I have adapted to using a "compost-in-place " system with 5-gallon pots scattered throughout my garden. I fill these full of weeds, leaves and plant matter stuffed into the pot and topped with a bit of garden soil to inoculate with good bacteria & microbes. I use recycled nursery pots but 5-gallon buckets with holes would work too. Worms migrate into them and breaking down the plant matter. I water the pots regularly & the water seeps thru the breaking down plant matter into the soil which fertilizes everything close by with "compost tea". I've never seen so many worms in my garden. It is a TOTALLY simple way and free way to fertilize. At the end of the season I have many pots of broken down & composted plant matter ready for new potting soil next season. Compost in place. I don't have to haul compost or spread it. The worms do the work.
I love this idea. I use a five gallon (30cm for us down south peeps in New Zealand) as a tiny compost bucket. But I've been leaving it in place and using the compost tea it creates. I'm going to try putting one or two out in the garden beds 🥰
@@lifelovelettuce I use nursery pots I get for free (used - recycled) from our local nursery which already have holes in the bottom. This actually works with all size of pots and buckets. But its best they do have holes and drainage so the worms can get to the plan matter and start munching! :-)
When you say compost or fertilize, is it one and the same? I would like people to be more precise in their language. Example, when you "fertilize" a rose, do you cover the ground in composted materials that you think fertilizes it? Or spray on the plant a product that's stronger then broken down green and brown matter from your garden
@@jcl5345 There are many kinds of fertilizers. There are a wide variety of formulas sold commercially. Compost from available decomposed plant matter is one kind of many. Robbie teaches using a compost-in-place technique to make compost from found plant matter collected at home. And that compost can be used to fertilize and enrich soil. Generally this compost is in the soil - not sprayed on a plant.
Thank you for this video. Coming from A background with gardening where I was using tons of insecticide and herbicides and fertilizer to keep my plants basically dependent on chemicals seemed like the right thing to do. I’m so grateful that during Covid I didn’t have the options to use any of those. It completely and radically changed how I began to see gardening. I want to also thank you for reminding me that building a garden takes time. And that every year my garden will be better and better as I continue to build life into my soil and nurture the land as a steward.
That’s awesome. Good for you. Good point about “building a garden takes time”. Sometimes I need a lesson in patience. Lol. I am happy to know that our garden beds and our new food forest will improve with time. We have only lived where we are now for about a year and a half and I can already see a difference in the soil from last year; simply from doing things that this video mentions. I can tell from your comment that you’ve got the right attitude. Happy growing to you!!
"Dang, I missed it!!" (I was tending to my worm-bin and I didn't get a notification from Mr. Google-pants, grrrr), LOL. Anyway, "thanks David!" I love how you keep churning out content! Thanks for being persistent. I think it's your mind-set and your attitude you put towards growing food & playing in dirt that's most infectious! Keep it coming! 🐝🐝
Screw chemicals, nature has a way of growing plants even if we stay away. Today I was removing some grasses that grow between concrete blocks on my property, and some of them grow exceptionally with just a pinch of soil.
Yes, totally agree, if you know which flower is the Vinca, 2 seeds sprouted in a patio crack, between two slabs of concrete in our home and it is thriving so well and with such an abundance of flowers!
@@VWilt-so3ws Achira is an edible canna lily with a large potato-like rhizome that looks kind of like a giant ginger. Originally from South America, but it's been grown commercially, especially in Australia and Vietnam, where it's one of the most popular starches for making cellophane noodles. Produces about 16-20 pounds of rhizome per plant under normal growing conditions, though the record I saw was around 60 pounds per plant under ideal conditions. Sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichoke, is a sunflower native to the U.S. that forms edible tubers. Often recommended as a survival crop because they can produce 8-10 pounds of tubers per plant and can easily colonize an area is left to grow undisturbed. They're not quite as productive here with our droughty summers, but they still survive and produce without any care. They are high in inulin so can cause excessive gas if eating them undercooked. Pit roasting was the traditional cooking method, and after a day or two of cooking most of the inulin is converted to digestible starch. Acid helps convert the inulin faster, so cooking with lemon juice or vinegar, or fermenting them, makes them more digestible. Though, generally not a huge problem unless you're eating an excessive amount.
This is so beautiful and inspiring! I love how we got to look at pictures of Elizabeth’s garden while she told us about it. What a stunning and productive space she has created by working with nature. Thanks for this lovely video!
I would like to hear more from this lady! I like the blasting fertigation all over the place, I remember the last time you showed this garden there was fertigation raining down galore from the overheads and that is something I want to do with a venturi injector. I liked her account of what she was doing and what made the difference to help us all learn more. Nice content!
been at it for 4 years here in west Pensacola. Slow going for sure but I'm making some progress. Very sandy when I started, not so much now. Think I need to locate some Comfry next.
I’m going to find some chicken run dirt today. Great video I love her straight forward factual way of talking. So humble. Because all I do is fail try again win fail. She made me feel good about my progress. As Dave does.
Getting seawater, putting it in a bucket and using a paintbrush to flick it around your garden (preferably just before or during a rain- otherwise maybe dilute it a some) - definitely makes a difference, i've seen the increased 'glow' of plants after doing that, like they were beaming with gratitude:)
@@dennalee6184 My first thought is that soil/soil amendments or water from a levee would likely have potentially toxic deposits (petroleum, chemicals, fertilizers, and other toxic substances) from run off and waste from roads and surrounding lands. This would be dependent on the environment around that levee though, so you may need to research that area.
