In my raised beds I take a bucket of kitchen scraps and dig a hole and add the scraps and cover it up. Then the next bucket of scraps go into a new hole. I recycle in place that way. Now when all the raised beds are full I keep a larger flower pot on the back porch and compost in place like you.
Do you put all leftovers that are in the you don't cook food and all that do you compost that tooI could really use your answer on that your help cuz I always have a lot of leftovers and I hate to store them in the trash but I don't want to make my soil bad and make people sick. And I want to say thank you for all your help God bless you all and have a wonderful week 🙏
Sometimes I may catch some pasta or a piece of bread or paper, or something like that in the compost. It stays there long enough to decompose. I am not real picky. I don't over think it.
Because of this channel I have a soldering iron that I use to poke holes - on the sides! - of recycled food containers & other bigger containers I have lying around. And I now know how to compost in place, and make my own compost tea! Thank you! 🌱💚🌱
Thank you! For years I gardened in the ground and in raised beds in a large suburban back yard. In the past year, due to age and cancer, I found myself moving and downsizing into a duplex with a little backyard and having to start my garden all over from scratch. Thanks to you and Gary, I know what to do! Regardless of what I plant in, it’s still a garden. I’m planting in totes, buckets, dishpans, pots, whatever I can find to grow in. Thank you for being so kind as to share all of your knowledge and brilliant ideas with us! You are helping more than you will ever know ❤️❤️❤️
Robbie that's what you have done for me & I am so grateful 💞💞 I've been sick for 8 years ( since June of 2012) & since I found you & Gary & a few others on TH-cam, I'm excited about gardening again 💞💞💞💞🥰
Thanks to Robbie I not only started gardening in containers, but I also started composting! I was afraid of smells, bugs and who knows what might be attracted to rotting/breaking down matter! Turns out, it doesn't smell and the only thing I've had are worms and a few fruit flies. They are helping to break it down! I encourage everyone to try and I dare you to stop at one tote/container!! 😅
Robbie Thankyou, you made me so successful in my garden journey. I actually compost the way you showed me and my four month of gardening in upstate with my granddaughter has changed my life. It has saved me tons of money plus I worked I work at a big university and get the plastic they throw away and that saves me even more. I tweak a little but your ideas have changed my world of gardening.
I was kinda flabbergasted about this topic because I have never thought of my big raised beds as giant flower pots. They are garden beds. Totally different. I just top them off when they need more, and would never ever consider emptying them. You don't do that to beds in the ground so why would you do that to raised beds. In the fall I add thick thick layers of green grass clippings. Because it acts as a blanket as we gardeners flirt with the danger of first frost. It's almost like a game of chicken and you pull out every trick you can think of trying to keep things productive. Even though you know your going to lose. Every tomato, pepper, bean, and green that we get to harvest days after that first or second layer of ice formed on it then later thawed out is like a victory. Take that mother nature. Yeah you heard me. 💥 Boom. Still got tomatoes live on the vine in November. Zone 6. Yeah because I am the boss. Then a few days later Jack Frost comes back and delivers the knock out punch like oh yeah Gardener? You think you can take me on? And all the leaves die and fall and I'm like ohhhh. Please Jack thank you for the Free frost blanket. We're just going to pile them all up here and hey guess what? Next Spring Mother Nature is like thank you for the blankets, here I made you some soil. To which I say thank you, can't we all just get along. I love the soil you made me so much that I am going to park these brand new baby tomatoes here in it. Then that mean girl Mother Nature says watch this, frost in May and she and her boyfriend Jack laugh and laugh. But I kinda knew what they were up to already so I said here babies, I made you another blanket. It's called unfinished compost. And so it goes. Yes I talk to my garden and sometimes the neighbors get really quiet out on their decks while I am out there. They get especially quiet when I lecture the squirrels and rabbits about trespassers.
Robbie, I've been considering one of those raised beds in a box. I'm so glad I didn't buy one. You have just saved me over $200 and HOURS of work. Got my 1st two totes and could not be happier! Thank you for talking sense into me. You are absolutely right. Gonna put some squash in a dishpan later this week. 💚👍
this woman loves zucchini more than any person i've come across! wonderful gardening videos. she's inspired me to add several totes to my garden this year. fill with twigs, leaves, yard waste, kitchen scraps, top with some soil, and you're good to go!
You don’t have to empty the bins to replenish the soil. You can add food scraps to the top of the bin like it’s mulch almost. Then add some dirt on top. The food will break down over time. Your pitchers of compost that you add to your other bins can help too. You can add your food scraps into that as well. In my experience you’ll notice a difference within weeks. Tums and hydrogen peroxide also helps if the soil is anaerobic.
Yes because of robbie I container garden and it makes gardening fun and ,yes ,I do look forward to it.thank you robbie,you're great. Robbie I was in the hospital in out since last June, I'm hoping it over,I want to express the importance of wearing gloves when gardening I have just finished a 5 week everyday iv antibiotics at a Cancer clinic for an infection that I got from dirt. My fault I never wore gloves and I had an open wound,I have lost my index finger and the tip of my pointer finger. P,lease when gardening please wear gloves
THAT'S FUNNY RIGHT THERE ROBBIE 🤣 😄 HUBBY SAID HE'S TOO OLD TO TILL THE GROUND AND LIFTING TOO. HE LOVES THE WAY YOU AND GARY GARDEN. IT'S EASY FUN AND ENJOYABLE. ALSO PEACEFUL.😁❤
From other people I have seen on youtube university, you don't empty the large raised beds, you add organic matter an replenish which supposedly improves the soil over time, and supposing you filled the bed wisely, there is a ton of organic matter that will be breaking down over time.
When our neighbor passed away his two boys didn’t want the 150 gallon Rubbermaid totes. I think he use it for water for his calves. But we put some woods and sticks and leaves in the bottom of one and then raised bed soil, and I’m gonna have to pick green beans tomorrow from it. And the other one we have asparagus growing and we have to wait till next year to get to pick any of that. And we did the same thing, sticks, and wood and leaves from a friends tree.
