I want to apologise for the terrible audio! Serves me right for trying to get this up whilst still away on holiday because of my excitement to release it! Please forgive me, accurate captions will be up asap
In Danish we call it mistbænk (mist from German for manure, bænk for bench), much like the French “couche de fumier” (bed of manure). The Germans are slightly more poetic with frühbeet (early beds).
In my area (southwestern Pennsylvania) the old timers would stack a layer of straw bales with an opening in the center for the horse manure and cover the opening with old glass window sashes. Then, when they were done starting their seeds, they would spread the manure and rotted straw in the garden and the only thing they would have to store was the window sashes.
@bina nocht Yes, you understood it! Fresh grass clippings will make heat if you don't have access to manure but it can be difficult to regulate the heat. Good luck!
@bina nochtif you pause it at the one minute mark you get a perfect shot of the cover: Author is Jack First How to grow early crops using the age old technique HOT BEDs. If you check thrift books or Alibris for the author and hot beds you may be successful finding a used copy…hope that helps! Now, I want to see the video Huw mentions doing with him…
Something we discovered a few yars ago is that horse, cow and goat manure can be a real garden killer because much of the feed they are given have been treated with a weed killer that goes through the animal and ends up in their manure and urine. We had great gardens going and then it took about 3 years to overcome the effects of the weed killer. We had somewhat the same experience with hay bales. Nothing seems to grow wherever we stacked them or spread them along our garden paths.
Oh my. I wonder if that's a problem in Europe too. I do think my neighbours horses mainly graze the fields. But I guess in winter they get some feed...
It is a broad leaf weed killer sprayed on fields to keep only grass growing. It stays in the grass and passes through the animals. Hot composting helps break it down but not great either way. Grain has cut grass in the pellet, so no one can be sure what is what anymore.
@@kurtcurtis2730 Not too far from my house is a horse field where I got a bunch of contaminated manure. The horses have been gone for about a year now and everywhere they pooped or peed is a dead zone. It will be interesting to watch and see how long it takes to come back. Four years ago I had a load of goat manure brought in. Where I had it dumped remains dead. Not even weeds grow there. I'm surprised that the gardens have come back to 90 percent of their first year yield.
In the early 1900s my maternal grandfather made a hot bed by digging a square pit about 2.5 feet deep he layered a foot of horse manure and straw, 1x12 boards, and a foot of soil. He grew cauliflower and cabbage seedlings which he sold to neighboring families. He covered the pit with planks which he removed on warm days. He also made sauerkraut for everyone from the cabbages they bought and raised. Clever man and a prolific gardener and rancher.
I experienced/discovered this concept completely on accident this winter when my 5 gallon open compost bin sprouted 100 bell pepper seedlings voluntarily in December (zone 8) and kept them all healthy through two cold snaps! This video gives me context for what I've experienced and I plan to intentionally utilize this trait of Mother Nature in the future. Thank you for the excellent content!
Our horse manure pile was bountiful with pumpkin plants this past fall.We had tossed an old pumpkin out behind where we dump the wheel barrow.Harvested about 10 nice sized pumpkins.🙂
My grandmother, just like all other people in rural Transylvania, had a hot bed every year, made with manure from their own cows. I live in Wales and I hope to make one next year. Thanks for reminding me of this technique
We live in snowy California where we currently have about 10 ft of snow. We utilize hotbeds in our unheated greenhouse. It's a brilliant method. Good luck with yours. It looks beautiful!
Thank you for your feedback! We recently moved from a coast to the colder part of California and I am really struggling with long cold springs with freeze and hot above 100F summers. And lack of water🙂. How do you transition from spring to hot summer?
@@IvonaKonecny88 Where I live the summers are not too hot. But we remove the side panels from the greenhouse to let the air flow better, and we use shade cloth during the hottest part of the day. This year with all the snow, we will have lots of water. We are fortunate enough to be able to water our garden from a creek. I hope my answer helps some.
I love these! The hot part doesn’t have to be that deep either. I’ve had success with digging and putting the manure below ground and the growing bed on top
@@SpringNotes About a foot, then approximately six inches of manure, with soil on top…of course it depends on how hot and long you want the manure to last and how big of plants you’ll be putting in the bed
A true cold frame has a deep layer of fresher materials, composting under your enriched soils. I am planting cold weather crops this week. My last frost day will be the end of May. They work astounding. Try it! I did have to dig a foot deep, but, nothing worthwhile is free.
Nice to know I've been doing something similar already. This is only my 3rd year of growing my food, but a lot of people ask me how I get started so early and now it makes sense! I figured I was essentially just making mini green houses for them, and I just use materials I already have at home. It's been a joy learning about these. We are supposed to move this year, and a big backyard is on the list so that I can actually have space to build more customized homes for my plants.
My father always had a hot bed going in the spring for growing tomato and pepper plants in the 1930’s and 1940’s when we had no electric power or water to the garden. We were fortunate to have power to our home in the country as the power lines had only just come down our country road.
@@SpringNotes It was a real hot bed below ground with hot water poured over the lowest level before adding more material, this was in the 1930’s and 1040’s.
He started tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, etc. in his hot bed each spring. Had a three acre garden that produced much of our food. We also had a cow, chickens, turkeys, ducks, guineas, pigs, etc. so bought very little except coffee, flour, sugar and fish for Fridays. Oh, and ice cream on Sundays!
What zone did your father do his hot beds? I'm in 6 but I've gardened in 4 and tried to do hot beds. It didn't turn out well. I guess I have a brown thumb.
You could also install pipe or tubing inside the decomposition area, and use it for passive hydronic heating of water, good for cisterns you rely on in cold months, or for weed water you want to keep the nutrient breakdown going on during the winter.
I live in pontypridd and I'm doing veg gardening seriously for the first time this year, even sowing indoors today infact. I'm brand new to this and I have already crunched through so many of your videos every day for the past month lol. I grew a nice bushy cherry tomato plant last year without much trying, but I was surprised of how many tomatoes I got from it, even though some of them split. That gave me the confidence to learn as much as I can for this year, and your vids have been so incredibly helpful! You've given me new skills and opened my mind in so many ways, I'm confident I can grow up to 7 different crops both outside and in a greenhouse for the first time. Cheers Huw!
@bina nocht, I can identify with you. I’m in Northern Wisconsin, north central US, at 45° north. March 6th and we’re getting 4” of snow today. I don’t start on my small garden (even with mini greenhouses) until the beginning of April, so I’m planning now. I’m jealous of southerners.
