How to Build ( NATURE''S Healthy Soil ) in Raised Wood Chip Organic Gardening Bed 101- Part 4

[@slyplaymike1]

thank you....I've learnt more in four hours watching your channel than I have all year....my grandmother always tried to teach me that plants talk to each other...like a community thing....

[@iamorganicgardening]

Your Grandmother is very smart & kind to teach that to you..THANKS

[@SteveSmekar-ll6ln]

So it was your grandmother who had been whispering in my big sister's ear. Ever since I can remember. And we built her a greenhouse edition to her room.

[@SteveSmekar-ll6ln]

Again, I uphold the "no spray" way of things. You got another sub.

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU, Steve...

[@backyardgarden566]

Lovely sunflowers. Thanks for the tips!

[@iamorganicgardening]

You are very welcome. Thanks for watching.

[@marilyngodfrey868]

This is awesome! I have wanted to try raised beds, but lumber is so expensive, especially cedar. I have cattle panels! Yea! We keep our chickens in hoops made of cattle panels and chicken wire, partially covered with heavy plastic tarps.

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU.. wishing you a wonderful raised bed garden..

[@intramotus]

Great video and very helpful, concise, and professional.

[@lamprinedatsika6292]

I saw the videos and I was excited. Amazingly! ! ! I greet you from Greece!

[@iamorganicgardening]

Hello, Greece. Thank YOU for watching.

[@elainelerner3337]

Another excellent video...I appreciate your on-going theme of keeping gardening as close to nature as possible !

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU, It is a pleasure to follow nature's rules. It make gardening so simply.

[@GinaSiska]

Love all of your videos, I’m learning so much. You actually explain why things are important and how it works!

[@iamorganicgardening]

Nature is Awesome. Glad to share what I have learn over the years. THANK YOU.

[@johndon74]

I love what you are doing - I am in Australia and looking forward to trying this out. Great clear information. Thanks

[@iamorganicgardening]

THAT IS GREAT. Please let me know how it is working.. THANK YOU

[@deecooper1567]

Thank you sharing you knowledge 👵🏻👩‍🌾❣️

[@iamorganicgardening]

Any time! Thank You.

[@ansellovestogroworganicall2180]

Thank you Sir you are helping further mine and many others education!

[@iamorganicgardening]

Glad to hear that.. THANK YOU for watching.

[@charlesbale8376]

I have implemented many of your tips...Appreciate your videos.

[@iamorganicgardening]

Great to hear!

[@juniusoates8041]

I am enjoying this series and learning a lot. About four years ago my wife and I visited a farm who used wood chips and this began my own quest for their use. Living in a coastal area there isn't much to the soil but sand. So my first use of the chips was simple to cover as much of the garden area with them to as deep as I could get. Taken out of the game for a full season by cardiac surgery left me with composting wood chips and a question of the value in using chips due to N depletion. Currently I have found a product that uses roofing tin to make raised beds which I will use to create a modified Hugelkultur bed. I will but a foot or so of chips into the bottom of a 12" pit and fill the metal portion above it to 10". This will be my base for planting probably fall crops. Thanks

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU for writing. I want you to have the best garden possible. The ROOFING TIN may NOT be a good Idea. DUE to it gets to HOT and the soil temp should Stay around 70-80 degrees to healthy growth,. It may burn the roots or dehyrate the soil to fast. I due not wish to make you mad, but just wish inform. Thanks Mark

[@iamorganicgardening]

N depletion is very low with Wood chips you would not notice it. It is a kind of a old wise tale. It is a huge risk with saw dust though...

[@juniusoates8041]

Fear not that you will make me mad. I figure we learn from each other and there is no place to get heated. Your idea of heating is certainly pertinent but I thought the wood chips that surround the soil would modify the temp to an acceptable level. Primary reason for the metal is the cost for material. I'll let you know what the outcome is and again thanks for a great vid..

