How I'm making gardening easier
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Here’s the details of strulch, however be aware it off gasses a lot when new, so keep it very well ventilated and don’t let it touch young plant leaves www.strulch.co...
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My books and videos are all grounded in what I actually do, I make sure you can see the evidence. For example if I suggest sowing carrots in November, take a look at my monthly tours to see them growing and my harvest videos for May to see the actual results. I'm not just about regurgitaing information from the backs of seed packets!
Just because all my resources are 'free of charge', to everyone, doesn't mean they aren't good quality. My objective is to make sure that there's no need to be rich to get access to great gardening information. I do however have a lot of costs to cover and my time is valuable to me, so please consider supporting me at www.buymeacoff...
Growing food with a systems based mindset takes time and money to set up but really gives back in time spent on a regular basis and greatly reduces the chaos during those transition periods and having to ‘replan’ every season. I find it very satisfying.
I have tall frames with mesh ‘roofs’ on my raised beds and I use a good weighted chain link as my tomato support instead of twine. The chain is reusable, no breakages while plant is growing, lasts forever, cut to size once, an opened link just hooks over the mesh panel above, easy to take down, and you can twist the plant around it or use clips.
Probably the biggest benefit for me is the simplicity and small amount of time, chains are a very interesting option, but twine is essentially free (2p/plant/year) and just goes in the compost with the plant. It depends how you look at the "money to setup" question. I've never spent any money on gardening that I've not saved twice over from the food bill, so from my perspective it doesn't take any money to setup, provided you spend the money in stages : All the best - Steve
My climate is nothing like yours, but i always enjoy listening to the thought process of other focused gardeners with systems. Thanks for taking the time to post.
I love your seating area - it’s so important to take time and relax amongst your glorious abundance of growth! It is a beautiful space ! Thank you again for all the insights 🙏
I’m looking forward to all of the plants growing up around the seating area
Beautiful Veg garden, Its the bees knees.
I have allotment envy. Yours is so tidy. I used strulch last year and the weeds were unbelievably bad so this year we have put woodchip on one of our beds as an experiment. So far not a weed in sight and the plants are doing well despite the skeptics saying it would be too acidic!
I have wood chip on all of my perennial beds, but strulch is easier to remove and bag up in autumn, when it's not needed. If you already have weeds growing, they will definitely push through strulch, but new weed seeds won't germinate on it, so it stop weeds blowing in. I'm too busy for an untidy plot, keeps my time down to an hour a day : All the best - Steve
Your allotment is so neat and tidy. You sure do grow a lot of food, well done!
I'm too busy to cope with a messy plot, but it does take me an hour a day to keep on top of it : All the best - Steve
Thank you for another interesting video. I think that's the first time I've heard you mention how much time you spend each week. I think most people will have assumed you spent a lot more time than that. I think its very reassuring to newbys that once you've got yourself set up and organised it is much easier. Certainly for us after 25yrs on our current plots we find everything much more manageable although the are still always projects to work on. At the moment we are waiting for it to warm up enough for us to replace the cover on the polytunnel.
Repeating myself is a tricky thing to manage, because often people are asking me "when did you sow", or "what variety is that", when regular viewers already know. I tend to cover lifestyle things like "time I spend", finances etc more in my newsletter. As you say people always assume I've spent a lot of money, or that I'm working on my plot all day long and it frustrates me a little, because I've spent much less than half the money that I've saved off the food bill and I spend very little time compared with many plot holders on my site, it's all about efficient systems and the 80/20 rule : All the best - Steve
Standardising things- what a clever solution. I have a small garden and greenhouse, I grow most of my veg in containers on the patio (only place that gets sun) and my leafy greens in raised beds in the shady area.
I seem to have far too much gardening 'stuff'. You have inspired me to de-clutter and standardise the whole thing. Thanks brother 👍🌱🌱🌱
Decluttering definitely saves a lot of time : all the best - Steve
Thanks, as always, for your incredibly helpful videos 😊
Nice Update Steve
Thanks, I like what you,very done and your new break area, too.
I really enjoyed that, thanks Steve. I imagine you are enjoying being able to escape there from all the building work? It seems a lovely place to relax outside there now too with your new area and everywhere looks so tidy. I always get some ideas of what I need to do next while listening to your chats. A lovely way to begin a Bank Holiday Monday 😁 Justine
Yes Justine, it’s a great retreat
🐝Thanks for the great video 🌻
As always looks amazing Steve thank you for the great useful information this year is a bit different for me and the garden I have more room I had gotten rid of the pool this year and I'm in the process of making that area a garden area I've planted more flowers this year also now that I have room and I'm trying quite a lot of new and unusual veg I've always wanted to mess around with when it's finished I'll put up a couple pics it should be quite nice I'm hoping thank you for the inspiration Steve 👍👍
I really enjoyed watching this! You have everything down to a great system! I like how serious you are about production, that’s my goal in my little garden. In our cold climate I think in terms of preserving food for the winter as opposed to growing right through the year.
