10 Money & Resource Saving Tips for Gardeners (Featuring Chris Towerton on Permaculture Swales)

[@rosewood513]

Patrick I love watching your videos because you don't push all kinds of products. When I started gardening all I used in my garden was grass clippings, I didn't know any better I had the best fruit and veggies for many years, Never bought fertilizers. As I added junk that I was told to my garden got worse.. I am learning to go back to where I started and use my own brain instead of listening to others.. The final straw is they just told me how terrible peat moss is when I was told to use it a lot,. I went back to grass clippings 2 years ago and that is what I will be doing from now on, and Watching your videos. Thank you for waking me up

[@melovescoffee]

Thank you for those great tips! I was muttering as i left the store with another expensive bag of cow manure but i felt i had no choice because of adding a new area and not enough organic matter to amend it. I came back to the garden and guess who drove up the driveway in his tractor with a half a ton of aged horse manure? The neighbour down the road! I asked him weeks ago if i could have some but i thought it wasn't aged enough so we planned it for fall. he spread the fresher stuff on his field and dropped off the aged pile at the bottom just this week! I can go plant the new area now! There are some really nice people in the world. :D So, so grateful.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+melovescoffee What a great neighbor! I know you'll appreciate not having to make so many trips to the store!

[@RobsAquaponics]

Has been very inspirational watching you implement these strategies that have not only saved you money but have also increased the fertility & production from your patch Patrick. Have tried to follow in your footsteps but am not quite there yet. I hope that the wicking clips help folks out that need to be frugal with their water usage. Thanks mate & all the best.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Rob Bob's Backyard Farming Thank you for your kind words, Rob! What your doing in your patch is truly amazing. I'd love to see more people here in the US and elsewhere follow your lead and use wicking beds.

[@terapiu]

+Rob Bob's Backyard Farming Hello, the wiking is very useful, it's comfortable and quite efficient I would imagine.HOWEVER, I was thinking recently about aeration - when water comes from above and drains through the soil it pulls air behind it (like a seringe), when water comes from below it might not, so if the soil is not super-fluffy and aerated I would imagine there might be problems with root rot and insuficient air for the soil... Any input on that? Thank you both, you are sources of inspiration for everyone!

[@RobsAquaponics]

Hi mate. The idea with wicking beds it to let it mimic nature some what so the beds are left to dry out slightly between watering events. Colin Austin discovered while developing the concept that this allowed air to be drawn down into the soils & also up from the empty reservoir below as the moisture was removed. Hope that helps some. :)

[@svetlanikolova5557]

I agree. A time well spent

[@terrybidez7732]

Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm garden in zone 8b

[@NoName-rg3np]

What idiots gave this video a thumb down? I've learned so much from your channel! And you're so right about native worms thriving in a bed with mulch, especially leaf and grass mulch. I turned a little bit of soil over in a bed that we used mulch on, and compared to this time last year, there's a ton more worms. I say a ton more, because you could have turned that whole bed over last year and found 2 worms, and only a year later in the same bed that's now mulched I found 10 worms with just one scoop with a shovel. Excited to see how things grow in that bed now. Thanks for your great work and sharing so much helpful info!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Jon Kleis That's great, Jon! You'll be amazed how much difference mulch will make over time. Your soil will be transformed!

[@svetlanikolova7673]

Did you actually expect a world without idiots? That will be so boring

[@chung-yingchou5160]

nI tv you

[@Scullylicious]

Your show is my therapy! I just made a greenhouse out of an old tent and dumpster dive bubble wrap from a furniture store. Seeds started! Inspired and getting healthy. Thank you.

[@OneYardRevolution]

I'm happy to help. Best wishes with your garden!

[@racebiketuner]

Lots of great info! Thanks Patrick ;-) My tip is on buying seeds. Their unit cost goes way down on large quantities. So I typically buy several thousand more than I need and use the remainder for growing microgreens when my garden is not producing.

[@ariesred777]

I never get tired of green.Thanks Patrick, Oscar too, and the links.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+ariesred777 Thank you!

[@Zerkbern]

I really like the way you are indexing your videos in the description. Very helpful for future reference!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Zerkbern I'm glad you find it helpful! I'll make sure to keep doing it, especially on longer videos.

