Building no-dig/no-till beds. BEDS.PATHS.EDGES

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Richard Perkins is a globally recognised leader in the field of Regenerative Agriculture and is the owner of Europe’s foremost example, Ridgedale Farm, Sweden. He is the author of the widely acclaimed manual Regenerative Agriculture, regarded as one of the most comprehensive books in the literature, as well as Ridgedale Farm Builds and Farm,Fish,Hunt,Pick,Bake.
His approach to no-dig market gardening and pastured poultry, as well as his integration of Holistic Management, Keyline Design and Farm-Scale Permaculture in profitable small-scale farming has influenced a whole new generation of farmers across the globe. Garnering more than 16 million views on his blog, and teaching thousands globally through his live training at the farm and online, Richard continues to inspire farmers all over the globe with his pragmatic no-nonsense approach to profitable system design.

[@victoriaman117]

Everyday videos like these from innovative farmers are going to help launch the localized farm movement we need around the world. Thank you for putting this into the universe!

[@micam.1136]

"Optimizing" - this made me smile, because its so Richard! ❤

[@irishcottagerenovation9900]

Absolutely brilliant, instantly prepared beds on a large scale. Doing something similar on a small scale so thank you for sharing. I believe your doing a course in Southern Ireland soon which is where I have just moved to so hopefully will get see more hands on. Thanks

[@helenlatimer9230]

Much easier than digging. Love no dig that’s how I garden now especially as I have a disability. Thank you and thanks to Charles Dowding the knowledge of no dig.

[@fiendeng]

This was excellent information and a fantastic project to watch! The real testament to this way of growing, is that a brand new just built today farm looks just like Richard's four or more years later 😆👍

[@elwood212]

I’d LOVE to have the budget and Perfect land to follow this process. Farming this way looks so luxurious. A pleasure to watch.🙏💕🇦🇺

[@Moon_Cricket_Stinks]

You don't need to go out the gate like this. I recommend starting with just one bed, it's very cheap to fund, and easy to manage. Work that bed for a season and the profits buy your a 2nd bed. Keep doing this and you'll only have to pay for one bed out of your pocket. Plus you'll gain experience easily, and be able to correct mistakes cheap and easy. It's heartbreaking when you realize you made very expensive mistakes. You can do this! Remember, buy just 1 bed. Let the profits fund the rest. 🙂

[@ashleycampbell8767]

I know, I’m in the Ozarks and my land is hard and full of rocks. I can’t imagine just sticking a shovel in the raw ground lol.

[@permieforlife]

I live in a semi arid, hot-dry-windy summer area. We get 22 +/- centimeters of rain, usually Oct to April, then nothing for summer. I lay down deep mulch around all the plants in March or April to retain as much winter moisture that I can - wood chip in the orchards, straw in the veg beds. I even have straw mulch in the decorative pots I have. Evaporation has decreased dramatically. I have drip irrigation that I run when the soil is dry at about 3 inches down, and deep water less frequently because my soil is now retaining more moisture. I don't have a market garden, but perhaps this will work for them for those months when water is scarce. Also, the farm looks lovely. Hope we can see an update later in the season.

[@nickfosterxx]

good to know. i'd love to find a channel that goes into no-dig in more arid environments.

[@dovh49]

@@nickfosterxx Look up Ruth Stout gardening and Core gardening. She would do 8 inches of hay for her garden and after a 2 or 3 years there is so much moisture and nutrients that you don't need to fertilize or add any amendments. I think she would add one amendment when she planted, I forget what it was though.

[@mikeybyrne5806]

Pretty much the exact same method I use as well. I use a wooden template for the beds, a bucket for the woodchip etc. just don’t use machinery because I’m doing it on allotment plots and not small farms. It’s time consuming and expensive at the beginning but you save so much time with regards to weeding that it makes it worthwhile a hundred times over. Not to mention anything you grow will grow really well.

[@jagsmith252]

This is an amazing way of doing no dig. I am really digging it👏

[@petersterling5334]

This is Fantastic to Watch all the Beds being Created quite quickly really by a Very Motivated team being advised by One of the Top experts in the World! Great Work!

[@rnupnorthbrrrsm6123]

That little piece of machinery is amazing !!! This whole video is so satisfying, it’s a dream for me :)

[@ADAWC]

Amazing! You made it so simple to prep!!! That would save a lot of time! LOVE to see real work in ACTION! 👍👍👍

[@razor_beamz]

Love the eye for clean and beautiful look with sharp edges. Makes it look a lot more appealing and advertise able!

[@michaelheins9808]

So smart using a bed template. Really like the efficiency of this approach!