[@iamorganicgardening]

Yes, the chips on the side will help 100%. My mistake I thought you were going to put them on the bottom and top only, not the sides...

[@juniusoates8041]

I failed to mention concerning the possible N depletion. There is visual evidence in what we have done that should put that to sleep. Chips have been spread over the area where future planting will be done. In those areas there is a distinctly darker green color to the grass which has grown back over the chips. I believe this is proof that the nitrogen is there for the taking of plant material.

[@nathandettweiler9560]

Very good videos! love the idea of the metal hoops! no rot, or chemicals from lumber! i got a couple of ?s. how long do you think the woodchips around the edge will last or will you rebuild each year? and here in the south we have the lovely "fire ants" that get into everything any ideas on dealing with them? Thanks, looking forward to i think iam on part 5 now

[@shellylinn2672]

That is my main question, as well.

[@GetDamage]

In the other video, I think mark said to keep adding the layers as the the soil is settling.

[@kenbrown438]

Very interesting visual of tomato roots , THANKS !!!!

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU for watching.

[@seedaholicgardens9085]

I know your sunflowers are a cover crop for you, but so pretty. Nice and informative , sir. Thank you for sharing.

[@iamorganicgardening]

I am looking to share with you when I plant a field of 10,000+ soon. I just sit back and watch it bloom. It is like the 4th of JULY in the SEPT. THANKS.

[@seedaholicgardens9085]

I cannot wait to see those in bloom that will be amazing!

[@rationalrand]

Thank you for this excellent video. I am building one of these right now thanks to this video series and would like to build another. but using different plants. Having trouble choosing the best plants though. I have read 'Giaias Garden', 'Edible Forest Gardens Vol1' and have searched the internet for ideas on building a second one however I find that my knowledge is too limited to make this critical decision. Will you please recommend another group of plants for a second guild (niche, companion)? We are not big fruit eaters so the 12 - strawberries we planted in the first bed is ample fruit for us. We were hoping to use an edible vegetable or herb as our perennial. Thank you so much. Future green thumb,

[@iamorganicgardening]

This is HOW nature does it...This a a fantastic list of plants that help other plants to grow better....PLEASE NOTE 2 types/planting groups ( Endo & Ecto ) Mycorrhizal LIST link: www.rootnaturally.com/PlantListMycorrhizal.pdf .

[@KALSINFILMS]

Great Video!

[@AlexNielsenNJ]

I love your videos. Please keep up the good work!

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU. It is a pleasure to show you my farm in them. And dog too.

[@LifeinFarmland]

Things are looking great!

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU, so is your large garden...

[@sandervanstee]

You talk about the importance of low soil temperatures but I was always told that a main down side of no till is that the soil doesn't warm up fast enough for early corn planting. However I live in Canada so maybe that is the reason

[@iamorganicgardening]

Yes, you are correct.

[@dutchmansjournal7142]

Great vid Mark. I getting ready to something similar on my raised beds. Scaled down of course. Waiting for your next class.

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANKS. HOPE all is well...

[@slyplaymike1]

your the back to Eden missing chain link...I'm happy now that I decided on a ratio of 25% aged wood chips and 75% leave mould

[@iamorganicgardening]

AND HARD CLAY was added too..It is all working GREAT..

[@slyplaymike1]

+I AM ORGANIC GARDENING I don't have clay....We are blessed to have at least 4 feet of sandy loam...but ill add it as you did cause it will add bacteria to the soil. you are awesome to take so much time to share your experiences with all of us.

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU..