@@carolwright7503 Just from beach area, so pick a an area that you feel is clean. I also add seawater into compost teas that i make from things like nettles, comfrey and dandelions, plus I add a little humic/fulvic acid and lactic acid bacteria. Another good thing is go to a forest and get leaf mulch from the forest floor, this has got unique micro-organisms and fungi, i put some of that in my compost brews, add it to compost piles and mulch fruit trees with it:)
That was an awesome video chocked full of common sense gardening. Of course, David, you've been preaching it but she re-enforced what you've said and written about. Thank you!
This was SUCH a blessing!!! I just moved to the Birmingham area and started a large garden. It was excavated (to get our road in) and was a hard orange clay brick. I had to lay topsoil and compost and wood chips to be able to grow this year but I’m still leery bc I know what lurks below the scant layer I put on top. This gives me so many good ideas, and hope!
Plant crops that send strong roots deep. Like sunflowers, for example. Those roots will hopefully crack this clay and slowly turn it into something more garden-friendly.
Great video. I'm near you in Pensacola. My property is dead sand. I'm also wanting to be natural, build the soil health. I'm composting in place mostly. Nothing goes to waste. Was nice seeing how your garden had come along
Awesome video. Beautiful garden. Sound advice and relevant to our current events. Empowering to know how to make homemade fertilizers that work. Thanks, and happy gardening!
Yes, I am realizing I need to have a garden. I never had a green thumb until I tried alternatives of ollas(ollas which I can't afford). The terra cotta pots filled with water helped me last summer. With the prices going up or can't find the right potting soils, fertilizers, I do want to learn to improve soils so I don't have to buy so much, and learn about fertilizers to make also, so I don't have to buy so much. Less chemicals from elsewhere the better.
That was a rapid and huge transformation. I do a lot of composting/compost tea. I still buy organic fertilizer/amendments but grateful to not need much. I don’t garden in ground so I didn’t have to change my native soil.
Do you dump the soil out from your containers, reuse the soil mixed in with the readymade leave mold, using the suggestions in this video, along with compost teas? Last year I didn't add anything..just soil and water some things grew well, some plants didn't. I didn't think ahead which plants might block the sun.Do you reUse this soil again for the next season or wait another season? I want to grow in containers. I don't want to bend over, but more don't want our pets or wildlife to be destructive to my planting choices..
@@carolwright7503 Hi. No, I don’t empty the soil. I grow in raised beds and grow bags/containers. I simply add more soil/compost and any amendments I want to add. This is my third season and I live in Minnesota so don’t grow all year round. I probably don’t deplete the soil as much as someone growing year round. I add work casting, homemade compost and this year I added bone meal as I’m trying to grow lots of brassicas and root vegetables. Then I fertilize/water with compost tea throughout the growing season.
Your garden is gorgeous! I live on Lookout mountain in NE Alabama. Moved here in 2007 from Florida. Your story sounds very similar to mine. I started a no dig garden in 2016. I was lucky to have horses that eat organic hay so I can use their manure and hay composted or cover the garden with it for the winter. In fact, we built the garden with it and every year expanded because it's so wonderful to grow in these type gardens. ❤️ We dont use fertilizer either since I started gardening this way from the beginning. Its been a huge Blessing for us.
The annuals do well where the perennials were because they keep the carbon cycle going. Same idea as no till or continuos planting throughout the year. Something I learned from Living Web Farms
I was just about to start a barrel of chicken manure water for my garden when I got covid. New week il have a few different fertilizer barrels to add to Dave's fetid swamp water for my plants
Thanks for your great video! I’m in an arid are of Queensland Australia. With only about 600 millilitres of rain each year but most 350 - 450. We have just had about 90 mls of rain since 1st May . And this morning when I let out my chooks, saw where they had been scratching yesterday and the soil looks amazing. I usually just use composted chicken manure. Never thought of scraping up the run to use as a tea for the garden. Thanks so much for telling us your tricks. We have summer temperatures in the 100’s and then winter is down to below 0 to-3 or 4 Celsius. It’s taken about 10 yrs to get the soil nice and loamy. We had rock hard clay. We used lots of gypsum and straw etc. keep up the good work!!
I have turned hard packed coral rock and sand into great soil in two years. My garden benefits from poultry but the county made chickens illegal. The alternative I used was to encourage the feral ducks to live here, they eat scraps and leave plenty of poop. Also eat weeds and bugs. Bananas need a lot of fertility and they grow extremely well under these conditions. There is plenty phosphorous in many soils. just find a potassium source and bacteria bring in the nitrogen. Weeds are an asset in my opinion.
Cheers for nice neighbors who helped you get started! Gypsum is great for clay soil and adds calcium. Inexpensive and does a great job making soil workable. Thanks for the tip about adding soil from the chicken run. I will do that today!
Thank you DTG, sorry I missed the premiere. Feeling like rabbits maybe my only survival hack for protein and help create more organic material to keep things growing. Great to hear Elizabeth’s journey rescuing her soil. Those carrots and everything she harvested looked amazing. TY for sharing.
Also may drop “exudates” in one of my videos after this too. Loved her view on walk ways too. Since I have to keep grass for my son and husband. Her chicken coming toward her trolling up that gorgeous dirt was cute. lol
10:45 Yay! Finally this topic gets addressed. I've looked into grass in between rows and get tons of people saying, "No weeds in the garden, pull them all!" I was wondering about grass not weeds. How far away should I keep the grass from my rows? I keep getting the runaround on this and can't find a direct answer. This video helps but I would love some more specifics. Thanks for the video, God bless.
Coincidental that you posted this video. I just started reading the JADAM book which is about making all your own fertilizer and pesticides. They also talk a lot about how nature creates nutrients for the plants and soil, which she talks about here.
