How to Fill a DEEP Raised Bed CHEAP and EASY, Backyard Gardening

[@jamesprigioni]

→ Birdies Raised Beds: COUPON CODE: TUCK shop.epicgardening.com

[@VashtheStampede007]

Hi, James 👋. I enjoyed your videos. Your raised beds look very thick and durable. It seems you have used extra parts to strengthen them. Let’s say if I want a 12L x 4W x 1H raised beds. Could you please give me the specifications? (eg, dimensions of each part, including the thickness). Besides the four sides, what else do I need? I’d like to walk into the local hardware store and just give them a full list of everything I need to build it. Thank you!

[@xyzsame4081]

Slight correction: Sepp Holzer's farm is in the _Austrian_ Alpes. Such farms have extensive (but often poor grounds), at the elevation of the farm dairy was the major share of their income. Additionally they could grow barley, potatoes, cabbage (conventional old fashioned farming in that region at that elevation, his father was reluctant to adopt new things). His son took over the farm at a very young age, 20 years. His mother had a vegetable garden near the house for plants that need more warmth, but the area that they used for grazing and wood goes up much higher, no one before Holzer tried to grow fruits, have wild pigs, or create ponds with fish higher up. It is anything but ideal, but that was the land, soil, weather, and slope he had to work with, and he created microclimate zones where he could even grow kiwi (near the house) all kinds of cherries (they have ongoing harvest as the earlier and later varieties ripe at different heights) - in a region that is called the Siberia of Austria. Lots of rain in summer (it can get wet and cold) and short growing season and lots of snow in the winter. and they are lucky in that region if they have mediocre meadows. There is plenty of trees there (depends how high you are) so that is the abundant material they could work with to create a mound (Huegel) that would also be warmer than soil, and drain better and also catch and keep rain better. Rotting wood is like a sponge. Grass - if there was any - was kept for the cows. Actually the farmers in that region (but also in Switzerland, South of Germany) had their cows and goats on the high meadows in summer (it is like summer camp for cows, there were one or two herders in a cabin that were responsible for the lifestock of many families and milked them and made butter and cheese. They would be visited once or twice per week so the products could be carried down into the valley. There is a saying: what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Same for the Alpine meadows - the herders were young unmarried milkmaids in most cases (cheap labor) and rumor has it that they (or one they often were alone) got male visitors. Normally it was not that easy to have a romance or one night stand - but that was too remote and no nosy neighbours anywhere near. Grass closer to the farm (think 1 hour) was cut and dried. All manual labor and with skythes, often with steep slopes. They stored that hay that they made in remote ares in provisory wooden sheds and went for it in winter - then transporting it with sledges, which was easier. And if a shed would burn down (hay that is not perfectly dry can self ignite) they did not lose all the fodder. Plus time was precious in the short growing season but in winter they had more time for such chores, plus the transport then was much easier with a sledge. Hard times for sure.

[@joelklug]

Wood sucks nitrogen from soil...not so sure about the logs.

[@jodygardner6978]

Subscribing

[@epicgardening]

FANTASTIC GUIDE BROTHER. LETS...GO!

[@jamesprigioni]

Thanks bro! Hopefully it does as well as the veggies in the birdies bed are growing 😍

[@jaredbozich9760]

Let's GROW****

[@ChiTheLight]

I love both of you ♥

[@MB-co6qj]

Will you guys be touring each others garden? That would be so amazing to watch🤩

[@Ryan-xq3kl]

If the teacher started class the same way you did your videos, we would all pay attention

[@samoanSAIYAN]

lol true

[@reisc23]

FACTS

[@nickmayhew]

Spot on

[@Cosimate]

If someone talked to me like this in real life I'd punch em in the damn nose

[@beewize9982]

you are right D

[@sheilal3172]

I use vermiculite rather than perlite. Perlite eventually floats to the top, where vermiculite stays put and absorbs and releases huge amounts of water. Great video!

[@tammydepew5236]

I wish I would of known this before I bought a giant bag of perlite recently.

[@UltraPvnk]

It is unreal how much I have learned in the little time I have followed the channel. Thank u for existing!

[@jamesprigioni]

Glad to hear that my friend, me and Tuck love hearing that you are getting value out of the videos 😁

[@moep737]

Word

[@teresaamsler5083]

Hi James. You should know that I am grateful for you and your channel. Because of your inspirational and instructive videos, I now have two, 10' x 4' x30" raised beds and seven 30 gallon trash containers. All total, I have108 sq. ft. surface area to grow food and flowers. Since March, I have harvested more vegetables than I ever had in my 57 years of gardening, total. As an online teacher this entire school year, getting outside in the fresh air and sunshine is more imperative than ever. While it has cost a great deal of physical labor for this 60 year old, I am grateful to still be able to create this with very little help. It's my beautiful refuge from electronic devices. Thank you, and Tuck. 👍😎👍

[@yvonneschimmel453]

Myopic can dump in the bottom shredded mail too since paper is made from trees

[@muffinbutton1484]

Is it just me or is his energy infectious? Love this fucking guy.. he's amazing. National treasure

[@boondoggled1]

Agreed.

