My one year old son was scared of worms at first, but he’s been out with me in my garden a lot this year, and every time I see a worm I say, “Hello worm!” And tell my son they’re friendly. The other day I heard him saying, “Hello worm! Friendly!” Over and over again as he dug around in my garden bed and I was so proud 😂

I started doing worms in my containers awhile ago, and it works well if they are large containers because they don’t dry out fast like the small containers do. I use leaves from the fall or garden debris as mulch on the top between the plants so that the worms have a constant source of food. A bonus is that their little tunnels help aerate the soil. I do mix in some real garden soil with the potting mix and compost because I don’t think the worms are comfortable in only the bagged potting mix from the store, and I want to treat my little garden friends well. They do so much for me, so I do my best to try and observe and learn what they like best. They dislike citrus and onion type foods I think. Have fun experimenting! This is what I’ve figured out so far. Hope it helps someone.😊

@joanneganon7157

2 ай бұрын

Have you found that the Worms live over harsh winters ? I've been wanting to put some in but,didn't want to do that to have them freeze to death🤔. JO JO 💞

@chriskat646

2 ай бұрын

@@joanneganon7157 As long as you get snow you will be fine. I have loads and loads of worms in my pots and raised beds. The raised beds have a plastic liner underneath because I fight roots from the surroundings so it is like a large container. I have lots of pots of flowers. All of my pots have added worms, and everything gets heavily mulched with leaves every fall and I have done it for years. I live in upstate NY near Buffalo. Cold & snowy.

@joanneganon7157

2 ай бұрын

@@chriskat646 thanks so much! What kind of worms? JO JO

@gypsygirl731

2 ай бұрын

My friend in Thailand raises worms for worm castings for farmers big business for earth well done Karen it’s a good thing

@karenm5681

2 ай бұрын

@@gypsygirl731 Thank you!

Jess, this video is perfect timing. Today, I thought of you when I was feeling frustrated and burnt out trying to refresh my Greenstalks. They've been stacked and unstacked to fill, moved in the shed and out because of frost constantly the past 2 weeks. I was thinking "Is this really worth it?" But then I realized I hadn't stopped to actually enjoy my deck at all this season. I haven't sat out with my coffee and been at peace. I decided tonight I will make sure I sit and be grateful for how lovely it will be to have strawberries in my greenstalks, plus blueberries and raspberries in my planters. Taking a note from you on actually using the chairs I have set out; then being thankful I can use this deck as a waiting room to learn while I dream of having a home we're saving for. I'm going to be so ready to edible landscape my future yard if I keep running the race. Keep being persistent. Keep dreaming. Keep heart.

I love it when hubby goes fishing… he always comes home with left over worms that go into my garden beds/pots! 😂 💚

You are a wise woman with a joyful heart. Love your videos which are both educational and uplifting. Phooey, on all those tiresome and self-serving Negative Nellies. Thanks for sharing your life!

Your "long answer to a simple question" was exceptional! Very well thought out and information heavy! Thank you! ~Darrell

@RootsandRefugeFarm

2 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Earth is a modest lady. We need to help her keep covered where we work her. Thank you for reminding us of how to care for our containers in a concise package.

Yes! I love your smile and heart and wisdom, a wonderful teacher! I appreciate you being like a friend!

You really helped me improve my gardening when you taught us to feed the soil, not just the plant. Hubby thinks it's weird that I watered all my raised beds, not just the ones I had plants in. I told him that just because you don't see anything growing doesn't mean there isn't something alive in there. Thank you for teaching us the "why".

Thank you for these awesome videos that make gardening knowledge accessible and most of all, affordable. So many KZread channels encourage their viewers to solve problems the other way - buy, buy, buy! I've gardened for years in-ground but last year was my first year extensively using containers so this video is timely!

Gardening in Canada is an AMAZING channel to watch about soil health. She is a soil scientist and is a wealth of knowledge.

@janew5351

2 ай бұрын

Ii agree!

@Alexis_9339

2 ай бұрын

Thank you for the recommendation

I could listen to this video over and over again for a month and not be disappointed.

Thank you so much for discussing the topic of fertilizer. I’m fairly new to gardening and when I ask the question about how often to fertilize, I get lots of “ it depends “ answers. You were very straightforward with the answer. Thank you

Awe...I was just opening YT to find you today.. And looky, here you are! Love getting thru my day with your smile, heart and wisdom! Thanks Jess for all you share! I'm thinking I'm going to get one of my GreenStalks up soon!