[@brigittelm6054]

Good save and idea to film prior to possible mayhem... 😀

[@natureboy6410]

I live in zone 9A. Very dry. Highs up to 115 to 120 at times. Humidity is very low, sometimes in the single digits. Very high, drying winds. The soil is fairly neutral, sandy and drains well. Do you think raised beds would be to hot for plants here and consume a lot more water then just going with a no till method and lining the top soil with some coffee grounds, cardboard, compost and mulch, plus the leaves that the oleander and trees drop, to help retain water and cool off the ground a little for the plants? I'd like to start growing some moringa, comfrey, chard, tomatos, aloe, summer squash and maybe some purselance and creeping Charlie for ground cover. I have some other things I'd like to try as well, but I don't want to get to far ahead of myself. Everything I grow will be for food and or medicine for the family. All of the extras, and I expect there to be quite a bit, will be freely given to the small community that I live in, providing the collared dove and cotton tail leave stuff alone. We have well water here. It's rated has one of the top 5 healthiest water systems in the nation. Nothing is added to the water, but it is a little pricey.

[@iamorganicgardening]

If you have that sandy soil that drains well then you do not have to do raised beds at all... THANK YOU.

[@natureboy6410]

@@iamorganicgardening Thanks for the advice and reply. The the big three issues here is heat, dryness, strong winds, and lack of resources. Guess thats four. :-) Out in the middle of nowhere. ;-)

[@patriotteacher7254]

Hope your project grows well! My family has similar values:) Am experimenting with growing weeds. Many are extremely nutritious as well as medicinal. Fun.

[@floriebrown2089]

Great experiment thank you very much, do you have stinging nettles amongst your weed they do support the lady bugs from eggs through to adult, but it is a very invasive weed. It would be interesting to know if it supports the mycorrhizal bacteria as it is known to contribute nitrogen into soil.

[@iamorganicgardening]

Sorry , I do not have stinging nettles on my farm. Thanks for asking

[@floriebrown2089]

@@iamorganicgardening It might be a blessing that you don't they really do sting, but they are great as an organic fertiliser added to the soil or compost, as a liquid feed steeped in rain water for a few weeks. The leaves are high in nitrogen great feed for tomato plants, since I have watched a few more of your video I am planning to make more use of the leaves I have on my property and planting relevant green manure to produce Mycorrhizal fungi. I have planted Hungarian rye as a green manure and I have now found out where to get some winter rye, I'll give it a try. I should have come across your system about 3 years ago before I accumulated so many chicken, Ducks, goose and geanefowl. I do not eat them they are pets that produce manure and eggs. Last year I produced a large variety of lovely juicy tomatoes using my compost system But My tomatoes also suffers from blight by late July they have to be harvested before it starts to rain. I am hoping the introduction of Mycorrhizas in my soil will cure this problem. Thank you for replying.

[@amysnipes4245]

Do you have a video showing how you assembled the beds, keeping wood chips on the outside? Thanks

[@iamorganicgardening]

This will help. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4fEd6aFh7Cbopo .

[@tinahart1712]

I loved watching this, thank you so much for sharing, if I sow my sunflowers now should I keep the roots in over winter when they die back or pull them out? I have a back to Eden garden garden and allotment and I love it : )

[@iamorganicgardening]

YES, keep the roots in over winter. They will help the soil and will be gone by spring. THANK YOU for writing in..

[@tinahart1712]

fantastic I will give this a go - yipee!

[@joe4324]

Great video! What pests have you had a hard time with? I know you never do anything for pest removal, but I am curious how. For example, cabbage moths and slugs always do a lot of damage to my plants. So while I rely on plenty of frogs and toads, and a few birds to hopefully do the heavy lifting, they never seem to get them all. So to help with that, I use a spray of organic castile handsoap (very small amt) and some orange/lavender/tea tree essential oil. There is roughly 1 tablespoon of soap+oils per gallon, and while invisible it seems to substantially decrease the pest damage. What can I do to get even more heavy hitters in there to do this work for me? I am already over-run with frogs and toads (very close placement of several frog ponds) They do a amazing job for me. But they cannot work on the higher up pests.