A fascinating and educational video Huw. Thanks very much. I think that I’ll build one now on my allotment in north east Scotland. Our last frost date here is the end of May so a hot bed would work very well. Don’t worry about the acoustics too much it all came over very well. You are a natural presenter and grower.
How deep does it need to go? I have a bed of two pallet frames, and I'd love to give it a shot.. Norway is cold, and I realize a bigger bed with thicker wood would probably be better.. But I have to use what I have!
Haha same here! I've just built a hotbed in my polytunnel with manure and straw. My biggest problem is wheelbarrowing the manure uphill because my horses live at the bottom of a steep hill and the garden is at the top! If it wasn't such hard work I'd have outdoor hotbeds too. I have way more manure than I know what to do with, and that's with only two horses!
I have a horse farm near me that has piles of 1+ year aged manure for free. I was already going to fill my garden beds with it but this is a very interesting idea. Will have to go over my planning again now. Cheers
Wow, upon listening to your video a second time, I just picked up that the hot bed once it’s finished its job as a hot bed, you have a ready-to-go compost bin. How absolutely brilliant!
Love this, thank you! This is definitely something I have been looking into lately since we are below freezing for half the year over here in eastern Washington state (US). I’d like to build a hot bed utilizing our chicken and duck manure next winter.
Look at what dirt patch heaven (YT) is doing in northern Idaho. She's got it dialed in for your climate. Her hot bed rabbit system is great and made from pallets. I'm in the Puget Sound region, and we don't get as cold but don't get as much light either. Also look to Verge permaculture as a resource. They are a little north and east of you, Calgary I think. They've got the short days, cold winds off the mountains, and serious cold front after summer temps dialed in too. Their coverable trellising system for hail storms is a delight! Won't save acres of corn but will save your tomatoes and peppers.
I am an aficionado of hot beds - uses a lot less sturm und drang in amount of plastic, are beautifully accessible. We basically need it for germination and creating seedling. Thank you.
What a great idea I'll try this with one of my compost piles that need to age more. You always have some new fun thing to try out, thanks for the great videos.
I bought my HotBed book! I can’t wait to have something that allows me to extend my growing season. I live in New Hampshire, USA. Our season is just not long enough. Thank you for this video.
Yes, I agree and has been a desire of mine to set this up. Alternatively search for videos where a VERY large pile is made just outside of the greenhouse with hose coiled inside of the pile and a pump to run water through and into the greenhouse to extract the heat before recirculating back through the composting pile.
I am enjoying the inspiration to keep improving the garden. Our PNW has had a very slow start to our early plantings, temps, well below average. This hot bed would be so helpful in these unpredictable climate times. We hover around zone 8. Thank you!
What region are located? Province, or state etc. Would give a way to compare the type of winter you experience to see the possibility for the region where I and others are. Thanks.
Well this has to be the best things I've seen in a while! Although it's one of those "well duh" moments for me. So simple it plumb evaded me. I get regular deliveries of wood chips from local tree companies. This is going to totally change my gardening strategy/design. Thanks!
very awesome! I'm starting my garden on barren land and will make huge amounts of compost, and the idea to just use the heat by a hot bed is such a fantastic idea! i also plan using the heat for heating a greenhouse in the future!
@@anamagalhaes7117 The septic system works on bacteria breaking down the material in the underground tank and heats the ground above it. It’s usually the first place the snow melts in the winter.
Thanks, Huw. These are some really outstanding ideas. We sold our home and will be renting for a year or two while the market dives, and have been trying to figure out how to extend our growing season on a rented property that lacks the space and landlord tolerance for a greenhouse or walipini. Although I've known the value of cold frames for years, your hotbed idea steps up the amount of heat we can produce for seedlings early and late in the year here in Utah, USA. Thanks!
I’d really like to try this! I have one compost bay taking up space I want to use to maybe this is a good place to try it. (Incidentally, Farmer Jessie on No Till Growers just did a whole video about spinach and said they hate heat and light when germinating. He puts his into cold store in the dark. Maybe that’s what did for yours!)
Fantastic gardening method. Will definitely be incorporating a few hotbeds this coming spring. Sending love and warm greetings from the creeks and woodland of Missouri.
I was like, when did this video come out? How did I miss a new one? And then I noticed I wasn’t subscribed….but I’ve been subscribed and following you for years!🤔
Thanks for sharing Huw, great to see you share your own hotbed. Looks like an allotment plot on a tiny scale 😊 Most importantly the technique you have used and lessons you have learnt along the way, really inspiring 😊
As always, the problem is getting materials for , in your case, the hot bed, and for our no dig hero, the mulch for beds. If you use fuel to transport it , you should consider a warming cable.
I have a 20 watt heating pad and a 15 watt well spread little grow light and do my seed starting indoors. Unless I got the hotbed materials for free... I think I'll start with my little system for now. Eventually I will get one though... the rich compost afterwards would be a nice bonus.
Of course! Of course! THE idea to lengthen one's growing season! This hadn't occurred to me before. So, thank you so much for this fantastic tip! And I shall definitely get that book! I will tell my friends about this too!❤
I would love to give this a go - im thinking I could grow my salads and germinate seeds, grow peas or dwarf beans along the side, then plant a pumpkin in the middle for the rest of the season.
Great video! Lovely idea hotbeds (so useful, practical, helpful) and really inspiring. That guy Jack looks like a great partner in your videos too with all that experience
I like this idea.. I basically do container gardening and this idea is primarily an extra lg. container of sorts.. I dont have access to manure, but I do utilize the leaves, grass etc... this may be something I can try..thanks for another option..
Have you ever done square foot gardening? It really makes great use of every square foot of garden space. I modify it somewhat so I can grow more than is outlined in the book by Mel Bartholomew. But I find it to be an amazing way to grow lots of food in a small space. I really appreciate all your time and expertise. I learn a lot from you. The hotbed is a wonderful concept and I plan on utilizing it. Thank you again, I love your channel.
Fascinating, thank you. I had heard the term but never knew exactly how they were produced. I am currently getting beetroot modules warmed in front of the aga. Have been thinking of bringing my sack of compost into the kitchen too!
This is terrific! Could you say a bit more about what it means that the radish went leggy and how to prevent that? Was that a time thing? A temperature thing?