[@voidremoved]

dang thanks for pointing that out... I wish more people did that. ironically, this guys vids I don't mind sitting thru... but so many other channels waste my life

[@HuwRichards]

Such a wealth of info Patrick! Very useful tips :)

[@OneYardRevolution]

+HuwsNursery - Grow Organic Produce Inexpensively Thanks, Huw!

[@petsdinner]

Always great to see Chris in action! Thanks for getting him on Patrick.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Piers Singer I couldn't agree more! I wish Chris would get back to making videos. He's so good at it!

[@marianamunoz6075]

only add “compost, worm castings & mulch”!!!! Nice!!! 😊 Thank you sharing this with us!

[@almostcompost2285]

Another awesome video! Thank you Patrick and Chris! Great information and very concise presentation.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+phytolove Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

[@MrPilcher01]

You've change my thinking completely on soils,

[@MrChip123472]

I really like the ideas that you've presented. Mulch is King!

[@mjk9388]

Great tips! The more experienced I get at Organic Gardening the more I realize that money is not really needed to garden well. Here in San Antonio, TX we get 100+ degree weather in the Summer, but i rarely have to water since I have 4 inches of oak leaves and 2 inches of native mulch over the garden bed. Two years ago I started off with dry, cracked earth that even weeds had a hard time growing in. With the mulching I described above, I now I have rich, black soil forming that retains water all summer long and my plants do awesome with almost no maintenance...all thanks to Patrick's awesome advice!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Mj K Wow, what a great success story! Congratulations on transforming your soil and saving water. I'm really glad to hear this from someone living in Texas, where it gets very hot and dry. Thanks so much for letting me know!

[@AVSgirl1985]

What an amazing gem of a channel! I hope you keep creating content!

[@TheSamba37]

Stop it! You're making me cry.

[@markluke8447]

Thank you Patrick for your very informative videos. I've learned much from you and enjoy your thought provoking material.

[@OneYardRevolution]

You're welcome, Mark!

[@HealthyLifeFarm]

Great money saving tips! I'll be making my own worm castings this season for the first time. I love the fact that you don't buy any soil ~ so awesome! Tfs, Peaches

[@OneYardRevolution]

+lovers4healthylife Thanks! I'm convinced worm castings make a big difference in our garden. They're also a very important part of our potting mix.

[@palmtreeleebythesea]

I enjoy your gardening videos for the urban environment and overall. Thanks for all your great information. Best

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thank you!

[@muhamedfaour3710]

Great videos , just subscribed to your channel and excited to watch every single video. Thank you for the time and effort to share your experience.

[@exeterbeekeeper]

Very useful reminder of what I need to be doing already use 5 year old horse muck, hops and wood reused as raised beds

[@alicepettit164]

Great amount of wisdom here. A must see.

[@canadiangardener6855]

Another great video Patrick! Thanks for uploading, your videos are so informative and very well done!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Canadian Gardener Thank you!

[@VladTheImpalerTepesIII]

A good place to find trays, 4 inch and 6 inch pots is the cemetery. Find a cemetery in your area that provides garbage cans throughout the cemetery. On Memorial Day weekend you can find loads of these posts in & around the garbage cans. The garbage cans don't stink because all that's in there is dried up plant matter, empty soil bags, and pots/trays.

[@LolitasGarden]

Great video, I'll be referring back to this a couple more times. I'm intrigued to go back and watch your earlier "drivin' around" videos.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Lolita's Garden Thanks, Ian! I did quite a bit of drivin' around in the first year! ;-)

[@doncooper7007]

Very good video Patrick. Great to see you got a guest appearance from Chris. You are two of my favourite You tube channels and RobBob is another top channel. Thanks for all the time and effort you're putting in to these videos.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Don Cooper Thanks, Don! I'm glad you enjoyed Chris' clip!

[@casadeoracion9471]

I'm in Lansing Illinois area, I'm just working on my back yard, trying to find the best way to plant all kind vegetables. Thanks for your videos.

[@fire7side]

I use the very old fashion five gallon bucket collection for waste water, which I use on the garden in the summer. I also use my urine and the wood ash from heating the last winter. The advantage of carrying out my own waste water is that I conserve how much I use in the first place. My mulch comes from a bagging lawnmower. Another savings, which not many people can do, is to have a south facing exposure with a lot of windows that can be insulated at night. It saves heat and starts my plants in the spring without any grow lights.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+fire7side Great money/resource saving ideas! We had a drought in 2012 and used 5 gallon buckets for the same purpose. It helped a lot.