Small pieces of wood, and our kitchen scraps. We have empty coffee containers spotted in our containers with holes in the bottom put scrapes in & water them as well in our in ground garden as well. So fun and YOU helped me so much. Tulle, watering tubes on stakes. ❤❤❤ 🌶️🥕🫑🥦🥒🥬🌽🧄🧅🥔
Great video I have several stock tanks. Two above ground raised beds and many containers. I recycle the dirt from one container to the other. And i drag the soil in the large containers from one side to the other. Then i fill with kitchen scraps leaves etc and i reverse the process. I fill all my growing means to the brim which gives more nutrients to work with.
Robbie. You are a breath of fresh air. I appreciate your videos so much. Spending a fortune to grow vegetables seems like a crazy thing to do, you are so so so wonderful to watch. I CAN DO THIS!!!! ☺️
I never empty my large tall raised bed I do rebuild my soil …old soil out mix back in compost leaves cow manure slowly. Old soil back in. I really don’t mind(I’m 72)no gym member 😂 I love my 72 inches tall 5x3 long it’s worth every dime I’m a suburban gardener in zone 6a Michigan so I use every inch every year now 3 years in. ❤️🙏🏽❤️😊
Good-day, Robbie! Very encouraging video.😃 I have mostly containers and 2 raised beds. I have containers in the beds composting in place.🙂 I also add homemade compost and leaf mold to the beds. My beds are only 12 inches high. I have the raised beds so I can grow leafy greens under a hoop house through our winter season.🥬💕
Hi Robbie and Gary. I have been sitting here, watching all of your videos. I love the advice you give. I was watching and cutting up a bin of mail to put in my compost. I normally burn it, but I am going to set up a compost, as you suggest. I live in North Florida and I am cleaning up my property that I left in the hands of friends, who did nothing for 8 years ! Luckily I have better soil, because of the leaf matter that has added to this sand. You are so cute ! Thank you for sharing your gardens. ❤
Thank you Robbie...love your channel, I learn every time I tune in. Now I'm rethinking about using pots inside my larger garden beds. Love the idea that things would be movable to follow the sun. Thanks for that, keep up the good, fun work!❤🏡
With my compost-in-place containers I have an endless supply of compost from the spent pots from last year (last season). And I don't worry about nutrients because only about 1/2 or less is of the new pots are leftovers from prior years pots. . . because the bottom half is new material. and the cycle goes on and on. LOVE it. I used to do compost bins and I still do a bit of it. . . but mostly my "new" soil is from the compost-in-place process.
Thank you so much ! My lettuce is awesome my vege pod is full of all of my lettuce that I winter sowed ! Omg a variety of lettuces and Spinach galore ❤ Then in all,of my gallon buckets fro the dollar store, zucchini Peppers Celery Beets Cucumbers, baby ones ! And ll of my herbs yeah ! Like you said. If I don’t like where they are I pick them up and move them 😁😁😁😁😁 Many thx again ! 😊
Dear Robby! I would even this raised bed raise above ground on bricks etc.....any tiny little rust hole will let the tree roots in later. ❤love your channel and learning with you!
I have 5 raised beds plus several containers. I really like your ideas for composting on the bottom of the containers.thank you again for your gardening knowledge
You were my main inspiration that allowed me to garden this year. I have some physical limitations this year that prohibited in ground gardening. I wouldn't have thought I could garden at all if it wasn't for watching you grow in your totes. I have a beautiful little tote and container garden this year. My garden is essential to my mental well being. So thankful for my totes.
I've been working on regenerating the soil of our garden (it's clay, hard and dry as rock) for a year, and managing 3 worm bins for half a year. I'm using plenty cardboard as getting my hands on leaves is harder. What I've found out about cardboard is the smaller the pieces, the quicker they compost. So if I want cardboard to decompose in a couple of month, I better select it carefully. I made the mistake of layering whole heavy-duty, double-walled corrugated cardboard close to the surface in a raised-bed. After 2 months, it hadn't changed. Another couple of months later, it was stubbornly intact. I went Freddy Kruger with a shovel, but got tired quickly as most of my angry shovel strikes couldn't pierce the darn cardboard. I had to dig it up, wet it to soften it and tear it down by hand into smaller pieces. 6 months in, that evil cardboard is starting to show signs of decomposing. It was worse in another part of the garden where I made lasagna layers with the heavy-duty cardboard cut into 8 inch squares. After several months, I dug up the soil to see how the composting was advancing. The greens were rotting between the sheets of cardboard but not composting, and the cardboard was waterlogged at worse or softened up at best. And that cursed heavy-duty cardboard wasn't even moldy. Mulching with branches and twigs, and mixing with the lasagna layers a few times, has helped correct that debacle. I also learnt from composting in small pots and with my worm bins that waterlogged cardboard (any cardboard) that is bunched up or overlapping won't decompose until I unbunch and separate the soggy cardboard layers. To sum-up, I like best single layer corrugated cardboard that I can easily tear down by hand. Thin little strips compost the quickest (within a month), mixed with other material to avoid the soggy cemented ball of paper once wet. The heavy-duty cardboard is to kill the crap out of weeds and to bury deeper than 12 inches down. And don't expect it to compost for a year, unless you have a shredder that can turn that thick cardboard from hell into confetti.
I have no idea what I'd be doing now if I hadnt found you. Since watching you for three years now, I have used large commercial plant pots recycled from a landscaper neighbor who used to discard them. Compost in place and grow on top, plus fill large empties with foodscraps day by day even all winter, layered with our grass clippings and shredded leaves that I bag and keep over the Michigan winter for spring use as mulch in the pots and beds. There's also a waste field area that is now growing Nettles and Comfrey for the 20 gallon compost tea trash can and chopped for compost in place. Have been using my original 4x16' raised wood beds mostly for garlic now, with a few tomatoes here and there. Let weeds grow, except grass, and when they become a nuisance, compost in place in a container: creeping charlie, chickweed, borage, dandelion, and chickory. Many of those are edible if need be. Never weed out Plantain. 👍👍👍
I have several totes lined up for planting my sweet potato slips. Hope to get it done today. Once in place, sweet potatoes are pretty low maintenance, so I can move on to other garden projects.
Hi Robbie. I use your method of gardening because I tried many other methods and failed at them all. Your method is a form of hugelkulture. It works great. This year we bo
We never empty our raised beds. We amend them with compost from our backyard pallet double compost bins, also my bokashi compost which is how I compost all our kitchen scraps, (4 five gallon buckets worth from this past winter). Now and then I get several buckets of chicken manure from a friend and let it mature and add in the fall after we have harvested, ready for the next season. Sometimes buy mushroom compost. Our raised beds are very fertile and always give us great harvest.