Dirt patch heaven uses this brilliantly in Idaho. She uses it as rabbit warming with manure falling down as well to fertilize for spring. Covered enough to make a self heating green house
Fantastic! I have a small orchard and generate tons of ramiel chip early in the year that I was struggling to think of a use for at that point in time. I had thought about just covering it with rotted compost, kitchen scraps and soil Hügelkultur-style (probably adding loads of "Vitamin P" for nitrogen). But this is perfect! Next year!!
I was up in Nova Scotia for a few years with my horses. When it got cold, I used hay around my plants - piled it high so it was almost to the top, then put a clear plastic over the top until the sun was warm enough - sometimes a day or two, then I would take the plastic off (I pinned it down with a few blocks), I moved some of the hay away from each plant to let the green leaves thrive in the sun, I had all sorts of things growing, including fresh greens for salad and herbs. Every night I would just tuck my plants back in. I was close to the ocean and could get my own seaweed - I layed strips of it at the base of each plant - it breaks down and provides minerals. Back in the States I now use Hemp, you can find it for bedding. I also use my hens poo along with bales of peat, sand and that seems to work well.
Thank you so much Huw for this video and all the lovely ones you have produced. You are the reason I started gardening 3 years ago and I have continued to follow you ever since. Appreciate your person, though I have had both successes and failures with my gardening. The times spent have really help my mental wellbeing. I’ve got your first two books which by they way are still very relevant till now. As I begin to prep myself for this year’s gardening. You have again made a video which addresses my current worries. I will update on how I manage to get on with this. Keep up the good work and I wish you the very best.
I’ve been thinking about how I could use something like this within a greenhouse to help produce a little heat. I’m trying to figure out things that would work grid down.
Years ago, I came across a video where they were using compost as a heating source for a greenhouse. I think such materials with constant heat can also be used heating smaller buildings. Patrick of one yard revolution had built a compost tower to start early potatoes about 6 years ago.
Just purchased your book. Super excited to receive it. Love the concept of growing to eat, and know how to do that. Last year was my first year, experience a) a glut, b) a famine, c) visits by deer who munched down the broccoli to the stem.. and nothing in winter 😅 Will take up the hotbed course too... fresh salad in winter. Bliss!
Is there a danger that too much heat might be created and the seedlings could fry in the high temps? I'm in New England and we've had some exceptionally cold temps off and on this winter, and March is supposed to be unseasonably cold at night so finding a way to keep things between 40 and 70F (4.4-21.1 C) while getting sufficient light without electricity would be a dream. Does the course you referenced explain strategies for modulating the heat to keep it within and acceptable range? Many thanks for this video!!
May I recommend a book, "growing under cover" as a resource. The author thoroughly goes through all of the methods, expecting you to have a "we grew a bean in school" level of knowledge, so terms are defined, great illustrations, yet still explains why each system works enough you can figure out how to do it from what you have at hand. Think book about cooking vs a recipe book.
@@ArthurTheLibraryDetective Yes I know what creates the heat, but I want to know if it can be kept within an acceptable range. My sense is it would be incredibly tricky but it would be the Holy Grail if I could find a way to get sunlight on my seedlings outside in winter while keeping temps between 40 and 70 F and not depending on electricity. I'd love to think it was possible.
@@lindajones9191 I went and talked this through with a friend because I have a TBI making communication spotty at time. The short answer is yes it will work. I've done it in the mountains of Northern Idaho and Western Montana as well as the Maritime Pac NW. Learning about composting is your starting point as that is your heat source. You are using the biology to do the work instead of electricity, so you need to know the difference between a hot and cool pile, how to heat it up or cool it down, and how to make it in the first place so you don't have to futz about with it later. Spend this growing season learning to finesse compost. The second part of this system is the covered bed, the coat you use to protect and maintain the environment. So play with season extenders, from plastic and glass plates, to repurposed plastic and glass containers, and green house films. You need to understand how this works. A plastic milk jug with the bottom cut out and placed over a plant in the ground will loose more heat and let through less light than glass. Learning which works how when is important. Once you have done both of these things then you can put them together into a hot bed. The book I recommended is close to 300 pages I think and hot frames are one of the more advanced techniques in there. It's only tricky to do if you are trying to follow a recipe instead of understanding how the system and it's elements work. Sometimes a bread recipe will fail even though you followed it exactly. The yeast cold be a little weak, so it needs more time, the flour could be drier, so you need more liquid, or the protein content of the flour is different so the kneading times will be different. When you understand how the elements work to make bread, you can tell when the dough is hydrated enough, when the gluten is developed, when the yeast has proofed enough, thus adjusting as needed in your situation. Contact you county extension service and ask for help from your areas master gardeners and the ag college people. If you would be ok with it, could you narrow down your climate and conditions a bit. New England covers as much as the Maritime Pac NW, and what works in Seattle, may needs adjustment if you go 50 miles in any direction and will need adjustment going 200 (Portland, Vancouver BC, the coast, or the other side of the Cascades). If you can tell me the closest larger city or college town, I may be able to direct to to actually people or organizations. Hope this helps.
We have unending sand here in coastal Florida. Heat even in winter, insects and unending fungus and heaven knows what else. I’ve given up gardening here. Have other ways to spend my time besides battling bugs and fungus and unbelievable heat. But if I ever get back to cooler climates I know where to look for good advice!
I made 2 hot beds out of 1 ton grain bags I got for free from the brewery where I work. I made them 3 days ago in -20°C out of dead leaves, straw, spent brewer's grain, and trub (yeast and sediment that collects at the bottom of beer fermenters), all of which I got for free. I've been monitoring temp in the larger bed, first day it was too low for my thermometer to read (below 0°C), second day the pile was up to 2°C, today it hit 38°C. Temps are supposed to drop overnight to -32°C where I am so I'm curious to see how warm it will be tomorrow morning.
Thanks from Joburg , SA for a great video.... Very interesting...where I live there is a lot of frost in the winter....often black frost that decimates the garden.... This looks like a great thing to try
My parents, grandparents, and other relatives did this here in Canada every spring when I was a child in the 1970's. It was a normal thing for me to see being prepared. They brought that information with them, or rather my great, great, grandparents did, from Russia where they were they left due to persecution as pacifists at the end of the 1800's. I honestly thought it was a well know gardening technique everywhere! Sadly have only managed to set this up a handful of times, and sure hope we can accomplish this soon. Plan to try with goat manure and bedding as that is what we have an abundance of ongoing. The piles we make from fall through spring as we clean out stay heating, steaming, and melting off a metre or more of snow to stay bare all winter long from the hot composting action. So should be enough heating for a hot bed too if layered correctly!