[@michelledelkel]

I smile when he does his intro lol

[@deusdragonex]

Your knowledge, honesty, and enthusiasm has definitely earned a subscription from me. If I ever make friends who are into gardening, I'll share your channel. I've just been binging your videos and enjoying each one more than the last.

[@rickershomesteadahobbyfarm3291]

I came across his channel a few years ago and began binging his videos. Sometimes I still go back and re watch his old videos. I had never heard of a food forest until I watched one of his videos. Now I’m putting one in. I started planting mine in 2019.

[@SimpleGardening]

Love your videos James. As an Agronomist I would like to clarify one thing about plant survival, most of the gardeners pamper their plants a lot. As a matter of fact any plant has its own natural capability to stretch and insert its roots into any harder substances like hard soil or gravel or even rotting wood. So no need to worry about soil compaction, agronomically hard soil help the plant grow deeper and stronger roots which inturn makes plants healthier and Drought resistant. However when we have a choice to make our own soil it's not required to be worried of compaction. If we see any old abandoned houses we'll find plants and trees growing on concrete stretching their roots deep into the cemented structures. What I'm trying to say is never worry about the plant survival in terms of its physiological development...every plant has its own basic instincts and survival techniques. Thanks for the video.

[@jewlstime]

I appreciate this comment so much. My husband and I have built about 14 raised beds. 4ft wide and about 2ft deep are longest bed is about 40ft. I have been so stressed about how and what to fill our beds with. The top soil we have out in kansas is mostly clay like. We have gone back and forth about getting several dump trucks delivered with a topsoil/compost mix-. This seems like the most effective way to fill the beds because of how large our beds are. But the compost matter isn’t great and the top soil is mostly clay. Our first bed we filled with wood/sticks - and realized we needed to do something to lighten up the clay like topsoil. So we spent a day or so mixing in peat moss and more compost. It’s finally getting to a consistency I like. Although in saying this, a couple years ago we had a friend make raised beds. Not sure what happened but all of her plants did not do well- the drainage was just terrible. She did not do her own mix and just brought in a dump truck of a garden bed mix from a big dirt n gravel place. Anywho- our friends ended up scratching their entire project because the beds were not draining right and the plants didn’t do well. We are finally at a place where we need to start filling our large beds- and I keep going back and forth with how to fill them! I do like the idea of making our own soil mix like here in the video. Although my husband says it will take so much time to do this because of the amount of soil we need brought it. Any thoughts, suggestions would be appreciated!!

[@SimpleGardening]

@@jewlstime hi, to loosen the clay soil, adding river sand is the best option, and making it up nutrient rich add vermicompost. To naturally make the soil loose, then add earthworms into the beds may be a 1000 of worms in each bed, they naturally feed on the decaying matter and make the soil porous by burrowing channels in the soil. Hope I answered properly to your question. Happy Gardening

[@Nancy-zk9dj]

Tuck goes under your legs to get out of the rain at the end! What a fun little guy ❤ Great content, thank you!

[@lyndabuchholz1216]

I made the mistake of using my native soil in the bottoms of my raised beds and found there was quack grass in it and it has grown up through everything and taken over my beds. Live and learn. I now put down cardboard and landscape cloth first then the beds. But I have to take out my first beds and start from scratch!

[@willow9719]

That sounds like a lot of work to take out your first beds..!! X-(. But im hopeful for happy planting in your re-vamped bed!!!

[@Jenura01]

Bummer! That grass is so insane. It is my nemesis.

[@lyndabuchholz1216]

@@willow9719 I am dreading taking them out but I can't waste the space growing quack grass.

[@emmamemma4162]

@@lyndabuchholz1216 Perhaps a thick layer of cardboard on the weedy soil and mulch/compost on top of that would work? Digging out the beds risks spreading small root pieces to new areas of your garden...

[@lyndabuchholz1216]

@@emmamemma4162 They are filled raised beds and I planned on taking that soil and fill in holes around the property. I don't mind the grass there since I can mow it and it doesn't crowd out my veges. I don't want it in the beds. It will be a lot of work but that is good for my soul. Oh I try to cover the rest of the garden with old carpets and cardboard so I don't have so many weeds to fight with.

