A New Garden Part 5: Summertime Update

It was the hottest June on record, followed by the wettest July in many years. So how has the garden fared - and what has become of the wheat I planted out?
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[@maximusironthumper]

I didn't just forget the name during filming, I forgot to add it during editing too! It's the organic version of the variety 'Mulika'.

[@TheCornish123456]

I like the fact the auto generated subtitles thinks your tractor noise is applause 😂

[@christopherkise]

Hellooooo welcome back to the xxxxx 🎉🎉🎉🎉❤❤. Thank you!! It is so nice to hang out with you. Better for us than for you, but it is so nice of you to take us along. ❤

[@ThyCorylus]

Re-viewing this, I reckon you could reconfigure an old three point linkage attachment with a simple welded plate arrangment to mound and pack the potato mounds. I'm happy to draw something up if you find a cheap donor. Cheers

[@b-lazr5126]

I would enjoy some videos on a pond installation. I think it would be a key part of sustainability on your property.

[@Farlig69]

That type of soaker hose is best actually planted in the soil or under bark, then it lasts for years :P

[@Crina-LudmilaCristeaAuthor]

Have you seen the Back to Eden documentary with Paul Gautschi? It's available on youtube. He grows potatoes under his apple trees (also looking very cool because of his pruning) in his orchard. He's been gardening with woodchips for years and his soil is super fertile. You might enjoy that. I know I am. I look forward to seeing more of your garden. Take care!

[@grumpysprout3505]

Good to see the chickens helping with the hoeing 😊

[@henrikstorm170]

Oh the joy, and danger of free ranging chickens :o) If there is somewhere they are not supposed to and dig, thats where they will bee.

[@Bret4207]

This is why if you really want to produce your own food, you have to over plant a bit. If nothing else, it's trade goods- except zucchini!!! Around here this time of year you have to lock your car up or you may find it full of zukes people are trying to get rid of...or so the story goes!!! Good job Max!

[@mumblbeebee6546]

Amazing work, and respect for staying positive in the face of various adversity!!

[@DaveAppleton]

What's left in the poly tunnel is peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and a Chicken. 😂

[@shredderchris8759]

Hi Max, just chatting a friend who's a keen horticulturalist, and she mentioned that your taller wheat may just be leggy rather than more developed, as a consequence of being partially shaded. The taller plants are potentially worse off due to committing energy to stretching towards the light....

[@stevepettifer4896]

I was wondering that too - I understand wheat has been specifically bred to be shorter in the stalk these days to ensure maximum energy to the crop, and also it's less waste at the other end.

[@mikeyyoyo6464]

Jeez! That was a dynamic video 😂, shipload of work in there! Digging the hat though 😂👍

[@peterjohncooper]

My grandfather was a blacksmith with a small holding behind the forge. This is exactly as I remember it. Except for a sty with two pigs in it. When we visited on Sundays it was weeding and cutting back the nettles.

[@clivewilkinson5394]

Have you thought of dustbins around the garden to collect extra rain water I use the ones with the snap over handles. I turn the lid upside down mark where the handles go over and cut those bits out. Let's you lock the lid on. Then in the centre I drilled a hole the size of the water can hose rose where it fits the can, smallest diameter. Rose part catching rain keeps the bits out. I can collect a considerable amount of water in the bins. To pump from one place to another I use a pump on a cordless drill.

[@mrshaneyt4356]

I had potatoes and tomatoes outside this year . Spuds were absolutely terrible as far as yield but the tomatoes which I had in hanging baskets have been truly amazing & although almost done now gave me tons of fruit. That’s a great garden you have and I’m very jealous . Lots of great stuff to look forward to gobbling up for sure and I’m looking forward to seeing what you do with your wheat 👍

[@Themrjakecollins]

Rubylicious do really well outside too! They're my favourite.

[@chrishamilton-wearing3232]

If you want a quick fix for water storage until you get your pond dug out, you could use an above ground "swimming pool ". I say swimming pool but they are really just glorified paddling pools. Put some old carpet down to prevent the base getting punctured. I will be doing this in the coming autumn. If you get a 3m x 2m x 0.8m deep pool for example you could store over 4500 litres. Much cheaper than buying IBC tanks. Make a wiggly tin roof with a bit of guttering and hey presto a very effective rain water harvest and storage solution. Put a cover over it to stop it going green.

[@alskjflaksjdflakjdf]

When I have limited water I resort to watering with a bucket. While it sucks to do, it really helps you focus on giving each plant just enough water to stay healthy until the next rain comes. And when it comes to wheat, I don't bother watering it. As long as it doesn't die, the lack of water affects the height quite a bit but the yield not as much.