@@wendyburston3132 it might be worth a try. Get a composting mix with browns and greens. Someone else on here said it runs hotter initially so maybe lay a slightly deeper compost layer. I always start my compost/worm bin early because I know the new heat once it gets going will see it through the last of our winter here in the uk
@@cherieuk4488 I think it will work. If we get our small pickup truck repaired soon, then I can take a drive to the farm of a friend who gets huge loads of wood chips dumped there by a tree service company. It would provide a bit more of the carbon needed to balance the goat bedding and manure. We only use the left over hay they don't eat after picking through it all, and limited amounts of some barley straw more recently. Just enough to keep a dry layer for them to lay on, but the pellet 'berries' tend to filter through to lower layers. Makes it a bit nitrogen heavy especially as urine filters down to the under layers. We add wood stove compressed hardwood pellets on the bottom to absorb liquid and it helps balance the compost somewhat.
@@wendyburston3132 We are in the south-east part of BC but the warmer half of the region. Further east toward the Alberta border is typically 10C colder most of the winter then we are. I believe we are more like a zone 6b now. Used to say zone 5b, however learned later the Canadian zones are rated differently then when I first learned the system back in the 1990's, and weather patterns have changed as well. Kitchen scraps are too wet, will still need lots of brown/carbon material to combine them with to create the heat. Raked up fall leaves, pine needles perhaps in a smaller quantity, straw are other possible options. The bags of wood stove pellets might be an option if you are really stuck. Much cheaper then the wood shavings used for animal bedding. If you find damaged bags, stores will sometimes reduce the price on these as well. We do that for a bottom layer in our goat house and stalls and add to the poultry bedding in the coop as they absorb SO much moisture.
1:08 something I’ve wondered is whether the secondary inner frame is necessary, and why you couldn’t just put some windows that span the whole width of the outer frame over it and use the whole tope area for growing, rather than being limited by the area encapsulated by the inner frame.
The pilgrims used a slightly different design with the growing bed held in trays above the compost and manure (on the ground) so it could be changed out as needed without disturbing the seedlings above. This is the method I am going to try. Very exciting!
We have cold frames in the UK too, but they don't have a hot bed. They're a different thing. If you took the top frame and glass lid off and put it on the ground, it would be what we call a cold frame here. They're used to give a bit of extra protection from the cold weather and when hardening off plants before they're planted out in their final position.
Great video! I have a cold frame that my fix-it fairy built for me that wasn't quite the right size. I'm going to see if I can create a hot bed using that! I'm inspired! Thank you for your sharing and creating! 😊
My Italian grandparents had a hotbed in their backyard in New York City when I was growing up in the 1960s probably grew tomatoes, peppers, basil and the like. Love your accent, so I pay more attention to what you’re saying.
I want to apologise for the terrible audio! Serves me right for trying to get this up whilst still away on holiday because of my excitement to release it! Please forgive me, accurate captions will be up asap
Very motivating :)
Not to worry. Thanks again for another wonderful and helpful video!
Your best bet would be to re-upload it with correct audio levels before too many people view it
In Danish we call it mistbænk (mist from German for manure, bænk for bench), much like the French “couche de fumier” (bed of manure). The Germans are slightly more poetic with frühbeet (early beds).
😂 I’ve just spent the last minute of the video trying to blow air into my speaker wondering what I’d got stuck in there 🤦🏼♀️
In my area (southwestern Pennsylvania) the old timers would stack a layer of straw bales with an opening in the center for the horse manure and cover the opening with old glass window sashes. Then, when they were done starting their seeds, they would spread the manure and rotted straw in the garden and the only thing they would have to store was the window sashes.
I found that book years ago - I love it!
To add: he has some amazing trials of using all kinds of creative materials…
@bina nocht Yes, you understood it! Fresh grass clippings will make heat if you don't have access to manure but it can be difficult to regulate the heat. Good luck!
@bina nochtif you pause it at the one minute mark you get a perfect shot of the cover:
Author is Jack First
How to grow early crops using the age old technique HOT BEDs.
If you check thrift books or Alibris for the author and hot beds you may be successful finding a used copy…hope that helps! Now, I want to see the video Huw mentions doing with him…
Peeing on the straw speeds up breakdown.
Thanks! Trying this
Something we discovered a few yars ago is that horse, cow and goat manure can be a real garden killer because much of the feed they are given have been treated with a weed killer that goes through the animal and ends up in their manure and urine. We had great gardens going and then it took about 3 years to overcome the effects of the weed killer. We had somewhat the same experience with hay bales. Nothing seems to grow wherever we stacked them or spread them along our garden paths.
🕵😎..aha!! I thought i mem 'Hot Manure' being an Issue...last few years..
Oh my. I wonder if that's a problem in Europe too. I do think my neighbours horses mainly graze the fields. But I guess in winter they get some feed...
It is a broad leaf weed killer sprayed on fields to keep only grass growing. It stays in the grass and passes through the animals. Hot composting helps break it down but not great either way. Grain has cut grass in the pellet, so no one can be sure what is what anymore.
Yes! It’s called “ Graze On”. Ruins the soil
@@kurtcurtis2730 Not too far from my house is a horse field where I got a bunch of contaminated manure. The horses have been gone for about a year now and everywhere they pooped or peed is a dead zone. It will be interesting to watch and see how long it takes to come back. Four years ago I had a load of goat manure brought in. Where I had it dumped remains dead. Not even weeds grow there. I'm surprised that the gardens have come back to 90 percent of their first year yield.
In the early 1900s my maternal grandfather made a hot bed by digging a square pit about 2.5 feet deep he layered a foot of horse manure and straw, 1x12 boards, and a foot of soil. He grew cauliflower and cabbage seedlings which he sold to neighboring families. He covered the pit with planks which he removed on warm days. He also made sauerkraut for everyone from the cabbages they bought and raised. Clever man and a prolific gardener and rancher.