This was great, and so inspirational! Thank you! Please, could you make a video all about growing just in small containers. That zucchini growing in a dish pan was fantastic. I want to do that! I guess it’s all about keeping it well fed?
I use weeds all the time in our containers and compost, if there are seeds on your weeds, try to bury those underneath, I usually add weeds more to the base of my containers
This yr is the first year that I am growing in raised beds. Previously grew inground but due to physical limitations me and my husband built and filled raised beds. Then just the other day I noticed 3 different jumping worms 🤦♀️. Upon research learned how they deplete the soil and ecosystem. Feel like money was wasted building these beds. I am starting to implement some of your practices. Already been working on making my own soil. I just started yesterday with the double container system, except for now i placed them inside my raised beds to help feed nutrients to the soil there. I do have several plants in food grade buckets and planters too. I know i will slowly over time change to growing in containers and add in what worms i want in my containers and compost bins. Currently have a compost bin/tote on back porch with lots of good works...they are super fast at breaking down all the material. I thank you and Gary for putting these videos out. Opens our eyes to how to garden even with many different challenging situstions we may have. Teaches us to compost in a cheap and easy way that helps our plants thrive. I absolutely love how your videos vs many others shows how to garden on the cheap which saves money instead of costing large amounts of money, especially now when prices everywhere for everything is getting so high.
I don't empty my raised beds I add store-bought compost and yard debris and mix it in. My first two beds I loaded the bottom with leaves, etc. Year 2 I had tons of worms. This spring, year 3, I'll be adding more to it. They have produced a ton of food. For my new bed, I went hugelkultur on the bottom with lots of tree debris. I have terrible clay soil. I always feed my kitchen scraps to the rabbits and squirrels so I'll be stopping that now. They repay me by decimating my garden. A rabbit would sleep under my tomato plant and eat my beans...I'm fencing everything this year. My back is bad and I love your chair garden idea! I got a ton of totes from my sister. I'll be cruising our citywide clean-up day for more goodies.
I have two questions. The first one is how do the earthworms get into your soil in the totes and containers? And the second question is are you concerned at all about what chemicals could be leaching out of the plastic of your totes or containers and getting into your food? Just wondering.
As far as the worms, I have talked about that in many videos 😊 They will climb in, or they can be in the soil that I move there from the ground or from under flower pots. As far as plastic watch this video, it will answer all your questions.What You Need To Know Before Growing In Plastic Containers, Vegetable Container Gardening RAISED BED th-cam.com/video/oACuZNDXMWs/w-d-xo.html
@@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy I should have mentioned I'm a new subscriber, and I have been watching lots of your older videos, especially on the hummingbirds. I really like your channel and the info you put out. Thank you for sharing, and I will watch that link you provided. I'm currently using an old refrigerator as a raised container and I've wondered about the chemicals coming out of the plastic liner after baking in the sun all day. So, again thank you. Looking forward to watching more videos.
I know you start a lot of your plants from cuttings. But I wonder if you use a planting hormone? Also once I looked at your daughter's garden but it looked like some of her totes were not in chairs but on the ground. Does she do both? I am so happy I found you and Gary last July and tell everyone about you. You are so cool. ♥
I started the video over --- Listening closely. No, a raised bed is NOT a container . It's more like a pile, a hill.a ridge of soil, perhaps held by a retaining wall. Perhaps no retaining walls. Mine are approximately 4ft x 8ft. Most are retained by concrete blocks.. just stacked no mortar. I grow year round in zone 7. There is no emptying . More than 20 years in the same location. The beds are 16 inches deep. Our subsoil is red clay, and my improved soil gets better every year. and Earthworms eat cardboard.
Robbie, you don't empty or replace the growing material....you top dress every season just like Market Gardeners do for "no dig" gardens. They usually make their own compost like you do only on a larger scale. I have so much wood to lay in the bottom...but I can't put 300 bucks out for metal beds...so Totes it is! I line up 4-5 in a row and use hoops over them. I also plant in cardboard boxes & it's great! My old totes are about 1/2 full now and all I do is dig through it a bit to loosen it up, add fertilizer or more kitchen scraps and I add raised bed soil on top. If I get a good harvest this year I'll be sure to post to let you know how you inspired me to do it and it worked for me. Making raised beds is a ton of work it's taking me months and now I'm behind in my growing season. I'm going to try corn in grow bags this year! lol wish me luck.
ps: I was thinking of you yesterday when I was transplanting I accidentally broke a few leaves...tucked them into the side in the soil just like you do... lol
Do you compost leaves that have diseases like cucumber, tomato fungal etc? Or leaves and plants that have pests? I'm unsure because broken down I add to my raised beds.
I throw everything in with a bunch of earthworms that will break down weeds, diseased leaves , fungus, everything gets recycled by the bugs & microbes in the soil - keep watered weekly to keep earthworms & microbes & fungus in the soil alive!😊
Hi Robbie I am from the Philippines. I am so inspired by your set up and I am planning to start my own tote farm soon. I started out by composting stuff before I got really interested in gardening. I have been watching gardening vids on TH-cam but I think yours is the kind I want to do. I have a question though. I notice that you compost food scraps that have either dried out or have mold in them. I have heard that foods that have Green or black mold in them should be discarded and not put in the soil. What's your take on this?
My brother-in-law has horses and the feed he gets comes in large (40 lb. Bags I think) heavy plastic type bags. I got one of the bags to start a compost bag. I already see nice dirt. I cut holes in the bottom and around the bottom edge for drainage, looks like it's working so far. Just an idea for people if they are on limited income.