I don’t like preserves, can’t stand frozen food either, so for me fresh food is key every week of the year. Growing a surplus takes the pressure off though so I never need to worry that Debbie and I won’t have enough food every week of the year : all the best - Steve
I've seen it mentioned that wood chip paths encourage woodlice but I've been using it for seven or eight years & haven't seen this to be the case.
My alternative to strulch is grass clippings but they need to be treated like hay. I spread them on the drive during sunny weather & turn a couple of times to remove much of the moisture so they don't bind together as an anaerobic mess. Been using them in my potato tubs for five years now with excellent results.
Regarding potatoes: My charlotte, both home saved & bought seed have gone mad in the past couple of weeks, with tops almost 3' high compared to a foot lower in the past. Hopefully this is a sign of vigorous growth under the surface too & a bumper crop to come.
Yes! Dried grass clippings can be a great mulch. Just don't use overgrown grass full of seeds.
I've got a small lawn (My wife won't let me dig it up) and trim it regularly, sun dry the clippings, and add them to mulch the fruit trees.
yes, if you have a source of seed free grass it can be great, unfortunately I don't : All the best - Steve
I am using strulch also this year. Yes it is worth the extra cost 😊
I forgot to mention though that you need to keep it well ventilated, it off gasses quite a bit : all the best - Steve
When you were talking about Strulch I suddenly remembered the reptile tank straw pellets I got for growing mushrooms as it is so much cheaper than the stuff the mushroom spore companies sell.
It was just 12 liters for £8 but fluffed up hugely and I have a massive amount left. It is sterile too. I am thinking it is probably cheaper than Strulch and obviously takes up less storage space as it comes in dried pellet form.
definitely worth a try and the last time I mentioned Strulch there were a lot of alternatives mentioned in the comments, for me Strulch wins because I value my time so highly, one click on Amazon, compared to sourcing and driving to place to collect an alternative, makes Strulch cheapest : All the best - Steve
Goos show, cheers Steve
Great video Steve I’m going to copy some of your ideas. Thanks for sharing them. Can I ask how to put those big posts in, do you use concrete ?
I just hammer them in with a post driver, which is easy for me because I grow on sand : All the best - Steve
Thanks very much Steve
Love your peppers - flowering already! Just putting mine in and I see buds on quite a few - yayyyy! Do you ever pinch out the tops? I did try a couple of years ago but wasn't impressed. Am hoping this year they'll do better in the polytunnel as the aubergines are romping away. Polytunnel finally completed in April, so new to me and experimenting with it!
Well, you should see the plants in the greenhouse Kerry! They are in full fruit, not many weeks away from harvest. I definitely don't recommend pinching out the tops, I think the only reason people do that is because they start the plants too early and they grow very tall and weak. Peppers naturally grow side shoots when they are ready to, which is when the plant stem is thick and strong and they have good main stem leaf growth, at that point they burst to life with side shoots : All the best - Steve
Have U ever thought about getting (quad grows). I've seen them but I think there quiet expensive, not sure if there worth it. Love the seating area, how nice to sit there and look at your veg
Hi Mark, perhaps you can guess my answer from the fact that I don't even have a propagator or heat mat. No, I'm not keen on fancy gardening hacks, I prefer to grow as close to nature as I can, so all I add is top water, light and top heat. The main reason though is that unlike - for example - Nigel, I don't like going away for long holidays, 3 days and I start getting home sick for the 'good life' : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards yea I agree with U, although I do struggle a little as I like long holiday lol. So have to ask people to come and water my tomatoes for me.
There have been times when I've been away, but I have plenty of people who can step in and water for me. I understand in your circumstances a holiday is important, but for me I have nothing to take a holiday from, all I need is a change of scenery for a few days : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards that makes sense, it properly nice to get away every know and then. At the moment for me 2 weeks of work is lovely lol. Although I'm always trying to get more time away. I do love being away
Hey, i love your content. Which one do you use? I work for a charity home and run their veg garden. So I do not want to worry about ruining our hard work 😊
Hi, I think you missed a few words out of your question : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards sorry Steve, the brand on mulch you use on top of your compost. 🤦🏼♂️
Hi Steve
Can you tell me did you build or buy your poly tunnel? If built was there a video on how you did it? Or if bought could you point me in the right direction please? I’ve been looking at first tunnels as they provide a building service.
I’m not to most proficient with power tools but wondering if I should buy the materials and get some help to build.
Been using the off the shelf green covered ones since I started 3 years ago, I’ve been grateful for the space they provide but the covers don’t last and I’m now at the stage where I would like to invest in something sturdier and more substantial.
On the up, I do find old poly tunnel frames great for repurposing as brassica/fruit cages. Covered with mesh they work really well.
