What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/ "Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener
If it's not too late, it would be great to see a side by side comparison of a bed amended with this mineral mix and one left in the "worst soil in the world."
Consider throwing a 3rd comparison in the mix for the lazy no-mix gardeners: an all-in-one organic granular, something like Dr. Earth - Life 5-5-5 or Down To Earth - Vegetable Garden 4-4-4 would already have most of those ingredients, they also add in microbiology to help get things kick-started. I bet you could get a free sample bag from either of those companies if you called them up and told them about the experiment you're running.
My soil in Nevada was awful. Here in Silicone Valley we have some of the best soil and growing weather in the world... Under buildings and roads... Sad
Thanks so much for this video. I live very near you and I am struggling with my soil. My soil, like yours is sandy and extremely poor. I am doing raised beds and making compost with every scrap of organic material I can scavenge. This recipe will be very helpful. Thanks again!
i got my degree in agronmy 100 yrs ago at UGA in athens and this bideo wasfascinAating bringing back si many memories i recieved 2 of your bookstoday and love tem thank you ira
Wow!!! Steve Solomon! In the flesh! Errr... In the digital! He’s not as young as I remember him...maybe I’m not either? He was my first gardening guide back when he had just started a seed company and had little newsprint pamphlets for catalogs, at our local Arcata Co-op in Northern California🧑🌾 Ahhh, the good old days.
@@nancywebb6549 My hair didn’t gray for a long time, but my joints are causing me alot of trouble and keeping me from pretending I am young anymore. Only a few container plants now, but am doing Physical Therapy and hope to have an in ground garden again.
Hi David great video! I too am a follower of Steve Solomen and following The soil balancing protocols. I have a couple helpful pointers for you . 1 you can get a screw on lid for your 5 gallon bucket. Screw the lid on and shake it. Let it settle. NO DUST ! 2 you can use Sea-90 (ck youtube ) Instead of kelp its cheaper and much more mineral dence. To measure mineral density check out Dan Kiterage of the BFA the Bio Nutrient Food Association they sell a meter that can measure vegetable quality.(not a refractometer) Hope this helps. John S.
Awe, man I need to do soil samples next I guess. Although I have been bringing in bagged soil because of being in an HOA that sits on that white compacted crude which is down deeper near the house -because the house settled I guess, or maybe from my previous trial of gardening 10 years ago that I failed at miserably due to trying to grow Northern crops I guess at the wrong time. Thanks for bringing other Rock Star gardeners neat to watch your experience, of how you start from scratch. Steve’s chuckle about you going to feed stores asking for weird stuff because you have a smart friend...was actually endearing.
Been using Steve's COF off and on for about a decade and a half (depending on how cheap I'm being in a given year.) It works. But this will be the first year I'm using the extra micronutrients. Just got my zinc sulfate and copper sulfate from Alpha Chemicals. Excited to see what difference it makes.
I read The Intelligent Gardener this summer and have been amending my beds 100 sq ft at a time as crops finish and new ones go in. It was a challenge to locate all the ingredients and was funny to watch you doing the same thing I did, kneeling in an enclosed porch laboriously measuring everything out and dumping it in 5 gal buckets. I do mix it outside, though!
Pretty exciting stuff! Really looking forward to seeing how this pans out. Glad I stayed to the end for wifey banter and to see how you were going to work those minerals into the soil! 🌱
Thanks loads for these vids on soil nutrients etc, David The Good! You've got me looking more at my first choice use of fertilisers, much needed and long overdue, as follows - Volcanic rock dust: calcium, iron, magnesium, sulphur, potassium, phosphorous (silicon, chlorine, oxygen), cobalt, copper, silicon, molybdenum, zinc. Fish, blood and bone: namely nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous (silicon, chlorine, oxygen). Liquid seaweed - several nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, phosphate. Homemade liquid comfrey (tea of leaves steeped and broken down in rain water): nitrogen, potassium, manganese, calcium, phosphorous. Leaf mulch as a soil conditioner. ...Mmm, apparently feeding less phosphorous encourages mycorrhizal fungi growth. Is this a personal dilema? I don't see phosphorous listed in your recipe(!); is the level of this nutrient particularly low in your recipe? Please can you enlighten me?
I was totally surprised to recognize my childhood hometown in your video. I’ve only been watching for about a month and have only recently realized that you live in that area now. Glad we are in the same zone! I’ve learned a lot from you already!
Very very informative, David. Thanks but was expecting a jingle that goes "Me and the fork and the lime, It's soil mineralizing time, lalaladida" LOL. Keeping me thumb green here in Canada. Keep safe brother.