[@MarinaWilson1958]

Great gardening tips as always. And sun! We've had hail, rain, snow, cold winds and only8* C at day and minus at night last week and expected to be like this for a few more days. Can't plant or sow much yet. Thanks Patrick.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Marina Wilson Thanks, Marina! We're back to cool, cloudy, rainy here too. It looks like it will warm up again late next week. I hope you get sunshine soon!

[@BradScottPhotographer]

Great to see a couple of familiar KZbin faces together in one clip and a mention of another favourite Rob Bob, as well as having Australia represented... Great information too, cheers!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Brad Scott Thanks, Brad!

[@TheSamba37]

I miss you!

[@Latebloomershow]

No autumn leaves, grass clippings or horse manure to be had around here. Unless I get some grass clippings from a gardener from another property, and that probably has Roundup sprayed on it cause it's mostly weeds to start with. I can get all the coffee grounds I want but I'll be off balance with just kitchen scraps, egg shells and coffee grounds. Though my two worms towers are breaking this down pretty well, it's nowhere near going to provide that much compost. I am really intent, as I will mention in an upcoming episode, to get to no bought amendments next year. And I will take your advice about soil test, but I would have to do several around the front yard cause they've all had slightly different treatment as the garden developed. I've noticed now that I've had my wood chips down that I'm getting more mycorrhizae are appearing in the chips. I'm hoping wood chips with a small amount of earthworm compost will do the job. I'll also use some peas and oats again this year, but probably not vetch, haha. Do you like to eat miner's lettuce? I never tried it. I'm going to go more toward polyculture next year. Take the winter off basically and plan things. Thanks for a great video and especially to the amazing Chris Towerton!

[@Latebloomershow]

And of course, Rob Bob! I'm going to watch his clip now!

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks, Kaye! You don't really need all the materials I mentioned. I was just giving people a number of options. You may also not need much compost. I wouldn't be surprised if your soil test results are similar to mine and your soil already has a surplus of nutrients and organic matter. In that case, the compost you generate on site and wood chip mulch should be all you need. It's up to you, but I wouldn't do several soil tests. If you created all your beds the same year, I'd only do one test (with soil from 4 or 5 beds in the sample). If you have some beds that are new and some that are old, I'd do a "new bed" test and an "old bed" test. Yes, we grow miner's lettuce and love it. It grows all winter here under protection. Best wishes with your garden and everything else!

[@knowledgeworld9458]

Very well explained. Thanks for sharing these helpful tips.

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks, Nitika!

[@HelmerandRawlins]

Awesome video as usual, thanks for all the hard work on these!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Helmer and Rawlins Thanks!

[@jimkinson4975]

Great tips Patrick. I an so excited to get back to working in the garden. We have been having mid 20 degree nights and temps only 48 to 52 during the day, but supposed to warm up this next week. Blessings.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Jim Kinson Thanks, Jim! Enjoy the warmer weather next week!

[@travwilson281]

Excellent as always. Reminded me about polycultures. Only two of my four keyhole beds might be loosely described as polycultured. Will work on that next year.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Trav Wilson Thanks, Trav! We grow some crops like potatoes and sweet potatoes in small monocultures, but try to mix up everything else.

[@morelmaster]

Hi Patrick! I honestly never thought about using polyculture before to keep pests under control, I can see why this could really help, and will try it out myself soon. Keep up the great work turning out new, informative and inspirational videos! Oh, one last thing, planted mache for the first time for me about a week and a half ago outdoors unprotected, and checking this morning I see it is just starting to poke through the soil. Can't wait to try it!

[@OneYardRevolution]

I hope you enjoy the mache, John! We've had great results growing in polycultures. We have fewer pest problems every year.

[@hillcountryhick4639]

nice vid! I have a 500 gallon and a 80 gallon rainwater tank. I am using the swail and Hugelkultur approach to build up my front yard for a small fruit orchard. Now if I could find time to show "If I can do it, you can do it!".

[@OneYardRevolution]

+HillCountryHick Wow, that's great! It's so smart to capture as much rain water as possible.

[@hillcountryhick4639]

+OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening . Gotta do since we live on limestone and caliche land. Hugulkultur is cheaper and conserves resources compared to raised beds. Our water conserving balances out our swimming pool water use, H2O bills all less than $25 a month. yay!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+HillCountryHick Nice!