I guess certain ones are carrying them - they’re getting popular- hope the price comes down but I don’t have the space nor a truck to carry one plus the strength to flip it over on its side to dump all the dirt / compost out! A regular big plastic garbage container is big enough for me - got 2 from a neighbor throwing them out - no cover tho - currently both full of weeds, kitchen scraps & shredded newspapers & junk mail, leaves- in a few weeks/ months depending on how busy the microbes & earthworms get, will have good garden soil to put in totes 😌
I have an old big metal trough in the front flower bed. Yes, you're right. It's so big and heavy that my almost mid-40 can't even move. it's without soil, and I didn't really add any soil until I was cleaning out my flower pots. It's mostly had rabbit poop, horse poop and coffee grounds from Starbucks. It's set in my driveway under a tree, then next to my side porch, which I move it's to my front flower bed. Then add some top soil, I think. Soil was mostly clay color that I had in my old tires garden that my ex-boyfriend did for me years ago. I got clean out tires and put some of dirt in that trough. I have a black water trough that I use as a worm bin. Between season, I compost in both troughs. To get ready for next grow season. That is hard sometimes when you live in zones 7b-8a Texas. I'm going to save up and hopefully get a smaller trough like Robbie. I so understand where coming from. Hopefully, I can manage the smaller better. Your idea is great. We got to do what do to grow veggies/ flower.
Can you put the entire expired plant in as compost. Do you put all kitchen scraps like meat,rice,bones , everything? Thanks in advance . I'm disabled and tried lots of times to grow vegetables. Couldn't maintain it due to pain. I beieve the totes and chairs may work, thankyou so much for the idea.
With those bottomless metal garden beds, could you just pick it up(since it has no bottom) and move it, recondition that old soil and put it back in the metal bed at the new location?
Robbie, I planted peppermint (inspired by a previous video of yours with your chocolate mint tea). I failed to use your recommendation to use tule as I only use that for my vegetables. But now I heard that cats love peppermint. Apparently, it is in the catnip family. What should I do? How do I know if the cats have consumed/partied in my mint?
Hi Robbie I need help I live in a senior apartment extra small patio. We're not allowed to have a lot of stuff on our patios. Not a lot of totes or buckets or stuff. So I was wondering if you could do a video on vertical gardening they look beautiful and I don't think the management would say much because they are really pretty what do you think? My other question is I see you saying you gather lettuce for dinner but how do you do that I would like to have enough kale and spinach to make big salads and smoothies everyday. I try to eat at least one and a half pounds of kale and spinach in the large containers. It's my first time trying to garden and I'm having a hard time understanding everything.😢
I picked up 2 large round plastic garbage bins ( 50 gallons I’m guessing) from a neighbor throwing them away & making compost in it , doing the layers like Robbie does - now full of weeds, junk mail , paper shreds, & kitchen scraps with some dirt layers between & a handful of earthworms - keeping it watered whenever I water my totes - no room for the big metal container like Robbie has but will be a lot easier to get compost out of than tipping over or digging out that metal bin!😊
In my situation I see no reason to empty out my raisedbeds. Never seen it done. I top up with leaves and chicken manure. Compost tea to encourage bacteria. There's plenty of soil life. I am experimenting with a worm bin in the center of one for the hungry melons...
Can I put pots on the bottom of the tote instead? I live in an area that I can’t get shredded leaves, cardboard, branches or anything like most people to fill my tote :(. And I can’t get styrofoam either. All I have is pots lol
The thing that has me questioning is how many plants (green peppers) can I expect an 18 gal tote to handle? I do kitchen scraps,shredded paper, I also added cow manure.
In my raised beds I take a bucket of kitchen scraps and dig a hole and add the scraps and cover it up. Then the next bucket of scraps go into a new hole. I recycle in place that way. Now when all the raised beds are full I keep a larger flower pot on the back porch and compost in place like you.
Do you put all leftovers that are in the you don't cook food and all that do you compost that tooI could really use your answer on that your help cuz I always have a lot of leftovers and I hate to store them in the trash but I don't want to make my soil bad and make people sick. And I want to say thank you for all your help God bless you all and have a wonderful week 🙏
Sometimes I may catch some pasta or a piece of bread or paper, or something like that in the compost. It stays there long enough to decompose. I am not real picky. I don't over think it.
Because of this channel I have a soldering iron that I use to poke holes - on the sides! - of recycled food containers & other bigger containers I have lying around. And I now know how to compost in place, and make my own compost tea! Thank you! 🌱💚🌱
Thank you! For years I gardened in the ground and in raised beds in a large suburban back yard. In the past year, due to age and cancer, I found myself moving and downsizing into a duplex with a little backyard and having to start my garden all over from scratch. Thanks to you and Gary, I know what to do! Regardless of what I plant in, it’s still a garden. I’m planting in totes, buckets, dishpans, pots, whatever I can find to grow in. Thank you for being so kind as to share all of your knowledge and brilliant ideas with us! You are helping more than you will ever know ❤️❤️❤️
God bless you and make it your healing garden as well...a place you simply love to be in. ;) I hope things get better for you!
Robbie that's what you have done for me & I am so grateful 💞💞 I've been sick for 8 years ( since June of 2012) & since I found you & Gary & a few others on TH-cam, I'm excited about gardening again 💞💞💞💞🥰
:) May God bring you healing & a new wonderful garden space you can lovingly grow and find healing in. Be sure to decorate it too! :)
Thanks to Robbie I not only started gardening in containers, but I also started composting! I was afraid of smells, bugs and who knows what might be attracted to rotting/breaking down matter! Turns out, it doesn't smell and the only thing I've had are worms and a few fruit flies. They are helping to break it down!
I encourage everyone to try and I dare you to stop at one tote/container!! 😅
Bugs are attracted to decomposing matter, worms, pill bugs, beetles, etc etc bug they help with compost making
Robbie Thankyou, you made me so successful in my garden journey. I actually compost the way you showed me and my four month of gardening in upstate with my granddaughter has changed my life. It has saved me tons of money plus I worked I work at a big university and get the plastic they throw away and that saves me even more. I tweak a little but your ideas have changed my world of gardening.
You look so cute. I think you are an adult Pippi Longstocking. You make everything so much fun.