[@FinnBearOfficial]

All right Richard. Bought the book. Now hurry up and send it so I can present it in our weekly chat on youtube. I'll be the talk of the town

[@dougreynolds2813]

that was sweet to watch, we'll be building our beds much like that, only with recycled boxes; your beds looked terrific, the wood frame is not something i've been doing but i sure see the benefit. i'm making a frame, i think i'll make the beds 20 ft long; start making that standard on our small farm. thanks for the instruction and the insiration.

[@KerryG-SA]

Thanks for teaching us about air pruning. Great concept.

[@pereinarolsson3928]

Lovely people - lovely job done - love you all - live well

[@carolewarner101]

WOW! That's amazing to get all that in in a matter of days... Fantastic!

[@rodneydlamini7364]

Im impressed with your patience in teaching others the nodig method,Richard,I like your videos

[@valeriehorner5854]

This is such a great video that I can use to show people how simple it is to start a garden. Thank you. What a beautiful Scottish farm too.

[@gajamount243]

Swedish

[@tbmike23]

The Final Countdown playing in the background. "I see you're a man of culture as well." +1 like from me

[@Fishn69]

Thanks Richard love you’re videos. This year I grew my largest onions with this method. My other beds couldn’t even compete they just were hard to keep wet.

[@trabzor]

Hi ! Love workflow and optimizing movements, I'd really love dedicated videos on this! On harvesting different vegetables for example would be top notch :) Great video as usual, Im so looking forward to set up my farm like that :) :)

[@fouroakfarm]

That loader is awesome, would love to have one. We have skid steers mainly in the US and this seems better

[@dwighthires3163]

I love to follow your work but this was about as fascinating as any.

[@lindaferguson593]

Love your method of making a frame for the formation of your beds!!

[@BernardMcCarty]

Eighty beds in two days! Amazing! No dig rocks :)

[@anasazirose]

With 4 men, heavy equipment and delivered materials, all goes quick.

[@chrisgait5533]

Inspirational! If I were 25 years younger.. I built my raised beds in the polytunnel because it's on rock, we left the end of the frame open so we could wheelbarrow straight in and dump. When we were near the end we closed up the frame and shovelled the final few barrow loads. Thanks for yet again another amazing video.

[@oby-1607]

Very very nice. Would love to see future updates and how this is maintaining.

[@kenyonbissett3512]

It’s great to see a different approach to the same product. From here on out, they will need to use wheel barrows. But if I remember correctly, next year is just a top dressing of compost. And by next year they will have mucho worms working everything for free. Best wishes to a successful growing year!

[@karltraunmuller7048]

Looks super-tidy, very nice 👏🏻👏🏻

[@promagick]

That's amazing! How long will these pass between beds last? How do you maintain the passes?

[@DanielOlivierArgyle]

The tilt shift drone footage is really cool

[@mdouble100]

Thanks for sharing this. This is a very interesting method and has many possible applications. It should work nice here in Ontario Canada where we're in zone 4-5

[@Dutlerveili]

Fantastic, thank you for the brilliant job you're doing. ... I just do not like cardboard, as it may have lots of bad stuff in it. I was looking for an alternative material for quite a long time now and finaly decided to give the mulchpaper of magaverde a try. I don't know, if it will really work, but it's worth a try (it's only 40m² beds in total) ... maybe, this helps others, that are looking for an alternative as well.

[@porkchopexpress6969]

How did it work?

[@Dutlerveili]

@@porkchopexpress6969 could have been better, but because I first removed the top 5cm with the spade and combined it with a thick layer of compost, it worked ok.

[@Tiarra1122]

Thanks a lot for this video and time. Interested in understanding on the cost of creating this no-till bed.

[@jeshurunfarm]

Respect from Africa 🇿🇦

[@timmcintyre3066]

As well as the cost of compost theres the woodchip too. Clean chip mulch retails for at lease $75/cube in Oz. And if you make your own compost and do your mulch then you'd better start adding in the cost of your labour.

[@kenrehill8775]

You can’t beat an avant techno, great machines.

[@conan4178]

Richard, I love this concept. We are implementing this in our gardens. My question is what do you do with the beds in the winter and then to prepare for spring? Thanks

[@VanillaAttila]

Cover them with non woven landscape cloth

[@VanillaAttila]

Or plant winter rye ?

[@DB-pm2vy]

Plant field beans, kale and spinach. Beds should never be empty. Protection may be necessary but the soil will benefit from being used.

[@hannaparker5434]

I wish you were near miltonkeynes as would love your advice and help to start a garden! Finding suitable ways to grow from my powerchair is a nightmare!

[@Gene-kl1br]

Depending on crop wanted . This be great for some . And it have to stick to this area for lettuce etc for years to come .

[@sarkamarova6195]

i made yesterday no dig bed for potatoes with Avant too :D best greetings from Czech republic.

[@tamakoa-homestead]

This was really great and insightful, thank you 🌻

[@vanessapalmer9714]

Thank you for your great video. I shall be following your other ones that’s for sure.

