How I Plan to Never Buy Compost Again

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you so much for watching! Don't forget to use code 'huwsgarden' for 20% off all plants on Frank P Matthews: www.frankpmatthews.com/catalogue/type/fruit-trees/

[@toriahennesey]

I got my book! I love it so much - thank you!

[@jillmackay7770]

Would of been brilliant but £56 to ship to Scotland is really too much 😢

[@Biddybee]

@@jillmackay7770😮

[@jeannamcgregor9967]

About 4 years ago when I retired, I realized that in the future as I aged it would make sense to move to more perennials because they are less physical work. Since then I've added 2 perennials of some kind each year: fruit trees, berries, asparagus, artichokes, etc. It's been wonderful! 💚

[@marking-time-gardens]

Very wise!🌻🐛

[@runningwarrior5468]

good idea!

[@athomas897]

I did the same.. great minds think alike.

[@TheJonesy555]

All my outdoor food is fruit/rhubarb and all my annual veg and peach trees are in my polytunnels. I also use chickens to help produce fertile compost. They also forage amongst the 30 or so apple and pear trees.

[@judifarrington9461]

I’ve been doing this too. It’s not just the physical challenges, but also the financial. Buy the starts and harvest for the next 25 years.

[@GrantDWilliams82]

Leaf mould is the most underrated "compost." Yes you still have to bring a lot of material in from outside, but never do you have to buy your neighborhoods' unwanted autumn leaves.

[@HuwRichards]

Amen to that!

[@MyFocusVaries]

I saw a video where someone tested three options for hilling potatoes (straw, soil and leaf mould). Leaf mould won for amount of potatoes and flavour.

[@mathgasm8484]

I live in a rural area and on my 12.5 acres is infinite leaves. I see smaller farms need to dispose of manure so I can just get that if I need a lot.

[@JaiHylRubis]

I create huge amounts of compost by mixing our raked leaves, raked to stop them turning into mud, with grass cuttings, we mow our field ... it gets really hot which kills most weed seeds mixed in. Lol

[@JaiHylRubis]

​@@MyFocusVariesWow, thanks, I was planing to use our leaf compost for precisely this... old spuds in the compost that escape the heat seem to thrive. Lol

[@kendo2377]

I've been watching your videos since you were a pup. You've really come a long way with gardening and your channel and community. Given the time frame that's quite the accomplishment. I'm not a regular viewer but when I pop by you always have something new or interesting to share.

[@edibleacres]

Huw! I'm excited to be helpful in this project with you and have enjoyed connecting with you quite a lot so far. We've been working with our chicken composting system now for a little under 9 years and it is a rewarding (and sometimes daunting) thing to try to find places for all the abundance of compost. Good problems to have :)

[@petrastuder7981]

Grateful for this collab! I love your channel!

[@CairnOfDunnCroftPermaculture]

The best compost I ever made was from wood chip used as chicken bedding. It wobbled, like jelly. Just amazing stuff. I'm really loving the direction your site is heading. I'm focused on turning the croft into a closed loop, or as close to it as we can get. Wood chip is difficult to source here, so I'm having to grow my own. We've mostly gone with biomass willow, and keep replanting it all every year as cuttings. We're a ways off running out of space yet though. The willow will also run the mass heater, as well as the stove (when I get around to building it). This year it all gets a huge boost, we get our first harvest of compost from the customer toilet. 3 years worth. It seems an odd thing to be looking forward to, admittedly.

[@sharonknorr1106]

As soon as you started talking about using the chickens to compost, I though of Sean - great that you are using him as a resource, he is one of my favorites, so innovative but a down-to- earth, practical guy. His Edible Acres videos are so interesting and his chicken videos are legendary for those who love the soothing sounds of really happy hens living their best lives.. Looking forward to the coming season and also to getting your book here in the USA.

[@mikeob9502]

Thanks for putting me onto Edible Acres-a good one...

[@HortiHugo]

Will check Edible acres out 👌🏻🌱🥔🌷

[@sharonknorr1106]

You"re welcome, more folks need to follow Sean.

[@thehillsidegardener3961]

Yeah, he is such a chill guy, took me a few videos before I started to understand his philosophy, his nursery is really inspiring, he does a huge amount of propagation but mostly in a very low-maintenance way, sticking cuttings in the ground, stratifying seeds and nuts over winter etc., I really got the bug for propagation from him.