Great Video David. Thank you for shining a light on this Garden. And for helping to bring solutions and remedies to this issue that many folks are dealing with in these crazy times. Stay Blessed!
You don't need to buy fertilizer! If you're interested in making composting much simpler, check out my book Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting - amzn.to/3M8sRy8
I used what I call chicken poop water this year for the first time. Everything looks amazing in my raised beds. I stumbled upon this after the chicken poop was rained on when the bin was left uncovered. I also don't mulch walk-ways and plant perennial vegetables and wild flowers in there. It looks wild but is growing beautifully.
That is how I start my garden beds! And then In the fall/winter, I add compost and a good mulch layer and let it sit. Spring I sprinkle composted chicken manure or just dirt/bedding from the chicken and goat runs then water well, then plant. Things grow incredibly
Awesome video. Motivating. We started our food forest in zone 6b clay recently and have been adding chicken run dirt, partially broken down compost, leaves, miscellaneous organic matter, and a tiny bit of rock dust. Our chickens have a large enclosed run. We give them lots of grass, weeds, etc. I’m hoping the added microbes will help to turn organic matter into bioavailable nutrition for our plants. I’m sure it will take time to mature. We will grow annuals throughout our perennial food forest, so that is good to hear that your annuals did well in your situation. I didn’t add anything to break up the clay, so I will definitely consider gypsum or other things like that?? I really was torn between having wood chip walkways, or living walkways. I think you convinced me to have living walkways. One of the best videos I’ve seen in a while. I’m excited to get back out there and get it growing!! Thank you!
I started my veggie garden in august 2021. I had to dig out the very tough Kikuju grass and used cement slabs to form a barrier for my veggie garden. I had no compost at all so I covered the area with cardboard with bricks to hold it in place. I cut holes in the cardboard and inserted "grow tubes" (tubes cut from soda bottles) in the holes. I planted my veggies in the grow tubes and only watered in the grow tubes with a 5L plastic bottle with a hole drilled in the cap. This kept weeds down and allowed the microbes to establish themselves again. At the same time I planted 6 trees taken from neighbors trees as cuttings or 2 from seed, as they mature I will have leaves to use as compost. I am expanding the veggie patch by digging out the grass and using my kitchen scraps to dig in as compost on 1 area where earth worms have moved in. It is a slow process, but very satisfying and I have had a good harvest. Love from Cape Town, South Africa.
This was a fabulous video! I only have a small garden now because I rent, but hoping to move next year and have a home with my family. We all garden and want large organic gardens as well as chickens. I learned alot and this was inspiring. Thank you!!
Very interesting how this developed to a graden of eden with a combination of variety plants and everyday animal droppings! Thank you for educating us! Save the soil!!!
Man i feel so inspired by this womans experience. As someone who sometimes feels like i need to have the best tools or buy the best products, i needed to hear that i in fact, do not need it to improve or even start a garden.
Good tips! It's not just about the minerals you need, it's that soil biology! Good video with the exception that, sure you didn't buy standard chemical fertilizer, but you did buy gypsum, bagged compost and alfalfa pellets. Otherwise spot on with the fish guts, rabbit/chicken manure tea and weed composting! Great free sources of nutrients and microbiology. Also think "humanure" if your dare 😉
I have thought about "zero outside inputs" for many years and the conclusion I came to is, that it is possible as long as: - Nothing leaves the property like eggs, veggies, fruit etc. - All that you consume from the land has to be reclaimed thru humanure and not flushed away. Anything beyond that, you will need some sort of external input, be it free or purchased. The nitrogen and carbon cycles are great because they go to and from the air. All the other minerals are more finite and have to be kept on the land.
I did very much the same thing on my Ozaks “clay farm”… with one major difference: I NEVER did ANY gypsum amendment or discing. I find it’s not only UN-necessary, it actually delays the transformation from wasteland to fertile biological paradise. I especially love that as the land improved lizards and frogs began to show up. 🐸 👍
@@davidthegood Nice, here is another way to make Fertilizer using wild plants AKA "weeds" From Tomazin Farm in FL, easy too. Purslane, Comfrey or whatever, mash up add to 5 gallon bucket + water + molasses or brown sugar, let ferment, can fertilize acres for a year 6 min vid th-cam.com/video/jfL4jF0Nl5A/w-d-xo.html
I’m in Theodore. I was so excited to see a video from someone who lives in this area. I started a gardening channel myself hoping to find some folks around here. I have 3 videos so far. So, it was just started. I hope to be able to speak with Elizabeth at some point. I’m having pest and disease issues already. I need some advice from someone in this climate.
Yes! I love this video. Thankyou so much for confirming what I have been reading in a book called The living soil hand book by Jesse Frost. You are right on the money.
I feel like my brain just imploded!! lolol I didn't want to lose one drop of what you were sharing. I am wanting to do this same thing....enrich my soil with plants It takes planning and work but what doesn't? I will look through your other videos and try to put together a plan to build up my garden a small section at a time. My resources are quite skimpy and along with that I am sort of skimpy on energy...doing it alone. But the reward is intoxicating. Thank you so much. Jesus bless.
I’m doing my garden alone too. If I need heavy lifting my bf will do that. Other than that it’s just me. My energy isn’t that great. My chronic pain also makes it difficult. I was excited to see a video from someone outside of Mobile. I live in Theodore which is also outside of Mobile. I have disease and pest issue questions but don’t know anyone here. I would love to be able to get Elizabeth’s advice because she is dealing with the same environment.
Awesome Video. We Mulched dead land and sprayed fish and comfrey/nettle water and it brought the space to life. Keeping Living roots in the soil and keeping the soil covered builds beautiful healthy soil quickly!