I am curious how the soil/dirt got so bad in the first place- definitely not my business but makes me interested to know. Am so happy you got the desire to make it better - blessings to you!
Great video - love seeing Steve Solomon... glad to be reminded of his website! BTW, this recipe is adjusted to correct David's specific soil analysis. It might be different for... my silty loam in the opposite corner of the country... the PNW : )
Catching up on some DTG. An interesting Providence that you’ve found yourself with poor soil. An excellent opportunity to create some interesting and informative content...and some legit dirt rhymes. Cool to get your mentor on the line. Congrats on your surpassing 100K.
@@davidthegood I have been working at yucky soil for 8 years with this method. The improvement is satisfying. It's not my property, but the owners see my determination and persistence. Love for the land rules.
Have you ever tried KNF? I know you have had a JLF bucket going...me too - but now I'm also going to make up some KNF inputs over winter and see how it helps - especially my fruit trees! I do think intelligent gardening is a way to go too!
Sometimes you just need to go buy several truckloads of good compost and use that Deer to get it into the soil. I have some great places in San Antonio that are "poison free". In my 1 acre plot it took 3 truckloads (14 cubic yards each) to get it started. plus micronutrients. Still it took 4 years to get great! Malcolm Beck was a great mentor.
Makes sense, Christopher. After I got burned by a bad load of composted manure, then had a lot of other friends get hit with stuff, I am very wary of purchased compost. I'm thinking of helping a local guy start an operation, though. If I knew I could buy good stuff, I would do it.
I'm in your area. The soil is rich, but relatively hard to work. Adding lots of leaf mold / compost has seemed to help. The soil definitely runs on the acidic side
I'm reading through Gardening When It Counts. Couple questions on this topic: 1) For more contrived raised beds (with walls), would this work just as well as it does for more natural mounded raised beds? 2) I read on one site that says not to worry about the PH when putting dolomite lime into this mix. For instance, if the soil is 6.5 and you don't want to raise it, it's good to put in the dolomite lime anyway, because the calcium and magnesium are beneficial and the PH doesn't really matter as much.... Would same be true in a raised bed with walls? I love all the content!
Awesome! I followed along and mixed everything I had on hand that sorta sounded like what you bought. Had to sub nanner peels for potash. Made a slurry that I shall call Amendomatic... or Amendorama...or AmenAmend. It's moving on its own. Cool, it obviously can't wait to get in the pea patch! Thanks for the video.
I'm wondering if there is an equally quick way to get there without the salt based fertilizers. I'm not against them in the short-term, and am honestly curious if the "natural" way of increasing fertility always takes a long time to do cover crops, Jadam, KNF, or something similar. Seen a lot of people claim the nutrition is "there", but needs to be unlocked by biology and microbes. What are your thoughts?
It's a good question. I can't see how having the biology in the soil would make everything accessible, but I think it would help a lot. This is the first prescription for the soil. Long term, it needs more organic matter, green manure, and maybe some clay and biochar.
On Coastal Plain sand, I don't think everything will be there. The reason carnivorous plants are so abundant in North Florida (& probably adjacent Alabama) is because the soil has so little nutrition that eating arthropods is a useful workaround. The right microbes can help your plants absorb what is there, but cannot create elements that aren't. Using a lot of bonechar (or bonemeal if skunks aren't a problem), seaweed, compost, possibly the right rock dusts, and biochar to retain it against the rain will help add it.
As an avid gardener, I know adding manure is one of the best things you can do for soil. Also, to keep microorganisms alive, the soil should be wet and not dry.
Yes, if the manure is not contaminated with long-term persistent herbicides. In that case, you get this: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/more-victims-of-satanic-grazon-herbicide/
We just took down a deck we weren't using that went to a pool that no longer exists. We thought it was time to expand our garden without taking space away from the chickens! (The pool was already defunct when we got the house last year. The flat area where the pool used to be is already garden space.) I'm putting together an order for most of the ingredients you used since I also have 8a lifeless sand. I'm wondering if you have any idea if plants can use zinc citrate instead of zinc sulfate? I have plenty of human zinc citrate supplements and I would love to open up a few capsules instead of buying 20 lbs of something for such a small quantity. 😅
Interesting. Thanks for the information. I will try this on my heavy Missouri clay. Is the lime present as calcium oxide CaO, calcium hydroxideCa(OH)2, or calcium carbonate CaCO3? If it is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide it has a very high (alkaline) pH. A little is great for the soil but, a bit rough on your bare hands. So I would politely suggest gloves, safety glasses, and a dust mask. Cant hurt. I mention this because as a chemist I was taught many precautions for handling various chemicals at my work. But, noticed that a lot of similar chemicals in home use were handled without these precautions. Things like pool chemicals can be deadly.