[@sharonknorr1106]

He is very chill and soft-spoken, his place is not fancy. but very productive. There are no piles of Amazon boxes waiting to be opened - he uses so much found/used materials to build stuff and he is constantly experimenting with doing things new ways which don't involve a lot of expense, but give the desired results. He also lives in central NY near where I lived for many years, so that is a nice extra for me. It is Zone 5B, I think, if anyone is wondering.

[@stephent1521]

Thanks Huw. As always, i learned a lot. When started growing vegetables many years ago, I became fixed on just planting and growing. It took years to realise that compost production and feed the soil should be the priority.

[@marijeb278]

Annuals are like the most pleasant, but hungriest guests at your party: you'll have a great time but before you know it they have eaten all the cake, and are demanding more;) Perennials are perhaps a little quieter, but they bring the extra snacks. The idea of combining annuals and perennials on a plot sounds like a very logical step to me, not only in terms of time, but also in the sense of treating your plot as a more or less sustainable eco-system; after all, nature does it as well. I've never had any problems in terms of self-sufficiency in compost, but that is mainly because a lot of my garden is a cottage-style garden with fruit trees, soft-fruits and (edible) plants. Their leaves, clippings, prunings, etc provide the bio-material that the annuals feed off.

[@chrisoliver6690]

Are like the most pleasant? What is the most pleasant if annuals are like them?

[@julianikonova9026]

Jag bor i Stockholm och odlar på en kolonilott. Jag tillverkar all kompost av löv, kartong, gräsklipp och kaffesump. På 74 kvadratmeter vi skördar över 100 kg mat för familjen. Tack för att du sprider kunskap

[@David-xh9cw]

Great to see the new place and the plans for it! Love it. About to take ownership of a 3/4 acre garden myself and am doing as much coppice as I can for firewood/material, a native mini-forest, pond, huge allotment, cider orchard, cut flower bed, summer house, among loads of other smaller areas. CAN NOT WAIT to get started. I can't imagine how much fun you've had setting the new place up. Looks great.

[@floozie5341]

5:30 Perennials don't need compost. After decades of gardening, how did I forget this? Love you Huw - cheers!

[@freedombug11]

I'm in the USA and I received my copy of The Self-Sufficiency Garden today! I'm delighted it came so early. I wasn't expecting to see it until May! Thank you very much. It is such a wonderful, beautiful, perfect book.

[@Kiyarose3999]

I’ve never considered buying compost, I started with using a discarded plastic dustbin and a few old flower pots that had not been used for years. I used the soil in them as a starter to compost my kitchen waste, now I have a second discarded dustbin both 3/4 filled with excellent homemade compost. That’s without even having a garden, I use the compost to grow a small potted fruit garden and some tomatoes, peppers, watermelons etc. It’s really easy! 🌻✊🏽🌎

[@emilyexplores]

Just wanted to say thank you for your fantastic videos. Only stumbled across your channel a few weeks ago. But I’ve already learnt so much and a can’t wait to learn more from your latest book. Also, as a videographer myself, I just also wanted to say how much I admire your colour grading!

[@morrigans_cottage]

I love your gardening videos. I’ve just started my own homestead in Ireland and your videos for years have been very helpful, informative and so inspiring ❤️

[@iris.inspired]

I love that you are collaborating with Edible Acres. Yours & their channels are my favorites. Since getting persistent herbicide contaminated compost in 2020 I had to do lots of remediation. I no longer bring in any outside compost. I have house bunnies that need to eat hay so I do bring that in as well as their litterbox paper bedding. Adding their litterbox waste to my compost piles i have been able to make all my own compost. My chicken's coop uses pine shavings or rice hulls and then I compost that for about a year. I have so many worms in my compost piles that my hens are welcome to as I turn the compost for them it actually breaks down quite quickly. I dug out deep paths and filled them with arborist chips and after breaking down for a year or 2 I sift them & use the different sizes for different beds. Add new chips, repeat. I am so happy to not have to reply on outsourced uncertain inputs!

[@marymcandrew7667]

I've been subscribed to Edible Acres for years, I just love the way he explains things and is so knowledgeable. It will be great to watch videos of you and he talking, I remember his wife's name is Sasha! I like the way you set your compost area up there with fence slats all around, did you show a video on that yet, or is it part of your new garden project?