[@ryans1972]

Great ideas for the raised bed. Was planning to build a new fence and went to Lowes and wow the price of lumber is like 4 times the price a year ago. The saw mills are the reason prices are so high. They are claiming it is supply and demand. There is no shortage of wood.

[@xyzsame4081]

maybe NAFTA new and shiny and other quotas for Canadian timber ?

[@xyzsame4081]

Smaller branches are fine, they have more nutrients. Muncipalities, electricity providers, landscapers that take down (sick) trees or prune them, I think even thorny brambles would work. these are all sources. Even carton and newspaper would work (it is carbon like wood).

[@kensearle4892]

Good luck with the new raised beds! It is hard work and sometimes up-front costs can seem a lot, but when it lasts 10 years and you get outside and eat healthy vegetables, it is worth it!

[@rasmuschristian]

Hi, Can they really last 10 years? What wood can do this.

[@kensearle4892]

@@rasmuschristian Pressure-treated can sometimes last 10+ years. Mine are about there now and still holding up pretty well. I screw in the corners, not nails. If you can put a barrier between the wood and soil, even longer. I have some lined with hard plastic. If you use non-treated wood, it will last maybe half as long before rotting. Redwood and cedar last much longer without being pressure-treated..

[@andonemore8077]

@@kensearle4892 pressure treated wood leaches chemicals into your soil wouldn't recommend.

[@ahavarichardson5426]

I gather the newspaper and pizza boxes, over many weeks, cut in strips add to soil with horse manure leaves, sticks over winter! You can burn them to! Live in Florida, took one year using the above material AND WHITE SAND, and egg shells, coffee grounds! Turned into great soil

[@pattipants]

I just found you!! Love to learn & watch. I’m in my 60’s and unfortunately have had repeated shoulder injuries so while I do expect after gardening pain, I’m searching for easy ways for me to still garden. I’m in SS so I love economical solutions. I plan to find cheap containers that I can put in cinder blocks to eliminate bending. If you ever wanted to do a video for old ppl that have physical limits I’m sure there are lots of folks like me. Never managed to get myself off grid but I’m dedicated to growing & hopefully canning my own food. With the exception of years if growing flowers herbs & tomatoes, this is only my 3rd year gardening. It makes me 😊 happy! Thank you so much😘

[@guacnroll6661]

Yes I can relate to the pain of having limitations. Both physical and $$. Most things take twice as long to do. Fortunately my 69 year old husband is stronger than most half his age.

[@nysigal]

I put up my first, 14 inch deep, bed. I filled the bottom third with pieces of a hedge I cut down. Saved some $ and didn't waste the hedge.

[@jackbits6397]

Do I want a video on how you make your soil? YES!

[@sphillips6357]

Just thought I'd share . . . I made a very large, raised veggie garden bed - 4ft wide, 20 ft long and 30 in high. I used very old wood logs to fill the bottom. The power company near my house has their used, old telephone poles available for free to the general public. But they cut them into 4 to 6 ft sections because they don't want anyone to use them as building material. It appears on most of the old power poles only the bottom 4 to 6 ft are covered in creosote. So I chose some of the top power pole pieces - the ones that seem to be 100 years or more older. They are very old, cracked, splitting, dry rotted, and almost act like sponges. Nobody wants those pieces so they just sit there in the pile year after year, rotting away. I believe they made a good bottom fill for my bed. Just a suggestion if you don't have other old, rotted wood to use as bottom fill.

[@djprophetinterview]

People in my neighborhood bag up their yard waste and leaves and put them on the side of the road. I use them to 1/2 to 2/3 fill up a large pot or a new raised bed. Then water well and compact well until you fill the space 1/2 to 2/3rds full!

[@VondaInWonderland]

Thank you James! Give Tuck a scratch behind the ears for me ♥

[@jamesprigioni]

Consider it done

[@michaeldeangelo5599]

You inspired me to do a food forest in my yard! Excellent content here👍

[@michellehommes9773]

He inspired me too. My backyard is a food forest too and my neighbors are now doing the same.

[@jamesprigioni]

Let's Gooo Michael!

[@charlottefaris7929]

Whew I'm glad I'm not the only person that has done that! We had a layer of that, a layer of aged sawdust, a layer of sand for plants that needed looser soil plus some perlite a layer of aged manure and finally our soil and compost.we raked it through to the saw dust. My horse radish never slowed down,my Jerusalem artichokes popped up super quick. I really didn't have a clue as to what to put in.

[@mAdcApMalkmus]

My man! Look forward to these every weekend. Give tucky a pet for me!

