3 Reasons to Stop Gardening with Fertilizer (and What to Do Instead)

[@Peoplespilates]

I'm from India, thank you so much. Love your video. I stopped buying fertilizer and soil!! I grow everything in homemade compost from kitchen scraps and leaves. It works excellently. I don't spray any pesticides and do lose some strawberries, beans, tomatoes, green chillies, grapes squash,muskmelon,watermelon, malabar spinach, (moringa) drum stick, passion fruit, herbs, phalsa, guava, blackberries, karvanda and flowers, roses, to pests.😊 It's not too bad at all. I'm OK with some pests too. It's a well balanced garden with the good and bad of everything.I don't stress at all. I'm hoping to grow bananas😁 Enjoying every minute!!

[@deborahpacheco2799]

Put birdhouses on either side of your garden. They will eat the pests. Plant dill and carrots and let them bloom. They will attract good insects such as lady bugs which will eat the bad bugs.

[@pattiannepascual]

❤​@@deborahpacheco2799

[@cynthiacollins2668]

That's one reason I plant sunflowers! Places for birds 🐦 to watch for bugs 🐛 to dine on.

[@xaviercruz4763]

What’s karvanda and phalsa?

[@SouthFloridaSunshine]

@@xaviercruz4763I want to know what those are used for too. I grow mulberries though instead of blackberries, less seeds and no thorns. Everbearing dwarf gives me like two gallons every year for fresh eating, and freezing for recipes, great for jams and jellies too.

[@johnnamaravelis4093]

I just retired & am starting an organic container vegetable garden on my porch & sidewalk utilizing companion planting methods. I’ve been composting for many years. You reinforced why this is such a great idea. Garden the way God does naturally. Thank-you!

[@sufficientgrace1692]

AMEN!!!

[@melanieaubry3359]

Do you have any suggestions for beginning to compost?

[@OneTakeTuber]

I was fortunate enough to have KZbin gardeners at teachers when I started gardening during COVID. Every day is a learning day and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks Teach! 👍🏾

[@Jacq892]

Topped off my raised bed with fresh homemade compost. It was truly beautiful. Im also trying to remove plastics from the garden.

[@MyFocusVaries]

Me too. You might be interested in Regenerative Gardening with Blossom and Branch. That's her mission.

[@Jacq892]

@@MyFocusVaries thanks!

[@spirit2ual]

This is how I garden. It is nice to be validated!❤

[@fayepreuss5180]

To be honest I didn’t want to listen to this video because it was just after fertilizing all of my fruit trees. I’m glad that I did and will reconsider my methods

[@Ashcinnamon]

Proper fertilization is so that we aren't growing nutrient lacking produce if were aren't rotating soil or crops. I'm ancient times they rotated and gave time to replenish nutrients by planting in different spaces. Since we don't do this fertilizer. Plants will grow without but will lack nutrients and sometimes flavor/color. Fertilizer doesn't need to be used as often as most labels say unless in potted plants.

[@gonzogonzo6595]

@@Ashcinnamon The most important thing is to nourish the trace elements.After that they are absorbed by microorganisms and germs.

[@TracyMcDowell]

"Trust nature," and that is the miracle. I love it

[@laruebrough4117]

I make compost tea with the leaves of various plants and even broadleaf weeds as well as comfrey. It’s stinky, but it works well.

[@lauriaktahi]

Lactic acid bacteria serum, LABS, will help take the smell away and add nutrients. There's lots of vids on here to make it. Garden like a Viking channel has a vid, And vids on many homemade fertilizers.

[@Sryker]

As a geoscience major, we learn about the environmental costs of fertilizer and pesticide use. The run off enters our tributaries and pollutes them. It is especially bad in the Mississippi River and has created a very large 3000 sq mile hypoxic zone (dead zone) that sucks all the oxygen out and makes it uninhabitable for sea life. Its responsible for mass casualties in ocean and stream wildlife.

[@deborahmyers4248]

Oh my gosh, wow...

[@smhollanshead]

I agree you need to feed the soil. Organic compost is an essential ingredient for most gardens. Also try cut grass, straw, alfalfa pellets, bone meal, and blood meal.

[@baneverything5580]

All of my grass clippings go around my fruit trees and in my vegetable garden and I add weeds, pine straw and chopped mowed leaves. I burned some straw, leaves and twigs in a few places before planting and this seemed to help too. I`m having to build soil here though because my yard was once a hill that got flattened and there`s hard red dirt mixed with gravel a couple of inches under the grass. I`ve been hauling in forest soil and leaf mold to build up layers of soil. I dump my garden wagon loads of soil on top of leaves, straw and grass clippings. It`s working though. I`m adding some lime pellets and bone meal so tubers grow better.