[@plot1895]

Loved this video Huw. I have a very small garden space at home which gets the sun into which I’ve managed to get seven fruit trees, mostly columnar plus blueberries and three raised beds. The trees are at varying degrees of maturity but it doesn’t matter because there is always something that is going to give, especially my older Victoria plum. The fruit is what brings me most joy. I’m always looking for ways to squeeze more in. I also have an allotment but realise at some point as I grow older I may not be able to manage it so when this happens I hope to have a lower maintenance garden that still has plenty of delights!

[@lovelovinghorses]

I love watching as you evolve your ideas as you gain more knowledge and experience. Thank-you so much for your inspiring videos and books 😊

[@athomas897]

My goodness! I have the willows , and comfrey. Plan on expanding my inventory this year. Gonna designate a coppicing area as well for biomass. Seems like I’m on a good track. Thanks for the video.

[@kimallard225]

Hi huw. I have an allotment, I started my compots bins just after joining your then channel. Ive had three large bin loads which i stored each seperatly under tarpaulins... then horror. I forgot about them. How could... I'm now retired from my maths teacher role. So now have time. To consentrate on my allotment and growing food for my family, + 2 other oap neighbours. I used the first and second batch on my raised beds to top up this year. Wow the compost is the best I've ever seen & already with lots of worms. Thank you so much for being so inspirational in your belief in compost. Without your guidance, I would never have become a believer in making my own compost. Kindest regards, lots of love Kim

[@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden]

I wanted to start a small willow "garden" last year, but things happened and I didn't get around to it. I was going to do it for chips and compost as well. Here in Denmark there is an organic compost producer that uses only willow and meadow clippings. I have produced willow compost in the past and it has worked very well. We do have an interesting systemic problem over the long term I think in heavily cropped areas. We harvest so much, but our waste goes into the sewage system. But you're right, perennials are able to harvest nutrients deeper and for longer. Plants can produce nitrogen from the air (vicia family). So there is something we can do. But I always found these long (!) term nutritional dependencies interesting since I read Seymour and his thought to never ever ever let anything leave your property that could otherwise be returned to the cycle of nutrients :)

[@keithhooper6123]

You may be able to install a composting toilet.

[@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden]

@@keithhooper6123 That is true. I am wondering how to best use the waste though. Probably not anywhere near vegetables, but maybe trees?

[@phoebeel]

A friend of mine worked for a company that put compostable toilets into city center Berlin parks. He says there are proven ways to make human manure into fertilizer for eating crops. It's not even that hard. It's just that it's not used by commercial agriculture because the chemical fertilizer lobby has extensively influenced (ehem I mean bought) politicians to not allow human manure into the system. But you can do it at home. You need to research it tho cause I didn't really ask about the practical part on how to do it. ​@@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden

[@phoebeel]

A friend of mine worked for a company that put compostable toilets into city center Berlin parks. He says there are proven ways to make human manure into fertilizer for eating crops. It's not even that hard. It's just that it's not used by commercial agriculture because the chemical fertilizer lobby has extensively influenced (ehem I mean bought) poIitici ans to not allow human manure into the system. But you can do it at home. You need to research it tho cause I didn't really ask about the practical part on how to do it. ​@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden

[@stestrupholm-dyrkjorden]

@@phoebeel I am confident you can do it. Hot composting and making sure everything is hot should do the trick to kill pathogens (though I may need to prove that), but I'm not sure about the (local) laws in the area.

[@perkinshomestead]

Oh my goodness! I’m already doing a lot of what you’re doing. I’ve had chickens for over five years and I’m using that for compost. I also have lots of grass when my husband mows 5 acres of our lawn. Plus we have lots of wood chippy stuff from the wood that he cuts. I’ve got it made here. I just need to implement it like you are. I love your videos! Keep them coming!

[@sharonphelps]

This sounds really promising. I'm looking forward to seeing your collaboration with Sean from EdibleAcres. One aspect of his work that I really enjoy hearing about is how he has planted in guilds.

[@chultampala7143]

I love your videos and your attitude towards gardening; your attitude towards life, for that matter.

[@brutsi]

In Denmark, we are lucky enough to be able to pick up compost for free at most recycling stations, which will be composted from garden waste from other peoples gardens which they have turned in there. The downside of course is that you cannot control what undesirables might be in that compost.