[@PermacultureHomestead]

nice job Chris love your work as always. wish you would come back to YT video land Chris ! we miss you.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Permaculture Homestead I agree. Chris makes great videos.

[@musiqmaker704]

Well Done! Growing up in the rural part of North Carolina, having and being surrounded by gardens was a part of life. My family did not have to worry about recalls on food because when you grow your own food you know what you are putting in your body. You can save a lot of money by growing your own fruits and vegetables right in your backyard or in flower pots. The price of a pack of seeds is almost equivalent to what you would pay for a single vegetable or fruit at the store, saving you hundreds of dollars each season!

[@AcornHillHomestead]

Two years ago our huge maple tree had to be taken down. We had the tree crew chip it up and dump two of the truck loads of the chips in our driveway. What a great decision that ended up being for us. We use a lot of mulch in our yard. Since it is a hardwood, it has taken longer for those chips to break down saving us from having to buy them for two years. Another free resource to consider.

[@OneYardRevolution]

Excellent use of a free resource!

[@tylerk.7947]

I have watched a crap load of youtube gardening videos. It's just what I do haha. I think you have the most comprehensive, sensible, realistic videos and advice out of any other gardening channel. Thanks for doing this bother. =]

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Tyler K. Thanks, Tyler! I appreciate you saying that. It means a lot to me.

[@LomilomiHealing]

Mahalo 4 the excellent info in your vids. I look forward 2 putting into play here in the islands...

[@OneYardRevolution]

You're very welcome!

[@punkyroo]

Love your thrifty approach. Keep up the great work!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Cleavage&Crops Thank you! I will.

[@NobleHomestead]

I love your fields of green! Great tips :) I use my guinea pig "beans!" We are finally getting our garden going in here in NY. Thanks for the video.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Noble Homestead Thanks! Glad to hear you're getting your garden started too.

[@pakyeh9]

great tips.Keep it up God bless.

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks!

[@whatsthedealoneill1]

Great video! Knowledge from all over the world. I just built my first swale last week. Looking forward to another great growing season on my little slope garden on Cape Cod.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Brian Thanks, Brian! I'm glad to hear you're using swales to hold more water on your property. That's great!

[@begingardener275]

Thank you Patrick for your videos. IT is great that you provide an index. Is it possible to provide a link for a pdf file of your talk along with more examples of the plants you have suggested for various purposes? It is somewhat difficult to grasp all the good info just by listening.

[@trish3580]

Love your videos - so helpful! But I must admit that I sometimes get frustrated. I live surrounded by conifers and no leaves, and virtually no grass. Most people in the area garden and most are able to get to the few trees that do have leaves long before I do. One leaf falls and someone is already raking! I've had to buy straw at $10-13 per bale which really adds up. I know mulch is the best but having so few options has really been frustrating. I'm going to try as many of your suggestions as possible-thanks for such amazing videos!

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks Trish! You can include pine needles in your mulch layer too.

[@AlbertaUrbanGarden]

Excellent video my friend ! I quite enjoy trying to save money in the garden !

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Alberta Urban Garden Simple Organic and Sustainable Thanks, Stephen!

[@nicbitting3399]

Great video Patrick. Thanks for the always insightful tips. I've been watching your videos for months now and truly appreciate the thought and effort you put into them. Thank you for sharing your experience. Quick question on chop -and-drop, what are your guidelines? Any plants you avoid choppin-n-droppin? Do you leave plants whole and lay on the ground or chop further to speed decomposition? Cheers. Nic.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Nic Bitting Thanks, Nic! I don't chop and drop diseased plant material. For example, I would remove leaves infected with powdery mildew or blight instead of chopping and dropping them. As a rule, I don't chop them up into small pieces.

[@GoodLightGoddess]

You're in Chicagoland!!!! And here I am making excuses like...if I were in the South like them, I'd have a beautiful garden too...dayum...now I gotta get started!

[@OneYardRevolution]

I hope you start a garden this year! We have a great climate here for summer gardens.

[@stormsmyst]

Great tips! The gray water is something I am very interested in now that we have our own property. The water bill is a bit higher than I am used to and the garden season hasn't even begun. =( Oh how I hate to see all that good gray water go into my septic tank. Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us!

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks Debi!

[@nereidapr1]

Great info. I'm learning how to protect my plants from the water. Will buy plastics to cover the plants for those lots of rain

[@OneYardRevolution]

+nery colon 1 Thanks, Nery! Best wishes during the rainy season.