You made me chuckle when you said you'd throw in a part eaten tomato to feed your worms... You know this will lead to volunteer plants and more food for you guys too 😀 genius. We lugged 3 ton of soil from my old property to this one. It all came out of my old planters from my rental house. Man I was not going to waste that soil because it was full of worms and goodness that I'd been nurturing for over 6 years. This new place is a new build on totally clay soil, so we brought the worms with us and all the goodness too. Plus we've added fertilising soil improver and mushroom compost for the benefits it brings to the garden. I have volunteer plants popping up in my flower beds now, veg and fruit all from that old soil. So it seems I did something right and the garden is coming to life ❤️🙏

Feeding your container worms fruit will generate lots of volunteers!

Love all your videos but the instructional ones like this one are my favorites. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom

I changed my phone notification sound to a turkey gobble back in March (Turkey season here in Florida) and right at the beginning of this video as well as periodically through several of your videos, there are random gobbles that make me think I've got a text message. Not the intended effect, but very funny.

Great analogy of your pasture being relatable to the container. Never thought of it that way.

I love your explanation and your passion for all things living.

I use oval shaped tuff stuff tubs from tractor supply. They use them for horses, cows etc. I buy 50 and 100 gallons whatever I am planting. They work well

@sweetcaramelsmile

2 ай бұрын

Thank you!

This has been one of the most useful gardening videos I've watched so far. Thank you!

You are always so thorough in your explanations. Great teacher!

Jess, I pulled my Green Stalks into the house this winter, to try to keep my Peppers alive. I HAVE PEPPERS Already!!!!! Yes!!!! Just putting it out there for you in case you want to try it. yes I planted new in the yard too, but really wanted to try this to see if it worked. did lose a few, but mostly it worked really well.

What a fantastic way to explain soil health and synthetic fertilizer! As always Jess you speak to my gardening heart 💚💚

my dad, bless his heart, only used miracle grow fertilizer in his garden. i took over his house when he passed and am having to amend everything all the time. the soil has no life in it

I can listen to you all day! Thanks for sharing your knowledge

I live in northern Canada and this past fall I put my container soil into a sealed tote and left it in my shed. I was pleasantly surpised this spring when I opened it up and there was moist, healthy soil! Obviously it still needed to be ammended as I used it last year but the soil I left in pots without mulch got hydrophobic. I did this out of necessity for space but will be my go-to method now as I exclusively container garden 👍🏻 and it got to -50°C for multiple weeks this year!

@francestaylor9156

2 ай бұрын

For large amounts of container soil, you can put them into inexpensive garbage cans to keep moist. That's what I keep my finished compost in. Keeps it moist and the soil stays alive until I need to use it.

@kalenabatt2143

2 ай бұрын

@@francestaylor9156 great idea, thank you!

Words of Wisdom Jess. Preach it ❤

An excellent explanation, thanks Jess 🙏🏼🩵

Never been first to a Roots video! My lucky day

Thank you Jess. I appreciate this information. Blessings!

My yard has lots of green but underneath is just sand. I'm using mushroom substrate to add some texture and absorbtion.

Great advice Jess💞. Thank you for being willing to share your experiences with us. With experience comes knowledge. Many blessings to you as always💞

Thank you Jess. Bless you & your beautiful family

This is going to change my gardening season this summer thank you Jess

Lovely! Thanks, Jess!

So so helpful!!!! Thanks so much sweetie

Thank you! Good review , even for us old timers! Always trying to learn something new 😊

I’ve always wondered about putting worms in my beds. Thank you so much for affirming this!

Have been doing the worm thing for years! Not just in containers, also in ground and raised beds. Big, huge fishing worms! Happy planting!

I had hydrophobic soil a couple years ago. I learned to wet down then stack my containers in fall. They containers on top act like a mulch keeping the soil moist and use as many water trays as I can find to over the soil in the top containers. This has helped me so much when the rush of spring activity comes along since we usually go into drought in March. Soil is moist and worms are abundant. Once you go through hydrophobic soil, you never ever want to repeat it again. It’s a lot of work to restore it if you have a lot of containers.

