The Ultimate No-Till Strategy

Everything you wanted to know about the no-till deep compost mulch system and lasagna beds. Pros, cons, how to build and FAQs.
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[@rubytuby6369]

For a small garden like mine all I did was put a fence around it lay down the cardboard, and fill it with leaves about 2 feet deep. Leaves are all free all bagged up waiting on the curb for me around the neighborhood. It’s been three years now and I put six feet leaves on my garden. The compost is about a half a foot thick. In the spring the leaves are only about 4 inches deep I push them aside and put my plants in I never I have to clean my garden. Everything stays in the garden and gets buried with leaves every fall.

[@liamsdad33]

I did this this fall how long did it take your leafs to break down?

[@rubytuby6369]

@@liamsdad33 whatever I put in in the fall breaks down by 80% by the following summer. In late summer, I notice the leaves starting to almost completely break down and some weeds coming up here and there but it’s OK cause I am just about to throw on another foot of leaves for the fall. I probably get an inch of compost out of a foot of leaves. Plus, the worms drag it down into the soil several inches making the soil dark black about a foot down after a few years. Good luck.

[@liamsdad33]

@@rubytuby6369 awesome! Thank you

[@msdramamusic]

I just purchased .27 acres this is the method I'm going to do.

[@mar1video]

Awesome ! Good luck with your project !

[@leedza]

Black folk growing stuff.. Love it.. All the best

[@MetalFreak187]

How is that going!?

[@azizaomar4508]

Congrats. How is your farm doing?

[@yeahnahyeahnahprivateacc]

Thank you for supporting your soil. The more organic content in your soil, the less carbon is in the air. Youre helping climate change and you increase the minerals, vitamins and protein your plants can take from the ground.

[@jc6226]

A couple things Charles Dowding does sometimes that everyone should do if they can... He often buys compost 3-9 months ahead of time and lets it finish if its hot. Some things will even grow right on top of compost pile while it's too hot to put on a bed. When he gets new compost, he also tests it for herbicides/pesticides with beans and other plants.

[@tedpreston4155]

No-till has been a wonderful system here in Colorado. I'm planting for the second year in a garden that started as a sand patch growing weeds. Building beds was as simple as mowing the weeds, then covering the plot in cardboard, then laying out beds and paths using compost and straw. After laying out the beds, watering and compacting the compost, I planted straight into the compost. The first year, the garden grew gangbusters with a typical selection of garden plants. I added several inches of compost over the past winter and spring, watered and compacted again (just by walking/dancing on the beds.) Just today, I moved some of the soil in one bed. The whole of the soil in the raised portion of the bed (the compost) was beautiful, dark, rich-looking soil. This garden is particularly suited to no-till gardening because there is a constant supply of compost year-round just a short wheel-barrow trip away. No-till gardening benefits from ample additions of compost each year. I'm fortunate that my wife loves horses and I love making compost: a match made in heaven! Four horses produce a big pile of manure and urine-soaked wood shavings, and I add almost nothing else to my compost piles. To compost them, all I do is place the contents in a pile. Every couple months, I turn the piles, and I start building a new one with the fresh manure. BY the time I use the compost in the garden, it has been turned five times, each time in piles large enough to hold a lot of heat in the interior. The heat helps the materials in the pile break down more completely, and kills weed seeds. I use the compost when it has been in piles a little over a year. Each time I turn the compost piles, I wind up with a pile of the oldest, now finished, compost at the east end of the row closest to the garden. (The west end is closest to the barn. 🐎)Since I turn the piles four to five times in a year, I always have a pile of compost at the east end to cart over to the garden.

[@user-kq4ot1ym2e]

You can also do your video ...great information

[@ashleycampbell8767]

It is amazing how much horses poop! I have two and they’re not stalled, but they like to poop under the trees, so when I scoop the poo (and fill my large gorilla cart in a couple minutes) the leaves or pine needles come with it! Makes for a nice mix.

