Self-Sufficient Garden: How he Grew 1,300lbs/580kg+ of Food (Huw Richards)

Trying your hand at self sufficiency? Learn from a pro! In this week’s episode Ben visits gardener and fellow YouTuber Huw Richards to find out his secrets to a hugely productive garden that yields insane harvests! Just wait until you see how much food this small garden can produce. It may be small but it’s mightily impressive.

Huw’s garden was sown, grown, harvested and weighed for his latest book, The Self-Sufficiency Garden, co-authored with chef Sam Cooper. We reckon it’s a jolly good read. You can find out more about the book or order yourself a signed copy here: https://www.regenerative.press/book-store

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Imagine growing all your vegetables in an area no bigger than the average garden, enough to supply a couple of pounds or one kilo  of fresh produce each and every day of the year. That’s the ambition of today’s gardener, who’s on a mission to slash grocery  shopping bills in exchange for delicious garden-grown goodness.

There he is. Huw, hello! How are you doing? Not bad thank you. Lovely to meet you at last. At last. Thanks so much for having us along. A lot of you will probably recognize  Huw, this is Hugh Richards, fellow YouTuber, big YouTuber and  yeah fellow gardener obviously.

Yeah, passionate gardener because I am  very food focused and flavor focused. Yes. So the fact that I can eat it is a win. So what are you doing here?  This is a well- defined space. So this is my, well it’s going  to be my new kitchen Garden but  

For this year it’s been very much an experiment on self-sufficiency so I’ve been  calling it The Secret Garden,   it’s called the Self-Sufficiency Garden and I’m just trying to grow 365  kilos of food here within 12 months. The idea is that for say two  adults and with knowing how  

To preserve and being careful with crop selection, is that you can get the equivalent of  a kilo or 2.2 pounds of food per day and that’s split between two adults. It’s then down to what kind of  protein you want to have with it. Wow, let’s have a little look around then. Absolutely.

Look at this wall of beans here  these are really cropping nicely. I can see where the weight’s coming on. Was there a kind of a vetting process to choose   which crops to get the most  weight for this project… It was one of the my most  favorite weeks in winter,

Was kind of actually going through  because I’m being very careful like, I don’t want things that  take too much time to prep so I haven’t grown kind of like garden  peas or like English peas I’ve grown   mangetout to and sugar snaps because  you don’t have to spend time peeling

But also things that preserve  really well like doing lacto   ferment of runner beans they preserve really well, so it’s actually been really fun highlighting  specific varieties of different crops like we’ve got Fordhook giant chard so it’s it’s like chard but on on steroids. Yeah that’s a big one.

And then also other things like, if I think  about it with growing the field beans, they’re they’re kind of during the Hungry Gap so  you got a bit more time so I’m happy peeling them, but they on weight produce around twice  as much per square meter than broad beans,

So you know it’s it’s a fine balancing act. So how many different types of  crops do you reckon you’ve got here? Well so far I’ve harvested  around 35 different crops, those aren’t like different varieties  of crops but actually different crops

Because like one of the things is that  if you’re trying to eat self-sufficiently you got to understand what your staples are. Like potatoes, I’ve grown a  lot of those, lots of onions. But then what I like is like a  few things where I can just go  

Go about and every meal time  will be something different. As the seasons change so do the flavors and I want to get a little bit of everything, but if I had like a whole  bed of swede or rutabaga,   that that might be quite hard to eat all of that.

It’s easy to overproduce and so by having lots of   different things it means you can be  a lot more creative in the kitchen and you never really get bored. It’s much more realistic cause then you’re going  to be inclined to actually eat the stuff as well.

This is a proper jungle in  here. Is this, what’s this…? So this is the hot bed so in here. I grew uh around 7 kilos, so  around 16/17 pounds of just salads. So like pak choi, lettuce, spinach,  pea shoots during the Hungry Gap and then I’ve now planted outdoor  cucumbers, these are marketmore.

And I’ve got some cauliflower and then some  squash that’s trailing off the the bottom, so yeah this hot bed is  already been super productive, then going to get even more productive. We’ve got these cucumbers coming  through, they are looking really good.

These are almost like for snacking  you know I’ll probably snack on that. That’s great yeah, look at that. But then also as a hot bed it  produces a huge amount of compost, because that’s the other  thing with self-sufficiency, everyone’s asking about fertility. Yes. And so there’s two things that I’m doing.

The the goal is that this is going to be  90% self-sufficient in producing compost. Right, wow. But I’m also producing my own liquid feeds  and liquid amendments just to help supplement. Comfrey, dock, nettle, grass  clippings, all just mixed up together. But then a really good one for like anyone to buy

Is just an organic liquid seaweed feed. That’s just full spectrum multi-purpose. So once you got this set up the cost of running  it the way you’re doing it is pretty cheap. Exactly, yeah. I see you’ve got lots of tomatoes in here and I,  

This is the best time of year  to give them a bit of a sniff. Can we go have a look? Wow. Yeah this is a this is jungle,  you’re not you’re not wrong are you. So how many different  tomatoes if we got here then? This is approximately 10

And again with variety choice I’m being quite  careful to make sure that I’ve got a nice load. Yes. Rather than just growing like  loads of cherries or salad type. So I’ve got beef steak  tomatoes, I’ve got green zebra,   these two the Russian and the green  zebra, they’re my favorite varieties. Beautiful.

