Today’s video is a my spring Q&A where I answer some of your questions left in the comments of the winter Q&A video. I cover everything from chop and drop, crop rotation, first seeds, pest control, what I’d be if I wasn’t a gardener, how I got into gardening, and lots more!
Winter Q&A https://youtu.be/WArk3IzMOjs
Edible Acres https://www.youtube.com/@edibleacres
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50 Comments
Does your trimmer(weedwhacker here) destroy your fencing? I always had issues that I'd put up rabbit fencing, but if I got too close with the trimmer, it would destroy the chicken wire fence and I would just make holes for the rabbits.
Biodynamics actually works. There have been extensive university efforts to 'debunk' it, but it turns out Steiner actually stumbled upon a system that greatly improves soil health. Or, more accurately encourages a thriving and healthy soil microbiome. Unfortunately, he slapped on a jargon-laden mystical explanation which is largely nonsense. Do I think that using his prescribed foliar feed "aligns the crystalline energies of the plant with the universal rhythm"? Hell, no! Do I believe that my crops are tastier and more abundant and my Brix scores are the highest I've ever seen? Yup. I began to investigate Biodynamics after seeing a special about how sommeliers can accurately, in blinded trials taste the difference between biodynamic and organically produced wines (i.e., the tasters did not know which wine they were drinking), My advice? Ignore Steiner's ridiculous mysticism and copy his excellent techniques.
You should be on gardeners world !
I would love to see your suspended plant propagation table.
" Sowing seeds in a hot bed" sounds like something else…..
potatoes are in our conservatory (I'm in Germany 10 -12 C outside 20 c in the winter garten)they are just not chitting,they are in our conservatory but they are just not shooting? can I plant them without shoots?
In Australia a strimmer is a whipper snipper 😁
Looking forward to your thoughts on electroculture gardening. I have been looking into it. My husband suggests 3 twisted copper wires as it increases current capacity. Electrical supply is much cheaper then hardware store for wire. I wonder if you could use old copper pipes from a remodel?
I agree that our (America) name for the weed whacker is great. We call it lots of things, though – weed whip, weed eater, etc. All very descriptive haha.
electroponics – technologically advanced grow system with powerful, easy to use software. State of the art hydroponic system complete with smart lighting, digitally controlled ventilation fans and our patent pending dual growth irrigation system creates the perfect environment for fast growing, high yielding plants – not for me, i like to get my hands dirty
Bokashi Composting is a fast way to decompose food wastes that uses used grains from beer making to ferment and break down the wastes and is an anaerobic method. After two weeks after a five gallon bucket is filled and covered with food wastes mixed with the grains and pressed down so any air in the bucket is eliminated, it can then (after the 2 weeks) be added to a veg garden to finish breaking down. You should try it out Huw!
Thanks for the tip on skipping rotation. With tall trees, we only have a certain amount of sun exposure. Our greens do fine, but tomatoes.etc. need those sunny beds.
I need more tips on what to plant in summer. I do OK getting going in the season, but miss out growing into Fall. Our summers are hot, and switch to Frost mid to late October.
Looking forward to a mushroom video.
Cold climate gardening. Depends on what you mean by cold climate. From May to October, Edible acres has warmer weather than London, UK.
If you would like gardening in a colder climate Huw, come on over to Northern Canada. Zone 3. -15 C here this morning. I got a cabin for you to stay in. Rabbit goes great with carrots and garlic. Cheers.
The first video i watched of you many years ago was the one taking Forsythia cuttings and I thought "talented ked"! Look at you now all grown up 🙂
Strimmer? What a name😂
Can we make the hotbed outside or does it have to be inside a greenhouse?
I am making compost for the first time in a bin with lid, (has several holes around the sides for air). However, I noticed my kitchen waste has turned blue with mould. Is that meant to happen or should I be concerned with the amount of mould?
Thanks for answering my question, Huw about the digestate 😊. We've recently had another delivery at the allotment site so I'll start mixing some in with the compost bin. Have an awesome season 👍
Huw! Besides Wine Caps, Oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus) as well as Poplar Mushrooms (Cyclocybe Cylindracea) both also grow readily on wood chips! I also suggest you look into totem log style cultivation, which opens up a lot more options and has a longer fruiting life (depending on trunk diameter). Lion's Mane does exceptionally well in this style. Cheers!
Great info. Thanks for sharing. I like the name for trimming in Australia…whipper snip. Funny how we have very different names for same thing 😃
Sitting here next to Yellowstone park in the snow still, in awe of your climate and gardening skills.
Sadly this Passandra cucumber is a F1 hybrid, so that’s a no no for us
Oooooh, I think I've never seen your dog. 🥰😍 A little cutie 🦮.
