We Covered 1/2 the Garden in Wood Chips | 2 Years Later Soil Tests Reveals the Impact

Two years ago we did a test in our garden where we mulched half the garden with wood chips and started using a no-till method. We did an update last year on how it was going, but this year we wanted to take it one step further with some soil tests.

I can't wait for you to see the results, I think you might be as surprised as I was!

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Howdy! I'm so glad you're here. I'm Melissa from Pioneering Today and a 5th generation homesteader where I'm doing my best to hold onto the old traditions in a modern world and share them with others.

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#gardening #mulching #notill #soiltest

[bearrivermama]

When ever I'm mentoring someone on gardening I ALWAYS tell them "the only rule in gardening that matters there are NO rules. Do what works for YOU." Till/no till, mulch/no mulch, what ever the opinion it's about what works for you. The best thing about gardening is that you never stop learning. Even after decades of extensive gardening I learn new things from fellow gardeners every year and adapt my system almost every year.

[Cheapers-Vac]

I did cardboard then 25 bags of leaves then composted horse manure. Neighbors raked up another 25 bags of leaves which covered dead logs and limbs to act as sponges, then composted garden soil and finished it off with 7 bales of Timothy hay . Then on November 5th, planted garlic. It was awesome ! Now no weeding, no fertilizer, no watering, and no digging !
Thank you Ruth Stout !

[pamelaremme]

Melissa use a bagger when you mow that beautiful grass. Put ALL of the clippings in your garden. OMG the results are phenominal. You can literally hug your plants with the clippings and watch them thrive! Also they break down and put tons of nitrogen back in the soil. When I weed I throw the weeds in my rhubarb area. My rhubarb is first year rhubarb and already larger and more vibrant than my neighbors who has had theirs for years. I love my lawn bagger. I am 63 have a large acre and a half mowing area and love the results.

[joebobjenkins]

So many people take the general idea of back to eden but don't pay attention to what Paul does. Then they expect the same results.
A. Paul stresses a covering, yes. But if you use rocks would you expect the same as chips?
B. Paul repeatedly states that his preferred chips are those with leaves and twigs etc. He doesn't like just bark or sawdust cause it doesn't work as well.
C. He doesn't really use chips on his annual garden, he uses chicken compost with a super thin layer of really fine chips.
D. Paul has been doing this for over 20 yrs. That's like having 20+ years of compost.
E. The single biggest thing the chips do is hold the moisture. Water is life.

[martineastburn]

If you drink coffee, every day or week - spread coffee grounds over the wood chips. Worms, fishing worms will come, digest the wood and love and stay for the coffee. Really works. Stack of chips digests itself in 2 years. Rich soil left. Casings from worms is very good for plants.

[larrysiders]

You all might want to see Charles Dowding's videos about Soil Testing with NO DIG gardens. Soil tests primarily report "free" Nitrogen...but with no dig the fungal network and worm castings in the soil converts nitrogen into forms that the plants absorb easily...but won't (mostly) show up in soil tests.

[mikeinnj]

I can tell you that here in NJ, I used to add manure every year but now I cover the bed with wood chips 2-4” (brown material) and in the fall I chop up the fallen leaves (green material). I till them all together 2-3 times from fall to spring with the last being approximately 2 weeks prior to my first planting. After planting, I add another 2-4” of chips. The soil health is excellent and I rarely have to add any amendments. Where I live, we have a heavy clay soil and all the added material breaks up the clay and increases drainage but also helps to retain water as it doesn’t just run off.

[thBeatle]

When we first laid down woodchips 5 years ago, we used brown packaging paper instead of cardboard. They come in rolls. Easy to work with.

[ericeverson]

Best don't care what camp you are in as long as you are growing your own food.:)

[madeline]

Wow a lot of firey and judgemental comments in here! Just want to say thanks for making this video and sharing your experience. Some people might have bones to pick with you but we can't find what's best for us without videos like this and people sharing their trials so thanks

[muse]

Back to Eden specifically said to use wood chips that have leaves chipped up with the branches included. Just saw dust does not have leaves.

[jlachowiec]

Where I live, tilling also causes soil erosion and all the beautiful topsoil blows away in the dry, hot conditions. So much is specific to your location.

[bnelson]

Hi 👋, I wanted to point out that it looked like you used “wood shavings” and not “wood chips”.
There really is a Hugh difference between the two. Wood chips have a lot of live material still in it and wood shavings are usually already released all its nutrients.
Thanks for the vlog.. I learned so much..

[Johnrider]

I am a master gardener for 30 years. Do what you want. Do what you love.

[abuhabibalkhair]

I started my first garden when the pandemic started and laid down thick wood chips everywhere, I could not be happier with the result. BACK TO EDEN BAYBAY! 😄 (I did use woodchips from a chipping company though, lots of leaves, twigs and all I think that’s why It’s been successful)

[greatprovider]

Melissa you are an inspiration to us all. Your family’s homestead is just incredible and the healthy lifestyle is what we all need. God bless.

[kitdubhran]

I usually use wood chips to choke out and strangle grass and weeds. Any time I plant something, I add compost/potting soil etc, and then wood chips over the top, just to keep the grass (frickin bermuda) from taking over and choking out the plants right away.

[jamesstroud]

When we had a house of our own we started using leaves and grass clippings on our flower beds and vegetable gardens. It worked wonderfully giving just the right amount of plant food and cover to keep the garden cool in the summer sun and not have to use artificial means for enriching the soil. Newspaper served ad a cover to keep the weeds under the medium from growing. After about 20 years we had the richest soil around our neighborhood.

[carsonturcotte]

I’m a Microgreens farmer. Recently in my back garden for personal use, I used all my root compost from the microgreens (lots of pea, beans, brassica, you name it.) First year I had tomato plants that reached 4 meters, 14 feet I guess. Tomatoes came late in the season. lmao.
This year I put down the wood chips & didn’t add to that soil…. It was funny watching them climb trees.

[suffolkshepherd]

Interesting video and the next one in this series will be too. A few factors to consider is those are planer shavings not wood chips. Wood chips offers a lot more to the soil. An example of that is when I have a wheel barrel load of fresh wood chips, and it rains, the wheel barrel is filled with rain and the liquid is jet black as in compost tea. That goes straight into the soil. With Planer shavings the water would stay clearer. Another factor is tilling kills the microbes and earthworms. A good book to read is Teaming with Microbes. In that book you will see microscope photos of microbes eating the bad. When you kill the microbes, earthworms and kill the soil with tilling, it is true that nitrogen will last longer because there is nothing using/processing it. Another good video for this series would be the taste of produce and moisture content. Strawberries grown under wood chips taste amazing and are full of liquid. My neighbor admits that yet he tills his garden and uses heavy doses of commercial fertilizer and pesticides. Another factor missing here but hopefully added for future comparison videos is with Back to Eden Gardening is the depth of wood chips must be at a minimum of 4 inches. Paul Guatchi adds chicken manure to his Back to Eden Garden so feeding the garden is a good idea. I add sheep barn cleaning on top of the wood chips. The barn cleanings has straw and lots of what the sheep provide. It is good to feed the soil. In about three years the wood chips will turn into food as well including nitrogen. Looking forward to the future videos.