[@niallguiver2861]

Max, Are you aware of Charles Dowding's KZbin channel? His no dig, compost mulch once a year method could possibly save you a lot of work and keep those weeds at bay. He seems to get fantastic crops, and his side by side dig/no dig test beds seem to show it's possible to get more produce for less work.

[@chrisharding5783]

Pink clover has great medicinal properties.

[@JustSOMedia]

Hi Max, have you heard of or thought of trying Charles Dowdings no dig method? It might be the solution to the weeds outcompeting the potatoes. I've tried aubergines just the once and like you I put them into the same tub as the tomatoes. We hardly got any fruit and what we did get were very small. I wondered if it was that they needed more space or if they needed a lot of feeding. I haven't tried them again. It'll be interesting to see how many and what size aubergines you get when harvest time comes around. Grow on.

[@garrigproductions]

You have smart hens!, they know worms will be uncovered by your activity...Hens that eat worm produce the best eggs!!!...voila!!!!!!...this is nature at it'd best.!...

[@johnshaw4140]

Very good idea to dig a nice big pond , ideal for water storage , plus the wildlife and particularly the wild birds will love you for it , might be handy to chuck a few trout in there too

[@landrover8020]

If grass is going to be a issues you can use UK yellow rattle plant around November time

[@bchant19]

I think its looking pretty fantastic to be fair Max OK weather's been extremely strange totally topsy-turvy but your gonna have more veg than you can handle

[@twocvbloke]

Migh tbe time to plumb in some more IBCs for water capture, saves digging a pond and keeps unwanted bugs & plantlife out that could potentially make problems later down the line... :)

[@matthewwakeham2206]

The chickens are some of my favourite characters in Max's story! If you search around there are some good value rain water tanks, circa £1250 for 10'000 litres.

[@Chingfordassociates]

I remember when you planted them out, time flies!

[@daz.j]

lil tip for your pumpkins sit them on a pad of straw stops them going weird on the bottom

[@alanargent5422]

Great video as always. Something I did, and can't recommend enough, is to have my greenhouse plants in the ground with ollas. Mine are just plant pots connected with some pipe and tank connectors. They're filled off the water butt overflow so the whole greenhouse pretty much looks after itself.

[@lazylad8544]

Its not been a disaster your doing good for a terrible year of weather. I think you ll get some decent food. Stick with it your doing ok👍👍

[@kevinsimpson7114]

Great job Max - you can only do as well as the weather and pests let you!👍🏻

[@skaraborgcraft]

I spent weeks watering spuds, but last few weeks have been wet up here in Sweden, but bumper crop. Some years are a right-off.

[@jackcrane6668]

I watch anther uk S/W based farmer on KZbin, and he has also said about how awful this year has been which has mostly Been down to the weather. Thanks for the update max

[@LittlePetieWheat]

I would like to suggest working on your gardening skills. Find someone who is good at growing potatoes, and ask them what they do. A good way to learn is by asking others who are successful. I managed to grow over 300 lbs, despite the weather, but I have been doing it for 20+ years. Two tips: i) Water in the centre of the hilled double row, with two watering cans (simultaneously - you need volume), when it is dry, daily if necessary. Water is an essential plant nutrient, especially when the potatoes are starting to flower. ii) Get on top of your weeding. The hoe is a powerful tool when used regularly. Spend the first part of any gardening session hoeing weeds. I particularly like the Swoe for bed weeding. I like you, so will give you a free bonus tip. Plant each tuber into a double handful of mixed compost, chicken pellets, and blood, fish, and bone at a ratio of 2:1:1.

[@Andyb2379]

I gave up my allotment this year as all my crop failed this year. I’m in Sussex & everything’s just rotted away. So I thought bollox to it.

[@TheRealBigfeet]

Well done Max on a lovely garden, it’s a shame the weather hasn’t cooperated this year, however I think you’ve done really well especially with all your other projects that you’ve shown us. I found the oil cloth tarp extremely interesting. Thank you for a whole host of informative videos. May I ask you if there’s any further developments on Project Awesome, I realise being built on a Soviet truck, may not be P C at the moment but it does have European heart.

[@maximusironthumper]

I've done a few updates for patrons but there won't be a public video for a while. The project is still ongoing but I'm concentrating on finishing Project Kermit first.

[@chriswills4064]

Be interesting to see what kind of loaf you can make.