[@MyFocusVaries]

I've been hearing more about alfalfa meal lately. Great source of nitrogen, which most soil needs. Look for organic non GMO. Because otherwise it may have been sprayed with persistent herbicides during growing.

[@viviant701]

Your message needs to be shared to all gardeners.❤

[@MarlenevT]

Comfrey is a plant growth stimulator. It grows abundantly if you have the space. Also great for healing broken bones.

[@LashusJourney]

I used comfrey to make my compost juice 👍

[@JmJendtimes]

​@@LashusJourneyplease can you advise how you do this? And how to care for comfrey? Thank you 😊

[@denisecovelle938]

I have comfrey in my garden and it’s definitely a game changer 💛

[@kathleenfairbairn7144]

​@@denisecovelle938where does one get comphrey seeds?

[@sweetNess856]

I have been successfully growing my comphery in felt grow bags for several years. I'm in zone 5. I do nothing to keep it safe over winter. I harvest all summer long.

[@GoodThingsEtc]

Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of knowledge with us! After gardening for 7 years mostly in pots, i have learned to stop buying anything with chemical fertilizers! i am now learning to grow from seed, and wow it is teaching patience! Gardening saved my life so now its up to us to care for mother nature the right way!!! You rock girl!!!!

[@ebradley2306]

I love Big Bend. Have been there 3 times. On my 1st trip I too was amazed at the variety of plant life. The desert is truly beautiful. While I make compost and have a worm bin, my perennial beds live under a bed of leaves. Due to limitations in my yard, I have been using sunflowers, short and tall, to provide summer shade. ☺️

[@honeydew4576]

We started our garden in the Autumn of 2021. We created three compost bins in our green house, and grew plants in trays on top of the bins. This Spring 2024 there was enough black gold in those bins to fill all our garden beds. This was in just 2 1/2 years. Thank The Lord! Now we are seeing the worms come in and we are focusing on building good soil. Thank you for your videos. I am loving how you present your content and thank you for sharing your knowledge. God bless you.

[@CarrieLovesLife.]

I never fertilize anything in my garden, no one is running around fertilizing things in nature. What a scam. I do focus on soil building.

[@venpeddapalli7189]

You unlocked the key! Keep it up!

[@Trakehner20]

How o you build the soil? I'm interested in this method. Im tooo cheap tones t to buy all that fertilizer haha.

[@venpeddapalli7189]

@@Trakehner20 Building soil takes time and patience something commercial growers don't have hence the use of fertilizers. How to build? Nature does it in many ways. You start by adding organic material - anything that you can find for free. Woodchips, cardboard, leaves, veg matter etc. Layer by layer and in a year, you are ready to plant your first tomatoes.

[@DebRoo11]

Nature is 'fertilizing' constantly just not with miracle gro etc. leaves, worm castings, minerals from stones, mulches, fallen trees, animal manures etc. etc.

[@giovannimittino4769]

in nature there is a lot of animals "fertilizing" around XD

[@sufficientgrace1692]

One thing I’ve been conflicted about, that you have straightened out for me, is what to do with compost. I used to mix it into the soil every spring but then I learned about no-till gardening, which is more like how nature does it. But then I didn’t know what to do with the compost. I realize that in nature, the compost is always added to the top. This makes lots of sense, as the water runs through it, and as it breaks down, the good stuff runs down into the soil and roots. I can’t believe I was so resistant to top dressing with compost but so happy I’ve overcome!

[@1mattwilliams1]

I am 62000 years old and just started with top dressing this year. Wow! My rhodies and fruit trees are like night and day, just looking healthy as can be.

[@Zizzyyzz]

@@1mattwilliams1 62000 years old? 😅

[@gonzogonzo6595]

@@1mattwilliams1 You are almost newborn.

[@pencilhead5278]

I stay away from that stuff and my garden is doing great! I could not figure out why soil for planters had a child warning on it- kids love digging playing with dirt - but that soil came with a warning- people please ask questions. Thanking you sharing your knowledge.

[@joycependleton4117]

Wow! I haven't bought that kind of soil & didn't realize that existed. I agree that kids should be able to get their hands dirty!

[@theproperty541]

I use Alaska fish fertilizer and I feel pretty good about it

[@MyFocusVaries]

Organic fertilizer!

[@SouthFloridaSunshine]

You can also bury fish deep like near or under your plants too.

[@TeaTephiTrumpet777]

Its expensive, use the carcass of leftover fish parts you dont eat.

[@chann3lth3spirit60]

Alaska fish fertilizer contains arsenic and mercury......use it sparingly.