Thank you Huw for sharing your thoughts and answers with us. Very helpful. Truly enjoyed the photos of you when you were very young lad. Blessings on your day Kiddo!🥰🌻🐛
I,ve also got a photo of me “gardening” when I was little…and several decades later I still am. You can,t start early enough😀😀😀
OH WOW!! Edible Acres is less
than a 2 hour DRIVE from my house in NY!!!?? Rochester to TRUMANSBURG VIA WALES!! LOVE IT!!
👍
Suggest you read the New Scientist article on Electroculture. It would appear that studies done were methodically flawed as no double blind studies were done.
Hahaha yep it's called a weed whacker here in the States, or also a weed-eater which is actually the term I'm more familiar using.
I really enjoy your videos sharing other gardens, how far do you think you'd travel to showcase an inspiring garden?
Very cute mate 🙂
When will he have dirty hands and why never?
Male Stripper!!!!!!! 😄
The absolute best animal deterrent for gardeners is lion pee. Its sold commercially, but our local zoo sells it too. Half a litre of pee diluted in a bucket of water, dribbled on the garden perimeter. No animal – guaranteed – will invade your garden.
Relieved to hear that rotation isn't mandatory – I have a small garden behind a terraced house. Also pleased to hear that orange peel isn't a problem in the dalek compost bin 😊
I love Edible Acres too.
Canadian Permaculture Legacy is another wonderful cold climate permaculture YT channel.
What are your favorite native plants (including native edibles) in your region?
Would agree with both of those cold climate channels but my favorite is Little Mountain Ranch, who gardens in BC.
Good morning🙂
I like your video
Yes ! I love both Edible Acres and Dirtpatchheaven's channels ! For those who don't know, both are in the USA ( as am I, I'm zone 4b Wisconsin). DPH is in Idaho – not sure which part/how cold. Edible Acres is Trumansburg , New York State. I'm guessing USDA zone 5 or 6 ( it is just mainland Europe or the UK also, where y'all do the growing zones opposite of us ? Where the higher the number the colder it is ?). I don't know of many gardening channels in USDA zone 4 or colder, definitely love to check out any I haven't heard of, esp. if they do no-till, are into permaculture type approach, etc. . Rob… Avis (?) channel called cold climate permaculture I think (?) is definitely one to learn from on a variety of cold climate homestead, off grid, permaculture stuff. Miracle Farms is in Ontario, CA, I think not far from the great lakes and probably not any colder than I, prob. warmer, but definitely some great nuggets there on permaculture orchards. Richard Perkins stuff is mostly suited to the serious market grower, but it's still educational, interesting and inspiring. He's an experienced leader in permaculture farming and their farm is a homestead 1st, as in, growing all their food they can IS a priority. Anyways, they're in a a rarer climate of very short growing season, quite cold yet mitigated some by being so near the sea, in western Sweden. There's been a few growers both you, Huw, and Richard have interviewed who live in the north of y'all's parts of the world, too. Idk if any of them have their own channels, but those videos featuring them are definitely super inspiring !
Another in the US may be Jill Winger's. She's in Montana I think.. .
Yes, many, maybe most of us, call it a weed whacker 🙂 !! It's probably sold under the name " string trimmer" or something though.
We love the way you say "weed wacker" your accent just adds a whole unique Dimension to it. Your garden looks amazing. We're from Central Florida and our gardening style is a lot different than what you're doing. Although, we always seem to find tips and tricks and valuable information from you and all your hard work. Keep the videos coming The Nana's
Eat every part of your brassicas! The leaves and stems of broccoli are quite tasty and basically the same as collard greens anyway
We say weed whacker in Nz too 😄 is digestate the same as sewage sludge? I read about a farm in America being condemned because of high levels of PFAS which were present in the sludge. Since PFAS are there forever and there’s questions on what they can do to your health I personally would be a bit cautious using it
As long as you use biological variaties there is no problem using citrus, bananapeels and potatoe. The advice for not using them might have come from the fact that they are heavely treated with chemicals you don't want in the garden like poisons or sproutinhibitor.
Great info Huw love the channel my first true year into food growing/gardening
Hello Huw, my wife calls you Garden Thor. I suppose there is a resemblance, feel free to use that anytime
Living the dream
No rotation blows my mind! We were religious about it with our allotment. I'm currently reading Patrick Whitefield's Earthcare Manual and he writes that the onion family in particular need rotating, to the point that he didn't grow as many leeks as they would have liked. What's your take on that? Do you have a video with more details on breaking this very ingrained habit in gardeners?