. I even added a second barrel as a redundancy. Never worried about them not getting enough water.
Spraying grass and/or plants in the somer, should be done during the evening when the sun is coming down, so they have all night, to recover.
Spraying in the morning, only gives you dry burned grass, plants and vegetables.
I'm in North Georgia. This happened to me I had seven yards of supposed garden soil with compost brought in. Nothing grew for 3 months. I had my soil tested and it was too high in calcium and potassium. The extension office said get rid of it or wait a year. I am devastated. I got worm castings and I got the bagged soil.. it was just too bad. I have an indoor grow room. 3 shelving units that are 6 foot and 4 foot wide. I'm not new at this. I feel for y'all!! I'm so sorry!
That is One thing about gardening......it takes time to figure out. Don't feel Bad about it, Learn from it. This is why I always encourage others to start as soon as possible, because it does take years to perfect. Best wishes you two
Get ready for heaps of advice. Lol. Trial and error are normal. You two are so smart and with that positive attitude you will adapt and overcome. Love ya and stay safe.
Oh there will be HEAPS of it! Haha it'll all get figured out with time. Thank you so much & Love ya too!
You are not failing you are learning what does and doesn't work. Watch Becky at acre homestead she seems to have it "down". Now she is in the Pacific Northwest so some of the stuff she does may not work or be needed given your location.
everything takes time.....most gardens take on average 2 to 3 yrs to get crazy productive. takes time to learn what is needed for each area, especially when you first move to a new area. patience is key and determinations helps too. talk to the old timer sittin in front of the loacal store just chillin and people watchin. there full of information and stories from the local area
Not necessarily....my first year vegetable Garden, I had 9 Tomato plants and harvested around 350 tomatoes that season. I had 5 or 6 Bell Pepper plants and harvested 150 Bell Peppers.
You need 2 inches of water on your plants you need a deep watering. If you scratch the soil and the top is wet and the bottom is dry you aren't watering deep enough. Also foxfire plant food is great. I have two large gardens one is a raised bed garden and another in ground garden. The in ground garden we amend in the winter with packing it with goat poop and through the winter the snow and rain will saturate it put nutrients into the ground. We flood the garden once a week with a deep soaking and praise God everything grows beautifully. The raised bed are more challenging and I pack the same way in the winter with goat poop but we don't flood the garden because our water source isn't near by. Huge difference. Deep watering is beneficial. Try planting in ground. I would plant clover to amended your soil and you can feed it to your chickens.
Have fun with your successes and failures! What a beautiful place you have !❤
What i always do is mix cow poop thats composted to black top soil add vermiclite and mix it very well
If you can find mushroom compost soil its cow poop thats been used to grow mushroom its a very very good soil, put your worms in a worm compost bin not in the garden so you can feed them scraps
The vermiculite helps keep the soil loose plants grow better in loose soil.
I’m so happy you guys found out what the problem was with your soil. Hopefully next year, y’all’s garden will look so much better. At least you’re growing a small amount of something already. Happy gardening and hello from Nebraska!
I posted in the winter about putting leaves and cardboard over garden areas to prep them for planting and my suggestion remains the same. Dollar General (every mile or two in the south) has outside bins with free cardboard accessible. We always pick some up when we pass one. We also trench compost, putting organic scraps right in the soil to breakdown and mulch with leaves. Leaves & kitchen scraps will break down to make beautiful soil quickly. For rich soil, go into the woods and dig around downed trees. We sift and then use that soil. Also, soil shouldn’t be left uncovered. Go into the woods and grab some leaves. They’ll break down in those beds over time. We’re in WNC with crappy clay soil as well. We do not do raised bed gardening for a host of reasons. You have plenty of time this year to still plant things like beans, which will also add nitrogen into the soil. I would plant right into the ground in between the raised beds where there’s mulch, while you’re waiting to amend your bagged soil. Also, for almost all of the video, everything was shaded. While it looked nice and sunny when you originally got the raised beds months ago, I am not sure those plants are getting enough sun. See if you have seed libraries in your area with local seeds. Local seeds are best, since they’re acclimated to the region. It’s only June 23. You have a ton of time to plant seeds and it’s not very expensive to do so. When those leaves drop, I’m sure you’ll have success planting lettuce, carrots and kale. In March, plant potatoes in the ground in full sun. Your drone footage at the end shows a lot of full sun areas for them. Most important, you guys have been honest and are learning. Think of those who will helped because you didn’t hide behind what happened. With each lack of success comes a lesson learned, which in turn is future success. Chins up! And Go Bills!! Haha. :)
It wasn’t a failure; you just had to readjust. A few notes from a farm-raised gardener in East TN:
1) The red clay is a thing we have to work around bc it’s everywhere down here, and can definitely impact the success of your garden.