People making fun of wearing a mask handling farm/garden stuff really don't know what they're talking about. Things like azomite, diatomaceous earth, and any powdered silica based material can wreck havoc on your respiratory system over time especially if it's a habit to breathe it in. Guano miner's can cause more damage in a few years to their lungs than a career of coal mining... Everything organic isn't necessarily harmless. Be smart or be dead(early).
I will use that formula with impunity! I live about 220 miles east of you in the sand hills of NW Fla, we call LA for Lower Alabama and the soil is really sand. Sheesh. Your videos have REALLY been beneficial to my novice survival garden experience. TY.
My soil is literally straight beach sand its about the highest concentration in the entire US of sand I cant find anyone with more than 97% sand content in soil
Does he already have bags of the soil amendments to be purchased. At 68 years of age it would be easier for me to purchase and spread in my new garden.
His existing plant life all shared a crippling fear of flying, tragically. On the plus side however is that they are all available for free with purchase of the property!
Pouring back and fourth in two buckets is a "very poor" way to mix. Some things, like boron, are very sensitive as to the amount added. I always add the boron, copper and a couple of other minerals together then mix- either with my hand or a large spoon. Then I add all the larger ingredients to this mixture and pour between two buckets, with mixing between pours with my hand. Look at your mix - If you can see clusters of the minerals, then it is not mixed good enough.
David with the leaching that sand does, were you able to keep your. minerals and improvements in it? I think this is where a combo of trimmings and chips would help hold stuff in the soil. great little video....
So, you're adding all the elements your soil is missing. According to what standard? What is the ideal soil mineral content? How was this ideal established? Thanks.
So I'm in El Paso, TX and my soil looks very similar to yours. Very fine, poor looking stuff. I live across the street from the Rio Grand, back in the day the section I lived in used to be all farming land. Could it be that the soil is now depleted? Because of my impatience I didn't contact the local extension office and got the soil tess kits. I'm waiting for them to come on this week. Do you think they are reliable? I've got your Grow or Die book as well as Steve's Gardening When It Counts. Ironically I've had his book untouched for a while. I'll read it after yours!
You'll get some data from the tests, but you may want to get a serious soil test to look at micronutrients. Logan Labs does mail-in tests. Get the "Standard With Extras" for all the details.
Years ago I sent a soil sample from my lot in Destin, Fl to be tested. The results came back that there was nothing of value in the soil. Anything I added would be a positive addition.
Great video David. I’ll be tilling up a chunk of my yard soon here in south Alabama so I’ll probably copy this recipe! Are you lightly tilling it in or digging it in deep?
I was thinking the same thing. I bought micronutrients for mittleider method and after 1 teaspoon to a 3 gallon bucket the tomatoes almost doubled in size in one week, and they were only about 4 inches tall when I transplanted them. The tomatoes are Everglades tomato plants I started from seeds from Baker Creek. I did mix up one batch of the fertilizer, Epsom salts, and micronutrients. I did not use preplant mixture. Will do that next time. I just want to have a productive garden.
You're on the right track. However garden plants have larger, deeper root system than what you treated for your soil. Your terra preta videos show the technique like how I am making the best soil for our garden. For new beds I dig deep (not the 3 feet you did) and backfill lasagna style with biochar, gypsum, compost, food scraps/grass clippings, and original soil. After that I just top dress with compost and mulch each year. I've been doing this for over 10 years now. I still hate breaking new ground but there is no denying the benefits.
What you are doing is good to do it even better ,find a way to damp down those ingredients just a little that way you'll protect your lungs,and not lose those fine particles which because of their very fine nature would be immediately available to soil microbes.
If you put hay in the bed is the something you can do to fix it. I just bought 250 of soil to help with my beds the put hey with Quail waste in the beds. I think I screwed up bad and can’t do anything about it.
I always use my dust Mask or 3M respirator with the pink round filters 2097 when I'm messing around with any dusty substance so that I don't screw my sinuses up. I suppose it doesn't bother some people but I also want to protect my lungs.
you are not supposed to touch the sample..I use a plastic spoon so no metal touches the soil too I totally agree about never buying hay straw or commercial compost- usda or not .I use sawdust for bedding .and am very careful to buy unsprayed hay .You can tell by watching to see how the soil is depleted .I thought cotton was sprayed with pesticides .. ITS hard to find proper minerals locally .I have high phosphorus and calcium in my soil .I added too much wood ash applied instead of potassium because I heat with wood and its high in potash . How much ground does this mix cover that you are mixing up .10ft by 10 ft ,...so a bed 3ft by 25ft? We have used azomite and kelp here for 30 years Wear you mask David ! where does potassium sulfate come from ?? i don't use bone or blood meal and No commercial manures .I want to know which chemicals are natural and which are man made
I'm sorry but can you put a list on what was missing in your soil ? Timestamps ? I am working at this time and won't be able to stretch through the full half hour long video. Thank You.
