This is a really well done study! I have seen several similar tests done with different types of soil. My father taught me to garden and always said don’t make it complicated; there’s nothing better than composted animal manure, leaves and composted wood chips from cow stalls. This is what I’ve lived by because it’s what I know but as a see more of these tests and hear more of the actual science and life of soil, I am realizing these old timers’ experience was as good as Cornell University studies. I’ve come to the conclusion that all soil types will benefit immensely from just adding manure and readily available organic matter.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Your father is spot on, I believe! And I find it fascinating that so much of that 'old-timer' knowledge has come to be proven true by scientific studies. Sometimes just the time and life experience of seeing how things react in real world situations is all you need!

@julieb7068

11 ай бұрын

I am a bit concerned about the pesticides in the hay that passes through the cow’s digestive system into the manure. Any thoughts on this?

@TheRealHonestInquiry

11 ай бұрын

@@julieb7068 Find a clean source of hay, no reason to be feeding pesticides to cows. Be very careful of your hay sources or grow it yourself. Imidacloprid is commonly found on hay and can kill your crops, not sure if it's active after being digested but I'm not taking any chances with an animal or plant.

I've had the best success with a mix of additives. Compost, manure, peat, perlite, vermiculite. Maintaining a fresh cut grass, plant cuttings, leaf mold mulch throughout the growing season. This transformed my clay concrete jungle into a gorgeous loamy soil over 2 seasons.

@maynardgreenhouse

Жыл бұрын

All good amendments but vermiculite is a moisture holder so in clay soil not recommended plus you only need a very small amount.

@suzannestack7784

Жыл бұрын

@@maynardgreenhouse I agree. It also contributes to aeration( small air pockets).. Having heavy clay soil means bad drainage. Once I've changed that condition I still need moisture retention as well.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

100% agree with this! As I mentioned at the end of the video, I think the best way to tackle clay is a combination of amendments and care techniques (which can be seen here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/g4dr07OPf92xZ8o.html) , but since I frequently get asked questions about individual amendments, I felt this was good way to test them.

@mybootscamewithoutstraps

Жыл бұрын

2 seasons?! I've mulched with wood chips for the last year and haven't added anything else but some soil aerator. Maybe I need to add manure in bulk. Did you till stuff in?

@suzannestack7784

Жыл бұрын

@@mybootscamewithoutstraps in the late summer I added a foot deep of freshly chipped wood chips ( lots of green, mostly pine). It was 2 loads from Chipdrop. On this I spread urea 30-0-0 pellets, 10 lbs and watered well kept it moist. In the spring I hired a man with a small tractor to turn it all in. Much of it was broken down well. I created my mounds and paths. Filling the paths a foot deep with new wood chips. Fluffed the soil with all the new additives, manure, compost, vermiculite, peat and lots of drying grass clippings. I grew a great garden. This spring I once again added a bunch of compost and dried grass clippings. Dug it all in with my horihori knife down about 14". It's all soft and fluffy. Last two days I've been transplanting all my starts. So yes, in less than 1 year, 2 summers, I've completely converted rock hard clay into my garden oasis.

Now THIS was the information I spent a better part of a year searching for. THANK YOU SO MUCH for making this video! The information was STELLAR! I'm glad that cow manure was the "top dog" because I was definitely looking for more of a natural way to improve my expansive clay soil. But I was NOT surprised at all to see that the manure was the only amendment that had Earth worms. Just FYI. Around early Summer in 2022 I had some left over hay that was spread on about 1,000 square feet or so of my property. I used a bulldozer to clear a little over 10 acres of mesquite trees and then used the bulldozer's rear rippers to sort of plow the severely compacted soil because the condition of the expansive clay soil was horrible on those 10+ acres. In the process, I inadvertently spread the hay around as I was trying to smooth the land. By the Fall/Winter of 2022 ryegrass started growing beautifully on about 2 acres of the land. Right now it's so thick and lush that I had a farmer neighbor ask if he could bale it for me and take half. I pulled up a few handfuls of the ryegrass to the roots and that compacted, expansive clay soil has turned to black gold, and I did nothing but accidentally spread it while clearing trees. It got me to thinking, after this guy bales this grass, I will experiment by using the remaining half to spread around other parts of my land and see if the same thing happens. If it does improve the soil and grows ryegrass in the Fall/Winter again, I think I'm onto something. I'll let anyone interested know what happens. Take care, and thanks again for the video!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I love rye as a cover crop and use it extensively on my clay soil- you’re definitely on to something!!