2) Since the raised beds are technically a large container garden, I recommend watering early AM and again near dark (once it’s cooled off some) when it’s 90+. Those metal troughs conduct a lot of heat when you live somewhere as hot and humid - and with such long days - as we do. And it will likely be like this until September.
3) Gardening can take time. My first garden was a raised bed similar to one of yours, and i had basically nothing happening until around July. Out of nowhere, I had more cucumbers, tomatoes, and bell peppers than I knew what to do with. I was giving things away left and right. My point is: gardening is the long game. More often than you think, when you’re almost convinced it’s a total loss, things just sprout. It really is a “trust the process” thing. 🤷🏼♀️
By adding that soil, it should really help. But if you need topsoil, go Into the Woods, scrape away the leaves and collect. What's there? That's the best stuff. The dirt.
's gonna help with the microbes. Sounds like you might be low on microbes
I also agree with those who say water from beneath. Most plants do not like wet leaves and it causes diseases, that’s why I recommended garden grids and ollas in my last comment.
Some fantastic follows on RUclips are…. I’ve learned a ton from all of them. I know y’all are huge researchers and I think you’ll find these all worthwhile, even though they are differing zones. Much of the info applies anyway and they’re all a wealth of knowledge from many years of gardening.
Growing in the Garden
The Millennial Gardener
Epic Gardening
MIgardener
Another short observation is, all of the weeds and things that you cleared indicate that the soil was good enough to grow and sustain them. I think it is good enough for a garden. But hey I’m not a farmer by trade
ph issues are tough. especially when using unfamiliar compost as additives. stick to basic potting soil builds and add nutrients as needed. trying to load up on nutes too fast is usually a discouraging setback for a lot of first timers. also, letting seedlings get better established in a seedling specific mix for a longer period before transplanting into the garden can be extremely helpful. seedling pod to 4 or 6 inch pot and then into the garden can really help save those delicate baby roots.
you're putting in the work.. you will get results. just keep at it. nice job folks!
I really enjoy following you guys on this adventure. It's very inspiring.
We are having our best garden this year I bought some alpaca manure and top soil. We struggle for years with bad soil rocks. So I also put in raised bed. We have tomatoes, variety of
peppers,cucumbers,green beans and corn on the cob. We are central mo.
Good morning guys! i wouldn't get too technical on everything. Plants can grow just about anywhere. I wouldn't go by a watering schedule. I would run a sprinkler and really y get those plants wet!!! every day or every other day in the morning or in the evening but not during the heat of the day. Raised beds need more watering than in ground does.
2 things i would do if it were me, 1. Watering plenty of water. 2. miracle grow. every 2 weeks sprinkle that around your plants and let the watering wash it down. Keep doing that and you will be golden.
I've been gardening fir several years now. Honestly, a good natural fertilizer would help tremendously. Try bone meal and blood meal, simply because it may take compost soil several years to actually developed properly. Or if you're not opposed to it, you could try a triple ten fertilizer. But, sun is the most important thing. Most veggies need full sun. So, I'd start with blood meal and bone meal.
Use manure from horses or cows. Let it sit topside for a few days and till it in and repeat about a week later. Let it get into the soil really well. Wait a couple of weeks after you get a good mixture and replant. Everytime I've done that I had a great garden. I always water around 7 pm until done. Plenty of sunlight is always good I noticed y'all have alot of shade and it's not good for certain plants.