If my soil is compacted clay/rock, do I need to add organic matter to break up the soil in addition to the chicken poo water? From what Elizabeth said, she believes the poo water added microorganisms to get the party started in the soil. Is that activity sufficient to break up the compacted soil? Thanks!
good info, i have left the natural "weeds" grow on the sides of a few of the garden beds, and was just thinking today if i should do the same for the paths....... might try it,
We are on the same page garden wise and you put it so well. We put the chickens up in spring while we garden. Now I know what I want to do to help them help me prep organics in their run! This is so exciting! I can’t wait to expand on my no till gardens and feed them even easier!
I have stopped letting my chickens free range also. They will go around and pick a 3rd of every tomato ripe or not. What I have free ranching now are guineas . I just love them . They are excellent at catching every tick, every beatle every bean beetle, everything is accept squash bugs.. So I still have plenty of greens to throw in for the chickens and the guineas only eat the bugs. Perfect combination!
Absolutely beautiful results. I pray someday I have an area where I can really grow again. Doing what you can with what you have, will usually give better results than doing nothing at all. 😄
I live in the middle of 5 acres of woods in the mid-west. I cover everything with some level of composted or fresh leaves. By spring the freshest ones are flat, shredded, and partially absorbed. It is wonderful. Great video. Thx
This was so helpful - thank you for sharing! We have sectioned off part of our chicken flock in a moveable run and coop to process and prepare our cardboard/leaf-covered future garden plots. Our hope is to keep rotating them through each area every season to keep the fertility up. I just planted some summer stuff in the first broken-down area so we shall see how well it worked. Chickens really are a great garden work force.
Hey there DTG! Very informative! I feel so bad after learning a snake I killed a couple of days ago was a beneficial garden snake. It was brown with spots, small head and only about 11 inches long. I’m pretty sure it was a “Storeria dekayi“, they eat worms, slugs & snails. I stepped on it while weed eating. Freaked me out! Have you ever done a video on beneficial garden snakes?
Thank you for sharing a very nice speech about your gardening experiences. I was just going to reuse an old wooden slatted bin I had a carpenter make for me to house my wheelbarrow and my tall leaf bags in the Fall. Now Its going in the sunny area and I'm turning an 8X2X3 foot bin into my first garden. I will be more confident preparing my soil without store bought fertilizer. Many neighbors have chickens. You didn't mention testing the ph level to be your guide. So I will have to explore that some more.
I have adapted to using a "compost-in-place " system with 5-gallon pots scattered throughout my garden. I fill these full of weeds, leaves and plant matter stuffed into the pot and topped with a bit of garden soil to inoculate with good bacteria & microbes. I use recycled nursery pots but 5-gallon buckets with holes would work too. Worms migrate into them and breaking down the plant matter. I water the pots regularly & the water seeps thru the breaking down plant matter into the soil which fertilizes everything close by with "compost tea". I've never seen so many worms in my garden. It is a TOTALLY simple way and free way to fertilize. At the end of the season I have many pots of broken down & composted plant matter ready for new potting soil next season. Compost in place. I don't have to haul compost or spread it. The worms do the work.
I’m going to try this - thanks!
I love this idea. I use a five gallon (30cm for us down south peeps in New Zealand) as a tiny compost bucket. But I've been leaving it in place and using the compost tea it creates. I'm going to try putting one or two out in the garden beds 🥰
@@lifelovelettuce I use nursery pots I get for free (used - recycled) from our local nursery which already have holes in the bottom. This actually works with all size of pots and buckets. But its best they do have holes and drainage so the worms can get to the plan matter and start munching! :-)
When you say compost or fertilize, is it one and the same? I would like people to be more precise in their language. Example, when you "fertilize" a rose, do you cover the ground in composted materials that you think fertilizes it? Or spray on the plant a product that's stronger then broken down green and brown matter from your garden
@@jcl5345 There are many kinds of fertilizers. There are a wide variety of formulas sold commercially. Compost from available decomposed plant matter is one kind of many. Robbie teaches using a compost-in-place technique to make compost from found plant matter collected at home. And that compost can be used to fertilize and enrich soil. Generally this compost is in the soil - not sprayed on a plant.
“Work with what you have”: words to live by. 🤙❤️
Amen to that! xx
Thank you for this video. Coming from A background with gardening where I was using tons of insecticide and herbicides and fertilizer to keep my plants basically dependent on chemicals seemed like the right thing to do. I’m so grateful that during Covid I didn’t have the options to use any of those. It completely and radically changed how I began to see gardening. I want to also thank you for reminding me that building a garden takes time. And that every year my garden will be better and better as I continue to build life into my soil and nurture the land as a steward.
That’s awesome. Good for you. Good point about “building a garden takes time”. Sometimes I need a lesson in patience. Lol. I am happy to know that our garden beds and our new food forest will improve with time. We have only lived where we are now for about a year and a half and I can already see a difference in the soil from last year; simply from doing things that this video mentions. I can tell from your comment that you’ve got the right attitude. Happy growing to you!!
"Dang, I missed it!!" (I was tending to my worm-bin and I didn't get a notification from Mr. Google-pants, grrrr), LOL. Anyway, "thanks David!" I love how you keep churning out content! Thanks for being persistent. I think it's your mind-set and your attitude you put towards growing food & playing in dirt that's most infectious! Keep it coming! 🐝🐝
He and his family are pretty amazing!
Worm bins are amazing
Mine is creating all the fertilizer I will need for soil amending every year.