[@jamesprigioni]

Just did! I appreciate you watching. Tuck says hi! 😁

[@hbug13_62]

Make sure you only use this technique with ANNUALS. I made the mistake of doing something like this when money and time were tight and we couldn't get a load of soil when I needed it. We had half a load left from the year before so I added the spoiled hay and muck from the barn for the first foot or two and then topped it with soil. Then I planted the bare root berries (that couldn't wait any longer!) I knew it would decompose eventually, but by the end of the growing season, the soil level sunk over a foot. That would've been fine for vegetables or annual flowers, but...this spring meant lifting the berry bushes up and filling in a lot of soil. Lesson learned. The hard way.

[@jasonjayalap]

After you put down the logs, put down dirt/buffer/whatever before the sticks. Then sticks with the buffer. Don't create air pockets. Your bed will drop less, but more importantly you won't create pockets for unwanted bugs. This is a common problem with hugel raised beds.

[@cheesekake1841]

Would it be better if he had cut the sticks into small pieces before he filled that in?

[@AshJae]

But he said you don’t want to make it so dense that it won’t drain very well either

[@AshJae]

Makes sense to put a little dirt down first though, true about air pockets attracting bugs

[@dustyflats3832]

I used just sticks b4 and it's fine. This year I made 2-22' long beds and used some oak logs from winter trimming. I then packed a lot of smaller twigs and leaves, straw and compost. I have heard that people who live in states with termites that hugalkulture is not a good practice close to the house. I will say in the stick bed that I had a friendly garden snake nesting underneath. So to pack or not pack--I would pack. I don't need drainage we are super dry and sandy.

[@Beachplum]

Great point, but he already addressed filling air space .. look at 4:40 and 6:30

[@lornapenn-chester6867]

Yes please teach us all about how you build your soil 💪👍👏

[@jamesprigioni]

Let’s Goooo!!!

[@lindawoody8501]

Hugelkultur is such a wonderful way to develop future soil and lessen the cost of filling raised beds. You are doing a fine job with your gardens and orchards. I commend you on your KZbin presentations. You are a great teacher James.

[@agomodern]

You can create a variety of microclimates using hugelkultur. I think there is a ton of exploration that has yet to be tapped.

[@lindalee601]

He is the star of the show!! Love and hugs to Tuck. Love your filler idea. It sure makes sense to not waste good soil for the entire bed. Thanks for bringing another great garden tip to us. Happy Gardening 🌷🌻🌷🌻

[@blue_beephang-glider5417]

Many thanks I am not a gardener in any way, I'm lucky to grow grass. I'm making similar planter boxes for my wife and have a fair bit of tree trimmings, never expected them to be part of planter boxes! Many thanks again, I'll follow your method as close as I can 😎👍

[@joedecristoforo5434]

2:20 "hold all that excess waudder" I f'n love your videos and jersey accent, it makes me think of my old college buddies. Keep it up, and full disclosure I steal these ideas!

[@jamesprigioni]

Haha 🤦‍♂️

[@musaid9835]

I clicked on that as fast as tuck pulls out his 🥕.

[@jamesprigioni]

I see what you did there 😎☝️

[@musaid9835]

@@jamesprigioni When are you going to do that grape pruning video? I really need it.

[@gigigio2496]

Yes! This is the best timing! I’m just about to build my first ever raised beds this month! Need to build them high as my dog jumps in all of my planters and digs everything up! 😱 I’ve been wondering how to get around spending so much on compost! Thanks James.

[@jamesprigioni]

Glad to hear the timing was right. Haha gotta love dogs 😂

[@bethlehemnegussie8547]

💜💜💜this is the 2nd video of your's l watched & what you stand for & are building is exactly what l've been looking for, build my own raised bed cheaply & grow my own organic garden free of gmos, pesticide, fungicides, fertilizers etc. I can't Thank you enough! Learning a lot at the same time. 💜💜💜

[@americanindeon]

I used logs, sticks then mowed the lawn mostly early weeds, bagged it all and dumped them into the bottom. Added top soil then let it sit for a few weeks while I finished the watering system.

[@dannyhughes4889]

I think that you are the first I have come across who from the start tells a viewer WHERE he is gardening thus enabling a person to make comparisons....excellent. You also provide good content without the theatricals that some seem to think is essential in making such Videos.