Hi there, enjoy you on many levels.. I was wondering if you knew what would be an alternative to cottonseed meal if I couldn't eventually find it here in New Zealand?
new gardener here ... what's the contact info for the soil analysis lab and does the report have Steve's contact info? And about how much does it cost for the analysis and Steve's custom fix-it recipe and consultation? Thank you.
I don't know if Steve will do consultations, but his book The Intelligent Gardener has the info in it for making calculations. The lab we used is Logan Labs.
What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP
Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/
"Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener
Then there is 54 people per square kilometer who all wanna farm and live in a house
These are the type of videos you should keep doing. Tons of info and keeps me wanting more.
Thanks
I could not agree with you more, these are the types of videos I save and go back to as a reference
If it's not too late, it would be great to see a side by side comparison of a bed amended with this mineral mix and one left in the "worst soil in the world."
Good idea. I just planted onions in a bed with it. I will plant more in a bed without.
Consider throwing a 3rd comparison in the mix for the lazy no-mix gardeners: an all-in-one organic granular, something like Dr. Earth - Life 5-5-5 or Down To Earth - Vegetable Garden 4-4-4 would already have most of those ingredients, they also add in microbiology to help get things kick-started. I bet you could get a free sample bag from either of those companies if you called them up and told them about the experiment you're running.
David The Good yes! Please do several experiments! One bed use the Dr Earth fertilizer and regular compost or worm castings that everyone recommends.
Having read Steve's books, I love this.
My soil in Nevada was awful. Here in Silicone Valley we have some of the best soil and growing weather in the world... Under buildings and roads... Sad
Thanks so much for this video. I live very near you and I am struggling with my soil. My soil, like yours is sandy and extremely poor. I am doing raised beds and making compost with every scrap of organic material I can scavenge. This recipe will be very helpful. Thanks again!
i got my degree in agronmy 100 yrs ago at UGA in athens and this bideo wasfascinAating bringing back si many memories i recieved 2 of your bookstoday and love tem thank you ira
Thank you.
Wow!!! Steve Solomon! In the flesh! Errr... In the digital! He’s not as young as I remember him...maybe I’m not either? He was my first gardening guide back when he had just started a seed company and had little newsprint pamphlets for catalogs, at our local Arcata Co-op in Northern California🧑🌾 Ahhh, the good old days.
Is he the founder of Goodman seeds
@@rickswift3990 Founder of the Territorial Seed Company.
Believe me if you can remember the first book you are not as young as you think!
@@nancywebb6549 My hair didn’t gray for a long time, but my joints are causing me alot of trouble and keeping me from pretending I am young anymore. Only a few container plants now, but am doing Physical Therapy and hope to have an in ground garden again.
@@aurora571000 Were you acquainted with Joan Elk, of Arcata?
Yippee! My library can get a copy of his book for us. Thanks, David.
Geeking out hard here!
So excited for your garden!
Also LOVE that you are still using the trusty machete!
Hi David great video!
I too am a follower of Steve Solomen and following The soil balancing protocols.
I have a couple helpful pointers for you .
1 you can get a screw on lid for your 5 gallon bucket.
Screw the lid on and shake it. Let it settle. NO DUST !
2 you can use Sea-90 (ck youtube )
Instead of kelp its cheaper and much more mineral dence.
To measure mineral density check out Dan Kiterage of the BFA the Bio Nutrient Food Association they sell a meter that can measure vegetable quality.(not a refractometer) Hope this helps. John S.
A screw-on lid would be good. I've seen Sea-90 but have not researched it - thanks for the suggestion.
Awe, man I need to do soil samples next I guess. Although I have been bringing in bagged soil because of being in an HOA that sits on that white compacted crude which is down deeper near the house -because the house settled I guess, or maybe from my previous trial of gardening 10 years ago that I failed at miserably due to trying to grow Northern crops I guess at the wrong time. Thanks for bringing other Rock Star gardeners neat to watch your experience, of how you start from scratch.
Steve’s chuckle about you going to feed stores asking for weird stuff because you have a smart friend...was actually endearing.