Mine was from first tunnels, see this chapter of my ebook www.notion.so/steverichards/Polytunnel-Design-and-Growing-Guide-e260fa0b71bd4dea9a9003c74bdb9ce7?pvs=4
This is fantastic thank you 🙏🏼🌱💚
Hi Steve. Love your videos. Do you have anything under the wood chip paths?
Yes, when I got my plot it was a bindweed and marestail farm, so I laid down landscape fabric under the paths but I wouldn’t recommend that unless you have a very bad perennial weed problem. Instead use cardboard and 4” of chip : all the best - Steve
Great video,
The stulch you put on beds how do you fertiliser in winter,do you take it up,or simply put new compost on top,thanks
I covered that in the video in more detail, but I remove it in September/October, bag it up and reuse it the following year : all the best - Steve
Hi Steve, have you ever tried a cinder path? I've been offered some bags of cinders which were charcoal rather than wood and wondered what you thought
I’ve not but having cycled down cinder tracks they can be very messy when it gets wet
@@SteveRichardsthanks Steve, not a good idea then 😊
Not for me as I don’t have any gardening clothes
Steve’s putting the great back in Great Britain! Now can you show us all how to achieve all this for under £10😂
It depends how you look at it, but I don’t spend any money on gardening that I’ve not saved off the food bill twice over. It helps that I have a lot of kids living close by who love veg. So from my perspective having £10 to spend would be an investment quickly paid back : all the best - Steve
What size is the greenhouse? It looks amazing 😊
All the details here steverichards.notion.site/Greenhouse-Design-and-Growing-Guide-b3bf5d6ee29f4feaaa1671b0ea0a42f9?pvs=4
You forgot to mention the key to your success, standardising your gardening clothes. Not sure I have ever seen you not wear a baseball cap, t-shirt and shorts, even in the winter.
Actually Steve, if I were to do a lifestyle video that would be a key point, Steve Jobs learnt that trick from me. I don't wear a cap at home, but because I'm outside for most of the day I need to protect my eyes from too much sun. I do wear shorts all winter, because my active hobbies are walking, hiking, swimming, cycling, gardening and yoga and they are all mixed together throughout the day, so it saves me having to get changed. I'm also profoundly deficient in vitamin D, supplements don't work, so I need as much sun on my arms and legs as possible : All the best - Steve
@@SteveRichards have a listen to Dr.Rhonda Patrick. She says magesium is needed for the uptake of viramin D, I think.
@SteveRichards out of curiosity how did you know you were vitamin d deficient?
@roylaw7765 I was tested twice before and after supplements and both times I was profoundly deficient, now I’m ok, because I get a lot of sun
@@SteveRichards I’m similar to you, working indoors a lot, I was low on vitamin D as well. This probably triggered HLA-B27 gene to go active. I have inflammation/auto immune issues. NHS didn’t know why. I did my own research, handed it over to them. They decided to conduct tests for this gene and check vitamin D levels. They confirmed this gene was active, my vitamin D levels were next to nothing and I had Anklosing Spondylitis. One the reasons why I grow my own food is to fix my immune system and stop taking prescribed drugs, which I have stopped now. You mention in your video how much money you have saved but the real benefit is good health, can’t put a price on that.
What would cause the bleaching of leaves on my veg? Too much strong sunlight? They then seem to go paper thin,shrivel and die? Very frustrating as happened with cucumber and runner beans , thanks
Where are they growing, outside?
@@SteveRichards yes they are
How well were they hardened off before planting?
@@SteveRichards they had been outside a week or so but wondered if you can get sun bleaching or maybe too cold still at night?
@@SteveRichards they had been outside a week or so but wondered if you can get sun bleaching or maybe too cold still at night?
Do you make your beds from scaffold boards or treated timber? Thanks
Treated timber
@@SteveRichards thanks, what size do you use?
@mananddog9884 all the details here www.notion.so/steverichards/Making-raised-beds-coldframes-and-tunnels-aa81d71a481e424b81293309723e3c0b?pvs=4
@@SteveRichards thanks
Are your beds east west or north south or doesnt it matter?
It matters to me for two reasons, all to do with covers. You want the side of the bed that opens up (cold frames, low tunnels) to face roughly south and you want the back of the bed that stays closed to face roughly towards the prevailing wind direction, for max protection from high winds, while allowing the covers to remain partly open for max light and ventilation. So in my case the prevailing wind direction is north west, so my beds are roughly east/west. A final benefit of east west is that you can use the long back side of the bed to grow plants that cast shade, so they shade the path, not the bed : All the best - Steve
"one hour per day" is that total gardening work time?
Yeah, for the allotment, but I have the kitchen garden too and all of the seed sowing and harvesting, that makes a total of 10 hours on average, more in spring, less in winter : all the best - Steve