I have Jackfruit seedlings coming up in Orlando, thanks to all your advice. You were my first resource when I started homesteading and I’m so glad I found you. I mulch but I have easy access to it. I can’t wait to update on the Seminole Pumpkin project this year. 👍🏻
The benefit of no mulch, which I experienced this winter and early spring, was the ease of weeding with a stirrup hoe. It took literally 5 minutes to knock down the weed seedlings in my measly 242 square feet of bed and was so satisfying. Now that I have heat, AND the ability to collect my own grass trimmings to cover a small garden, mulch makes sense. But man, 7K square feet? You'd need to be rich to cover that in mulch, and who knows what foot-long critters you would grow in there!
It makes perfect sense to me . You're always talking about chopping and dropping anyway....and writing about it...and doing it in your videos 😂 Hello and welcome to the new subscribers !
Mulch is for paths. Compost is for beds. Beds are for our sweet tasty plant friends. Hammocks are for people. Buildings are for storage. That's my story, and I think I'm sticking with it. 🤫
Love this video! This is why I follow you and listen daily. We live in amazon region and have the power company come down our dirt road with machetes to cut for the power lines too, lol. Its different growing here than when we were in the states, love all your experiences that you share, helps us a lot! We have a large family too, 8 children. Blessings.
I'm first to hear your thoughts Jungle life..its like that in these tropical Underdeveloped Countries.. I know abt those crickets and black bugs..sand flys and mosquitoes.. 🤣🤣🇬🇾weeds grow 15ft a day..lol Thanks for sharing
Hey, David, there are some good weeds in New York! Lamb's Quarters, Violets, and Stinging Nettle grow in my back yard. They used to be a problem, but now they're food. It's all about POV! Darn useful during the shelter at home orders. I agree though, some of them, like dandelion, are super bitter! Others like Poke are too hard to prepare.
DTG's practical plant wisdom...love it! Do what works. I'd be interested in a creepy crawly jungle bug video...show us what you see in the rafters at night. That would likely make us in Florida feel lucky.
The scorpions are the worst. One stung me a few months ago and it was terrible. Thought I was going to go into shock. Radiating pain up my arm into my ribs. Since then I am a little more cautious about moving things around.
@@davidthegood Yikes!!! If the weed plantain grows down there, pick some leaves, chew it up, then put it onto any bites you get, and it will draw out the poison. Re-apply. Learned that from Dr. Patrick Jones. It also works to remove splinters! 😃
There's many methods to grow things, many ways of gardening, and some work better or worse in different climates, soil types, and so on. On the other hand, I'm lucky that here in Japan the local recycling centre gives away ramial woodchips, in any quantity, for FREE! The only issue is you have to collect and transport them yourself. I'm using more in my orchard/food forest and trying to do the ornamentals. That said, straw mulch (from rice/wheat) is somewhat available free seasonally, but one issue I found is curl grubs and cutworms do tend to breed more actively in it, same with no dig - grubs build up and at the least you need to give the soil a good rake to expose the grubs. Its always a matter of finding what works in your environment, with the resources you have available.
One of these days, I should run an experiment where we scatter seeds for a variety of commonly grown annual crops in a natural setting, and see what actually survives without interference .. some stuff can, but not much, and certainly not in all situations.
There's a bean vine that grows here (can't remember the name - its considered a famine food, but it needs to be pressure cooked to break down the anti-nutrients). It is extremely prolific. If I don't do anything, it will cover everything - the 20 ft rock wall, avocado tree, guava tree, etc. I cleared out a bunch of it a couple months ago, ran it over with a mower while I mowed the lawn and made some great compost out of it. Now, I have a bunch of that vine trying to grow in my lawn. And then 50 ft away my chard & tomatoes struggle with diseases & pests.
I pulled what I though was a weed today from a hard clay-filled hole in a cinder block. As I was pulling it up I though, hmm, that looks like basil. Before I could stop the process, I pulled it. Yep, basil. Totally self sown from some previous year's crop in an place I have never grown it before. I think that's one of those plants that might be scrappy enough to make it in the wild. At least long enough to get some leaves.
I use woodchip mulch for the paths and sugar cane/hay mulch to keep the beds from drying out. Every year or two I scrape up the wood-chip paths and dump it in the beds then replace.
The one upside to doing yard maintenance in the tropics (I live in Hawaii) is that the weeds (IE grasses, vines, big vines, small trees, big trees, etc :) grow very quickly like you said. Even though its a pain to keep it in check, especially in the rainy season, I can make so much compost with it! It's a pain to maintain, but you got to look at the upside, right?