[@tedpreston4155]

@@user-kq4ot1ym2e OK, you've convinced me. I've been planning to learn to make videos. Maybe an easy first video explaining the most interesting parts of my barn, compost piles, and the hotbeds and other garden beds where I use the compost so casually, because I have and endless supply, so long as my wife keeps horses in stalls. Of course, I would want to do the filming over a growing season, so I can show footage of what the garden looks like in the spring, summer and fall. I'd want to demonstrate the abundance of the produce it grows. I could also explain the method I used to build the garden, entirely from cardboard and compost, without ever disturbing the soil under the cardboard. I just mowed the grass and weeds and laid down cardboard. I laid it in a rough double layer over the whole garden area, then laid out an artistic design of beds and pathways with no straight lines. Even the exterior sides of the garden form a circle. I built the garden over the site of an old above-ground swimming pool, which had been dug into a hillside to level the circular pad under the pool. I removed the pool, which left me with a roundish level patch of sand, with coarse sandstone more or less directly below, for hundreds of feet. So the bulk of the nutrients my garden would grow in would be the layers of cardboard and compost on top. It turned into a mildly artistic round garden that looks cool from above, and produces impressive crops. All powered by a daily dose of horse manure! I only rarely use any other soil amendment or fertilizers. My garden has been an experiment in learning what I can grow using little beyond yearly additions of compost on the beds. I've been pleased with the results over the past three seasons. I can show the result of my experiments through a growing season, hail storms and all! If I could pack it into a twenty minute video, I think it would a good learning process for my first video project. If I dedicate it to Charles Dowding, who taught me the no-till method of gardening, it will get lots more hits!

[@highroad3580]

We can use a tractor to bring compost or mulch into the garden. That saves our strength for planting. I used dead nettle as a volunteer cover crop this winter in a spinach bed. I pulled the nettle from just around each plant yesterday and added chicken compost to each plant just before it rained last night. Hopes are that the spinach will be in the height of growing as the dead nettle is declining. Soon it will be dry enough to go next door with the tractor for the yearly garden compost. There is a dry rotted silver maple, very large downed trunk that I can use for walkway mulch, too. Sometimes a truck stops by to drop off wood mulch. I have row tunnels for brassicas here in the SE. I’m very excited to get this going this year! My no till area is 1/4 of the annual garden area. The rest is worked by tractor, but with lots of compost. The chickens have been in the till area all winter, but not my no till area. We also have a food forest perineal garden that does great with lasagna layers and compost tea. I Learn something every day and experiment often.

[@lewisjohn2597]

Our local council here in France have legit, bio compost. I buy it by the tonne for about 20 euros! My problem right now is that I have a small trailer and it is about a 40 minute round trip. They don't deliver. I have also acquired some land connected to my garden from the local Mayors office. I promised to clean up the area and it is the first thing you see when you enter the town......they loved the idea of this and I got the land for FREE!! I think this approach can work with most local authorities if you show them what benefits THEY get out of it. Another informative video again :)))))

[@ssoma151]

I could have never done this on my farm I had. The place to get compost was to far and cost to much, but I retired and sold my farm and moved into town with a great t compost place it took me 30 yards to turn my whole yard into a garden from grass. About $600 including delivery. Card board and chips were free, and in about two months all the free leaves I want to cover beds for winter

[@Leaflimb]

Awesome video! Thanks Josh! One option for compost for folks with limited funds or limited availability is to use leaf compost - this is often available from municipalities for free/cheap

[@alisonburgess345]

I've just done this around my little orchard of 7 trees to make a pollinator garden. Luckily i've got a great source of free cardboard and nice mushroom compost at A$60 a cubic metre. I gave it lots of watering then planted my tube stock into it. I just pulled the compost back and punched through the cardboard with a brickhammer and "plugged" the roots into the actual soil below. I admit I glyphoed the perennial grassy weeds a week before the cardboard went down. And you're right, it looks absolutely gorgeous. Thanks Josh!

[@ArrisarJ]

Hey, where are you getting your mushroom compost from? I'm based in SE Melbourne, any chance you might be the same/Vic at least?

[@alisonburgess345]

@@ArrisarJ Yes indeed - I get it from Kyneton Garden Supplies - so a long way from you. But I'd say it's all pretty much the same - any garden supply place should have it and I consider the stuff to be absolute GOLD. I was working on the pollinator garden today and I am on the lookout for that horrible pyralid herbicide that CAN persist, but so far the plants are just thriving, with plenty of moisture in the soil - as you know we've got a couple of hot days ahead. This technique has been a revelation and Ill be using it again extensively. Good luck with your garden!