[@SQWIB]

James, I love your energy and it's a great motivator. Awesome Video. James, toss in a bag of Pine Bark Fines. Pine bark fines have more lignin (45%) than cellulose (25%) and tends to not tie up Nitrogen like wood chips and make a great soil amendment, don't break down too quickly, aid in aeration and proper drainage. Also, work in a 5 gallon bucket of Bio-Char to absorb and retain water and nutrients, and provide space for microbes to live. I hugelkultur in most of my raised beds, my main goal was not only to fill up the raised beds but for a self-fertilized garden with minimum irrigation. Bio-Char Quote From Proactive Agriculture: "Biochar's remarkable, huge internal surface areas boost soil Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) to retain positive ions like Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Potassium, etc. But biochar has Anion Exchange Capacity (AEC) to capture negative ions, beginning with Nitrogen and Phosphorus ( N-P of N-P-K ). Biochar improves water quality by increasing retention of nutrients for plant and crop use -- more nutrients stay in soil rather than leach into groundwater or outgas."

[@Barbaralee1205]

I love ❤️ your energy and of course Tuck the Adorable has my undying devotion 😘. This is just brilliant!!

[@jamesprigioni]

Thanks Barbara ❤️

[@joeboudreault4351]

Yes... James is a tornado of energy - obviously loves gardening!

[@connierauen6560]

How do you make the bed top? The plastic and tubing part. I get grasshoppers and need to cover the beds.

[@janethchavez269]

Tuck follows you all the time, he is really attached to you!

[@jamesprigioni]

Yeah he’s a loyal guy

[@billclinton6040]

I really appreciate the comments on hugelkultur. I agree, it is not a panacea. In my case, my native soil is pure sand that either the builder trucked in or the nearby stream deposited and as a result is several feet deep with only a couple of inches at most of soil on top for the lawn. I also had a large pine tree that had died. So, I took advantage of the large pine logs available and dug down into that sand about 18 inches and filled it with the logs and other branches before building up the raised beds. I also live in Zone 8b/9a, and our summers are exceptionally hot. Therefore, water retention is critical, something the sand just wasn't capable of at all. Would I have preferred just laying some cardboard on native soil and implementing a no-till approach? Of course because digging down into that sand is a lot of work. But, the key to success in any garden is understanding how to manage all the variables your environment presents. So hugelkultur presented what I think is an appropriate solution for my situation. Additionally, my property slopes steeply towards the creek and I have been thinking about using hugelkultur to build it up some. My only concern is the occasional floods which might wash it away. So I am undecided yet. But, without question, hugelkultur is a great solution when building terraces.

[@asimovstarling8806]

I put wood in my garden and had fantastic results in less than a year. Ample watering and active composting in the center a shallow above ground bed and having the plants on the perimeter. bed was only 6 inches deep, but I had more wood in mine than you had in yours, and by the end of a year the wood was gone, broken down and used by the plants. If you are strategic about your composting and planting, and careful about your spacing, you can provide an active self feeding nutrient system without adding extra fertilizer. And without a deep bed. I know most gardeners will just dismiss my experience, but a little cunning and a little experimentation goes a long way in the gardening community, and I figured I'd share my results with your community, because it can help. Also, my garden was a 6 inch deep concrete and brick bed with no drainage that I built myself. I grew a bumper crop of peppers in it for three years harvesting every couple weeks. the wood was broken down after one.

[@anapaulacrawford5837]

The problem for me would be compost.. But I believe I will get there. As for the norther info... You're so correct! God bless!!

[@thoreauviangypsy2356]

Great show, baby! Too true, don't use expensive fill. I found that straw, at three dollars a bale, is by far the best. It fulfills all of the requirements of aeration, lack of compaction, water retention, and roots go through it like a hot knife through butter. After a two-week preparation with the repeat application of nitrogen and water to get an aerobic bacteria population going (they heat and cool down again, ready for use), just put the whole bales in the bed (compacted just as they come, no fluffing) and put your topsoil on it. It gets richer year after year.

[@chuckmachlin6544]

Intriguing. So just sprinkle nitrogen on top, soak it. Repeat a few days later? After 2 weeks it’s ready to go?

[@NMranchhand]

@@chuckmachlin6544 Yes! Let me give you this link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jHzFlp2li56IkKc This young lady is a terrific explainer of the process. It's fun to take the temperature of the stew and watch it go over 125 degrees (F) and then cool back down. I did this three years ago and it has worked out very well. In the first year, any big, aggressive root-heavy plant will just grow like wild fire in the straw alone: pumpkin, summer squash, kale, etc. Plants that have finer roots to start with need a few inches of top soil to get going but then do well in the straw. Root vegetables like carrots don't like to push out against the straw in the first year. But in succeeding years, the straw starts to decompose and shrink and you will gradually add compost from your yard (leaves, clippings, kitchen scraps, etc,) to make up the difference and year after year your planting medium will get richer and richer like mine did. In spring of the second year, turn the straw over with a pitch fork, and a bit of compost and go again. (BTW: I was writing the original on my wife's computer as TG, so she showed me your question.