I experienced/discovered this concept completely on accident this winter when my 5 gallon open compost bin sprouted 100 bell pepper seedlings voluntarily in December (zone 8) and kept them all healthy through two cold snaps! This video gives me context for what I've experienced and I plan to intentionally utilize this trait of Mother Nature in the future. Thank you for the excellent content!
thats so cool. I love it when things just grow by themselves!
that says a lot about the heat generated...
keep an eye out for Christ' HEALING hidden manna
Our horse manure pile was bountiful with pumpkin plants this past fall.We had tossed an old pumpkin out behind where we dump the wheel barrow.Harvested about 10 nice sized pumpkins.🙂
I made cheap wood frames and stapled bubble wrap in for "glass" works amazing. Can get too hot so something you can play with to figure it out.
@@andrewsmith1735 Thank you! I will have to try that at some point
My grandmother, just like all other people in rural Transylvania, had a hot bed every year, made with manure from their own cows. I live in Wales and I hope to make one next year. Thanks for reminding me of this technique
Yeah, but how bad was the Vampire problem in Transylvania? 🦇😂
@@ZuluLifesaBeech- how very dare you!😂✌️
@Lavinia - Loredana Spargo
This comment is awesome on so many levels 😄👍🌱
She likely grew garlic.
We live in snowy California where we currently have about 10 ft of snow. We utilize hotbeds in our unheated greenhouse. It's a brilliant method. Good luck with yours. It looks beautiful!
Thank you for your feedback! We recently moved from a coast to the colder part of California and I am really struggling with long cold springs with freeze and hot above 100F summers. And lack of water🙂. How do you transition from spring to hot summer?
@@IvonaKonecny88 Where I live the summers are not too hot. But we remove the side panels from the greenhouse to let the air flow better, and we use shade cloth during the hottest part of the day. This year with all the snow, we will have lots of water. We are fortunate enough to be able to water our garden from a creek. I hope my answer helps some.
I love these! The hot part doesn’t have to be that deep either. I’ve had success with digging and putting the manure below ground and the growing bed on top
That is how my parents and grand parents did it.
Exactly how my grandfather grew cucumbers every year. We always had tons of them!
@@KootenayOrganics which part of the Kootenays? I have family there.
Amy, how far do you dig below ground for the manure ?
@@SpringNotes About a foot, then approximately six inches of manure, with soil on top…of course it depends on how hot and long you want the manure to last and how big of plants you’ll be putting in the bed
Amazingg, so its actually a cold frame with organic material as a heat mat!
A true cold frame has a deep layer of fresher materials, composting under your enriched soils. I am planting cold weather crops this week. My last frost day will be the end of May. They work astounding. Try it!
I did have to dig a foot deep, but, nothing worthwhile is free.
Nice to know I've been doing something similar already. This is only my 3rd year of growing my food, but a lot of people ask me how I get started so early and now it makes sense! I figured I was essentially just making mini green houses for them, and I just use materials I already have at home. It's been a joy learning about these.
We are supposed to move this year, and a big backyard is on the list so that I can actually have space to build more customized homes for my plants.
My father always had a hot bed going in the spring for growing tomato and pepper plants in the 1930’s and 1940’s when we had no electric power or water to the garden. We were fortunate to have power to our home in the country as the power lines had only just come down our country road.
Frances, was is similar to this, or was the hotbed below ground ?
@@SpringNotes It was a real hot bed below ground with hot water poured over the lowest level before adding more material, this was in the 1930’s and 1040’s.
He started tomatoes, peppers, sweet potatoes, etc. in his hot bed each spring. Had a three acre garden that produced much of our food. We also had a cow, chickens, turkeys, ducks, guineas, pigs, etc. so bought very little except coffee, flour, sugar and fish for Fridays. Oh, and ice cream on Sundays!
What zone did your father do his hot beds? I'm in 6 but I've gardened in 4 and tried to do hot beds. It didn't turn out well. I guess I have a brown thumb.
Zone 7
Ancient growing technique in our neck in the woods was fish and straw for fertilizing.
You could also install pipe or tubing inside the decomposition area, and use it for passive hydronic heating of water, good for cisterns you rely on in cold months, or for weed water you want to keep the nutrient breakdown going on during the winter.
I live in pontypridd and I'm doing veg gardening seriously for the first time this year, even sowing indoors today infact. I'm brand new to this and I have already crunched through so many of your videos every day for the past month lol. I grew a nice bushy cherry tomato plant last year without much trying, but I was surprised of how many tomatoes I got from it, even though some of them split. That gave me the confidence to learn as much as I can for this year, and your vids have been so incredibly helpful! You've given me new skills and opened my mind in so many ways, I'm confident I can grow up to 7 different crops both outside and in a greenhouse for the first time.
Cheers Huw!
You should have a look at Martin Crawford as well.
@bina nocht, I can identify with you. I’m in Northern Wisconsin, north central US, at 45° north. March 6th and we’re getting 4” of snow today. I don’t start on my small garden (even with mini greenhouses) until the beginning of April, so I’m planning now. I’m jealous of southerners.
@bina nocht Hi, Bina. Mint is pretty easy, too... My mother bunny likes to nest in my mint/oregano patch! And the babies are adorable!!!
Hi Ponty! How’s the eisteddfod going?
A fascinating and educational video Huw. Thanks very much.
I think that I’ll build one now on my allotment in north east Scotland. Our last frost date here is the end of May so a hot bed would work very well.
Don’t worry about the acoustics too much it all came over very well. You are a natural presenter and grower.
Oh man! I have had a horse manure powered hot bed 4 years! Ask me anything!Jack First is my hero!
How deep does it need to go? I have a bed of two pallet frames, and I'd love to give it a shot.. Norway is cold, and I realize a bigger bed with thicker wood would probably be better.. But I have to use what I have!
Does it smell? I'd love to build one of these, but I live in town and don't want to be a nuisance to my neighbors.
I had a chuckle about horse manure. Its my most abundant resource. Will trade for dried seaweed...😀
Haha same here! I've just built a hotbed in my polytunnel with manure and straw. My biggest problem is wheelbarrowing the manure uphill because my horses live at the bottom of a steep hill and the garden is at the top! If it wasn't such hard work I'd have outdoor hotbeds too. I have way more manure than I know what to do with, and that's with only two horses!
I have a horse farm near me that has piles of 1+ year aged manure for free. I was already going to fill my garden beds with it but this is a very interesting idea. Will have to go over my planning again now. Cheers
Nice the way you gave reference to your teachers
Wow, upon listening to your video a second time, I just picked up that the hot bed once it’s finished its job as a hot bed, you have a ready-to-go compost bin. How absolutely brilliant!