For who among you has not sinned? Have you not resorted to the blue stuff in a moment of weakness? Have you not failed to water, or neglected to cover on a cold autumn evening? Repent now, sister! It's not too late! 🙏
@@rehoboth_farm To you and Mr. Bechtel, I'd like to remind you that her husband's job requires loaded weapons to be prepared for use in every room of the house. 👈
I would love to be able to do it myself but I’m in the Bahamas. Logistics is everything! I drop my organic matter along with seaweed. Thanks for sharing the knowledge!
I respect how you make your choice not to mulch the whole world... What works in one part of a country may not work in another part of the same continent- just like one organic body care option may not work for someone else in the same family. Take it for what it is- knowledge and ideas. Thanks for your channel!
Yeah. I have this same issue & sometimes a big frustration because i live in some jungle in Yucatán, México and so its like impossible to get some of the stuff i see in many gardening videos. But your videos have helped me a lot to realize i just need to work with what i have instead of waiting until i can have all the shinny tools & the best materials.
There's vines we call whinder. That thing is a pain in the butt. It is everywhere and if you don't take out every piece of it including the root it springs back and covers over everything. Not to mention devil grass , crab grass and all the other types of spinney, prickly weed and tree that only needs a few drops of water to grow in ridiculous speeds. I understand your pain David .
Dang it, no broccoli foraging to be had, DTG, well then, I am just not going. I am headed to Lowe’s instead to buy some mulch so some more root maggots can attack my radishes. 😭😭 Ugh! I kind of wish I saw more about those dang little fly B’s before. Found out in my garden they supposedly liked some of my compostable materials that are not broken down too much. And since I can’t rake out the leaf litter as easily with mulch on my mounded rows. They were being enticed right about the time my Strangler Fig decided to defoliate as my radishes where just getting larger. Well, at least I got some of the radishes out of my rows unharmed. Another thing which no one told me was that I could make lethal eye burning juice from these radishes, because they are much spicer out of the home garden then those bought at the local Whole Foods. Great roots of 🔥! Was my first thought after slicing one up to sample. We get you DTG, but it was nice you answered that person in a dry climate without the weeds that could sing an off broadway show tune, very kind of you😉🙃 A big Hi! to Rachel who is a rockstar at keeping your compound filled with a good rotation of workers. 👋🏼
Northern Temperate climates are more about mulch because of deciduous trees that drop leaves each year. Perhaps Tropical climates are more about live/living plant ground covers like vines, sweet potato, or strawberries or whatever the tropical equivalent to that is?
Question: imagine you're still in the states. The shit has hit the fan. Fire, mass chaos. For whatever reason something has happened and you have to leave you house and your garden. You don't know where you'll be ending up, but you're pretty sure there will be no running water, no electricity, and absolutely no self-warming toilets. As you flee the house, leaving everything behind to jump into the great unknown and possible starvation.....what five seed packets do you run out the door with? What three tools?
So I've stalked all your videos, okay not all, and cannot find SUGARPIE in It's entirety. So I have taken the liberty of writing a couple of substitute verses in order to have a completed version of the song, so I can play it with my band on Saturday at our itty bitty show. I promise if the tip jar reflects the love and passion that the song deserves, I pledge to buy your books, CDs, and support you. Or, just give me the dang words. LOL! I know it's in A or A7 and D. It's just a simple yet badass jam.
chipping wood is a huge waste of energy! i think that untill your canopy or mulching support plants are large enough to support your compost/mulching needs you can chop and drop lol. i get woodchips dropped off every other week as well as green waste from the nearby town and i just happened to meet someone with an old barn full if 30 years old hay. i use it , of course because it builds my soil and here in germany would be burnt ! but if the source ever dries up ivd got a sythe somewhere in the barn still. the woodchips are also not any easier to mulch with than sything . the hay, im saving for chicken stall bedding. i thing the permCulture design principles might include energy flow that covers how you might develope your soil either way lol.
In my experience people who comment with such confiction don’t actually garden themselves but only watch videos about gardening. The amount of times I have been told to do no-till is stupid, because people don’t realize that commercial growers who do no-till buy the majority of their compost. I do love mulch, but one of our major problems is heat and drought. Keep up the good work ;)
Totally understand. I couldn't help but think of the large lot you rented previously where you planted ever so much, including those orchids and bromeliads, and would love to know what you learned from that experience that you are applying to your garden now that is making it more successful. Also wondering if you have any compost yet from your pile or compost tea you are using.
