How to create & maintain a sustainable garden.

[@jucjuc314]

Can we just talk about that fabulous size garlic in the background? I kept getting distracted 😄 My garlic is growing here in Germany since last November, pretty sure it won't be anywhere near yours 🤔 it was great to learn about composting, thank you for the video 😊 Greetings, Judit🙋😊

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Yes I am fairly good at growing garlic and love the fact that I keep myself in garlic the whole year. Glad you enjoyed the video. Regards Stephen

[@besottedorchids3605]

Great explanation on the care of compost. My husband hates my compost pile lol but tonight I tucked all my new garden plants in with lovely compost

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Excellent!

[@cbjones2212]

Worms are super heroes. We have a worm farm connected to a reed bed system where the water wanders off to part of the garden via a slotted irrigation pipe. Everyone should investigate these types of systems. It's been great to see your (as far as humanly possible) closed loop systems Stephen. Thanks so much.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@mathewhalpin]

Great episode guys. Hope you get more subscribers soon as you really deserve them!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Many thanks!

[@solangeunzurrunzaga3816]

Wowwwww!!! Impressive virtuous cycle!!! And what a sense of commitment, for it is quite a task to go to the supermarket every day to pick the unsold!!! Congratulations and thank you for such an inspiring video!!!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Many thanks for watching!

[@annebeck2208]

Cardboard is brilliant in a deserty type climate for making no-dig beds. In our wet Uk style climate we can use it for weed suppression, but we have to replace it at least spring and fall. Love, love, all the ideas!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@carolynholt9325]

Just watched this ep, so good. I am in central highlands and have had a worm system about 10 years. I have had the same experiences and success. I am so pleased to have had your explanation and advice, l have a better understanding of the system now. Thank you.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@mariabunny9608]

Enjoyed your show and loved that the chickens and ducks are living out their lifes on comfort. I compost on a small scale as I do not have a large garden. I want to plant a magnolia in my garden here in Vancouver Canada a smaller version or bush. Have you done a show on magnolia?🌼🌺

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Many thanks for watching. No magnolia video at this point....so many plants...so little time! But who knows at a future date!

[@FireflyOnTheMoon]

Good to learn about worm based sewage systems and black water recycling. New to me. Great stuff. - - Cafes locally in London do give their coffee grounds to gardeners. I do some local collection of green waste from neighbours to compost it - grass and kitchen waste. It's a great resource.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

We can all do a little - thanks for watching!

[@GardeningatDouentza]

Brilliant video, Una. You are so right about knowledge coming through experience and I think there isn't a gardener among us without some tale of woe. That poor ceder tree of your neighbour's made me so sad at the end but your honeysuckle story made me laugh. Thank you for collaborating and happy growing.

[@besottedorchids3605]

We recently acquired bunnies. So future fertilizer for my garden. Chickens soon to come

[@thehorti-culturalists]

The compete urban farm!

[@besottedorchids3605]

Stephen your self sustaining garden is wonderful thanks for sharing

[@thehorti-culturalists]

My pleasure. Regards Stephen

[@LMWerner]

Impressive circle of recycling! Bravo 👏👏👏 Very inspiring 💚 I live on an Island right outside of our capital, here in Sweden, and frankly many of us have quite large properties here. Smaller in the village though. But seeing so many people that instead of taking care of whatever comes from there gardens (leaves, twigs, grass clippings etc) they're taking it to the recycle station (sorry but I don't know what you call that? The larger one that is, not just glass bottles and cardboard you know) so it just gets burnt up. Why not care for it yourself!? ..by composting or whatever. I mean, there's so many different methods to choose from as well. A bit sad I think.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Isn't it - and a wasted opportunity. But thanks for watching!

[@jackieedwards7672]

another great video, we are in acreage as well and our soil is quite lacking in fibre and if it were not for the compost bins for want of a better word we would be spending a small fortune buying in fibre. waste not want not

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@jaqmackie]

So many interesting things to try!

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching - hopefully something that would work!