[@iamorganicgardening]

I AM VERY SORRY FOR THE DELAY... But the only good way to stop cabbage moth is with insect netting. Just to let you know that is why I do not grow cabbage, they is really no way of stopping them unless you use the net. Also if you have that many slugs you can set a cheap home slug trap to kill off the rest. Please watch this link.: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2nOq4ecrb1shs0. VERY HELPFUL. The problem with any sprays even organic that they do not last long or covering the whole plant is hard to do. The way I Keep the pests at bay is that I have a large some of cover crops blooming which bring in the good bugs. I plant a lot of buckwheat the grows and blooms in about 30+ days

[@suziewhatever547]

Just found this video. Love💗 I live in South West Oregon on coast. We have slugs and 🐌. Lots of them. What to do.??? Also can we add beach sand to soil? What we have is appt of straw from chicken and goats bedding. Can you use straw instead of wood chips?

[@iamorganicgardening]

Search slug beer trap on KZbin to kill them off. Beach sand has lots of salt in it also.. VERY BAD to use. Straw is OK to use. Make 5 inches thick also on sides only. Thanks.

[@nancyfahey7518]

Wow, beautiful dog. I can't comment on the subject, I have to watch it again, or even a third time. It's simply explained. It's just different, know what I mean?

[@iamorganicgardening]

Yes, think how long plowing we thought was OK. Now it is the worst thing you can do to soil life.. THANK YOU for writing to me.

[@carolgreenhill5684]

You keep saying you added clay, but I never saw any clay. I live on 5 1/2acres of extreme compacted concrete-like red clay that allows zero water infiltration. I must use a pick axe when I attempt to dig. I get tiny particles that fly through the air when I dig. No chunks. Yours looked to me like a sand mix. How do you suggest improving this type soil? Seeds do not germinate and when I get a hole dug, my plants still don't grow

[@iamorganicgardening]

What is growing there now? Weeds?

[@dalzamora222]

Is that a watering hose around the 10 minute mark> Can you elaborate your watering method? Thank you very much for your time and efforts.

[@iamorganicgardening]

YES .. it is. That is left over from when i plant the tomatoes and peppers. I place it up there so i would not run over it with the lawn mower. I had good rain fall ... so no major watering. But the best way to water is a drip system. If you do not wish to us that then just turn the hose on so water just barely runs out. Place in the middle and run for 6-8 hrs. You can not over water in a raise bed like this. THANK YOU.

[@bosquebear1]

Have you ever tried sunflowers as a support for pole beans? I have heard sunflowers have an alleopathic interaction with beans and potatoes.

[@iamorganicgardening]

Yes, I have to 10 years. All is OK to grow , never a problem

[@joseortiz7154]

Can I use red lava rock instead of molch.. Or would that change everything on the system

[@iamorganicgardening]

You can use a very layers of cardboard. just place a few hole is in them after you line the sides.

[@suziewhatever547]

PS grew up with dog just like yours. Sarge best hunting dog.

[@iamorganicgardening]

They Truly are... THANK YOU.

[@CarrieNita]

What irrigation should I use? I have soaker hoses I could spiral starting about 12" from the outside working toward the middle.

[@CarrieNita]

ps, I am in NE Alabama, zone 7b. We have been above 90 degrees since the first week in June.

[@iamorganicgardening]

YES. that is a good way...THANKS

[@olegig5166]

In this system, where does the fertilizer come from?

[@patriotteacher7254]

olegig From what he has said previously it comes from the leaf mold/wood chips breaking down. Also, the healthy soil biome makes nutrients available to plants. The soil has enormous amounts of nutrients but it becomes available to the plants after the soil biome processes it or alters it chemically...really different thinking, isn't it? Am new to this. Hope I am answering as he would...excellent question and I felt it deserved am answer. P.S. Am following his advice and my hard pan clay is becoming a lovely black soil:)

[@joemug4079]

Marc, I hear often how wood chips soak up nitrogen from the soil? True? Good or bad?

[@iamorganicgardening]

Just a Myth. There is nothing bad about wood chips. THANKS for asking....