@jesusflores7323

23 күн бұрын

to be fair the reason the bag with cow manure had earth worms was because they were already present in the cow manure that was added. you can actually see multiple worms wriggling about when the manure was being added to the native soil and 1 big one actually picked out in the clip kzread.info/dash/bejne/aGuMyMyoedqvo8Y.html

last year, 2022, i added sand to an area that was not draining, it got worse, i lost some plants, when i went to dig it was so hard…sand plus dirt/clay is how ancient homes were made! basically i made bricks….switched back to gypsum…but and going to buy some cow manure today! thanks for this huge effort!

Hi Jenna, nice job on the amendments ’shootout!’ Yes, I agree, manure is the King (or Queen if you prefer) of amendments. One observation I noticed was that you added peat moss in a dry state; in my experience you will have greater success soaking peat/coir BEFORE applying. When dry it’s like a dry sponge that actually repels moisture. It actually takes weeks to normalize it’s moisture when used dry. Worms hate dry coir/peat because it will suck them dry. That could have affected the pepper’s growth. Simply soak it in a wheelbarrow, for hour or two, then dig in. The sand shown was pretty fine grade; sharp, coarse sand is a better way to go. Not to breakup soil, but a small sand bed/bucket is a great place to start bare-root cuttings. Sounds you plan further testing; I’d encourage you to research “COF,” AKA complete organic fertilizer pioneered by Steve Solomon, the founder of Territorial Seed Company. It’s a fascinating and cost effective way to increase the verdant fertility of soil. One of the key components is bags of horse feed (e.g., alfalfa pellets, soy pellets or grass screening pellets). This increases fertility as well as providing organic material. This stuff is cheapest when you buy it in feed bags of 40-50 pounds at a Farm Store. A quick example of the cost differential (both from same farm store): Down to Earth Organic Alfalfa Meal Fertilizer in a 4# box = $12 = $3/lb. 50# sack of Alfalfa Meal = $20 = 40¢/lb …FOR THE SAME EXACT THING! Soybean pellets have 2-3X more nitrogen than alfalfa, but are more $$$, conversely ’grass screenings’ pellets are less $, with less % nitrogen. An advantage to the cheaper screenings is that since you use more, you’re automatically adding more organic material to the soil which combats the clay issue. Last fall I fertilized one 4x6’ bed with an entire 50# bag of screenings. It had all winter to break down & feed worms. It was covered to prevent rain runoff. We’ll see how that does this year. My brother, an avid beer brewer has been dumping his brew grain leavings in his garden for years; I have never seen a garden with richer soil or better tilth than his! You could shovel his beds with your bare hands! So verdant! If you have a good sized garden, it’s a no brainer. And it’s organic. Another good source of bulk add-ins is an agricultural amendments company; we have an excellent one in PDX, www.concentratesnw.com, hopefully you can find one similar in your region. I make a trip there every spring as shipping costs are very high. Plus, I like to browse & see what’s new. Google search: “agricultural amendments company nearest”. Finally (whew), I encourage you to locate a mushroom farm close to you. They use straw that has been sanitized by steam, then bagged & inoculated with mushroom spores. Eventually they peter out and need to be replaced. Every mushroom concern I’ve ever talked to is happy to have someone to cart it away. Sometimes they ask for an insignificant fee. Now these farmers are busy & don’t want to be bothered by requests for a bag or two… but if you borrow a pickup truck & carry away a load they’ll be friendly & happy. Note that these are moist, leaky bags that you do not want to put in a nice car/van. One final bonus: if you moisten the bag you’ll likely get another flush or two of delicious, edible mushrooms (usually oyster mushrooms) before using them as compost. I’ve turned into an avid organic gardener & am now a coordinator for a community garden. If you’d like to see more of my tips & tricks go to Google Groups and search for: “WVCGC Resouces” (Willamette Valley Community Garden Coordinator Resources). Then request access. Link is groups.google.com/g/wvcgc-resouces If you made it this far, thanks & good gardening to you & yours!

@slamdunk58

Жыл бұрын

Wow! Great info! Thanks.

@DaughterofGaia1979

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for this great information😊 I wrote it All Down🎉

@SariAlShammari

Ай бұрын

The spent straw is actually what they sell as mushroom compost, plus the peat moss that's added at before packing the inoculate into the growing beds. , i know this because I was a senior operator at a huge organic mushroom farm operation. You were correct about everything else

Thanks for taking the time to do this experiment so you can help us to be a better gardener ❤

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

My pleasure!

