I just recently completed your entire collection of videos. I have since been going back and listening to them again, as they are such a wealth of ideas and knowledge. Your research and testing and the depth of recording of data you do, is more than admirable. Thank you for doing what you do. It is a truly amazing channel.
Thanks. I will have a think about how that idea can be explored more on this channel, and there are traces of it in quite a few videos. But I think if I was to really explore it, I would need to use examples that would likely alienate people, and I suspect it might be better as a deeper dive in a book.
Its a pleasure to see the videos, I don~t mind a slower schedule but am happy for everything we get to see! i wish you a successful growing season 2023!
It's refreshing to be reminded that despite political, cultural and geographic differences we can come together under a healthy skepticism to share experiences and discover real truth.
I think that is important, and one of the key reasons I don't talk about some issues, as I feel they would only lead to division. It is also why I always try to stick with my own experiences, and to be critical of them, as it seems to prevent some of the frustration that I see with so much content.
It’s great to see that your partner is able to work along with you in the gardens. I wish her a good recovery. My son was in the same position two years ago and is doing well now. Serious illness definitely resets your priorities and outlook. Please don’t beat yourself up chasing a schedule. Your videos are always so uplifting and educational. I watch each of them at least twice and apply what learning I can in my allotment. Thank you.
Ah, I realise now that a disconnect between the script and the video clips I used has led to a miscommunication there. The person helping me in the gardens is Kris, who is a friend/neighbour who has been working with me for a few years. My wife doesn't help in the RED Gardens, but is doing much better now that her treatment has finished, but still a long journey back to proper health. Thanks for your kind comment.
There's more good content in one of your videos that in 4-5 videos by most other creators, so while I'm enjoying all the content don't beat yourself up over quantity. Lots of your lessons hit home, and over the years I've found obtaining first class seed to be a real issue. Many of the "big names" source seeds from whoever is cheapest, and buying from them has cost me many $1,000's over the years in failed crops due to bad seeds. These days I focus on seed dealers that also sell to commercial growers, folks who buy by the kilo or the million seeds, they can't afford to make mistakes and generally the prices are much, much cheaper than the garden suppliers, especially if you buy a quantity sufficient for several years at a time. Finally, don't obsess too much over the Covid thing. My folks, in their mid 90's, and my partner and i, in our 70's, all got it in the last few months. We spent a day or so in bed with chills, a couple of days with cold symptoms and were over it. Only the loss of the sense of smell got us to test, otherwise we would have just figured it was a cold. Make sure your Vitamin D levels are up, stay healthy and enjoy life.
I have also shifted to buying seeds from companies to that sell to growers and farmers, partially because I can get larger quantities for cheaper, but also that farmers are less tolerant of poor seed quality, which I think/hope keeps the seed companies in line. And I like buying for several seasons and storing seeds in the freezer. Glad to hear you had a reasonable experience with Covid, most people do. But I also know some people who died and some real horror stories about struggling with long covid for years. But mainly my wife is recover gin from a long cancer treatment, so she has been high risk and her immune system is still knocked back, and that has defined how I behave, and I will continue to be cautious for a while longer. I'd suggest you keep an eye out for current developments, as it seems the evolution of new variants is starting to cause serious problems again, but most people aren't aware.
The compost issue with the tomatoes is interesting. There are days in the rainy Florida summers that I bring home a trailer load of manure from the horse farm and the ammonia coming off it is so strong it burns my eyes. This only happens when it is hot and humid and the manure is wet. Perhaps this was the problem with your tomatoes.
It's evident that you put a lot of work into these videos and to be honest I wouldn't worry about uploading videos as often. As long as you don't burn out and enjoy it, the people will keep watching no matter the frequency of your uploads! I love the logical approach to gardening and I have shared your videos loads with my allotment society members.
Thanks for the feedback. Good to know what people are thinking. One of the main drivers for me is to do videos frequently enough to get most of the ideas, observations and explorations out there in the world, instead of being stuck in my own head!
@@REDGardens Yes, one of your early and most inspiring vids was on not setting your bar too high to start with or setting too many constraints to your goals. The main aim is to just keep going and enjoying it.
@@REDGardens I don’t know if you have thought about it, but videos don’t need to be carefully scripted and edited for people to enjoy them. Imo you can sustain a tighter schedule by using more Vlog style videos. I mean you can film yourself using your phone held on a stick and do a short 5 minutes update walking around the gardens and showing “live” whatever thing you are focusing on. Anyway keep up the good work!
Don’t feel pressured into creating content because you have a schedule. I’m enjoying the thought and analysis you’ve put into your videos and would rather you enjoy the process of creating quality content instead of being pressured into uploading more but losing the love of the process and compromising quality as a result. Love your work. And absolutely appreciate the time, commitment and effort you put into sharing them.
"How ideas spread, or not" discussion was very interesting! I've felt the popularity of a very small group of popular market gardeners has really pushed the no-dig and polytunnels over the past few years. I think it backfired in the sense that some folks were saying there just wasn't enough compost to supply all the converted, and that in some cases the quality started to get really bad. Polytunnels are so popular now, that some have even discarded growing outdoors all together. Plastic has it's place, but it should be limited for the wastage, microplastics issue, and possible phthalate leeching.
Good thoughts. I've got one "greenhouse tent" and can't decide whether to get on the polytunnel bandwagon or not. I'd prefer a big glass greenhouse (like at least 2 of my neighbours newly have) but I'm really really not in their budget space! I'm also iffy on no dig. I've grass and fruit trees and hedges aplenty, so I could perhaps supply enough compost (and get old straw or manure from my horse and cow keeping neighbours), but honestly, my best friend the past 2 years is my rototiller. It's ex agricultural land and quite compacted. I've added nettle brew, the liquid from eggshells soaked in vinegar and good old "Vitamin P" (as I call it. Always handy and in good supply thanks to my heavy tea drinking habits!). Combined with mulching with my hedge and tree trimmings (ramiel I guess, as it's been in spring) that's been quite good where I've done it and I plan to expand that. I've also got more than enough leaves available to overwinter mulch. (Though I've been pretty lazy with that so far). I'm leaving a lot "wild" for another year for the pioneer plants to bring up nutrients and loosen the soil. It's interesting to see that I get a lot of bugloss (a kind of borage), dandelions and nettles, as well as poppies, leftover rape and barley and then vetch, chamomile and mustard that seems to be the local cover crop. I'm gonna chop n drop that and see how it goes! I am gonna try a mini "Hügel" since I'm in the very land of Hügelkultur and summer drought is a bit issue.
@@kirstypollock6811 I agree that the no dig gardening method is viable but not the best option in every situation. My sister jumped on the no dig method and, to be honest, was quite critical of my use of soil. Unfortunately for her, the no-dig method didn't yield anything last year. I also would like a greenhouse but the high winds are unkind to the plastic ones I had, so I would prefer glass, even if it is not as large as the poly tunnel would be. The use of vitamin P :) yeah, it's readily available and I use it also to speed up the composting process. After adding woodash and ground up eggshells, the compost is good enough to grow almost anything in.
