How to Fit Five Acres into One

[@davidpenfold]

The higher density rows also creates a full canopy, maximising CO2 retention from the soil and minimising weed pressure (something the old Bountiful Gardens approach got right).

[@omarvaldivia8297]

As a 16 year old gardener, I appreciate all the tips as I begin to sell.

[@pawgdog9798]

I’m 16 as well and getting a greenhouse installed in my backyard soon so I can start to sell 😄

[@jerbear7952]

Thats the problem with kids these days. When I was your age I was smokin dope and doing sweet burnouts in the walmart parking lot. All you want to do nowadays is live close to the land and make sick guitar solo videos on KZbin.

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

@@jerbear7952 This is an irreverent joke, yes?

[@aceofspades5786]

Watching this from Uk with 0.4 acre, full of inspiration.

[@teebob21]

There is a book titled The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It, that is targeted for UK growers such as you. John Seymour is a treasure.

[@rwg727]

@@teebob21 have you watched Charles Dowding? he is great

[@59kuphoff]

Appreciate all the work that goes into creating these videos. Very informative and concise.

[@ashleycampbell8767]

Ah, he makes great use of both space and our time! 😊

[@jamesR1990]

Appreciate the content as always. We consistently get pushback from individuals who don't understand how to maximize a small amount of land. We're on less than 1/4 and acre but we're one of the top producers in the entire county we're located in.

[@rahneclark1902]

Awesome love hearing about this. Would you have any tips or tricks for us smaller homesteaders😊 please and thank you if you have time

[@jamesR1990]

​​@@rahneclark1902I apologize for the delayed response. I just saw this. Please don't take any of this like we've perfected it, we haven't 🤣 we're still learning in our 4th year of being a Microfarm/Market Garden. Nothing really too spectacular to tell it's a lot of cut and come again harvesting, a tight succession planting routine. Lots of shelves of seed trays and grow lights (so the seedlings are ready to go as soon as the previous plant is done producing). Very high quality fertilizer that's made locally by a friend certainly helps. We've probably about doubled our yields through good soil, fertilizer, and heavy mulching. Companion planting to maximize space efficiency. And flowers, a lot of cut flowers. That has attract so many pollinators, and helped build so much biodiversity on our land that everything blooms like crazy compared to the surrounding area. And the growing season here is about 9.5-10 months without much extra work in zone 8a, so I feel like we get a lot of hands on experience in a short amount of time 😆

[@jamesR1990]

​@@rahneclark1902I think KZbin deleted my initial response. We certainly haven't mastered it yet but the keys for us so far is we heavily focus on succession planting, seed starting on many shelves with grow lights, cut and come again harvesting, quality fertilizing, and heavy mulching. Plus lots of flowers to attract pollinators. Hope that helps 👍

[@thisorthat7626]

@@jamesR1990 Thank you for the additional information. The fertilizer your friend makes, do you know if it has micronutrients in it like boron, molybdenum, etc.? Did you get your soil tested to see what it needed? And what do you use for mulch? Thanks again for the info. it is wonderful how people are helping others learn to improve their gardens.

[@ml.5377]

We have a "casa huerta" on the slope of a mountain in the Andes and creating terraces had maximized our space to grow food. We also sow in a biointensive way and that helps a lot. Our climate allows is to grow food year long.

[@douglasanderson7301]

Sounds very cool (pun slightly intended)

[@ml.5377]

@@douglasanderson7301 Yep, specially when it can be -3°C in the early morning and 24°C at noon during the dry season. You can get a tan in the morning and sit by the fire at night. Perfect combo!

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

How's the water situation out there?

[@ml.5377]

@@ellenorbjornsdottir1166 When we decided to settle here, our first issue was water. We are located in a community that gets its water from lagoons at over 4,000 meters above sea level. Our water is off grid. We harvest rain water and built the house with separate black and grey water systems. Even though we had a very unusual rainy season this past months, our crops did very well. It is directly related to soil health, mulch, trees all over the gardens and using the mountain to our advantage as we planned when purchasing our land. Other areas deal with a cruel sun until well past 6pm, but during the dry season the sun is behind the mountain at 3, so even a little water gives the plants time to recover beautifully. I know water will be more of an issue as time goes on, so we try to buy used tanks when we can and position them were needed. Still working on a more intelligent and useful system.