[@caskwith]

Our tomatoes have suffered this year from the cold, wet weather. The plants are not growing as much and the crop is smaller and more watery/less flavourful than usual. Luckily there is still more than we can eat but usually we are giving them away we have so many, not this year. Butternut squash are doing very poorly though, I thought they would like the rain but it seems not. Plenty of leaves and healthy growth but the fruits keep rotting off, so far nothing vaguely edible. Did much better last year in the heatwave.

[@RSLtreecare]

Hi Max, I have not been able to view for a while. It looks very good, i grow up on a farm. Our garden had my father's food section. It part supported us. The main farm crew did very well. It looks like you are making a real difference. It's been very mixed weather. I no of two farming families, we get our Sunday weeks food from them and they have said it's not been an easy year. Keep going, it's looking good.

[@dustymiller7758]

Great entertainment, your crop is looking fantastic.

[@catsmother4556]

The Uk weather has defiantly been tops turvey this year. All that considered the garden is doing great.

[@moiragoldsmith7052]

The tomatoes and potatoes have been poor this year it seems. Your garden looks great though. Keep at it👍.

[@dragontattooee]

Anyone I know into gardening all have been having similar problems to you, Ireland has had very similar weather to you. I have been looking into starting growing myself but was recommended to plant in barrels as my garden is a reclaimed lime quarry, was told it'd be easier in the long run

[@Dominic.Minischetti]

The weather is very strange this year, but on the whole, you got a great lot of food growing! If haven’t tried yet, harvest the zucchini flowers. They are delicious dipped in a batter and fried!

[@jonnoMoto]

My potatoes, peas and courgettes also took a hit this year. Courgettes got powdery mildew in July and it all went downhill from there. Tomatoes are really late. It was looking so good up until mid June, then July happened. Sweetcorn turned out really well though

[@edgeeffect]

Yeah, we had exactly the same courgette problem.

[@bbjunkie]

Tomatoes seem to be a problem right across Europe due to the weather, prices are rocketing worldwide.

[@Julianmetcalfe]

Im in Australia . May i suggest you build a concrete tank. 2 people needed. Reinforcement is by mesh.galvinsied is best. Stand mesh on its side in a circle and start plastering from inside and one person on outside. . Building say 6 ins thick on ground level up to about 3 ins at the top. White wash on outside and put concrete floor in later along with dont forget outlet . Its actually not thR hard to do.. i live in Brisbane on town water but have over 16000 litres of water for toilets and garden . Love your show but where is land rover gone. Cheers

[@gigi3242]

Given the weather, I think the garden looks lovely.

[@MrMannakin]

I've just added a couple of water butts (plenty of rain to fill them!) and my outdoor tomatoes and chillis are doing ok but not ready for harvesting yet.

[@livingoffgridinscotland]

Funny feeling I’ve already watched this on your patreon! How’s the landrover getting on mores the point?

[@martp197]

Always at the mercy of the weather. Is it possible to dig a well on your land Max?

[@maximusironthumper]

It's on my list! I dug one here once early on (by hand) but it wasn't deep enough for year round water - but I have a digger now...

[@markdebcam]

Max, looking good. I would recommend getting the potatoes in early next year, just put a fleece on if frost is forecast. They should still produce a harvest. I have just planted some for a Xmas crop in the poly tunnel. Thanks for the content . Top notch.

[@venenareligioest410]

Now August 2023 in Britain and due to the rain and cold weather tomato blight has destroyed all outside tomato plants 🤬🤬🤬

[@veronicabalfourpaul2288]

It looks good!

[@jonny7491]

I can’t wheat for the next instalment.

[@ravenmad9225]

I'll keep trying growing my own produce. Though up to now it's been hard work,expensive and very disappointing for the results I've got.

[@MadHuegetts]

awsome m8

[@InfernalPasquale]

Wonderful :) It has been an unusual year for gardening, some of my things have exploded, some have completely failed, some have grown huge but zero flowers/fruit, and many have been just meh...

[@lukeseddon4892]

Have you ever thought of using the three sisters method? (Squash, corn and beans all together) or would that not work with your nitrogen fixing rotational method? Just a thought… i’m no farmer.

[@lefzer7713]

well done Max...unfortunately,the weather was not an allie this year...

[@dbowl7983]

Just getting into gardening myself and tried potatoes in grow bags for the first time. When i got back from holiday the plant looked amazing and had really taken off, like a jungle tbh. Then the next week after huge amounts of rain they withered off and died so i thought it was harvest time. Well needless to say there wasnt enough from 6 grow bags to make 1 meal for my family of 4 hehe. Dunno what happened they were all just littler pebbles. I'm gonna blame the weather too 🙂 Oh and this was in N. ireland Better luck next time i guess.