David is totally correct. Mulching in the tropics where I live is problematic. Also,, the local flora and people's dogs and pigs make things difficult. I am close to a major city. You can't go out to town or to the market without seeing the majority of local men carrying their machetes. That is what we have for gardeners who maintain rich people's gardens and for public works. Hell, I use a machete more than any other tool! I have several mango trees and under them noting grows except young mangos. good mulch but... I am alone, older and have to locate spaces where there is enough sunlight to clear a small patch here and there to raise food. I compost what I need and subscribe to the chop and drop method. You have to adapt to your locale. Also, where I grow bananas, the old leaves munch very effectively. You just have to adjust to the local conditions.
I don't know what ur talking about, David. Just yesterday I was in the woods foraging and I found a patch of natural tomtatoes. I suspect the beavers got tired of using a whole area for potatoes and a whole area for tomatoes, so they must have learned how to graft. Perhaps they even ordered the good guide to grafting. The beavers even used their teeth to chop and drop, they had 8 inches of mulch around every tomtatoe plant. The mycelium were impressive. I didn't even take any, I figured the beavers deserve their potatoes and tomatoes after all that effort.
Everyone gardens different. None are right or wrong just different. What ever works for you and your garden is the right way for you. That's my idea anyway
Makes sense to me. I don't know why exactly people got mad about it. I love deep mulching, and get it for the price of time, sweat and a little gas, but I can understand why not everyone could, or would want to, do it my way.
We've seen DtG chop & drop many times here--His wasting, I mean utilizing, of Moringa comes to mind. Speaking of which, is it ok that I'm hearing sung repeatedly throughout this video a certain refrain in the voice of Axl Rose?
What kind of mulch would you recommend for my vegetable gardens in my suburban yard in SW Florida? Meaning... cypress, pine bark, etc. No leaves around to harvest.
True. There's people who get hung up on one method, maybe tried it in one climate or environment, then become they've discovered the "one true way". If you want REAL cult gardening, try the "square foot gardening" people...
Love your videos and your honesty. I watch your videos when I can. How do you get the soil nutrition up and feed such a large garden in such a short time frame.
D.F.S.W.* He puts just about any plant and some animal material in a barrel, fills with water, covers and lets it ROT! Mix some with 4x fresh water, pour onto the base of the plants. Buy his books and keep watching. *You'll Learn Useful Stuff!!!* *Dave's.Fetid.Swamp.Water.
You're living on one of Earths most active digestive systems. I guess even if the service was available bringing a truck through this bush & wet mud/clay would be difficult too. Unlike people in the cities with concrete/drier & clearer land like myself in the suburbs.
If only I didn't have to mulch my flower beds...hmph. I'm planning on planting my first bed of potatoes (I know it's late here in NC, but better late than never is my thinking) and sweet potatoes, but the area I'm looking at has a bit of slope to it, and I'm worried about erosion from rain on unmulched beds. Would you just put in swales, or mulch lightly? Thanks and God bless y'all.
I was wondering, new to the channel and great btw but would using pine needles be better perhaps than chips? Given pine is a natural pesticide and has negative ph ... I think. Anyhow heck if I know . My aunt owns a small micro green farm in Naples , very small but she’s always worked in greenhouses and such and gardening is just in my blood at this point just need land 😂
Question! When you buy a packet of seeds, do you plant the whole thing or hold some back in case you are unable to collect seeds later? Do you use the original seed packet the next season if you collected some of your own seeds? - unconfident seed collector
vizwhiz100 unfortunately, no. High rainfall washes the nutrients away. Ps. I live in subtropical Australia - at least it was subtropical. Climate change has reduced the rainfall where I am by about 50% to 75%, depending on the year, in the last 30 years. I used to be able to grow anything, now it’s only arid varieties and my biggest expense is town water.
@@marilyncarey7957 wow thats pretty sad similar here in Sydney this past growing season was crispy dry spring/summer, but we did get plenty of rain in late summer which is too late I guess other than extending the fig season, a lot of plants recovered from the drought with all the rain late summer but we missed out on the fruit production during normal time which is late spring/early summer at that time we pick buckets of figs turned to maybe 10 or less, we are expecting at least a large bucket load this august if it stays warm enough for them to ripen.
