Redmond's is absolutely amazing! They where gracious enough to partner up with us and become sponsors for SoilFamily Expo... We where blessed to give away Soil Test Kits, salt And so much more. They are beautiful inside/out and we also highly recommend them. Julie is so sweet. We love her dearly. 💜
In case someone doesn’t have a local garden nursery near them…you can still buy starts from big box stores. Just be sure to buy plants with more than one start in it. Plus there is always a sale. A $4 start with 2 plants in it will still cost you $2 per plant
Girl you are really on it with your raised beds! I can’t wait to see your flowers and produce growing in that soil! I never knew it was so serious, i just bought dirt and planted. So excited to see your plants popping out! Thank you for all of your information and kindness!
The nice thing about gardening is that, like running, there's a low entry threshold to it. When you get more serious, you can then spend tons of money doing it. But starting with a few starts or some seeds in pots/dirt is just fine! Good luck on your garden!
Our local extension breaks soil tests results down for you, and also suggest your amendments based on what you’re intending to grow. I am surprised to hear that not all extension results do the same.
Random gardening question I'm asking the gardeners I follow on socials. Do You think it's safe to plant foxglove in a vegetable garden space? I ask because of foxgloves toxicity. Does it not really matter since produce is washed once it's harvested?
Thank you for encouraging buying plants at a local nursery. It’s not just for price but they ACTUALLY grow the plants so they have so much information, especially for new gardeners.(from a Farmer’s Market bedding plant grower)
Hi Becky. You have probably already found a solution for the chickens but I wanted to tell you I watched another person on RU-vid, who made low arch tunnels out of hardware cloth and ran them around her garden. They had plenty of room to walk around and also protection from aerial predators.
@@ceceliacampbell7838 , I honestly don’t remember. However, she took long lengths of hardware cloth, probably about 3-3 1/2 feet wide and arched it. She probably staked it into the ground with those long ground staples.
Please do keep a file folder with your "soil info" to include your compost company reports, your registration sheet, and notes you gather while researching. Periodically, go back through your soil folder to reacquaint yourself with the information you have because as you become more familiar over time, theninfirmatuin you've gathered will make more sense. It will also enable you to understand a wider variety of a whole host of gardening, farming, and soil related articles. Periodically, add to your file folder new information you find valuable.
I can't even begin to imagine the cost of this huge project. Necessary, amazing opportunity to become way more self-sufficient in a world that only wants us completely dependent on them. Way to go!
I have wondered on many channels if costs of projects are tax deductible on anything that is used to make content. Whether it be gardening, cooking, travel, etc. I don’t know how much RU-vidrs make but I see huge things happening on channels , not just Becky’s.
@@kellanrevere A percentage of the cost could be written off as a business expense, but it wouldn't/shouldn't all be since they also do this for personal use.
I love the garden content. 😍 Thank you so mucg for sharing! And also huge thank you to the builders/gardeners for being okay with being on camera it adds so much fun to watch them in action!
A quick way to enclose the chickens would be to put a divider in the garlic & strawberry bed gardens that are already fenced. Thanks for sharing & have a great day! I think you can pinch the heads off your broccoli starts & still plant them out, Blessings 🤗💜🇨🇦
I felt bad for your landscapers.having to work around your chickens...i know it's a huge pain for me when my chickens are in my way when I'm trying to get work done. Having to stop and move them or worrying about running them over
Your raised beds and retaining walls look amazing!! Watching you bring your vision into existence on your new homestead is so exciting!! Enjoy your journey!! ❤
@@AcreHomesteadI’ve been looking back at your videos and can’t find where you address what you put down between your beds under the gravel. Right now I have plastic the previous owner put down and wood chips and the weeds are out of control!!
Please share the cost for 1 of your new raised beds. The cost brake down: wood, raised bed mix, fabric, hardware cloth, and fasteners. I think it would be so useful for those of us who are wondering if we can afford it. Thanks again! ❣️
Becky, this garden is gorgeous already. I don’t even want to ask how much something like this costs but I agree with you, that this will be an investment that pays off for years to come. I love how the beds have that edge to sit on. You are going to have so much food. I’m so excited for you.
Becky, I hope you read this comment. I have been watching your channel for awhile and want to seriously "THANK YOU". For the last 5 years, I have only left my house or have been outside for doctor's appointments, a funeral and times I have been in the hospital. Watching your channel is helping motivate me to want to be outside again. Thank you so much for reminding me of how much I love to garden and to be outside in the beautiful weather. You are motivating me to get healthy so I can have a garden again. May God Bless You!!