[@ml.5377]

@@ellenorbjornsdottir1166 aWhen we decided to move from the city and settle here permanently, the first issue we looked into was water resources. We are located in an area blessed with lagoons at over 4,000 thousand meters above sea level. Our water come from them and it is off grid (not all our village is as lucky), so that helps. Also, we harvest rainwater and designed our house to have separate black and grey water systems. We are looking into improving our water collection methods and although we head a pretty weird rainy season ( the Andes are special with basically two seasons: rainy and dry), our soul helped us to have pretty good harvests and great yields. It has been hard work.

[@yantoyanto6749]

Jika semua org seperti anda, dunia akan damai. Bayangkan dunia dipenuhi org2 seperti anda. Assalamualaikum dari Indonesia 👍

[@melissagoodwin2602]

One channel I'm always happy to visit

[@suemiller6628]

Lots of great detail and beautiful inspiring footage. I'm trying to help my siblings and friends understand the benefits and opportunities of no-till and this video demonstrates it perfectly. When one gets to be over 70, the physical demands of maintaining healthy productive soil in a tilled approach get to be onerous and frustrating. This channel along with your book The Living Soil Handbook are great resources for anyone wanting to get started on this adventure. Thank you!

[@lmullens75]

Best and most succinct sponsored spot in a video I’ve seen in a long time! I’d actually buy from BCS because they know we trust Jesse & he kept the info short. LOVE this! Why can’t other sponsored videos be so painless?

[@notillgrowers]

That's great to hear--thanks for the feedback!

[@BCSAmerica]

We're proud to sponsor such a great source of information! One of the best channels out there for small scale growers, for sure.

[@veritasvincit2251]

​@@BCSAmericaThank you for sponsoring No Till Growers. This channel has become part of daily life.

[@captainglitterbeard4531]

I love my BCS! Highly reccomend the power harrow. I wish I could buy a few more attachments like the wood chipper.

[@lesterpeyton9966]

"better not bigger" 💪 Thank you for this video!

[@roo-dog3484]

I read that as "bigger not better"... That way works too! 😂 💪

[@gfutube1]

The most informative explanation of stratification I have seen

[@tanyakilbane7636]

I Love this channel! I now have a swift blocker because of you (this channel). I’m planting peppers I’m obsessed! Thank you!

[@jerbear7952]

Its fascinating how addicted to growing peppers people get. Almost worse than tomato people. Please be careful and think of your loved ones.

[@waynesell3681]

Beautiful market garden! Backyard gardener here. Really like your style! Great speaker for sure!

[@mogplaysgames]

I based my 6'x10' garden spacing off of the standard drip tubing emitters, but am now considering planting more densely. Love your videos!

[@lifeofintention4711]

Thanks for this clear and descriptive video explaining the points on benefits of intensive planting in smaller sized land, great! Here in Australia I find it interesting that, in many areas, the soil type and the depth of top soil is far less than in many other countries. Best vs best / worst vs worst... for example the largest cattle farm here in Australia is 4 times the land volume than the largest in the US, yet it can manage only 1/2 the number of cattle. One area to another, like many countries can be vastly different in fertility too. I also find it disturbing that the land the Govt zones as productive agriculture is often the more marginal land, where as the land that is zoned for residential / commercial development is highly fertile in comparison. With this all in mind, it makes sense that people make more focus on smaller sized properties where soil amending can be highly focused and the benefits yielded with less outlay that over a large area. Thanks again!

[@EricSneppen]

As a dutch I should be proud that our country is such a big exporter of agricultural products. Yes we produce a lot of food, yes we export a lot of food. But nobody says how much food we import before we export! And that includes things like soy beans from the former rainforests in Brasil. Organic farming is a rarity in the Netherlands, agriculture is a very big polluter here.