[@ArrisarJ]

@@alisonburgess345 oh lovely, lived in Kyneton most of my teens! Brilliant. Garden World should be able to sort me out, that's just super cheap and I know I can trust Kyneton goods! Great to hear about the pollinator garden, I'll be starting fresh with some raised beds. Lots of prep for the months ahead, gonna need a quote a few m3 🤑

[@alisonburgess345]

@@ArrisarJ Be careful with the raised beds - that is, the timber ones. I had lots of them years ago and they ended up chock a block with snails - mainly in the corners. They cost heaps (including filling them up) - i know they look pretty, but just watch out for snails 🐌 !

[@ArrisarJ]

@@alisonburgess345 thanks fur the heads up! Heard that from one of Charles Downdings videos as well. Was looking at the birdies raised beds, but probably going to build something similar with some sheet metal for sides. Fingers crossed!

[@atanisoftware]

It's definitely a great system. I removed all of our raised beds (eight 3ft by 8ft) and what was left of our grass in January last year. Sorted the wood mulch and dirt with a 1/2in hardware cloth and put the sifted mix into four large rows. Covered the entire area with inexpensive 5mil black plastic from Lowes (couldn't get a silage tarp locally) and left it until the end of March. Uncovered everything, cleaned up the rows to make four clean rows with new wood mulch between them. Planted out all of the new space the first weekend of April and by late June I had eight foot tall tomatoes and lots of other plants producing more than we could possibly consume. Gave away around 100 plants that we started but opted not to plant. We will be starting around 600 plants this coming weekend and very likely at least 200 will be given away to whoever needs/wants them as the local stores clear out of moat things quickly and seeds are becoming challenging to obtain already.

[@insidethegardenwall22]

Why did you remove all your raised beds? Couldn’t you do a no till with raised beds too?

[@atanisoftware]

@@insidethegardenwall22 I could have but they were rotting out after about five years. I was needing to replace them and instead opted to go with rows instead.

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Sounds like created some really productive beds. Nice work!

[@tedpreston4155]

My experience was similarly successful: an amazingly productive garden in the first year, without moving more than a few shovels full of soil. I anticipate that it will be more amazing this year, as I'm planning to pull two crops over the growing season from most of the beds. The first crops are already started indoors.

[@RanglingRutherfords]

I am building no-dig beds for the first time and documenting them on my KZbin Channel. Watching this just reaffirms my decisions. My beds are beautiful and i cant wait to reap the rewards. Thanks for such great content.

[@JoshSattinFarming]

You're welcome. Good luck with the bed building and thanks for watching!

[@deanlewis1650]

I am doing this too. I have one 30 by 50 built and am working on my second one. I can't believe how much compost I am using though. I averaged six cubic yards of compost for three 50' beds.

[@RanglingRutherfords]

@@deanlewis1650 Yes. I very much underestimated my need. My space is 50x50 with 8 beds that are 3x46. I am still in process but I’ve already laid 11 tons of compost and have another 6 tons yet to spread.

[@deanlewis1650]

@@RanglingRutherfords yeah it is mind blowing. My beds are 30" wide by 50'

[@stevelawrence233]

After years of trying every thing possible, I’ve gone to this way for the past 3 growing seasons......I’ll never go back.

[@countryreno2552]

Yum

[@janicejurgensen2122]

That was what I needed to hear! Thank you

[@earlshine453]

I recommend to mix the compost with some weed-free clay subsoil or bentonite to slow down the rate of decomposition of the compost mulch. More composted woody material in the compost will also slow down the decay of the mulch. Filled my 1 foot deep raised beds with a mix of 60 percent fine sand and 40 percent compost. Added also some rockdust and bentonite clay. In combination with no-till and no-pull the soil level did not drop during 5 years. I suspect the decaying veggie roots take over the spaces created by the decaying compost.

[@randyketcham3840]

Good tips on how to do the deep system. Good list of pros and cons. We have limited access where I am to finished compost. We do have the availability of raw chicken and cow manure which we are planning to haul in and let sit for a year to break down where the garden will be and then till it in before we start using less tillage and more no till gardening. We have reclaimed strip mine ground so it is poor soil and this is a relatively quick way to jump start the garden beds in just short period of time along with gypsum and bone meal spread throughout. Thanks for continuing to provide in depth explanations with your experience at your farm and at the city farm.