[@petrastuder7981]

I am so excited about your collaboration with Edible Acres. I got chickena a year ago and his system has inspired me so much! Another great and inspiring video! Thx Huw

[@TheTassieGardener]

One of the best videos you have done! I’d never thought about less compost for perennials but of course! We are just into Autumn in Tasmania and planting all our Winter veg - ready for the slower cooler months to enjoy all my preserves and just watch the garden instead of having so much to do.

[@KPKENNEDY]

The problem for many people without livestock is growing more perennials mean less space for annuals. Less space for annuals mean less ground to harvest compost from

[@jeanmuehlfelt7942]

Living on extremely sandy, dry soil, we need lots of annual compost for our perennials. Leaves and woodchips don't feed the worms by themselves. We increase the circle around the orchard trees each year in order to continually nourish the feeder roots. Love your new place!! My grandparents were from Wales and settled in the US.

[@phoebeel]

I watched a video by a woman (she has a farm, was a complete beginner when she bought it - actually quite a big channel in the gardening community on yt) who said that she turned her very dry and sandy ground into fertile soil by mimicking a forest - she keeps spreading wood and leaves on the parts she wants to grow food on and lets it rot, just keeps adding new leaves every year. But I guess that only works if you live in an area where it rains regularly. If you live in desert areas that won't really help. I just want to say, maybe don't lose hope :)

[@christingnad]

@@phoebeeldo you recall what KZbin channel that was? I have all sand as well.

[@Gardenofglory-l6v]

It’s nice to see your awesome garden and the chickens doing their thing (beautiful)❤

[@HortiHugo]

It's definitely all about the soil and ensuring good growing mediums for plants. We buy very little compost in all we do. All the best there Huw, Hugh 😃👍🏻🌿🥔🌺

[@Catsrule7]

This was very interesting because I had never considered fruit bushes as perennials- just as fruit bushes! But it seems that I am mirroring your ideas since already this year I have planted a good selection of different types of raspberries, honeyberries, gooseberries and various currants, Each year I have slowly increased my growing space with the aid of cardboard and composting in place - covering the cardboard with buckets loads of weeding, lawn clippings and leaves. Even my neighbour this year was offering me their leaves. I am lucky to have chickens too for their manure. I also have started growing a much bigger selection of herbs. Thank you for your inspiration and guidance.

[@GARDENER42]

I have a small back garden & a small allotment both no dig, with a polytunnel (3x6m) & greenhouse (1.8x2.4m). Total crop area 75m² With an annual application of 2.5-3cm of compost on the growing beds, I need 1.9-2.25m³ of compost, plus 1m³ of chipped, woody material for paths. I'll admit this takes some doing but cutting two other gardens' lawns (300m²) & scrounging plant material whenever I can has kept up for the past four years. Unfortunately, I don't have space for chickens or much in the way of composting crops.

[@cpnotill9264]

Happy to hear you follow Sean from edible acres, he is a wealth if knowledge and have been a follower/supporter of him for many years. I like your direction Huw! 🌱👍🥰

[@ml.5377]

Thank you. I enjoy gardening suggestions that encourage us to learn, adapt and tweak ideas and formulas to our location, weather and available resources. My vermicompost towers and the wire cages for "garden cleaning" waste are never the same. Also, my weed and rabbit poop fermenting buckets never give me the same end product. Weather, temperature and ingredients are never exact. Even my chicken's poop and bedding is never an exact formula to add to our compost, so we go with the flow.

[@marklloyd6433]

Grow cover crops - diverse cover crops.. cover crops over your paths. Interplant things like cereal rye in the autumn using cover crop transplants into your food crops before harvest to give the cover even more time in the ground before termination in spring

[@rosemaryogilvie6842]

All very exciting, looking forward to the new focus. I too am in the process of boosting my fruit production. Bare root season just ahead here in Tasmania, will be totally breaking the budget! Thanks for all Hugh.

[@BlueGardenCottage]

my perpetual goal...reducing what i need to bring in from outside. composting in a tiny space is difficult but I'm thinking i might try a wormery instead. the front garden is mostly chop 'n drop but because of that, I have loads of slugs. So I avoid that in the back garden where I grow my veg and unusual plants for food. NOT making compost in the back. Not even composting tubes in the beds is safe to keep slugs away. I seem to cultivate slugs without effort.🤣

[@AF-oq5bu]

Do you have raised beds? I have a huge slug problem but applied copper tape to the outsides of my beds (the ones with lettuces and such) and it really worked for me. Need at least 3cm width. I have a video of a slug getting to the tape and literally recoil. The first year the overwintering slugs reappeared, but the next year there were (almost) none. Miraculous to me :)

[@HuwRichards]

I've got a wormery now in the kitchen garden as the main way to use cooked food etc, seems to be going great guns so far!