[@jerbear7952]

You guys really crank that stuff out though. Im sure every country has its problems but you seem to have quite a lot going for you

[@tanyareynolds1960]

High density information on a high density subject. Many, many thanks for these nuggets of logic 👏👏👏

[@midwestribeye7820]

Hello and happy Sunday!😊

[@brianweingartner619]

Looking forward to your presentation with Young Agrarians next week! I'm a proud micro farmer, and love intercropping and companion planting. Started with 1/32 and acre, then 1/16, and now at just under half!

[@libbyhoenstine7504]

I love how you call us nerds!!🤗

[@ThinkLittleFarm]

better, not bigger. yes. THINK LITTLE, my dudes. shouts to Wendell Berry!!!!

[@colebesaw5225]

As someone looking to purchase land this was helpful. Helped me realize that maybe I don’t need 5 acres after all.

[@klauskarbaumer6302]

Very convincing. For this year I am afraid the mild weather we enjoy now won't last and we will, like last year, still be hit with hard freezes in April.

[@MovingBlanketStudio]

I gotta remember to intercrop my spinach, lettuce, beets etc. with tomatoes and other stuff this year.

[@macleanhawley1742]

Awesome, super inspirational! I think the thing about the Dutch is that it's by value as well, so the only grow super high-value crops.

[@zepheniahparker]

Do you sell a 'Hey Nerds' shirt? I need one 😂

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

The Netherlands is a lot wetter than Tejas. Tejas is half steppe and desert, which requires irrigation to produce on a Dutch level. The Dutch only strictly need irrigation for hothouse crops, although I suspect they still use it for open air crops.

[@adventurecreations3214]

Thanks for teaching me how to produce more food from my backyard garden. Great concepts.

[@shanemillard608]

Just finished Hartman's book. Great book. Just moved up to Kentucky, near Louisville.

[@mattheweiland8529]

Awesome book Jesse, wonderful podcast, and great videos. Lord knows the influence no-till growers is having all around the world!

[@notillgrowers]

🙌

[@dougandrews3285]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Thank you! 🙌

[@SkeletonCrew1996]

Finally got the book! Cant wait to apply these to my Arch City Agriculture farm in Columbus, OH

[@alexkunnen]

I greatly enjoyed Bens book! His backyard farm plan is very inspiring! The living soil handbook and the lean micro farm are my favorite books! (In that order ofcourse 😉) awesome video as always ❤

[@notillgrowers]

🙌

[@massimopecile9666]

BCS MENTIONED 🎉🎉🎉

[@DhinCardoso]

Watching this from BRazil with 0.5 acre, full of inspiration ♥ ty

[@stephaniegrubenmann6906]

Danke!

[@notillgrowers]

Thank YOU!

[@carmenortiz5294]

I have 1/3 acre in the middle of the old section of town. Was able to get permission from the town under the Grandfather's clause, because the previous owner was growing food here since the Great Depresion. The city since took it out of their books. I guess they never expected someone to invoke it, until I did and I am a retired attorney. No chickens allowed, and we are in the middle of farmland, you go figure. Maybe I should get a cow, like my grandfather had in his backyard, when I was a child. Not kidding my uncles, the youngest my age, took it to pasture during the day.

[@arthurr8670]

I'm glad you did this. I hope after you are done, the next person continues. I can't believe any place in the US wouldn't allow you to grow food.

[@carmenortiz5294]

@@arthurr8670 Most place in the US do not allow people to grow food, except for those in the country. Most places don't even allow chickens.

[@bte_permaculture]

Beautiful and informative as always, thank you so much ❤ from Kerala, India 😊

[@JhonnyCrash1]

I love that you point to the netherlands when talking about efficient farming. Fun fact: about 52% of all land in the netherlands is used for agriculture and about 80% of all produce is being exported!

[@pauldrew1130]

Thank you for sharing!

[@cyanabriles]

I would love to see how you no till your sweet corn

[@markottaway6899]

Another excellent and informative video! Thank you

[@floriswou]

The link at 3:12 is the wrong link ;) Living pathways vs. 'the "good enough" greenhouse

[@notillgrowers]

Thanks I'll check it out!

