If I Had To Choose One Method 

This is the most scientific channel on RU-vid on vegetable growing. I follow it with great interest. Thank you for that !

The most heartfelt takeaway from this was to have a garden where you enjoy spending time. While growing productively is one important goal, for most of us, gardening makes life more rewarding.

Honestly this is my favorite "small" RU-vid channel. I truly appreciate the thoughtfulness that is apparent in everything you do Bruce. Your clear methodical approach combined with your obvious care for the land, the plants, and society makes your videos a true gem.

Yet another wonderfully detailed and great video. Can't thank you enough for sharing your intricate and thoughtful experience.

I love your videos. I watch a handful of gardening RU-vidrs. You, huw Richards and Charles Dowding are three of them. I take different things from each of you. I appreciate your content.

Great video like always! With the no-dig method, i found it to be really important to compress the compost after spreading it by walking over the bed. It works like a sheet of compost mulch that way and doesn't dry out as fast, blow away in the wind or wash off by rain. It basically stays together and binds with the soil underneath. If you do it right the compost mulch will last the entire season and longer. You will also have to add significantly less compost every year. The first "investment" is crucial. Greetings from Slovenia!

if only we all had a neighbor like you, the world would be a wonderful place.

I love how you’re not rigid in your orthodoxy and you explore what works for you based on the climate and land you have to work with.

I've been waiting for you to come to that conclusion, no one approach makes sense for everything, a mixed approach works best and that's what we do. As you say picking one is a false choice, you can pick for example "no dig" and still get benefit from digging stones out of your carrot bed, you can grow 90% of the plot in straight lines of mono-culture crops and still interplant where it makes sense, you can grow 75% annual plants but still have 25% of perennials around the borders etc : All the best - Steve

Thank you, Bruce! This is a great summary of what you've been exploring for these past few years. Your videos are a great contribution to the movement, particularly this one. I'm looking forward to more.

always interesting to go back and watch some of the older videos!

I feel quite lucky to have found not only a gardener with a similar mindset to me, but one with advice directly relevant to my climate. Thanks for all you do :)

I love all the deep thinking and analysis you put into your gardens and videos.

This channel is so high quality, its unbelievable.

perhaps the best gardening channel on the tube?

I am very impressed with the quality of crops you grow, they look soooo lush and well kept! You sure are doing a great job, both in the garden and in your videos

There is exactly one unique method for each of us, it is "Everything you do, all together" let it be tempered by knowing what each of the plants do, and letting them do those things, and in knowing that it's the plants that grow, and we grow by listening to them.

You're my new favourite channel. Can't believe it took this long to find your stuff. Great videos.

"If I had to choose one method" .... I would do all ;-) I so agree with your nuanced answer. Having followed your videos for a while, nothing came as a surprise and I really follow your reasoning. It's so good to hear you explain the nuances, rather than say "X is the best" without taking context into account, just for the fun of getting 1M youtube views. Thank you for taking the time, time and again, to meticulously measure, show and explain all these nuances. Great job!

So concise, you don't babble that's what I love about this channel you get to the point very quickly

I can't wait to have a green house. Winter growing would save me a lot of money on fresh veg in the winter. Salad greens especially. Bush beans and bush peas are are great companion crop for taller slower growing summer plants. They grow and finish first and you can chop and drop the plants as a nitrogen rich mulch. I've begin implementing practices from all of your gardening methods with no dig being my primary method. I only dig where I'm planting root crops.

I'm impressed! Logical, objective and comprehensive. Thanks.

YESSSS! Our world NEEDS more local, sustainable, and healthy food.

Bruce, I appreciate the sincere comments about your concern for all of humanity's well being, and also sustainability at the local level. Your content is well thought out and very useful in my own small efforts to encourage food sovereignty in the rural community where I live. Thank you.

Very interesting discussion. Thanks Bruce, always look forward to your videos

This is the video I’ve been looking for all day. Thank you 🙏🏽

I've been growing in a mostly no-dig manner, but I want to add in most all of Steve Solomon's soil testing and ammendment advice (the extensive method).

