Market Gardening: Why 30-Inch Beds Are the Key to Thriving Crops!

[@OFFGRIDwithDOUGSTACY]

WOW hitting on great points and it was like I was there =)

[@marielefebvre5891]

😂You were there! I spied you filming!

[@OFFGRIDwithDOUGSTACY]

@@marielefebvre5891 🤣

[@JamesRattray]

Yes, a superb commentary, I too learnt massively for my small home vegie patch. Thank you.

[@ricoreich9462]

Actually those beds use more space or the same ammount of space as standardized tractor farming. The crops that are shown here are usually cultivated on 4 rows at 1.5m including tractor tracks. For headlettuce: in a standard tractor system with 30x30 spacing and 4 rows you could fit about 86.000 on a hectare of land with 75cm beds you only fit 82.000 with a 30x30 and 3 rows spacing. Narrowing down the space is possible in both systems. So im really wondering about the the row - dead - row story. So comparing the standard system with 1.50m including pathways and this system with 1.2m including pathways this system takes more space and more of all the materials.

[@deathlesszero]

The tarp/fabric around the parameter of the blocks makes a lot of sense. i have bermuda grass and its a pain in the ass. thanks curtis

[@anthonywhitefeather7745]

More space If I stick with my 5' bed, less foot/wheel path adds up big over 6acres. Only big reason I have thought of changing is stepping over the bed, we work beds in two side. But I would have to open more land to accommodate loss to paths, as we plant as dense.

[@lilpipskweek6448]

Anthony Whitefeather agreed I have five foot beds 30 inch reach from either side. Much better use of space

[@fouroakfarm]

30 is also a good width for many of the small scale tools to work on like broadfork, seeders, flame weeders, etc

[@JNYC-gb1pp]

Is it 30 inche bed + x" walkway? Or is the walkway included in that 30?

[@fouroakfarm]

@@JNYC-gb1pp 30" bed + walkway (another 12-24"+ depending on preference)

[@jesseknox9322]

Very cool video. You know with the walk path and the rain I think you're also creating a mini swale, which is a fantastic function

[@RepampGhana]

Very good 👍 information thanks for sharing watching from Ghana 🇬🇭

[@billshepherd5090]

I’ve been thinking about the effects of micro plastics this could create in my garden. I think I’m going to try burlap instead of plastic.

[@MaxwellPatterson-s1h]

Be careful, a lot of burlap is treated to increase resistance to decomposing which often has harmful chemicals as well :(

[@billshepherd5090]

@@MaxwellPatterson-s1h thank you

[@samiarti]

Really good points, I’ll cover my empty beds with weed mat tomorrow and will cover the perimeter with weed mat too. Feeling one step closer in the battle with weeds now thank you!

[@SD-co9xe]

How wide is the ideal walkway?

[@hosoiarchives4858]

I’m doing 32” beds and 32” walkway, walkways covered with woodchips. It’s amazing

[@kubanmacbrainndam6861]

Thanks alot it helped me

[@mamtapatel6554]

Nice talk for farmer good after have book

[@ThirdLawPair]

I've tried to do 36" beds with 12" walking paths, but since my poor drainage requires me to hill up the beds, I end up losing a few inches on either side. Where the beds slope functions neither as bed space nor as walking space.

[@joedaddy8044]

This expert is really good , definitely not the first video I've seen of of his . Love the videos!! keep rockin them out bud 💪🏼🥬🌶

[@Veemack21]

Dope info man!! I'm at that point racking my brain to try an get the land ready for seeding this spring. Its hard to get all the proper tools in our area. So amazon it is

[@SuperRats_thefirst]

I Curtis I have questions can do this idea Africa especially Somali I want help my people because they dying hunger they have no enough food so pls help me if can start this in Africa they don’t have enough water to thanks

[@VastCNC]

What would be a good minimal working path for the areas surrounding a block or the ends of rows? I have a fence along one side and I'm wondering what would be reasonable with seeders, and other hand tools.

[@lukkassuhn6761]

Chris Polk 2 feet bare minimum, depending on the tools you want to use you may want as much as five feet.

[@venugopalareddy1455]

Good

[@fezii9043]

Market gardening- use the rocket jumper

[@ACTDAF00L]

How high do you make your beds?

[@nenadbojovic592]

Is there a reason why you keep silage tarp for a month vs shorter timeframe? Weeds germinate much faster than any crop so why having 10 or.more beds not in use longer than needed? THANKS!

[@anesumadziyire6336]

I like your point of view.