[@kjw79]

The red circle of the soccer space made me think you were the next KZbinr to have an Opera sponsorship :)

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

have you found that there are times (e.g. a duff season anyway) when limited quantities of weeds should be tolerated?

[@richardvanasse9287]

One of the reasons we like raise beds (garden not farm) is it allows us to really pack a lot of plants into smaller footprint. Keep up the great work, great videos.

[@breakdown2878]

Wouldn’t you have the same surface area to grow? Hills would provide more surface area because of the slopes being useable growing area as well as peaks. But raised beds and ground beds still have the same growing surface area

[@richardvanasse9287]

@@breakdown2878 Sure, same surface area, but we're able to plant at a higher density in raised beds without the plants suffering.

[@breakdown2878]

@@richardvanasse9287 how? sounds like only difference is soil quality. not the raised bed itself

[@SparksWilly]

How do you water these crops?

[@notillgrowers]

Combination of drip (in the tunnels) and overhead, but I should say it's mostly dry-farmed. We don't do a ton of irrigation--our soil practices and climate allow for that.

[@thandonkosi1127]

Thumbs up from SA

[@Th4thWiseman]

Alot of food in a little land I soon learnt this after building my 1st grow tunnel hot house. My intent was to grow my own product that I and family enjoy to eat, although in doingso and in situe applying my love of foods to devinely relish and enjoy in flavours I soon not only became aware of what I was doing. Meaning I indulged with passionate love in mindful futures for us as a whole in a simple small place. Harvesting and planting seeds majority of seeds freshly eaten and saved from what it is we consume most regularly, ( I smile with glee 😁) not from what came of this I smile with glee because what I thought was going to be a basic side hobby eventuated into a passionate love affair,not only in a belly full of good food sustainence but a belly of food that permeated well beyond means of the grow zone itself. Yum yum is what I can utter not only now for in prosperity it yields, but yum yum thankyou in present to myself to be able to share such beautiful food that is %100 natural and in flavours no store purchased product even gets near to quality of what comes from garden I grow! Good advice is hear what silence YELLS at you❤️

[@ummyahya3965]

Which model bcs do you recommend for beginners? And what minimum attachments for beginners?

[@nommindymple6241]

Do you have any problems with gophers, moles or voles?

[@notillgrowers]

Some moles and voles but nothing out of hand. Very small amounts of damage every year come from them. Nothing like farming out west.

[@roo-dog3484]

Eyy! Farmer jessie is about to be b-baller Jessie! So I sense a career change?! 😂 Thanks for the inspirational content!

[@nothankyou2.0]

Voles. How do we get rid of the voles?

[@hawaiidogs9277]

Ty sir

[@melodylyons4631]

smart guy foes smart farming.4 ft beds are smart

[@dantheman9135]

ThankQ

[@alorastewart7091]

I'm planning for 2 acres of garden space for my dream property because I like to garden for preparedness and i want to be able to provide for as many people as I possibly can. I will still be following tips to maximize what I'm growing within that space as well because it just means I can feed more people if I ever need to. I'm also planning a couple acres for fruit trees (although after looking into fruit tree production I may have over compensated on the space I'll need there lol). Plus a couple more acres for grain crops. My end property is likely going to be 20 acres minimum preferably more. If I have to start smaller than that I'm going to be looking for places with adjacent land that I can potentially purchase at a later time. Right now I'm just on a 1/4 acre city lot trying to talk my partner into letting me tear up the front yard 😂

[@carmenortiz5294]

I have 1/3 acre in the middle of town, if you have to stay there plant dwarf fruit trees. I live on my own, so you can bet I have been tearing up my front yard, a bit at a time.

[@alorastewart7091]

@carmenortiz5294 I have 14 fruit trees in pots right now because we should be able to move in the next couple years. I'll be adding more this year potted but I'm also going to put a few columnar trees in ground.

[@carmenortiz5294]

@@alorastewart7091 That's a great idea, if you are not sure when you plan to move.

[@DJSAYBR]

I feel like it's a trade off. Small dense farms are great if you have the time to spend on it. But if you have more land and plant less dense you can do more low maintenance methods of gardening and planting the extra 20 or 30 percent to account for the higher losses.