I read gardening without irrigation by Steve. Great book!
Great video. I much prefer the longer ones. You are such a wealth of knowledge and experience
Been using Steve's COF off and on for about a decade and a half (depending on how cheap I'm being in a given year.) It works. But this will be the first year I'm using the extra micronutrients. Just got my zinc sulfate and copper sulfate from Alpha Chemicals. Excited to see what difference it makes.
That is very mathy! Mr. Solomon is really smart!
I read The Intelligent Gardener this summer and have been amending my beds 100 sq ft at a time as crops finish and new ones go in. It was a challenge to locate all the ingredients and was funny to watch you doing the same thing I did, kneeling in an enclosed porch laboriously measuring everything out and dumping it in 5 gal buckets. I do mix it outside, though!
I wondered why he didn't set it up on a table, even a makeshift one. Work smarter!
@@lpmoron6258 Steves great, I actually spoke to him and know him. He gave me great advice that will be put to use in 2025.
Hope all is well David. Looking forward to the results of this bed.
Thank you for everything you do! We love your videos and can't get enough knowledge from you. It's nice to have your videos as a garden resource
Pretty exciting stuff! Really looking forward to seeing how this pans out. Glad I stayed to the end for wifey banter and to see how you were going to work those minerals into the soil! 🌱
This is big brain stuff
I’m reading the intelligent gardener
Enjoy these longer videos a lot
Thanks loads for these vids on soil nutrients etc, David The Good!
You've got me looking more at my first choice use of fertilisers, much needed and long overdue, as follows -
Volcanic rock dust: calcium, iron, magnesium, sulphur, potassium, phosphorous (silicon, chlorine, oxygen), cobalt, copper, silicon, molybdenum, zinc.
Fish, blood and bone: namely nitrogen, potassium, phosphorous (silicon, chlorine, oxygen).
Liquid seaweed - several nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, phosphate.
Homemade liquid comfrey (tea of leaves steeped and broken down in rain water): nitrogen, potassium, manganese, calcium, phosphorous.
Leaf mulch as a soil conditioner.
...Mmm, apparently feeding less phosphorous encourages mycorrhizal fungi growth. Is this a personal dilema?
I don't see phosphorous listed in your recipe(!); is the level of this nutrient particularly low in your recipe? Please can you enlighten me?
I was totally surprised to recognize my childhood hometown in your video. I’ve only been watching for about a month and have only recently realized that you live in that area now. Glad we are in the same zone! I’ve learned a lot from you already!
No way!
@@davidthegood Yep!
Very very informative, David. Thanks but was expecting a jingle that goes "Me and the fork and the lime, It's soil mineralizing time, lalaladida" LOL. Keeping me thumb green here in Canada. Keep safe brother.
I am curious how the soil/dirt got so bad in the first place- definitely not my business but makes me interested to know.
Am so happy you got the desire to make it better - blessings to you!
Lots of rain is part of it. The large particle size, plus acidity, plus lots of leaching just takes away what might have been there to begin with.
@@davidthegood than you should do somthing about the water holdng capacity. This wont work if everything leaches away.
and try humic acids
Great video - love seeing Steve Solomon... glad to be reminded of his website! BTW, this recipe is adjusted to correct David's specific soil analysis. It might be different for... my silty loam in the opposite corner of the country... the PNW : )
O my garsh, I tuned in to Kurt and Kate this morning and I heard your interview with them!!! What a treat on my commute to work in Naples!
Catching up on some DTG. An interesting Providence that you’ve found yourself with poor soil. An excellent opportunity to create some interesting and informative content...and some legit dirt rhymes. Cool to get your mentor on the line. Congrats on your surpassing 100K.
Thanks. I am happy to have this soil. It will be interesting.
@@davidthegood I have been working at yucky soil for 8 years with this method. The improvement is satisfying. It's not my property, but the owners see my determination and persistence. Love for the land rules.
Have you ever tried KNF? I know you have had a JLF bucket going...me too - but now I'm also going to make up some KNF inputs over winter and see how it helps - especially my fruit trees! I do think intelligent gardening is a way to go too!
Sometimes you just need to go buy several truckloads of good compost and use that Deer to get it into the soil. I have some great places in San Antonio that are "poison free". In my 1 acre plot it took 3 truckloads (14 cubic yards each) to get it started. plus micronutrients. Still it took 4 years to get great!
Malcolm Beck was a great mentor.
Makes sense, Christopher. After I got burned by a bad load of composted manure, then had a lot of other friends get hit with stuff, I am very wary of purchased compost. I'm thinking of helping a local guy start an operation, though. If I knew I could buy good stuff, I would do it.