Speaking of weeds i know you are advocate for “weed” crops I.E UBE I was wondering what you thought of or if you knew about hopniss apios americanaMadeira Vine, Lamb’s Tail, Mignonette Vine
You keep saying "in the jungle" or "in the tropics". Florida and Hawaii could qualify but are very different. Central America? I'm pretty sure it's not Madagascar. Just for context, where do you live? (city and country is enough). Thanks!
I don't want to give you a big head, but I'm fairly certain you're one of the few humans left who has common sense. I've come to believe that Common Sense is the rarest material left on the earth.....guard it with your life.
Common people 😂. Use common sense. David made it clear yesterday he would love to be able to do it. Think third world. Have you ever been outside the US?
You say domesticated things cant survive in wild not true alot of domesticated plants become invasive the most notorious here in the US is Bradford pear they will come up any where and quickly out complete native vegetation. You dont realize how bad it is until early spring when they flower and leaf out before everything there everywhere
David The Good well part wild I guess they took a pear tree made super small tiny fruit (that used to be sterile not anymore)and made it grow stupid fast in a upright vase which is very prone to storm damage. Also is way over planted most new condos or subdivisions the streets are lined with them. I will say there nice but they do smell bad and there better trees you could pick
There are 2 great food growing methods where you grow mulch on site...Inga alley cropping and syntropic agriculture. th-cam.com/video/ezxeE_p_vYk/w-d-xo.html These systems might make sense for you to experiment with towards the outer edges of your property. Inga alley cropping is especially suited to annual crops in the tropics.
How can anyone try tell another farmer or gardener how it should be done. Putting mulch into your compost is just as good if not better for brown matter which i find harder to find than green for the bins. You don't need mulch to care for soil at all. It has its place, granted, but its never necessary. Thats such a stupid concept to hold. A paddock of grass or medow of wheat wouldn't even grow if you tried to mulch it. Mental that people lectured you for it.
![3 Ways to Fix a Mulch Shortage [Without Getting Free Wood Chips]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Aqh0zw7TwNU/mqdefault.jpg)
![3 Ways to Fix a Mulch Shortage [Without Getting Free Wood Chips]](/img/tr.png)
That lettuce yell was epic, lol!
I have Jackfruit seedlings coming up in Orlando, thanks to all your advice. You were my first resource when I started homesteading and I’m so glad I found you. I mulch but I have easy access to it. I can’t wait to update on the Seminole Pumpkin project this year. 👍🏻
The benefit of no mulch, which I experienced this winter and early spring, was the ease of weeding with a stirrup hoe. It took literally 5 minutes to knock down the weed seedlings in my measly 242 square feet of bed and was so satisfying. Now that I have heat, AND the ability to collect my own grass trimmings to cover a small garden, mulch makes sense. But man, 7K square feet? You'd need to be rich to cover that in mulch, and who knows what foot-long critters you would grow in there!
Hey, Scott!
It makes perfect sense to me . You're always talking about chopping and dropping anyway....and writing about it...and doing it in your videos 😂 Hello and welcome to the new subscribers !
Mulch is for paths. Compost is for beds. Beds are for our sweet tasty plant friends. Hammocks are for people. Buildings are for storage.
That's my story, and I think I'm sticking with it. 🤫
What a man does with plants in the privacy of his own bed...
Love this video! This is why I follow you and listen daily. We live in amazon region and have the power company come down our dirt road with machetes to cut for the power lines too, lol. Its different growing here than when we were in the states, love all your experiences that you share, helps us a lot! We have a large family too, 8 children. Blessings.
I'm first to hear your thoughts
Jungle life..its like that in these tropical Underdeveloped Countries..
I know abt those crickets and black bugs..sand flys and mosquitoes..
🤣🤣🇬🇾weeds grow 15ft a day..lol
Thanks for sharing
"Guys with machetes" lol!!!
Hey, David, there are some good weeds in New York! Lamb's Quarters, Violets, and Stinging Nettle grow in my back yard. They used to be a problem, but now they're food. It's all about POV! Darn useful during the shelter at home orders. I agree though, some of them, like dandelion, are super bitter! Others like Poke are too hard to prepare.
Yes - free nutrition!
DTG's practical plant wisdom...love it! Do what works. I'd be interested in a creepy crawly jungle bug video...show us what you see in the rafters at night. That would likely make us in Florida feel lucky.