[@JoshSattinFarming]

You're welcome. Sounds like you are doing the best you can with what you have access to. Thanks for watching!

[@recless8667]

You missed two big techniques that would pair perfectly with this: Hugelculture and Biochar. You can almost always get wood chips dropped as your property for free. Some services like ChipDrop exist to just put out an order, but landscaping companies love not paying dumping fees. Burying wood is excellent slow-release nitrogen and acts like a sponge to greatly increase water retention. Biochar, when innoculated, increases the nutrient density. Just make sure you innoculate it first or the biochar will absorb everything near it, crippling the first 1-2 years of farming. Add raw biochar to your compost piles or soak it in compost tea.

[@briarhugo3650]

sorry to be so offtopic but does anybody know of a method to get back into an Instagram account?? I was stupid lost my login password. I would love any tips you can offer me

[@novanikolas4491]

@Briar Hugo you are welcome xD

[@waynesell3681]

Listening closely here in Michigan. Backyard gardening . Gonna make a change to notill this year! Thanks

[@karenlangan2577]

Hey josh, we use an old manure spreader. It lays down a perfect 1-4 inches of compost depending on speed and settings. A smaller unit like we have, makes perfect 30 inches beds without wheelbarrows and Motrin. Thanks for the great info

[@JoshSattinFarming]

That's awesome. Which one do you have?

[@hosoiarchives4858]

Tell us more

[@prlranch]

@@hosoiarchives4858 It may be the Newer Spreader. That's a small unit

[@user-vx4qv1lw1e]

Yesterday i saw a movie of a lady using this methode on heavy clay. Her mulch didn't mix with the clay and the plant roots didn't get in the clay either. Trench composting for a while before adding mulch would be a perfect solution 🙌

[@hughdman]

I did the same thing. I love deep compost mulching my beds. It works awesome. Then, last year, the composted mulch I got from my mulch yard was not composted. Started cooking everything I planted in it period so be careful where you get your mulch. I recommend storing it for a few months or longer just to make sure it's "cooked" already.

[@EarlybirdFarmSC]

I have been tinkering with this method over the last few years and I really like it. Good explanations and love how your hoop houses are coming along.

[@aaronalexander9342]

I'm glad you addressed the possibility of the bed getting washed out. I'm also in NC and was worried about losing my beds.

[@1982MCI]

If you farm Anywhere Aaron then your eventually gonna have washout. It happens to me every year also but all you can do is try and recapture what material you can and fix the beds, reseed/replant and go again. What part of NC are you in? I’m in Snow Camp, about 10 miles south of Burlington. Take care Aaron, good luck this season and be safe out there buddy

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Yes, it can definitely be a problem. Get plants growing as quickly as possible so that their roots can hold things together. Also, wood chips in the walkways definitely help hold things together too, but a heavy rain can cause problems for sure.

[@russttu]

The biggest issue with this system for many is the availability of bulk compost. In my area, the only commercially available alternative is a mixture of garden soil and cotton burr compost. $70 dollars a yard.

[@ericdee2525]

Chip drop is a service to deliver free chips and logs. I have also asked my gardener friend for his greens, leaves, and small branches so that I can make my own compost and wood chip. I figure I can just compost in place for about a year to reduce the chance of getting any contaminants in to my garden. Not everyone has this space, but if you are trying to build a big garden, then you probably do.

[@samanthabraun217]

Try and get full tandom loads vs small quantities... normally the price drops waaaay down per yard when you take a full load.

[@user-vx4qv1lw1e]

Look for farmers who keep cattle, most of them want to dump the animal waste and hay anyway. I got tons of free horse, cow, sheep, goat and chicken manure for free.

[@jeshurunfarm]

Nice Josh. Respect on the forth season. From a mid summer Africa 🇿🇦

[@hughdman]

Thank you Josh. As always, very informative and a big help to those of us trying to feed our families! Thanks for being a solution!

[@rogerbeck5704]

I always pick up new information/tips with each video. Now I need to source some good compost. We have a no till farm in the area that makes their own compost and I plan to call them for a tour to understand their process. My compost needs will not be that great but I'll still need at least 10 yards once I get started. Thanks again brother!

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Glad to hear that the videos are helpful. Thanks for watching and good luck with the bed building!