[@JenMarco]

I always wondered if you could put a garden over top of compost in the winter to grow plants in the cold

[@nesforce7712]

I also have a mocking bird that visits my garden. Can hear him singing in the background of this video.

[@leighannf.4730]

I'm a new gardener and keep coming back to your videos! Thank you so much! Sometimes I'm temped to fast-forward, like when you're just filling up the raised bed, but I stop because now I know you're always giving tidbits of great information all the way through the process. Helpful stuff!

[@jasonjohnson4803]

I always double tab and loop the intro to hear "what's going on" more than once. Great video as always.

[@freakygardener8033]

As far as the hugleculture, I have to do all my gardening, (and composting) in containers. My largest compost "pile" is in a brute barrel, so I have some sticks, and harder stuff in the bottom, and pile up on top. Soon, when it thaws out I will dump it out on my driveway, put the chunks back in the bottom, and continue again, but I will have some stuff to mix into my "garden" containers! The wood will eventually break down, so I may as well make use of it.

[@allonesame6467]

Zepp's brilliant system turns a negative into a positive: his method closes a "waste' loop. He needed sunlight to hit the ground, so he cut the trees and used the tree trunks to make beds and filled the bottoms with slash that acts as a sponge to hold water and soil, effectively forming a terrace. In an alpine situation you have to do a lot of earthwork across the hill to stabilize soil. It's a great way to use tree trimmings. I use trimmed branches and twigs on the low side of my hilly blueberry/rhubarb/current patch. On the low side of a bush, I lay and weave twigs and branches into a kind of a 1/2 nest in the root zone of the berries building it up. It holds soil and moisture around the plant and keeps it from rolling down hill. Use what you have. Thanks, James and Tuck! I love your videos. Blessings Abound!

[@anitanolan9804]

When I built my current garden (moved 4 years ago) three years ago, I also put logs, sticks, and leaves on the bottom. It will fertilize the bed for a long time.

[@brusselsprout5851]

This video has an incredible amount of gold nuggets. I wish I’d seen it before I started 7 years ago. Now I’m needing to reconfigure (and restore) my beds. The terracing, the build up, the soil mix....I need to do this. I’ve got wood debris and have learned of a great garden center too to obtain that kind of mulch/compost supply. I had to chuckle because just this week I was calculating cubic space volumes and costs to budget. Thanks James 🧡 Tuck

[@kdhammond2003]

Love your show! Love you & Tuck! You have no idea how much you truly help people with your positive attitude. 2020 was a very hard year for SO MANY people, myself included, but your videos and your lovely co-anchor Tuck have raised the soul/spirit and my mental health has skyrocketed! Seriously, thank you both! I would love it if you could either add your seed choices to the Amazon links, or do a segment on what brand you choose. I'm very interested in growing my own starters next year, but I'm uncertain where to obtain organic, non-gmo seeds. Thank you!

[@ausfoodgarden]

That's the way I've always done deep raised beds a kind of Hugelkultur base. Always get good results and the logs twigs etc. break down over 2 or 3 years. I've dug out raised beds after 3 years and almost all the lower stuff has turned into nice soil. Good info my man! 👍

[@charliehoos9773]

Great timing! We just built 5 new beds today

[@michellehommes9773]

Nice work Charlie Hoos !!, May you have an a amazing harvest this year !!

[@stevenjbeto]

Why plant on top of a concrete slab, James? I can understand limestone if the soil is acidic, but does concrete off-gas contaminants into the soil? Is there a university close by with a Horticulture Department? If you have some time, check out their library, or find a professor or graduate student to recommend books or articles. You might also t RC y a local 4H Club. As usual, you and Tusk are the best! You are on a life learning journey, young man.

[@stephenneal739]

This technique is known as Hügelkulture. I just applied it to my new raised bed for this years garden!

[@cowboyblacksmith]

Your intros make me roll my eyes, but everything after that my eyes are glued to the screen. Such great easy to understand and remember info and advice in your videos, I appreciate all the free shared teaching and life experiences gardening, thank you! I have my cheap easy hoop house over my raised bed thanks to you and still have great lettuce in November in New Hampshire, love that.

[@johnreesor1450]

I did this in my raised beds too. Worms for days. Got the suggestion from a different channel but nice to get affirmation from yours too.

[@nancytabor8302]

Thank you for clearing up the hugelkulture issue. And about deep bed prep.

[@linzerpa]

Great video, one suggestion. After placing your layer of sticks and adding some soil, water thoroughly. Add some more soil, water more. Do this over and over. This will wash the soil down into most of the voids and prevent a lot of issues with sinkholes in the future.

