Unexpected Results Revealed: Pulling Apart Hügelkultur Raised Beds 

Thanks for making me 'giggle'... with your invite of 'if you do not like click thumbs down twice'... So sharp and clever... done with great humour! Lovely weekend you two! 👏😄✨

Years ago, on US public television, there was a gardening program The Square Foot Gardener. Mel Bartholomew implemented this idea of breaking your garden into 1 square foot planting areas. Within each square foot he used the recommended spacing and planted his crop. Carrot or parsnips every 3 inches in both direction, never paying attention to row width. His idea was, row width was to accommodate harvesting in long traditional garden rows and wasn't needed in raised beds. His yields, per given area, were wonderful. I've used the system, in my raised beds, for nearly 30 years. When planting this system, tallest plants more to the north side of the bed and shortest plant more toward the southern orientation. Because I like the design challenge and your bed is small...I would have chosen a checker board pattern. I checked and some of Mel's videos are on RU-vid. Some of his books are still out there in circulation as well.

CONGRATS on 100K subs!!!! Well deserved!

Orchardist here! Looks like the only thing you can do with that tree is cut it down to where there growth is and hope you can grow them into new leaders. You want about 3 new leaders/main branches. Create a vase shape where the light can penetrate right into the centre of the tree. Where light doesn’t penetrate those buds will eventually die. All your growth will move up the tree where the light is, so the goal is to keep the light coming down. Almonds, Nectarines and peaches fruit on second year wood and a fruit bud is fuzzy on red coloured wood from the previous year. Good luck!

“It’s not about the length “, says the gardener to the countess….lol. Guy has certainly got spring fever

You are my "happy" video to start the weekend, after which I try and copy your energy to get on with my chores 😊 Congratulations on 100,000 subscribers!

Just remember sand and clay make bricks, so make sure you add a LOT of compost to prevent this. Yes the seeds can be scattered and they don’t need to be spaced as far apart. If they are too close some thinning can be done. You can also pull some earlier than others, eating small and young, while allowing others to continue to grow to a larger size.

Here in India the gardeners build mound of soil lengthwise and sow the seeds on top of the mounds. The water would be dribbled in troughs (between the mounds) . This method allowed you to grow good crop of vegetables even when you didn't have too large a layer of top soil.

Next redo: Remove all soil. Add protective mesh for mole. Either below or above Hugleculture, place cardboard/corrugate. Further take larger pieces of wood/stumps/vines and cut them down to smaller sizes. Add soil/sand. Plant and water. Wood and corrugated matter stop weeds, hold moisture.

Drinking morning coffee and watching your clip. 👍

Love and like gardening. Allways see you working together is a laughing time 😂😂😂😂😂

Yes 😊 more gardening

Thank you guys for such a nice educational time with you. There’s never anything wrong to learn something on the way with you guys.❤

Good morning. I think I can answer some of your queries. I garden in more of a French Intensive way. The rows are WAY closer. The packet assumes that you need to walk between each row, that's why 30 cm apart. My rows are about 6 cm apart in raised beds because I never walk on them. When they grow in it looks like I planted a block of each thing. And you want to plant in rows instead of sprinkling in a block for ease of weeding.

Thumbs down twice hehe,when planting any root crop if you don't follow the planting instructions and sow them too close and leave them the result will be very small carrots if you want really large carrots put suttons autumn carrots in, another tip is not to give them any manure that's what makes them fork,another tip when lifting your carrot you will create a carrot smell that will attract the carrot fly they like to lay there eggs in your carrot bed so when removing some of your carrots be quick and pat down the soil and remove the carrots you picked away from the beds,ideally if you fill a bucket crammed with nettles fill the bucket with water and cover make sure you put holes in the lid leave for a month or two the result is you end up with a very strong smell take the bucket to the end of your carrot row when lifting your carrot the smell from the bucket will overpower the carrot smell that will keep the carrot fly at bay. Very long winded but there you go.

More of these, we love your interaction with each other during your work tasks - just wonderful to hear you two chat about how you're going to do things! All the best from Noosa Hinterland Qld Australia 🙏✌️

Of course we like your home steading videos, we learn so much, and we love the camaraderie you show us. ❤Keep showing us your content ❤

Enjoying "hanging out" with you and my morning coffee. I especially like your Make. Do. Undo. Redo. projects. They are so much more realistic than "once and done" because how often does that really happen in "real life"--especially in the garden!

planting spring onions will in the bed will help keep carrot fly away if you've ever suffered from that issue. Your garden is looking lush, please keep us updated.