My new favorite compost is from siphoning my 40gal fish tank thats full of live plants, and fish manure! I add this to my "fetid swamp tea" 😄
Screw chemicals, nature has a way of growing plants even if we stay away. Today I was removing some grasses that grow between concrete blocks on my property, and some of them grow exceptionally with just a pinch of soil.
Yes, totally agree, if you know which flower is the Vinca, 2 seeds sprouted in a patio crack, between two slabs of concrete in our home and it is thriving so well and with such an abundance of flowers!
@@qualqui don't know what species that is, but I have much respect for it
No joke. Rhizomes and tubers make amazing soil. Wherever I dug up sunchokes, achira, or yams, the soil was infinitely better than it started.
I know what a yam is but never heard of the other 2. Can you tell me what they are please. Thank you
@@VWilt-so3ws Achira is an edible canna lily with a large potato-like rhizome that looks kind of like a giant ginger. Originally from South America, but it's been grown commercially, especially in Australia and Vietnam, where it's one of the most popular starches for making cellophane noodles. Produces about 16-20 pounds of rhizome per plant under normal growing conditions, though the record I saw was around 60 pounds per plant under ideal conditions.
Sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichoke, is a sunflower native to the U.S. that forms edible tubers. Often recommended as a survival crop because they can produce 8-10 pounds of tubers per plant and can easily colonize an area is left to grow undisturbed. They're not quite as productive here with our droughty summers, but they still survive and produce without any care. They are high in inulin so can cause excessive gas if eating them undercooked. Pit roasting was the traditional cooking method, and after a day or two of cooking most of the inulin is converted to digestible starch. Acid helps convert the inulin faster, so cooking with lemon juice or vinegar, or fermenting them, makes them more digestible. Though, generally not a huge problem unless you're eating an excessive amount.
I also like to plant sunflowers in a brand new bed. They break up the soil nicely.
This is so beautiful and inspiring! I love how we got to look at pictures of Elizabeth’s garden while she told us about it. What a stunning and productive space she has created by working with nature. Thanks for this lovely video!
Thankyou for sharing your knowledge with us.South Africa .
Thank you for this. These are the things I try to tell people but nobody listens. I'm glad you are telling this amazing story
I would like to hear more from this lady! I like the blasting fertigation all over the place, I remember the last time you showed this garden there was fertigation raining down galore from the overheads and that is something I want to do with a venturi injector.
I liked her account of what she was doing and what made the difference to help us all learn more. Nice content!
We are just west of crestview fl and we've been fighting this "soil" for some 10 years. This is extremely awesome what ya'll have accomplished!
been at it for 4 years here in west Pensacola. Slow going for sure but I'm making some progress. Very sandy when I started, not so much now. Think I need to locate some Comfry next.
I’m going to find some chicken run dirt today. Great video I love her straight forward factual way of talking. So humble. Because all I do is fail try again win fail. She made me feel good about my progress. As Dave does.
I have been working on fixing abused soil for 9 years and it is encouraging to hear that ordinary stuff helps too.
Getting seawater, putting it in a bucket and using a paintbrush to flick it around your garden (preferably just before or during a rain- otherwise maybe dilute it a some) - definitely makes a difference, i've seen the increased 'glow' of plants after doing that, like they were beaming with gratitude:)
Wow what about water from levee ?? I have been getting dirt from there and was told this is good soil
@@dennalee6184 My first thought is that soil/soil amendments or water from a levee would likely have potentially toxic deposits (petroleum, chemicals, fertilizers, and other toxic substances) from run off and waste from roads and surrounding lands. This would be dependent on the environment around that levee though, so you may need to research that area.
@@dennalee6184 you should try looking into compost teas for specific nutrient inputs rather than relying on water source itself
Wow this suggestion is interesting. Do you get the water going out in a boat, or on the shoreline?
@@carolwright7503 Just from beach area, so pick a an area that you feel is clean. I also add seawater into compost teas that i make from things like nettles, comfrey and dandelions, plus I add a little humic/fulvic acid and lactic acid bacteria. Another good thing is go to a forest and get leaf mulch from the forest floor, this has got unique micro-organisms and fungi, i put some of that in my compost brews, add it to compost piles and mulch fruit trees with it:)
Impressive...a huge transformation in such a short time!
It's been awesome watching Elizabeth's journey over the years! With someone whose soil is as hard as hers was, this is an inspiration.
This was great! Listening to soil improvement success stories really motivates my wife and me
That was an awesome video chocked full of common sense gardening. Of course, David, you've been preaching it but she re-enforced what you've said and written about. Thank you!
This was SUCH a blessing!!! I just moved to the Birmingham area and started a large garden. It was excavated (to get our road in) and was a hard orange clay brick. I had to lay topsoil and compost and wood chips to be able to grow this year but I’m still leery bc I know what lurks below the scant layer I put on top. This gives me so many good ideas, and hope!
Plant crops that send strong roots deep. Like sunflowers, for example. Those roots will hopefully crack this clay and slowly turn it into something more garden-friendly.
Great video. I'm near you in Pensacola. My property is dead sand. I'm also wanting to be natural, build the soil health. I'm composting in place mostly. Nothing goes to waste. Was nice seeing how your garden had come along
Awesome video. Beautiful garden. Sound advice and relevant to our current events. Empowering to know how to make homemade fertilizers that work. Thanks, and happy gardening!
Yes, I am realizing I need to have a garden. I never had a green thumb until I tried alternatives of ollas(ollas which I can't afford). The terra cotta pots filled with water helped me last summer. With the prices going up or can't find the right potting soils, fertilizers, I do want to learn to improve soils so I don't have to buy so much, and learn about fertilizers to make also, so I don't have to buy so much. Less chemicals from elsewhere the better.