Wow! I am thoroughly impressed by your well thought out answer. This is rich content - thank you

You are an inspiration for me to question what I have learned now that I started growing vegetables for my own consumption. I got into gardening through permaculture, and I needed to explore other ways to go about it. Thank you for being out there.

New gardener here. Last year I tried the "Square Foot" gardening method in my raised beds. It was a mess. This year I'm going to follow the "Succession Gardening" practices limiting each bed to only 2 types of vegetable plants: one vertical and another spreading.

This channel should have way more views and followers. This is some of the most precise and thorough information available on gardening. It amazes me that people would rather watch some woman gardening in short shorts than actually learning valuable lessons from an experienced teacher. Their loss I guess

Hi love the way you narrate your day videos, am from Trinidad

I grow mainly no dig but I do agree about the amount of compost required. It is hard to get it and does limit some people, it certainly did prove problematic for me in the initial setup years. On the one hand I sometimes wonder if the same amount of compost would be needed even if I was double digging, to ensure there was sufficient nutrients for intensive cropping but I think there is obviously more to it than simply the nutrients in the soil. For example, the ground needs to be inna relatively friable condition for the plants to grow and this simply takes a lot of compost to provide that and or some time to allow the worms and organisms to work the soil. Great video!

I just discovered your channel and have subscribed. Your comments are very thoughtful. Thank you.

Even though i personally might not use this information it is comforting to know that it is out there. We need to rethink how we feed the world and I think this is part of the solution.

I just have a roof (2000 sq ft) to work on. I have just started. But your advice and experience is valuable. From your talk extensive method in grow bags seems to be the answer.

Always interesting and worthy of my attention. Thank you.

Spent this season in 90F and 1 or 2 thunderstorms every week. Plants grew vegetation like a jungle, tomatoes split and sweet peppers had rot spots in multiple places. Next year I will build a Greenhouse tunnel-like yours and feed my raised beds compost.

Thanks for a thoughtful video. I live in a similar environment in Scotland and have over the years increased protection for my crops but used glass rather than plastic and use greenhouses and mini greenhouses. Though maybe more expensive in the short term no worries about having to recover and disposing o f plastic waste. I worry about the amount of plastic membranes now in use which all degrade leavening fibre in the soil which cannot be cleaned up so called weed control fabrics don't work long term but I expect they are promoted because someone is making a lot of money.

The space of the tunnel ist just great. It is very high and broad. Passive water system would be good I think.

Your work is greatly appreciated! Thanks for keeping us all up to date on all your findings :) I have have a RU-vid chanel too but lately feel more like doing the work than making videos of doing the work ☺🐛 Happy growing and keep us in the loop :)

Great cadence, shots, content and editing. I'm not even a gardener but I'll subscribe. Thanks!

Sir, I will flow your methods, video is excellent, You are the best.

Your comments and ideas are always welcome! I share these videos with my local organic garden community. Thanks for your work!

I agree that there is no single method. It would depend on the type of soil you have, the type of crops you have and also the weather/rainfall. We have clay soil, it's extremely hard to work with, no dig methods do not work and double digging is required for any root type vegetables such as carrots. Personally, I would choose double dig and the polyculture, mainly due to polycultures being more pleasant to the eye than motonomous gardening, but also partly due to the fact I want to upgrade to a permaculture garden... which also incorporates trees (fruits, nuts etc) Love your vids. Keep it up!

Your videos are very useful! I´m very glad, I found this channel. I´m watching since 9k subscribers and I really like your content. Keep it up!

Think it depends on location. Poly tunnel in my area will cook everything in it no matter on ventilation. Great video, lots of info.

Your sharing of your knowledge is helping me to feed myself and occasionally have a little to spare for my neighbours and friends. I only have a small garden out front of about 15 X10 meters available but through the confidence you share, I hope to put my small back garden to food production with a home built poly tunne forl next years growing season. Please do keep helping in the way you do.

EXCELLENT conclusions, Bruce. Garden according to your climate, plot size, and material and time resources. Observe the garden and figure out what works for you, one size does not fit all. I too use a hybrid of no dig, polyculture and tiny polytunnel, on my small site, and did do some digging first to clear debris. I am amazed by the abundance produced in a short space of time.