[@tillykelp6340]

Brilliant. Thank you

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@chaminikumarak]

Hi Horticulturists, this video is very informative and inspiring, thank you for sharing. I have a question, how do you manage gum tree leaves? Can Gumtree leaves be composted or is there any ways to use them in the garden? Thank you.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

They don't have a great nutrient value but will eventually break down as humus so waste not want not I say!

[@mitzi605]

Great video

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

I'm not allowed to have a compost pile or bin in my neighborhood. Yes, I know. HOAs have issues. I am cutting my prunings into mulch. Sometimes I dig small holes to bury eggshells and whatnot. I tried to compost in a five gallon bucket, but it turned into soup.

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Thanks for watching....that's unfortunate that you're not allowed to compost!

[@cbjones2212]

There are ways to compost if you can bury your bucket. Cut the base of it off, bury it a garden bed, leaving a couple of inches above the soil level. Throw your compost materials into it and replace the lid. The worms and other soil life will come up through the bottom of it and take care of everything. If you have several garden beds, make a few of these. Alternatively, there are worm farms available now that look pretty much like small pieces of furniture that are specifically designed for use indoors.

[@kl5621]

Really enjoyed this episode, thank you! Always disappointed when I watch shows with lots of land and they burn off their hard garden cuttings. Apart from being environmentally unfriendly, it’s a lost opportunity for creating a ‘hedgerow’ type of effect, great haven for insects, butterfly’s and marsupials. Albeit in Australia also spiders and snakes!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

@@cbjones2212 Cool. Hmm. I have a few spots where plants died. I could probably bury compost there. I didn't know that worm farms could be furniture. Thank you.

[@jeanneclark99]

Similar system to C&B Jones's, but without messing around with a bucket: A woman named Trudi Temple (look her up) has turned Chicago-area barren pasture into Stephen-like gardens by digging holes. Dig a hole as deep as you can, as straight down as possible; just big enough to fit your foot into. Throw everything into it: weeds, kitchen scraps, shredded paper, broken-up sticks, etc. Periodically push the contents down with your [booted] foot. When the hole is full, dig another hole and put the dirt on top of the first hole. Place a rock on top of the dirt mound. When the rock is down to ground level (a year-ish), remove the rock and plant something there.

[@jillwran3842]

Does your lovely worm-based waste system have a trade name?? Thanks Stephen

[@thehorti-culturalists]

They are called A + A worm farms. Regards Stephen

[@manannan62]

Excellent video! Could you please put in a link for more information on the aerobic effluent system? I would like to research for our property…

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Hi there - many thanks for the suggestion - I've just added a link to the company that supplied Stephen's below the video and here's that link: www.wormfarm.com.au/

[@GardeningatDouentza]

Yep, cold composting for those of us that have a life 😄

[@thehorti-culturalists]

Yes!!!

[@melissamybubbles6139]

I've got a 25x4 foot side yard that I'm going to sheet mulch for now. It's sloped, rocky, dry and unirrigated, windy, and shady. It has a severe bindweed problem along with regular weeds. It already has a weed barrier under rock. Plastic in the soil isn't ideal but it does seem to be holding back the bindweed to some extent. Should I remove the rock before sheet mulching? How many layers of organic matter would I need to be to plant in it? Will it all just erode downhill?

[@thehorti-culturalists]

The bind weed is a nightmare and I'm not sure you will deal with it without poisoning although constant removal of foliage will eventually weaken it but persistence will be necessary as no amount of mulch will deal with it. I would probably remove the rock to mulch. Regards Stephen

[@moniquemannaert3468]

Do the local coffee place and supermarket sell organic produce? The issue is that you get chemicals from all over the world into your local soil and your groundwater.. I too will look into your wormsystem and hope your neighbours will follow suit. See you next week..! 🌿🙋🏼‍♀️🐦

[@thehorti-culturalists]

The issue is that this waste product doesn't end up in land fill so if there are any chemicals in the waste it is a minor issue compared to this. I see it as far the lesser of evils and after all I still drive a car and this is a far bigger issue that I hope not one day solve. I tread as lightly as I can. Regards Stephen

[@sooocheesy]

I just realized that between the two of you, you have four first names.