I just bought a house in February and I've been working on the interior so far. But I am wandering around in my backyard making plans for landscaping projects in the next couple of years. At 68, I am definitely going to do raised beds for everything. Your gardens looked so pretty last year with flowers mixed into the veggies and you have talked about that again for this year. I've definitely decided to add herbs, flowers, and veggies in a combination that will make all my beds pretty to look at and fruitful. Thank you for inspiring and teaching this "old Nebraska gardener" some new tricks.
I do not understand why Becky doesn’t have a response team for questions. I have asked many questions and never gotten an answer. I know she is busy and I get that but why not a response team.
Pam here….your coop could be in perm spot, with 3 or4 lanes they could alternate roaming in, just directing them with a short hot fence. You could let them out in the fall to clean off the beds when done for season. It is adorable how they follow you.
I am a biologist and it does not make sense to me to get samples from six different beds. I say that because technically if there was a problem in one of the areas it could be masked because the other five areas are elevating any of the lacking nutrients or vice versa. To me it makes more sense to just do five completely different tests on five different beds. But in your case, luckily, it probably won’t matter anyway due to it being a brand new delivery of all of your soil components being all mixed anyway.
She took five or six samples from the same bed. She said she only needed to send in one test bec all the beds had the exact same soil in them. I’m a microbiologist and I clearly understood her.
@Lisa Martin your response is a prime example of people lacking the skills to present an opposing position without needing to put down another person. Your last comment was completely unnecessary and just subtracted from the point you made and your last sentence is the part that is remembered. People remember attitude & common courtesy way more than facts. Perhaps try increasing your EQ to heighten your own skills in presenting opposing views. Oh and just for the record she stated she took 6 samples from 6 areas, she did not say they were 6 different beds or the 1 bed. Although footage shows at least one bed & also the huge pile of soil. So from this information, the first comment is closer to being correct than you as your opening statement is blatantly wrong just by looking at the video. Oh also the components are the same but it would be impossible for all of the beds to have exactly the ratio of each component unless she literally had a huge soil size blender to thoroughly mix everything together, there will always be variations of how much of each is in each bed.
All of the soil in all of the beds are the same, you are incorrect with your statement. She just purchased it all! I agree with the second commenter! Also you are very sensitive to criticism which is definitely not a good trait for a biologist😂😂😂.
What about putting the chickens up in the top old garden where the strawberries were is already fenced and they can scratch around in the beds so they can be contained
Looking fantastic, Becky! You’ve inspired me big time and we discovered a baby eggplant today! We’re so excited to go on this years garden journey with y’all.
ARE YOUR STARTS SO HEALTHY BECAUSE OF THE FISH EMULSION? I THINK SO! I AM SOOO HAPPY FOR YOU ABOUT THE RAISED BEDS, & EQUALLY HAPPY FOR ME!!!❤❤ I GET TO GO ALONG ON YOUR JOURNEY. THANK YOU, BECKY AND JOSH!! DUDE, YOU'RE NOT IN THE VIDS ENOUGH 😊❤❤❤ PRAYERS AND LOVE NURSE JUDI IN SCOTTSDALE AZ ❤
Our local extension in Georgia sends ours off to UGA and they send about a report that looks just like this. They also tell us how to amend different plant beds like blueberries vs veggies. They cost $9 a test so check your local extension because many work with state universities in your area.
In Master Gardener classes, we used the Extension Service for soil testing. It not only told what was in our soil, but told us what amendments we needed……. I love your raised beds. Our greenhouse arrived this week! Doing a happy dance!
Clearly , you are blessed with a lot more money than the average subscriber, BUT, this being said , we just need to watch and see what we can glean from this video , maybe how to prepare one raised bed, or make us start to think about other options we can use for beds, I have two raised beds made from discarded vinyl widow shutters screws together. I have added screen wire / wire cloth on the bottom before adding soil slowing down moles/ voles and gophers from killing plants. Kiddie pools are great for radishes , lettuce crops.Thank you for sharing.
I feel our food is grown in soils that are so depleted from nutrients and minerals, which is probably why so many people are on vitamins. Your plants will not only thrive, but your food will be nutritious. Fantastic information on soil.