[@BlueGardenCottage]

@@AF-oq5bu Thanks. I have them now but didn’t before and there was no difference between raised beds or not. My raised beds are 50cm deep for easier access regards mobility. But they are metal beds. Too many to put copper tape on. That’s not affordable. Problem or rather blessing is, I live in lovely Wales. In suburbia on a main road so slug eating wildlife is also not very likely. Between tragic and neighbour pets, I don’t seem to be able to invite the desired wildlife that would manage the slugs. But I won’t give up, will always garden and love doing so.😁

[@BlueGardenCottage]

@@HuwRichards worth trying but I rarely have food scraps. Plant based frugal cook so any leftovers are turned into other meals and frozen. 😁 all raw plant food scraps go into my Dalek composter I have squeezed between shrubs in the front garden…not sure I’m managing it correctly. Maybe a wormer isn’t any good then?

[@JaiHylRubis]

Leaf and grass cuttings 50/50 compost, once the heat is gone the worms move in, big time! Lol

[@collinsddc1206]

🌺Great video, adaptable, best word ever! Thank you, we are all so different, and hopefully not stuck in a box we can’t get out of! Lol Take care Huw, May God bless your teachings

[@joshlovegood9392]

Look forward to seeing the Grass experiments. Jim Kovaleski's work on Grass-fed market gardens is astounding!!

[@HuwRichards]

Yes that's an absolutely fantastic project!!

[@JaiHylRubis]

Grass mixed with brown material stops slime. Lol

[@wheaties1435]

We do the leaves and grass clippings all finely chopped together at our Fall clean up on our half acre suburban yard and I’m just amazed at how much it reduces down when we screen it in the spring. It’s like well that’s a good Start…but…

[@gardentours]

Great video 👍 The maximum output with the minimum of input (of money) for my space was my aim from the beginning. I collected leaves 🍂🍁🍂🍃coffee grounds and kitchen scraps to get the compost started and there's a lot of biomass in the garden now. I have a worm box but still it's not enough yet - but hopefully soon. You're lucky that you have chickens and that you can collect seaweed 🌱I compensate this with nettles and comfrey. More and more I use grass as well. Happy gardening and a lot of success for your books 📚

[@tomhickey1266]

Hi Huw just bought your new book from Easons in Dublin. Beautiful book, lovely photos and great explanation. Well done sir

[@abagguff9395]

Enjoyed your content greatly. My chickens loved my comfrey until there was nothing left but the roots. I hope you have better luck with yours.

[@sarahhathaway8034]

I'm enjoying watching you develop this new space and, in particular, hearing more from you about Permaculture. I've been fascinated by Permaculture for some time and try to incorporate ideas into my allotment and garden, but I find many of the classic texts either too theoretical/dogmatic or based on growing conditions different from mine (north east England). You're a great communicator and I look forward to learning more about Permaculture from you. On a slightly different note, I'd love a video about chicken-proof gardening!

[@UKallotments1]

I'm using the plastic dalek type composters .... well they were free and they work .... Happy growing 😊

[@RawLondonGardener]

Top video, you're the who got me into making my own compost few years ago. Keep up the good work

[@sheilal3172]

I garden much more optimistically because of your channel. Thanks!

[@katjaz9047]

I think the same, that"s why I planted over 200 raspberry bushes and 30 fruit trees and nuts this year :)

[@helenamcginty4920]

I rent a house in S Spain and have a small concreted patio. I had a metre long x about 30cm wide plastic pot tray. I made a frame of 4 by 4cm x 4cm x 1 metre high uprights held together with gash wooden slats. I lined this with plastic net fencing with horticultural fabric inside. Stood this inside the tray and filled the base with substrate to give microbes somewhere to live while we got going. I get at least 75litres of compost from plant matter and veg peelings. I do nothing with it other than pour waste water on it in summer to keep it damp. Then in february more or less i dig it out putting non rotted stuff onto a tarpaulin and compost in a plastic dustbin. (Lidded as I have cats!).tidy up the corner put non composted stuff back in compost bin on top of base compost layer and start again.