I'd agree, absorb knowledge and mix different techniques for the climate your in. I just started a garden, used intensive for base, then added 12,000 lbs compost on top and tilled base and compost togeather for a 10"-12" layer, 36'x48'. So far things are growing great. Started direct sow May 21st through June 11th. It's been a cool wet spring, morning temps low 40's to low 50's.

Your graph @ 1:19 made me laugh! -9C after New Years is a sign it is time to put the winter coats away, 0C it time to put the spring coats away, and 7C is the beginning of shirt free weather, and 18C is time to clean the air conditioner, 35C is drink plenty of water at work, 38C is time to call it quits...

Great video. I've been waiting for a comparison video for a while now 🙂 I'm happy to see your channel growing! One suggestion.. your title could be tweaked to get alot more views. Eg "What garden method works best" or No Dig vs Double Dig and other methods.." something like that. I've been watching your videos for a long time and understand the title but someone stumbling along your video wont have any idea and might not be interested.. just a friendly tip! Thanks for the video.

thx. you seem like a kind soul.

Your an absolute champion mate, good on you

Hi Bruce, thank you for this latest video. You start by favouring your polytunnel, for intensive, high yielding, season extending & personal protection / comfort. All the same reasons that I've erected a cheapy polycarbonate greenhouse. I don't know whether you have had experience of a greenhouse as well as your massive polytunnel, but I'd like to hear your views as to your comparative experiences if so. I'd purchased my cheapy polycarbonate 8ft x 16ft greenhouse as opposed to a polytunnel because:- 1). The side guttering collects water into a water-butt (I live in very dry Colchester, Essex) as the facility to collect water in the summer is valuable to me. 2). I've heard that although twin-wall polycarbonate has a shorter life than glass )& I could not afford glass anyway), it should outlast the polythene of a polytunnel. 3). Gale propelled objects can fatally damage the polythene of polytunnels, where-as the polycarbonate should be a tad more robust when clobbered during high winds. 4). Twin-walled polycarbonate might be a tad better insulator during the cold winter months, thus hopefully providing better winter growing conditions? Your thoughts please Bruce? And any thoughts from others that read my amateur comments? Regards as always, JohnnyK.

If I had to begin tomorrow I would watch this a few times and glean the best practice methods you have developed!! Thanks!!

Very useful. Clear info and very helpful. Thanks

A really excellent video, thank you! Would you consider another video going further into your ideas for a hybrid approach using different methods at different points in the garden's "succession"? Just what you said here is brain-expanding stuff. I'm very curious about the potential for creating a simple start-up system where people could get a harvest of storage crops (winter squash, potatoes?) as the yield of a first-year new garden space, while helping to prepare the soil for higher productivity the following year...?

Really appreciate your efforts to get this info to the world Bruce. I'd be interested in your labour input analysis for these gardens. i.e. How many man hours a week does it take to keep 1,5,10 families in vegetables. For clarity, I am into whole food plant based science, which recommends eating more vegetables... especially leafy greens i.e. 0.5kg a day (8 cups raw) of non starchy vege per adult (not potatoes)...so 7kg/wk for 2 adults, and say 4kg/wk for 2 younger kids = 11kg/week I would suggest a variable mix of rocket, baby spinach, collard and mustard greens, kale, tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, red cabbage, string beans, beetroot, carrot, onions.

Thank you for coming to answer your "research question" and as usually the answer is "it depends". And you answered the follow up question as well "what does it depend on"?.

As always, it's all about the "context". Great video and thank you for sharing.

Heck if I only had one garden channel to watch you rock man

I’ve been watching from near-beginning and it seems like you could just about answer it this year. Fantastic job Bruce!

Thank-you. A lot to discuss here.

Another great video from RED Gardens. Please do make a update about your latest conclusions about the composting system of yours.👍👍👍👍

I’m going to try a combination approach using square foot gardening which crosses intensive and poly culture whilst attempting to keep it as no-dig. I can’t wait to start (as soon as my youngest stops walking all over the soil and pulling them out) next year. Live in north Oxfordshire.