That was a rapid and huge transformation. I do a lot of composting/compost tea. I still buy organic fertilizer/amendments but grateful to not need much. I don’t garden in ground so I didn’t have to change my native soil.
Do you dump the soil out from your containers, reuse the soil mixed in with the readymade leave mold, using the suggestions in this video, along with compost teas? Last year I didn't add anything..just soil and water some things grew well, some plants didn't. I didn't think ahead which plants might block the sun.Do you reUse this soil again for the next season or wait another season? I want to grow in containers. I don't want to bend over, but more don't want our pets or wildlife to be destructive to my planting choices..
@@carolwright7503 Hi. No, I don’t empty the soil. I grow in raised beds and grow bags/containers. I simply add more soil/compost and any amendments I want to add. This is my third season and I live in Minnesota so don’t grow all year round. I probably don’t deplete the soil as much as someone growing year round. I add work casting, homemade compost and this year I added bone meal as I’m trying to grow lots of brassicas and root vegetables. Then I fertilize/water with compost tea throughout the growing season.
@@AtHomeWithSheree Thank You, so much to learn.♡
Wow! This was packed with so many pearls….and right on time as I plan my garden improvements for the fall.
Your garden is gorgeous!
I live on Lookout mountain in NE Alabama. Moved here in 2007 from Florida. Your story sounds very similar to mine. I started a no dig garden in 2016. I was lucky to have horses that eat organic hay so I can use their manure and hay composted or cover the garden with it for the winter.
In fact, we built the garden with it and every year expanded because it's so wonderful to grow in these type gardens. ❤️
We dont use fertilizer either since I started gardening this way from the beginning. Its been a huge Blessing for us.
Thanks for all
The annuals do well where the perennials were because they keep the carbon cycle going. Same idea as no till or continuos planting throughout the year. Something I learned from Living Web Farms
LOVE the resourcefulness and creativity that you incorporate-- by doing so, you nurture your soul AND soil 🤗
I was just about to start a barrel of chicken manure water for my garden when I got covid. New week il have a few different fertilizer barrels to add to Dave's fetid swamp water for my plants
It is a great idea to include testimonials from other homesteaders and gardeners.
Does Elizabeth have a site we can follow?
Elizabeth - brilliant.
Credit to the chickens! They built your soil for you. Very inspiring❤
Your garden is amazing. Thank for sharing us with your garden & how it came to be so lush.
Thanks for your great video! I’m in an arid are of Queensland Australia. With only about 600 millilitres of rain each year but most 350 - 450. We have just had about 90 mls of rain since 1st May . And this morning when I let out my chooks, saw where they had been scratching yesterday and the soil looks amazing. I usually just use composted chicken manure. Never thought of scraping up the run to use as a tea for the garden. Thanks so much for telling us your tricks. We have summer temperatures in the 100’s and then winter is down to below 0 to-3 or 4 Celsius. It’s taken about 10 yrs to get the soil nice and loamy. We had rock hard clay. We used lots of gypsum and straw etc. keep up the good work!!
This video makes me so grateful that I got chickens last year.
what a beautiful garden, your tour and back-story of how you achieved this is so inspiring. Thank you.
I have turned hard packed coral rock and sand into great soil in two years. My garden benefits from poultry but the county made chickens illegal. The alternative I used was to encourage the feral ducks to live here, they eat scraps and leave plenty of poop. Also eat weeds and bugs. Bananas need a lot of fertility and they grow extremely well under these conditions. There is plenty phosphorous in many soils. just find a potassium source and bacteria bring in the nitrogen. Weeds are an asset in my opinion.
We use some wood ash from the fire pit for our bananas and they’re thriving. It has tons of potassium. I’m in 9b Florida
Cheers for nice neighbors who helped you get started! Gypsum is great for clay soil and adds calcium. Inexpensive and does a great job making soil workable. Thanks for the tip about adding soil from the chicken run. I will do that today!
This is such valuable experience to share! THANK YOU!
I use my quails droppings and pine shavings. Garden is in a beautiful bloom this year
We are in a similar situation as she was when she started. So thankful y'all shared this with us. We are encouraged by this. God bless!
Thank you DTG, sorry I missed the premiere. Feeling like rabbits maybe my only survival hack for protein and help create more organic material to keep things growing. Great to hear Elizabeth’s journey rescuing her soil. Those carrots and everything she harvested looked amazing. TY for sharing.
Also may drop “exudates” in one of my videos after this too. Loved her view on walk ways too. Since I have to keep grass for my son and husband. Her chicken coming toward her trolling up that gorgeous dirt was cute. lol
Rabbits are great for building soil.
This is a really beautiful (and helpful) video, David and Elizabeth. Thank you for sharing!
Finally found a tube gardener in my zone. Thanks!
Welcome, Thad - glad you're here.
10:45 Yay! Finally this topic gets addressed. I've looked into grass in between rows and get tons of people saying, "No weeds in the garden, pull them all!" I was wondering about grass not weeds. How far away should I keep the grass from my rows? I keep getting the runaround on this and can't find a direct answer. This video helps but I would love some more specifics. Thanks for the video, God bless.
This was an awesome video! Thanks for sharing her story
Think this was one of the best soil videos I have ever seen. Just fantastic-- thank u 😊
Coincidental that you posted this video. I just started reading the JADAM book which is about making all your own fertilizer and pesticides. They also talk a lot about how nature creates nutrients for the plants and soil, which she talks about here.
"Work with what ya got". Excellent advice.
Great Video David. Thank you for shining a light on this Garden. And for helping to bring solutions and remedies to this issue that many folks are dealing with in these crazy times. Stay Blessed!