[@maryobrien5568]

Thank you Huw. I am also trying to avoid bringing resources into my garden as in the long run it just doesn't seem sustainable. I am building up my stock of perennials and trying to see which ones are palatable and worth having.

[@liveforthenow]

Really interesting video. We are heading towards finding somewhere we can live as self sufficient as possible, i think your channel will be a massive help.

[@hollydimig3998]

Good ideas! I’m excited to be able to follow along with you.

[@shake_shells11]

I only have a very small urban deck and backyard. I know I’m not able to achieve vegetable sustainability, but at least I can grow all my perennial fruits like berries to get some fruit sustainability

[@Niklez7]

I have an Question. what variety of Willow planting down as cuttings ? 13:30

[@thedirtygardener]

I wish I could attend. My youngest graduates high school on the 29th. Next time for sure!

[@julie-annepineau4022]

Looking forward to your collab with Sean and your grass experiments. I have a large site that I am planting a Permaculture Orchard like Stefan Sobkowiak. Diversity seems to be the key for perennial systems and for good compost

[@janew5351]

I refer to Stefan as the Orchard King!

[@meadows.simplicities]

Looking forward to seeing it all especially the fruit forest 😃 🌱

[@lisag.6599]

So interesting, Huw! When you said that perennials don't require compost, something boinged in my brain - I want a berry bush or two, and artichokes would be nice!

[@lindasands1433]

I have delicious perennial runner beans. They come up every year and give me consistent abundance of beans. Lucky!

[@sheilal3172]

What variety are they and where do you get them??????

[@flatsville9343]

Can you tell use the variety & growing zone you are in? When you say perennial do you mean you drop some dried bean seed down after harvest or are the plants actually regenerating from a rooted plant?

[@lindasands1433]

I'm in New Zealand. I can't remember where I got those beans because I've moved house lots and always taken some seeds with me to plant. I plant them once and they grow large tap roots. Although they come up every year, I sometimes plant a few extra beans in between the established ones. However, I'm finding they get too crowded when I do that and the trellis can't support them. They're black & purple (pink when young) Very pretty. I mainly eat them as long green beans, but they dry well Sorry I can't put a photo in comments. If you're in NZ I can send you some seed, but we're not allowed to send plant material out of the country

[@flatsville9343]

@lindasands1433 Thnx anyway. I am in the US. I believe this if the first time I've heard of a runner bean perennializing. It is like due to a specific adaptation in your growing zone. I have seen beans the colors that you describe, but they are not perennials in the US...or at least I've never heard that. I did some reading that Scarlett Runner Beans are perennial. Perhaps in sub-tropical US as in Florida? Some sweet potatoes perennialize there.

[@lindasands1433]

@@flatsville9343 New Zealand is far from tropical, especially in the South Island where I am. Bloody cold today!

[@orlamcgettrick8309]

Great video Huw. Lots of food for thought

[@HuwRichards]

Thank you!

[@Crystal-il3jl]

Edible Acres is one of my favorite channels because of the chicken composting system. Genius!

[@thebhn]

Just got the book and am planning out my garden construction. What about making a removeable grate top to the regular compost bins that can act as a vegetable washing station? How often should you dampen the compost?

[@katherinelloyd-roberts2261]

Thanks for the great video. I am really looking forward to seeing the chicken composting in action.

[@diesertimkoenig]

Really nice video! thanks for all the great tips! I'm working in videoproduction so im probably the only one that noticed: I guess you're using a Wireless Mic System. Avoid putting your phone or smartwatch close to the sender/reciever as often they use the same frequency band so you get that interfierence. I know it's barley noticeable. Also you could try to get rid of it with the "new" adobe podcast ai enhancement. Really good for AI, because its always the same sound. Hope i could help!

[@diesertimkoenig]

Also you can try to turn down the gain on the sender and make it louder in postpro

[@BirgitMuller-k5r]

Thank you for this inspiring video. A few questions: I have an urban allotment and don't have chicken. Would chicken pellets work? What do you do with the Comfrey? Use as mulch or in compost? Do you mulch perennials with Comfrey? Regarding asparagus as perennial - do you only mulch asparagus, don't feed it? Lastly - do you run your kitchen garden permaculture course in 2025 again? Thank you!