[@Jackiepoodle1]

Will you pull out the sunflowers by the root or leave the root to rot?

[@iamorganicgardening]

GREAT QUESTION, THANK YOU. I will leave the sunflower roots to rot. As also the the tomatoes and peppers. Because next year plants roots can follow the same path and the roots can go even deeper..

[@Jackiepoodle1]

Thank you. Very interesting, never thought about that. I assume it would be good to leave okra roots as well.

[@iamorganicgardening]

YES, just think if a root goes down 2 ft, what can we do to compare with that. PLANTS build SOIL...

[@anabolicamaranth7140]

Interesting, I've never seen anybody that gung ho with wood chips. Seems like you know what you're doing. Where is this, Minnesota?

[@iamorganicgardening]

THANK YOU...I am on the EAST COAST.

[@siminthesky]

What kind of woodchips did you put in? Or doean't it matter?!

[@iamorganicgardening]

You are correct. It is not a concern. All kinds are good to use. THANK YOU for asking.

[@andrewriley1053]

How do you water these beds?

[@iamorganicgardening]

I did not water...But in some areas in the USA you will have too. By hand or drip irrigation...THANKS

[@DaWorldOwner]

I see big black ant farmers on the sunflowers.. Why do so many different bugs like sunflowers? i had over 13 species of NON pollinator insects on my black oil sunflowers last year.. i wanted to try mammoths this time but it looks like ants like those also... ugh dont the big black ants farm aphids?

[@Ms.Byrd68]

Not all 'insects' are beneficial. What do you do when those get into your garden?

[@iamorganicgardening]

For every bad one the is 100 good ones. That is why you invite the good ones.

[@Ms.Byrd68]

@@iamorganicgardening Okay, I'm laughing at you now, lol! Just invite them 'Good Ones' huh?! I don't know, I've seen some beautiful Veggie Gardens beset by regional bugs. But don't get it 'twisted' I do get what your saying about RECREATING nature's system. Some of what your doing is now called, 'Companion' planting. Some veggies actually 'repel' certain pests. Thanks for answering, you be blessed!

[@minaadel5956]

What kind is the dog?

[@iamorganicgardening]

My dog is a Weimaraner. Very smart a fun dog. THANKS

[@leekochel2737]

One of your statements was not quite correct. You noted that you used no manure just as nature would. In nature animals are always included, more or less depending. And these animals, birds, buffalo, deer, etc. all add urine and manure to the soil. The urine typically adds salts and minerals. The manure is mainly dead bacteria which are mostly protein which is excellent fungal food.

[@iamorganicgardening]

Yes animals did add lot of their waste.. But my point is they did not cover every spot on this earth. THANKS for sharing.

[@NICKYM26]

Am I understanding you right? are you just using wood chip's and no soil? I have never got a straight answer as to the difference of wood chip's and mulch that you buy at home depot, can you clarify?? thank's

[@iamorganicgardening]

There is wood chips just on the outside ring that is 5 inch thick and soil in the middle.. Wood chips are just larger and newer pieces of mulch. The Mulch you buy is sometimes dyed with a color and it is chop up more. But both are still wood chips. THANKS

[@NICKYM26]

Thank's for clearing up the difference. will not use colored mulch anymore. will try to find wood chip's

[@billiamc1969]

Folks need to have a stronger understanding about beneficial insects and that spraying is killing their soil and all the beneficial insects. Homeowners use over 100 million TONS of pesticides in their yards and gardens every year, and that has been increasing over the years. All the synthetic fertilizers are also wrecking our soils and creating even more problems.

[@iamorganicgardening]

THIS IS SO TRUE...

[@MrDuffy81]

Thumbs down for the non skippable ads.

[@iamorganicgardening]

Did not know that there where there.. Never seen them.

[@MrDuffy81]

I AM ORGANIC GARDENING Well that’s exactly why I make these comments. Boycott the corporate takeover. Ads have ruined KZbin. They only promo videos that have ads on them.