The scorpions are the worst. One stung me a few months ago and it was terrible. Thought I was going to go into shock. Radiating pain up my arm into my ribs. Since then I am a little more cautious about moving things around.
@@davidthegood Yikes!!! If the weed plantain grows down there, pick some leaves, chew it up, then put it onto any bites you get, and it will draw out the poison. Re-apply. Learned that from Dr. Patrick Jones. It also works to remove splinters! 😃
There's many methods to grow things, many ways of gardening, and some work better or worse in different climates, soil types, and so on. On the other hand, I'm lucky that here in Japan the local recycling centre gives away ramial woodchips, in any quantity, for FREE! The only issue is you have to collect and transport them yourself. I'm using more in my orchard/food forest and trying to do the ornamentals.
That said, straw mulch (from rice/wheat) is somewhat available free seasonally, but one issue I found is curl grubs and cutworms do tend to breed more actively in it, same with no dig - grubs build up and at the least you need to give the soil a good rake to expose the grubs.
Its always a matter of finding what works in your environment, with the resources you have available.
One of these days, I should run an experiment where we scatter seeds for a variety of commonly grown annual crops in a natural setting, and see what actually survives without interference .. some stuff can, but not much, and certainly not in all situations.
There's a bean vine that grows here (can't remember the name - its considered a famine food, but it needs to be pressure cooked to break down the anti-nutrients). It is extremely prolific. If I don't do anything, it will cover everything - the 20 ft rock wall, avocado tree, guava tree, etc. I cleared out a bunch of it a couple months ago, ran it over with a mower while I mowed the lawn and made some great compost out of it. Now, I have a bunch of that vine trying to grow in my lawn. And then 50 ft away my chard & tomatoes struggle with diseases & pests.
I pulled what I though was a weed today from a hard clay-filled hole in a cinder block. As I was pulling it up I though, hmm, that looks like basil. Before I could stop the process, I pulled it. Yep, basil. Totally self sown from some previous year's crop in an place I have never grown it before. I think that's one of those plants that might be scrappy enough to make it in the wild. At least long enough to get some leaves.
@@DeadeyeJoe37 Figure out what that bean is, and share it with us .. I love edibles that 'want to take over the world' :)
@@ScottHead The Basil that we're growing now is from some plants that self seeded and self sowed. I think, in the right place, they might naturalize.
@@Green.Country.Agroforestry Had to dig through my reddit history. Here it is:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canavalia_cathartica
I guess you have some people here who don't listen very well.
LOL
they are talking smack!
Really enjoyed this update
It’s hilarious what people dwell on. Blessings.
I use woodchip mulch for the paths and sugar cane/hay mulch to keep the beds from drying out. Every year or two I scrape up the wood-chip paths and dump it in the beds then replace.
The one upside to doing yard maintenance in the tropics (I live in Hawaii) is that the weeds (IE grasses, vines, big vines, small trees, big trees, etc :) grow very quickly like you said. Even though its a pain to keep it in check, especially in the rainy season, I can make so much compost with it! It's a pain to maintain, but you got to look at the upside, right?
I'm realizing that gardeners can be super judgemental. I've caught myself doing that...I repented, mostly.😉
For who among you has not sinned? Have you not resorted to the blue stuff in a moment of weakness? Have you not failed to water, or neglected to cover on a cold autumn evening? Repent now, sister! It's not too late! 🙏
No Natasha, you need to trust those feelings. You must ostracize those among us who are not truly pure. You know what must be done. LOL!
Rehoboth Farm Yes, yes...DO IT!
@@rehoboth_farm To you and Mr. Bechtel, I'd like to remind you that her husband's job requires loaded weapons to be prepared for use in every room of the house. 👈
@@archenema6792 So does mine. LOL! Nothing but respect.
love the idea of a bunch of guys with machetes and pent up anger taking down a 200 year old oak tree resulting in woodchips :D
I would love to be able to do it myself but I’m in the Bahamas. Logistics is everything! I drop my organic matter along with seaweed. Thanks for sharing the knowledge!
I respect how you make your choice not to mulch the whole world... What works in one part of a country may not work in another part of the same continent- just like one organic body care option may not work for someone else in the same family. Take it for what it is- knowledge and ideas. Thanks for your channel!
Thank you.
Yeah. I have this same issue & sometimes a big frustration because i live in some jungle in Yucatán, México and so its like impossible to get some of the stuff i see in many gardening videos. But your videos have helped me a lot to realize i just need to work with what i have instead of waiting until i can have all the shinny tools & the best materials.