[@fpsninja1]

I would love yo k if morr about perennials. Nit just tbe normal ones like fruits. But things like skirret, sea kale, Good king Henry etc. Myself I have Chinese artichoke, Welsh onions, daubeton male, perennial leeks and rhubarb

[@wrongwayconway]

The only perennial veg I think I can grow up here 🇨🇦 is asparagus. The perennial fruits are a go! Rhubarb, raspberries, strawberries, apples, and a blackberry bush that the rabbits always harvest before I do.

[@marijeb278]

a perennial that I found surprisingly easy and delightful was a sechuan pepper plant (Zanthoxylum simulans) it's a shrub that can grow quite big, but takes pruning very well. I've had mine for about 5 years now, and it performs wonderfully in our Dutch soil (similar climate zone to yours): I can leave it outside in winter, and the seeds and leaves are a great spice. another favourite I'm trying this year is horseradish, though that one is going in the greenhouse.

[@kuki2349]

Waar heb je het plantje vandaan?

[@marijeb278]

@@kuki2349 Halesia, een leuke kwekerij in Zuidlaren, maar online zijn ze ook te vinden. (uiteraard wil ik je ook wel wat snoeisel sturen om te stekken, maar ik weet niet zeker of dat makkelijk gaat)

[@PanamaLiveGoodonaFarm]

Being adaptable to permaculture is such good advice!

[@preprebelactual]

Huw…I have a simple question, and…No…is a perfectly fine answer…But…Are you a certified Master Gardener? I have been looking to become a Master Gardener in Canada…The reason I ask, is because you are such a great teacher of this subject, and are, in my opinion, a fantastic Mentor…Any suggestions would be most welcome. Grow more….

[@potagermalo]

Formidable vidéo bravo A bientôt

[@smithy4121]

Thank you for a fantastic video, I absolutely love this self sufficiency garden, I'm reading through your book and I really like the idea of the hot bed. I have a couple of questions please if you don't mind, when's is the best time to set this up? If I was going to set it up in the cold months what would you use for green if you don't have access to seaweed (I live in the UK but quite some way from the seaside). I just couldn't figure it out because you're not cutting grass in the cold months either. If you wouldn't mind explaining the timings I'd really appreciate it please. Thanks

[@SuperBoy.Greenhouse]

Recently I also sowed onions for seedlings, tell me I did it correctly. Like the video

[@JacobsonFamilyAllotment]

Just starting my plot this year. Setting my compost up this weekend. Hopefully get the good stuff next year but taking my time with it. Giving me some ideas on how to cut back on useing compost tho

[@ponypetedm]

Fantastic I love using chicken composting systems and I watch Sean’s channel at edible acres this is great news. ❤

[@TheCornishCottageGarden-bs5lf]

This is a solidly put together theory on gardens 😊

[@kristag7208]

How wonderful Huw. I look forward to seeing the progression. I'm in a much different grown zone of 5b in New Brunswick, Canada but I'm very much interested in permaculture, perennial planting and I would like to get comfrey in the ground this year as well. It will be a gradual process for me. May I ask, why the willow plantings? What are the benefits?

[@АленаРоманова-э2ъ]

Yes, I'm also thinking about perennials

[@mithatguzel8237]

Your idea on self-sufficiency of compost is brilliant. But I am a bit confused on depending on perennials. What shall we substitute instead of tomato, eggplant or other annuals? They have their own unique flavors.

[@rasserfrasser]

"What do you really want?" So true. I just planted half a grow table of bibb lettuce because I wanted to (or thought I did) only to watch it bolt out in the summer heat realizing ...I can't eat this much lettuce in 2-3 weeks. I only really eat bibb lettuce on cheeseburgers. lol I should just plant potatoes. I love potatoes. That, sunflowers cuz they're so amazingly huge and shiitake mushrooms cuz they're way expensive.

[@andychisholm3656]

Only last night I was watching the feature on Henbant Farm on The Hairy Bikers.

[@lyndysimpson1272]

Hi I really enjoy your videos. Could you make a small garden for disability people with lower back pain and mobility and walking using I have to use a walker sometimes a scooter. You don't talk much about worms Is the compost you're making now all of your soil for the for your flower vegetable beds or do you still buy soil like miracle grow to mix with your compost and then fill up your vegetable beds? Thank you please answer.im new to gardening.

