The Ruth Stout Method Turns Weeds into Gardens

It's late into growing season, and you still have some seed potatoes, but no more room in your garden. Not a problem with the Ruth Stout approach. In a matter of minutes you can turn a patch of weeds into a garden beds, and by next year, you'll have perfect soil in that space, ready to plant anything in! Have a watch as I explain how this works :)
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[@garthwunsch]

I love how you get rid of trash... rocks & sticks etc... just toss 'em over your shoulder... I can do this too... but I have to remember sometimes I've parked my car in one of my "toss" areas. LOL.

[@lindasands1433]

😂 hopefully no pedestrians either 😂

[@mylazydaygarden2628]

I did this in the spring. Had no room in the garden, so I threw the potatoes down on the ground and put leaves and straw over them. I’m harvesting next week and really excited to see the results. Thanks for sharing. Hope you have a good Sunday. Take care. - Cindy

[@maritimegardening4887]

Awesome man good to hear that other people are using this easy method to grow food!

[@carolynsteele5116]

You questioned whether a thick layer of grass clippings would allow the potatoes to grow. This May I planted a large patch of potatoes this way. My neighbor gave me a huge pile of the previous year's grass clippings which my husband spent an entire afternoon hauling over in wheelbarrows. They were matted and had a lot of black decomposition, and we covered the potatoes with 10 - 12 inches. Now in late June we have lush, thigh-high blossoming plants! I've never grown such beautiful, pest-free potatoes! We did add a thin layer of compost on the ground and sprinkle bone meal beforehand.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Awesome thanks

[@garthwunsch]

Excellent. I suspect you could use that thicknerss because they've already heated up and "composted" so no more energy to do that. I know bags of fresh cuttings can get so hot in just a couple days that you can't keep your hand in them.

[@tkin5265]

I plan on doing hay and then a thin layer of bagged compost and bone meal as well in the spring for a ruth stout potato patch :)

[@carolynsteele5116]

In the process of harvesting the potatoes (that I wrote about to begin this thread) I have found too many potatoes peeking through and having green parts. Next year I will add more grass clippings as the potato plants grow to make sure they stay covered.

[@trailwomanrc]

Grass is the most invasive weed in my garden. This is the best use I've seen for it without raising livestock.

[@samasonedderman]

Hey Greg! I can vouch for this method. You did something like this I think last year. Being a bit of a doubting Thomas I decided to try it. Blimey! I got huge big potatoes couldn't believe it. So this year I'm doing it again I'm regretting it already though, as it looks as if I'll have enough to feed the 5000!😂😂. I just generally threw in any and all the potatoes I had over from last year. A word of caution, if you don't get all the potatoes out the little blighters will be growing everywhere. I planted carrots in one bed, or so I thought! A week later I spotted a potato plant which I dug up. By the time I counted 10 volunteers I gave up! So my carrots are going to have to Duke it out with the potatoes 😂😂😂. Cheers, Stella

[@maritimegardening4887]

Hello Erefuro! Have not heard from you in a while - have been missing your "blimeys" and "blighters", etc :) Glad to hear this has worked for you too, and don't forget your small fishes and barley loaves when you have that feast you mentioned. BTW - I have not forgotten about your request for a vid on mustard beans & the affect of garden on mental states. I actually tried to record a video on the mental states theme three times, and was not happy with any of them. Anyway - it's still there bouncing around in my head - so we'll see what happens this summer.

[@samasonedderman]

@@maritimegardening4887 Hi Greg, funny you should say that. I was looking for something on the internet and found an article on gardening and mental health. Thought about you but didnt want to be cheeky and send you are link without any preamble....consider this the said preamble. If I can copy the link, I'll send it. Errr! Yellow beans growing! A promise is a promise! 😂😂😂😂. 🖖, Stella

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

I am doing a Ruth Stout area for the first time this year. I had an area that was giving trouble so, last fall, I said, Ruth stout it is! I piled a bunch of meadow clippings, leaves and twigs on it. Come june, I stuck potatoes under it!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Sounds great!