@vickiwestlund1837

2 ай бұрын

Great idea!

Thank you Jess for those great ideas! As an 80 year old gardener with 3 Green Stalk planters I have struggled with disassembling them every spring to refresh the soil. This year since the soil was down about 2 -3 inchs I simply added good soil mixed with compost. I do worm casting tea and gave each pocket a dose. I do this about every 2-3 weeks. My plants seem to be doing well. We've harvested lettuce, pak choy, spinach and now strawberries. Mary Born, ND

Another epic help...Thankyou!!! ❤❤

Thanks, just the refresher I needed this time of the year.

Super helpful Jess. Thanks so much. I am starting my container garden journey right now

Fantastic tutorial !! Thank you for reminding me of what I should never forget ! Big Love Jess !

Thank you Jess! This has been the best explanation on how to do this. Thanks for all you do 😊❤🇨🇦

Thanks Jess.

Thank you very much for this! I got soil from a local landscaping company and was unimpressed. I specifically told them it was for gardening containers and it looks like soil for backfilling foundations. I can only work a bit at a time because of cost, but I am determined to upgrade it from backfill to actuall soil. This really helped because I forgot about my friends, the worms! ❤

@DM-kt8rd

2 ай бұрын

Try putting a thin layer of grass clippings on the top of it everytime you mow your lawn. This will bri g worms. They will aerated the soil and pull the green matter down into the soil and also create worm castings.

@angelaraum1545

2 ай бұрын

Containers need potting mix. For cost saving make yr own. Alot of other KZreadrs have recipe but mostly 2 parts peat moss/coco coir, 1 part compost, 1 part vermiculite/perlite, fertilizer, worm casting. That's the main stuff. You can also add Epsom salt, blood/bone meal, gympson & lime (esp for tomatoes)

Jess, you are a treasure ❤

Perfect timing for this video. Thank you for all your wonderful informative videos.

Lovely, succinct & informative chat! I loved it and feel like you added the perfect amount of information and guidance! Thanks Jess!!!❤

Jess, this was such a great video!! Thank you so much! I have thought about getting worms for my containers, too. It just sounds logical. 😊 Praying for your health and your sweet family! God bless.

I'm so excited to watch this! I was just looking at ideas to fill our new deck with containers!! ❤

I have raised bed gardens and last year my soil became super hydrophobic, and nothing produced well at all. I ended up pulling everything and ending my season early then added a good layer of manure plus a thick layer of leaf mulch to each bed. This year I see the soil is nice and black, and even has some mycelium! Here’s hoping I have a better year! I will never make the mistake of not adding to my beds at the end of the season going forward- lesson learned ✅

I love hearing youre putting worms in your containers. Ive been doing that since i started gardening in 2021. Whenever i, dig one up i toss him in the nearest one!! Now im going to be more mindful about feeding all of them scraps. I think i will chop and drop my bolting lettuce!!

@Fhuck_thats_Magic

2 ай бұрын

I often laugh as I gather the worms and get excited but now that I'm reading it I guess it's a worm prison and I'm an evil overlord holding them captive and making them reproduce

Oh my gosh I just was researching this!!!! Perfect timing.

Could you make a video that covers more of your worm farm? How to keep it thriving all year long. Harvesting, when to harvest and when/where it’s best used? Those type of things?

Thank you - I had that issue in my greenhouse soil, I have emptied it and given it to the chickens for a dust bath! Revamping the greenhouse and just using containers in future - already have a polytunnel with containers, so putting the pots outside overwinter is a fabulous idea. Not so sure about the gleeful slugs though! LOL!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! I was literally wondering this exact thing(s) this week. This answered perfectly!!! Love your videos!!!

Fantastic presentation and excellent information! Thanks Jess!💚🙏🏻

This video was perfect timing! I got my first greenstalk! Can’t wait to fill It!

I have worked diligently to create and maintain healthy soil in my raised beds and the large, upcycled food grade barrels I garden in. Red Wiggler worms in all of them. Aged, meadow grass fed cow manure combined with aged grass clippings, chopped aged straw and leaves top all of my beds for our cold and snowy winters. The tilth of the soil is fabulously dark and loamy.

Wood sorrel grows as a weed here. I don’t pull them out of my containers because they work like a mulch. As the season goes by I pull out them as the crop plant grows and they are not needed. Very shallow root systems make them nice as a wild companion plant imo.

