Design the perfect garden EASY

[@katherinecadwallader5418]

I’m setting up a new garden this year. I just bought a small house on a small lot. So more gardening is in my future!

[@sandybottomhomestead]

That’s so exciting!

[@tonipollack5021]

Look into No Dig Gardening.

[@lweddle5]

Love it, Ben said, "save your breath".

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Got to be direct

[@54cal54]

Good morning. It's great to see your son out helping you and your garden which is looking good with the expansion. I seen a great idea as someone set up a couple raised beds made from old guardrails. Got a new neighbor an Amish family moved in next door so hoping to learn some old style gardening and canning knowledge. It's been to wet here for anything so im just getting the tractor and tiller ready for spring. There's talk of a polar vortex bringing some cold air and possible snow accumulations down through the country, have to get prepared for that. Wishing everyone a happy New Year and have a great day.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

I just saw that. Looks like it might get cold again.

[@robbinhartman4361]

Built two new garden beds yesterday. 2x8 and an 4x8. Almost set for Spring

[@brianjones1679]

Lookin good Ben, I'm right up the road from you in the sandhills. This year I'm adding a new 4 x 8 bed dedicated to asparagus and I chose the variety UC157.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Sounds great!

[@jeffengland1862]

Jeff here. Clean up time in the garden for me. Removing a few dead plants and stakes. Man those peppers lived forever. Clearing off cabbage area. Now just 2 small rows of cabbage left. They are close to being ready. And yes. We are going to get some real cold weather in January. Snow and cold. Clearing out pots,flats, and anything left out. They can become trip hazards when it snows!! Garden is empty. I do have some traps down. And they are weeds too. Just don’t know how much I am going to do for spring garden. I do have some intermediate day onions already up and looking good. Candy variety. I did not start cabbage last year until January 7th. That was good timing for my area. Broccoli was a little later. Last is still working on firewood. Takes a lot of time but I love it!!! So busy busy! Keep going and enjoy your garden!

[@rookiegardeningjournal]

A garden is a friend that you can visit anytime. Thank you for this video! ❤🌱

[@loved_by_above]

Layering new beds with chicken poo, straw and layers, as you suggested during live, interactive post... with 4-5 mos. for it to work its thing, (since started in December and looking at some March plantings)..will possibly use tarp suggestion to add to the "cook" towards good, quality soil with compost and raised bed soil. Greenhouse grows are coming along nicely, along with my saved items to baby through the cold temps....as well as indoor items. Ordered new seeds online to add to existing stash to keep up to snuff. Have purchased book now on seed saving for future that will be utilized. Trying major new-trys, this year. Very excited how it is all unfolding. Luv ya, and appreciate your posts, Ben!

[@sandybottomhomestead]

I’m looking forward to hearing how it all works out!

[@gregfields1877]

i am in the process of getting my greenhouse ready, I will grow between 7 and 8 thousand vegetables plants this year. some of the plants ae for my garden and the rest will be sold at the Farmers Market, I am a retired educator where i taught plants science, agronomy, and horticulture. I wanted to thank you for the videos you post. Teaching the basic is the most important.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Glad to do it as long as it helps people.

[@amyk6028]

Great video! I have eighteen 4’x8’ raised beds, and one big one that’s 4’x16’ for my Sweet Potatoes. So, a total of 20 raised beds that are 4’x8’ and they are spaced 3 feet apart. Works great for getting the wheel barrow around, and the wagon for harvesting time. Your new garden is gonna be so much better for you! Looking forward to a very productive 2025 Garden 🪴 ❤

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Sounds like a great setup! thank you

[@tpen891]

The cooler weather sure does make it easier to add or redoing beds for the spring garden. I am working on redoing 7 beds. One step at a time is what it takes.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

It is definitely the time to do it.

[@hollyjohnson8023]

The video I didn't know I needed! Finally someone in a similar grow zone with similar goals! Coastal GA here. I'm replacing my beds this year because termites ate out my untreated wood after 2 years. Have to do severe weather treated. I think that's better than metal and people need to chill out.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Amen! I did untreated and they last 2 years as well

[@DeloressGarden]

I’m rearranging some things in the garden, adding new beds and planning out spring as some things did not work well last year.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Rearranging is a lot of work.