[@heatherthomas7545]

loved this video, thanks - it looks very professional. I tried making Toby Hemenway's sheet mulch for the first time ever and I'm pretty surprised by the result, after about two months I have minimal hay weeds coming up. I really like your design though with the wood chips for the walkway. Glad to see your progress through the years!

[@greenfeetoutdoors2779]

Great video Josh, love the idea of no-till gardening. Your videos continue to inspire me to keep experimenting, combining differnet techniques and watching the growth response. Thanks and take care.

[@JoshSattinFarming]

You're welcome. Good luck with the growing and thanks for watching!

[@bobbaloch3101]

Amaaaaaaaaaaazing progress in short time!

[@nathanshapiro3066]

I'm in NC too, about an hour away, and I'm doing something similar. First, following the recommendations of a soil test, I added minerals to soil first to get the ph up from my 4.5 using OMRI listed Ca/Ph for a quick increase and added crushed oyster shell for longer term improvement. I also added Zinc, Manganese, and a smidge of Boron which are all needed. I put down the cardboard but under it I put some oyster mushroom spawn to breakdown the cardboard and wood chips and maybe get some edible oysters. I put on top leaf mulch instead of compost since it is free. My next step is to add composting worms Eisenia fetida which do a better job of converting compost to vermicompost than the burrowing nightcrawlers, especially since the nightcrawlers have to negotiate the cardboard layer. Finally, I add some mycorrihizae to my transplant roots just in case the compost is missing some of these fungi. I hope you can use these ideas to increase your yields.

[@rekster11]

Great tips! Pros definitely outweigh the cons

[@dg8828]

Garden is looking great!!

[@raminsatyahadi4642]

Such a wonderful and informative video, thank you!🙏

[@sowingback]

I have appreciated your video content. I have learned loads from your channel. Thank you!

[@jackspatch14]

This is the uk version of no-dig. Charles dowding method. I done my system this way and it’s been epic josh. Your gonna see great results. Glad to see this video

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Yup, simple stuff. For some reason us Americans don't use that term "No Dig" though. I have built all my beds this way over the past 4 seasons and wouldn't do it any other way.

[@kicknadeadcat]

I have a small 200 ft² garden. I mulch and lay down compost in the fall and then cover it with landscape material. Wood chips around all the walkways. A wonderful weed free garden.

[@conradhomestead4518]

Great information. Thanks for sharing!

[@JoshSattinFarming]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@user-qi1ux5pd3t]

You are a wonderful and useful person and your ideas are bright

[@Beecozz7]

Excellent info!!! TY Josh

[@JoshSattinFarming]

You're welcome!

[@janicejurgensen2122]

I agree with all the amazing comments! My all time favorite gardening video! I’d love to watch learn and share with others. I’m implementing almost all of your uses and success! God bless you all and America

[@coopsblooms5824]

I really enjoy your videos. I’m starting a market garden in Matthews, NC and building beds similar to you. So far we have completed 40, 50 ft beds. I have room for another 30 beds. Unfortunately can’t do tunnels in my main field since it’s a Duke energy power easement and they said no to the tunnels.

[@rollingmoonfarm9934]

I just moved from Matthews over a year ago! Renfrow Hardware & the greenhouse is a great resource. This year we're starting our farm, closer to Asheville. Good luck to you! 🌱

[@coopsblooms5824]

@@rollingmoonfarm9934 good luck to you as well. I agree with you in regards to Renfrow’s. They helped me source some larger qty’s of seeds this year. I’ve taken a few classes with David and Pressly. .

[@Nembula]

retired lasagna gardener here. In my 65 foot by 35 foot .garden I used 21 cubic yards of leaves, sawdust, manure grass clippings old hay and anything else I could get my hands on. It is a LOT of material. That is every year trying to maintain the 8 to 12 inch depth.

[@charlesbale8376]

I greatly appreciated the information.

[@dustinlight4716]

Great video. Josh, tell Gene thanks for the info on getting cardboard a couple weeks ago. I was able to source plenty to get my beds set up. I'm using the same deep mulch system at home after watching your videos. Wish me luck!

[@cherylbertolini3140]

I missed that video where did Gene say to get the cardboard from?

[@JoshSattinFarming]

We have been getting it from furniture stores.