Thanks so much Jess.

I will say that the raised beds where the worms can freely move in from the native soil, for me has been a game changer versus pots and vertical planters which worms can live in, but not necessarily survive if it gets super dry. When my raised beds got dry in the winter, I started watering the bear soil, and then when I was planting my peppers and tomatoes, there were worms everywhere! I was a little shocked.

Thank you Jess! Made a huge mistake with my 3 #Greenstalks I cleaned out the dead plants then covered with 30 gallon black leaf bags! Hugs Mistake should have unstacked and let the snow fall on them! Lesson learned!

I bought one of the chicken garden lights like you have in your raised bed behind you. I love it!

@RootsandRefugeFarm

2 ай бұрын

It’s my fav. So cute ❤

This is a very informational piece that you’re talking about and well done,Jesse. I know you don’t have time to watch the things that I do such as Martha Stewart gardens and monte don gardening on prime in UK. Martha Stewart always says on her channel of gardening we eat and so should your plants. Monty Don says you have to feed the soil make sure you have enough compost. And also when you reuse your pots that are made of plastic, you should wash them out with soapy water in case they are infected with blight or diseases. Blight can ruin box, shrubs, and many plants such as tomatoes because of too much wetness especially in containers when they sit in water, you could get blight. A friend of my son Toby in Thailand raises worms for worm casting to sell to farmers, because worm castings help the Earth to grow good things. All important.

In regards to soap in the hydrophobic soil, have you ever heard of JADAM wetting agent? You can basically make your own natural soap and this can be used for pest control for aphids and soft bodied insects and also be used to revive hydrophobic soil. I’ve not made it yet but I have a gardening buddy who’s used a lot of Korean natural farming practices and homemade inputs as well as homemade JADAM inputs It’s very cool stuff!!!

Just caught up with your latest videos. I've had an incredibly busy May as well. So happy to have you back yet so glad you took some time off. Thanks for this video! I feel better knowing that I've been doing it well. I love the other video you posted recently that talked about how you have basically "all the favorites" lol I feel the same. I love it all. It's all my favorite! Life is my favorite! I feel you!!!

Thank you so much Jess. The way you explained this is so helpful.

When i started back to actively gardening in 2019 i bought a few containers of live red worms and night crawlers and freed them in my garden 😉🪱For the last few years when i clean up my raised beds i “plant” green kitchen waste that i let the worms do their work. I amend with ash, azomite, epsom salt, pulverized eggshells chicken manure, shredded paper (or compostable packing peanuts if i have them) i let the worms, time and the winter rest do its thing. I take care to water a few times if it has not rained. We are in the high desert of So Cal so many many days of no rain. I do need to repot my containers though and refreshen the soil on a better consistent basis. Thank you for your expertise and teaching Jess. 🫶🏻

I am so grateful for this video! I want to get to a place where I can keep worms alive in my Greenstalks and grow bags. If you can provide occasional updates on how it is working for you, or give us a peek in on them from time to time that would be awesome. :)

Awesome teaching thank you. I would luuuuv to see the geese, ducks etc around your pond and where you planted fruit trees please 😊

I use pepermint castile soap which helps with pests as well

Another reason for the hydrophobia is lack of moisture in the soil makes it unable to break the surface tension of the water.

This is SO GOOD! Thanks for the tips, Jess. I started my worm farm just shy of 2 months ago and it's thriving. Hoping for enough castings to top dress around our 8 week mark for this year's garden! 🥰👏🏼

Great answer! Perfect timing as I ordered my first Greenstalk during the sale and I will be putting it together today.

Excellent video Jess😊. What kind of Worms? For folks that have good ish soil in the pots. You can dump 1 at a time into a wagon or on a Tarp, break it up and add some manure Or whatever you are using for soil. To amend listen to Jess for that, then put it back in container, freshly fluffed and amended👍. JO JO IN VT 💞

Cute overalls 😊 LOVE that color on you!

Thank you sooooo much for this video! Very helpful as I have a few Greenstalks now and still search for answers how to successfully keep the soil healthy. You answered my questions- you’re awesome! ❤️

Great information. I did some of the things you suggested without knowing i was doing those things the right way. But the extra things like worms and fertilizer to get things working correctly before planting is a huge help. Now, to get those containers out in the open.... thanks Jess.