CA, it was a sad day when Mr. Beck died. I moved from San Antonio to Dallas in the late 90s. Who are the organic gardening go-to people in SA now?
Super helpful David! Im dealing with rocky Arkansas soil in Oachita mountain area...everything is so rocky and sandy loam...
I'm in your area. The soil is rich, but relatively hard to work. Adding lots of leaf mold / compost has seemed to help. The soil definitely runs on the acidic side
I'm reading through Gardening When It Counts. Couple questions on this topic:
1) For more contrived raised beds (with walls), would this work just as well as it does for more natural mounded raised beds?
2) I read on one site that says not to worry about the PH when putting dolomite lime into this mix. For instance, if the soil is 6.5 and you don't want to raise it, it's good to put in the dolomite lime anyway, because the calcium and magnesium are beneficial and the PH doesn't really matter as much.... Would same be true in a raised bed with walls?
I love all the content!
Giving it a try. I have very rich soil but because of having lots of water, I think many minerals are washed out.
Thank you for this
Yes kelp meal is expensive. My Nigerian Dwarf Goats love it but it costs me about a hundred bucks for a fifty pound bag
Awesome! I followed along and mixed everything I had on hand that sorta sounded like what you bought. Had to sub nanner peels for potash.
Made a slurry that I shall call Amendomatic... or Amendorama...or AmenAmend.
It's moving on its own. Cool, it obviously can't wait to get in the pea patch!
Thanks for the video.
Buy organic hay for compost! Very excited to watch this!
I'm wondering if there is an equally quick way to get there without the salt based fertilizers. I'm not against them in the short-term, and am honestly curious if the "natural" way of increasing fertility always takes a long time to do cover crops, Jadam, KNF, or something similar. Seen a lot of people claim the nutrition is "there", but needs to be unlocked by biology and microbes. What are your thoughts?
It's a good question. I can't see how having the biology in the soil would make everything accessible, but I think it would help a lot. This is the first prescription for the soil. Long term, it needs more organic matter, green manure, and maybe some clay and biochar.
@@davidthegood the third paragraph about halfway down. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5610682/
On Coastal Plain sand, I don't think everything will be there. The reason carnivorous plants are so abundant in North Florida (& probably adjacent Alabama) is because the soil has so little nutrition that eating arthropods is a useful workaround. The right microbes can help your plants absorb what is there, but cannot create elements that aren't. Using a lot of bonechar (or bonemeal if skunks aren't a problem), seaweed, compost, possibly the right rock dusts, and biochar to retain it against the rain will help add it.
Really good video.
Thank you.
As an avid gardener, I know adding manure is one of the best things you can do for soil. Also, to keep microorganisms alive, the soil should be wet and not dry.
Yes, if the manure is not contaminated with long-term persistent herbicides. In that case, you get this: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/more-victims-of-satanic-grazon-herbicide/
I always use seaweed being on the coast.
GREAT VIDEO!
We just took down a deck we weren't using that went to a pool that no longer exists. We thought it was time to expand our garden without taking space away from the chickens! (The pool was already defunct when we got the house last year. The flat area where the pool used to be is already garden space.) I'm putting together an order for most of the ingredients you used since I also have 8a lifeless sand. I'm wondering if you have any idea if plants can use zinc citrate instead of zinc sulfate? I have plenty of human zinc citrate supplements and I would love to open up a few capsules instead of buying 20 lbs of something for such a small quantity. 😅
Interesting. Thanks for the information. I will try this on my heavy Missouri clay. Is the lime present as calcium oxide CaO, calcium hydroxideCa(OH)2, or calcium carbonate CaCO3? If it is calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide it has a very high (alkaline) pH. A little is great for the soil but, a bit rough on your bare hands. So I would politely suggest gloves, safety glasses, and a dust mask. Cant hurt. I mention this because as a chemist I was taught many precautions for handling various chemicals at my work. But, noticed that a lot of similar chemicals in home use were handled without these precautions. Things like pool chemicals can be deadly.
What kind is scale are you using that picks up such small measurements in the bucket 🪣? Thank you for showing us this
Very helpful, thank you ~Michele
My soil is red clay, Placerville ,CA.
Great video.
I’m going to try and get that book.
Thank you.
ANytime you are mixing chemicals, wear a MASK, protect your lungs! Want to keep seeing your videos! Thanks.
You maskers
Numinous hah
Hazmat suit !
Don't forget the hazmat suit and the gloves and the dark glasses and the workboots and the hard hat and the bubble!