[@jenjorge4103]

You had me at National Parks. This is how we were raised and how my oldest was raised. I haven't used commercial fertilizer in years. I compost with what we have and plant everything pretty close together-now. And I am finding I can be putting it even closer! You have some wonderful tips I haven't tried. Thank you. This year should be a game changer. Now if I can just get the lovely deer and bunnies to stay on the outside areas! I am willing to share a little! Thank you for educating everyone of the many issues of using unneeded chemicals in their gardens! ❤

[@betterlivingonabudget]

You are SO right about the natural strategy to backyard gardening! I'm doing patio gardening, and some box planters due to years of pesticides being sprayed on my lawn prior to moving here. I'm pretty sure I've killed many plants from over-fertilizing, and over-crowding containers with the same plants instead of diversified plants in same area/container. Thanks so much for the wake-up!!

[@sharondawilliams2469]

I loved this so much I had to pause and take notes. I will be following your direction for my spring / summer garden.

[@Gardenary]

I'm so glad it was helpful! Thanks for being here!

[@DianeS2002]

Very inspiring. I'm an indoor, apartment gardener and always try to grow everything from seeds (preferably seed saved from last season as they are adapted to the micro-climate of my pots) and with natural fertilizers like wormcast compost. Never thought about the distribution of plants though. I will surely try it this season !

[@MelyndaVang2023]

You are so brilliant. I am so glad that I found you. Will totally subscribe. I value intelligent and amazing people like you who are kind enough and generous enough to share your knowledge with the world. Thank you.

[@MarYSoldePuertoRico]

I just came across your video and I totally agree! I after 50+ years living in The states have come to my little island. I am so excited because I live in an urbanized neighborhood but treat it like the country. Most people just have grass in the yard. I, on the other hand, started to throw seeds of fruits and anything I can get my hands on and everything grows. I have no training and I didn’t even think about it. I have trees and flowers and Herbs growing all around each other. I always get the skins of the fruits or veggies that I don’t eat or anything that is raw and throw it in the garden under the trees or in the dirt as compost. Another thing I started doing was playing classical music, and I swear the fruit on the trees is growing much larger. There is definitely a connection with just letting things grow naturally and having a good vibration in the air. I just recently acquired four miniature chickens, they’re more like my pets and three baby chicks. Their poop is definitely being used on the ground and I am so excited that everything works together. ❤️💯 I am a tropical country girl for sure!

[@oy-wb8jv]

👍 We've put synthetics aside several years ago. Focused on creating a living soil with organic fertilizers & companion plantings, interspaced with ornamentals.

[@MannyMaurice5348]

Always hated miracle grow, and I do have a composting bin and use that soil as an additive in my garden. Love that you made this podcast. It was very imformative.

[@Gardenary]

thanks so much for watching!

[@Godisgracious85]

I started my garden this year and I have just been winging it. I figured with companion plants and flowers that help with pest I was sold. Now I watch all these videos and find out I’m on the right track. Thanks for the video ❤

[@mamao823]

Thank you for sharing! We use compost with horse poop and it’s amazing to see how healthy our vegetables grow and give us food! The spacing between plants is a new thing I’m trying now and it’s working! My lettuces and spinach are both growing healthy by packing them and not giving them big spaces in between!

[@Dollycakes615]

I'm a new gardener. My instinct is to mot use fertilizer. Others I know encourage it, but something tells me NOT to do it. I don't buy plants already started (tomato etc..) I'm trying g to learn and do by seed with organic matter. Others think I'm nuts. I've only had little success but I'm still learning so thank you for all your helpful information. Glad someone eles has the same thoughts.

[@goodfriend6428]

You are a very good teacher, focused, organized, emphasizing important points through careful repetition. Very effective. Skilled marketer, too.Thank you!

[@bizzybee852]

This was great information! The way that God created nature to work and function is always the best way to garden.

[@honeydew4576]

Praise The Living God!

[@rhondajones8678]

I agree with you about fertilizer, but getting started, until garden is established, I’m finding that plants do need fertilizer until compost is ready. You actually buy mushroom compost because I saw you taking it from a bag and applying to your plants. I this is my third year gardening on our 5 acre very heavily wooded property. I was able to use my compost this year as it is all a learning process. However, there is an awesome fertilizer called Microlife. It is wonderful, filled with all those naturally occurring organic materials that you mentioned. I have compost bins filled with leaves from my yard, I also pick up mushrooms when we have them and add them to my compost as well as kitchen vegetables and fruit scraps and garden waste. I would like to get to the point where we have enough of our own compost and no longer need the microlife. We plant sweet potatoes throughout our garden which acts as a ground cover and try to companion plant as you mentioned. The green bean trellis climbs over the bell peppers. Happy gardening to everyone. It takes a lot of trial and error to get success.

[@caroljones9908]

I have plant pot vegetables and feed with himalayan salt in the water for the minerals..i have vompost worms in every pot too and i plant plants together and try and put the dead leaves back into the same pot to put back in what the plant took out the compost..great video, thanks..