[@FyL43]

manure is the vest compost so maybe thinking about ancestral techniques to have animals, wheat, so you case use as litter the rest etc this is the ideal ecosystems. but the ideal ecosystem is the one we have at our disposal

[@Fredrs7]

With grass mulch does it not intercept a lot of the rain that would otherwise go into the soil? When i tried it and was watering heavily with a watering can i lifted it up after and was dry underneath

[@UsDiYoNa]

11:29 “these very vocal ladies.” Isn’t that all of them? 🤣

[@RebeccaPhelan]

How do you keep grass and hay mulch from just creating more grass? Even when I don’t see any seeds, there must be a bunch.

[@vitamartinenko4747]

Sounds amazing, you guys are the best 🔥💪🏼🌱

[@PlantMeals]

Great video as always Huw!

[@bradlafferty]

Thank you for another useful video. Could you please do a vid on how JADAM/KNF works with composting? By the way, pure-ordered your book and greatly looking forward to reading it!

[@DanusIrishHerbGarden]

Dear Huw, I have left two messages for you on the Abundance Academy under the Kim Chi lesson. Can you please respond. thanks!

[@danielhayes137]

I was pleasantly surprised to see jadam in your new book. What is north on page 43? Do you know syntropics too? I travelled with Geoff Lawton 10 years ago to Jordan and Yemen. Good luck with your goal, permaculture has gotten a little dirty rep throughout some lands lately but yeah its still great that it’s gained popularity over the years.

[@jessicasweet5155]

Can I use my leftover carpet or underlay to in my garden to any advantage? It will go to waste otherwise, so I'm hoping I can repurpose it somehow.

[@Broadleafwoodltd]

What sort of willow is that and are you using it just for wood chips ?

[@lofm6213]

I would love to hear your thoughts about biochar as I have used it and seen amazing results with it. With that said, I am not looking for you just to make a pro-biochar video but I would love to hear your honest thoughts and questions about it, even if you are not an expert on it. Are you hemming and hawing over it? Is it even available in the UK? Is it too expensive? I would love to hear your take on it. I have seen channels like yours praising biochar as the goose that laid the golden and others that vilify it. Throw your hat in the ring chap!

[@cosmibird4209]

Huw, check out interviews with Anne Osborne on KZbin! A lovely and inspiring woman who has been on a fruitarian diet for a few decades and is very much thriving! 😉 Probably not quite your thing, but I think you might find it interesting nevertheless - just to shift that perspective that our diet needs to be mostly vegetables, with fruit only serving as an extra on the side or dessert. I‘ve been planting less and less annuals and more and more perennials, mostly fruit, and shifting more and more to a simple and yummy fruit based diet. My body loves it, and my fruit forest garden too. I‘ve installed a hammock to lie down in and watch the other lovely people on their allotments slave away growing their veges! 😊 Thank you for your beautiful videos over the years. I still watch them even though I no longer grow a lot of veges, and I always enjoy them a lot.

[@flatsville9343]

Good you are getting a jump on the conversion. Middle age dead ahead. You're getting to be an old man. This bending over crap to baby a bunch of annuals must stop. I feel your pain...literally. I have more & higher raised beds for annuals & even some perennials like strawberries that do fine in 4 ft diameter 24 in high wire rings. I can grow across the top & down the SE/S/SW sides. I lose fewer to critters & pick more because it is easier. Annuals I can't do without will get converted to 20-24 in height too.

[@tripledprojects]

Compost produces a negative emotion for me (and many others). It takes so much space and resource that it just isn’t an option to make it all when you’ve got a 1/45 acre council allotment like myself. Nobody wants to buy in £200 of compost to grow £200 worth of veg, so the best/easiest option is adding raw nutrients. I know you’ve addressed the topic a while ago in another video, but it is a very fortunate person who has plenty of land and knows how to make use of it.

[@AlbertRasch-ev8uc]

1/45 of an acre is about 1000 sf or a 20X50 foot plot? You can make a lot of compost in a 4X8 space. My guess is that the 16 sf of composting area will increase your yield far more than 16 more sf of plants.

[@ingela1767]

​@@AlbertRasch-ev8ucAgree. Also in-bed-worm-composting doesn't take up a lot of space. I only have a atiny garden and I have my worms as well as bokashi buckets and don't need much space for composting. :)