Got my mind blown a couple of years back stumbling on Korean Natural Farming and it's sister method JADAM. Basically it's using cheap, natural inputs to improve the soil. Am also integrating Back to Eden gardening using wood chips in with that. Nigel Palmer, Paul Gautschi, and Chris Trump are good Utubes channels covering it.
I just learned from another gardener that if you use wood and wood chips make sure it's broken down as much as possible because it will suck up a lot of nitrates❤
@@melaniedennis9540 That held me off from doing it for a long time, but as I understand it B2E composts them. We are thinking of mixing them with lawn clippings before we lay it down provide the nitrogen, and see how that works then go a different route if not.
I wish i could see a behind the scenes of her running around grabbing things that blew away in the wind, and all the camera angles. Did she have to run twice just to set up the camera?
Here in Australia we buy our vegetables and flowers in punnets. There are usually 8 plants in each punnet for $3.95 or $4.95. It’s really affordable. I personally buy my starts form a small local grower who grows a lot of heirloom plants organically. I get punnets for $3 which usually contain about 10 plants. It’s autumn now so I have a winter garden in which over here is brassicas, beets, carrots, peas, greens. Excited to see yours in the ground.
It amazes me that the time and expense you have put into you yard and garden. We have been gardening for 45 years in ground 2 acres we also help family and friend with vegetables but have to do it all the old way because of expenses by the farmers almanac been great so far wish you happy times in your garden.😊
Never been the third viewer glad RU-vid is finally notifying me again its been since right before the baby was born since I have been notified about a video actually have to binge watch to catch up to see what has happened up until now
You're the reason a 52 y/o married couple started gardening again after 15 years n you inspired me and my wife to bite the bullet and buy a pressure canner n quit being afraid of them now a year or so later I have a pantry full of preserved food n a freezer with meals we owe it all to you
You will have to do a video in early August looking out across your lush garden and green lawn. I know that I'm going to cry when I see it, because I am so happy for you! I'm just getting started on my first homestead, so it is lovely to see all the steps and planning done the right way.
Will you have to test each bed separately in future years as the different crops in each bed will change the soil composition? I like how you pursue your homestead goals in a suburban setting. It is more realistic for me. Thanks for all the ideas.
I was wondering the same thing! I have different beds in different areas that have had garlic/onions in one, strawberries in other... tomatoes/peppers etc in another... so I'd imagine they'd need different amendments.
Becky, you are absolutely amazing, so young and so knowledgeable about your gardening and storage for all the food raised. I am 73 years young, use to raise all our food through gardening, having a cattle herd and having chickens. I have not had a garden for years but you have encouraged me to have a couple of raised beds to garden and to can the food raised - Thank you so much for your enthusiasm! Good luck on your journey on gardening and with your adorable family!! 👩🌾
From a brown thumb gardener: They should have people to hire, like Ms. Becky. To start a garden for non gardeners like me. You are an amazing young lady to watch and learn from.
The soil testing and amendment recs remind me of pool testing. For example, Leslie’s will test chlorine (and probably other pools) and give recommendations on what to add and how much to amend the pool’s calcium, pH, etc. I love this concept!
First, that garden is going to be AMAZING with all the work you are putting into it. Second, with all that running around you are SO going to be in shape. No need for workouts with all that running around every day! 😅
Hi Becky. This may suprise you on your subscribers but i want to share it with you. I am 77 years old. I love my beautiful garden, minute but a flower garden. I can not do it any more and was never 'a gardener' so to speak. I live in the south of England a few miles from the sea. I hate cooking. my husband and I are Vegan. So why do i watch you posts? ? Because i am amazed at all that you do. I love to watch you and the abundance of energy you have that you use for the benefit of your family. Your joy and honesty is wonderful. Thank you for being you. Marie.
Here in GA, you can buy single starts for 5.98. If you are lucky, you can find them six starts for the same price. I am thankful that I have a greenhouse, plus most of what I will eat, I can start from sow.
Look for garden and plant expos that may be hosted by the Master Gardeners in your area. Ours (in north central Indiana) was this weekend and you can typically purchase plant starts at reasonable prices. In addition, if you are looking to establish native plants in your landscape, it's a great place to find them.
Hi Becky! Love the garden! Could you possible do a cost break down of this size garden with all the ins and outs to maybe show what something like this costs? I mean my garden grows a bit every year but it would be nice to know what something like this would cost..