[@dustinlight4716]

@@cherylbertolini3140 it was a reply to a question I had in comments on a previous video. I think it was the one where they were building the beds in the tunnel and had just gotten delivery of mulch and compost.

[@markluke8447]

Thanks Josh, very helpful and informative. You do good work and your gardens always look nice. How wide are your walkways and how deep is the wood chips in the walk way?

[@Scott_the_Celt]

My brother and I did something similar with our backyard, the cardboard layer killed off the grass and last week I broke up the black clay we have with a pitchfork, mixed in expanded shale and put a huge amount of compost/topsoil on top of it

[@AmeliaRate]

I was curious to see what the no-dig beds look like after a rainstorm. Thank you for sharing pics. I'm in Georgia so I'm anticipating some heavy storms. So far I just have one small no-dig bed, I surrounded it with branches to build a sort of boundary. Waiting to see if it works once we get rain here, before I start my next one.

[@chernagast6754]

Let me introduce you to a man named Charles Dowding, and all his compost.

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Charles is awesome and I love his work. You can see an interview that I did with him here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmHPimaDj6mLl9U

[@philipbrown1696]

Thank you

[@2Quacks5ClucksFarm]

Great tips Josh! How in the world are there 2 dislikes? Dang trolls, of people that pop up and have no clue what your doing. This video and the knowledge Josh provides, honestly in every video, should never get a dislike. We got heavy clay and we are going into our 3rd season building that soil up with the broadfork, adding compost etc...I’ve even added a ton of earthworms AFTER broadforking. A lot of labor like you said at the beginning but in the end you save so much time and our time, as growers or homesteaders is extremely valuable. Great job Josh!

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Thank you for the kind words. Glad your soil is improving!

[@Grizzlife]

I took cattle panels and arched them with 2ft wooden sides to give walking height in middle. Purchase a 6mil plastic and way way cheaper than the gothic tunnels. Good video and info!

[@thatDIYlife]

Great video!

[@Distinctions]

Haha I just did this to my farm! No till, 6 inches of compost right onto the grass and slept under a tarp all winter. Excellent planting conditions now.

[@wheat2714]

Once again the basic knowledge you bring to beginners is needed so appreciated . As one solider said its not clean unless it looks united states marine clean //////// you are awesome

[@ericdee2525]

glad you are back! :)

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Not sure what you mean, but I have been posting 2+ videos per week for almost two years.

[@tanarehbein7768]

This was a good well rounded intro to no till. I used to watch you, but disagreed with some of your approach. So glad I stumbled across your video again. I guess we all mutate or stagnate. You chose well my friend👍.

[@laceyj1820]

Man your compost is beautiful!

[@janicejurgensen2122]

Yes, much more content!

[@teresadrigotas113]

I did something like this for my garden not knowing much! 😅 I tore tons of wild rose thorn bramles out to have an area for my garden which kept trying to grow back with a vengeance! Plus we have heavy clay soil with rock every where. I didn't have all the equipment like tillers so I just dug whatever I could that was popping back up and covered it all with cardboard and the walkways with landscaping fabric. Then piled compost up about 6-8" high and planted in that! And it worked! 😬 Found out that there was a name for it although I've read I shouldn't just pile it directly on clay soil without loosening the clay up first or it will create a hard plate between them. But I didn't know any better. This year I added a little more compost onto my piles!

[@MH-cj1gz]

Thanks for the vid.

[@ajmig7492]

We are able to purchase our compost from the local landfill/recycle center here in NC. They are actually OMRI which I found out is Organic Materials Research Institute Certified and the compost is like black gold. Hopefully I'll find out here in the fall how well it works.... Great Channel.

[@shawnspencer8389]

Love your videos

[@robertguthrie4113]

It’s a great system it’s identical to back to Eden method I used cedar and pine bark wood chips at least 4-6” thick first time this year in 4 years I had to apply more chips but each year the vegetables taste so much better

[@dandan8333]

You and your friends hard work is showing up... looks great! Did you add in any amendments to your new beds? Any suggestions on tracking your plant rotations, lite feeders to heavy ones... ? Can't wait to see the farm this summertime! Great planning. Be safe and have a great day!