Masks don't work
People making fun of wearing a mask handling farm/garden stuff really don't know what they're talking about. Things like azomite, diatomaceous earth, and any powdered silica based material can wreck havoc on your respiratory system over time especially if it's a habit to breathe it in. Guano miner's can cause more damage in a few years to their lungs than a career of coal mining... Everything organic isn't necessarily harmless. Be smart or be dead(early).
I will use that formula with impunity! I live about 220 miles east of you in the sand hills of NW Fla, we call LA for Lower Alabama and the soil is really sand. Sheesh. Your videos have REALLY been beneficial to my novice survival garden experience. TY.
Thank you, Michael.
My soil is literally straight beach sand its about the highest concentration in the entire US of sand I cant find anyone with more than 97% sand content in soil
Does he already have bags of the soil amendments to be purchased. At 68 years of age it would be easier for me to purchase and spread in my new garden.
Hope here where it snows we have salt spreaders that can help with dusting.
This was really informative 🙏😊💐🤗. Godbless you two and thank you for sharing🌝
Growing our own food, is definitely the best
Didn't you take any plant/tree from your previous place?
His existing plant life all shared a crippling fear of flying, tragically.
On the plus side however is that they are all available for free with purchase of the property!
@@LibertyNotLicense that's funny
If only I lived near by his old property
Pouring back and fourth in two buckets is a "very poor" way to mix. Some things, like boron, are very sensitive as to the amount added. I always add the boron, copper and a couple of other minerals together then mix- either with my hand or a large spoon. Then I add all the larger ingredients to this mixture and pour between two buckets, with mixing between pours with my hand. Look at your mix - If you can see clusters of the minerals, then it is not mixed good enough.
Sounds like a good idea.
Can you use this mix to inoculate biochar??
What was the cost to amend the 100 Sq Feet?
Do you have a video on how this turned out a year later?
So would the cottonseed meal not have a problem with the herbicide?
David with the leaching that sand does, were you able to keep your. minerals and improvements in it? I think this is where a combo of trimmings and chips would help hold stuff in the soil. great little video....
Yes - it needs humus. We are finally getting more material for mulch and compost.
That Solomon book is indeed very interesting
Very informative. I test my soil every planting season. I use a lot of what you mentioned along with a few others. Love Steve S. 👍
Wow great video with soil stuff 👍💚🌱
David ridding in a gangster truck like a villian doing good for humanity
I need to a do a soil sample myself. I'm sure its not as bad as your soil, I hope.
Turning sand into dirt with David the Good.
Close...sand into soil.😆
VERY informative
So, you're adding all the elements your soil is missing. According to what standard? What is the ideal soil mineral content? How was this ideal established? Thanks.
How much did it all, cost you for all the ingredients for the soil?
That's what id like to know. Im so broke i can't even pay attention. 😭
So I'm in El Paso, TX and my soil looks very similar to yours. Very fine, poor looking stuff. I live across the street from the Rio Grand, back in the day the section I lived in used to be all farming land. Could it be that the soil is now depleted? Because of my impatience I didn't contact the local extension office and got the soil tess kits. I'm waiting for them to come on this week. Do you think they are reliable?
I've got your Grow or Die book as well as Steve's Gardening When It Counts. Ironically I've had his book untouched for a while. I'll read it after yours!
You'll get some data from the tests, but you may want to get a serious soil test to look at micronutrients. Logan Labs does mail-in tests. Get the "Standard With Extras" for all the details.
They closed the Borax mine in Death Valley CA many years ago. Boron CA now has the most productive Borax mine in the world and is still in operation.
I have some of these items Where can I purchase the rest? Maybe Amazon or a local nursery
I got some from a feed store, some from a farmers co-op and some from Alpha Chemical online.
Years ago I sent a soil sample from my lot in Destin, Fl to be tested. The results came back that there was nothing of value in the soil. Anything I added would be a positive addition.
That is funny. Like pure mason sand!
Great video David. I’ll be tilling up a chunk of my yard soon here in south Alabama so I’ll probably copy this recipe! Are you lightly tilling it in or digging it in deep?
Kyle McGee Tilling it in up to 6 inches I heard him say! 😀
Mix with castings for less dust
20 mule team borax is what you want to get for boron. It's exactly the same thing and much cheaper. Look in the laundry isle in the grocery store.
This was dirt cheap - I got it from a local farmer's coop.