I never understood why people said to add sand! My garden is pure clay, sand and rocks. Sand doesn't help at all. No theories as to why there are more grubs, except possibly less competition from some established bugs. The only addition I really have access to is horse manure, it seems to be the only thing that works in addition to coco coir. Great video and super relevant for me. 💖

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Horse manure is great stuff too! I've not tried the coco coir in my actual garden soil- might be an interesting amendment to try out!

@jthepickle7

Жыл бұрын

Sand is another name for little rocks!

@Ubiquinode

Жыл бұрын

My impression is that grubs like it a bit drier, so perhaps the tendancy of sandy soils to drain and dry out makes it a good home for them.

Many thanks! Living on a hill where the developers scrapped off most of the top soil to level the land, I have a serious clay problem. Preparing to plant a bush, I dug a hole about 18 inches deep. I filled it with water and went to lunch. When I came back 45 minutes later, the water level had dropped about an inch. Since then I've had better luck with blueberries by digging a big hole and filling it with composted top soil. That is obvious a bit too much for an entire garden.

In India earthworms are given the title of friend of the farmer due to its relevance in maintaining the quality of soil, they make it more porous and rich in other essential elements. In sandy soil they help it to improve moisture holding capacity. Your video has also proved the relevance of these tiny incredible creatures. I am very glad to know this fact through your video also. I appreciate your enthusiasm and hard work. I think all that camera work is also done by you yourself, you alone doing all that. 👍

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

They are indeed the friend of the farmer- love this! I'm always happy to see them at work in my soil. And yes, I shoot & edit all the videos myself- it's a lot of work, but I enjoy it 😀

@jagatgururampaljibhagwan1988

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowfullywithJenna Yes, I love earthworms because they are so innocent, don't want anything from us rather give us fertile soil free of cost. So, in return I try to give them favourable conditions in my garden, they can survive on their own but they can thrive very well if our kitchen waste is provided to them. Nature is full of positive energy of innocence and invisible electromagnetic aura, that is why nature lovers like you always look so energetic and with positive vibes, only therefore you single handedly taking care of your beautiful farm as well as replying passionately and with patience to so many comments of your fellow nature lovers. I saw that you reply almost all the relevant comments on all three social media platforms. Next level of enthusiasm and integrity. I don't know why you don't take help of your family members, atleast for camera work. I wish I was there 😔. All this requires so much passion, true heart and surrounding full of positive aura. The Aura of Nature and its vital role in human lives, can be proved through a live energy demonstration. To which people living in Concrete Jungles are always deprived of, resulting in various chronic diseases. There is so much to share about this incredible science of nature and the ultimate creator, if opportunity comes then I will invite you in India, to visit my farm as an expert senior research advisor 😀 to implement your research work here. 🤗

I just use cover crops:🐞 Cover crop seed: Warm season soil builder (12way) Red Ripper Cowpeas, 5518 Hutchinson Blend Soybeans, Mung Beans, Sunn Hemp, Sweet Forever Sorghum Sudan , Tifleaf III Hybrid Pearl Millet, African Cabbage, Trophy Rapeseed, Black Oil Sunflower, Mancan Buckwheat, Clemson Spineless 80 Okra, Golden Flax

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely- I use cover crops extensively as well. But because I've gotten so many questions about individual amendments, I thought this would be an interesting test.

My concern about cow manure is how it conveys whatever chemicals were on/in the grass/hay they ate. Horror stories abound of legumes and nightshades completely failing from “Grazon” contamination. Great work!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

A legitimate concern! If you’re not raising your own animals always ask the farmer what they’ve been fed!

@juliegogola4647

11 ай бұрын

I'm glad you mentioned that, I was thinking of asking 2 neighboring farms if I could buy a container or 2 of cow poo. I think they might use the poo for their own fields, but, I could possibly fill up a plastic container or 2 for 1 place I need it for. I'd be wanting to grow tomatoes and peppers in the spot I need it for, so, that chemical would ruin that for me for sure.

I was looking forward to this one. I would make a couple notes: manure is full of a significant amount of bacteria and other microbes. These microbes along with the organic matter are likely the reason why the soil texture began to improve. This is likely similar to applying a good compost.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Great point about the manure! After I shot this video, I felt like I should have mentioned that this was aged manure that came straight from the farm- NOT the bagged stuff from the big box stores. In my experience the bagged stuff does not have the same microbial 'magic'.