Amazing hearing about the change in soil with using what's on the land.
You don't need to buy fertilizer! If you're interested in making composting much simpler, check out my book Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting - amzn.to/3M8sRy8
Just got it!!
@@brittrathbunwoo7370 Thank you
No, thank you!
I used what I call chicken poop water this year for the first time. Everything looks amazing in my raised beds. I stumbled upon this after the chicken poop was rained on when the bin was left uncovered. I also don't mulch walk-ways and plant perennial vegetables and wild flowers in there. It looks wild but is growing beautifully.
That is awesome.
Water is so short here in the Southwest when we add urine for fertilizer it is mainly for the water content 🤗
That is how I start my garden beds! And then In the fall/winter, I add compost and a good mulch layer and let it sit. Spring I sprinkle composted chicken manure or just dirt/bedding from the chicken and goat runs then water well, then plant. Things grow incredibly
So encouraging and helpful! Thank you, David!
Awesome video. Motivating. We started our food forest in zone 6b clay recently and have been adding chicken run dirt, partially broken down compost, leaves, miscellaneous organic matter, and a tiny bit of rock dust. Our chickens have a large enclosed run. We give them lots of grass, weeds, etc. I’m hoping the added microbes will help to turn organic matter into bioavailable nutrition for our plants. I’m sure it will take time to mature. We will grow annuals throughout our perennial food forest, so that is good to hear that your annuals did well in your situation. I didn’t add anything to break up the clay, so I will definitely consider gypsum or other things like that?? I really was torn between having wood chip walkways, or living walkways. I think you convinced me to have living walkways. One of the best videos I’ve seen in a while. I’m excited to get back out there and get it growing!! Thank you!
Thank you for sharing your experiences and knowledge with us, and may we remember " Knowledge Is Power "
I’d love to hear more from Elizabeth. Great video!
I started my veggie garden in august 2021. I had to dig out the very tough Kikuju grass and used cement slabs to form a barrier for my veggie garden. I had no compost at all so I covered the area with cardboard with bricks to hold it in place. I cut holes in the cardboard and inserted "grow tubes" (tubes cut from soda bottles) in the holes. I planted my veggies in the grow tubes and only watered in the grow tubes with a 5L plastic bottle with a hole drilled in the cap. This kept weeds down and allowed the microbes to establish themselves again. At the same time I planted 6 trees taken from neighbors trees as cuttings or 2 from seed, as they mature I will have leaves to use as compost. I am expanding the veggie patch by digging out the grass and using my kitchen scraps to dig in as compost on 1 area where earth worms have moved in. It is a slow process, but very satisfying and I have had a good harvest. Love from Cape Town, South Africa.
Wow!!! Thank you Elizabeth!!!!!
This was a fabulous video! I only have a small garden now because I rent, but hoping to move next year and have a home with my family. We all garden and want large organic gardens as well as chickens. I learned alot and this was inspiring. Thank you!!
Loved this video! Such a natural, no-stress way to garden.
Very interesting how this developed to a graden of eden with a combination of variety plants and everyday animal droppings! Thank you for educating us! Save the soil!!!
Great info; thanks for sharing! I have composted chicken soil but it seems so dry; I think it needs cover crops & lots of watering. 🤗🇨🇦
Great video, lots of practical wisdom in there and the lady speaks so clearly! Thanks!
Man i feel so inspired by this womans experience. As someone who sometimes feels like i need to have the best tools or buy the best products, i needed to hear that i in fact, do not need it to improve or even start a garden.
People forget human urine is a fine fertilizer if you are not on medication & disease free.
Pee is also free.
Fresh pee and water 1:10 does wonders.
Good tips! It's not just about the minerals you need, it's that soil biology! Good video with the exception that, sure you didn't buy standard chemical fertilizer, but you did buy gypsum, bagged compost and alfalfa pellets. Otherwise spot on with the fish guts, rabbit/chicken manure tea and weed composting! Great free sources of nutrients and microbiology. Also think "humanure" if your dare 😉
Yes - she has worked towards zero outside inputs.
Better than I have done! She is an inspiration & a testament to perserverance.
I have thought about "zero outside inputs" for many years and the conclusion I came to is, that it is possible as long as:
- Nothing leaves the property like eggs, veggies, fruit etc.
- All that you consume from the land has to be reclaimed thru humanure and not flushed away.
Anything beyond that, you will need some sort of external input, be it free or purchased. The nitrogen and carbon cycles are great because they go to and from the air. All the other minerals are more finite and have to be kept on the land.
Good evening to you are you OK keep safe always and godbless
Thank you for your videos. Live in Mobile County, new to your channel and gardening. Glad to see gardening tips for our area.❤️❤️❤️
I live in Theodore. I’d love to talk to her for advice about issues I’m having in my garden.
I live in Theodore. I’d love to talk to her for advice about issues I’m having in my garden.
I did very much the same thing on my Ozaks “clay farm”… with one major difference: I NEVER did ANY gypsum amendment or discing. I find it’s not only UN-necessary, it actually delays the transformation from wasteland to fertile biological paradise. I especially love that as the land improved lizards and frogs began to show up. 🐸 👍
I love natural and sustainable gardening.Thanks for inspiring!
So much better than your usual videos! JK. Great information as usual.
I laughed. Thank you.
Only on this channel can we let our dry rude humor out, i feel ;)
@@davidthegood Nice, here is another way to make Fertilizer using wild plants AKA "weeds" From Tomazin Farm in FL, easy too. Purslane, Comfrey or whatever, mash up add to 5 gallon bucket + water + molasses or brown sugar, let ferment, can fertilize acres for a year 6 min vid th-cam.com/video/jfL4jF0Nl5A/w-d-xo.html
I agree, the camera work is great here
It's a beautiful, bountiful wonderland of life! Bravissima!