[@soilbellefarm3210]

This is random but I loved the intro song to the podcast!

[@notillgrowers]

Wait, the old one or the new one?

[@tonibaloney269]

Love this! I want to refer my sister to your Kentucky events but the links are not working. Is there an event we can get her a ticket for?

[@notillgrowers]

Oh really?! Huh. You should be able to copy paste this and get there roughdraftfarmstead.com/1wmuyznbhatmf629zruj48mbnvrysz/farm-tours-and-field-days or just go to roughdraftfarmstead.com. Thanks!

[@kingcobra1787]

How much food do your family eat for your farm?

[@aileensmith3062]

Our garden is nowhere near as big as yours and we have no real reason in expanding ours. We feel that we are presently gardening about 6,000 square feet. Approximately 1/4th of the garden is raised beds and containers. Thanks to your book, The Living Soil Handbook. We are now better guided in utilizing our small garden much more efficiently. Although our new gardening practice is still in its infancy we are already noticing more feed to eat and save and give away. Two people can only eat so much. I do not think that we will ever get rid of the weed pressure. Then now being 100% drip irrigation it has curtailed that problem considerably. We have less wasted space and are now learning to relay plant better. Now we want to focus a bit and planting things side by side thus further utilizing our land for potentially more food. As always Thank You for another fun and interesting and informative video! A side question should anyone have read through my long post. I was watching a video the other day and the Lady was harvesting worm castings. Anyhow putting the bin back together she was also placing a considerable amount of shredded food type boxes in the bin. Like pizza and cereal boxes and so forth. She said that all boxes that contain food are safe as a type of compost. I wanted to disagree with her but now I am a bit curious,. Thank You if anyone can share and tell me some FACTS there!

[@notillgrowers]

Ideally, you do not use cardboards with colored inks or waxes or fungicides. Blank cardboard and papers is generally not as big of a deal. Thanks for the comment and best of luck on the gardening!

[@carmenortiz5294]

She is wrong by making such a broad statement, some boxes are not fit or safe fot the worms. Pizza is not recommended, neither are cereal boxes with print, you never know what kind of ink they used.

[@aileensmith3062]

@@notillgrowers Agree 100% then she runs a good worm farm and her comment and what she was doing left us a bit bewildered. I know that we do purchase some organic foods. Take pasta for instance and they have the window so that you can see the product. That window is made out of some type of wood and is transparent and 100% degradable. So advancement but what are the safe advancements? Thank You for the reply!

[@aileensmith3062]

@@carmenortiz5294 I agree and disagree with you. We do purchase a lot of products that are 100% organic. The box is completely organic and usable as making into compost as is the window that displays the product. The packages that our laundry soap sheets come in are also 100% biodegradable. Many companies are now going more and more green with a look at trying to save our environment. Then still a lot of commercial companies I would be VERY leery of. Thank You for your comment as it is appreciated!

[@AnenLaylle7023]

I too was trained by a conventional boomer farmer. I too have abandoned those ways completely in favor of permanent raised beds. I till every third year 6 inches deep. I don't think I even needed to this year. I went ahead and did it and the tiller sunk like 8 inches into the bed. Perfect tilthe to my soil too. Woohoo.

[@jerbear7952]

So why keep doing it?

[@AnenLaylle7023]

@@jerbear7952 I didn't mean to go so deep, but even with permanent beds you have to cultivate the top few inches of the soil.

[@rahneclark1902]

Thanks for the video

[@T_157-40]

Who manufacturers your heavy metal framed greenhouses?

[@notillgrowers]

Rimol for the big one, and Farmers Friend for the smaller ones

[@Silvereagledude]

Good stuff

[@Bell.laur25]

New to your channel! Where are y’all located?

