My garden has honestly never been this bad… and I know I’m not the only one. Life gets busy, gardens get away from us, and sometimes motivation disappears. In this video, I talk openly about why that happens, why it’s normal, and how easy it can be to get growing again with a few simple steps and the right crops. If your food garden has gone to weeds, don’t give up — this is your sign to get back into it.
Order my book here: https://www.briobooks.store/products/100-top-crops-you-can-grow
Raised Garden Beds: To get Birdies Raised Garden Beds in the USA, go here: https://shop.epicgardening.com and use SSME2020 at checkout for a 5% discount.
In Australia, go to https://birdiesgardenproducts.com.au/ and use Code SSMEbird for a 5% discount. In New Zealand, go to https://birdiesgardenproducts.co.nz/ and use Code ssmebird22 for 5% off your first purchase.
In South Africa, get Birdies Beds here https://www.birdiesgardenproducts.co.za/ and use code: self-sufficient
Chicken stuff and preserving gear: Oz Farmer and get a 10% discount, go here https://ozfarmer.com?ta_aff=T4XRUZILS6 and use code T4XRUZILS6 at checkout.
My Garden Plan: https://selfsufficientme.gardenplanner.com/garden-plans/1890355/
Elevated Garden Planters: Check out Vego Garden here https://glnk.io/jnwlw/selfsufficientme and use SELFSUFFICIENTME10OFF for a $10 discount.
Check out Australian Landscaping Supplies for a 10% discount: https://www.australianlandscapesupplies.com.au/collections/self-sufficient-me?dt_id=1489901 If you find any problem with the link, use “self_sufficient_me” as the discount code on checkout.
Plant Doctor Fertiliser: Go to https://www.plantdoctor.com.au/ and use SSME10 = 10% off products (not shipping).
Ocean2Earth: https://ocean2earth.com.au/ Use “SSM” on checkout for a 5% discount.
For Hoselink Garden Products, such as hose reels, go here: https://l.linklyhq.com/l/5uZu. You will automatically get a 10% discount on checkout!
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/selfsufficientme (the top tier enables mentoring from yours truly via an exclusive VIP email where I will answer your questions, etc, ASAP).
Survival Seeds Aust and USA: https://linktr.ee/survivalseeds Use Code SSM at checkout for a 10% discount.
Harvest Right freeze dryer website: https://affiliates.harvestright.com/1099.html
For Australian freeze dryer purchase info, use the link above and contact Harvest Right directly.
Aussie-made Forged garden tools: Go to https://gardentoolsaustralia.com.au/ and use code SSM10 for a 10% discount at checkout.
Rolling Sifter: https://unclejimswormfarm.com/product/outdoor-compost-bin/rolling-garden-sifter/ https://rollingsifter.ecwid.com/ Compostyng (yes, it’s spelt wrong deliberately) for 10% off.
My second channel, Self Sufficient Me 2: https://bit.ly/331edDu
New (third) Channel: Self Suffishing Me https://bit.ly/2LiIWqt
Blog: https://www.selfsufficientme.com/ (use the search bar on my website to find info on specific subjects or gardening ideas)
Forum: http://www.selfsufficientculture.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/self_sufficient_me
Facebook: https://bit.ly/2Zi5kDv
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SufficientMe
Subscribe to my channel: http://goo.gl/cpbojR
Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland, Australia, about 45kms north of Brisbane – the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). Cheers, Mark 🙂
*Disclaimer: Some links to products in this description and comments sections are affiliated, meaning I receive a small commission if you follow these links and then purchase an item.
40 Comments
G'day Everyone! I'm so looking forward to sharing the Before/After video of our vegetable garden with you. This growing season is going to be one of the best ever! If you are keen for a read you can order my book here: https://www.briobooks.store/products/100-top-crops-you-can-grow Thanks for your support! Cheers 🙂
Its because fishing is better be honest 😂😂
Banana is my best 'set and forget' plant. SO much fruit and the only maintenance is picking the fruit. So productive!
My Kent pumpkin is still going strong after almost two years. And my efforts to kill it. I pulled it out of the greenhouse and it is now going outside the greenhouse.
Thank you ❤ I needed this message. Relatable and supportive.
however… im always amazed all the crops still happily growing and self seeding underneath all the weeds.
Too busy hoarding fuel and reading the cooker instruction manual I reckon…
Get a couple of Asian in their. and They'll get into it 👍 for you 😎
❤❤❤❤❤
I feel so much better with my gardening after watching this.
You have a ton of weeding to do Mark! Damn.
Nature doesnt stop for anyone!