[@sufficientgrace1692]

I’ve gardened with the same philosophy for several years now. The only thing i disagree with from this video is that the animals eat lower leaves. That is partially true, deer, rabbits, etc love the fresh new growth the best - they eat the tops right off of lots of veggies. This is why I will often harvest the tops off of these types of veggies esp in early summer - 1) I get to eat it instead of the creatures eating it 2) It encourages the plant to bush out and produce even more.

[@bouchra413]

Yes, yes, yes! Love that you are a voice of natural gardening and that you are so clear about the total scam that chemicals are. Thank you for a great video!🌱

[@TRUTHRULES777]

Just recently, I had an old girlfriend from high school come over and she’s been into plants and worked at the plant shop when she was 17 years old. Known her since junior high. she was marveling about some of my plants and said oh my gosh, what are you doing to this plant? What do you do to this plant? Oh my gosh mine isn’t that big? I just have that Odd thing with plants. And I just said you know I don’t really do that much. I mostly just put last year’s leaves over because I’m too lazy and cheap to buy bark because bark is pinching and gross and everything else is so I just use what we have. You have tons of leaves you can scrunch them up and they do wonders for me. Maybe some people would say different but she couldn’t believe that some of my clematis and other things were just going crazy. I said I don’t know. I just made a jungle. Ha ha, which is a lot of work, but yeah, I think it’s best to go natural. I don’t even, use weed killer on the grass we have used it years ago. But we really don’t have a problem and nothing that you can really just pluck out of the ground so I don’t know things are pretty nice and cozy here and I think it’s just being more natural is best..

[@elisabethdemoreaudandoy478]

Nicole, I have the same experience you have. I live in low mountains in an Italian national park. I don't use fertilizers. When the cows of my neighbour farmer are roaming near my place, I give them my water. He gives me mature manure. My small veg garden is in total disorder. No clean rows. The parsley has moved with the salad, the onions and salad with the tomatoes etc. With my preserves, I have enough tomatoes for the whole year. Everything tastes different. When I mow the lawn, trying not to mow the natural orchids as well, I leave the clippings on the spot to feed it.

[@NaturesInfiniteWELLth-fo6rs]

Putting this at the top of my gardening playlist I share with others 💝. “Look deep into Nature and then you will understand everything better.”-Albert Einstein

[@rillo806]

Honest opinion....... speaking from 26 years of experience (take that for what its worth to you) its ok to use fertilizer. Its also ok to not use it. Everyones area has a different quality of soil, different expectations, different climates, and different animals/pest. I mean the list goes on. My suggestion is do what any scientist does. Find out for yourself. Try every method you can try and figure out what works best for your particular situation. Ive tried direct sowing, tried raised beds, tried containers, tried elevated beds (6ft in the air), tried hanging containers, tried greenhouses, cold frames, hydroponics, aquaponics, full sun, full shade, all seasons, ive literally tried it all and have combos with every method and have found certain plants like different methods and u can do more than one at a time. There is no absolute answer in gardening. Thats what makes it fun.

[@riverunner9978]

Yes indeed !

[@sandrahamilton8895]

I love how growing organically encourages growth, great soil, less weeds, makes the produce taste sweeter naturally and is better for my body and the economy. My Daddy always had a garden but he used chemical fertilizer. He raised 9 girls and most of us had fibroid tumor. My mother died of cancer. Not saying that was the cause buuut. I use organic fertilizers: rabbit poop, compost from my kitchen, broken down wood chips, worm castings, and I collect soil from broken down leaves from my fence line. Everything grows beautifully. Try God's way. It's better.

[@rillo806]

@@sandrahamilton8895 Thats cool. Nothing wrong with using fertilizer, i like organic fertilizer too. I dont use any fertilizer on my veggies though, just use it for ornamentals that i have no intention of eating. I just use em to bring in more pollinators. There are some really good and safe fertilizers out there though. You just have to find them. Maybe not so much back in your day (by your language i assume youre a bit older, if im wrong i apologize).

[@patriciafisher1170]

I’m with you have been gardening for many years and even in the same area some years are different to others some years I get a mega crop of zucchini and a year or two later get hardly one. Every year has one or two plants that boom and thrive different every year. But I guess that’s why it’s good to preserve each year

[@Agnes-rq3pi]

Best approached

[@TRUTHRULES777]

I have a lot of trees, large trees and I let their leaves fall. We rake them down to a lower bark area, which is no longer bark and it’s beautiful because it’s all the leaves just end up turning into soil overtime when I go out and dig that and put that in my pots. I’m never been a big fertilizer person. I’ve used it, but I’ve used it very sparingly, I don’t spray plants. I have fruit trees don’t spray them. I have a few fruit trees, 3 lemon and a lime tree in greenhouse.. a lot of different types of trees and plants but I just think it’s best to use what we have and what we have is a lot of leaves turn them over sometimes put them at the bottom of the pots and they’re full of worms and dried leaves. Add them in pots again in summer. We use what we have. No waste.