I've got to go back and watch your videos. This gave me so much hope. Thank you!
What plants do you recommend for walkway plantings?
Hello Elizabeth! I am in Mobile too! Great video, lovely garden!
HEY YALL!! I’m in midtown at the Loop! Finally some people near me! Besides Danny and Wanda over in Miss.
I’m in Theodore. I was so excited to see a video from someone who lives in this area. I started a gardening channel myself hoping to find some folks around here. I have 3 videos so far. So, it was just started. I hope to be able to speak with Elizabeth at some point. I’m having pest and disease issues already. I need some advice from someone in this climate.
I also watch Danny and Wanda
Yes! I love this video. Thankyou so much for confirming what I have been reading in a book called The living soil hand book by Jesse Frost. You are right on the money.
Quality production. Good story. 👍
Good point on nutrient dense vs quantity
I feel like my brain just imploded!! lolol I didn't want to lose one drop of what you were sharing. I am wanting to do this same thing....enrich my soil with plants It takes planning and work but what doesn't?
I will look through your other videos and try to put together a plan to build up my garden a small section at a time. My resources are quite skimpy and along with that I am sort of skimpy on energy...doing it alone. But the reward is intoxicating. Thank you so much. Jesus bless.
I am with you on all of the above! I will lend you my support & companionship, at least remotely! It can be lonely going it alone.
@@brittrathbunwoo7370 Are you the author of this video? If so, where in Alabama? I’m in Choctaw County.
I’m doing my garden alone too. If I need heavy lifting my bf will do that. Other than that it’s just me. My energy isn’t that great. My chronic pain also makes it difficult. I was excited to see a video from someone outside of Mobile. I live in Theodore which is also outside of Mobile. I have disease and pest issue questions but don’t know anyone here. I would love to be able to get Elizabeth’s advice because she is dealing with the same environment.
I liberally cover my garden beds with rabbit poop. You can easily see the beds that were filled with rabbit poop and the ones that didn't get as much
Rabbit manure is excellent stuff.
@@davidthegood I love my bunnies, if for no other reason than their special poop that is garden gold.
Amazing what you have accomplished here. Im envious and inspired.
Awesome Video. We Mulched dead land and sprayed fish and comfrey/nettle water and it brought the space to life. Keeping Living roots in the soil and keeping the soil covered builds beautiful healthy soil quickly!
If my soil is compacted clay/rock, do I need to add organic matter to break up the soil in addition to the chicken poo water? From what Elizabeth said, she believes the poo water added microorganisms to get the party started in the soil. Is that activity sufficient to break up the compacted soil? Thanks!
@@brittrathbunwoo7370 Yes, add a mulch of hay or woodchips and then spray poo water, comfrey water or fish water all over it :)
@@nigelkay4210 Awesome. Thank you!
good info, i have left the natural "weeds" grow on the sides of a few of the garden beds, and was just thinking today if i should do the same for the paths....... might try it,
We are on the same page garden wise and you put it so well. We put the chickens up in spring while we garden. Now I know what I want to do to help them help me prep organics in their run! This is so exciting! I can’t wait to expand on my no till gardens and feed them even easier!
Microbes are the key. They LOVE biochar. Soak in in stinky stuff to absorb nutrients and smells. Plants love it and it's VERY Long term fertilizer.
What great content !! Beautiful garden .. Thank You for sharing Elizabeth's garden with us :)
Thanks for sharing
Excellent video very encouraging to this new-bee ….thank you for sharing..
I have stopped letting my chickens free range also. They will go around and pick a 3rd of every tomato ripe or not. What I have free ranching now are guineas . I just love them . They are excellent at catching every tick, every beatle every bean beetle, everything is accept squash bugs.. So I still have plenty of greens to throw in for the chickens and the guineas only eat the bugs. Perfect combination!
THANKS FOR THIS VIDEO. ALL THE BENIFITS OF A LIVING SOIL 👍
Excellent video documentary!
Wow you have a huge beautiful garden!!
Absolutely beautiful results. I pray someday I have an area where I can really grow again. Doing what you can with what you have, will usually give better results than doing nothing at all. 😄
I live in the middle of 5 acres of woods in the mid-west. I cover everything with some level of composted or fresh leaves. By spring the freshest ones are flat, shredded, and partially absorbed. It is wonderful. Great video. Thx
This was so helpful - thank you for sharing!
We have sectioned off part of our chicken flock in a moveable run and coop to process and prepare our cardboard/leaf-covered future garden plots. Our hope is to keep rotating them through each area every season to keep the fertility up. I just planted some summer stuff in the first broken-down area so we shall see how well it worked. Chickens really are a great garden work force.
Hey there DTG! Very informative! I feel so bad after learning a snake I killed a couple of days ago was a beneficial garden snake. It was brown with spots, small head and only about 11 inches long. I’m pretty sure it was a “Storeria dekayi“, they eat worms, slugs & snails. I stepped on it while weed eating. Freaked me out! Have you ever done a video on beneficial garden snakes?
Thanks for your help. It makes me feel more confident about my goal
Thank you for sharing a very nice speech about your gardening experiences. I was just going to reuse an old wooden slatted bin I had a carpenter make for me to house my wheelbarrow and my tall leaf bags in the Fall. Now Its going in the sunny area and I'm turning an 8X2X3 foot bin into my first garden. I will be more confident preparing my soil without store bought fertilizer. Many neighbors have chickens. You didn't mention testing the ph level to be your guide. So I will have to explore that some more.