I’m only just coming into the tomato season but  I’ve already harvested over 10 kilos or 22 pounds. I’m hoping that I’ll get up to you  know 80 kilos, 190 odd pounds worth. This is like a a honeydew kind of  tomato so if you want to try that. You don’t need to weigh it?

No, you’re alright. Okay. I do actually snack a little bit too much, but… Oh crikey! That is the sweetest tomato I’ve  ever had, no kidding, that is incredible. If you know me I’m all about soil health so this is just the first year of this bed,

So I’m hoping that as the soil  improves so so is a flavor. I actually come here to the garden and  I don’t sometimes bring lunch with me,   I just make like a massive salad. Yeah lovely, that’s the way to do it.

Some people don’t have space for a polytunnel or  hoop house so you can create like a low tunnel. I was very inspired by James Prigioni’s design. This has since been adapted because of different   measurements but also different  materials available to us. It’s super sturdy and it means that you get the  

Same benefits of a poly tunnel  but outside over a raised bed, so you can just adapt the shape. You get an extra,   roughly an extra growing season; an  extra month at the start and at the end. And so these two they’re empty cause I’ve  just cleared them and I’ve sown a load  

Of carrots and a load of beetroots  just to harvest throughout winter. Yes yeah. These look incredibly well made.  They’re going to last a few seasons aren’t they? Yes, I can send you the design. That’ be great, yeah. Look at that, yeah.

Can you give us a few examples of what’s kind  of been whipped out already and what’s gone in? Everywhere, everywhere I look are examples, like in here I grew about 5 kilos  or 12 pounds of mangetout peas,   just along the outside of this bed.

We’ve got the fennel in, the fennel’s about, well  some of the bigger bits are about to come out. I’m then going to inter-sow with daikon radish, where the beetroot is I’m probably  going to put in uh some nappa cabbage

So it’s like really just adjusting every single  bed, it’s like it’s totally different what’s   growing in it compared to April when  it becomes like August or September,   with exception to some of the winter vegetables. But I actually have purposefully  dedicated quite a bit of space to  

Winter veg because the benefit of it  is, yes it takes a bit longer to grow, but the storage you don’t have to preserve  it cause it just sits in the ground. Yes, you just grab it when you need it.

And I think that that is like that is  so nice because it it means it still   gets you out into the garden over  winter to keep an eye on things. Yes, absolutely yeah. You’ve got some lovely curly kale over here. Yes.

So it looks like two types of kale  here. Is this the Asturion one, is it? It is, yeah, the Asturion tree cabbage which is as  you mentioned before, is a short-lived perennial, really hardy, really tasty, a very sweet leaf.

So it’s not a heading cabbage, so I’ll just  like, what you do, you just grab like a nice   leaf like that and you can chop that up and  add it into a stir fry. I really enjoy it. Then we got these dwarf curly green kale.

I grow this cuz obviously it’s an  absolute champion over winter time but come the Hungry Gap it sends  up all of delicious flower shoots,   which, like poor person’s purple sprouting  broccoli, it tastes really really nice, Ha ha, I like that. And you’ve not got anything covered here like,

You just see netting everywhere this time of year,   it’s either pigeons or it’s to  the keep the caterpillars off. I don’t like to net cause I kind of,   this is like my little escape and  I think that netting is a bit ugly

And I also think that there’s like that  false sense of security if you got things   covered in netting and I’ve heard  of these horror stories where people   don’t realize that everything underneath  the netting is just absolutely mullered. I’m trying to be pragmatic about  it I’m also growing it in my style,

This is a kitchen garden it’s not a market garden and so I’m trying to like  add a bit of personality to   it even though the primary function  is growing as much food as possible and also every garden’s different, every  garden has got its own opportunities,  

Its own drawbacks and it’s about  understanding that and working to that. You’ve gone for raised beds Huw, it  keeps everything nice and orderly,   was that the main reason? It depends what’s underneath the soil. There might not be much top soil at all,

But also in terms of like just keeping things neat  and orderly and I find it very easy for planning and I get to sit on it as well I just  I just perch sit next to the bed. This was filled with top soil a  bit of old cow manure and then  

Like a 5cm/ 2in layer of compost  on top, so pretty economical. I didn’t buy like massive bags  of compost and fill it right up. And you’ve gone for wood chips,  a man after my own heart.  I love wood chip paths, they  smell good if nothing else. 