[@McDowallManor]

Love ya work Patrick.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+McDowall Manor Thanks, Andy!

[@sideeyes7480]

Excellent piece guys.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Eric Glass Thanks, Eric!

[@RafsKitchenGardenChannel]

Hi Patrick, I like the tip about soil testing and own compost I wish we had som free soil testing in here it would be great to test my own compost each year to see what nutrients and minerals it has, and if it changes from year to year. What I'm using as mulch this year is sheep wool used by organic box scheme we buying from to insulate the boxes, already covered my strawberry bed with it :)

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Rafs Kitchen Garden Very interesting! I had never heard of sheep's wool as a mulch. Should work great!

[@harryrarmer]

Nice one Patrick! This last week I've sowed some seakale, good king henry, miner's lettuce and burnet in seed trays in the greenhouse but have done little else in the garden as my sleep disturbance is playing havoc again, I cannot sleep at night and am sleeping during the day instead. Spare me a thought will you please! I'm hoping, once my sleep pattern is back on track, that I will be intersperse some different activities in with the gardening. There's a lad who teachers Qi Gong round here and I may as well pop along to a meditation class or two.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Michael Ball Thanks, Michael! Those are some good perennials and self-sowers! I hope your sleep pattern is back to normal soon. Exercise during the day helps me sleep at night.

[@harryrarmer]

OneYardRevolution | Frugal & Sustainable Organic Gardening Thanks Patrick! On the positive side, I think that, when my sleep pattern gets screwed up it's an opportunity for me to reflect on why it has does so and contemplate new things to do and people to meet. It seems a good idea to start to attend these Lishi classes. I forgot to mention that two actinidia kolomikta (summer kiwi) climbers arrived from a nursery in Switzerland a good week ago, I've yet to plant them in their containers as I've been arguing with the landlord as to which containers to use but I'm looking forward to seeing them scramble up the house and fruit!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Michael Ball I'd love to find some room for cold hardy kiwis!

[@wk801]

always love your videos! keep it up.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+wk801 Thanks!

[@michaelwalker5269]

Great videos. How do you make those little greenhouse things. You put a frame around the bed and then drape some material over it.

[@Jefferdaughter]

Interesting bit about swales. The use of that word, at least in America, for intentionally made contours that collect moisture goes back about a hundred years. Not so much a 'ditch and berm', but low areas with gently sloping sides that will not be prone to crumbling and collapsing or washing out, as can happen with ditches.

[@unconventionalsuburbian9758]

jumping worms? all the info about these worms is about avoiding them and how plants don't grow if you have them. This seems to prove otherwise! thanks for sharing! hopeful for my new garden after seeing this

[@maryelizabethcalais9180]

Hi OYR...... what does that stand for? Plz inform.......What are you referring to as: "chop and drop garden waste" ? Tks bunches for your Channel. Very interesting and informative. I'm 80 yrs and still doing lots of veg and herb gardening since I was 5 yrs helping my Mom in her garden. Gardening is my love and my salvation (after God :) besides my several children and grans. Many Blessings to you in all your endeavors :):):)

[@MidwestGardener]

Great tips! Numbers two and three are big ones for us.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Midwest Gardener Thanks!

[@dibalowen7074]

Very interesting and informative!

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks!

[@toneyjohnson8910]

A lot of great information thanks

[@Daniel-nf8pp]

Learned a lot. Thanks. ✌

[@jacindamurphy8536]

Ghost came out of your hand at 52 seconds in, went up to your left shoulder..... Great vid

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks, Jacinda! Lol! Yeah, every now and then a bug gets on the lens creates a ghostly apparition.

[@frithar]

I'd love to see a list of what you folks eat every day.

[@OneYardRevolution]

This FB page shows many of the recipes we make. There are links to recipes too. facebook.com/pg/oneyardrevolution/photos/?tab=album&album_id=739567286082340

[@knitnpaint]

Great tips. I am going to do some of the things you mentioned.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+knitnpaint That's great! Thanks!

[@MorganBrown]

I love that cat!

[@OneYardRevolution]

I'm glad you enjoy little Oscar.

[@annebrasher302]

Always good info and food for thought. Thanks

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Anne Brasher You're welcome, Anne!

[@thongamsanjoy1203]

Made step bed of frp container for more plant of different shapes and sizes I m trying with cement and fiber container just starting 2 make

[@happyhound1373]

Thanks for all the great ideas.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+happyhound13 You're welcome!