Amen.
There's vines we call whinder. That thing is a pain in the butt. It is everywhere and if you don't take out every piece of it including the root it springs back and covers over everything. Not to mention devil grass , crab grass and all the other types of spinney, prickly weed and tree that only needs a few drops of water to grow in ridiculous speeds. I understand your pain David .
SO....What you're saying is you hate mulch? ;)
Dang it, no broccoli foraging to be had, DTG, well then, I am just not going. I am headed to Lowe’s instead to buy some mulch so some more root maggots can attack my radishes. 😭😭 Ugh! I kind of wish I saw more about those dang little fly B’s before. Found out in my garden they supposedly liked some of my compostable materials that are not broken down too much. And since I can’t rake out the leaf litter as easily with mulch on my mounded rows. They were being enticed right about the time my Strangler Fig decided to defoliate as my radishes where just getting larger. Well, at least I got some of the radishes out of my rows unharmed. Another thing which no one told me was that I could make lethal eye burning juice from these radishes, because they are much spicer out of the home garden then those bought at the local Whole Foods. Great roots of 🔥! Was my first thought after slicing one up to sample. We get you DTG, but it was nice you answered that person in a dry climate without the weeds that could sing an off broadway show tune, very kind of you😉🙃 A big Hi! to Rachel who is a rockstar at keeping your compound filled with a good rotation of workers. 👋🏼
Every garden, every location, has it's own challenges. I tried deep mulch one year. Not wood, but hay. BIG mistake.
Northern Temperate climates are more about mulch because of deciduous trees that drop leaves each year.
Perhaps Tropical climates are more about live/living plant ground covers like vines, sweet potato, or strawberries or whatever the tropical equivalent to that is?
Question: imagine you're still in the states. The shit has hit the fan. Fire, mass chaos. For whatever reason something has happened and you have to leave you house and your garden. You don't know where you'll be ending up, but you're pretty sure there will be no running water, no electricity, and absolutely no self-warming toilets.
As you flee the house, leaving everything behind to jump into the great unknown and possible starvation.....what five seed packets do you run out the door with? What three tools?
So I've stalked all your videos, okay not all, and cannot find SUGARPIE in It's entirety. So I have taken the liberty of writing a couple of substitute verses in order to have a completed version of the song, so I can play it with my band on Saturday at our itty bitty show. I promise if the tip jar reflects the love and passion that the song deserves, I pledge to buy your books, CDs, and support you.
Or, just give me the dang words. LOL! I know it's in A or A7 and D. It's just a simple yet badass jam.
Email me - david@floridafoodforests.com
This is so hilarious.
chipping wood is a huge waste of energy! i think that untill your canopy or mulching support plants are large enough to support your compost/mulching needs you can chop and drop lol. i get woodchips dropped off every other week as well as green waste from the nearby town and i just happened to meet someone with an old barn full if 30 years old hay. i use it , of course because it builds my soil and here in germany would be burnt ! but if the source ever dries up ivd got a sythe somewhere in the barn still. the woodchips are also not any easier to mulch with than sything . the hay, im saving for chicken stall bedding. i thing the permCulture design principles might include energy flow that covers how you might develope your soil either way lol.
In my experience people who comment with such confiction don’t actually garden themselves but only watch videos about gardening. The amount of times I have been told to do no-till is stupid, because people don’t realize that commercial growers who do no-till buy the majority of their compost. I do love mulch, but one of our major problems is heat and drought. Keep up the good work ;)
Preserve mulch for food forest, not for annual vegetable gardens. Makes sense. Great deeper explanation.
Totally understand. I couldn't help but think of the large lot you rented previously where you planted ever so much, including those orchids and bromeliads, and would love to know what you learned from that experience that you are applying to your garden now that is making it more successful. Also wondering if you have any compost yet from your pile or compost tea you are using.
David is totally correct. Mulching in the tropics where I live is problematic. Also,, the local flora and people's dogs and pigs make things difficult. I am close to a major city. You can't go out to town or to the market without seeing the majority of local men carrying their machetes. That is what we have for gardeners who maintain rich people's gardens and for public works. Hell, I use a machete more than any other tool! I have several mango trees and under them noting grows except young mangos. good mulch but... I am alone, older and have to locate spaces where there is enough sunlight to clear a small patch here and there to raise food. I compost what I need and subscribe to the chop and drop method. You have to adapt to your locale. Also, where I grow bananas, the old leaves munch very effectively. You just have to adjust to the local conditions.