It sounds like you know quite a bit about the similar gardening methods (recognised a few of the channels you mentioned). We recently discovered @AnneofAllTrades and she bases what she does off of the Back to Eden method (can find on RU-vid if you haven't watched). She also calls it lazy gardening. It's VERY similar to what you've done except she adds a few more steps but what we liked a lot was she explained it all VERY well and why some things should be done and she also showed how she adds mycelium at the beginning of a bed and why. She also has some other great videos on trees and such, not sure if she's tackled an almond tree but you can check. Yeah, I really think her channel would be useful for you as it's again, VERY similar to what you're doing and you don't have to water your garden. You may regret digging it all up if you do watch but I hope it can help you in your gardening journey. See you next week!

Welcome back, I was just starting to have serious withdrawal symptoms. More of everything please. especially information on house scheduling for the colder, wetter months. Ah, yes, Saterdays can go back to a civilised routine.

Enjoyed your planting journey as you explained the rationale and it has helped my planting learning journey too

Oh, I love to experiment in the garden! I was surprised how quickly most of the wooden bits were so rotten. I would have chunked them back into half the bed to see if they made any difference in carrot length. Great that they were wet as sponges, if you have a dry growing season, it could save some watering.

I love watching a couple of bright perfectionists (of slightly different degrees) work through a project (that hinges on the mysteries of nature!) I feel your (joint) pain and wanted you to know your sacrifice is appreciated🎉

I like All of your VL's. Take care be happy

Interesting to see how that worked out!

Parsnip seeds are one of the unusual shapes. I saved seeds from last year and sewed them in a tall pot. The spacing in that bed needs to be that far because of the leaves of the parsnips. People do grow them closer, but eat the leaves to keep air circulation through the plants. I couldn't use boards, so a drainage saucer worked equally well for carrots. You're the only ones I have seen that pulled the bed apart and showed how much material had decomposed. Thank you.

Almonds take a lot of water. Best to prune live branches when they're dormant - you can cut the dead wood now, though.

I love the variety, I like watching it all.

Congratulations on making 100,000! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

The sowing depth of seeds depends on the size of the seed. It is recommended to sow at a depth twice the size of the seed, therefore carrot and other seeds are sown at a depth of two to three millimeters and in order to reduce thinning, try to sow at a distance of 5-7 millimeters from each other, preferably not even in rows but in bulk. Irrigation is done in very gentle rain and then a board is placed on the ground to maintain constant moisture needed for germination. After about a week, check every day by lifting the board. As soon as there is germination, remove the board completely.

Hi guys! Glad to see you back in the garden. As for the almond tree, it might be better to grow a new one from a sapling. You can do both actually, and see how they both do. But the new sapling will probably better way to go. Also, check out 'Grow A Little Fruit Tree' book by Anne Ralph. Excellent book for growing small fruit trees. Best of luck!

100k subscribers! Woo Hoo - Well done and congratulations, you so deserve it. You work so hard. 🥂🍾🥳🎉

Non of this is a 2 thumbs down ive been following you 2 since the start,i have no incline to live in Portugal and we have no room for any raised beds but i do love gardening and all sorts of DIY ( ive took 2 chimney breasts out in our house) but i do find what you try to achieve and your processes really interesting,so its a thumb up from me,👍🤣🤣

It’s good to seen you out in the garden again.

It’s 4:15 in the morning here in South Carolina USA and I’m always glad to see one of your videos pop up. Love this channel. ❤

- congratulations on reaching 100,000! - my husband is the same do little as possible to repair and with the leaset amont of effort. - we have filled our raised beds with free wood chips from our townsl recycling. Very nice soil underneath! - thumbs down twice 😂 See you next time and have an amazing day!

Love the care with which you do everything. Exhausting too, glad you took a break and took us with you on your trip overseas. Was awesome. Also wondering if lichen/moss on almond tree adversely affects health??

You two crack me up!! I love that you guys put in the work to see if "what THEY say" actually works! Hugs from 🇨🇦

OMG sowing the bed without benefit of laser level , tape measure , astrology charts and the sacrifice of a virgin goat youll be drumed out of the sacred and most ancient order of homesteaders 😁😉

I like to see everything that you are doing. And you both are cute, informing and entertaining.