[@HappyFarmsLa]

Enjoyed. I love encouraging others to “just grow” I will try this next time I plant potatoes. I’m actually harvesting my third batch here very soon. Did an experiment btwn store bought organic potatoes and seed potatoes. So far they did about the same! Have a great day!

[@jerseybob9595]

Gosh I love to watch Your videos they are just from the heart, filled with Passive Information for those with eyes to see and ears to hear...Much Love Brother! Kudos to You and Yours! Many Fish One Love! @"Ur6

[@maritimegardening4887]

You are so welcome!

[@eldonelder7254]

UH-Ohhh! I see another another garden expansion in your future. Maybe to celebrate your 50th birthday you can ask for a new roll of page wire fence.

[@maritimegardening4887]

ha ha very funnny!

[@backinfive2286]

I live in a mini-home with not much space. Most of the sun hits the paved driveway. I don't drive, have no car (see previous statement) but they won't let me build a raised bed on the the pavement. Last year a got a bunch of used horse feed bags for free from a horse owner and planted them along the sides of the driveway. Worked a treat. This year re-using the bags and using a combo of soil (which I have to buy, only moss and shale here) and mulch which I'm borrowing from my neighbours. So glad I found your vids...my kind of gardening.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad you like them :)

[@kellycaborn5533]

Get an old convertable car and fill it with dirt :D

[@1skinnypuppy]

That has to be one of the coolest gardening videos I have ever seen. LOL

[@maritimegardening4887]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@SherrickDuncan]

I use weeds (minus seeds) to actually make My Ruth Stout gardens. Will grass leaves and stens from 12 foot tall wils grass - Dandelion - Lambs quarter - etc etc is what I mulch with.

[@bobbysmac1009]

Minimum input hack will get folks out in the yard and growing potatoes which will in turn make even the novice an addicted heavy mulch, no till soil builder who continues to add growing areas throughout their yards. Once they taste their own, there will be no turning back.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I agree man. You have to grow your own to know the difference!

[@luckychicav7981]

Hello Greg, I took notice last time you put your potatoes down and covered them with leaves. When the craziness started and my vegetarian child couldn’t find potatoes, I helped her find some organic ones and I took some myself and I put them down the way you did. I’m getting excited 😊, because I thinking it’s almost time to go pull them and see what happened. Greg, thank you for sharing “what, when and how” you garden with us, I have learned that I Love your style of gardening and is much easier on me, much appreciated! 😉

[@maritimegardening4887]

Awesome. I hope they taste great!

[@RebelShell]

I planted mine with old hay as a mulch/cover. And I do have some seed potatoes left over, I just mowed my field of fresh grass(hay) and so I am going to plant more using that, just to see how that works out too!

[@michaellippmann4474]

And so it begins Greg! Nice video....I can see you adding more beds next spring! Yes mulch is the primary motivator for me mowing my lawn as well....love the grass clippings! Those potatoes will do very well with the big nitrogen boost from the "greens"! Have a great day and it looks like the black flies have slowed down for you as well! 😉 Mike

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes - but now it's deerfly & horsefly season.... aaarrrgghh!!!

[@michaellippmann4474]

And my wife and I complain about the 2 week fish fly season we are dealing with!!! At least the fish flies do not bite! Have a great day man! Mike 👍

[@SimplyGarden]

Great way to using up left over seed potatoes. I'll have to try that next year. I usually just throw them in the compost pile. Enjoy the day.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Sounds great!

[@paullemay3218]

Thank you for sharing. Looking forward to seeing your results. 🇨🇦😎

[@maritimegardening4887]

You and me both!

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

Actually the grass clippings mowed into the lawn keep the minerals in the soil, which does better over time. It's still okay to raid the lawn for grass clippings for the garden for the same reason, but never worry that leaving it in will do anything bad, as the good outweighs it a thousand fold. Oh, this morning there was a very specific track in the bottom of the water for the cats. The track had 5 toes, most likely a raccoon.

[@nataliedyck8312]

I agree with you. But his was a meadow of 2 feet high grasses.

