Based on the explorations and discoveries of a series of food growing spaces, located in the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary, Ireland. This RED Gardens Project (Research, Education and Development) consists of 6 family scale gardens each one 100m2 (1000sqf) and following a different methodology, or approach, to growing vegetables. There is also a larger Black Plot, of about 1000m2 (1/4 acre) which is exploring issues and possibilities of an intermediate scale growing space. Bruce Darrell (he/him) manages all of the gardens and related research projects, as well as scripting, filming, illustrating, and editing the videos on this channel.
Am not a professional gardener, nor biologist. But i would expect the garlic cloves you've been replanting for the past decade to be genetic clones of each other.
I'm pretty sure you can't avoid creating methane gas when that plant matter breaks down. It doesn't matter if it dies and rots on the ground, gets eaten end digested by humans or cows and other animals, or gets composted in your bins. The only way to stop methane gas from forming is to not allow the plant to grow at all.
I wonder if the sweetcorn plants inside hte tunnel were actually weaker than the ones outside because it was not exposed to wind. wind has the effect of hardening some plants.
Thanks for a very informative and honest video Bruce. I have some of your habits too. I liked your wee hand weeder and will make one soon. I think that you need to train and mentor some young people to take the load off you and pass on your skill and knowledge.
I'm in zone 9 and can confirm weeds grow through the black tarp. Granted I too should have weeded before the flower stage but still, it's shocking just how strong weeds are.
I want to show you my bush beans and ask few things about its condition....where can i contact you?I only planted 4 so yeah 😅and 4 okra too...and i grew it in a bucket
In your video when you talk about the delicata squash and there's one on the end that looks extremely different, I really think that is a Long Pie Pumpkin squash. It also isn't ready to eat until it turns orange. I've just picked mine after growing it this first year and I'm waiting for it to fully turn orange so I can't comment on the flavor. Thanks for the video.
Fantastic video! I love the way you went through the different variations of the build and uses for it. VERY informative and full of first hand experience!
Thank you for taking such a scientific approach to trying to get the runner beans to produce more pods, and sharing it with all of us. This type of information is so helpful. While it may not be a 'controlled study', it provides valuable information for the average grower.
This is my number 1 issue with trying to stay organic but my home made compost just isn’t sufficient to get what I need from our small garden. Would be interested in testing my own soil to understand the deficiency. Would you recommend particular labs here in Ireland and suppliers of organic amendments?
A couple of thoughts: we DO add sawdust to our working compost if we have it. Sawdust composts just fine, if not added in excessive amounts. We never add teabags any more as industry switched to a paper/polypropylene composite more than twenty years ago. The paper fibers decompose, leaving a plastic mesh that must be fished out of the finished compost.
I know of people using the heat from compost piles for lots of things. I have made a shower with water heated from a compost pile, made a vide about it 'Compost Heated Shower'
💡yo!..you should build half of the bins on an elevated patio above the other bins. The top bins would also be built on a horizontal pivot system, like a dump truck. Since you only turn your compost once, you could literally just dumb the top bins into the bottom bins. That would be so much easier!!
I don’t understand why you didn’t put your compost piles on a concrete base. Concrete releases heat slowly helping to heat the compost while preventing to rats access to the food source. ❤️🙏🏽
I’ve been composting and using urine with fish fertilizer this year. I can’t say how well it’s working because it’s my first year gardening but the fish fertilizer grosses my wife out more than my pee. Just don’t use it for food if you’re taking meds.
so many people that do the 3 sisters technique, forget a portion of the idea. Planting order matters, BUT most importantly, when you look up the original description... The were planted in mounds, with a corn surrounded by climbing beans and then at the edge of the mount there was squash. One of the issues is that the western ideal crop is in rows on flat earth. While the idea of each mound being on its own, and not conjoined in a continuous row. I'll also say, you're absolutely right about climate playing a part, and I think you could get away with the real 3 sisters technique if you substituted the plants based on your climate. But thats just what I've read, I'm looking forward to trying to 3 sisters method on my own garden in a desert, using drought resistant crops that use facultative cam. Using Purslane as the ground cover instead of squash. But idk, maybe I'm deluded xD
Why is it only HORSE manure you get in these beds? There's almost no horses round here but plenty of cattle bedded on straw. Would cattle dung not accomplish the same effect?
Urine is obvious really, best to use it fresh as it comes out essentially sterile (unless you’ve been up to no good!) Anyone with a pet can’t fail to notice that the grass grows 5x as fast where they pee. Fresh faeces is more problematic and needs composting to reduce the risk of enteric microorganisms. E. Coli on salads is the big risk.