[@shirk5294]

My husband just bought some fertilizer but haven’t used it yet. Now that I’ve seen your video ~ you make a lot of sense never thought about growing vegetables God’s way! Thank you 🪴

[@babystepsgarden6162]

Hi! New subscriber here. I loved this video. Thank you for teaching, and sharing your knowledge! I began an organic garden 2 years ago. I always wanted a garden. I didn't know if I could make it work. My mom always had a garden and worked extremely hard, but didn't believe in organic gardening. Her life would have been so much easier if only she had known! I am on a learning journey, and I am loving it!

[@bjstark5069]

WOW, I have never heard this explained the way you did, that is just an amazing light bulb moment, and very smart! I love people who think! I have always been more natural minded anyway, and don't like using chemicals, so this is right down my alley. It makes perfect sense, because like you said, in nature, there isn't store bought fertilizers being put on all the plants, and they grow just fine, the way they are supposed to! The plants in nature that grow around and next to each other, have a symbiotic relationship, they all help each other out in different ways....they way people should be too...but aren't. I always say "people could learn so much from animals and nature, but just refuse to".

[@kyleunrau9514]

I have ducks and every spring I muck out their housing full of shavings and straw and duck waste and till it into the garden, their poop fertilizes and the straw and shavings keep soil soft and fluffy and helps hold moisture!!

[@sherrywebster1675]

I began raising compost worms , and their castings are called ' black gold'[ for very good reason ... ALL plants LOVE the castings and the liquid ' worm juice' made from the compost process and /or soaking the castings. Nothing beats it as goodness for the plants and for the soils. My yard was barren when I arrived, and nothing grew beneath certain trees also. Now it's a lush jungle witha huge variety of veges and other plants . In 18 months .

[@kijihigh6826]

You are do right! I use compost from my kitchen, or organic mineral fertilizer. I also use weeds, tums for calcium. Trying to stay as close to nature as possible.

[@ToddMagnussonWasHere]

Biggest thing I learned over the years: A-C-Y-S -> Always Cover Your Soil. Second biggest thing is the permaculture layering where you focus on canopy trees small trees then bushes/flowers and groundcovers.

[@pameladavis895]

Shhh...I've never been to Disney World and have no desire to go (neither my daughter, her husband and their children)! I don't fertilize either! I use vermi-compost from my worm bins and also cut the finished plants at the soil line, leave the roots to decompose!

[@gonzogonzo6595]

Fertility requires a lot of roots,that feed the microorganisms in the soil.

[@mssavedin92]

4;25 minute mark...made me happy that I'm doing the square foot gardening method this year. The plants are absolutely packed in, shading the soil and each other and they are all companions. Natural soil food I use in containers etc is Gaia 4-4-4.

[@ambersgrace1]

I don’t use fertilizer, I use compost. But my garden still hasn’t done great. I think I’m spacing everything out too far. The heat is an issue right now. I’m hoping that packing plants tight will help keep the soil from baking.

[@Musicallyplanted]

Thankyou so much for this informative video, I'm gonna start a garden & i don't want to use any fertilizer, just the natural ones. I live in the carribbean (DOMINICA) The nature isle & unfortunately , farming has adopted these fertilizing practices that never use to be in the carribbean before. I often go to places & see how plants thrive in all kinds of conditions, without any fertilization. So we can all learn by nature, & come back to the natural soil, how it use to be. Thankyou 😊

[@JP-nz4em]

There’s absolutely no need to use those chemical fertilizer. All i did was bury my kitchen scraps right into my garden beds. You will start to see so much worms. All of these needs were created by corporations to make you to spend more and more. Also learn how to make fertilizer from your kitchen scraps., plenty of resources on YT. ..

[@orionishi6737]

Ok .. but you're still using chemicals. Everything is chemicals once it's broken down. Nitrogen is nitrogen. Naturally or synthetically sourced. The main difference is how quickly those chemical nutrients are available to your plants. Both methods have their place. Like if something is really struggling and needs something quick to boost it back up .. a chemical formula will help the plant quicker than some kitchen scraps that need time to break down.

[@HarvestDailyLife]

It’s lovely to see the care and passion in each piece of fruit.

[@gonzogonzo6595]

I think we can't start this method right away.Things must be gradually.Yes the method is OK, but it will take a certain period of time.For reference, see how it is done No-till .