@amylamar1

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowfullywithJenna I live in the suburbs. Do you have any idea how to track down aged manure? It sounds like I need some! :)

@virginiaallisonpeck2517

Жыл бұрын

@@amylamar1 I might look for organic beef ranches. If they use herbicide it will kill your garden plants. (Jess at Roots and Refuge got a batch they were told had no herbicide in it and it wiped out her beans and tomatoes) horse farms too. But with the same risk. It’s crazy how much herbicide is used now. Animal people would get a kick out of you shoveling out the poop.😂 They are usually nice people and probably sell the animal waste to places that make fertilizer. It’s big business. But they would probably let you have a couple trash bags full.

@Divinelight991

Жыл бұрын

Cow manure is magic & along with microbes, minerals, protein etc it also has significant amount of carbon. A faster way to make compost is by adding fresh manure with some cow urine along with molasses/jaggery and some pulse flour and mix it and keep it covered for a week (Don’t make it very mushy) In smaller batches it’s usually ready within the week and larger batches takes some turning & 3-4 weeks. You will have microbe rich compost ready for the plants in no time saving the hassle of composting manure and the problem of storing manure.

@elisabetk2595

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowfullywithJenna I'd be interested in your results with bagged composted manure. For many of us, that's pretty much the only kind we can get.

This is pretty wild to hear. I would have thought that the sand would have been better at breaking the clay apart. Also, I was watching another channel that said that cow manure held the water in. But this is proving otherwise. He had red clay from I think maybe the east United States. I didn't see an exact location. Im in Indiana. So I have super clay like you. Thanks! This really helps! Manure. I know it added nutrients but I didn't know it helped the clay drain. Huh...who'd-a-thunk?!

Looking forward to the leaf mold! Leaves and wood chips have made such a difference to my soil.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Me too!

@taramellow3016

Жыл бұрын

Do you just broadcast it over your lawn or rake it into your beds or both. Thank you!

What a wonderful experiment. Thank you.

Compost is mostly good for sandy soils that don’t hold enough moisture. Manure will add good microbial benefits. Sand and clay just gives you concrete though so many people think that’s their answer. Adding grit will help much more to help drainage. Thanks for the video it’s great to see how they all worked.

@dustyflats3832

Жыл бұрын

I need semi loads of everything as the sand eats it up. The most difficult is keeping it moist because once the amendments dry out it drains straight through just like sand. I’m trying less till method in low long beds and I think that may be the perfect. Lol, yes, it looks like it’s true that sand and clay makes concrete.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I can definitely see where the compost would be great for sandy soil. I still like my 'homemade' compost for my clay soil, but it has more microbial life than the pasteurized mushroom compost does.

@ezza88ster

Жыл бұрын

A few years ago we added sand to clay as part of installing a land-drainage system with pipes to our water-logged gardens. Now I indeed have concrete (aargghh!) that drains too slowly instead of clay that never did. Vegetable plants can't root properly and fally over in the couple inches of compost I managed to make with years of leaf-moulding. This year I am going with the flow with patios and raised small beds instead. Well at least the concret is a good sub-surface layer to the 'hardcore' I need to put down for the patios. Don't add sand to clay - Believe!

So true about using sand on clay soil lawn. Big mistake I created an extended driveway.

Thanks Jenna. I know these experiments are time consuming. I use mushroom soil and horse manure/bedding in addition to my own compost to amend my beds. I live near the mushroom capital here in PA so the mushroom compost is relatively inexpensive. And there is a big horse farm down the street so that makes the horse manure and bedding practical for me. I never have done a controlled experiment as you've done but can say these amendments seem to have given me good results in the beds where I've used them. I usually use the horse manure in the fall in new beds or beds I'm renovating. The mushroom soil I consider safe to use anytime so I often apply that in the spring and summer if needed.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

So nice to have sources so close by! And I'm glad to hear you've had good results in your own garden!

The absolute best amendment that I have ever added to my clay soil was grass clippings from an untreated lawn…! My technique was to fill a large black trash bag with the grass clippings, left it out in the sun for a week or two, this caused a rapid composting. The end result was this beautiful, black mush! I then incorporated it into my soil the results were absolutely mind blowing! I wish I could post pictures😢

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I love, love, love my grass clippings! I do it the lazy way- I use it as mulch in all my beds and let it rot down very slowly, but would swear that this has helped my garden enormously. I may have to try your technique in the black trash bags though! Thanks for sharing!

@markmeyer9571

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowfullywithJenna Your welcome Jenna! Please try it! It is a miracle worker for the soil!