This is lifestyle of the rich and you tube famous landscaping…they’ve got to be close to $200k on this project, I doubt many people could afford this type of endeavor. The labor cost for the amount of men working, the machinery and stones and materials and soil/compost, grading,etc etc) And before anyone comes and accuses me of being jealous…umm, nope! I’m content with my budget, self made garden.
@@GenXtothe7thPower I was just wondering.. that’s all.. I know it’s expensive. Just thought if I ever win the lottery or the like.. I’m content with my garden as well. It’s just the two of us now (empty nesters). And I tend to only grow what we eat. What I can’t grow myself in my zone or garden size I buy from local farmers. But I do expand my garden just a little every year. This year we’re adding two pear trees and an extra garden bed plus pots etc.. I’m content. Just wondering how much I’d have to save for a project of this size that’s all. I’d also guess round 2-300K seeing they used cedar for the bed plus all the other stuff. But it would be nice to have a break down. Because you’re right, this is a garden of the RU-vid rich and famous.
We had to grade our back yard for a pool with a brick retaining wall about the same size as hers, so I know firsthand about that part of it, and the price of everything has tripled since then, so I’m probably low balling it lol…and we had a clean slate…nothing to clear out. I’m all for people spending their own $ however they choose to to.
I didn't realize it wasn't common but our county extension office here in Arkansas DOES list values, what ranges are normal, color coded and what to add for veggies vs flowers vs hay ground. Only took me about 20 mins to understand it.
Hi Becki. Hope your well. You are my inspiration to make a garden up, not easy with English weather lol. Being a mum of 7 I have everything crossed that I can grow some things for my family xx
Chicken tractors are the way to go! We have two permanent coops and one tractor for 30 birds. Our chicks in the tractor have truly thrived here in Alaska. We have wild eagles who enjoy hunting our flock so we had to end free ranging or watch them die a horrible death.
Oh, i feel genually happy for you. One of my fave channels (Right after Garden Answer). I do love that you are showing us literally every fail you have made 😅 Can't wait to see your new garden in a full glory. Also, have you considered some arbors in order to create some kind of entrance to your vegetable garden? Also, are you going to order some supertunias from Proven Winners this year? We secretly envy them here in Europe because we can't get them! They would look stunning in big pots placed in each 4 corners at your garden. Also, can you make a video what are you going to plant for what and what new are you going to try? Greetings from Netherlands!
I think it would be really helpful as a reference to find out the total cost of the new garden (maybe at the point of first harvest) including things like the cost of soil as well as the cost of landscaping.
The truth is that soil needs differ with what you grow. For leafy greens you'd need more nitrogen, but for flowers and fruit you need phosphorus. Tomatoes and blueberries prefer a more acidic soil. Etc...
So happy to see these filled! I don’t know why but when you panned over the full beds I just had the urge to lay on one of from and make dirt angels. So exciting!!
Hi Becky, I've found your channel recently and I'm binge watching. So I won't comment very often since I won't flood you. But here I have to ask. Don't you need different soils with different nutrients, ph etc. for different plants? So the recommended additions should be different for tomatoes, kale, basil...? Love from Germany
I do soil tests about every 3 years from the UH extension. They used to give the soil results including the soil series, and normal values for my soil type as well as recommendations (organic recommendations have to be requested otherwise it will be for synthetic per 100 sq ft (vs acres which is what it usually comes in for commercial farms.) However, do to budget cuts and staff retirements, the only send raw results now. They do have a separate publication to look up normal values for the three soil types we have. However, if any one who is new to soil testing,won't know where to find it. And the lab does not answer inquiries about interpretation. They also don't do recommendations so you have to use the other publication to find out what you need to do and look up how to calculate the pounds of nutrient you needs from the fertilizer you are using. P.S. This doesn't work as well for organic because they don't always have a guaranteed analysis. It does not take a PHD to do this but it does take time to do the math and figure out what to do. I have been testing my soil for over 10 years. It does not change that much since I plant the same types of things. It is not necessary to to it every year, it does not change that much. Even adjusting pH, it is not recommended to make large changes at one time and it does take time to change pH. Every three years is about right for a check up if the plants are growing well just to make adjustments to pH