[@JoshSattinFarming]

All of the details for the amendments are in this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3ixZ3-FapyappY

[@carlosalonsocouto4140]

Nice video. I also spread some home made compost in my raised beds and then an inch layer of woodchip mulch. I don't know if it's a good combination but it works well for me

[@JoshSattinFarming]

I don't add wood chips as a mulch over my beds because it makes planting a lot of my crops (such as baby greens) impossible. The key with this method is adding enough compost to act as a mulch and keep the soil covered with living plants.

[@josephglazier3286]

Lets Get into it!- Marty

[@mr.bernard6644]

I'm gonna try this🇯🇲

[@KelikakuCoutin]

Subscribed. Came here from the Neversink Farm channel. Thanks for the content. Keep up the good work. בס״ד‎

[@colemckenna6931]

Thanks for the in-depth explanation Josh! I've used this on all my raised beds on top of lawn grass with great success. You mentioned in a previous video that you have a custom blend of compost from your supplier, can you share what that blend/ratio is?

[@JoshSattinFarming]

50% compost 50% leaf mold. All details here kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5e4k2t8bt6GnNE

[@techsupport3227]

came from the google meet with mr goodman. ur awesome keep it up

[@JoshSattinFarming]

Thank you! It was a lot of fun talking with your class.

[@JohnAdams-ki1fv]

Inspiring!

[@thesecretofanimals]

Parabéns amigo, acompanho aqui do Brasil, sucesso pra você

[@moneymikegotuvideos312]

Great boss

[@raygoss7269]

I've successfully used a 50/50 blend of heavy red clay/sand digging permanent wide row raised beds 2' deep/1' above ground ... I added 1/3 volume of compost to the mix... I then blended quality microorganism inoculated hardwood biochar @1" per 10" of height along with Azomite minerals... Definitely worked well through the entire season... We had a 1 plus month drought that started 2 weeks prior to planting fall crop transplants... In the fall a friend wanted to see the root structure of an indeterminate tomato variety that vined a good 12'... He couldn't pull it out of the ground by himself... Some of the side root structure growing out was a 1/3 the size of his pinky finger... With shade cloth even the Brussels Sprouts transplants did just fine during that hot spell... The 2' depth blend with 1' above ground gave opportunity for tremendous root structure growth...

[@bradroon5538]

One good aspect of a great looking garden is that you are far happier to go there and work/play there more often.

[@jct8165]

Thanks for sharing

[@JoshSattinFarming]

You're welcome. Thanks for watching!

[@neilcalliou896]

Loved the vid Josh! I've been hearing other creators poo pooing ,on using wood chips in the walk ways. I know you use wood chips. What are your feelings on this,and have you found any draw backs? Thank you so much man!!!!

[@ChrisPBacon-yz6nk]

Josh, I am in NC too. Just this morning I was looking for compost. Have you ever tried McGill’s Soilbuilder compost? It’s $27 a yard.

[@Staygoldfarms]

I’ve been taking 1 1/2 inches of soil from the top to kill rye zones. From there I aerate and add compost. No cardboard but a decent amount of compost. My weed pressure is very minimal.

[@dennisseeker36]

looks pretty cool- i am just starting to make compost with an asp system, hard to find organic materials so using saw dust since organic my understanding is hot composting will not destroy herbicides but will take out most pesticides. i want to use corn cob but round up is used by most farmers here cardboard is not free here have to pay for it. i m in need of field corn for livestock so will lease land but will be forced to use chemical farming for now. it would take lots of labor and materials to do this or other methods on 5 hectors, maybe someday. i am going to keep expanding the worm farm and static pile composting , just ordered a shredder- will help with the compost

[@shanemillard608]

Thanks for this content. What would you do to keep the edges clean of weeds? I'm fighting two grasses that creep in on the sides of my beds

[@mooneym.3642]

For any agriculturist starting out I would advise incorporating animal husbandry, poultry above all. That way you can make a more nutritious compost mulch. I regret having stopped keeping animals and all the good mulch will cost both money and time.

[@SomerMovies]

hi josh, great video. 2 questions - can one use leaves as the organic carbon base layer instead of cardboard and 2nd is I live in Raleigh, do you have specific compost sources you would feel comfortable recommending. thanks.

[@North_Carolina_Homestead]

Hey Josh, where did you find your compost? It looks great! Better than what I’ve found here in Raleigh.

[@cherylbertolini3140]

thanks

[@DK-dx7ei]

These are great ideas to use in a small garden. For your crops that are in the tunnel, do you bring in beehives for pollination?