Thank you Jess.❤️✝️🙏

Thank You

This is the first time I caught the video the second it was posted 🤣. I was so excited to see the vid!

@natpritulik6104

2 ай бұрын

Honest to my heart, I really appreciate the videos you post. It’s been my dream since childhood, and in adulthood working out the details with my husband. Watching you has helped me avoid the common mistakes and taught me to be creative in permaculture for what works for us! Thank you for your wisdom with the many years you’ve been learning and growing yourself and your food!❤

Thank you for explaining all of that. i live in southern Arizona and I want to stop having to buy soil and use what we have which is a mix of sand and clay soil. So this helped me a lot with what I have to do along side another video about the soil under trees here being the best.

This is very helpful! 😃👍Thanks 🌿

Excited to hear how your trial of worms in containers go.

This is why i use tall pots without holes, so i can water and have a reservoir at the bottom. If the soil us too dry(or i have to go away for a bit) it will slowly soak upwards. Also makes for some deep roots on my plants.

I cover my outdoor raised beds with 4" of chopped straw for the winter. I pull it off or aside to plant seeds. The soil is loose, and full of worms. I also leave my empty pots of soil outside, while also topped with straw or even grass clippings.

Thanks Jess, for the “Soil Refresher 101”. I just went out to check my beds and containers.🪴For the most part they look pretty good but I’ve got to “juice up” my green stalks a bit before planting. I’ve been watering them but not real consistently. Here on the central CA coast it’s still kind of cool🌥️ but my tomatoes 🍅will be going into the beds finally, this week! I keep hoping the worms 🪱will find their way up into my beds! In the meantime I guess it’s castings, sea kelp and fish emulsion. I use coco coir chips for mulch. It’s a little spendy but it really helps with the moisture. I even use it around my strawberries🍓in the green stalks. I fed one tower throughout and just cleaned off the dead 🍂leaves and I have breakfast berries every morning. I’m digging the ones in the bed up to put in another tower. It keeps the bugs or slugs at bay. Me 1 Pests 0. As always, from CA 🏖️take care.

In summer my pots live arranged around the garden, in winter I collect them all and put them together somewhere the rain gets them but they are a little protected from the worst of the weather, so I don't have much trouble with the soil, but I fed weakly weekly, coz we get rain in England 😂. ❤

Love your videos. I do want to comment on something you said. You said that you don’t bother with sending soil samples in to get a soil analysis done. I believe that it’s very important to do that because if your ph is wrong it doesn’t matter how much compost or fertilizer you put on it, plants will not grow properly. It’s also important to know what all your soil is lacking. So it’s very important to get a soil analysis done. Because a lot of your followers want to copy you or be like you, it probably wasn’t the right thing to say.

@francestaylor9156

2 ай бұрын

She's just saying what she does. And I think that's fine. There are a bunch of other youtubers that do send off soil samples and they've done extensive videos on it. I think it really matters to do soil testing when you do in-ground gardening. Less so when you do raised bed and container gardening. You know what soil mix you're putting into your containers/raised beds. It is very unlikely that your pH is going to be super out of whack.

This is an awesome video full if very practical and helpful information. I have read that worms in containers doesn’t work well because worms need space to move around and they don’t do well in the winter where I live. I am still excited to see how your experiment goes with them because I would like to do that since I don’t have space or approval where I live to have a worm bin 👊🏻🌻👊🏻

I've started putting a trowel-full of worm bin in my pots, worms and all, and topping it off with compost. I'm getting really stocky plants doing this! I'm in a dry summer climate so I'll mulch with straw to keep moisture in. 💚

Great information Jess! Sometimes we just don't pay attention and when that happens we also have to "pay the price" for that inattention. My usual problem is finding a "good" bagged compost. I typically use bagged mushroom compost mixed in with the top 2-4 inches of my container soil. I do use a liquid organic fertilizer also. There are so many brands out there and that part of the process can be confusing. I've learned that I have to simply pick one and observe over a short period of time. As I observe, I adjust and maybe even try another brand until I find one that works. Thanks for all you do! 😍

Great info. Thanks Jess God bless 🙏😘📖

Don’t you love those bibs!! I bought some last year and loved them so much I bought the bib shorts too! That color is one of my favorites. Btw, you look like you feel good and the rest did you some good.