Love this, thank you! This is definitely something I have been looking into lately since we are below freezing for half the year over here in eastern Washington state (US). I’d like to build a hot bed utilizing our chicken and duck manure next winter.
Look at what dirt patch heaven (YT) is doing in northern Idaho. She's got it dialed in for your climate. Her hot bed rabbit system is great and made from pallets. I'm in the Puget Sound region, and we don't get as cold but don't get as much light either.
Also look to Verge permaculture as a resource. They are a little north and east of you, Calgary I think. They've got the short days, cold winds off the mountains, and serious cold front after summer temps dialed in too. Their coverable trellising system for hail storms is a delight! Won't save acres of corn but will save your tomatoes and peppers.
I'm in Minnesota ! Thank you! Enough said.
I am an aficionado of hot beds - uses a lot less sturm und drang in amount of plastic, are beautifully accessible.
We basically need it for germination and creating seedling. Thank you.
Thanks for keeping things un- complicated for the newbies! I love all the information that I can apply to my small garden this year! !👍
What a great idea
I'll try this with one of my compost piles that need to age more. You always have some new fun thing to try out, thanks for the great videos.
I bought my HotBed book! I can’t wait to have something that allows me to extend my growing season. I live in New Hampshire, USA. Our season is just not long enough. Thank you for this video.
Another great video! I absolutely love the camera work and truly appreciate the wisdom you share. Thank you 😊
It seems that having a hotbed(s) in a winter greenhouse would help heat the greenhouse for the other plants, too.
Yes, I agree and has been a desire of mine to set this up. Alternatively search for videos where a VERY large pile is made just outside of the greenhouse with hose coiled inside of the pile and a pump to run water through and into the greenhouse to extract the heat before recirculating back through the composting pile.
Charles Downing has a TH-cam channel and he does this.
@@donnacochran3335you beat me to it :-)
Dirt patch heaven channel has been doing this for several years.
I am enjoying the inspiration to keep improving the garden. Our PNW has had a very slow start to our early plantings, temps, well below average. This hot bed would be so helpful in these unpredictable climate times. We hover around zone 8. Thank you!
Yes! Hotbeds let me sow lettuce any time in winter. I put a video on it And how i ensure they sprout.
We've been eating gobs of lettuce all winter!
(The secret is the boards i use)
(I call it "waterboarding")
What region are located? Province, or state etc. Would give a way to compare the type of winter you experience to see the possibility for the region where I and others are. Thanks.
@@KootenayOrganics could you ask on my video? [pretty please 😃]
Well this has to be the best things I've seen in a while! Although it's one of those "well duh" moments for me. So simple it plumb evaded me. I get regular deliveries of wood chips from local tree companies. This is going to totally change my gardening strategy/design. Thanks!
very awesome! I'm starting my garden on barren land and will make huge amounts of compost, and the idea to just use the heat by a hot bed is such a fantastic idea! i also plan using the heat for heating a greenhouse in the future!
I have had a similar idea for years, but rather to place palettes over the septic area with a cold frame above. Glad to know it was rather intuitive.
What do you mean with septic area? Leach/draning area?
@@anamagalhaes7117 The septic system works on bacteria breaking down the material in the underground tank and heats the ground above it. It’s usually the first place the snow melts in the winter.
Thanks, Huw. These are some really outstanding ideas. We sold our home and will be renting for a year or two while the market dives, and have been trying to figure out how to extend our growing season on a rented property that lacks the space and landlord tolerance for a greenhouse or walipini. Although I've known the value of cold frames for years, your hotbed idea steps up the amount of heat we can produce for seedlings early and late in the year here in Utah, USA. Thanks!
I'm thinking about doing a small one inside a greenhouse.
I’d really like to try this! I have one compost bay taking up space I want to use to maybe this is a good place to try it. (Incidentally, Farmer Jessie on No Till Growers just did a whole video about spinach and said they hate heat and light when germinating. He puts his into cold store in the dark. Maybe that’s what did for yours!)
Fantastic gardening method. Will definitely be incorporating a few hotbeds this coming spring. Sending love and warm greetings from the creeks and woodland of Missouri.
I was like, when did this video come out? How did I miss a new one? And then I noticed I wasn’t subscribed….but I’ve been subscribed and following you for years!🤔
Thanks for sharing Huw, great to see you share your own hotbed. Looks like an allotment plot on a tiny scale 😊 Most importantly the technique you have used and lessons you have learnt along the way, really inspiring 😊
As always, the problem is getting materials for , in your case, the hot bed, and for our no dig hero, the mulch for beds. If you use fuel to transport it , you should consider a warming cable.
I have a 20 watt heating pad and a 15 watt well spread little grow light and do my seed starting indoors.
Unless I got the hotbed materials for free... I think I'll start with my little system for now.
Eventually I will get one though... the rich compost afterwards would be a nice bonus.
Of course! Of course! THE idea to lengthen one's growing season! This hadn't occurred to me before. So, thank you so much for this fantastic tip! And I shall definitely get that book! I will tell my friends about this too!❤
Thank you for sharing your knowledge 🙏
What a fascinating and uplifting video. Thanks very much to you and Jack.
I would love to give this a go - im thinking I could grow my salads and germinate seeds, grow peas or dwarf beans along the side, then plant a pumpkin in the middle for the rest of the season.
Great video! Lovely idea hotbeds (so useful, practical, helpful) and really inspiring. That guy Jack looks like a great partner in your videos too with all that experience
Always something I’ve thought I should build, did a small one in a packing crate once and worked really well, interesting video 👍
Wow impressive! What a great idea. Hot bed is on the to do list - thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks!
I like this idea.. I basically do container gardening and this idea is primarily an extra lg. container of sorts.. I dont have access to manure, but I do utilize the leaves, grass etc... this may be something I can try..thanks for another option..
Spinach needs cold temperatures to germinate well.
Have you ever done square foot gardening? It really makes great use of every square foot of garden space. I modify it somewhat so I can grow more than is outlined in the book by Mel Bartholomew. But I find it to be an amazing way to grow lots of food in a small space. I really appreciate all your time and expertise. I learn a lot from you. The hotbed is a wonderful concept and I plan on utilizing it. Thank you again, I love your channel.
Fascinating, thank you. I had heard the term but never knew exactly how they were produced. I am currently getting beetroot modules warmed in front of the aga. Have been thinking of bringing my sack of compost into the kitchen too!