[@potagermalo]

Superbe vidéo bravo À bientôt

[@dennisscribner9949]

beard is looking great thicker fuller longer. enjoy your SUNSHINE.. its still cloudy n dark here in n. calif.. happy new year to you and the family.

[@davidgallego8506]

That was a very enjoyable watch for me on this last day of the year. Everything looks good brother. 👍

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Glad you liked it!

[@jaytoney3007]

Hi Ben, I had planned on harvesting beet greens yesterday, but deer beat me to it. I hate it when that happens. It is my fault, I should have covered them with netting. My broccoli harvest was good. I have another head that will be ready in a day or two, and another that might be two or three weeks. I learned that broccoli is a lot more cold tolerant than cauliflower. This crop was a total failure. Cold had gotten to them before I started covering them, so they had soft mushy spots. I could have salvaged about one and a half heads, but decided to give them to the hens instestead. Three of four are laying six eggs a week steadily. I think Ariel will be joining them in a week to ten days. My surviving chard is loving the cool temperatures, and are putting out a lot of new growth. The ones I lost, didn't have enough time to recover after harvesting before the hard freeze temperatures hit. I grew Rainbow Swiss Chard, but think I am going to go back to my faithful Fordhook Giant Chard. My carrots and parsnips are ready to harvest. I'll get to it this week. I'm looking forward to seed starting in four days. My first reviews of Exiled From Earth are both five star on Amazon. I also got an email from a reader in the UK that was blown away by the story. He rates it as seven out of five stars. The book, while available, doesn't officially launch until January 8th. I finished writing NASTI Business (Nexus Advanced Systems Technology, Inc), and sent it off to Summertown England for editing last night. It is easier to get an Oxford educated editor from the Oxford area. The next book in the Net Zero series is going to have my characters in a full immersion VR simulation of the Titanic. It is supposed to be a working vacation, but with the duo, nothing ever goes as planned. A bug in the programming has caused an error. They have cabin assignments, but their names are not on the passenger manifest, so no lifeboat assignment for them. Are they stowaways? They do have tickets. Strange? I've done a bit of research for the characters, Margaret (Molly) Brown, and Carla Christine Anderson will definitely be characters in the story, and so will Captain Edward Jones Smith. A reenactment of the sinking will be kind of boring, so I am kicking around two ideas: First, the iceberg collision was a cover story for for a boiler explosion that breached the hull, and the watertight doors failed to close. Oh, and while the captain wants to go down with the ship rather than face an inquiry, the crew deny him, and he is placed in lifebot six, Molly Brown's lifeboat. The other idea I am kicking around is the ship was torpedoed by a German U-Boat. If the people, England and USA, were to learn the truth, it would reignite the World War I. Hence the iceberg collision cover story. I'm thinking the later. What do you think? I know, I have a twisted mind. That is why I am a writer. If I didn't write to keep me occupied, my evil genius side would be plotting ways to take over the world. And I would succeed!

[@sandybottomhomestead]

I like the second one too. I'm going to order the exiled from earth. I am excited to read it

[@dawnbarone5804]

I am switching out metal raised beds in my greenhouse for wooden ones that will run the full length. Also adding a hot compost bin in the center of the greenhouse to experiment with winter heating. I'm not sure it'll work but I'll never know until I try! I am thinking about doing some dirt lockers behind the house for some additional planting space but haven't gotten past the thinking part due to the expense of the initial purchase and the planting medium to fill them. Living on the side of a mountain presents some challenges when it comes to developing garden spaces!

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Sounds like you have some fun projects planned!

[@robynearl]

Love your channel! You are a Lighthouse ❤

[@sandybottomhomestead]

I appreciate it!