[@dickhead8775]

If a block of 10 beds is "50 to 80 feet" wide as you state, then the walkways must account for 25 to 55 feet of this. This does not seem to match what I see in the video. Can you check these figures, please?

[@dantheman9135]

ThankQ

[@barkergardens]

Nicely explained Curtis

[@yd8104]

I feel like it's so much waste to cover the block for several weeks after harvesting. I don't really get why you cannot plant just after harvesting. You had no weeds with the previous crop so when you've just harvested why would weed come before you plant again?

[@samuellopezatbornagainacre8644]

Thank you Curtis !

[@jamessteffens8337]

Then how big are your walkways

[@suburbanliving4258]

Thank you for the good video. Very helpful.

[@rlund3]

Less land for more production. Genius.

[@rosemcommm]

I'm thinking about using 1 acre of my land for a rotating garden area. The idea is to use 1/8 of an acre per year and have the rest of the land in orchard grass and rotate yearly. My question is what is a good dimension for a 1/8 acre garden. Looking to plant for family/friends use and not commercial. I like the 30" wide beds, but how wide are the walkways usually. Assuming once I have that variable I can determine how many rows and I need to get the width and then figure out how much length I have left for 1/8 acre. :p

[@lukkassuhn6761]

Mike Rose why bother creating gardens but have them in gras 7 out of 8 years? You are creating a lot of work for yourself having to deal with that Orchard Grass every year.

[@michaelvangundy226]

Grandpa would rotate on a 7 year pattern. Each field was in a different stage of the rotation so the work each year was the same just in a different field. The fallow year was grazed off by cattle in the spring, plowed and harrowed in the late summer for winter wheat. The cows were moved to the old alfalfa field. The wheat was followed by fall planted alfalfa. One year of harvesting bales and one year of pasture. The cows were moved in early spring to the fallow field and the alfalfa was plowed and planted in corn. Beans the next year. Then corn again. The corn was interplanted with clover seed after the last weeding so the clover would hold the soil while it went fallow the next year. The idea being using legumes to heal the soil after a heavy feeder like corn or lesser so wheat. Clover will let the native grasses come up and make good spring pasture. You don't have to plant grass, use clover and grass will come. No fertilizer needed. Those were the old ways that my father was raised with.

[@JNYC-gb1pp]

@@michaelvangundy226 Most of us are barely taught how to make bread. Lots of our heritage skills have died out because our parents never taught us.

[@luchamilton8477]

If you're interested in a sustainable way to farm 40inch beds or less, check out Monarch Tractor. First electric tractor on the market and subsidized 60-80% in California :)

[@tylersingleton9284]

I'm wanting to start market gardening using the 30" bed system but I don't have the funds for a walk behind tractor or other earth shaping tools yet. I understand the benefits of furrows and having the beds raised, but would growing on flat ground (paths and beds at same elevation) work while I save up for the bed making tools?

[@StaarveyFarm]

I used to use a small roto tiller and ridger to make paths - looks nice but is a lot of work - you don't need. Now I rotovate my beds and not the paths, just by walking on the paths they sink a bit and so your bed is 'raised'. Having really high raised beds can have benefits but not in every situation, and is the work creating/maintaining them repaid with increases in production ? not usually. hope this helps a bit, but as Curtis says 'context....'

[@tylersingleton9284]

StaarveyFarm yes I think that helps quite a bit thank you. I'm wondering if you could explain the difference between rotovate and rototill. I could not find anything online explaining the difference and they seem be the same to me.

[@StaarveyFarm]

I think its more down to the locally used term - here in UK - it is a rotovator, but it is 'tilling' the soil ie working it, so rototiller is just a different way to say it. Don't confuse it though with a power harrow which does a very shallow cultivation and is used in a similar way that Curtis uses his tilther for, but is powered by a BCS engine ie a rotovator but with the 'tilling' element de-tached. Rotovators are not cheap but they last well and save a vast amount of time, if you are looking to become commercial or simply have a large area it will produce excellent results without breaking your back ! Possibly hire one 2 or 3 times a year to start with ?

[@tylersingleton9284]

StaarveyFarm alright, very good information. So it sounds like I would use what we call a rototiller here in Arizona USA. My understanding is that power harrows cultivate in a horizontal pattern and that tillers cultivate in the vertical direction. I have access to a small 20hp tractor and I would probably rent a 3point hitch tiller implement to work my 1/3 acre plot. Thanks for the info, as my biggest holdup to starting is the BCS and it's implements. If anyone else knows any better on the practicality of flat farming vs raised bed growing in a sandy soil in extreme heat I would love the second opinion. My intuition says that it would work just as well but it's a scary thing to try something different.