I was kinda flabbergasted about this topic because I have never thought of my big raised beds as giant flower pots. They are garden beds. Totally different. I just top them off when they need more, and would never ever consider emptying them. You don't do that to beds in the ground so why would you do that to raised beds. In the fall I add thick thick layers of green grass clippings. Because it acts as a blanket as we gardeners flirt with the danger of first frost. It's almost like a game of chicken and you pull out every trick you can think of trying to keep things productive. Even though you know your going to lose. Every tomato, pepper, bean, and green that we get to harvest days after that first or second layer of ice formed on it then later thawed out is like a victory. Take that mother nature. Yeah you heard me. 💥 Boom. Still got tomatoes live on the vine in November. Zone 6. Yeah because I am the boss. Then a few days later Jack Frost comes back and delivers the knock out punch like oh yeah Gardener? You think you can take me on? And all the leaves die and fall and I'm like ohhhh. Please Jack thank you for the Free frost blanket. We're just going to pile them all up here and hey guess what? Next Spring Mother Nature is like thank you for the blankets, here I made you some soil. To which I say thank you, can't we all just get along. I love the soil you made me so much that I am going to park these brand new baby tomatoes here in it. Then that mean girl Mother Nature says watch this, frost in May and she and her boyfriend Jack laugh and laugh. But I kinda knew what they were up to already so I said here babies, I made you another blanket. It's called unfinished compost. And so it goes. Yes I talk to my garden and sometimes the neighbors get really quiet out on their decks while I am out there. They get especially quiet when I lecture the squirrels and rabbits about trespassers.
You are a hoot & right on! :)
November tomatoes in Zone 6? 😮😮😮
Robbie, I've been considering one of those raised beds in a box. I'm so glad I didn't buy one. You have just saved me over $200 and HOURS of work. Got my 1st two totes and could not be happier! Thank you for talking sense into me. You are absolutely right. Gonna put some squash in a dishpan later this week. 💚👍
I love my totes. Thank you so much for all the info you give us on gardening.
this woman loves zucchini more than any person i've come across! wonderful gardening videos. she's inspired me to add several totes to my garden this year. fill with twigs, leaves, yard waste, kitchen scraps, top with some soil, and you're good to go!
I love watching you. I've learned so much. I used a 66 qt container and i have the hose coming out of it with a bucket underneath hose.
Sounds Perfect
@@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy thanks
You don’t have to empty the bins to replenish the soil.
You can add food scraps to the top of the bin like it’s mulch almost. Then add some dirt on top. The food will break down over time. Your pitchers of compost that you add to your other bins can help too. You can add your food scraps into that as well.
In my experience you’ll notice a difference within weeks.
Tums and hydrogen peroxide also helps if the soil is anaerobic.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. I have enjoyed this year's garden in totes.
Yes because of robbie I container garden and it makes gardening fun and ,yes ,I do look forward to it.thank you robbie,you're great. Robbie I was in the hospital in out since last June, I'm hoping it over,I want to express the importance of wearing gloves when gardening I have just finished a 5 week everyday iv antibiotics at a Cancer clinic for an infection that I got from dirt. My fault I never wore gloves and I had an open wound,I have lost my index finger and the tip of my pointer finger. P,lease when gardening please wear gloves
Another great video! Cant thank you enough 4 all the inspiration 💚💚💚
THAT'S FUNNY RIGHT THERE ROBBIE 🤣 😄 HUBBY SAID HE'S TOO OLD TO TILL THE GROUND AND LIFTING TOO. HE LOVES THE WAY YOU AND GARY GARDEN. IT'S EASY FUN AND ENJOYABLE. ALSO PEACEFUL.😁❤
Robbie, your passion is contagious. I have learned from you and I thank you.❤
From other people I have seen on youtube university, you don't empty the large raised beds, you add organic matter an replenish which supposedly improves the soil over time, and supposing you filled the bed wisely, there is a ton of organic matter that will be breaking down over time.
Heart to heart talk dear sister! So grateful you are bringing us beauty and knowledge! ❤ Everyone stay strong and kind!💪 😊
My first year growing in totes. I happened to have a few and got several free ones at the thrift store I work at. So far it is going good.
Your garden is looking amazing its going to be in full production soon! I hope John comes for his visit when everything is in bloom I cant wait!!!!!!
When our neighbor passed away his two boys didn’t want the 150 gallon Rubbermaid totes. I think he use it for water for his calves. But we put some woods and sticks and leaves in the bottom of one and then raised bed soil, and I’m gonna have to pick green beans tomorrow from it. And the other one we have asparagus growing and we have to wait till next year to get to pick any of that. And we did the same thing, sticks, and wood and leaves from a friends tree.
Small pieces of wood, and our kitchen scraps. We have empty coffee containers spotted in our containers with holes in the bottom put scrapes in & water them as well in our in ground garden as well. So fun and YOU helped me so much. Tulle, watering tubes on stakes. ❤❤❤ 🌶️🥕🫑🥦🥒🥬🌽🧄🧅🥔
Great video I have several stock tanks. Two above ground raised beds and many containers. I recycle the dirt from one container to the other. And i drag the soil in the large containers from one side to the other. Then i fill with kitchen scraps leaves etc and i reverse the process. I fill all my growing means to the brim which gives more nutrients to work with.
Robbie. You are a breath of fresh air. I appreciate your videos so much. Spending a fortune to grow vegetables seems like a crazy thing to do, you are so so so wonderful to watch. I CAN DO THIS!!!! ☺️
I never empty my large tall raised bed I do rebuild my soil …old soil out mix back in compost leaves cow manure slowly. Old soil back in. I really don’t mind(I’m 72)no gym member 😂 I love my 72 inches tall 5x3 long it’s worth every dime I’m a suburban gardener in zone 6a Michigan so I use every inch every year now 3 years in. ❤️🙏🏽❤️😊
I don’t take mine apart. I amend my soil in the raised bed. I also mulch which helps. At 73 I don’t want to go around watering a hundred pots.
Robbie you are a joy & inspiration! I love gardening again❤
You and Gary are the best gardening TH-camrs!! ❤Thank you for all your videos and advice. I’m in my second year of container gardening in my backyard.
Good-day, Robbie! Very encouraging video.😃 I have mostly containers and 2 raised beds. I have containers in the beds composting in place.🙂 I also add homemade compost and leaf mold to the beds. My beds are only 12 inches high. I have the raised beds so I can grow leafy greens under a hoop house through our winter season.🥬💕
Hi Robbie and Gary. I have been sitting here, watching all of your videos. I love the advice you give. I was watching and cutting up a bin of mail to put in my compost. I normally burn it, but I am going to set up a compost, as you suggest.
I live in North Florida and I am cleaning up my property that I left in the hands of friends, who did nothing for 8 years ! Luckily I have better soil, because of the leaf matter that has added to this sand.