@@davidthegood usually i spend about 2$ on a box that i can make 20 gallons of laundrt detergent and still have enough to set up at least 3 beds. 😆
woah extremely informative 👏
Thank u for the list
If mixing a potting soil recipe by hand, can I send that to Logan Labs to see if my recipe is close to ideal, or way far off?
are you going to repackage and vacuum package the leftovers? Will you use all that in one year?
I have been using it all.
Can we do this for raised beds? I notice my vegetable and strawberries do not have great flavor.
Yes, definitely.
We all have that pyrex measuring cup
This is very close to the mittleider mix, it'd be an interesting test to see a test between the 2 like you did with your other 5ftx5ft test
I was thinking the same thing. I bought micronutrients for mittleider method and after 1 teaspoon to a 3 gallon bucket the tomatoes almost doubled in size in one week, and they were only about 4 inches tall when I transplanted them. The tomatoes are Everglades tomato plants I started from seeds from Baker Creek.
I did mix up one batch of the fertilizer, Epsom salts, and micronutrients. I did not use preplant mixture. Will do that next time. I just want to have a productive garden.
It wasn't too long and it was helpful.
Thanks, Marilyn.
You're on the right track. However garden plants have larger, deeper root system than what you treated for your soil. Your terra preta videos show the technique like how I am making the best soil for our garden. For new beds I dig deep (not the 3 feet you did) and backfill lasagna style with biochar, gypsum, compost, food scraps/grass clippings, and original soil. After that I just top dress with compost and mulch each year. I've been doing this for over 10 years now. I still hate breaking new ground but there is no denying the benefits.
What you are doing is good to do it even better ,find a way to damp down those ingredients just a little that way you'll protect your lungs,and not lose those fine particles which because of their very fine nature would be immediately available to soil microbes.
Yeah, a mister might be good.
If you put hay in the bed is the something you can do to fix it. I just bought 250 of soil to help with my beds the put hey with Quail waste in the beds. I think I screwed up bad and can’t do anything about it.
I always use my dust Mask or 3M respirator with the pink round filters 2097 when I'm messing around with any dusty substance so that I don't screw my sinuses up. I suppose it doesn't bother some people but I also want to protect my lungs.
you are not supposed to touch the sample..I use a plastic spoon so no metal touches the soil too I totally agree about never buying hay straw or commercial compost- usda or not .I use sawdust for bedding .and am very careful to buy unsprayed hay .You can tell by watching to see how the soil is depleted .I thought cotton was sprayed with pesticides .. ITS hard to find proper minerals locally .I have high phosphorus and calcium in my soil .I added too much wood ash applied instead of potassium because I heat with wood and its high in potash . How much ground does this mix cover that you are mixing up .10ft by 10 ft ,...so a bed 3ft by 25ft? We have used azomite and kelp here for 30 years Wear you mask David ! where does potassium sulfate come from ?? i don't use bone or blood meal and No commercial manures .I want to know which chemicals are natural and which are man made
I'm sorry but can you put a list on what was missing in your soil ?
Timestamps ?
I am working at this time and won't be able to stretch through the full half hour long video. Thank You.
Follow the links below the video.
David do you live in Alabama now?i am thinking about moving to Andalusia Al do you know anything about that town ?i live in Ct know nothing about Al.
Never scatter this around like this, gets in lungs.Why is cotton seed meal in the mix I wonder?
Nitrogen.
You could use canola or soya meal.
Looks like David is out standing in his field 😊
Hi there, enjoy you on many levels.. I was wondering if you knew what would be an alternative to cottonseed meal if I couldn't eventually find it here in New Zealand?
Canolameal works. Poppyseed meal, too. Fish or feathermeal. Alfalfa meal or pellets work too, but you have to add about 4x the amount.
@@davidthegood Great, thanks for the response David!
That was AWESOME!! Also my COMPOST YOUR ENEMIES Tee shirt has shipped....to frigging cool channel 😎
I have most of these amendments but I feel like I have been vastly underusing it. How much was the advanced soil test you sent off to Logan Labs?
On Build-A-Soil the advanced is $100 while the basic is $60: buildasoil.com/collections/soil-testing
I paid 75 and wait 4 years to access was recommended to see results.
Im feeling lightheaded
This is awesome thank you
Is that a condor machete? What's steel like does it hold a edge?
It is a Martindale. They hold an edge well.
new gardener here ... what's the contact info for the soil analysis lab and does the report have Steve's contact info? And about how much does it cost for the analysis and Steve's custom fix-it recipe and consultation?
Thank you.
I don't know if Steve will do consultations, but his book The Intelligent Gardener has the info in it for making calculations. The lab we used is Logan Labs.
Man, and I thought that I had to add a lot to my FL soil.