This is terrific! Could you say a bit more about what it means that the radish went leggy and how to prevent that? Was that a time thing? A temperature thing?
Dirt patch heaven uses this brilliantly in Idaho. She uses it as rabbit warming with manure falling down as well to fertilize for spring. Covered enough to make a self heating green house
Huw, what type of borders do you use for your garden beds? 4x6 untreated lumber? Any specific type of wood?
Excellent segment, thank you. Your videos are the best on gardening.
Thank you so much :)
Fantastic! I have a small orchard and generate tons of ramiel chip early in the year that I was struggling to think of a use for at that point in time. I had thought about just covering it with rotted compost, kitchen scraps and soil Hügelkultur-style (probably adding loads of "Vitamin P" for nitrogen). But this is perfect! Next year!!
I think I could also easily get horse manure, my neighbours have horses
Sounds like the perfect set up :)
I was up in Nova Scotia for a few years with my horses. When it got cold, I used hay around my plants - piled it high so it was almost to the top, then put a clear plastic over the top until the sun was warm enough - sometimes a day or two, then I would take the plastic off (I pinned it down with a few blocks), I moved some of the hay away from each plant to let the green leaves thrive in the sun, I had all sorts of things growing, including fresh greens for salad and herbs. Every night I would just tuck my plants back in. I was close to the ocean and could get my own seaweed - I layed strips of it at the base of each plant - it breaks down and provides minerals. Back in the States I now use Hemp, you can find it for bedding. I also use my hens poo along with bales of peat, sand and that seems to work well.
I start my seeds in containers in late winter on a pile of cut grass which creates warmth. Only takes a few days here in Australia.
Thank you so much Huw for this video and all the lovely ones you have produced. You are the reason I started gardening 3 years ago and I have continued to follow you ever since. Appreciate your person, though I have had both successes and failures with my gardening. The times spent have really help my mental wellbeing. I’ve got your first two books which by they way are still very relevant till now. As I begin to prep myself for this year’s gardening. You have again made a video which addresses my current worries. I will update on how I manage to get on with this. Keep up the good work and I wish you the very best.
I’ve been thinking about how I could use something like this within a greenhouse to help produce a little heat. I’m trying to figure out things that would work grid down.
Charles Dowling has his in the greenhouse too
Your videos are always great. The audio panned left for vo and right for music doesn't work. Make sure vo is centred
Love the stacking of the trays in between the rows. Brilliant!
WOW!!
This is exactly what I needed to see. We were just talking about how to do something like this.
Thank you so much!!!
You are so welcome!
Years ago, I came across a video where they were using compost as a heating source for a greenhouse. I think such materials with constant heat can also be used heating smaller buildings.
Patrick of one yard revolution had built a compost tower to start early potatoes about 6 years ago.
Just purchased your book. Super excited to receive it. Love the concept of growing to eat, and know how to do that. Last year was my first year, experience a) a glut, b) a famine, c) visits by deer who munched down the broccoli to the stem.. and nothing in winter 😅
Will take up the hotbed course too... fresh salad in winter. Bliss!
Very interesting! I will love to try this in the cool weather in Australia.
Is there a danger that too much heat might be created and the seedlings could fry in the high temps? I'm in New England and we've had some exceptionally cold temps off and on this winter, and March is supposed to be unseasonably cold at night so finding a way to keep things between 40 and 70F (4.4-21.1 C) while getting sufficient light without electricity would be a dream. Does the course you referenced explain strategies for modulating the heat to keep it within and acceptable range? Many thanks for this video!!
May I recommend a book, "growing under cover" as a resource. The author thoroughly goes through all of the methods, expecting you to have a "we grew a bean in school" level of knowledge, so terms are defined, great illustrations, yet still explains why each system works enough you can figure out how to do it from what you have at hand. Think book about cooking vs a recipe book.
🕵😎..didnt he say 'Decaying Organic Matter' create The Heat?? im a lil.confused..🙂
@@ArthurTheLibraryDetective Yes I know what creates the heat, but I want to know if it can be kept within an acceptable range. My sense is it would be incredibly tricky but it would be the Holy Grail if I could find a way to get sunlight on my seedlings outside in winter while keeping temps between 40 and 70 F and not depending on electricity. I'd love to think it was possible.
Yeah this is why hot beds are used in cold climates?
@@lindajones9191 I went and talked this through with a friend because I have a TBI making communication spotty at time.
The short answer is yes it will work. I've done it in the mountains of Northern Idaho and Western Montana as well as the Maritime Pac NW.
Learning about composting is your starting point as that is your heat source. You are using the biology to do the work instead of electricity, so you need to know the difference between a hot and cool pile, how to heat it up or cool it down, and how to make it in the first place so you don't have to futz about with it later. Spend this growing season learning to finesse compost.
The second part of this system is the covered bed, the coat you use to protect and maintain the environment. So play with season extenders, from plastic and glass plates, to repurposed plastic and glass containers, and green house films. You need to understand how this works. A plastic milk jug with the bottom cut out and placed over a plant in the ground will loose more heat and let through less light than glass. Learning which works how when is important.
Once you have done both of these things then you can put them together into a hot bed. The book I recommended is close to 300 pages I think and hot frames are one of the more advanced techniques in there.
It's only tricky to do if you are trying to follow a recipe instead of understanding how the system and it's elements work. Sometimes a bread recipe will fail even though you followed it exactly. The yeast cold be a little weak, so it needs more time, the flour could be drier, so you need more liquid, or the protein content of the flour is different so the kneading times will be different. When you understand how the elements work to make bread, you can tell when the dough is hydrated enough, when the gluten is developed, when the yeast has proofed enough, thus adjusting as needed in your situation.
Contact you county extension service and ask for help from your areas master gardeners and the ag college people. If you would be ok with it, could you narrow down your climate and conditions a bit. New England covers as much as the Maritime Pac NW, and what works in Seattle, may needs adjustment if you go 50 miles in any direction and will need adjustment going 200 (Portland, Vancouver BC, the coast, or the other side of the Cascades). If you can tell me the closest larger city or college town, I may be able to direct to to actually people or organizations.
Hope this helps.
I have heard about using compost piles to heat cattle barns, this is also nice
I've made my Cold frame from summer And,Hot bed in early spring,🥒🌽🥦 out of Pallet colliers,5 on top of each other,Job done 👍
Perfect! I was already thinking about this. But seeing it really helps a lot!