[@Nocare89]

Gives measurements in metric and then says "however you metric folks measure things" 😁 I just had a 3'x3' spot last year. I got a fair amount of radishes (I let em grow too long) and I had enough kale harvested to fill a couple trash bags. I'm doing less kale this year lmao. Especially since I have a 2'x18' plan this year. I ended up using much of my kale as mulch I got so sick of it. Weeds are my cover crop. Worked beautifully over the winter. They grow where other things won't and condition your soil. You just have to make sure they aren't allowed to act as weeds and inhibit growth of things you actually want, when you want it. I really do not like letting grass proliferate though as it kind of ruins the ground for planting. I have a ton of vined clover and flowery weeds not seen anywhere in the yard currently. Which attracts all the early bees to my garden already :) So I can focus more energy and compost on my expanded areas that need more work.

[@brycekirby1567]

Good one

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

My understanding, pre-watch, is that cramming higher production into less space requires, non-negotiably, irrigation. Also, here in BC, the Vegetable Marketing Commission (local vegetable cartel here) has expanded its jurisdiction to points north of the 53rd parallel, meaning it is now theoretically illegal to sell certain vegetable products without having a quota from them. This is fine for me, as I, with a 1/40th of a hectare plot in the city, was only ever going to be a subsistence and gifting gardener anyway, but I fear that this will stop local horticulturalists from taking that next step from subsistence and gifting to marketing.

[@TheFamilyFarmstead]

Garden socks? Please tell me more.

[@argetlamzn]

I know, I want a video about those!

[@TheFamilyFarmstead]

@@argetlamzn I looked them up. Basically like a big pantyhose that when filled with soil stretches to about 8”. I would think they need to be a bit bigger. But a great idea.

[@astrosoup]

If you don’t need roads to run equipment through, the land can be used much more efficiently just from that.

[@frankwaldeck2359]

Instead of the 14” gap in the carrot rows could you not plant it out and then harvest a 14” row of smaller baby carrots then transplant the tomatoes in and let the carrots mature to harvest?

[@michelifig6356]

Hey nerds!😃

[@hoahongaong1503]

Trồng cây

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

ah yes, the famous turnips, potatoes and association football crop rotation (:

[@bobaloo2012]

I'm using a BCS I bought new, in 1981. I had to finally replace the engine a few. years ago, but I got more than 30 years of hard use off the first one. Can't say enough good things about the machines, they're built like tractors to run forever, not like consumer goods.

[@BCSAmerica]

Love to hear it! Take care of it and it will last another 43 years!

[@christopheradrift5058]

I found those grow bags do not work well in a moisture rich environment. They take on mold easily

[@karenr7931]

And in a hot environment they can quickly dry out.

[@fortablet2933]

you lost me at the snake

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

you should get BBC America to licence you the term "Tardis" so you can rename this video "The Tardis farm"

[@samueltucker8473]

The biggest problem no matter where your farm is seems to be the rat problem. Some have found that dropping a few pellets of dry ice in their place and putting wet news paper and a handful of two of damp soil over the escape holes. Use care when handling dry ice. And avoid any appearance of felony. As the US government has outlawed the use of CO2 for rodent control. Chicago and New York are now overrun with rodents.

[@pablobertello66]

You got to have cats. 2 cats per acre

[@VictoriousGardenosaurus]

This is not true. CO2 products must simply be registered with the EPA for use in rodent control There are many products on the market that do this. This post doesn't seem human.

[@samueltucker8473]

Good to hear they finally worked that out

[@brandynash1409]

We’ve never had rat issues in the garden and I don’t know anyone who does around here. Our issue are the deer and wild hogs.

[@samueltucker8473]

No wild hogs here. Just rats

[@ellenorbjornsdottir1166]

pretty sure you were on the mark with the metric conversions, so no need to have the dismissive "however the [minced expletive deleted - why don't Americans swear properly‽] you metric folks measure these things" - but I would expect metricated gardeners to use exact multiples of 5 cm at such scales

[@matthewboyd8689]

Correct me if I'm wrong but, um.. is that a gas powered mower you're advertising... C'mon guys, the goal is to not put toxic stuff in the air. It's significantly more than a smoker with how toxic it is.

[@shloew]

Thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Thank you! 🙌

[@Yesimthatkid]

Thanks!

[@Yesimthatkid]

I’m starting my second year of no-till backyard gardening in clay, and I can stick my hand about halfway into my soil now, thanks!

[@notillgrowers]

Nice and thank you!