You bit off more than you can chew. Its probably as simple as that, plus you did a book about something your obviously clueless about because your garden looks like a pile of shit. Listen mate, practice what you preach and preach what you practice. Why write a book telling people how to garden when your garden is clearly crap, you must be either delusional or a grifter? Ive had bad times in my garden over the years but its never occurred to me to try and pretend i know what im talking about when i clearly dont, but hey, everyone is winner today and everyone gets a gold medal just for participation and anyone can pretend to be an expert and know stuff they obviously dont
Jap pumpkins are a weed bro, ive grown amazing harvests of jap pumpkin but they are tasteless compared to butternut or queensland blue. Tell me im wrong, too bust writing about how to garden and your own garden goes to shit. Sorry mate but you aint no expert, stop kidding yourself if you arent producing a beautiful garden every year even with the noise than your not an expert
" Living in the jungle documentary. "😂😂😂
get a few goats…they will sort it out
Been there….😅
😂😂losing weight starts today ❤❤❤like Gardening starts today
And all that 'weedy' biomass is actually fertiliser. CHOP AND DROP and watch the magic happen. Let the forest be a forest.
Its not like there is feul to go anywhere so its fine you will have enough time to spend time at home and and fix the garden.
We have 2 weeks to flatten the curve right?
This looks like it has never sense a catholic nunnery during a dry season, um any other suggestions?
Is your best fart the one you do on a moter way
i cant keep a perfect garden. This year I am just putting up a fence that blocks the back yard from view. There… fixed it.
Hello !! 👋 Going to enjoy this vid !! 😊thanks
After a few years of being viciously ill, I am just now reclaiming my garden. First we're having some grading done out back as we have a wee flooding problem and then my butterfly gardens go in first and then the vegetable garden and we're going to try a small orchard of fruits that will grow well in our zone (8B). It's not easy, but I bought my grandkids child gardening tools and small gloves and we will do this together. I'm letting them grow grass and some tomato plants inside the sun room. My new greenhouse will be done after the grading as ours was destroyed in a horrible storms last year. I'm very happy to have dirty hands again.
Total honesty Mark! Have a great trip; and as you know, your garden will be waiting for you when you return. Looking forward to the next film.
If your garden goes wild like that means that it’s thriving even if it looks like a jungle. Now you have to get out your whips and chair to tame it.
You start by only doing one raised bed at a time or a four foot by four foot area don’t worry about the rest of the garden , just one spot at a time. If you look at the whole thing it looks overwhelming, just concentrate on a small area then move on to the next small area.
I didn't have much time for my garden last year cause of the new baby, just some cherry tomatoes that I hadn't even planted. Hoping to get back into it this year, got my seedlings started and I even started some hydroponic lettuce inside. Feeling pretty good about it and excited to see some of the new things I'm trying
Wow! I love the naturalized and volunteer plants! Between the deer and the voles it's difficult in our area to have anything grow that I didn't purposely plant and protect from the critters.
I have squash vine borers that love killing pumpkins.
My garden looks like your weed patch😢my new neighbor from the city has built a new wire fence for his lamas and keeps throwing the old wire in my lawn…it’s broken my ride on twice…plus the barrel of my mower starter has been damaged by a screw driver…it was parked two meters away from my house…I’ve never had problems for over thirty years until now😢
Thank you that’s exactly what I needed to hear, overwhelmed by the mess and lacking motivation
When it comes to weeds, my motivational talk to myself and to them is "😂I can pull you out faster than you can grow". Just a small section at a time and keep movin'
Thank you God bless you and your journey. Come home safe. and Bless your garden.
Thank you
I would suggest that you're ignoring an important difference. Some folks, like me, for whom gardening and raising chickens is a hobby, can easily ignore or even stop the garden. Distracted by other life events. People that depend on gardening for their food don't have that luxury. I'd suggest the same of people who make their living off gardening. People with TV shows or You Tube presenters with 2.5 million viewers. I follow multiple You Tube creators who focus on things hunting, DIY home renovations, wildlife photography. If they, stop what they are doing then I and their followers will likely find others who still carry on. Fortunately for you, you now have the ability, having been away, to create videos to show us how to rescue a neglected garden. It looks like you have aggressive weed species that many of us don't have so each of those might be their own video. A video on that Japanese squash might be very useful as it seems to have fruits that mature over time and self-seed. That would be an interesting video on how you control it and utilize the squash.
Thank you for making me feel good about my weeds. I am retired, but my joints now dictate when & where I can garden. I have started and have seen a difference already. Just immensely dislike onion weed, so hard on my hands and too hard to pull out in gloves.
Its still beautiful
My real problem is the constant forgetting what I was doing/going to do when going from point A to point B to retrieve something.
I have a renewed raised garden bed nearly completed that has taken a week or more. I can't remember when I started it. My onion seedlings have all cooked in this late autumn heat and I started earlier than usual but got rained out.
Mother nature is being a real female dog this autumn.