I have plenty of horse manure here. So I'll try this.
We have unending sand here in coastal Florida. Heat even in winter, insects and unending fungus and heaven knows what else. I’ve given up gardening here. Have other ways to spend my time besides battling bugs and fungus and unbelievable heat. But if I ever get back to cooler climates I know where to look for good advice!
It’s the information we want 👍 so thanks for sharing 👏👏🇬🇧
I made 2 hot beds out of 1 ton grain bags I got for free from the brewery where I work. I made them 3 days ago in -20°C out of dead leaves, straw, spent brewer's grain, and trub (yeast and sediment that collects at the bottom of beer fermenters), all of which I got for free. I've been monitoring temp in the larger bed, first day it was too low for my thermometer to read (below 0°C), second day the pile was up to 2°C, today it hit 38°C. Temps are supposed to drop overnight to -32°C where I am so I'm curious to see how warm it will be tomorrow morning.
Thanks from Joburg , SA for a great video.... Very interesting...where I live there is a lot of frost in the winter....often black frost that decimates the garden.... This looks like a great thing to try
Thinking about the reusing theme, what do you do with soil after harvesting?
And, now I understand the term "hot bed" used metaphorically!
vocal track only in left channel. Not sure if its what you were going for. thanks for the content. keep up the good work!
Defo trying this. I'll do my own video but be warned it won't be anywhere as good as this. Thanks for making ,
Done a bit of hot composting, if you get the ratios of brown/green and wetness right you can get them hot enough to cook with.
Posted on GAB in group homesteading I recently found a free source of wood pallets!
Great video ! I will definitely be trying this out myself, thank you Huw
My parents, grandparents, and other relatives did this here in Canada every spring when I was a child in the 1970's. It was a normal thing for me to see being prepared. They brought that information with them, or rather my great, great, grandparents did, from Russia where they were they left due to persecution as pacifists at the end of the 1800's. I honestly thought it was a well know gardening technique everywhere! Sadly have only managed to set this up a handful of times, and sure hope we can accomplish this soon. Plan to try with goat manure and bedding as that is what we have an abundance of ongoing. The piles we make from fall through spring as we clean out stay heating, steaming, and melting off a metre or more of snow to stay bare all winter long from the hot composting action. So should be enough heating for a hot bed too if layered correctly!
Where in Canada? What zone? I'm North of Toronto in zone 5a/b. I don't have wood chips or manure. Will kitchen scraps work?
@@wendyburston3132 it might be worth a try. Get a composting mix with browns and greens. Someone else on here said it runs hotter initially so maybe lay a slightly deeper compost layer. I always start my compost/worm bin early because I know the new heat once it gets going will see it through the last of our winter here in the uk
@@cherieuk4488 I think it will work. If we get our small pickup truck repaired soon, then I can take a drive to the farm of a friend who gets huge loads of wood chips dumped there by a tree service company. It would provide a bit more of the carbon needed to balance the goat bedding and manure. We only use the left over hay they don't eat after picking through it all, and limited amounts of some barley straw more recently. Just enough to keep a dry layer for them to lay on, but the pellet 'berries' tend to filter through to lower layers. Makes it a bit nitrogen heavy especially as urine filters down to the under layers. We add wood stove compressed hardwood pellets on the bottom to absorb liquid and it helps balance the compost somewhat.
@@wendyburston3132 We are in the south-east part of BC but the warmer half of the region. Further east toward the Alberta border is typically 10C colder most of the winter then we are. I believe we are more like a zone 6b now. Used to say zone 5b, however learned later the Canadian zones are rated differently then when I first learned the system back in the 1990's, and weather patterns have changed as well.
Kitchen scraps are too wet, will still need lots of brown/carbon material to combine them with to create the heat. Raked up fall leaves, pine needles perhaps in a smaller quantity, straw are other possible options.
The bags of wood stove pellets might be an option if you are really stuck. Much cheaper then the wood shavings used for animal bedding. If you find damaged bags, stores will sometimes reduce the price on these as well. We do that for a bottom layer in our goat house and stalls and add to the poultry bedding in the coop as they absorb SO much moisture.
Doukhobor?
Hot beds are well known in England too, new generation "rediscovering" these things (while older gardeners have been doing it all along).
1:08 something I’ve wondered is whether the secondary inner frame is necessary, and why you couldn’t just put some windows that span the whole width of the outer frame over it and use the whole tope area for growing, rather than being limited by the area encapsulated by the inner frame.
Hi Huw! Can you please do a video on rhubarb forcing pots? I saw them on Instagram lately and I wonder why and for what other crops it can work?
The pilgrims used a slightly different design with the growing bed held in trays above the compost and manure (on the ground) so it could be changed out as needed without disturbing the seedlings above. This is the method I am going to try. Very exciting!
Brilliant! I'd love a next door neighbor like you! Happy Growing season☺🌱
In New England we call them cold frames, lol. Hinge an old window on top and remember to prop it open on warm sunny days.
We have cold frames in the UK too, but they don't have a hot bed. They're a different thing. If you took the top frame and glass lid off and put it on the ground, it would be what we call a cold frame here. They're used to give a bit of extra protection from the cold weather and when hardening off plants before they're planted out in their final position.
Let us know when you've got the captions up or the audio fixed. Thank you.
Looks brilliant but I am worried about using treated pine in the veggie garden.
Should I be?
Great video! I have a cold frame that my fix-it fairy built for me that wasn't quite the right size. I'm going to see if I can create a hot bed using that! I'm inspired! Thank you for your sharing and creating! 😊
We love you & your great content, Huw!
Hi Huw! Thanks for teaching “hot bed”… i tried this last year on my own and now I know what to call it 😂❤
Very cool, thanks! I could understand fine even on 2x speed with a sub-par monitor speaker, so audio wasn't really that bad
My Italian grandparents had a hotbed in their backyard in New York City when I was growing up in the 1960s probably grew tomatoes, peppers, basil and the like. Love your accent, so I pay more attention to what you’re saying.
Thank you, I went and bought the book immediately 👍 I will see if I can get this started here in New Zealand
On my list this year thank you for sharing …stay blessed
I would love a hard copy of Jack's book. Amazon only has a kindle version. Any ideas about where I might be able to buy it?
I’ve never seen a compost heap steam in winter. We just use low tunnels to extend the season or cold frames. Think our winters get too cold.
Happy you come back 😌