[@nancyinoregon809]

THANK YOU for showing us how easy it can be!

[@maritimegardening4887]

You are so welcome!

[@kathrynkidd7828]

Really interesting. I look forward to seeing the results in a couple of months.

[@gsharrood]

Thanks

[@MeezerGurlMakes]

I can't find potato starts here. Can I cut up pieces of potato's and do this? Love your videos. Great to find a Canadian gardening channel. 🍃🌻🌄🦊

[@maritimegardening4887]

Ideally you want potatoes that have eyes that have started to sprout. There are risks of not using certified seed potatoes, but you can grow potatoes using grocery store potatoes

[@MeezerGurlMakes]

@@maritimegardening4887 Thanks for answering! I'm assuming the risks are they may not grow and yes I'll use spuds with eyes. Thanks again!

[@joakimdamkas3804]

@@MeezerGurlMakes I think he means that store bought potatoes AS they grow can get infected with various potatoe virus and diseases (and of course potatoe-blight) from the field where they are grown. Seed potatoes are produced in a controlled enviroment to assure that they dont get and transmit diseases to your potatoes, and more importantly to your field. Anyway I have used storebought myself. I consider the risk acceptable. Especially if you do some sort of crop rotation. But if your potatopatch is very close to a commercial potato farm I would not have grown storebought because they could spread virus and other diseases to the farmers field and pose a threat to their farm. Especially if it is an organic farm.

[@ghendar]

Love your videos Greg. Love your attitude towards gardening. I'm a complete noob when it comes to growing pretty much anything but I'm excited about trying a Ruth Stout garden maybe this year. If not, definitely next year.

[@maritimegardening4887]

You can do it!

[@ghendar]

@@maritimegardening4887 Preparing for this might actually make me look forward to mowing my lawn and that's something I thought impossible ;)

[@lisarussell6099]

Look forward to the results.

[@JosephLee-ne5mm]

Great I was curious to see how the potatoes and whatever else you planted outside of the fence did.

[@jodilooper6930]

Dont get any easier then that, I used straw this year for my potatoes, no weeds, and everytime I check the soil always wet enough. Can't wait until the end of July to start harvesting

[@DsHomeyGarden]

as always I enjoyed your video. I'm fixing to harvest my March crop and plant some more for the September and hopefully I can get one after that.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Man I wish I could get successive crops of them like that! Sounds great man :)

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

Cool!

[@RebelShell]

I know you said that you would go back to the potatoes when it is time for a harvest, but can you update us? How are they coming?

[@simmonds6063]

I've got a video on how I use my grass clippings to make silage for my pigs and other critters. Free and easy! Grass and weeds are sadly often an entirely neglected resource.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I will check it out

[@keithturkjr.8676]

Man I wish this had been my first gardening video lol.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Better late than never man :)

[@keithturkjr.8676]

@@maritimegardening4887 Oh yeah gonna save me a ton of money and work.

[@jaellandrie6877]

I'm totally going to do this! Thank you!

[@maritimegardening4887]

Have fun!

[@HerbstundSturm]

So do you think i could try planting in fall like this with the irish method of overwintering the crops?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Only if it doesn't get too cold where you are. Most of the potatoes turn to mush when I've done it.

[@johnhazaras3160]

Looks good Greg but Ruth stout used to garden in the nude (apparently) so I don't know if that helps the potatoes grow better or not but she would get the attention of passers by. I'm not suggesting you plant naked at all, but she did her daily dosage of vitamin D and lived to an old age.

[@maritimegardening4887]

I have no plans to take the channel there yet :)

[@kathynix6552]

Do Jerusalem artichokes and potatoes have the same time till harvest so that I can plant them in together? Or is it best to keep them in separate beds?

[@maritimegardening4887]

The j-artichokes are harvested much later - in late fall after a few frosts

[@kathynix6552]

@@maritimegardening4887 ok I don’t get frosts so will forget about that idea 😉

[@JosephLee-ne5mm]

which video is the follow up/ harvest to this one?