[@derwynmdockenjr]

This video made me cry tears of Joy 😊 Thank you so much!

[@MichelleSibrian]

Thank you. I am a beginner gardener and I want to do it right. Your information is making it click for me.

[@abbibrannan333]

About 2 days ago I bought a small 4x4x10" box of Miracle Grow to use once every week or 2 weeks on my plants. Now I watch this podcast of you aying NOT to buy Miracle Grow, darn! Only 5 minutes in so back to watching/listening and learning. Thank YOU!

[@shuvanidev]

Thank you for this Nicole. I have been moving more and more to the methods you promote because I am getting older and I want to garden but more efficiently with less work and heavy lifting, y'know what I mean? I want to pare down the "stuff" I use in the garden and the stuff I do in the garden, and less watering (mygod the watering the last few years has me really not looking forward to this garden season) and your way embraces that idea very well. In the past I had a whole laundry list of soil amendments I thought I had to use - not commercial fertilizers, but natural/organic soil amendments like kelp, rock dust, different kinds of composted materials, biochar, dried manures, worm castings, fish emulsion, mycorrhizal fungi, compost teas, Korean magic liquids :), bone meal, blood meal, etc....... I am almost out of some of these amendments and I think I'm going to go with just compost and worm castings and see how it goes. Thank you so much, it's actually quite liberating :)

[@Gardenary]

I think natural soil amendments are just fine-hopefully that was clear in the video-basically just think about the way nature works and only add things that would naturally occur in the wild. You've got this!

[@loved_by_above]

Compost (self-made knowing what's in it)and good soil....and flowers and plants to assist in pest control!😊 It makes me feel so good and blessed to growing successfully without taking in harmful chemicals for my family and myself. Thank you, for this post of truth. (Only occasion of coffee ground water or banana peel water...only here and there, but not dependent.)

[@assurance13]

It's amazing! No wonder my garden is taking forever to grow? Rainwater has helped my plants tremendously! Mosquitos arealways around,but tadpoles grow to eat the mosquitos,so it all works out.

[@jilltalley4670]

We started using alpaca poo tea fertilizer for our garden this year. We have the most beautiful garden we’ve ever had! Love your channel! Just found you this morning!

[@juliez1539]

When I first put in a vegetable garden, many years ago, I mixed cow manure into my hard dry top soil, and put in plants. They grew like crazy and gave me many tomatoes, etc. One tomato plant later sprouted all by itself in the front yard. I gave it no care at all and it gave me a bumper crop of cherry tomatoes! Later I heard that cow manure adds too much salt in the soil and I stopped using it, and my gardens produced almost nothing. Fast forward many years - now I “KNOW” how to make good garden soil, so I tried again. I dug out a big area, added all sorts of bags of “good” soil, bought wonderful, expensive, organic fertilizers, as directed, and my vegetable garden of the last few years has been a huge and disappointing failure! On further and deeper searches, I’ve heard that using bagged soils is not the way to go either. I’m trying small amounts of cow manure and ignoring my plants this year.

[@JuneSaunders-hr4sh]

My vegetablevgarden is new (2021), and it has never had fertilizer on it. I use compost and it is very productive!

[@krazmokramer]

I started my first vegetable garden ever, last month. 3.5' x 6.5' raised bed filled with organic raised bed mix (branches, sticks, leaves, grass the bottom 5" and the ORBM the remaining 12"). I already planned "no fertilizer" before I watched this because I want to see if I can grow these vegetables instead of Miracle grow growing these vegetables. I planted in 1' squares, but I am intrigued by your technique. Your method seems similar to the way I planted my perennial flower beds years ago. I'm curious how you mix these different plants if they require different amounts of water. ie. tomatoes next to basil. I'm going to have to search your video library for answers. Thank you for this video!!

[@philfreeman1349]

I been feeling this way for awhile , however I have use some of the bad fertilizers! It’s only been for small time ! If shft then we want have none of this other stuff except for nature! It’s been done this way for 100 years plus so yes thank you! God bless!

[@TRUTHRULES777]

We also have the Spanish olive several ornamental trees, a fig, an Italian, prune and many different berries and everything‘s doing well. I just got lazy and I said I’m using what we have. We have tons of leaves breakdown and it has been the best thing, and I never take all the leaves out of my flowering trees and, pretty areas around the yard where ornamental bushes. I let them sit because I’ve heard that that’s a good place. We’re a little frogs and things live throughout the cold months and we have tons of frogs a lot of different bugs that come around sometimes big bugs but everything seems to be doing well. And I just think it really goes back to using what you have and learning about, saving leaves and when you squished down leaves, you can just put it out in your garden beds are in your yard because it’s dark. It’s pretty it looks from a distance like bark or something but it’s much more natural and it’s what grows in your area. I’m sorry I’m rambling on, but it’s, just discovery that comes overtime of being a gardener not necessarily reading but just learning as you go.