which is the most important thing and to tweak fertilizer. My soil test locally costs $12 or pH, P, K, Ca, Mg. another $7 for total carbon, It would be $10 for total carbon and nitrogen but nitrogen is so volatile that it is not worth testing. I can tell by looking at my plants if nitrogen is good or not. (another $12 if you include the gas and parking to get there and back. It pays to go in with friends and make one trip.) Testing every three years is worth the cost since it has meant that I don't have to use that much fertilizer and the fertilizer I do use is good for about 5 years. I have been adding 4 inches of compost, but my organic matter is increasing the phosphorus, probably because the bagged organic material has fertilizer added. So, I have reduced the compost to about and inch. With total carbon I can calculate the organic matter percentage goal 3-6%. Nitrogen is always going to be necessary, but that is calculated by a formula 2.5 lbs per 1000 sf of garden or 0.25 lbs per 100 sf (divided over the year) using sulfate of ammonia 21-0-0 or half that amount of urea 46-0-0, or organic nitrogen blood meal 13-0-0 would be 3.33 lbs over 1000 sf. This is a fast organic fertilizer but releases slower than sulfate of ammonia. 1lb of synthetic granular fertilizer is approx 2 cups. To be more exact it is best to use a scale. In my 128 sf garden that is about 0.5 cups over the course of the year divided into 3 side dressings or about 2 tablespoons per 100 sf. per side dressing. It is cheaper than blood meal and a lot less effort than hauling in steer manure. I can't use steer manure anyway since it is not pure nitrogen and has phosphorus which is already too high. and since steer manure does not come with a guaranteed analysis, it would be hard to figure it out. I have used blood meal before. I was not ready for the blood meal to end up blowing into my face. Won't do that again. Organic is what a lot of people are turning to for many reasons. I do hybrid gardening, I use very few pesticides, and I have a pollinator garden to attract beneficial insects. However, I am getting older and digging and hauling heavy bags of soil from my front yard to the back is more work than I want to take on. I think the availability of a soil test kit that gives you readable results is great. However where I live, the department of ag will not allow soil to be shipped out of state.
Becky, your garden is looking amazing! May I make a modest suggestion that I believe will make that gorgeous rock retaining wall REALLY POP? In between the stones you could plant some bold-colored trailing-type flowers. I absolutely love stone, rock, and flagstone, and I would spruce up the wall. I'd plant the in-between areas with cocoa coir, potting soil, and various colorful Pansies, Moss Rose, and in the larger in-between areas I'd plant various Climbing and Trailing Roses. Even all on it's own, your garden is becoming more breath-taking with every video update you share with us. I feel your excitement and I'm so happy for you! HAVE FUN & ENJOY!! 🌱🌺🌼
That is really cool! Thanks for sharing. I giggled about Josh and the pun thing. My husband and I are uber dorks when it comes to trying to out-pun each other.
Each veg/fruit plants is going to have different requirements for each 'thing' on your soil test list(s). So, instead of going by the test results (what is high or low).......start with what EACH PLANT will REQUIRE, and take it from there. For instance, if you were doing a bed of blueberry bushes, you would want THAT soil (bed) to be acidic (pH between 4.5 & 5).....and you'd then plant other 'acid-loving' stuff with it (same bed)......oregano, chives, thyme, rosemary, cukes, corn, parsley, peppers, ect. Alkaline Soil beds, plant your kale, brussels, asparagus, cabbage, ect. All one really needs is GREAT COMPOST, so, don't get too hung up on 'soil test numbers'. lol
Well I am another one who is SO curious about the cost of this project... So rude, I know. I've recently had landscaping done and the price $39,000. Knocked my 73 year old socks off!!! Would you share that at all? I so admire your energy and enthusiasm! I wish more young people had your love of home and cooking. Love your channel, forgive my prying if it is offensive. diana in illinois
Hi, sorry for the lateness of my comment (I have been playing catchup). You purchased a Daikon Radish, you should do your quick fridge pickling on that it is really good for snacking, and sandwiches.
Thank you, Becky, for this video. Wish I had watched it before planting. I ordered my kit and look forward to a better soil for my raised bed gardening.
At the big box stores this year(2023), locally near me are now $5.98 per plant start. Not a 6-pack but per plant start. I couldn't even find the 6- packs for veggies. I found 3-packs of herbs for $5.98. It's outrageous how those companies can price their vegetable plants like that. It's criminal, in my opinion. Frankie
I never respond to your videos although I’m an avid friend of your channel. Thus, I must say that your homestead is going to be beautiful and your detail for research is very commendable. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. Love your channel.