[@georgebalaur]

Great job, Richard! Could you tell us, please, where do you get that immense quantity of woodchips from?

[@colegreenleaf9791]

I use a wood chipper and dead trees

[@jasonhatfield4747]

I love the simplicity of this method and I have used it for starting beds in our small family garden. But, on a large scale, it is very expensive to source so much compost and soil and hard to find quality stuff. I also don't think such a thin layer of cardboard would be enough to suppress weeds and perennial grasses here. I'm starting a 1/4 acre market garden this year and I'm torn between this method and the more traditional method of first tarping, then working the soil with a tiller/broad fork/harrow and adding a thin layer of compost after that. Then going with a no-dig approach after the beds are established by just adding compost each year and minimal surface tilling for bed prep.

[@kileymcnamee4979]

Brilliant idea making a form!!

[@everglowab]

Super interesting! Do they have a yt-channel of their own? It would be interesting to follow their journey 😊 Thanks for a great video!

[@nicohelpdesk435]

Hi. Thank you very much for this video. I may have failed it in the vid, but I'm curious about the surface / price / number of person / hours done to prepare the 80 beds? Thanks ! :)

[@PaulLadendorf]

What do you do if your new beds have been tilled but you want to do no till? Seems like covering with tarp and letting the weed seeds germinate and die would be the best bet. Any insights are appreciated.

[@detyelram2819]

I love everything about this

[@gm2407]

I wonder how it is coping with the extreme summer heat this year.

[@riverunner9978]

Amazing! Great job!

[@gallegoferro1]

Hello Everybody, hello Richard Your work is amazing. I have been working with your system for 3 years already. Working with mini orchards for restaurants. Now i would like to create a bigger orchard I would like to simplify the preparation of the beds My idea is to make a big bed ( a big blanket) of 15 cm of compost with a tractor. And make it without wood chips paths. I believe that you can still walk in the compost. And I believe preparation can be much more easy and quick. When the compost start to be more humid, then I can add some wood chips if I need it, but weeds will be all above the big blanket. I have never tried, but I would like to try. Have you ever tried? Thanks in advance, Lucas

[@tinaantila1968]

Could you do this with sunflowers?? I started a small sunflower farm, and I hate all the weeding that needs to be done. I absolutely love this video, thank you, from Canada ❤️

[@SAGFGIMOB]

Richard, amazing work? I have a question: how many metric cubics of woodchips and compost was used on this 80 raised beds? Thanks in advance

[@melanieallen3655]

Beautiful work!! Love it!!I will do the same but with a small vegie garden bed4the frame..😁lifechanging video! Cheers from Australia!

[@valeriehasler3699]

Thanks for sharing - inspiring! Have you considered peer free soil (lower environmental impact)? Would you recommend soil testing prior to starting in order to calculate how much/what kind of compost is appropriate? Looking forward to following the project

[@carolinavazquez1292]

How long is each section? And down here in south mississippi USA should I build the beds up higher cause when it rain it rains?

[@jimjustjim976]

Did he say compost on the bottom level and soil on top?

[@sebastianlomonaco6149]

Nice work. My question for you is...what machinery will you use when its time to top up the soil now that every row is tight together?

[@paulmarcellus8409]

Did you, at an earlier time, establish your raised beds by using an 18” bucket/excavator to create the isles. The excavated soils on top of the adjacent bed and the band of wood chips placed in your shallow ditch. Someone used such a system and put it on KZbin, but I now cannot find it! Lament. Might it have been you, prior to establishing surface beds as this video shows? Can you or anyone reading this help in answering this query. Thanks

[@courtneyheron1561]

Great work! 👍😊 Thanks for sharing Richard! 🙏

[@waterdogherbfarm2652]

how would you do this on a very hard and pure clay surface? thank you for your amazing wisdom kind sir.

[@knycol08]

Good video... but if you have your farm I the tropic zona that sistem don't work...

[@hammock753]

Charles Dowding would be proud!

[@simbo57]

Did it work? Is there a follow up video?

[@amatonasturzio3806]

How many yards of compost and woodchips were used to make this beautiful garden?

[@freddysart4005]

How long before you can start planting deep rooted plants like tomato plants. Need to get throught the cardboard.

[@songweaver6076]

Great Project! Thanks for posting

[@LarisSurvival]

Great video! Thank you!

[@growingwithfungi]

Richard I would love your feedback on my beds. I know you are super busy. its ridgedale inspired+ 😁🌱💚🙏✨

[@shaneswing2016]

Outstanding! Great to see the process. Loved the frame. Have you ever dealt with mugwart, Richard? It has defeated all attempts to kill it off with cardboard and wood chips. It's one hell of an impressive weed. I may have to flame weed it.