@@kirstypollock6811 I'm in Southern California where drought is a perennial, if not all year, reality. So I've adapted hugelkulture by incorporating African techniques, where instead of building up, I dig down. I first start with a 2-3 foot deep trench beds, and then pile in logs, and then from there, branches and greens, kitchen scraps, fresh compost, cardboard, paper, manure, vitamin "p" (heh) and whatever else I can, layering dirt back in between. From there I layer up just an inch below the walkways. The purpose of staying lower is so that water from watering and what little rain we do get will collect into the beds and stay there, instead of flowing out and elsewhere. Food for thought! Our perhaps, a thought for more food. 😊
@@xianvox22 I agree that some of the best beds I've had were/are modified hugel beds. Those beds also moderate too much water during downpours, by drawing it away & preventing root rot & then re-release the stored water later if the roots go deep looking for moisture.
@@kirstypollock6811 That's some good weeds! Ya, I've put my tiller to good use over the past couple of years, the couch/crabgrass is unrelenting and no match for no-dig. I too would only do a greenhouse if I can have glass, saving up to glass in the porch on the house and that way it is "free" heat too. Won't be growing any tomatoes, but perfect for starts.
A college level intern from the curriculum would probably love to be your videographer both for the experience to put on the resume, to have you as a client reference, albeit unpaid, and perhaps could earn college credit. You'd want someone to commit to an entire year, of course, but imagine how much more could the accomplished that would meet both your needs and theirs. And how much they'd be able to share about the technology and techniques, and you would about your experience.
Not sure I'd be up to working with someone else on the videos. I get that it can help with the work, but my head gets a bit fried working with other people, and I probably have enough with Kris working in the gardens. But something to keep in mind.
I value the content you provide at TH-cam. I've been liking and commenting as much as possible. You are a very underrated channel. Thank you for your time and efforts.
These 'lessons learned' videos are my favorite! I'd be really interested to see if sifting the municipal compost to remove the chunky unfinished material would improve its quality and produce higher yields.
As always love you content and how you science the art of growing food. I'd love to hear more about the myths you are debunking about vegetable growing
With your zucchini squash, you mention that letting them grow larger produced a smaller plant and more yield. My question on this is: What was the eating quality of the fruit? In the US, we tend to value immature zucchini as it has "better taste and texture." I'm not one to follow convention which is why I'm asking. Is the larger fruit as good a quality and enjoyable or did you have to prepare it in a certain way to make it useful at that size? If I need to change my paradigm, I'm certainly willing.
I've tried to convince myself big zukes taste good. Nope. Don't care how you cook them. Yuk. I chop & chuck them in the compost pile or worm bed. The smaller medium sized ones have better flavor. I will die on that zuke hill.
I think they have different flavour and I use them for different recipes in the kitchen. Generally I prefer the more intense taste and crisp texture of the really small ones.
In order to perhaps include the YT community even more, have you considered adding/dedicating a certain section to the garden inspired solely by your channel subscribers i.e. types of plants, growing tactics etc etc? I am sure there are a ton of ideas here going through the comment section. I can't tell you how you should go about this for certain, but I think it would be a fun idea to include the community and learn something new.
I really enjoy the rigorousness of your trials and analysis and honesty about the results. Too many of the videos on here are full of woowoo, or, at least, the analyses are pretty "out there" which bothers me and is refreshing to see someone more grounded in reality.
harvesting the carrots a little earlier may have less issues than those harvested late in the season.. younger carrots although smalker in size may have not yet attracted those issues that appear late in the season..
Where did you get the black grow bags? I really need such bags. Hope your dear life partner is well. Keep up the great work this year. The idea of #humus and humic acids is a myth according to science. No molecule of a humic acid has ever been detected. Today I learned that it was rats biting holes into my tomatoes when I wasn't looking.
I know it might be off topic to the essence of the channel, but would you be open to share your video making process? I’m not talking about the filming process, but more about the way you prepare your videos, scripts, charts, diagrams, animations. It would be interesting to learn what techniques you have learned to optimize that process just as it is interesting to see your incredible work in the gardens. Wish you the best for this new growing season, and look forward to hearing about your experiences. How I wish you were in a climate that was more similar to mine. I say this because a lot of your results do not apply to the kind of weather I experience where I live, but still I am learning to learn from my own experience, if that makes any sense.
I think that would make an interesting video. I'll think about it. I am still surprised that so many people in every different climates still manage to get a lot out of the videos I make, which is really cool. I wonder what percentage of the people who watch actually grow in a similar climate?
Thank you for sharing your lessons so we can all learn together. Your videos are always jam packed with useful information and data. Keep up the amazing work!
Thanks Bruce! Happy New year! 0.9 video speed seems more like your normal talking speed (settings/speed/custom/0.9).Your championing of strong evidence-based, scientific approaches is vital in growing but also in living. Gossip, misinformation, nonsense spreading is damaging for everyone, with Covid and everything else. Nothing spreads faster and is harder to get rid of than a bad idea.
"Nothing spreads faster and is harder to get rid of than a bad idea", especially when it has the weight of the government and media behind it, and all dissent is stifled.
@@bobaloo2012 I dissent all the time, in full view of all. I just learn how to avoid the obvious no-go areas, and work to create another world, using global tools created by massive corporations. And learn how to exchange ideas and share experiences about growing etc. with people who I would probably disagree with about many other issues.
Thanks, I really appreciate your work And I learned a lot from you and your experiments, As a scientific guy I really like the metrics you present, and I hope someday I do the same with my crops here in Costa Rica
Have you ever heard of knf and jadam? I've watched a lot of your content but I don't remember you addressing the importance of soil microbiology more than buying bulk municipal compost and adding sources of nitrogen and minerals, you might have and I might have missed it but knf and jadam seem like they would be really well suited to an operation the size of yours and it could take it to the next level, I couldn't find where else to reach out to you so I'm writing a comment
@@REDGardens I'm looking forward to it, you do great work, your more scientific, measured approach to farming / gardening is always a pleasure to witness and I wish you many a bountyful harvests in the future
As an early watcher and patreon, the extra content is a godsend. I havent been able to keep up with my own gardening last year, but watching the extra bit of videos is sublime. All the best in the new year, Bruce.
Thank you for your continuing stream of helpful information. I find your scientific and objective approach, combined with close observations, very valuable for optimizing my vegetable gardening processes here in Wales. I’ve been growing melons (usually Sweet Granite) and cucumbers (Natsusuzumi, a Japanese variety from Takii Seeds) in the floor of my greenhouse for years, but yields have dropped and the plants increasingly slow down and dry up a few weeks after planting, like at 10:14 in your video. I am sure that it is cucumber mosaic virus or a soil fungus, so I will grow something else for a few years.