From Vancouver, 🇨🇦… You guys are awesome and so we decided to subscribe… make, do and definitely GROW that channel with your veggies & fruits too! 🌱

10:00 Cool experiment, dismantling that, thank you. I've always wondered, never tried it. Expect things would be far more advanced in a wetter environment. Definitely will try, maybe as a precursor to a no-dig bed. Just move the whole siding arrangement along one space, start a new bed, add one more log to replace the bottom one. Maybe then adding eg penetrating roots such as daikon to the original bed to help subsequent crops, worms etc, mix it all up some more. 13:00 Ah the mesh is going down, ignore previous comment, I see where this is going now... haha I'm tempted to try planting some pre-chopped carrots, or grow pre-cut chips. Perhaps it's bedtime.

Great video! Very informative, I’ve often wondered if the logs/sticks at the bottom of the bed do actually do anything. Now we know! ❤

Awesome tips for gardening!!! 🥰🎶❤️🎶🏡🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

I scatter my carrots in a bed and it worked great! I got so many carrots! I also planted sunflowers in the same bed!

Great, you guys are tops!

Sew in straight lines shows what isn't what you sewed so making it easier to identify and remove weeds etc. A great laugh your delivery today, double click!! Watched after sewing a load of my own seeds here in Blackpool on a beautiful, warm, spring day. Thanks as ever, Cheers, Ian

Explains why my veggie bed dropped but helped keep the beds "moist" during the heat. Adding more to top and plant beds today. Yes more

I love the gardening vids. (Doubling down on my thumbs up here)

Good to see you back in the garden! Gardening brings such wonderful relaxation and sure improves my mindset!!

Happy Mother's Day everyone, especially to the ladies.

More gardening please, food is the most fragile of all supply 'chains'

*Kylie & Guy, it is always good to experiment, to see what works or doesn't work 🙂nz*

Regarding the almond tree, and I am no expert but it looks like it has a mould of some kind and the top part is dead, most likely because you get a lot of rain...? I recommend cutting the trunk above the healrhy green branches. In our area in spain these trees are the main cultivation and I have a stump that has many shoots from the sides and it still produces almonds. I also have a few others that are yet to be trimmed and they also produce. They are a hardy tree and need very little water to thrive. I hope this helps! Good luck and congrats on 100.000 subs. Love starting my weekend with you both and always learn something relevant 😊

Alternating the rows sounded good to me. Last week I sowed baby cabbage, brocolli and violet cauliflower in rows. I thought it would look nice. I cannot wait for it to start growing. ♥️🌹🐝

I love watching you two together. It makes me happy while drinking my morning coffee.

Kylie & Guy, Almond TREES always look like there dead and then then come back to life, Usually in Feb right after they bloom depending on the rain fall that winter. I'm giving info from the trees here in Cyprus. Be careful what you cut . I would ask a local what they do. The other thing is some year they can look totally dead ( with no fruit) and then other years they will be very green and full of life.

Sorry we had to laugh at your inches comments. That is us every time something comes in millimeters an centimeters 😂

It could have been a nectarine tree at some point. I believe nectarines and peaches are grafted into almond. So, it might not be the best kind of almond, if you want to keep it for eating. 😊 But it definitely worth looking into!

I love your videos !! Thank you for making them and for sharing your experiences

Very informative. Watching you two is such fun.🎉

Onions disattract the carrot fly, carrots disattract the onion fly. So they are perfect neibours. Parsnips belong to the same family as carrots, so it's not so wise putting them directly together. But maybe there is some space left for putting a row of onions in between. I love all your stuff: gardening, renovating your house, solar etc.

I don't like gardening videos so much as the ones on the works of the house, but I was always wondering whether this hügelkultur method really works. And voila, it does! So, it's a like.

Reminds me of an archeological dig I helped on many years ago. The first 3 layers were removed pretty much as you did. That may be why I love digging in the dirt--not so keen on garden maintenance, being rather lazy--getting my hands in the earth.

I like these kinda videos, but I would watch you both all day long do anything 😊

Im not a gardener but i do enjoy listening and watching what you do in your garden. Youre both always so neat and tidy n whatever jobs you do. Have clicked like. Youre funny Guy xxxx

Congratulations on your 100,000 subscribers! Love this kind of video, thank you for sharing. Good tip with placing the boards on top of the veg's to keep moist.