We are just 100 miles to the east of you in east Tennessee. We found out in the ground garden we put in 6 tons of sand and 2 tons of mushroom dirt. Then rototiller into 6 inches deep seams it is working out. 2nd in Tennessee, you should be done watering by 7am.
garden goes in the cool ground...lots of mulch...rain is all thats needed...or if drought, slow irragation. NO above ground in hot metal boxes...more work, more drying ....waste of water. Go buy a tiller. Im just an old lady who has been doing this a long time...Eileen from Missouri.
Irrigate wherever possible. Don't give up and keep experimenting. It definitely takes trial and error.
just top dress with some 19 19 19 bone meal and lime befor the snow hits and next spring you should be good to go. i would have also added some Perlite is a natural substance that helps to modify soil by making it lighter and improve its drainage. You can safely add non-toxic perlite to a potting mix if your plants need to grow in a medium that drains well. Also, these little white ball-like minerals are useful for mixing into garden soil to help aerate it
Make a strainer to get rid of rocks in soil.... Also put lime in soil in fall. Find some decayed plant matter oak leaves...
Put organic charcoal on your garden soil to absorb the weed killers that do not break down charcoal will neutralize other chemicals that the plant will not absorb .it is not real expensive to use and you never know what has been sprayed on the garden soil that you bought to use for planting.
I think you did a great job on your gardens. I know how much hard work they are. Beside the soil, you also need pollinator's, bees and butterflies
Another thing you can do is get your chipper. And chip a big old pile of chips break all your leaves in the area. Paul almost together in a bend through all your table scraps in there, and you grind up newspapers and stuff. You just get it all ground. Crossed up cardmore monsters. Paper of anything, but anything that's slick. That's got a shiny surface. Do not use it but anything like newspaper. Soak it down real good throw it in there. Compost, it compost, anything that'll break down in the soil. Anything tree limb, rotten trees. Can you just figure out A? Way to bust them up enough that you can grind them in a grinder and then throw them in the compost pile. And eventually, you'll find it, you'll get a good Soil out of it. Old grass clippings that works good too. Rake them up dome in there. Get your grass catcher on your mower
Did the soil lab test for Grazon? That is one mean herbicide. It could arrive in compost, mulch, soil or manure. It would cause the kind of problems you have. It takes many years to break down. Just wondering.
Water the whole garden bed and not just around the plants themselves because it will cause it to dry out to fast and help with nutrient absorption
I recently bought a bag of expensive potting soil and it bluntly sucked ,they put ground up bark as a filler, less dirt more junk filler.
OK so you can send a soil sample into your state agriculture department and they will test it and tell you what you need or what you don’t need. It may cost a little bit but it’s not ridiculous.
Not going to offer advice, just wish you lots of luck. We're in middle TN, and growing conditions can be just different enough between west/middle/east to make me hesitant to suggest anything. But I wanted to recommend your local county's office of the UT Agricultural Extension office as an excellent resource. They should be able to offer some localized advice as you progress during your first growing season. And don't feel badly. We learn by doing!
Also, plant lots of flowers to encourage pollinators. You plus plant cilantro, dill and parsley and LET SOME GO TO FLOWER to attract ladybugs, lacewings, preying mantids and other beneficials insects to eat aphids and other bad bugs.
Check your soil content, oxygen, calcium, nitrogen, etc.
Proper soil content is critical, rabbit compost is a great fertilizer.
Opps, I wrote before watching that you did test your soil.
Get a good book for planting different species and what type of soil they require.
Also use natural bug deterent.
It's not too late to still get some goodies this year. Once i didn't get tomatoes in until mid July and before it was over i had 2 bushels and got 30ish cans of tomatoes!
She has ideas on how to build a cheap vertical garden on a t-post with supplies from Dollar Tree!
Good luck our problem this year was animals they destroyed everything so I got to work on a fence and replanted what I could . Rural South Central Indiana . Keep up the positive attitude Guys.