Thank you so much for your work. It's always a great source of useful information and inspiration and pushes me to work harder. Best wishes from France, have a great year!
Thank you Bruce for this summary. Interesting information. I have similar experience with onion sets. The crop has been disappointing especially last summer. I have to try them from the seeds this season.
It took me two and a half years to clear a badly infested allotment of bindweed. I dug it out first and then mulched in a thick layer of horse manure. Then went no dig there after. The first year was the worst for bindweed, but calmed down towards the end of the season. First job of the day was to scan the plot for bindweed and remove what I could without damaging the vegetables. My strategy was to deprive the plant of light and remove as much of the plant as possible daily. That way the plant was using up more resources with minimal replacement of the resources from photosynthesis. I found that potatoes were not a good idea in the first year, only because when the plants got large and I could not access the rows, I could not remove the bindweed until harvest time. Interestingly my shed was built above a pallet base. Bindweed was prolific under the shed. I pulled as much of the bindweed out as possible as soon as it grew out from under the shed. Probably about 3 feet or more at a time. The plant gave up within 3 months!
It is a really tough weed to get rid of, especially if it is really established. I have tried that approach of trying to remove any shoots as often as possible, but usually end up waiting too long, and the shoots do get hidden in the foliage of so many plants.
Bruce! Jesus man you are a font of knowledge always. Please remember in the midst of all this work to take a break to enjoy life and not just to focus on different kinds of work. A vacation every now and then I hear is good for you!
Great summary of the year. I love your experimental approach. I'm also heartened by the melon experience which I missed. I had the same issue but even worse, none of the early flowers developed fruit and the late ones were too small by the time the same wave of dying off hit my plants - then spreading to the cucumbers. I blamed myself for being away for 5 days and not clearing damaged leaves in that time, but now I think maybe it might have happened anyway!
if you are growing the pole beans in the poly tunnel.. could you use a lower and lean method? I've seen it used with indeterminate tomatoes and it makes getting the higher fruit.
I wonder if that would work. I usually just let all of the side shoots grow and create a big mass, but pruning them and dropping/lowering them as a single leader may be a useful method. Something to try in the future.
Keep your videos going because you have a lot of information to share about growing vegetables I have found that you go into the process of getting information about the good and bad things that happen to vegetables.
I always value your logical, thoughtful approach - so THANK-YOU!! All the best wishes for a great 2023 with bumper harvests and fewer bumps along the way! Cheers from Sydney!
I think with Beans, there is an unknown "secret" ammount of beans a plant will support, but constant picking will always produce more and more. Potatoes in bags a lot of people here in the UK grow in 30 litre pots with handles, but we put in 3 or 4 inches of compost then the seed potatoes, then fill the bags, your seed looks to be going in half to two thirds of the way up the bag. I have also enlarged the holes at the bottom of my pots to allow roots to grow out and into the soil for extra nutrients and water which is a combination that works very well, great video!!...Steve...🙂
I think you are right about that 'secret' amount of beans, and that planting the potatoes deeper would help. I saw how a few of the plants that had been able to access the soil below through the holes in the bags wee a lot bigger, and it makes sense to enable this. But for these trials I am doing, trying to compare the different material in the bag itself, I decided to try to isolate the plants from the ground below, for better comparison. But I realise that it isn't the best method for growing in containers.
Carrot Fly tip: Hey, Your scale might be too large for this to work but we have had success avoiding carrot fly recently using beds. A couple years ago we got some great raised beds on sale at woodies i think they are about 2ft high (and like 2ftx4ft) anyway we have them just over half filled so theres a good barrier around the plants. Obviously our scale is small just for a few people but supposedly it works because the carrot fly fly low over the ground and the barrier stops them. Some similar experiment might work for you! but if you are id recommend keeping them a decent distance from the ground level carrots so the fly isn't attracted to the area to near them. Goodluck
I learned that pumpkins don’t grow well in smaller pots, and that the Kentucky Wonder Bean lived up to its name…..it put out more food per plant than anything else I have grown, with little fuss or pest damage.
You should grow Perenials vegables like sylevettia arugula, walking onions, jursuleum artichoke, Perenial kale, good king henry, mountain spinach vine, garlic chives and chives, goji berries which are like tomatoes, Chinese yam, oca, yacon, Perenial cucamelon or creeping cucumber, apois Americana.
I wish TH-cam based its algorithm on quality and not quantity. What makes you one of the best gardeners on this platform is that your videos have plenty of principled information. That’s why I watch you. My climate is 180 degrees different but your skills and educational format has allowed me to implement them in my own environment. Keep up the good work.
I have thoroughly enjoyed your video content whenever they come. What you and your partner are doing is just so interesting, and the amount of food you produce, and the work you do is quite staggering. I'm sure your 2023 content will be just as amazing, if not better, and continue to give me so much more to think about when it comes to growing food. Onward and upward - happy planting and harvesting. All the best for the coming year.
Hi and greetings from Bulgaria! I have been following your channel for two years and really enjoy your videos and your methods of researching and understanding the way to grow food. I pick up a few ideas from you for my own garden or changed others to correspond for the climate here. Keep up the enjoyable and educated manner of your videos! Thank you and good luck in 2023! (just my 2 cents - my melons had something similiar to yours and the problem was too much air humidity).
Thank you. That was very useful. And yes, fascinating how ideas become fossilised beliefs. One thought re the runner beans, plants aren't designed to produce fruit from every flower just as humans aren't designed to produce babies from every egg even when conception is unregulated. Nature always produces surplus flowers - much in the way it staggers seedling germination - to cope with changing or unexpected conditions so as to maximise healthy fruit yield. In other words the aim is quality (to try to guarantee continued healthy survival of the germline, if that is the right term) more than a greater quantity of less healthy plants. Rather than wanting to get more flowers to produce viable beans perhaps it would be more satisfying to be grateful that the plants know when to stop producing additional beans so that they can maximise the health and viability of the existing crop? Anyway, just a thought. You've shown that even in near ideal conditions plants still know when to stop producing so as not to prejudice the existing crop. And it may be that that actually maximises yield, like stressed (over-harvested) versus non-stressed courgettes. We humans could learn from this. 🙂
I watch Mark from Self Sufficient Me and this channel. Your content is packed with wisdom! Thank you. As many of the viewers say one can watch each clip a few times. You are much appreciated!
Great video as usual. Even though I live in North Colorado, I think I can apply some of the lessons to my own garden. In particular, I have always wondered about the difference between having one leader or multiple on indeterminate tomatoes. I will likely try going with two leaders this year as the faster maturity is desirable over a longer season/higher yield in my context. Thank you for sharing such valuable information, Bruce.
You are the only online project I support financially, and it's explicitly because you are a gardener first and a content creator second. You have knowledge you want to share rather than videos you want to make. I am looking forward to a more frequent upload schedule, but I'd much prefer a reduction in video frequency to a reduction in video quality. Keep up the good work!