[@gonzogonzo6595]

Many lawn lovers тhey do not understand that they should not remove the cut grass. It is food on the soil and plants.

[@Sustainable8888]

Fully agree with you. Imitating the local natural ecosystem is the most sustainable method of gardening. I have tried it and it is working wonderfully without spending a penny.

[@MarretaGaming]

Yes , i dont use quimical fertilizer anymore !! i have start to learn jadam natural fertilizer and how to integrated in the gardem and its working great 👍 Greetings from Portugal and keep the good work

[@realchrisma]

JADAM works for me in Hawaii. Good luck.

[@monicali2608]

Me too, from Germany.

[@MarretaGaming]

@@realchrisma yes its make a big diffrence besides the food taste better in my opinion , take care

[@MarretaGaming]

@@monicali2608 its a learning curve but its working great

[@realchrisma]

@@MarretaGamingmy papaya is at least 3x bigger, but I can’t comment on taste because it hasn’t ripened yet.

[@Nancy-zk9dj]

I've never used fertilizer in my garden, I get great yields. It’s no-till, all made with cardboard and leaves. Each fall the leaves get thrown on. Works for me! 🌼

[@hamsicle]

Agreed on compost. Manure is also a great way to get high levels of nitrogen into your soil. But what you're doing is fertilization, you're just accomplishing it organically. You can, absolutely, 100% garden using only synthetic fertilization. I don't necessarily buy that organic is better for the environment. You can also do a mix if you know what you're trying to accomplish. You can start your seedlings with a dilute fertilizer and then transplant them outside into an organic garden.

[@baneverything5580]

I try to spot feed various plants what they seem to need but I do a little of everything right now because I`m having to build a garden on top of a yard stripped of its topsoil decades ago by a bulldozer by hauling in forest soil in a wagon. But my test plantings in the new soil are doing 10 times better than before and I add all my grass clippings, chopped leaves, pine straw, leaf mold, weeds and whatever easy-to-get soil I can locate in the woods nearby. That has turned out to be a large pile of sandy muddy soil in a wash nearby. I tried to just collect leaf mold and richer soil but it would take too long. Anything is better than the hard packed red dirt with gravel in it that`s here that`s so hard you need a pick axe to plant a fruit tree. I can turn the sandy soil into good dirt after a couple of years.

[@Zizzyyzz]

"Why is it blue? I don't get it", earned you a 👍🏼😂

[@Mantras-and-Mystics]

They add copper. That's the blue colour. 😊

[@Zizzyyzz]

@@Mantras-and-Mystics Ahhh...

[@artgarza5470]

Very true doing the right thing for our garden soil to have natural normal vegetables and not huge over grown vegtables. The thing is growing food not how big I can grow my plants.

[@MomPuff-b9w]

You truly are amazing!! I’m going to follow your advice!! Blessings from Kentucky 🙌🏻🙌🏻🤗🙏🏻

[@dimitraz1]

It's really difficult not to fertilize (with organic fertilizers but still) when you have a container garden. I compost and mulch but there is no way I can get a decent harvest without fertilizing. But it is true, when I started applying regen gardening practices the soil quality improved so much.

[@williamstoker8027]

I go around when the leaves are bagged up on side of road and bring them home. Tilled them up in the garden! If you notice the darkness soil is in old timber. Under my tomatoes I have hay or straw. On top of my potatoes put straw or hay.

[@lindaspino4089]

I've been looking to do this for years. I'm mostly there but still working on it.

[@dionprather3589]

I agree ...no fertilizer it hasn't worked for me......love your information about nature....you've given me a push to start a garden.....thank you

[@Daniel-hr5qj]

Glad to see this video....been gardening like this for years. Always works. Watch nature.....she knows what she is doing!!

[@Gardenary]

right? I love that we can lean into that and not stress.

[@josephbeckford3957]

Getting back to nature! I like it! Thanks for your podcast. Will be following your lessons. PERSONALLY I don’t think your title is misleading……

[@Gardenary]

Thank you Joseph for watching!

[@gailthornbury291]

I’m lucky to have a large garden and compost in multiple ways- tumbler compost, pallet compost bins, sheet compost leaf mould, chicken run compost. It’s satisfying. I grow in pots, raised beds and in the ground beds. I’d rather have a lower yield from a home produced and free growing medium than a higher yield from expensively purchased products as it just makes economic sense to me. But of course I have the luxury of space and abundant naturally available resources to do this and it would be harder for some folks to do.