[@amyleader5147]

Im letting it snow❤

[@buckshot21000]

Do you have any videos on bees?? Wanted to try bees but not sure where to start and what needs to be done for them.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

I have a channel @sandybottombees with a few videos on it. I'm considering putting bee videos on this channel this year

[@buckshot21000]

@ ok. Where are some good places to get blueberry bushes from? Trying to stay away from Lowe’s.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Shop local. They take a few years to get going

[@lindalisting7338]

I am working on trimming tree branches. They overshadowed the tomatoes too much last year. Then I am focusing on fencing against deer.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

That sounds like a good plan!

[@vickiwestlund7777]

Thanks Ben!

[@sandybottomhomestead]

You got it!

[@justinarnold7725]

Happy New Year Sandy

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Happy new year to you

[@bhalliwell2191]

Made a last minute run to the supermarket on New Year's Eve day (afternoon) and I've got to say I was purely amazed at the prices of just about everything, especially in the produce department! Wasn't looking to purchase any bok choy, although that store's is super-good looking: long white-white stems, deep green leaves, and the plants are quite large, but at $4.79/pound, one "head" of bok choy was going to run the customer about $18.20; say, $16.00 for a smaller head. Savoy cabbages, $1.99/pound, some of those about 4-5 pounds; collards were looking big and lush and gorgeous and they gave me such a bad case of sticker shock I don't recall the price per pound, now. Mentioning this because recently you've talked about getting enough cost-effectiveness from one's garden, and with these price increases it's looking easier and easier to mutter to oneself, "O.K., used to think 5¢ per summer squash seed seemed steep and I remember when I growled about leek seeds' prices rising to 2¢ per seed (or two cents per leek) but by golly, today I'd be paying almost the cost of a seed packet for two *leeks*. (When I first started gardening, it was because of the price of leeks which always worked out to a dollar per leek regardless the season or the number of leeks in a bundle, at the supermarket: suddenly I was channeling my mother and declaring to myself, "I'm not paying a dollar per leek, *somebody* must sell seeds for these things....") These points, and the fact that I had been feeling a tad guilty over the costs of our garden seeds this year ("Maybe I ought to eliminate a packet or two of those flower seeds...? ...or that second variety of chicory/escarole?") until I looked at the supermarket prices. *SO* glad gardening's an option for us! Our focus for this year might be on harvest preservation.... A Good and Prosperous New Year to One and All, and much gardening love, too, from Northeast Ohio. 😊💚💚💚💚💚😊

[@sandybottomhomestead]

You are right! It is a good time to be a gardener.

[@bhalliwell2191]

@@sandybottomhomestead H'eh! I was thinking it's a *necessary* time to be a gardener....

[@paullemke2066]

Suggest that rather than rotating sweet potatoes between rows 5 and 4, rotate between left and right sides. That way the row 4 bed can sprawl into the row 5 bed if necessary and it’s easier to keep center path clear.

[@sandybottomhomestead]

That may work but I don't mind them crawling out into the yard. That's part of my design

[@tracysrhythmiclife]

hello, new subscriber

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Welcome to the channel!

[@deltorres2100]

For me, I would double stack those and make them a little higher so you don’t have to bend so much but that would be for me, but I see what you’re going To tell you the truth, I might be or homemade beds. I don’t like too much of those metal beds I want I like the round one, but other than that I really prefer Wood we had some roofing metal roofing and we made two high beds. I mean high like 3 feet high and it took us a while to put to fill it up with organic matter and all kinds of matter, but they aren’t growing the best cabbages and collards and stuff and the other one we made a little bit higher, which I regret but I’m still feeling it. I’m still putting organic matter and that one that would take a lot. We did start with some logs and stuff, but it’s just taking longer, but I’m sure it’ll pay off the other one.

[@christophermorrow4439]

Perfect garden...what is that? I try to keep things organized, then as the year goes on I end up finding I have stuff planted in all kinds of random locations. Last year I decided I didn't have enough okra so I just started putting seeds in the ground all around all kind of things lol. I try but it ends up so chaotic that it looks like a plant jungle. Everything produces well, but it looks completely disorganized.

[@tonipollack5021]

😅how about trying no dig gardening

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Nope

[@robbinhartman4361]

Built two new garden beds yesterday. 2x8 and an 4x8. Almost set for Spring

[@sandybottomhomestead]

Sounds good! You'll be ready for the spring season!