[@no_dr0ids]

He did that in the video! Might’ve missed it if you skipped around.

[@andydahl181]

Take that leaf mold pile, and place on top of sandy soil, like in a Boulevard Garden. Breaks down, and mixes well with sand,.

[@Doc1855]

We put branches and twigs in the bottom of our raised beds as well.

[@ursamajor1936]

I use the hugelculture method also and it does work amazing well for soil moisture moderation. I have found that it breaks down pretty completely in about two years so then it needs to be added to in the fall.

[@zprince4120]

I made two 4x8 raised beds this year. I was going to make them 24 inches deep until I saw the price of 2x12s so instead I made them 10 inches deep and plan on adding 12 inches next year. I filled them with with cheap $2 bags of topsoil, pete, sunshine mix and a mix of mushroom, leaf and manure composts. I was going to do the same thing (burying some logs) but since I couldn't build them as deep as I wanted. I guess another way to fill a deep bed on a budget is to fill it halfway the first year and half the next.

[@xyzsame4081]

With cheap materials beware of the herbicide aminopyralid

[@zprince4120]

@@xyzsame4081 don't herbicides cost money?

[@teresaholland4790]

I really like your honesty and candor especially when you were talking about things that did not work so well for you the Hugel culture very impressed thank you for sharing all of your wonderful knowledge cheers Central Florida

[@lizherbst7393]

Great idea with the logs! As I understand it, the bark is hydrophobic. May want to chip some if it off to allow water to infiltrate to help break it down. Just my thought!

[@missymoonwillow6545]

You work beds like we do here on the west coast. Great minds think alike. Love your channel brother. Beautiful food forest you have!!

[@jamesprigioni]

Glad to hear that, and thank you for the kind words my friend

[@irishpixierose]

Awe I just love Tucker 🤗 I've always wondered who is filming. They do a good job.

[@notalltheories]

Thank you for saying that about hugelkultur... I put a LOT of work into creating some hugelkultur beds like 3 or 4 years ago and they just turned into rodent hotels and I have not been able to grow much of anything on them. I also have some large containers (that I made out of filing cabinets) and I used logs to fill space in the bottom and that has been working out really well!

[@MeowsTheTime]

Every time I watch a video "boom", I learn something! Thank you!

[@theoldbeader]

I am in my eighties and have loved to garden most of my life. I live in the southwest arizona. I can no longer get up and down off the ground. My husband built me raised boxes about waist high. As we have lots of gophers here, he lined the boxes with aviary cloth to keep them out. Your filling them was a good way and thank you for all the information.

[@SgtRudySmithbRet]

I was gifted 6 old horse troughs and did the same thing but it was about 18-20 inches of logs and wood chips in the bottom. It worked amazingly.

[@elizabethlusher9667]

I put in several hugels in the past few years. About 6 years ago I put one in my parent's yard. Their yard is basically an understory with old growth maple, mulberry, and oak trees. It made sense to follow nature and make a hugel and plant shade landscape plants on top (coleus, hosta, etc). My mom is in her 60s and still works full time so she doesn't have much time to devote to keeping up a flower bed but with the layer of wood underneath acting like a sponge she's not had to water it for years and her flowers come back year after year.

[@markconn5249]

James, would love to see the video on the soil ingredient specifics. Building our concrete block raised beds as we speak so the timing was tremendous. Hoping to get the specifics to help in the process!

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

That raised bed is two feet above ground, making watering in mid summer a concern, and the brand new solid logs are at the same height as the wooden sides. in my own garden experiences, the wooden sides decompose faster than the logs at the bottom, and we've learned to mound the soil, saving the expense of holding the dirt back with wood at all. it works very well, as long as the garden beds aren't two feet tall~

[@vkenn60]

I did exactly that in my 10ft raised bed, glad to know I did it correctly.

[@PurePondering]

Your beds are beautiful. You made a good point about using hugelkultur where it provides benefits. I'm putting in a few hugelkultur beds because they make sense for me. I live in the desert, and the wood at the bottom of the beds can hold moisture from when we get our monsoon rains. If I was back home in the Ozarks, that wouldn't be a necessity; but here, I need things that will help hold the moisture in the garden.