Is it just to keep things tidy underfoot or..? Cause it’s quite an intensive growing  space there’s a lot of foot traffic. I went for wood chip purely because it’s  good at soaking up all of the Welsh rain

And it will break down so like kind of  next year I’ll come scoop it all up, chuck that onto the compost  bin and apply a fresh layer. And one thing I want to do as well is  inoculate maybe with some wine caps,  

Wine cap mushrooms, so I can maybe get  a surprise extra crop from this space. That would be amazing. So I can’t help myself sometimes,  I love experimenting in the garden and so I’m even doing it here  even though I shouldn’t because   I should be doing the stuff that I know works but

I’ve got five potatoes over there, five  here and I’m doing a harvest comparison because the thing about potatoes it’s not always   about what’s above ground it’s  what’s below ground that matters. Oh, yes. So I’m comparing just growing in  multi-purpose compost in a tub

But the other one is a 50/50 mix between between  multi-purpose compost and just leaf mold. Right. And I’m just going to see if  there’s any major difference and yeah see what happens. Leaf mold is locally gathered is it from the..? Yeah, from from around here  actually, just in in sacks.

These are sarpo mira potatoes so they’re the  ones that I always go on about on my channel and they’re blight resistant,  I think they’re really tasty. It’s hard to tell which  one’s going to be the winner,   the the leaf mold mix or the straight compost.

The only thing that’s going to tell is time time. Time, that’s it yeah. So you’ve got a few things  that might be ready to harvest. You’ve got to weigh them all of course,   so I’m not going to mess things up  for you here but let’s have a look.

It’s a good size one, look at that, wow. One of my absolute favorite  vegetables, slow roasted. All you need, you don’t even need  to peel it, just slow roasted, and then let it steam for a minute  and then peel it afterwards. Yeah. So tasty, it’s like cheating.

Yeah, it’s a winner. Yeah and  you use the leaves as well? Sometimes yeah. So like some of the leaves  I’ll use fresh just a bit like chard, a lot the time I will just put the leaves on   the compost cause these leaves  might be next year’s tomatoes.

Oh, fair enough, I like your thinking there. You’re weighing everything, aren’t  you? What’s the process here,   are we going to kind of weigh that now or..? Yeah yeah so I’m not going to  use these leaves so I’ll chop  

It off and then I weigh it just cause  I’m having to take note for the book, called The Self-Sufficiency Garden. So yeah this is like actually I’m doing it  in real life and I’m having a lot of fun and it it’s funny cause I’ve actually found  that taking the photos and the weighing

Seems to more time than the  actual gardening in here. Ha ha, yes. But it’s fun cause like I’m  going around, I’m looking for,   you know nice big bits of beetroot cause I’m  going to I’m going to have this for dinner. And it’s just so satisfying going around and…

I can see the excitement, you’re really pumped  up about this cuz it’s a great little project. Yeah I’m just trying to show people,  like what you do it’s trying to inspire   people that they can grow an amazing  amount of food in in a smaller space. In a realistic space, yeah.

Looks like not everything  here is food to be weighed,   you’ve got these lovely sweet  peas here, food for the soul. I mean are you weighing these, the cut  flowers or is this just for sort of… No I should I dead head them  really, but no it it is that,

It’s adding a pop of color, adding a pop of  personality and I think that’s like for me I’m   trying to get people excited about spaces and it  shouldn’t just be completely orderly and stuff, it’s like finding space so that’s why I  have a lot of perennial herbs here as well

Because they, per like square foot, herbs  provide so much flavor it’s unbelievable, But most of these perennial  herbs when they flower, they are loved by pollinators and  they look stunning as well so, you got three benefits in like one small border. So you’ve got a bit of fruit here as well.

There’s some what, raspberries and currants… And rhubarb… And rhubarb, yeah. This is just like supplemental flavor,  so like whilst this you know the garden   is about being entirely self-sufficient for  two adults just from vegetables and herbs, but having a bit of pop of  color, bit of pop of flavor,  

Bit of sweetness is just a nice  way to continue to add that variety Completely. And edible flowers, all of that it works well. And this rhubarb is massive if it’s been  planted this winter, that’s a monster already. This was planted in early March actually. Wow.

It’s a monster, two or three year  old crowns with a lot of manure and I got about you know 8 kilos  from here so pretty happy with that. The Jerusalem artichoke there, what’s  that about 8 foot, just over 2 meters? Just over I think, you need  to relook at proportion.

That’s such a good winter tuber,  I really like it slow roasted. The nice thing about it is that it just again   like other winter vegetables  it just sits in the ground, so harvest as and when, but I should get  about 20 kilos / 44 pounds from this.

Yeah wow, that’s great isn’t it? That’s quite a  tight spot, that’s pretty impressive isn’t it? It has a lot of structure  it’s going to create these   beautiful yellow flowers as well so more flowers. That’s what we like. Yeah so this is just where,  you know this is back in May,  

All of my harvests from the garden on my notepad. That’s an extensive list, packing a lot in. That’ll go well against your blue. That is a great idea, nice one. Huw it has been a pleasure meeting you today  and having a look and you’re packing so much in,  

It’s really inspirational, thank you so much. See you in your garden. Thank you.