I’ve had experience with using manure that was not completely “burnt” that’s the only time when I had a ton of those grubs in the soil. I don’t know if it was the grubs or the manure, but it or they killed everything I planted.
Well, being 77 an never having a garden wife an i desided was time. I broke leg last year and shes not doing good eather. We hired a guy to put in a vego raised bed he used lowes soil no hardware cloth or ground cover its a 2x9x17in nothing is doing good tomatoes really look like charlie browns xmas tree. Now he charged us a lot for nothing but i think you spent a lot more than us. We live in a condo in Nashville tn. A girl at tsc told us to put ebsonsalt we did it did nothing. We added plant food nothing. We thought about soil test but so fare we havent. Good luck on your garden we love your channel
With this TN heat I'd make a change in how you are watering, if in the morning do t get the plant wet cuz it'll burn in the sun, I made a habit of watering around 7 pm.
I still need soil knowledge. 🕊️
Hi Matt and Kass,
I feel you on garden failure this year. Only a. Few of my plants made it too. I had some success l m going to try raised for my Garden spring. It’s not too late for a fall winter garden. ❤
Best of luck!❤
Watering the leaves is really hurting the plants and burning them. Also, this June is really dry down south.also some
Mulch will help keep the moisture in the soil during the is dry time
Another Tip....when you water your Vegetable plants, water them at the base...no need to drown the foliage with overhead watering...which may also lead to other problems. This is especially true with tomato plants.
Hey y'all ive been doing this off grid living for 16 years and gardening. And this year Ive had no luck almost nothing came up. Im blaming the sun . It couldn't be the dirt I've been very successful in the past. I did everything the same way .
Hey guys! Don't be sad! It's all a learning process! I'd recommend planting a Brassica crop over winter in those beds. Thongs like Collards or Swiss Chard can be great to help balance your soil. Cover crops like rye over winter can help as well.
Not a fail, no. A learning curve! We have raised beds, simple beginnings using layer method, adding top soil at the top too.
For two summers I worked at a soil testing company, fascinating work!! Your beds look wonderful, and you'll see success in produce harvest, I've no doubt. 😊
You are doing great, gardening is different in every state. Michigan we had awesome gardens, Arizona not so good. The dirt in Michigan is black gold, Arizona is like cement. Basically the dump truck load of dirt I had brought in looked like shredded mulch. Totally different. Keep trying that is what gardening is about. I like the beds. Easy on the back well will be. 😂❤❤
I can feel your pain. 😢
I've been watching and enjoying your channel for some time now. I'd like to make two suggestions. Cass, as I was watching you talk about the heat, I noticed that you were wearing a very dark colored shirt. Dark colors draw the heat from the sunlight. I work outside all summer and have found that wearing a white or light-colored shirt helps me feel cooler.
Matt, I've found that it best to water the garden in the evening. This allows the water to soak into the ground better. Watering while the sun is up tends to let it evaporate before it has a chance to soak in.
Keep up the good work you two!
All I can say is it takes time you guys have plenty of time
Awesome video God Bless you and your family Amen
I planted my very first garden on May 18th in kids swimming pools. Tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, potatoes, onions and shallots. I used organic Miricle grow. My little garden is doing fantastic. I'm sorry yours is not doing so great.
Hello, we live in west TN. My wife want a raised bed last year and put bed material in it. Everything was small and she was not happy. It is still sitting in the back of the yard.
Grow mullein. It also helps the soil .
Don’t feel bad I did my first garden this year and the yield has been underwhelming also
June is early to harvest. Give it time.
It is brutal out there right now in TN. I try to take care of the chores in the morning just like you cats, and then I get out in the late afternoon/evening to work the land. I've never drank so much water and beer in my life. lol Love to see the progress. You keep me motivated. Thank you.
Hello 👋 Matt and Cass, I’ve been involved in gardening close to 6 decades and had horrible results last year with my first year of gardening here in western Tennessee. I just wanted to let you know that with time and patience things will start coming together. I lived in northwestern Oregon until we moved here in’22. You’re doing great and amazing things with your property. 👍💪🙌🌈✌️