[@YasChosenChild_70]

Same exact thing happened to me& the first time it didn’t, it was PERFECT!! Not even 1 bug bug!!❤

[@Greenr0]

Thank you for the great information. You know another reason why plants of the same species grow better in close proximity? It is because they communicate with each other through their roots. Family matters. Same goes for plants.

[@BLVRZ]

Thank you for the wise input. Gonna get rid of my garden rows and do more companion and “no empty spaces” gardening 👍 blessings!

[@tbean2124]

Amen. I've never used fertilizer on my garden or house plants...partly bc I can't afford it, but also bc it's never jibed well with me that the plants NEED it or they won't grow...totally not true. I used miracle grow soil with my first 5 house plants...after that I realized miracle grow soil is crap. Dollar general soil is better than miracle grow! (Go ahead...ask me how I know 😅) So glad to see this video. I've been on the fence about doing permaculture gardening...this seals the deal for me, thanks! P.s...pesticides are TERRIBLE & totally unnecessary as well!!

[@Gardenary]

I hope this helps! I have loved trusting nature and leaning into natural processes.

[@Pinkychi305]

I spent years in the Caribbean, we had so much trees growing healthy around us with little to no effort. My mom would just throw seeds out the window and stuff grew lol she did intentionally plant a few different plants, but many of the fruits and vegetables plants were neglected yet grew very well lol the soil in a low populated, less polluted area makes gardening easy. I bought property in Florida a few weeks ago and the weather is great for gardening so I’m going to start a kitchen garden and see how it goes. I hope the natural soil is as good as the Caribbean 😆

[@CBReal1290]

Not convinced but confirmed that I'm on the right path.Thank you

[@cougarxs1977]

I use this method and love this video and the way you explain I have shared it with all my friends thank you ❤

[@Gardenary]

Thanks for sharing!

[@FM-ij7iu]

Love that you are exposing these crappy garden products filled with chemicals.

[@LG-qb3wk]

Can you do a video on the dangers of two of the most common herbicide active ingredients: Glyphosate (Roundup) and Aminopyralid (Grazon). If they are sprayed on hay that is eventually used in gardens or compost heaps, the soil absorbs it and weakens and kills the plants. It can stay for years.

[@bonbonsews9327]

I'd love to stop using chemicals on my roses. Maybe you have some tips? Anyway I plan to look into it because I totally agree with what you are saying and would like to do better.

[@jamesmartin8069]

roses love composted horse manure

[@ChavezDIY]

I subbed within the first three minutes. Thank you for making this video!

[@Gardenary]

Thanks for subscribing!

[@tuconexionlocal7516]

Mushroom compost is the best

[@Gardenary]

love it!

[@melodymcneil7892]

I was just wondering about mushroom compost. Can it be used on both vegetables and flowers?

[@deassepoesteracademie4261]

Yes, a layer of an inch does miracles. It also works as mulch in summer. It contains a lot of magnesium and calcium. Avoid it for plants that prefer acid compost.

[@aida087]

Is that mushrooms that you just throw in a compost bin by themselves, or do you mix it with something?

[@MyFocusVaries]

I've stopped using mushroom compost because I don't know what the mushroom industry has used in their growing process (for those who don't know, mushroom compost is the used up growing material after a batch of commercial mushrooms has grown). I've never seen organic mushroom compost available, but I would consider that if it were sold. If you do choose mushroom compost, don't use it exclusively. Also use other types of compost or organic amendments like alfalfa meal. Using a single amendment risks overloading your soil with certain components e.g. mushroom compost contains gypsum and is high in salts and is high alkaline. You need balance.

[@sundayadebayo8901]

God bless your wisdom and sincerity Ma'm.

[@Drtbyrd]

I have believed this from the start. Thank you for saying to me that I am right. What do you think about growing plants in water? I have grown some plants in water and have added the worm casting juice or some juice from compost to add nutrients.

[@DustyRay-x4i]

Dogs got in my garden last night and topped some of my pepper plants. Pretty low I must admit for this time of year. I still had to go prune my tomato plants after the dogs left.

[@ibrahimjuma4806]

I learnt quite a lot. However I stopped growing in raised beds due to slugs. I therefore just grow in pots tomatoes, bell peppers and Chillies which require liquid tomato feed.

[@hermanmason9635]

I got a whole lot of seeds for.my.next years garden but am gonna use this years garden for fertlizer for next year

[@kathleenfairbairn7144]

Adding compost in the garden is giving back what nature has given you.....a symbiotic relationship.

[@lorraineann5956]

Leave the leaves is my motto and I don't pull up weeds, these are my native plants. The bees and other pollinators love them. I compost all my kitchen scraps as well. I will use some fish emulsion from time to time. My garden is thriving and if something is not I remove it, compost it and try it again.

[@MAHMOUD_SALEM2]

Iam from Egypt and I would like to thank you so much