[@alskjflaksjdflakjdf]

Assuming they had consistent moisture, your potatoes may have died off because they quickly consumed the nutrients within reach of the roots. If you don't need the space, when you dig up the first plant and see only tiny potatoes you can leave the rest in the ground for a few more weeks. Sometimes when the tops partially die off the roots are still living and storing energy in the potatoes. I live in a colder climate and we often leave the potatoes in the ground until after the first snow or hard frost of the year, with pretty good results. I will also add that potatoes don't seem to like huge amounts of rain. It seems like when their roots get too wet they don't like it.

[@johnshaw4140]

Enjoy your curly kale and brocolli

[@johncochrane2707]

I follow the farm we get our vegetables from on Twitter (or X as it is now laughingly called) and indeed it is has been a real struggle for them this year with too little and then too much rain. Your crops are looking pretty good to be honest. Nice video.

[@AdeJohnson]

San Marzano are the best for pizza sauces mate 🤌

[@edgeeffect]

We had our first go a zucchini this year... we had a few but terrible problems with the leaves going mouldy.

[@JezzmundTutu]

You had a clone wondering around Whitby yesterday…

[@maximusironthumper]

Spooky :-)

[@clownguy]

Fancy renting me your old hut? I'm handy!

[@katmandu8208]

👍🏻🍻

[@rodden1953]

Time for some agrovoltaics .

[@customfreak81]

Wouldn't mind a little more info on the timed watering device,is it battery powered? Would be just the thing for the greenhouse when we go on holiday (luckily we have a decent water collection and storage system set up already.)

[@maximusironthumper]

Yes it has an internal battery charged via a USB port. The channel Atomic Shrimp recently did a couple of in depth videos on a similar device. I got mine from ebay - there are many sellers - search for 'automatic drip USB'.

[@Andyb2379]

Max can you show your off grid water system?

[@maximusironthumper]

I've made several in depth videos on it for patrons, I do intend to make a public video if/when I perfect it.

[@truthandtranslucent]

It seems like you need a commune

[@bigbraincontent]

needs mulch mate

[@oblioi]

:o)❤

[@Gooders478]

If you ;eave anything rubbery lying around outside, rodents nibble it. Rats chew though my welli9es if I leave them outside and squirrels chew through the rubber hose to my gas,

[@FlyingShotsman]

Why anyone in their right mind would plant, husband, harvest or eat -- Lord, forgive me for even typing its name -- bell peppers is utterly beyond my comprehension. For the good of humanity and the pleasure of God Almighty, every bell pepper plant on earth should be razed to the ground, macerated into a pulp, fed into a blast furnace, its memory cursed, the abomination of its evil taught to our children and the earth where it stood salted and abandoned for all time. Alternatively, I could just go on not eating the hateful things. I'll do that.

[@Youchubeswindon]

Whilst the thresher that the guy in Glous used was awesome, if you are happy to take the heads off the wheat, you can use drill powered spinning chains in a bucket to break them up. Then have a look at Real Seeds who made an open source vacuum powered seed cleaner, which looks like it would be awesome for winnowing. Scythe Cymru would be a great pitstop for a new technique when harvesting, or you might have an opportunity to make a sickle out of a rasp for another video! Mr Chickadee has a couple of awesome American Scythe videos, excellent example of technique but slightly different sharpening technique to our Austrian Pattern Scythes. Cutting in and after good weather, and even drying under cover because you have a small yield would avoid the need to make field drying sheaves. My mini-farm is looking closer to becoming reality, and these techniques are what I would call appropriate technology for someone like you or I will be, hobby cereal growers. Simple low cost technology, enough to automate beyond pure hand power, but not enough machine to cause resource implications. I'm glad that I have financial support to cope with poor harvests, it would be miserable to rely on an abysmal weather year to carry you through to the next year. Following along, learning from your success' and more importantly mistakes (no blame at all) gives us all the knowledge on better, thankyou; although I did learn the lesson on soaker hoses last year, its not just the cheap ones that fail like that, I nearly got a season out of it, expensive but lesson learnt, micro drip is so much better!

[@Youchubeswindon]

Oh, to add, I am sure I saw someone on the Lehmans Channel using a hand grinder (like a sausage mincer) and at the end had 2 rubber plates with a decreasing size channel from the middle to rub the seed and dehull it. Just found it Lehmans - Removing hulls from grain

[@venenareligioest410]

The climate alarmists seem to have overlooked the fact that ‘global’ warming means - worldwide, not ‘everywhere but Britain’ 🥸