Another great video. My first year growing melons in North Cumbria. Yummy. one died, I got water on the stem and it rotted. I will be more careful next year. And grow more.
I noticed the videos were coming in faster than usual and I definitely appreciated it. And the quality has been good too! As long as you feel you can keep it up :) but don't let the pressure take away from the pleasure of this project.
When you mentioned drying out of compost mulch - this certainly matches my experience with municipal green waste compost,, it was extremely hydrophobic as well as being very hot when delivered and was unusable that year for my no-dig approach with almost all the seedlings I planted in it immediately dying, until the winter rain had damped it down. I also tried compressing it and found that it had a tendency to set hard. It also unfortunately came with a lot of bits of plastic and other detritus. A strange material.
I struggle growing things in the weird climate of California's desert so even though I can't really relate to your climate I still love all the analytics and graphs from all the data you collect, from all your videos I've watched over the years, and it has made me want to study my soil more closely now and learn how to grow plants better!
I really like your self reflection and how you are working toward your own self improvement. Jason and I are impressed that you were able to maintain the quality of your videos even with an increase in your schedule. As long as the garden projects are enjoyable for you (even if that enjoyment comes from learning from a mistake), that comes through in the presentation. Great lessons! Cheers Colleen and Jason
@@REDGardens you are such a enthusiast! I would like to recommend you pay attention to yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) amazing taste, very plenteous and easy growing and propagating plant. It seems to me your climate will be good for it.
Bruce, what have you done to keep the rat population under control? We bought this place October 2013 so we are coming up on our 10-year anniversary here and this is the first time we've had any significant rat population. Please help!
The end-of-year "Things I learned" videos are always great, so much distilled and practical knowledge. Learning by doing is so valuable, as no matter how much you learn from others their conditions are never quite the same as yours. Looking forward to another year of the Red Gardens Project!
Loving the increased posting schedule, and appreciate the work and effort that you've put into making that happen. If maintaining that pace is necessary for the algorithm, it might be worth making some extra, non-time-sensitive videos during the quieter months to hold in reserve. When the growing season starts, or when you just need a break in routine, you can do so while still keeping the gods of the youtube algorithm happy.
Thanks, glad you like my videos! The extra work is more necessary to get the explorations and observations that we have made out there in to the world, but feeding the algorithm will help to keep the channel funded, so that I can keep doing the work.
Excellent! It was a big learn gin experience for me as well, one of those times when it all seemed so simple and obvious when I realised what was going on, but for whatever reasons hadn't been able to appreciate before.
Quality videos over quantity videos just like quality gardens over quantity gardens. I’d rather have one garden/crop do well than all gardens/crops do little.
For years I have appreciated your videos. Your channel ,from my point of view, is quality over quantity. Excellent videos that are never boring. But, I love setting goals. And now I am wondering, what did I learn in 2022? Thanks for your insight
I very much enjoy your videos I love your honest approach to the different techniques and have absolutely loved watching your videos keep up the good work
Hi, I am Criss from Poland Thanks for doing and showing your job throughout the years You are inspiring me to start with my own YT channel ;) Try to seed marigolds, calendulas and few garlic plants between your carrots I do it every year and I don't struggle with any pests in carrots. Were your melons tasty? I had lot of them, but they tasted bad (like almost rotten, or decayed) I am thinking, could it be because of cross-pollinating with cucumbers or pumpkins? Cheers
Hi Criss in Poland! I have planted carrots in between onions and garlic and still had issues with carrot fly, but I haven't tried marigolds or calendula. The melons were tasty, until the plants started to decay. I don't know if cross pollination could be an issue. Hope you have better success next year. B
Bruce, I always look forward to seeing your videos. Your gardening comments and thoughts move me to try different techniques. We always grew bush beans but one year tried pole beans, amazing bean increase. Don’t grow bush any more. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos.
Thanks for the comment. Really good to hear that people are getting useful stuff out of my videos, and more importantly are drying different things. Always good to explore!
I just recently completed your entire collection of videos. I have since been going back and listening to them again, as they are such a wealth of ideas and knowledge. Your research and testing and the depth of recording of data you do, is more than admirable. Thank you for doing what you do. It is a truly amazing channel.
He might have some seeds for sale
Wow, the whole collection! That is a lot of videos. Thanks for watching, and glad that you have found such value in my explorations and videos!
I wish you continued success, and will always be looking forward to your new content! Hope this upcoming year is your best one yet.
Great content Bruce. Please continue at whatever pace is comfortable. I would like to learn more about thoughts on the "spread of ideas"..
Thanks. I will have a think about how that idea can be explored more on this channel, and there are traces of it in quite a few videos. But I think if I was to really explore it, I would need to use examples that would likely alienate people, and I suspect it might be better as a deeper dive in a book.
Its a pleasure to see the videos, I don~t mind a slower schedule but am happy for everything we get to see! i wish you a successful growing season 2023!
Thanks you! And hope you have a great 2023 as well.
It's refreshing to be reminded that despite political, cultural and geographic differences we can come together under a healthy skepticism to share experiences and discover real truth.
I think that is important, and one of the key reasons I don't talk about some issues, as I feel they would only lead to division. It is also why I always try to stick with my own experiences, and to be critical of them, as it seems to prevent some of the frustration that I see with so much content.
It’s great to see that your partner is able to work along with you in the gardens. I wish her a good recovery. My son was in the same position two years ago and is doing well now. Serious illness definitely resets your priorities and outlook.
Please don’t beat yourself up chasing a schedule. Your videos are always so uplifting and educational. I watch each of them at least twice and apply what learning I can in my allotment. Thank you.
Ah, I realise now that a disconnect between the script and the video clips I used has led to a miscommunication there. The person helping me in the gardens is Kris, who is a friend/neighbour who has been working with me for a few years. My wife doesn't help in the RED Gardens, but is doing much better now that her treatment has finished, but still a long journey back to proper health. Thanks for your kind comment.
@@REDGardens You are very welcome. I wish you and your family well.
Really appreciate your thoughtful analysis.
🙂
There's more good content in one of your videos that in 4-5 videos by most other creators, so while I'm enjoying all the content don't beat yourself up over quantity. Lots of your lessons hit home, and over the years I've found obtaining first class seed to be a real issue. Many of the "big names" source seeds from whoever is cheapest, and buying from them has cost me many $1,000's over the years in failed crops due to bad seeds. These days I focus on seed dealers that also sell to commercial growers, folks who buy by the kilo or the million seeds, they can't afford to make mistakes and generally the prices are much, much cheaper than the garden suppliers, especially if you buy a quantity sufficient for several years at a time. Finally, don't obsess too much over the Covid thing. My folks, in their mid 90's, and my partner and i, in our 70's, all got it in the last few months. We spent a day or so in bed with chills, a couple of days with cold symptoms and were over it. Only the loss of the sense of smell got us to test, otherwise we would have just figured it was a cold. Make sure your Vitamin D levels are up, stay healthy and enjoy life.