[@marinethgonzales]

I started making compost last month. And untintentionally my father used it directly pure on pots to plant his ornamentals. I notice that it has high water retention and our climate has very humid seasons that rains everyday. Now, most of the transplanted on my compost are not doing well. The soil is clayish and wet. The succulent kind like aloe vera is dying. Should I make a cover to shelter the plants from too much rain?

[@tracycrider7778]

Yes definitely! Succulent don’t need a lot of water

[@chintha_l]

Great video! Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge :)

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Chinthamanee Lankatillake Thank you!

[@sheilaregister4128]

Love your cat!

[@CWsooner]

I see you have been busy with videos this year and I haven't been keeping up. Looks like I've been missing a lot of good info. This was another good one. I see you have a hoop house now. I haven't put my plastic back on mine for the last two years because I keep wanting to redesign them but haven't got there yet. You said you are in Chicago? I thought you were in Canada for some reason. This year I got hold of a lot of rabbit manure so I put that on top of last years horse manure and covering with grass. Things seem to be taking off so far. We have had mycorrhizae growing in the soil on it's own as well. A friend was telling me that tomatoes and strawberries need myco to produce it's best. Probably more as well.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+CW Thanks! Yes, the hoop house was a great success. We grew greens all winter long and got a big jump on the spring. I'm glad to here your garden is taking off. You're right. Mycorrhizal fungi are very helpful, but they're naturally occurring in the soil, so we don't buy any myco amendments.

[@thesimpleaussie7811]

Yay it's Chris! Always good to see the aussie permies getting onto youtube- there's not nearly enough of us. :) Great vid as always, Patrick. :D My town is being inundated with autumn leaves- as soon as I'm over my chest infection, I'll be out there stealing them. ;D I'd really love to add them straight to the beds for winter mulch- with all the rain, they break down real quick. But I have a HUGE slug problem during winter, and mulch just gives them cozy digs right next to the food. >_< I've trained my chooks to eat slugs with gusto, but they kinda suck at hunting them down. :P Got any tips for dealing with slugs? Beer traps don't cut it, seeing as my whole flipping yard gets overrun. >_< Keep up yhe great videos, dude!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+The Simple Aussie I'm glad you enjoyed seeing your fellow Aussie Chris! You're right. Leaf mulch makes a great habitat for slugs as well as earthworms. For us the trade off is worth it, but our winters are cold enough to set back the slugs. The pros/cons might be different in your climate. Have you tried other mulches like straw or wood chips?

[@thesimpleaussie7811]

Leaves, straw, wood chips, dead plants... the slugs seem to love it all. They even congregate under the pvc pipe frames for my winter hoop houses. They're insane! I'll probably take the mulch off the beds as much as possible during winter, and just plant extra greens to make up for what gets gobbled up. I need to see what native critters in my area eat slugs and see if I can encourage them to take up residence in my yard. :D

[@OneYardRevolution]

+The Simple Aussie Hopefully, you can get some ducks to visit!

[@sunnyseacat6857]

Outstanding. Great explanations. Works and more worms! Do worms survit the cold during winter? Do you add more mulch prior to winter? Thank you.

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks! Yes, worms survive winters. We add leaf mulch to the beds in the fall for more protection from the cold.

[@josephstrattard4068]

Patrick what did you add to the planting hole for that kale plant at 1:10?

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Joseph Strattard A handful of vermicompost.

[@BenjasUberHobby]

Great video and tips! Thank you for sharing!

[@giggiwidit5638]

Also, might I suggest 'Core Gardening' as a way to easily save watering/water, as it only requires a bit of digging, and a supply of Old Straw to do, and will often cut your need to water down by half, saving both water, and time =D

[@GeauxGrow]

Great info! Thanks for sharing.

[@OneYardRevolution]

My pleasure!

[@newnegritude1550]

Oh my goodness! the soil in South Africa is brown. Your soil looks awesome!

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks! Compost and mulch have totally transformed our soil.

[@wendyeames5758]

I find rewatching ur videos helpful as I am going from southern to northern growing this year. I tried to find Chris towertons channel & even googled him & his media presence seems to have disappeared. I hope he's ok.

[@thedutchhomesteader3775]

Your soil looks really good! Long way to go overhere :)

[@OneYardRevolution]

+The Dreaming Gardener Thanks, you'll get there! We owe a lot to leaf mulch.

