START A GARDEN WITH REAL SOIL vs FAKE SOIL

HOW to START A GARDEN WITH REAL SOIL VS FAKE SOIL
This is the very first step to understand how to get the best garden started

[nancybaumgartner]

I raise goats and it’s hard to isolate manure from their wood shaving bedding. There are incredible self- plant potatoes, squash, and tomatoes growing in the manure pile this year! It’s all shavings and goat poop- no soil.

[FORYESHUA]

I love love love your commitment to regenerative gardening and your commitment to building soil biology. You make everything so easy to understand.

[louisbrentnell]

Thanks again Mark. Perfect job of putting the understanding of the how living soil works in first position. Looking forward to the rest of the series. Happy gardening from zone 8B.

[azumag]

Organic matter mulch is probably the most important.
You need the constant moisture kept in the soil (real soil) while slowly adding organic matter into the soil from the decomposition of the organic matter mulch.

[TShirtAndReeboks]

Great video! And it is so discouraging when trying to just buy some basic soil (sand/silt/clay) only to find the bag has a lot of wood chips! I like wood chips or leaves on the top, but when I am trying to start a new raised bed I want to make sure I am starting with the basics!

[BrokeFarmer]

I love this simplified version of soil and soil needs

[johnjude]

Mark I've got good news for you.
I tried 6 methods to raise tomatoes last season and your advice on planting them tomatoe seedlings into root ball from the sunflower of the previous year .Your method was less than half the effort and no tilting almost O equipment and truly got less than half the amount of water. The method was a very close second best and 4 times less the work as my most productive method.
Love your method and will test it again next season and will treat it equally and take better notes.
Don't peatmoss help by holding moisture?
Thanks 👍

[j.b.]

Interesting video, and applicable to most people. There are some people like me that cant grow in the ground. In my case its because of a buried petroleum pipeline under my property. I do container gardening to not take chances with the food I am growing to eat. I start with my own mix of peat, perlite, compost, top soil, and amendments. Each year I dump or at least remove a third of the contents of the containers. Its then mixed with compost, leaf mold, and other amendments like pelletized chicken manure and worm castings. There is soil biology going on in the containers, because you are right, its all important.

[antemercep]

I've done some traditional tilling gardening in the past (mostly potatoes but some veggies to) at my village. The issue is that I live 70 km away from it and it was bit hassle to go into gardening seriously. Last year I got piece of land on edge of my city and decided to do some gardening. I went for no dig compost method and was very pleased with success. Now the issue I have with that style is that with place where I live, size of my garden and time that I have composting in some serious size is bit problematic. And if I just buy it than it gets expensive.

I was thinking of alternatives and leaves or wood chips were two main ideas. Wood chips in place where I live are expensive if you want to buy and can't get them free or have chipper. So I was left with leaves. Than I went to search on internet and youtube, found lots of leaf mould videos but not many people that actually are using leaves the way you did.
I really liked the idea and making 2 beds 13*5 for next season, just scared with the amount of leaves I will have to gather.😂
Wanted to thank you very much for sharing your knowledge and experience it is extremely helpful and very appreciated.

Just one question to see if I understand it correctly. You are using winter crop basically to aerate soil and not leaving it one once harvested to decompose on bed?
Thanks again.

[thereseboogades]

Fantastic lesson!! Thanks so much for teaching soil science - the real way it works! I'll be sharing this. All the best to you!

[redtrek]

I understand this is just an intro. But it does make me wonder about thoughts on heavy feeding plants that get deficiencies easily. A lot of people understandably just want to go for the synthetics and not think too much.

[FreeAmerican-mmmy]

Mark - thank you for all you do. I am in North Alabama (7b). I enjoy watching your experiments. I have a lot of red clay.

I have 1/3 of my garden covered in leaves, 1/3 in winter rye and 1/3 the way I normally grow. I am looking forward to seeing which works best.

[zaneymay]

I love your healthy soil videos. Sharing.

[shellyirwin]

I just discovered your channel and have done a deep dive in watching your videos. Makes so much sense. So how does one transition their raised beds filled with fake soil (1/3 compost 1/3 peat 1/3 vermiculite and amendments ) to what you practice. Our soil is heavy clay.
Although I have had success with this raised bed mix it does dry out quickly and I know the plants are not getting the nutrients needed to thrive. Wish I knew about you sooner! Thanks for sharing your experience!

[msher]

Thank you for sharing this valuable insight. I always knew in my heart that real soil is necessary for proper plant growth, but guess i too got brainwashed. But i make sure to add atleast a handful of backyard soil and coarse sand to my potted plants, and they do way better than in just soiless potting mixes

[flatsville]

I've been winter sowing numerous varieties of ves for spring planting.

Some varieties are better suited than others ot this. I am adding more vermicasting this year to taller jugs & bottles. Late frost has delayed planting in the past & my little guys need nutrition.

[bettyreynolds]

Thank you! I'm learning so much from you!

[pincheguarito]

Excellent video Mark! What are your thoughts about coco-coir to replace the peat in potting mix for indoor plants? 👍

[damedesmontagnes]

How would you ammend a garden bed soil that is mostly decomposed organic matter? There is some sand and dirt, but a lot of it is lasagna layers greens and browns (1.5 years old) plus compost and lots of worm castings. Rock dust?

[pamelahansen]

Great video- thank you for this valuable resource- what zone is your farm in?