I have also shifted to buying seeds from companies to that sell to growers and farmers, partially because I can get larger quantities for cheaper, but also that farmers are less tolerant of poor seed quality, which I think/hope keeps the seed companies in line. And I like buying for several seasons and storing seeds in the freezer.
Glad to hear you had a reasonable experience with Covid, most people do. But I also know some people who died and some real horror stories about struggling with long covid for years. But mainly my wife is recover gin from a long cancer treatment, so she has been high risk and her immune system is still knocked back, and that has defined how I behave, and I will continue to be cautious for a while longer. I'd suggest you keep an eye out for current developments, as it seems the evolution of new variants is starting to cause serious problems again, but most people aren't aware.
The compost issue with the tomatoes is interesting. There are days in the rainy Florida summers that I bring home a trailer load of manure from the horse farm and the ammonia coming off it is so strong it burns my eyes. This only happens when it is hot and humid and the manure is wet. Perhaps this was the problem with your tomatoes.
I think you might be right, I do suspect ammonia was the problem.
It's evident that you put a lot of work into these videos and to be honest I wouldn't worry about uploading videos as often. As long as you don't burn out and enjoy it, the people will keep watching no matter the frequency of your uploads!
I love the logical approach to gardening and I have shared your videos loads with my allotment society members.
Thanks for the feedback. Good to know what people are thinking. One of the main drivers for me is to do videos frequently enough to get most of the ideas, observations and explorations out there in the world, instead of being stuck in my own head!
@@REDGardens Yes, one of your early and most inspiring vids was on not setting your bar too high to start with or setting too many constraints to your goals. The main aim is to just keep going and enjoying it.
@@FireflyOnTheMoon 🙂
@@REDGardens I don’t know if you have thought about it, but videos don’t need to be carefully scripted and edited for people to enjoy them. Imo you can sustain a tighter schedule by using more Vlog style videos. I mean you can film yourself using your phone held on a stick and do a short 5 minutes update walking around the gardens and showing “live” whatever thing you are focusing on.
Anyway keep up the good work!
Don’t feel pressured into creating content because you have a schedule. I’m enjoying the thought and analysis you’ve put into your videos and would rather you enjoy the process of creating quality content instead of being pressured into uploading more but losing the love of the process and compromising quality as a result.
Love your work. And absolutely appreciate the time, commitment and effort you put into sharing them.
"How ideas spread, or not" discussion was very interesting! I've felt the popularity of a very small group of popular market gardeners has really pushed the no-dig and polytunnels over the past few years. I think it backfired in the sense that some folks were saying there just wasn't enough compost to supply all the converted, and that in some cases the quality started to get really bad. Polytunnels are so popular now, that some have even discarded growing outdoors all together. Plastic has it's place, but it should be limited for the wastage, microplastics issue, and possible phthalate leeching.
Good thoughts. I've got one "greenhouse tent" and can't decide whether to get on the polytunnel bandwagon or not. I'd prefer a big glass greenhouse (like at least 2 of my neighbours newly have) but I'm really really not in their budget space! I'm also iffy on no dig. I've grass and fruit trees and hedges aplenty, so I could perhaps supply enough compost (and get old straw or manure from my horse and cow keeping neighbours), but honestly, my best friend the past 2 years is my rototiller. It's ex agricultural land and quite compacted. I've added nettle brew, the liquid from eggshells soaked in vinegar and good old "Vitamin P" (as I call it. Always handy and in good supply thanks to my heavy tea drinking habits!). Combined with mulching with my hedge and tree trimmings (ramiel I guess, as it's been in spring) that's been quite good where I've done it and I plan to expand that. I've also got more than enough leaves available to overwinter mulch. (Though I've been pretty lazy with that so far). I'm leaving a lot "wild" for another year for the pioneer plants to bring up nutrients and loosen the soil. It's interesting to see that I get a lot of bugloss (a kind of borage), dandelions and nettles, as well as poppies, leftover rape and barley and then vetch, chamomile and mustard that seems to be the local cover crop. I'm gonna chop n drop that and see how it goes! I am gonna try a mini "Hügel" since I'm in the very land of Hügelkultur and summer drought is a bit issue.
@@kirstypollock6811 I agree that the no dig gardening method is viable but not the best option in every situation. My sister jumped on the no dig method and, to be honest, was quite critical of my use of soil. Unfortunately for her, the no-dig method didn't yield anything last year. I also would like a greenhouse but the high winds are unkind to the plastic ones I had, so I would prefer glass, even if it is not as large as the poly tunnel would be. The use of vitamin P :) yeah, it's readily available and I use it also to speed up the composting process. After adding woodash and ground up eggshells, the compost is good enough to grow almost anything in.
@@kirstypollock6811 I'm in Southern California where drought is a perennial, if not all year, reality. So I've adapted hugelkulture by incorporating African techniques, where instead of building up, I dig down.
I first start with a 2-3 foot deep trench beds, and then pile in logs, and then from there, branches and greens, kitchen scraps, fresh compost, cardboard, paper, manure, vitamin "p" (heh) and whatever else I can, layering dirt back in between.
From there I layer up just an inch below the walkways. The purpose of staying lower is so that water from watering and what little rain we do get will collect into the beds and stay there, instead of flowing out and elsewhere.
Food for thought! Our perhaps, a thought for more food. 😊
@@xianvox22 I agree that some of the best beds I've had were/are modified hugel beds. Those beds also moderate too much water during downpours, by drawing it away & preventing root rot & then re-release the stored water later if the roots go deep looking for moisture.
@@kirstypollock6811 That's some good weeds! Ya, I've put my tiller to good use over the past couple of years, the couch/crabgrass is unrelenting and no match for no-dig. I too would only do a greenhouse if I can have glass, saving up to glass in the porch on the house and that way it is "free" heat too. Won't be growing any tomatoes, but perfect for starts.
I really appreciate your no bs content and all your efforts to understand your occupation and share some of the results. thank you.
🙂 Thanks!
Great video as always, lots of information! BTW I also have a small gardening channel! 🌱🌱
🙂
A college level intern from the curriculum would probably love to be your videographer both for the experience to put on the resume, to have you as a client reference, albeit unpaid, and perhaps could earn college credit. You'd want someone to commit to an entire year, of course, but imagine how much more could the accomplished that would meet both your needs and theirs. And how much they'd be able to share about the technology and techniques, and you would about your experience.
Not sure I'd be up to working with someone else on the videos. I get that it can help with the work, but my head gets a bit fried working with other people, and I probably have enough with Kris working in the gardens. But something to keep in mind.
I value the content you provide at TH-cam. I've been liking and commenting as much as possible. You are a very underrated channel. Thank you for your time and efforts.
