MIgardener: 5 Ways to Help Build Healthier Better Soil
Your soil is liek a bank account. We need to make regular deposits in the account to make withdrawls. By building your soil, you can ensure a healthy garden, healthy plants, and better yields.
When the soil is frozen all winter how long does compost to break down in spring? I’m in North Idaho and haven’t seen the 30’s in a month. I’m wondering if it will be late spring until I use my compost. I did amend my greenhouse raise beds before it froze.
I just got my order of tomato seeds in from you Luke. I’m so excited to start growing the giant crimson and the many other varieties! Thank you Luke for quality. Cheers from North of Lake Superior Ontario Canada
Yup. I learned a lot from watching my dad gardening. But forgot one basic. After using "store bought" soil in a raised bed I got a great harvest of small yellow pear tomatos. The next year almost nothing. You have to feed the soil (facepalm). You do not easily forget hard learned lessons. 😅
To add to the bank account analogy…just as banks can add to the money you put in and increase your balance, so to can many soil amendments add nutrients at the time of input but also later down the road by building better soil health.
I've had our local utility company that cuts and chips trees to add hundreds of tons of chips to cover my two acres. I need more nitrogen and many pounds of lime.
Thanks Luke.🙂 When you were smelling the compost, it brought to mind that that's also a very old therapy for breathing/lung disorders like TB. For the first time ever, I broke down and bought a bag of soil because I was filling a new 15" tall bed. It's hugelkultur on the bottom but needed some filler before I put the good soil on top. Blessings! 💚
Wood chips have a lot of carbon. Wood chips will pull nitrogen from your soil as it decomposes. Will need source of nitrogen if using Wood chips. I did not hear you mention manure. Using animals bedding adds manure which is high into n nitrogen. The straw or bedding has carbon. So you get nutrients and organic material for structure.
You can break down woodchips or leaves even faster if you grow mushrooms in them. For woodchips, wine caps work well. For leaves, wood blewits can help. I mention these because they're also choice edibles. Though you may have native fungi that colonize your mulch instead, and those work just as well.
I put Humichar in my soil with great results. It preserves moisture, encourages good bacteria, and makes a good home for micronutrients. Now that we are in the winter, I would be interested in your reviews of grow lights.
I was listening to the video while I was driving (not watching). At the end when the audio changed, I thought one of my gardening podcasts had suddenly turned on from Spotify and was even more confused when it started talking about bagged compost. Then I realized it was Luke's voice and not my phone or car being psycho
Dear Luke, compost can be topped. Have you ever tried Bokashi? Anyone can make this type of compost, and the effects in the garden are tremendous! I have also been making my compost, horse and chicken manure and lawn clippings into Terra Preta for the past two years – fantastic! Luckily we are able to get large quantities of biochar for a reasonable price here in Germany, and producing effective microorganisms is easy. Bokashi and Terra Preta have revolutionalised our garden experience, are wonderful soil builders and an important contribution to a healthier environment by binding CO2.
Luke, you are the best. You make it so easy to understand the lessons that you are teaching us. You are very informative and usually give me a few reasons to smile. Thoroughly enjoy your videos!
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No audio brother
Thanks for the upload! This is just what I needed to unf**k my soil
I was watching one of your videos about amending your soil with the plants that were in that garden bed. 😊
Does this apply to potted trees?
Ordered seeds from MI Gardener last night eagerly awaiting
Hi Luke good night what the best way to fill a 100 gallon grow bay I have 2 and it going to take a lot of Soil can I put leave in them thanks 😊
When the soil is frozen all winter how long does compost to break down in spring? I’m in North Idaho and haven’t seen the 30’s in a month. I’m wondering if it will be late spring until I use my compost. I did amend my greenhouse raise beds before it froze.
I just got my order of tomato seeds in from you Luke. I’m so excited to start growing the giant crimson and the many other varieties! Thank you Luke for quality. Cheers from North of Lake Superior Ontario Canada
Yup. I learned a lot from watching my dad gardening. But forgot one basic. After using "store bought" soil in a raised bed I got a great harvest of small yellow pear tomatos. The next year almost nothing. You have to feed the soil (facepalm). You do not easily forget hard learned lessons. 😅
😂😂 mime school! Good video. Thank you for all the info.
To add to the bank account analogy…just as banks can add to the money you put in and increase your balance, so to can many soil amendments add nutrients at the time of input but also later down the road by building better soil health.
You've got some scammers here and they figured out how to keep me from reporting them.
LOL LOL love the ending LOL 😁👍
Great information!! I used my grass clips mix with dry leaves.
Great Information- Thank you!
I also sometimes dump my spent container mix on my in ground beds. Why waste it right?
I've had our local utility company that cuts and chips trees to add hundreds of tons of chips to cover my two acres. I need more nitrogen and many pounds of lime.
Thanks Luke.🙂
When you were smelling the compost, it brought to mind that that's also a very old therapy for breathing/lung disorders like TB.
For the first time ever, I broke down and bought a bag of soil because I was filling a new 15" tall bed. It's hugelkultur on the bottom but needed some filler before I put the good soil on top.
Blessings! 💚
How does a mime even tell an applicant that he's been accepted into mime school? What a quandry.
Wood chips have a lot of carbon. Wood chips will pull nitrogen from your soil as it decomposes. Will need source of nitrogen if using Wood chips.
I did not hear you mention manure. Using animals bedding adds manure which is high into n nitrogen. The straw or bedding has carbon. So you get nutrients and organic material for structure.
I have lime water from water glassing eggs. Would there be any benefit to putting that on my garden? Or any harm?
Good comparison!
I’m a desert dweller. Chop and drop works. Shredded wood and coffee grounds work. Shaved aspen works.
Love it! Appreciate learning to benefit my garden and family
Great analogy! Thank you!
You can break down woodchips or leaves even faster if you grow mushrooms in them. For woodchips, wine caps work well. For leaves, wood blewits can help. I mention these because they're also choice edibles. Though you may have native fungi that colonize your mulch instead, and those work just as well.
Your mime comment made me laugh…..
Leaves and cover crops are my two cents.
I put Humichar in my soil with great results. It preserves moisture, encourages good bacteria, and makes a good home for micronutrients. Now that we are in the winter, I would be interested in your reviews of grow lights.
Funny Luke 😅
🌈
I've been doing the chop and drop for awhile now without really realizing it now I know why my soil seems so good lol
This is a good time for this tutorial. Thank you.
I was listening to the video while I was driving (not watching). At the end when the audio changed, I thought one of my gardening podcasts had suddenly turned on from Spotify and was even more confused when it started talking about bagged compost. Then I realized it was Luke's voice and not my phone or car being psycho
😁
Haha! Hilarious!
Urine is good to add to your soil; dilute it in water. (But make sure you are NOT taking any medication if you use urine to add extra nitrogen.)
Dear Luke, compost can be topped. Have you ever tried Bokashi? Anyone can make this type of compost, and the effects in the garden are tremendous! I have also been making my compost, horse and chicken manure and lawn clippings into Terra Preta for the past two years – fantastic! Luckily we are able to get large quantities of biochar for a reasonable price here in Germany, and producing effective microorganisms is easy. Bokashi and Terra Preta have revolutionalised our garden experience, are wonderful soil builders and an important contribution to a healthier environment by binding CO2.
Hey Luke, would you do a video on mushrooms? The ones that grow in our grass or for me, at the ground-level edge of our tall raised beds?
Luke, you are the best. You make it so easy to understand the lessons that you are teaching us. You are very informative and usually give me a few reasons to smile. Thoroughly enjoy your videos!