Great to see the hugel bed results. I made two of them this past fall and am glad to see the good results you got!

I look forward to seeing you two every week, love what you are doing and how well you work together my only problem is that you are making me more and more homesick

What I have seen so far from hugelkultur, it works best with a small particle size, because that breaks down faster. Putting giant logs is a waste of logs and also it takes decades for the bed to actually have enough unobstructed space for the soft plants you like to eat. So If you have any sticks and clippings, you could shred them and cover them with soil. or just compost them and mix that with subsoil and whatever you have.

Loved that..learnt a few things so thank you both. We are about to plant up our two gorg raised beds. It's bn cold in Ireland, so planting now will be fine. Grt tip bout tapping seed packet ..we woukd be picking tiny seeds from palm of hand..difficult.

Your weather looks so pretty, gardens look so pretty - I know it’s a work in progress, but that’s gardening! Love your channel!

I definitely love this kind of video!

I think the clay soil below your beds is helping keep water in the beds. Clay soils do not drain well. Sandy soils lose water rapidly.

Fun, I liked it so much I hit the like botten twice 🙃🤠

Yes please, I enjoy the gardening one too

Could you maybe keep layering the bottom with old wood and just make your raised beds à couple of logs higher for the carrots and such?

I have always loved your longer videos as I feel I am almost there with you then I daydream of my own house and land garden. 😊

I'm learning from your planting... it's very useful. Have a great w.e.

Love watching everything that you both do. Hello from Australia

100K! Congratulations. Well deserved.💫👍

We're just getting into the planting season in New England, so watching you do your raised beds has given me some suggestions for mine - like the netting to keep out voles and such. I've learned a lot from your videos, and though I will never install underfloor heating or plaster a wall, the gardening tips are very useful to me! (The rest is just fun to know.)

Si si si !! Votre vidéo est très intéressante !! Merci pour le temps que vous prenez pour partager vos projets !!🌻🌻

Thanks for your video just love watching 😊😊

I live in far northern California which is full of almond orchards or amans as they are called locally. I would cut that old tree down, you can prune it and see what happens but you are better off with a new tree.

I really enjoyed this video as we were able to see how quickly some things disintegrated. It was seeing the results of an experiment. Very interesting indeed! I like the way you analyzed everything! You guys work great together! It was a nice break from the work in the house. Gardens can’t wait! Guy, you look much better than you did in the last of the Vietnam video! Have a great week guys! ❤️🙏🏼👋🏻🇨🇦😎🫶🏼

Great video !

What kind of finishing rock is that. I love it. I also love the bed construction.

It is good for variety,

Gratulation! "100.000" Subscribers. 💥

We have almond trees in Spain and recently had an issue with an old large tree. Our neighbour came and helped advise, we chopped all the upper wood back to a quite small stump and that has already started to sprout in just 2 weeks since we cut it. Ideally you'd wait until the dormant period in winter but from our current experience it won't do any harm to cut it back now. Here they thrive with very little water and no watering. Also some older trees are bitter almonds which are not edible, though you won't know until it produces. If it is a bitter almond you can graft a new sweet almond to it. Whatever you do you won't get fruit this year as this year's harvest is already on the trees.

Love these videos. Love anything you do.

❤ Always wonderful to watch your videos ❤

I liked it so much.I hit the like button twice. See ya next time 😊

Hi typically we plant in rows so that we can easily recognise the seedlings when they start to grow and the rows are far enough a part to run your hoe down. Top tip for the parsnips is to sow radish in the same row as at the same time to help mark the row. They will be up quick and harvested long before the parsnips are ready. your parsnips could also grow 3 to 4" (7-10 cm) across depending on variety and how long you leave them in the ground.

my guess i¡you sow in rows that it is easier to spot unwanted weeds that will grow between the rows.

Thank you for such informative and lovely video!🫶🥰 I love your veggie beds, and also listening to bird songs. 🦜✨️ Great job! 👍

Aw, that was me with the tip about boards on carrots. But I forgot to take my own advice on the parsnips -- will fix that tomorrow morning.

I enjoyed the gardening video. I was taught to plant seeds I a straight line so that it will be easier to see the plants come up, and easier to identify weeds and pull them, if you so chose.