[@thedutchhomesteader3775]

Yeah :) Will apply that more and more too :)

[@featherspy]

I wanted to ask a question about sourcing free resources for compost: do you worry about antibiotics or other things in manure or fertilizers in grass clippings you get from other places? Is that something worth being concerned with for organic compost? Thank you for your time & your wonderful videos!

[@OneYardRevolution]

You're welcome, Christine! Just make sure you know where the resources are coming from. For example, we only use grass clippings from a neighbor who doesn't use herbicides.

[@william84p]

Hey bud like always great vid, good info. quick question what do you think is the best tomato to plant here in Chicago, out by niles,IL ?? where would take my soil for testing (for free)??

[@OneYardRevolution]

+william84p Hi William! We like to grow a lot of cherry tomatoes, because they ripen much earlier and we get larger over all yields. Some of our favorites are Gardener's Delight, Black Cherry, and Sweet Millions. If your garden gets a lot of sun, you can grow larger varieties too, of course. This year we're growing Cherokee Purple and Big Rainbow. You probably won't find plant starts for many of these in stores. Do you already have some tomatoes started?

[@annestudley8235]

Great information - thank you very much. Question: does polyculture growing replace crop rotation? If not, that could be very complicated to impossible in an urban back yard.

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks Anne! Yes, crop rotation isn't needed (or possible) in polyculture beds.

[@annestudley8235]

That's great to know - thanks a lot. This seems like the best option for the small urban/suburban gardener.

[@Kindafu]

How do you all keep the leaves from blowing away and/or piling up on one side of the raised bed after modest wind?

[@chrisvenables4584]

Thanks for posting!

[@OneYardRevolution]

You're welcome, Chris!

[@nancyfahey7518]

That was great. Thank you

[@OneYardRevolution]

Thanks!

[@saeedamwanaidah7070]

excellent tips sir

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Bajjar Beko Thanks, Bajjar!

[@keyplayr61greenhousehydrop14]

Great tips, Patrick!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Keyplayr61 Greenhouse Hydroponics And Gardens Thanks, Keith!

[@catalinoancea6601]

Great video! Congratulations!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Catalin Oancea Thanks!

[@carloss9500]

great informative video! love it!

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Jose Cisneros Thanks!

[@dorothymcleod1]

A great tip video ....I was wondering where you got your rain barrel connector to your downspout it looks very unique?

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Dorothy cripplewing Thanks! This is the kit we used: www.amazon.com/Earth-Minded-Barrel-Diverter-Parts/dp/B005CJFBJE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1462675858&sr=8-4&keywords=rain+barrel+diverter+kit

[@Ferelmakina]

Thanks for all those tips :-)

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Fernando Romera You're welcome, Fernando!

[@norwichhouse]

Thank you for another really interesting video. You know what you want to say and you say, I like that. I am in a position to make large quantities of compost so virtually none is bought in. There are two drawbacks; it dosesn't have any worms - although I have recently learned that this is because of its low Ph - and I do get quite a few weed seeds. If you mix your crops do you not have a problem because there is no rotation, club root, blight and the like?

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Malcolm Brown Thanks, Malcolm! I wonder why the compost has such a low pH? Compost is usually fairly close to neutral. Diseases like the ones you mentioned are more likely to be a problem in monocultures. The bed I featured in the video has been growing non-stop for about 8 years without any disease issues. In other areas of the garden, we do practice some minimal crop rotation. For example, we usually don't plant tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins in the same location as related crops in consecutive years.

[@norwichhouse]

I am sorry I missed one vital piece of information in that the land is very acid. We have lots of bracken, brambles, nettles, etc. When ADAS, the UK agricultural advisory service, now largely defunct, tested our land when we first came here in 1985 the pH was 4.5. It has improved a bit since with cultivation. What I also failed to mention was how well your plants always look - just seeing them proves your methods.

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Malcolm Brown Thanks, Malcomb! How are you bringing up the pH? Wood ash?

[@norwichhouse]

I don't have access to wood ash I'm afraid so I have started adding garden lime to the compost. There are photos of my compost system on my flickr Album: www.flickr.com/photos/norwichhouse-oakridge/albums/72157655792756058

[@OneYardRevolution]

+Malcolm Brown Great pics, Malcolm! Looks like your crops are growing very well!