Agreed, has so much info in his videos! BTW I also have a small garden channel! 🌱🌱
Thanks!
excellent commentary as always. thank you for even more interesting and important thoughts
🙂
These 'lessons learned' videos are my favorite! I'd be really interested to see if sifting the municipal compost to remove the chunky unfinished material would improve its quality and produce higher yields.
Sifting the compost would be an interesting thing to try.
As always love you content and how you science the art of growing food. I'd love to hear more about the myths you are debunking about vegetable growing
Thanks. I have plans for a few explorations about 'myths' in the growing world, and will think about including more.
Always enjoy your content and immediately watch when you put one out. Keep it up
Awesome, thanks for watching!
Another great video! I really look forward to seeing all your interesting garden experiments
Thank you.
With your zucchini squash, you mention that letting them grow larger produced a smaller plant and more yield. My question on this is: What was the eating quality of the fruit? In the US, we tend to value immature zucchini as it has "better taste and texture." I'm not one to follow convention which is why I'm asking. Is the larger fruit as good a quality and enjoyable or did you have to prepare it in a certain way to make it useful at that size? If I need to change my paradigm, I'm certainly willing.
I've tried to convince myself big zukes taste good. Nope. Don't care how you cook them. Yuk. I chop & chuck them in the compost pile or worm bed.
The smaller medium sized ones have better flavor. I will die on that zuke hill.
I think they have different flavour and I use them for different recipes in the kitchen. Generally I prefer the more intense taste and crisp texture of the really small ones.
In order to perhaps include the YT community even more, have you considered adding/dedicating a certain section to the garden inspired solely by your channel subscribers i.e. types of plants, growing tactics etc etc? I am sure there are a ton of ideas here going through the comment section. I can't tell you how you should go about this for certain, but I think it would be a fun idea to include the community and learn something new.
I always get so fired up watching your videos. Then realizing how much of the Norwegian winter remains. 😅
Excellent! Those winters can be really long, and spring so far away!
I really enjoy the rigorousness of your trials and analysis and honesty about the results. Too many of the videos on here are full of woowoo, or, at least, the analyses are pretty "out there" which bothers me and is refreshing to see someone more grounded in reality.
harvesting the carrots a little earlier may have less issues than those harvested late in the season.. younger carrots although smalker in size may have not yet attracted those issues that appear late in the season..
I think that would help.
Where did you get the black grow bags? I really need such bags.
Hope your dear life partner is well.
Keep up the great work this year.
The idea of #humus and humic acids is a myth according to science. No molecule of a humic acid has ever been detected.
Today I learned that it was rats biting holes into my tomatoes when I wasn't looking.
I bought the grow bags from dekerhort.ie
I know it might be off topic to the essence of the channel, but would you be open to share your video making process? I’m not talking about the filming process, but more about the way you prepare your videos, scripts, charts, diagrams, animations. It would be interesting to learn what techniques you have learned to optimize that process just as it is interesting to see your incredible work in the gardens. Wish you the best for this new growing season, and look forward to hearing about your experiences. How I wish you were in a climate that was more similar to mine. I say this because a lot of your results do not apply to the kind of weather I experience where I live, but still I am learning to learn from my own experience, if that makes any sense.
I think that would make an interesting video. I'll think about it.
I am still surprised that so many people in every different climates still manage to get a lot out of the videos I make, which is really cool. I wonder what percentage of the people who watch actually grow in a similar climate?
@@REDGardens obviously you are going to think about statistics 🤣
Thank you for sharing your lessons so we can all learn together. Your videos are always jam packed with useful information and data. Keep up the amazing work!
Thanks Bruce! Happy New year! 0.9 video speed seems more like your normal talking speed (settings/speed/custom/0.9).Your championing of strong evidence-based, scientific approaches is vital in growing but also in living. Gossip, misinformation, nonsense spreading is damaging for everyone, with Covid and everything else. Nothing spreads faster and is harder to get rid of than a bad idea.
Happy New Year! I know I talk fast (part of the anxiety I have about filming) but good to know 0.9 video speed is better, thanks!
"Nothing spreads faster and is harder to get rid of than a bad idea", especially when it has the weight of the government and media behind it, and all dissent is stifled.
@@bobaloo2012 I dissent all the time, in full view of all. I just learn how to avoid the obvious no-go areas, and work to create another world, using global tools created by massive corporations. And learn how to exchange ideas and share experiences about growing etc. with people who I would probably disagree with about many other issues.
@@bobaloo2012 I suspect you would see vaccines as a "bad idea"
@@REDGardens Scientific reasoning is usually the first casuality of conspiracy theories
Roll on Spring, looking forward to more experiments, please 😁
Thanks, I really appreciate your work And I learned a lot from you and your experiments, As a scientific guy I really like the metrics you present, and I hope someday I do the same with my crops here in Costa Rica
Thank you, and glad you like the way I approach things.
Not all heroes wear capes.
I love this cgannel I been gardening for 25 years and always learn something from this Chanel one of the best on TH-cam period
Thanks for watching! 🙂
Have you ever heard of knf and jadam? I've watched a lot of your content but I don't remember you addressing the importance of soil microbiology more than buying bulk municipal compost and adding sources of nitrogen and minerals, you might have and I might have missed it but knf and jadam seem like they would be really well suited to an operation the size of yours and it could take it to the next level, I couldn't find where else to reach out to you so I'm writing a comment
I have heard of them, but want to do more research and try them out.
@@REDGardens I'm looking forward to it, you do great work, your more scientific, measured approach to farming / gardening is always a pleasure to witness and I wish you many a bountyful harvests in the future
Thank you for all your hard work
Love the channel
🙂
As an early watcher and patreon, the extra content is a godsend. I havent been able to keep up with my own gardening last year, but watching the extra bit of videos is sublime.
All the best in the new year, Bruce.
Thanks for watching all of this time, and for being a Patron! And hope you have a good year.
I enjoyed seeing those lovely onions and potatoes I hope 2023 is a productive year❤
thanks!
Thank you for your continuing stream of helpful information. I find your scientific and objective approach, combined with close observations, very valuable for optimizing my vegetable gardening processes here in Wales. I’ve been growing melons (usually Sweet Granite) and cucumbers (Natsusuzumi, a Japanese variety from Takii Seeds) in the floor of my greenhouse for years, but yields have dropped and the plants increasingly slow down and dry up a few weeks after planting, like at 10:14 in your video. I am sure that it is cucumber mosaic virus or a soil fungus, so I will grow something else for a few years.
Thanks for sharing your experiences about the plants dying back. Something to keep an eye out for here.
Thank you so much for your work. It's always a great source of useful information and inspiration and pushes me to work harder. Best wishes from France, have a great year!
Thank you. And I hope you also have a great 2023.
Thank you Bruce for this summary. Interesting information. I have similar experience with onion sets. The crop has been disappointing especially last summer. I have to try them from the seeds this season.
Hope you have a good crop with seeds.