[@garyflowers6116]

I'm a subscriber and I like your videos. Can you tell me what type of mulch do you use?

[@anthonybeers]

This is the biggest struggle I have with market gardening in Africa, If I want compost I have to make compost and the tool are a sickle and a garden fork. I'm getting there but it takes for ever when you can only make 8-10 cubic meters of compost per year. On the beds that have enough compost about 2-3 inches scratched in a little with a rake, the crops do amazing. Where I lack they struggle. I don't think I will ever be able to do a deep compost though.

[@katcre22]

My battle is with voles. They tunnel into everything. I’ve tried traps, caught a few, but more come in

[@SFIFAB]

I have been planning a garden like this. Now I'm a little spooked seeing the washout at 7:17. I live in West TN and we get pretty rough storms as well. It looks like the ground is on a pretty steep grade. If so have you had this happen to any other plots that were more flat?

[@TraumaQueen65]

You should look into how swales will help you direct water around your beds

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

Definitely having insane amounts of organic matter in the soil is so much more worth having than buying wood, rock, or metal sides for garden beds that lock the garden into a pattern. The only amendment I would suggest is to ditch the long system-name and just call it "Gardening"~

[@tommarsh4602]

Or d c m s

[@bw2020]

Gosh I wish we had Farmers Friend in Japan

[@melissaweber5197]

Hey Josh not sure if you’ll see this ..thank you for this video 🙏we are doimg no till as well and if wondering what wood chips are best for these beds ... I know black walnut can be bad for gardens .. I was ginna get some woodchips from a tree service but just thought I’d ask first .. thank you in advance

[@suzannahharris8007]

Thanks for the great ideas. We make our own compost for a backyard garden. I noticed that the compost gets dry and crusty on top but will be wet underneath. Is this normal? I worry about over-watering when the top layer dries out. We've never sifted our compost and going to start for certain beds.

[@je-fq7ve]

tunnels are plant accelerators. Plants love consistency tunnels give them that.

[@garyflowers6116]

I can get a garden mix that has some topsoil, broken down pine bark, and something else I can't remember the other

[@bradself8782]

I’ve just built four 50’ beds (over cardboard) and one thing I’m worried about now is planting directly into the compost. I’ve had numerous people tell me it won’t work and that the compost will burn the seeds/plants. My compost comes from a mushroom factory in town and what I’m told is made of horse manure, mushrooms, peat moss and pulverized straw. Is this something I should be concerned about? Most people say to mix it with top soil but most people haven’t heard of the no till system either. At least the people I talk to. I appreciate you videos. Thanks for all you do!

[@tedpreston4155]

Brad, spent mushroom compost won't be hot. You can use it with confidence, and your garden seeds should germinate easily in it.

[@freddyaraujo2512]

Very good information, I am also doing something similar. Greetings just won a Cuban follower.

[@RobynAdAbsurdum]

Any thoughts on using washed and dried sargassum as a mulch? I am hoping to implement a no-till system in the Caribbean, where sargassum is becoming more and more widely available, and processed mulches and cardboard are less available. Sargassum would be available in the Carolinas as well, I believe.

[@mikkelsv4804]

I was waiting for that Farmer's Friend plug lol

[@sebastianrathner8161]

Hi Josh! Thanks for the great video from Austria...one question: have you ever tried it without the cardboard? I am not completely sure if there are some ingredients in the cardboard i don't want to be in the soil...so i am wondering if will try it without the cardboard an a thicker layer of compost...have you tried it? Thanks....

[@JoshSattinFarming]

I am not concerned about the cardboard if it is not painted or waxy. I built my original beds at my farm without it. You have to really make sure that you have killed everything there first. Here is an old video of mine where I show what I did originally. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aonIanVod9ate9U

[@sebastianrathner8161]

@@JoshSattinFarming thanks josh! All the best...looking forward to more of your inspiring and informative videos...

[@SarahSmith-rc3gp]

I'm in northern Alamance Co, and am wanting to transition to no-till for my organic garden. Cost has been a factor, but finding organic compost has been a major factor... do you have recommendations of where to find organic compost & wood chips? We also plan to start having backyard chickens this year, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[@jthlb]

I have to ask you, when the season ends and you want to prepare new beds, how do you move the Sawdust or the wood chip