You are so cute ! Thank you for sharing your gardens.
❤
So thankful that I found your channel! Thank You for all this valuable information! 😊🌱
You are certainly so very welcome and so much more to come😊 Thank You❤️
Thank you Robbie...love your channel, I learn every time I tune in. Now I'm rethinking about using pots inside my larger garden beds. Love the idea that things would be movable to follow the sun. Thanks for that, keep up the good, fun work!❤🏡
I set up an entire space in my yard, just for pots! I love growing lettuce too!
Wonderful~ Thank you for sharing these tips~🤗
With my compost-in-place containers I have an endless supply of compost from the spent pots from last year (last season). And I don't worry about nutrients because only about 1/2 or less is of the new pots are leftovers from prior years pots. . . because the bottom half is new material. and the cycle goes on and on. LOVE it. I used to do compost bins and I still do a bit of it. . . but mostly my "new" soil is from the compost-in-place process.
OH WOW ROBBIE, YALLS PLACE IS GETTING AS BEAUTIFUL AS YOU. I LOVE YOUR HAT. I AM WATCHING AND LEARNING. LOVE YOU ROBBIE ❤
Thank you so much ! My lettuce is awesome my vege pod is full of all of my lettuce that I winter sowed ! Omg a variety of lettuces and Spinach galore ❤
Then in all,of my gallon buckets fro the dollar store, zucchini
Peppers
Celery
Beets
Cucumbers, baby ones !
And ll of my herbs yeah !
Like you said. If I don’t like where they are I pick them up and move them 😁😁😁😁😁
Many thx again ! 😊
Great stuff making gardening easy for us more mature folks
Dear Robby! I would even this raised bed raise above ground on bricks etc.....any tiny little rust hole will let the tree roots in later. ❤love your channel and learning with you!
I’ve been doing container gardening for so so long…. But now I’m adding your feeding in place process… you’re genious. Muah 💋 ❤
You can recycle your soap container that you use for your laundry. I just saw a gentleman use it to grow cabbage
I live in northwest corner of Arkansas
I have 5 raised beds plus several containers. I really like your ideas for composting on the bottom of the containers.thank you again for your gardening knowledge
You were my main inspiration that allowed me to garden this year. I have some physical limitations this year that prohibited in ground gardening. I wouldn't have thought I could garden at all if it wasn't for watching you grow in your totes. I have a beautiful little tote and container garden this year. My garden is essential to my mental well being. So thankful for my totes.
I've been working on regenerating the soil of our garden (it's clay, hard and dry as rock) for a year, and managing 3 worm bins for half a year. I'm using plenty cardboard as getting my hands on leaves is harder. What I've found out about cardboard is the smaller the pieces, the quicker they compost. So if I want cardboard to decompose in a couple of month, I better select it carefully.
I made the mistake of layering whole heavy-duty, double-walled corrugated cardboard close to the surface in a raised-bed. After 2 months, it hadn't changed. Another couple of months later, it was stubbornly intact. I went Freddy Kruger with a shovel, but got tired quickly as most of my angry shovel strikes couldn't pierce the darn cardboard. I had to dig it up, wet it to soften it and tear it down by hand into smaller pieces. 6 months in, that evil cardboard is starting to show signs of decomposing. It was worse in another part of the garden where I made lasagna layers with the heavy-duty cardboard cut into 8 inch squares. After several months, I dug up the soil to see how the composting was advancing. The greens were rotting between the sheets of cardboard but not composting, and the cardboard was waterlogged at worse or softened up at best. And that cursed heavy-duty cardboard wasn't even moldy. Mulching with branches and twigs, and mixing with the lasagna layers a few times, has helped correct that debacle.
I also learnt from composting in small pots and with my worm bins that waterlogged cardboard (any cardboard) that is bunched up or overlapping won't decompose until I unbunch and separate the soggy cardboard layers.
To sum-up, I like best single layer corrugated cardboard that I can easily tear down by hand. Thin little strips compost the quickest (within a month), mixed with other material to avoid the soggy cemented ball of paper once wet. The heavy-duty cardboard is to kill the crap out of weeds and to bury deeper than 12 inches down. And don't expect it to compost for a year, unless you have a shredder that can turn that thick cardboard from hell into confetti.
I have no idea what I'd be doing now if I hadnt found you. Since watching you for three years now, I have used large commercial plant pots recycled from a landscaper neighbor who used to discard them. Compost in place and grow on top, plus fill large empties with foodscraps day by day even all winter, layered with our grass clippings and shredded leaves that I bag and keep over the Michigan winter for spring use as mulch in the pots and beds. There's also a waste field area that is now growing Nettles and Comfrey for the 20 gallon compost tea trash can and chopped for compost in place. Have been using my original 4x16' raised wood beds mostly for garlic now, with a few tomatoes here and there. Let weeds grow, except grass, and when they become a nuisance, compost in place in a container: creeping charlie, chickweed, borage, dandelion, and chickory. Many of those are edible if need be. Never weed out Plantain. 👍👍👍
I have several totes lined up for planting my sweet potato slips. Hope to get it done today. Once in place, sweet potatoes are pretty low maintenance, so I can move on to other garden projects.
Hi Robbie. I use your method of gardening because I tried many other methods and failed at them all. Your method is a form of hugelkulture. It works great. This year we bo
I can't wait for Gary's video of what he is doing back there by the bench
I dont empty my bins, i just add new stuff every year.. Compost, new soil, etc. This is my 3rd year, so far so good..
We never empty our raised beds. We amend them with compost from our backyard pallet double compost bins, also my bokashi compost which is how I compost all our kitchen scraps, (4 five gallon buckets worth from this past winter). Now and then I get several buckets of chicken manure from a friend and let it mature and add in the fall after we have harvested, ready for the next season. Sometimes buy mushroom compost. Our raised beds are very fertile and always give us great harvest.
I do no dig in my raised beds and just add an inch or 2 of compost on top I don't empty my beds
This was great, and so inspirational! Thank you! Please, could you make a video all about growing just in small containers. That zucchini growing in a dish pan was fantastic. I want to do that! I guess it’s all about keeping it well fed?
No one shovels out raised beds and replace soil that I’ve ever heard of. We add compost on top or mix in a slow release fertilizer
Exactly!