[@CarletonGruger]

Its a medicinal herb harvest it and sell. Nothing better than volunteer profits. Its all about context chenge it in one way and a problem becomes a solution. Thetr are no weeds in my garden only solutions in all 200 species growing.

[@shaneswing2016]

@@CarletonGruger I'll consider that. I'm into foraging and have read that about this plant. Have you personally done this with this particular plant?

[@danielhayes137]

Is there anywhere i can see what this place looks like now? And some pros and cons?

[@jacobbrizammito7187]

For the love of pete. 1/3 the soil volume was relocated moved in from a peat bog.

[@anabellepine9910]

Super interesting! Thanks for sharing 💚

[@antoniobertibio]

Hi Richard, I wanted to ask you the weight of the corrugated cardboard you put under the beds.

[@davidfoster-smith211]

Great project.

[@hallyaponno9698]

❤️ I wish I could be there 🙏

[@tihomirmezlichev5734]

I just made my first beds now . Do i need to cover them with plastic to protect them from the snow and the heavy rain in the winter ?!?

[@meem666]

What is the size of one bed, please, and how much compost is needed for it? Thank you.

[@Romanesquire]

I still think aeration is important before adding compost/amendments. That tractor is compacting the soil.

[@callyscraftycorner2463]

Very nice, would saw dust work instead of wood chips for the walkway?

[@razpet20]

I tried this the same way, but it wasn't that simple for me. The strong weeds like Ground elder, Cirsium and Dandellions all broke through the cardboard as it got moist, and I spent a great deal of the year just trying to stay on top of them, plucking them out. But their roots are quite persistent, so I did this the whole year round and it's still not killed yet in most places. I am thinking of either digging everything - only one time job, but a big one, and clearing all the roots out, or laying the entire design again, this time maybe with 2 or even 3 layers of cardboard. I will have a hard time acquiring that much carboard, as I can't find it in rolls around here in Slovenia, and I can only acquire so many sheets from the shops in one trip, since I have only a small trunk in my car (last year I had a lot of cardboard already in the storage). So I'm more keen on option 1, even tho it's not no-dig. What would you suggest?

[@tzenophile]

I would till with a tractor very early Spring (yes, not exactly no-dig, but effective and quick), then till once more, let it lie for 5-6 weeks, and then remove the remaining strong weeds manually, there should ideally not be that many of them per sqm. Then put on cardboard etc.

[@mmccrownus2406]

Just cut and drop them to improve the soil. It is a fetish to worry so much about a few weeds They are there to improve the soil by bringing up calcium etc

[@mrThoreKarlsson]

Hope to se the result after this dry summer :)

[@jamesrichey]

Simply amazing.

[@browntownorganics2172]

Very cool system! Thanks for the video!

[@srqpdq6697]

where do you get the woodchips?

[@petesmit33]

Great if you can source the compost and woodchip.........

[@foreversettled9144]

Thank you. Blessings.

[@MartinBaePedersen]

Brilliant! Those rolls of cardboard, where to buy for OK money? (Sweden based)

[@MBP89]

Excuse me if I may I would like to ask a question. The tool that you use to make that trench, that flow channel, where is it located? Does anyone know what it's called and what it is? I could use it very much. Thank you and good farmer year to all and sundry

[@Paul-ow8qv]

What is the quality of the cardboard used in grams per m2 and it’s thickness in mm?

[@suewoodfield6850]

Looks great. How much compost, soil and woodchip did you use to make these beds?

[@nickfosterxx]

good question, seconded. looks like he did a fabulously accurate job of calculating quantities!

[@paul42592]

My best guess...10m x 0.75m x 10cm =0.75m3 per bed times 80 beds is 60m3 say 50/50 soil compost is 30m3 of each. He mentions 6 bags of compost per bed, where I am they typically come in 50L bags, so 300L or 0.3m3 so a little shy of half a single bed volume. Between beds is (approx by eye) 0.25m so 1/3 of beds, so 20m3 plus the pathways, say 1m x 130m x 10cm =13m3, grand total 33m3

[@suewoodfield6850]

@@paul42592 Thanks

[@tzenophile]

@@paul42592 Good estimate, but it looks like less than half is compost; I'd say 1/3 at most.

[@daankrijger997]

so does the cardboard keep the grass out and also let the roots of the veggies enter the soil throught the cardboard?

[@buenhabito961]

2 Problems I found in paralell S 56° (Buenos Aires) 1 is de Cynodon dactilon grass is too srtong rixome and go true de cardboard in a feuw days. 2 are ants in wood chips... they love it and seatle down under itś... bouth are hard to deal, with out poisons

[@happykacule]

How do you manage birds scratching for worms and messing everything up!?

[@Kamurirubey13]

How long would we have to wait before transplanting