PS. I LOVE the homemade Miracle fertilizer. I've never felt so fulfilled and part of the system!!
I don't know what ur talking about, David. Just yesterday I was in the woods foraging and I found a patch of natural tomtatoes. I suspect the beavers got tired of using a whole area for potatoes and a whole area for tomatoes, so they must have learned how to graft. Perhaps they even ordered the good guide to grafting. The beavers even used their teeth to chop and drop, they had 8 inches of mulch around every tomtatoe plant. The mycelium were impressive. I didn't even take any, I figured the beavers deserve their potatoes and tomatoes after all that effort.
Dave, my Mulch has an attitude and says they hate you right back. Don't plow the messenger under the till-take it out on the Mulch.
I have a mulcher and I make great quality ramial mulch for around my fruit trees. I Use the trees from around the property
It takes a lot of rain to get past a layer of deep mulch.
Everyone gardens different. None are right or wrong just different. What ever works for you and your garden is the right way for you. That's my idea anyway
Makes sense to me. I don't know why exactly people got mad about it. I love deep mulching, and get it for the price of time, sweat and a little gas, but I can understand why not everyone could, or would want to, do it my way.
Could you mulch your citrus leaves around your tomatoes. Maybe less bugs.
Thats means it's a good time to plant sweet potatoes and pumpkins and squash. They will cover the ground and shade out weeds.
Yes indeed. Great for a young food forest.
@@davidthegood that's what I was hoping. I know it grew a watermelon seed to extreme size without any help from me.
We've seen DtG chop & drop many times here--His wasting, I mean utilizing, of Moringa comes to mind. Speaking of which, is it ok that I'm hearing sung repeatedly throughout this video a certain refrain in the voice of Axl Rose?
What kind of mulch would you recommend for my vegetable gardens in my suburban yard in SW Florida? Meaning... cypress, pine bark, etc. No leaves around to harvest.
Logistics always seem to be the issue lol
Amateurs talk about strategy. Professionals talk about logistics. 👍
So, theoretically, a truck full of mulch backs down your driveway...
The no-till people can be pretty culty. I skip it for the same reason you do: it requires tons of external inputs.
True. There's people who get hung up on one method, maybe tried it in one climate or environment, then become they've discovered the "one true way". If you want REAL cult gardening, try the "square foot gardening" people...
Love your videos and your honesty. I watch your videos when I can. How do you get the soil nutrition up and feed such a large garden in such a short time frame.
D.F.S.W.* He puts just about any plant and some animal material in a barrel, fills with water, covers and lets it ROT! Mix some with 4x fresh water, pour onto the base of the plants. Buy his books and keep watching. *You'll Learn Useful Stuff!!!* *Dave's.Fetid.Swamp.Water.
People just don't understand. It's just not worth it. Not worth all the work.
Deep mulch attract rodents, and provides cover...
I thought you loved mulch , was I wrong ? LOL
I live in Southeast Georgia and can't get mulch. We were able to get one load drop. You need a dependable source. No such animal in my small town.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
You're living on one of Earths most active digestive systems. I guess even if the service was available bringing a truck through this bush & wet mud/clay would be difficult too. Unlike people in the cities with concrete/drier & clearer land like myself in the suburbs.
If only I didn't have to mulch my flower beds...hmph.
I'm planning on planting my first bed of potatoes (I know it's late here in NC, but better late than never is my thinking) and sweet potatoes, but the area I'm looking at has a bit of slope to it, and I'm worried about erosion from rain on unmulched beds. Would you just put in swales, or mulch lightly?
Thanks and God bless y'all.
Lots of raw materials
Just this past month with LOTS of rain and heat....Houston has become a tropical jungle. I need a machete!
Moringa is the jungles broccoli!
I was wondering, new to the channel and great btw but would using pine needles be better perhaps than chips? Given pine is a natural pesticide and has negative ph ... I think. Anyhow heck if I know . My aunt owns a small micro green farm in Naples , very small but she’s always worked in greenhouses and such and gardening is just in my blood at this point just need land 😂
It isn't bad, but does not improve the soil much. Great for blueberries, though.
Now that youre permanently located will you be developing a larger scale compost tea system?
Maybe. Using two barrels right now.
No deep mulch helps keep the termites down some. Do you run into tarzan very often? I love mulch but my Lose soil eats mulch here in Mississippi.