I started following you when you had around 25,000 subs, and look at ya now! Congrats on the explosive growth and great content. Jim in FL
Thank you for all the valuable information Robbie.
You need like a rust proof paint to paint on it. That should stop the rust from coming through.
Thanks for sharing 👍
You are so welcome 😊 Thank you
I kind of like the pitchers, and I even get some starts out of them.
I got my garden together and I set up a compost bin. I'm excited. Can I put weeds in my compost?
I use weeds all the time in our containers and compost, if there are seeds on your weeds, try to bury those underneath, I usually add weeds more to the base of my containers
@@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy ok
This yr is the first year that I am growing in raised beds. Previously grew inground but due to physical limitations me and my husband built and filled raised beds. Then just the other day I noticed 3 different jumping worms 🤦♀️. Upon research learned how they deplete the soil and ecosystem. Feel like money was wasted building these beds. I am starting to implement some of your practices. Already been working on making my own soil. I just started yesterday with the double container system, except for now i placed them inside my raised beds to help feed nutrients to the soil there. I do have several plants in food grade buckets and planters too. I know i will slowly over time change to growing in containers and add in what worms i want in my containers and compost bins. Currently have a compost bin/tote on back porch with lots of good works...they are super fast at breaking down all the material. I thank you and Gary for putting these videos out. Opens our eyes to how to garden even with many different challenging situstions we may have. Teaches us to compost in a cheap and easy way that helps our plants thrive. I absolutely love how your videos vs many others shows how to garden on the cheap which saves money instead of costing large amounts of money, especially now when prices everywhere for everything is getting so high.
I don't empty my raised beds I add store-bought compost and yard debris and mix it in. My first two beds I loaded the bottom with leaves, etc. Year 2 I had tons of worms. This spring, year 3, I'll be adding more to it. They have produced a ton of food. For my new bed, I went hugelkultur on the bottom with lots of tree debris. I have terrible clay soil. I always feed my kitchen scraps to the rabbits and squirrels so I'll be stopping that now. They repay me by decimating my garden. A rabbit would sleep under my tomato plant and eat my beans...I'm fencing everything this year. My back is bad and I love your chair garden idea! I got a ton of totes from my sister. I'll be cruising our citywide clean-up day for more goodies.
I have two questions. The first one is how do the earthworms get into your soil in the totes and containers? And the second question is are you concerned at all about what chemicals could be leaching out of the plastic of your totes or containers and getting into your food? Just wondering.
As far as the worms, I have talked about that in many videos 😊 They will climb in, or they can be in the soil that I move there from the ground or from under flower pots. As far as plastic watch this video, it will answer all your questions.What You Need To Know Before Growing In Plastic Containers, Vegetable Container Gardening RAISED BED
th-cam.com/video/oACuZNDXMWs/w-d-xo.html
@@RobbieAndGaryGardeningEasy I should have mentioned I'm a new subscriber, and I have been watching lots of your older videos, especially on the hummingbirds. I really like your channel and the info you put out. Thank you for sharing, and I will watch that link you provided. I'm currently using an old refrigerator as a raised container and I've wondered about the chemicals coming out of the plastic liner after baking in the sun all day. So, again thank you. Looking forward to watching more videos.
Thank you, great point, something to keepinmind,
Happy birthday Robbie didn't know how to send you a happy birthday 🎂🎂🎂🎈🎈🎈 so I did it here.
You have converted me to try to grow in totes this year. 😊
I know you start a lot of your plants from cuttings. But I wonder if you use a planting hormone? Also once I looked at your daughter's garden but it looked like some of her totes were not in chairs but on the ground. Does she do both? I am so happy I found you and Gary last July and tell everyone about you. You are so cool. ♥
I do not use plant hormone for my cuttings. My daughter has her totes on the ground, like Gary sets his up 😊 Thank you so much. Happy Gardening ❤️
My question is why would you empty a raised bed and when you garden in the ground you don't throw that dirt away you would just add nutrients to. 🤔🤔🤔
I started the video over ---
Listening closely.
No, a raised bed is NOT a container .
It's more like a pile, a hill.a ridge of soil, perhaps held by a retaining wall. Perhaps no retaining walls.
Mine are approximately 4ft x 8ft.
Most are retained by concrete blocks.. just stacked no mortar.
I grow year round in zone 7.
There is no emptying .
More than 20 years in the same location.
The beds are 16 inches deep.
Our subsoil is red clay, and my improved soil gets better every year.
and
Earthworms eat cardboard.
Robbie, you don't empty or replace the growing material....you top dress every season just like Market Gardeners do for "no dig" gardens. They usually make their own compost like you do only on a larger scale. I have so much wood to lay in the bottom...but I can't put 300 bucks out for metal beds...so Totes it is! I line up 4-5 in a row and use hoops over them. I also plant in cardboard boxes & it's great! My old totes are about 1/2 full now and all I do is dig through it a bit to loosen it up, add fertilizer or more kitchen scraps and I add raised bed soil on top. If I get a good harvest this year I'll be sure to post to let you know how you inspired me to do it and it worked for me. Making raised beds is a ton of work it's taking me months and now I'm behind in my growing season. I'm going to try corn in grow bags this year! lol wish me luck.
ps: I was thinking of you yesterday when I was transplanting I accidentally broke a few leaves...tucked them into the side in the soil just like you do... lol
Do you compost leaves that have diseases like cucumber, tomato fungal etc? Or leaves and plants that have pests? I'm unsure because broken down I add to my raised beds.
I throw everything in with a bunch of earthworms that will break down weeds, diseased leaves , fungus, everything gets recycled by the bugs & microbes in the soil - keep watered weekly to keep earthworms & microbes & fungus in the soil alive!😊
Hi Robbie I am from the Philippines. I am so inspired by your set up and I am planning to start my own tote farm soon. I started out by composting stuff before I got really interested in gardening. I have been watching gardening vids on TH-cam but I think yours is the kind I want to do. I have a question though. I notice that you compost food scraps that have either dried out or have mold in them. I have heard that foods that have Green or black mold in them should be discarded and not put in the soil. What's your take on this?