[@maritimegardening4887]

I didn't film one - but this year I expanded that garden & made a video of it - and there will be a follow up I promise. Here's the link to the new vid; kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3mxZJWZiNqIaKc

[@crittermef]

I wish potatoes were deer resistant for me. Deer took the tops of most of my row of potatoes. They did leave enough that the plants do seem to be putting out more leaves. The plants are now covered with netting. It seems the deer here in town will eat anything and everything.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yikes!

[@garthwunsch]

Greg... as you say, mulch is mulch! I'm running low and eyed a huge bag of shredded paper I've been meaning to send to recycle... so i repurposed it onto my potatoes. :-) Have you any experience with shredded paper? I'll be adding more "stuff" on top of it later.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Here's a good link on the carbon nitrogen ratio of a range of materials. Short answer, sure, it will break down, eventually, so go for it :) compost.css.cornell.edu/chemistry.html

[@garthwunsch]

Maritime Gardening Thank you. Very good infio. I'm surprised at how resistant the newpaper is. I'm going to see if I can get coffee grounds again from Timmy's. Use dto get them... in the old days. LOL. I'd take them two 5 galllon pails when I went for morning coffee, and by 1:00PM they'd both be full of coffee grounds and filters and waiting outside the back door - no garbage. They're quite high in nitrogen.

[@karenjones3066]

Hi Greg, I love this style of potato growing, so much easier! Can't wait to harvest mine. Can you compost the tops? I've heard they're toxic

[@maritimegardening4887]

The tops are toxic for humans to eat, they are not toxic for soil organisms to eat. Yes, you can compost them :) I compost them all the time.

[@nataliedyck8312]

The potatoes are ready when the tops are dry so they stay automatically in your garden

[@DavidMFChapman]

Is it the growing potatoes that transform the soil, or the mulch overlay that allows the critters and worms to do their thing?

[@maritimegardening4887]

It's the mulch primarily - the potatoes just help because they out-compete most weeds - and you get potatoes out of the deal, since it takes the mulch & soil organisms a whole season to do their work.

[@DavidMFChapman]

Sounds like a good deal all round-I only wish I had the space!

[@clell888]

I planted sprouting potatoes (covid unused waste from our restaurant) june 6 and 11, one batch under hay on mowed field, one on dirt (raked wood chips aside) with thin layer of compost under hay. No leaves yet......it poured just after planting. I think I'll add some grass clippings tomorrow but I'm getting discouraged. How long is it usually before top growth shows? I just harvested some volunteers from my regular garden to eat ....hoping these restaurant ones (yukon gold) grow too....

[@maritimegardening4887]

It usually takes a few wees, but that also depends on how much mulch you have, how cold the ground is, and the growing habit of the potatoes. Why don't you just have a poke around under the mulch and see what's going on? That's the easiest way to answer your question :)

[@clell888]

I've so looked, more than once, these were super sprouted so I'm still hopeful. I will add more mulch today (compost day in my town so tonnes of grass clippings!!) And if they don't grow, well I've got land ready for next year :)

[@LittleGardenSK]

Have you planted anything else using this method? I’ve been planting our potatoes under straw and hay for 2 seasons now and never going back! I’m in zone 3 Saskatchewan with pretty much the same frost dates as you.

[@maritimegardening4887]

No I haven't - though I think garlic, and possibly sunchokes might work this way too.

I have a small raised bed with potatoes (one sort - Marabela). 2 tubers I've planted in the autumn and other 8 somewhere this March. The March potatoes started to grow sooner so I thought the autumn potatoes failed. However, the Autumn ones started to grow too and now are even bigger compare to the March ones. This week I've noticed that the March plants are getting weak while the Autumn plants are starting to go to blossom. I'm worried what's wrong with the March plants. Any idea what could be going on?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Did the March potatoes make their flowers already? If so, they're probably done (that's why they're dying) and ready to harvest