[@lukkassuhn6761]

Tyler Singleton in Arizona you very much should avoid raised beds anyway. They dry out faster

[@kobewade8709]

Just curious, what are the dimensions of the blocks?

[@offgridcurtisstone]

They very because of the geography limitations.

[@MrDirtjumper11]

I Wish I could do a market garden, but being a renter in one of the most expensive cities in canada makes that near impossible :(

[@hosoiarchives4858]

Change your life

[@kierinmackenzie2096]

Have fun in NZ!

[@HealthyLifeFarm]

Awesomeness!

[@doncook3584]

Common sense stuff. Like it

[@NotSoCrazyNinja]

You know, he didn't actually give any good reasons to specifically use 30in beds over other sizes. Why not 48in beds? Can still reach the center, may not be able to walk over them, but can grow more in less space and every time you step over a bed, you risk damaging a plant or multiple plants if you lose your balance and fall. Plus, not every plant is going to be short enough to step over.

[@JRSB88]

Yes, This pis pretty typical with a lot of people. I am sure he prefers the size for harvesting and walking around, but you use what works for you man. Try a few, pick your favorite after trial and error. Their is no one way fits all for sure. :D

[@hosoiarchives4858]

Try it out, if you like it it’s fine. I do 32, and am thinking of going 36. However chief consideration is how many rows of plants you can fit in.

[@hosoiarchives4858]

The old square foot gardening method was 48” beds

[@megm3099]

Agreed. For the same reasons he gives, 40-48” beds are even better. 48 is a max though so average adult can reach to/past middle. Fewer paths also allows you to make path slightly wider without losing growing space. I like a path big enough to kneel with damaging the row behind, and for folks with mobility issues to navigate so farming is accessible. Also that allows me to plant paths w white clover for fertility and use lawnmower to keep it under control.

[@acctsys]

Back pain is not a joke

Without viewing the video, you may have covered this, just a couple questions: If I wanted to sell some of my backyard produce at the local farmer's market, does the local or county "health inspector" get involved?? And, if so, what kind of paperwork or tests are required ? Thanks

[@lazygardens]

It depends on what state or county you are in. Your state's agriculture department would know. And markets have their own regs to follow.

[@rustedoakhomestead]

Is that Doug from Offgrid with Doug and Stacy I spy?!

[@ratraceremedy9977]

Why yes, yes it is

[@OFFGRIDwithDOUGSTACY]

lol

[@jonathanmullins845]

Curtis - How are you keeping wildlife out of your beds?

[@offgridcurtisstone]

Little thing called fences.

[@urgencepc4563]

I prefer yelling.

[@janetschexnayder2813]

I wonder how well 30" beds would work in a non-desert climate

[@lukkassuhn6761]

Janet Schexnayder Kelowna is more of a steppe prairie climate than desert. J.M. Fortier uses this size bed in a rather wet climate. Granted, personally I prefer 40 inches, but 30 works pretty well

[@janetschexnayder2813]

Well, I am in New Orleans, and you might be familiar with the rainfall that we get -- 60 inches a year, and we get 5 or 6 inches in one day sometimes. We are a swamp, not a prairie. ;-)

[@lukkassuhn6761]

Janet Schexnayder you definitely want some elevation for your garden lol

[@lazygardens]

The worms and insects are coming to the surface for the same reason that fish in stagnant aquariums are at the surface. they are seeking oxygen, and the tarp is smothering them.

[@Aluttuh]

This doesn't make any sense because the thinner the row the more pathways and less garden space you have... seems the only benefit is being able to straddle the row/easily walk across

[@jimmydykes7961]

30 inch rows and 60 dump trucks full of compost

[@IvarKarm]

Your voice reminds me of rick if hed be sober and a gardener.

[@michaelvangundy226]

Well that's good for a young man, but I'm old and crippled. Stepping across the beds doesn't work for me. Fighting a walk behind tiller for a few hours and I would be in traction. I sit on a tractor and never drive on the beds. I plow a 7 " deep furrow around the perimeter when I plow, which is about every 3 years. I use a rainflow plastic mulch layer with drip tape under it. Tear out the old in August and rototill the beds after adding compost and manures. I use Glyphosate to keep the weeds down. Always drive in the walkways and I can drive the pickup right down the rows. I shovel right out of the truck, no wheel barrow needed. Those are for young guys. You jump around like a rabbit, I'll just drive there.

[@aesthete1908]

SoundSmith's tutorial on market gardening is much better