It took me two and a half years to clear a badly infested allotment of bindweed. I dug it out first and then mulched in a thick layer of horse manure. Then went no dig there after. The first year was the worst for bindweed, but calmed down towards the end of the season. First job of the day was to scan the plot for bindweed and remove what I could without damaging the vegetables. My strategy was to deprive the plant of light and remove as much of the plant as possible daily. That way the plant was using up more resources with minimal replacement of the resources from photosynthesis.
I found that potatoes were not a good idea in the first year, only because when the plants got large and I could not access the rows, I could not remove the bindweed until harvest time.
Interestingly my shed was built above a pallet base. Bindweed was prolific under the shed. I pulled as much of the bindweed out as possible as soon as it grew out from under the shed. Probably about 3 feet or more at a time. The plant gave up within 3 months!
It is a really tough weed to get rid of, especially if it is really established. I have tried that approach of trying to remove any shoots as often as possible, but usually end up waiting too long, and the shoots do get hidden in the foliage of so many plants.
Bruce! Jesus man you are a font of knowledge always. Please remember in the midst of all this work to take a break to enjoy life and not just to focus on different kinds of work. A vacation every now and then I hear is good for you!
I have heard that a vacation is good ... for some people. Not sure what a vacation is anymore. 🙂
I truly appreciate your videos. The content is great. The presentation even better. Thank you 😊
Thanks! 🙂
Each of these things are interesting. But, thank you most of all for the deep humanity of #16.
🙂
Great summary of the year. I love your experimental approach. I'm also heartened by the melon experience which I missed. I had the same issue but even worse, none of the early flowers developed fruit and the late ones were too small by the time the same wave of dying off hit my plants - then spreading to the cucumbers. I blamed myself for being away for 5 days and not clearing damaged leaves in that time, but now I think maybe it might have happened anyway!
Sorry to hear that you also had serious problems with the melon crop. I wonder what it is?
if you are growing the pole beans in the poly tunnel.. could you use a lower and lean method? I've seen it used with indeterminate tomatoes and it makes getting the higher fruit.
I wonder if that would work. I usually just let all of the side shoots grow and create a big mass, but pruning them and dropping/lowering them as a single leader may be a useful method. Something to try in the future.
Keep your videos going because you have a lot of information to share about growing vegetables I have found that you go into the process of getting information about the good and bad things that happen to vegetables.
Thanks! That good and the bad are bot really useful places to learn!
When fruit competes with vegetation, always cut back the vegetation
That makes sense.
Such amazingly insightful videos. So glad I found your channel!
Thanks, glad you like my videos!
Thank you for this. I get lots of flower drop or failure to fully develop fruits and beans when our temperature gets over 90
That is interesting. I need to keep a closer eye on the temperature when this kind of thing happens.
Thanks for sharing your experiences! Keep the good work up.
Thanks!
Loving the extra content!
🙂
If you could figure out the cantaloupe you'd be set. 😂😂✌
Yep, all set! 👍
I always value your logical, thoughtful approach - so THANK-YOU!! All the best wishes for a great 2023 with bumper harvests and fewer bumps along the way! Cheers from Sydney!
Thank you, and hope you have a great 2023, though your grown season in the Southern Hemisphere is already well under way.
Thank you for the fantastic content Bruce, I have enjoyed every one you have made, heres to a great 2023 season when the rain eventually stops. 😂
I think with Beans, there is an unknown "secret" ammount of beans a plant will support, but constant picking will always produce more and more. Potatoes in bags a lot of people here in the UK grow in 30 litre pots with handles, but we put in 3 or 4 inches of compost then the seed potatoes, then fill the bags, your seed looks to be going in half to two thirds of the way up the bag. I have also enlarged the holes at the bottom of my pots to allow roots to grow out and into the soil for extra nutrients and water which is a combination that works very well, great video!!...Steve...🙂
I think you are right about that 'secret' amount of beans, and that planting the potatoes deeper would help.
I saw how a few of the plants that had been able to access the soil below through the holes in the bags wee a lot bigger, and it makes sense to enable this. But for these trials I am doing, trying to compare the different material in the bag itself, I decided to try to isolate the plants from the ground below, for better comparison. But I realise that it isn't the best method for growing in containers.
Carrot Fly tip:
Hey, Your scale might be too large for this to work but we have had success avoiding carrot fly recently using beds. A couple years ago we got some great raised beds on sale at woodies i think they are about 2ft high (and like 2ftx4ft) anyway we have them just over half filled so theres a good barrier around the plants. Obviously our scale is small just for a few people but supposedly it works because the carrot fly fly low over the ground and the barrier stops them.
Some similar experiment might work for you! but if you are id recommend keeping them a decent distance from the ground level carrots so the fly isn't attracted to the area to near them.
Goodluck
Thanks for the tip. It is not so easy at this scale, but I was thinking of doing a few explorations with raised areas.
I use nematodes
I love your work, ambition, insight, and logs. Happy new year 2023 !
Thanks. Happy new year to you too!
I learned that pumpkins don’t grow well in smaller pots, and that the Kentucky Wonder Bean lived up to its name…..it put out more food per plant than anything else I have grown, with little fuss or pest damage.
You should grow Perenials vegables like sylevettia arugula, walking onions, jursuleum artichoke, Perenial kale, good king henry, mountain spinach vine, garlic chives and chives, goji berries which are like tomatoes, Chinese yam, oca, yacon, Perenial cucamelon or creeping cucumber, apois Americana.
Great channel - really looking forward to seeing further content - please don't over-reach yourself !
I wish TH-cam based its algorithm on quality and not quantity. What makes you one of the best gardeners on this platform is that your videos have plenty of principled information. That’s why I watch you. My climate is 180 degrees different but your skills and educational format has allowed me to implement them in my own environment. Keep up the good work.
I have thoroughly enjoyed your video content whenever they come. What you and your partner are doing is just so interesting, and the amount of food you produce, and the work you do is quite staggering. I'm sure your 2023 content will be just as amazing, if not better, and continue to give me so much more to think about when it comes to growing food. Onward and upward - happy planting and harvesting. All the best for the coming year.
I've been a huge fan for a number of years now. Just wanted to say hi and say thanks for the continued great content!!
Hello there! Thanks!
😁You're very welcome!@@REDGardens
Hi and greetings from Bulgaria! I have been following your channel for two years and really enjoy your videos and your methods of researching and understanding the way to grow food. I pick up a few ideas from you for my own garden or changed others to correspond for the climate here. Keep up the enjoyable and educated manner of your videos! Thank you and good luck in 2023! (just my 2 cents - my melons had something similiar to yours and the problem was too much air humidity).
