In this video we are starting our first vegetable garden ever! After seeing empty grocery store shelves in 2020 and all the seeds being sold out nationwide it put things in perspective for us really quick. We knew that as soon as we could we needed to start growing our own food so in 2021 we made it our mission to do just that.
As first time gardeners we know there is a ton of gardening advice and gardening knowledge we don’t know but we are willing to fail forward.
We chose the no dig method for our first garden for two reasons. 1. We didn’t own a tiller and 2. After watching a ton of Charles Dowding videos we saw all the pros to starting with this method. So after heavy research we went ahead and started collecting the cardboard and ordering the compost we needed to get started.
We have a lot to learn and a long growing season ahead. We hope you will subscribe and join us on our journey to growing more of our own food and striving for a more sustainable lifestyle here on our little wannabe urban homestead.
God Bless,
John & Autumn Hilton
7 Comments
A couple things to note.
1. When you are laying down cardboard it is important to pull off all adhesive tape and labels
2. The cardboard you use should be regular brown cardboard not the glossy stuff. Some ink is okay like on an amazon box but if the whole thing is covered you may want to select a different piece.
3. When you are laying the cardboard down make sure that you are always overlapping and not leaving ANY gaps. Anywhere there is a gap where you can see the ground through a crack or a hole, you will definitely have grass/weeds growing through even if that spot is covered heavily with compost.
4. The soil calculator I used (Not Affiliated): https://www.gardeners.com/how-to/soil-calculator/7558.html
5. If your cardboard has dried before laying your compost on top make sure to wet it down before laying the compost down. This will help speed up the process of decomposition.
6. When I mention crab grass at 1:54 I am specifically talking about the brown "dead" looking grass surrounding the area not the monkey grass which is the big fluffy landscaping grass inside the sitting area.
7. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask and we will do our best to help!
Well done! Excited to follow along!
Excited to follow your gardening journey. I love Charles Dowding.
I start my gardens in the same manner. I've subscribed as I'm also in the Nashville area and starting gardens!
Looking forward to an update 🙂
Not going to be growing too much, are you?
When you say NO DIG, do you mean you will use this space again next season and use the soil base again. If you do, Im sure a little compost items added to the soil would help. Thanks. Subscribed.