Question! When you buy a packet of seeds, do you plant the whole thing or hold some back in case you are unable to collect seeds later? Do you use the original seed packet the next season if you collected some of your own seeds? - unconfident seed collector
This title killed me.
Are you a zombie now? Or a ghost?
@@archenema6792 It's a Ghombie
I have a mulch drone!
Lol thats pretty awesome haha I need one of those.
And chances are, jungle soil is probably pretty healthy already, years of organic matter rotting quickly and for years...true?
vizwhiz100 unfortunately, no. High rainfall washes the nutrients away. Ps. I live in subtropical Australia - at least it was subtropical. Climate change has reduced the rainfall where I am by about 50% to 75%, depending on the year, in the last 30 years. I used to be able to grow anything, now it’s only arid varieties and my biggest expense is town water.
@@marilyncarey7957 wow thats pretty sad similar here in Sydney this past growing season was crispy dry spring/summer, but we did get plenty of rain in late summer which is too late I guess other than extending the fig season, a lot of plants recovered from the drought with all the rain late summer but we missed out on the fruit production during normal time which is late spring/early summer at that time we pick buckets of figs turned to maybe 10 or less, we are expecting at least a large bucket load this august if it stays warm enough for them to ripen.
Speaking of weeds i know you are advocate for “weed” crops I.E UBE I was wondering what you thought of or if you knew about hopniss apios americanaMadeira Vine, Lamb’s Tail, Mignonette Vine
Biochar dust mulch.
I wanna do for small scale.
I, for one, am personally offended you aren't using woodchips. No excuses. Woodchips for life.
uhh sarcasm? Did we just watch the same video?
DtG, you've convinced me...The Tropics sucks!!!!
Context is for Kings.
You keep saying "in the jungle" or "in the tropics". Florida and Hawaii could qualify but are very different. Central America? I'm pretty sure it's not Madagascar. Just for context, where do you live? (city and country is enough). Thanks!
CLTserendipity David lives in an expressly undisclosed location in Central America.
@@hartmnundus4273 Thanks!
I don't want to give you a big head, but I'm fairly certain you're one of the few humans left who has common sense. I've come to believe that Common Sense is the rarest material left on the earth.....guard it with your life.
I called that the real method of farming not the fake farming remember farm for real👍
Common people 😂. Use common sense. David made it clear yesterday he would love to be able to do it. Think third world. Have you ever been outside the US?
Are you in South East Asia?
I have travelled to Indonesia as a consultant but do not live there.
I have travelled to Indonesia as a consultant but do not live there.
@@davidthegood I see.. based on your recent videos, the forest looks very similar to where I live now in North Borneo, Malaysia.
You say domesticated things cant survive in wild not true alot of domesticated plants become invasive the most notorious here in the US is Bradford pear they will come up any where and quickly out complete native vegetation. You dont realize how bad it is until early spring when they flower and leaf out before everything there everywhere
The Bradford Pear is almost wild.
David The Good well part wild I guess they took a pear tree made super small tiny fruit (that used to be sterile not anymore)and made it grow stupid fast in a upright vase which is very prone to storm damage. Also is way over planted most new condos or subdivisions the streets are lined with them. I will say there nice but they do smell bad and there better trees you could pick
Your readers sometimes have odd ideas
There are 2 great food growing methods where you grow mulch on site...Inga alley cropping and syntropic agriculture.
th-cam.com/video/ezxeE_p_vYk/w-d-xo.html
These systems might make sense for you to experiment with towards the outer edges of your property. Inga alley cropping is especially suited to annual crops in the tropics.
I have a mess of Inga started right now.
Your conditions are different from our you live in a rainforest
I wonder how many gardening books those "experts" have written 😂
Sorry have Alice in chains
Mulch nazis, Sheesh!!! LOL TY
How can anyone try tell another farmer or gardener how it should be done. Putting mulch into your compost is just as good if not better for brown matter which i find harder to find than green for the bins. You don't need mulch to care for soil at all. It has its place, granted, but its never necessary. Thats such a stupid concept to hold. A paddock of grass or medow of wheat wouldn't even grow if you tried to mulch it. Mental that people lectured you for it.
I know what you want to say. I will not visit te jungle. All the freaky kreatures.
yeah yeah yeah, i get it, logistics ..blah blah. But why do you hate nature? Hey, do you live anywhere near the jungle at all? Asking for a friend.
Really enjoyed this update