Thank you. That was very useful. And yes, fascinating how ideas become fossilised beliefs. One thought re the runner beans, plants aren't designed to produce fruit from every flower just as humans aren't designed to produce babies from every egg even when conception is unregulated. Nature always produces surplus flowers - much in the way it staggers seedling germination - to cope with changing or unexpected conditions so as to maximise healthy fruit yield. In other words the aim is quality (to try to guarantee continued healthy survival of the germline, if that is the right term) more than a greater quantity of less healthy plants. Rather than wanting to get more flowers to produce viable beans perhaps it would be more satisfying to be grateful that the plants know when to stop producing additional beans so that they can maximise the health and viability of the existing crop? Anyway, just a thought. You've shown that even in near ideal conditions plants still know when to stop producing so as not to prejudice the existing crop. And it may be that that actually maximises yield, like stressed (over-harvested) versus non-stressed courgettes. We humans could learn from this. 🙂
I watch Mark from Self Sufficient Me and this channel. Your content is packed with wisdom! Thank you. As many of the viewers say one can watch each clip a few times. You are much appreciated!
Great video as usual. Even though I live in North Colorado, I think I can apply some of the lessons to my own garden. In particular, I have always wondered about the difference between having one leader or multiple on indeterminate tomatoes. I will likely try going with two leaders this year as the faster maturity is desirable over a longer season/higher yield in my context. Thank you for sharing such valuable information, Bruce.
You are the only online project I support financially, and it's explicitly because you are a gardener first and a content creator second. You have knowledge you want to share rather than videos you want to make. I am looking forward to a more frequent upload schedule, but I'd much prefer a reduction in video frequency to a reduction in video quality. Keep up the good work!
Another great video. My first year growing melons in North Cumbria. Yummy. one died, I got water on the stem and it rotted. I will be more careful next year. And grow more.
I noticed the videos were coming in faster than usual and I definitely appreciated it. And the quality has been good too! As long as you feel you can keep it up :) but don't let the pressure take away from the pleasure of this project.
When you mentioned drying out of compost mulch - this certainly matches my experience with municipal green waste compost,, it was extremely hydrophobic as well as being very hot when delivered and was unusable that year for my no-dig approach with almost all the seedlings I planted in it immediately dying, until the winter rain had damped it down. I also tried compressing it and found that it had a tendency to set hard. It also unfortunately came with a lot of bits of plastic and other detritus. A strange material.
Don't worry about the upload schedule, quality over quantity is why we watch.
Your content is best out there for growers of Veg! Thank you for doing this and I appreciate your scientific / “cause and effect” approach.
I struggle growing things in the weird climate of California's desert so even though I can't really relate to your climate I still love all the analytics and graphs from all the data you collect, from all your videos I've watched over the years, and it has made me want to study my soil more closely now and learn how to grow plants better!
Please... keep loading up videos, because it helps a lot of people like me who has very few experiences growing in an organic way.
Thanks.
love you work, its been a few years since being personally invested in gardening myself but it's always satisfying to see your strategies develop
I really like your self reflection and how you are working toward your own self improvement. Jason and I are impressed that you were able to maintain the quality of your videos even with an increase in your schedule. As long as the garden projects are enjoyable for you (even if that enjoyment comes from learning from a mistake), that comes through in the presentation.
Great lessons! Cheers Colleen and Jason
I appreciate the hard work you put into your gardens and content. Thank you.
Awesome updates and learnings. Thanks for doing it.
I love this channel! I will be trying onion seeds this year.
🙂
I enjoy most of what you post :)
🙂
some really helpful information here Thanks!
👍😊
🙂
Excellent video lot to learns
🙂
Happy new year 2023
Great videos
Hi 😊 thank you so much for your videos. They are so incredibly informative and helpful. I watch every video from the beginning to the end)))
Thanks for watching!
@@REDGardens you are such a enthusiast! I would like to recommend you pay attention to yacón (Smallanthus sonchifolius) amazing taste, very plenteous and easy growing and propagating plant. It seems to me your climate will be good for it.
@@ИринаСоколова-ф1о Thanks for the recommendation. I would like to try growing it.
@@REDGardens you won't be disappointed. in theory, you should not have any pests of this plant in your growing area.
Bruce, what have you done to keep the rat population under control? We bought this place October 2013 so we are coming up on our 10-year anniversary here and this is the first time we've had any significant rat population. Please help!
Bruce has various of his videos on methods of rat control. Look them up.
Well presented. Thank you.
The end-of-year "Things I learned" videos are always great, so much distilled and practical knowledge. Learning by doing is so valuable, as no matter how much you learn from others their conditions are never quite the same as yours. Looking forward to another year of the Red Gardens Project!
Glad you like these annual videos. I find them quite useful to make.
Loving the increased posting schedule, and appreciate the work and effort that you've put into making that happen.
If maintaining that pace is necessary for the algorithm, it might be worth making some extra, non-time-sensitive videos during the quieter months to hold in reserve. When the growing season starts, or when you just need a break in routine, you can do so while still keeping the gods of the youtube algorithm happy.
Thanks, glad you like my videos! The extra work is more necessary to get the explorations and observations that we have made out there in to the world, but feeding the algorithm will help to keep the channel funded, so that I can keep doing the work.
the zucchini revelations were perhaps the most interesting thing I've learned from your videos
Excellent! It was a big learn gin experience for me as well, one of those times when it all seemed so simple and obvious when I realised what was going on, but for whatever reasons hadn't been able to appreciate before.
Quality videos over quantity videos just like quality gardens over quantity gardens. I’d rather have one garden/crop do well than all gardens/crops do little.
🙂
Such great information. Thank you for what you do. God bless.
🙂
For years I have appreciated your videos. Your channel ,from my point of view, is quality over quantity. Excellent videos that are never boring. But, I love setting goals. And now I am wondering, what did I learn in 2022?
Thanks for your insight
🙂
I very much enjoy your videos I love your honest approach to the different techniques and have absolutely loved watching your videos keep up the good work
Thank you so much!
Please don't sacrifice the excellent quality of your videos for more quantity.
🙂
Hi, I am Criss from Poland
Thanks for doing and showing your job throughout the years
You are inspiring me to start with my own YT channel ;)
Try to seed marigolds, calendulas and few garlic plants between your carrots
I do it every year and I don't struggle with any pests in carrots.
Were your melons tasty?
I had lot of them, but they tasted bad (like almost rotten, or decayed)
I am thinking, could it be because of cross-pollinating with cucumbers or pumpkins?
Cheers
Hi Criss in Poland!
I have planted carrots in between onions and garlic and still had issues with carrot fly, but I haven't tried marigolds or calendula.
The melons were tasty, until the plants started to decay. I don't know if cross pollination could be an issue.
Hope you have better success next year.
B
Bruce, I always look forward to seeing your videos. Your gardening comments and thoughts move me to try different techniques. We always grew bush beans but one year tried pole beans, amazing bean increase. Don’t grow bush any more. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos.
Thanks for the comment. Really good to hear that people are getting useful stuff out of my videos, and more importantly are drying different things. Always good to explore!
This is hands down my favourite gardening channel, very educational
Ah, thanks!