Bobby can I put kitchen scraps that have been in a closed catainer for a while
Sure - stinky but worms will break it down, just cover with at least a few inches of
soil over it so other bugs & pests won’t bother it 😊
My brother-in-law has horses and the feed he gets comes in large (40 lb. Bags I think) heavy plastic type bags. I got one of the bags to start a compost bag. I already see nice dirt. I cut holes in the bottom and around the bottom edge for drainage, looks like it's working so far. Just an idea for people if they are on limited income.
I like the trough idea. Did you get at the feed store? Thank for another video.
She has a video - Home Depot 😊
@Arthuur Wong, thanks, I never seen metal trough at home depot. But again I never real look for them. I have seen them at feed / farm stores.
I guess certain ones are carrying them - they’re getting popular- hope the price comes down but I don’t have the space nor a truck to carry one plus the strength to flip it over on its side to dump all the dirt / compost out! A regular big plastic garbage container is big enough for me - got 2 from a neighbor throwing them out - no cover tho - currently both full of weeds, kitchen scraps & shredded newspapers & junk mail, leaves- in a few weeks/ months depending on how busy the microbes & earthworms get, will have good garden soil to put in totes 😌
I have an old big metal trough in the front flower bed. Yes, you're right. It's so big and heavy that my almost mid-40 can't even move. it's without soil, and I didn't really add any soil until I was cleaning out my flower pots. It's mostly had rabbit poop, horse poop and coffee grounds from Starbucks. It's set in my driveway under a tree, then next to my side porch, which I move it's to my front flower bed. Then add some top soil, I think. Soil was mostly clay color that I had in my old tires garden that my ex-boyfriend did for me years ago. I got clean out tires and put some of dirt in that trough. I have a black water trough that I use as a worm bin. Between season, I compost in both troughs. To get ready for next grow season. That is hard sometimes when you live in zones 7b-8a Texas. I'm going to save up and hopefully get a smaller trough like Robbie. I so understand where coming from. Hopefully, I can manage the smaller better. Your idea is great. We got to do what do to grow veggies/ flower.
I would use the big one for compostig
Can you put the entire expired plant in as compost. Do you put all kitchen scraps like meat,rice,bones , everything? Thanks in advance . I'm disabled and tried lots of times to grow vegetables. Couldn't maintain it due to pain. I beieve the totes and chairs may work, thankyou so much for the idea.
"but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid"
Where do you find your buckets? I love pops of color, and all I can find are the ones from Lowes that are all blue with white writing.
With those bottomless metal garden beds, could you just pick it up(since it has no bottom) and move it, recondition that old soil and put it back in the metal bed at the new location?
Robbie, I planted peppermint (inspired by a previous video of yours with your chocolate mint tea). I failed to use your recommendation to use tule as I only use that for my vegetables. But now I heard that cats love peppermint. Apparently, it is in the catnip family. What should I do? How do I know if the cats have consumed/partied in my mint?
Set up a camera 😊
Hi Robbie I need help I live in a senior apartment extra small patio. We're not allowed to have a lot of stuff on our patios. Not a lot of totes or buckets or stuff. So I was wondering if you could do a video on vertical gardening they look beautiful and I don't think the management would say much because they are really pretty what do you think?
My other question is I see you saying you gather lettuce for dinner but how do you do that I would like to have enough kale and spinach to make big salads and smoothies everyday. I try to eat at least one and a half pounds of kale and spinach in the large containers. It's my first time trying to garden and I'm having a hard time understanding everything.😢
Hey Robbie and Gary maybe Gary can put a jack underneath and jack it up and tip in on its side and empty the dirt out that way.may be some how tip it.
Sorry u just said the same thing too haha
I picked up 2 large round plastic garbage bins ( 50 gallons I’m guessing) from a neighbor throwing them away & making compost in it , doing the layers like Robbie does - now full of weeds, junk mail , paper shreds, & kitchen scraps with some dirt layers between & a handful of earthworms - keeping it watered whenever I water my totes - no room for the big metal container like Robbie has but will be a lot easier to get compost out of than tipping over or digging out that metal bin!😊
Don't empty it, just add compost. Sometimes I dig holes and direct compost.
Do you need to put in drainpipes in totes????
So how do you prevent that fig tree from depleting the soil it sits in?
My chipmunks have been eating all my seedlings......lol
Do you have holes in the bottom of those steel beds?
If you watch the video of me, putting it together, I have a hole on the side in a unique way😊 and it works perfect
Did you put holes on the bottom of the stock tank?
Perlite filling in the bottom would be much lighter than some other materials.
Can I grow cantaloupe in a 5 gal bucket?
Do I need to put in drainholes in totes??
Yes
Robbie by placing food scraps in my vegetable pots doesn’t it attract ants? Thanks!
In my situation I see no reason to empty out my raisedbeds. Never seen it done. I top up with leaves and chicken manure. Compost tea to encourage bacteria. There's plenty of soil life. I am experimenting with a worm bin in the center of one for the hungry melons...
We don't need to empty the big ones, we can just add fertilizer.
Can I put pots on the bottom of the tote instead? I live in an area that I can’t get shredded leaves, cardboard, branches or anything like most people to fill my tote :(. And I can’t get styrofoam either. All I have is pots lol
Go to a park or school grounds or even neighbors that have a lot of trees in the fall & rake up all the dead leaves & take em home!😊
What do you suggest for plants needing Nitrogen?
We make compost tea, that works great
Will simple adding a couple of manure to water work?
@@iamsharoslyn Here's what Robbie does: th-cam.com/video/a0l-p1YWkyE/w-d-xo.html
Robbie's layering method feeds the plants in the lower levels. My plants THRIVE doing this method. They don't show any lack of nitrogen.
Put lentils in the food processor and spoon on the powder of lentils.
What is the name of the metal raised container that you have and where did you get it?
She bought it at Home Depot some months ago.
The thing that has me questioning is how many plants (green peppers) can I expect an 18 gal tote to handle? I do kitchen scraps,shredded paper, I also added cow manure.
Only way is experiment & let us know - suspect it depends on how good your soil is & if you keep feeding it during its growth😊
I was able to grow two in a 10-gallon fabric bag so I would think you could grow at least three.
I want to know where you got the metal raised bed, please! I can’t bend over very well.
What are your thoughts on grow bags?
Ok but she mentioned have to water them too much - (dries out too fast ) where plastic retains water longer😊