Growing High Calorie Plants, Do I sell my Seeds, Where to get Soil and More in this Q&A

John from http://www.growingyourgreens.com answers your questions including: High Calorie Plants, Do I sell my seeds? Where do I get my soil? Building Raised Beds out of Untreated and Treated Wood - My opinions. and more

Category:

Education

Tags:

• do
• sell
• seeds
• high
• calorie
• plants
• nutrient
• density
• green
• leafy
• vegetables
• garden
• gardening
• growing

[brackpersian]

i have 2 questions.

when u first started this garden, what are some of your difficulties that you've experienced?

&

Are you happy with gardening? :)

[growingyourgreens]

Yes, there have been difficulties. Difficulties are part of life. I make many videos sharing my experiences so you can also learn from them. There is always an answer. YES. I am happy with gardening.

[doctorsocal]

you said you wouldnt use the oil you used(soy?) to treat the wood, but you didnt say why. i followed your advice and just bought some sale priced rasied bed kits please expand on your advice on what to use and what not to use, and why. thanks so much for your interesting and encouraging videos!

[growingyourgreens]

I used soyguard. You can see it in the previous videos. It seemed to work well., but the unintended effect is that much of the wood gets a black mold due to no mold inhibitor in this natural sealer. My friend recently used penofin verde for sealing his beds. Its holding up nicely. You can also look into tung or linseed oil.

[anniequilts]

It would be nice if you gave some more helpful ideas for people on limited budgets who are trying to raise a nice garden. The way you said plowing and adding just cow manure made it sound like an almost worthless thing to do. Then telling people to go buy compost - well this is just not something everyone can afford to do. Maybe telling them to start with the manure, then add other things and over time their soil will improve is much more helpful and less discouraging.

[growingyourgreens]

The complete answer I gave (which I didnt mention in the video) was to add the manure to the (desert) soil(sand) then get it tested to see if its "good to go" or if it was still deficient.. We can survive on "junk food", doesnt mean we will be the healthiest. If you are going to take the time to grow your own food, then I feel one should "do the best they can" to ensure the health of the plants, because we become the plants. If the best you can do is manure, its better than nothing.

[inremembranceofruth]

I cannot understand our disconnect regarding synthetic/toxic chemicals - whether these are going into our air, water, soil...or directly into our food. Thank you for expressing the " When humans...awry..." because this cannot be brought to our attention often enough. Nature is vastly more wise - and able - than we are. The structures of entire villages used to be returned to the earth. Now? We have tainted all that we and other life depend upon for life itself. And continue to do so...

[lehacarpenter]

Calories: A study showed that sweet potatoes tower over other staple crops in terms of number of people supported per hectare per day. Something like 136 people! The next nearest was around 45 people for cabbage. I was surprised more by the cabbage than by the sweet potatoes, but really happy about the sweet potatoes because they are one of my favorite foods. I'm making it my personal obsession to figure out how to maximize sweet potato production in a small home garden in Sonoma County.

[lehacarpenter]

@anniequilts Also, making your own compost at home, though it does take time to amass enough of it, is even cheaper than buying manure, and can be a more complete amendment (although soil tests are still the final "litmus test." (-;

[telemarker77]

pressure treated wood does not 'seal' with paint as the wood grain has been pressure saturated with the wood preservative. It is a 'myth' that pressure treated wood rated for ground contact 'leaches', it does not. I tested this over five years using a chemical spectrum analyzer. In addition virtually all states prohibit the use of arsenic as the chemical treatment and in california and most other states they switched to copper and aluminum for the preservative, safe for gardens!

[jakearick]

@Praxxus55712 I'm sure your beds will be fine. You dont have 2 and a half foot tall beds. You shouldn't have the same rotting problems (even with the snow)

[GoingOrganic1]

I enjoyed your video about your garden. I am currently composting in my yard in containers for my spring garden. Check out my video. Thanks.

[Praxxus55712]

I use untreated wood for my raised beds. I probably should have applied some linsead oil to protect them.......but of course I forgot as usual. :)

[fiending]

JOHN! be careful, if the government found out what you're up to, they would put the crack-down on all of us. i hope we can grow our own food on our own property for free with no restrictions and/or regulations in my life time. we dont need govnt regulated soil/water/air. when that day comes, i'll be glad im regulated compost.

[TheTruthoverlies]

@growingyourgreens switch to lindseed oil. The majority of soy is GMO and you don't want that leeching into your bed. It is not known if this can be a issue, but I wouldn't chance it. GMO soil is bad for your health and supports the MONSANTO corp, the largest corp that is working against the small organic non-gmo farmer.

Just a thought....peep out "seeds of deception"

peace

[TheTruthoverlies]

@brackpersian one thing that WILL happen, will be FAILURE. This is part of the learning process with this stuff and you will catch on. I HIGHLY recommend everyone checkout John Jeavon's BIOINTENSIVE technique. This method involves some biodynamic principles along with deep bed preparation. I have done really well with deep raised beds and compost. You need to grow your own compost. Save your vegi food scraps in a 5gal bucket and dump every other day....