@@maritimegardening4887 Unfortunately they did not. They are now smaller, less green and tend to lay rather than stand up. The Autumn ones are dark green and bigger. Its a bit confusing as it is the same sort and the same batch (from my last year harvest) - just planted in different times. (I've uploaded a picture if that can help to anything: ibb.co/tBxptZ7 )

[@michaelboom7704]

wow that is a really good mic...your work out was intense...lol

[@maritimegardening4887]

I love this new mic, but I would prefer if it left out some of the heavy breathing :)

[@johnhazaras3160]

Hey Greg. I just found another reason to start plants in cells. My garlics are 2 weeks from harvest and I want to get a second crop into the 2 beds. Luckily our local seed store opened back up 2 weeks ago with limited hours and occupancy, you may have heard of them, William Dam seeds. Anyway I picked up some beets and French bush beans yesterday and I sowed them today in cells with.my homemade compost. They should be s good size by the time I harvest my garlics and I will transplant them at night with a good watering. I just want a headstart and hit the ground running. Plus we have more rabbits than I need around here and I've already had issues with other beans that I have planted. Do you have any good ideas on catching rabbits. I will also be starting my late summer salad bar probably in late July and hopefully keep eating fresh organic lettuce until Christmas in my greenhouse. This will be a first in the greenhouse. I have done it in low tunnels but that's a pain when it snows and you want to pick some. I will start the lettuce and kale in cells as well probably 3rd week in July. I will be dropping off my daughter in Halifax in early September, hopefully they will.let us into nova Scotia.

[@maritimegardening4887]

Most important thing for the rabbits - find out how they're getting in and fence that off! Now, for trapping, they can't resist apples, so use that to bait your trap. Leave a trail of apples pieces, so they can eat some and feel safe - then they'll follow that trail right to your trap. Good idea with the beets man.

[@johnhazaras3160]

@@maritimegardening4887 I will definitely try using apples with my trap. I don't mind if they nibble here and there but I had to fence off my other beans. This year is being funny with beans, we planted done climbing beans and they turned out to be bush or are not showing any runners do far. We planted done bush and I've seen a few runners in this batch. This beans are from last year's harvest. So either my wife didn't label them correctly or maybe they cross pollinated, not really sure. I'm they will taste good and we freeze alot anyway so no big deal.

[@OurEnglishTropicalGarden]

Really interesting video, Stay connected! Like 39

[@maritimegardening4887]

Ok, thank you

[@OurEnglishTropicalGarden]

@@maritimegardening4887 Thank you too I really like your videos

[@1DUBBz1]

where in Nova Scotia do you live?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Out near Peggy's cove

[@1DUBBz1]

@@maritimegardening4887 cool. I live just off of the Herring cove road. I was in Peggy's cove last week.

[@shadyacrefarm1005]

Do you add more mulch as the season progresses?

[@carolynsteele5116]

Yes, I pile on more mulch as the potatoes grow if my first layer wasn't very thick, especially if any potatoes are showing through.

[@maritimegardening4887]

No - I just leave it

[@tkin5265]

have you harvested this crop yet?

[@maritimegardening4887]

Yes, results were very bad for this one because I never got around to adding more mulch. It needed about 6" more mulch, so there wasn't enough to suppress the weeds. I got potatoes but not that many. The technique will work if you have enough mulch - I've done each year in a different spot - unfortunately - they year I film it I don't do it right and the results are pathetic ! Next year I guess

[@tkin5265]

@@maritimegardening4887 good to know, I have a bed prepped with hay ready for potatoes in the spring. First time ruth stout method....wish me luck! :) I'll make sure to keep enough hay on, and may add grass clippings when I cut my lawn ;)

[@samivelable]

So would you still say 6-7 inches of leaves would be ok? Would I need to.top.up the mulch as they grow?

[@tkin5265]

@@samivelable pretty sure you want to keep at least 8 to 12 inches at all times....

[@sirmaster8972]

My deer eat potatoes….

[@tamaradore6834]

Groundhogs don’t eat the potatoes either

[@lindasands1433]

They're not 'pig proof' though 😂

[@maritimegardening4887]

I don't think anything is pig p;roof :)