[@tamararoberts9307]

Hubby and I built a 3 ft raised bed last fall and filled it the same way as you're showing. I've recently planted my seedlings and sowed some seeds into it and now, waiting to see how well it does . I'm pretty confident it will be awesome. Thanks to you and others for teaching me all I need to grow and garden . I'm so grateful I can watch your videos, you always teach me so much , thank you

[@melissam0ss]

May work up north but where I live in north Florida I did this and it became a love nest for termites…so if you live in the woods this might not be a great idea. Try loading it with thick THICK pads of straw (not hay) just baked straw used for livestock bedding. I had great luck with that and no termites

[@JeanHudson2022]

So good to see you doing video's again. I use a filler but only a filler I too don't like it too deep. Thanks from Upper Michigan. Hugs and prayers to you and Tuck and the family James.

[@leewillis2908]

One of the many things I love about your channel- you are always willing to learn new things and to teach us from what you learned. You taught about hugelkultur, and when you realized what it wasn’t, you took it down. I agree, great for a hillside. I used a similar method to fill my deep raised beds - sticks and rotted logs, then wood chips topped with well rotted manure, the. My good soil. Worked great and saved me a lot of money.

[@icouldjustscream]

Always a joy to see you and Tuck! ♥♡♥♡ from Canada. I'm currently doing this to my new raised beds.

[@robertbrawley5048]

I grow trees in my garden and in ghetto pass I used. Fluffy soil from the woodland floor about a foot to foot and a half . I realized that is over kill . Roots rarely or never go that deep>. I'm talking about fruit trees I'm figuring 8 inches of fluffy soil to encourage root growth is good enough

[@maryananamcnana]

Love Tuck! Thank you. Your videos never let me down. Such great info.

[@amysnipes4245]

Great info. I'm at the age where I would like my beds double high for easier access. This is a great way to fill higher beds. Thanks.

[@irenesgardenandmore]

You are right James... My Hugel did not do that much good. I have put some metal around it and filled it with nice dirt. The seeds would wash down,,, but now it really works ! I might just take it down from my channel too !

[@hughcourchesne4351]

Great video thanks! Good tips for saving money

[@jamesprigioni]

Thanks Hugh, glad you found value in it 😁

[@VaughnBresheare]

We just finished our new Anna White greenhouse and also our garden cottage, we produced so much we had to have a garden sale for the excess. In one day we had 300 people visit, only 1 counterfeit $20 bill, rest was meeting friendly neighbors. I'd send photos but site doesn't allow.

[@jeanathey767]

Yes, please do a video on your soil recipe specifics. Great job, interesting.

[@grammydiclempa4088]

James at first I thought you said terrorists beds. Couldn't figure out why you would call them that. Finally figured out what you were saying I was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of my eyes! Too funny!

[@doctorhousemd566]

James You are a Cool dude !

[@jamesprigioni]

Thanks, you’re a cool dude John!

[@doctorhousemd566]

@@jamesprigioni thanks james you are Incredibly inspiring

[@johnbrzenksforearm8295]

The best raised bed filler on KZbin by far. Tuck is the best

[@rosemarycallenberg7722]

Just built a deep raised bed on a concrete slab ... PERFECT timing!

[@marymacleod1721]

I built the same terraced beds in my garden and filling the bottom with chunks of wood....we're on the same page!! I appreciated the soil recipe and will definately try that...thanks!! Happy gardening from your fan in BC Canada 😊

[@leslienichols5268]

Completely agree about Hugelkultur. But the part about filling the bottom of the bed kind of came from that , so we can just use the part of the method that works. Its so fun to check the bottom of the bed in a couple of years and it is completely broken down.

[@charlenekociuba7396]

James, I'm burying sticks between tree stumps, laid vertically on steep bank on both sides of my property border. The pockets are where I put plants like daylilly and dahlias for color. I also am burying leaves and putting compost over them for draining. They both work. I like that you are adding vermiculite. I did put peatmoss in the mx. so we are in cahoots. I like this new shape you're making, perhaps will be the next build for me, so I can plant herbs in one location nearest my kitchen. I would not rule out huglekulture though, as the extra sticks and branches, logs need a place of their own and to enrich. If people regularly send their excess out, that makes sense but for me, I need to use them as pick up and removal isn't available.

[@gracefaina9299]

Good day James. It really takes hardwork and perseverance to build such a nice garden.god bless you james and tuck.

[@stevesteve350]

James, just had to tell you how much I learn and enjoy your videos. Please keep them coming! Love how easy and calm you explain things.

[@L.MicheleB]

Thanks. Was over here in zone 6 stressing about not having enough soil for my planter boxes. Got PLENTY of old rotting logs and sticks to fill up that space & Im GOOD!😀

[@ffs6158]

I had some brick planters, at the bottom was a bunch of concrete chunks and rocks and then I filled it with 'fill' dirt from construction that was free, and then the last 6 inches or so I put my expensive soil and it worked great! Def don't waste your good soil on the bottom fill.