I'm so glad I found this channel today!! I am starting my first farm soon and I am doing my best figuring out which farming method would be best suited for me. Your videos are a great resource for me to learn and understand the differences which will hopefully allow me to find success with my farm more efficiently. Big thanks and wishing a good season in 2022.

Great video as usual. Thanks again

Been refreshing for new videos, I can't get enough of your content

good explanations, again. i still havent setup a greenhouse and often end up throwing out a late (hopeful) crop of beetroot, for example. which partially grows and then completely stalls when cooler weather comes, which is unpredictable here. i'm definitely over adding massive amounts of compost, which is both intensive and problematic in our heat, and is often gone part way thru season, collapsing soil structure.

I'm impressed. Great video

Thank you, sir.

I enjoy and learn a lot from your videos. Thanks. It must take a lot of planning and time.

At my age, I choose the Ruth Stout no-dig, no-water method. Just throw out a bunch a hay and plant in it and sit in my Adirondack chair and watch it grow, author of Casual Gardening😎

Excellent Overview of techniques and philosophies - thank you!

Thanks for caring and sharing. You are the change truly aware people want to be. Check out Morley Robbins to understand why magnesium and copper sulfate are so important to add in to the soil. It takes bacteria to help plants absorb minerals, so that means the microbiome needs to be on point, too.

Very genuine observations. .n theories

You're farkin' AMAZEBALLZ, my man!

I genuinely get so much out of your videos. Thank you for the doing the hard work! (From far north New England, I need all the help I can get!)

Great video.

Excellent video, and excellent channel in general. I've only got a relatively small area for growing vegetables (3 raised beds each of 0.9m x 3.6m so approx 10 sq m in total) and I've been making my own compost for quite a few years which I use on these beds but I read Steve Solomon's book in the autumn, got a soil test, have remineralised the beds and am changing my approach to how I make compost (which is really vermicompost) by, in effect, adding 4-6 litres of a version of COF into each of my compost bins (I have 5 of the 'dalek' type of bins). It is interesting that you find the Extensive Garden to have the tastiest harvests (possibly because they're the most nutritious?) as that's pretty much the point of Steve Solomon's approach. I'm optimistic for great results in 2021. Keep the videos coming - they're excellent and inspirational.

Thank you!

Great video

I have been watching a lot of you videos with great interest and there's something that I have noticed. You mostly seem to plant your crops in line with the length of the bed. I mostly plant perpendicular to the bed. To me it feels more efficient when removing weeds and I feel like I have to bend over the plants less when removing weeds. I also felt like I could make the beds wider, loosing less "path-space". But I'm not using a seeder and I guess that you have good reasons to do this "your way", I'm really interested what the your reasoning / ideas are on this. :-)

I too love my polytunnel. The only thing I can think of to improve it is two polytunnels...

Right choice, am in the middle of putting my polytunnel up this week.

I can’t wait to get some land so I can do a poly tunnel garden. It’s pretty darn cold where we live I just had to cover my garden on June 9th because it got down to -2 Celsius

Gardening is working with nature I dont think they’ll ever be a simple one method for all, if there was we’d probably be using it but its good to experiment and try what works for different climates, time of year and type of crop, I still find watching these videos interesting and seeing the results for each garden

Love your videos. So much to learn

Great content, brother!

This and Charles Downing. Prepers basic requirements

excellent as always. Great vision you have.

Good information Thank You...

I grew up in the southern USA on a large family farm and grew huge gardens with tractors and fertilizers but as I live in the suburbs now I plant a square foot raised bed garden as developed by Mel Bartholomew. It is a great system why don't you test out his method in a bed or two and compare it to your other beds.

When you try to treat a complex system with a simple formula, you often are surprised and fail. I'm glad you resist the simple answer.

Love the vids! Although the drink when "context" is said game is getting me far too smashed !

Excellent informative video as usual.

I have been wondering what you have been up to! Thanks for another great video. Please upload catpions 🙏🏽

Love your projects!

A no dig extensive garden undercover 🤤, then we wake up...