@markmeyer9571

Жыл бұрын

@@D1008W Place all the grass clippings in a large garden trash bag.. leave it in the sun. This will be the catalyst for rapid decomposition. In the end .. you will have a black sludge that is worth more than gold.! Give it a week or two ..the composting process will make it hot as heck it will kill everything…

@markmeyer9571

Жыл бұрын

@@D1008W your welcome!!

I just love your videos. You have such excellent tips and delivery of information. Thank you!❤

I wish one of your tests was with homemade compost. I worry about adding manure since there could be bad stuff in it. If I had my own animals I wouldn't hesitate, but all I can get that's for sure safe is chopped leaves, grass clippings and homemade compost, of which there is never enough!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Definitely testing the homemade compost next go around (and I agree- there is never enough!). And your concerns about manure are valid-- I'm lucky to know the farmer well and see what the animals are eating and how they are raised. Sadly, it's getting so hard to find a clean source for manure garden amendments any more.

Wow, that's was really surprising results. Especially, the mushroom compost! I am not really surprised by the lawn aerator, it's hard to keep live microbes alive in a storage warehouse and big trucks before its purchased. I would love to see store bought worm castings in your next experiment. This was awesome to watch, thank you for the hard work it took to make!!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Great point about keeping the microbes alive-- this is a major issue with many products like this! Ooh- and I love the idea of worm castings- thank you!

@muddyriverdogz

Жыл бұрын

Manure will feed worms creating natural worm castings.

The thing I have seen alot which sets this below scientific quality as an experiment is that each treatment is not replicated to to get rid of variability between plants. The use of a control and careful replication of watering and such were spot on. The results were super interesting. What about a no dig experiment where additives are just sat on top of compacted soil? Could worms or plants restructure the soil.

we add peat to our clay to grow blueberries- it acidifies the soil a LOT

I think the best way to amend clay soil is to use it to bulk up your compost pile

Wow, the difference with the cow manure was astounding. Thank you for this very useful information! Happy gardening.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

It really was! I knew it was good stuff, but wasn't expected results like this!

How did you ever find the time to do such an amazing comparison? I am envious of your energy. I also have heavy clay soil and was going to recommend trying my favorite soil amendment, leaf mold. Another kind of cool thing to look at would be any difference in the soil life within the different samples. I've really enjoyed looking at different soil samples and amendments this year. Enjoy your videos.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I love leaf mold too, and am excited to test this one! I also love the idea of looking at soil life- it really didn't strike me as something to look at until I saw all those earthworms in the manure amended container.

I double… or triple… dug a 10x10 bed of extremely heavy clay and incorporated gypsum, Bio Live, and tons of bagged composted dairy manure. The soil was drastically improved in one season and I had a good harvest out of that bed. I plan to do spring and fall cover crops and continue to build the soil. Now you have me wanting to go outside on a cold January night to get a soil sample so I can do a pH test. I have winged it in the yard with decent success, but I would like to be more thoughtful and informed going forward.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad to hear you saw drastic improvements in your soil!

I want to see worm castings next if you ever try this test again

i think the reason the peat didn't do as well is because it absorbed the minerals and nutrients out of the clay. It would eventually release them as it broke down completely, but probably didn't have time. or maybe it did but there weren't enough nutrients to begin with. Peat probably didn't bring any nutrients to the table, just adds good organic matter. I would have thought that the cow manure would lower the ph more than peat, as increased bacterial activity temporarily lowers ph significantly. I have learned a lot from your videos and am glad when i see you put a new one out

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Do you know how long the peat would take to break down? I added it to these container back at the beginning of June, but I'm assuming it would take a year or better? On the manure, interestingly enough, studies by Penn State have shown dairy cow manure at an average pH of 7.0 I think that the fact that this was well aged cow manure probably helped as well.

@chamblen4

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowfullywithJenna i'm not sure how long it would take to break down. you would probably have a better idea than me, did it feel or look like it was when you broke it up? Again, really enjoy the videos and sometimes learn something, like cow manure not lowering ph. I figured wrongly on that

@chamblen4

Жыл бұрын

@@GrowfullywithJenna i'm not sure how long it would take to break down. you would probably have a better idea than me, did it feel or look like it was when you broke it up? Again, really enjoy the videos and sometimes learn something, like cow manure not lowering ph. I figured wrongly on that

What a great experiment!!! Good job!

You did a lot of work! Thank you for the information

Whata great woman, cow manure is winner for heawy clay soil. Big big information for many with this problem, including me. Thu wery much.

I use mushroom compost as a soil conditioner and compost from my mill kitchen bin compost once a month for my cannabis plants

Wow, I am blown away by this video! Thank you so much for doing all of that work, and documenting so thoroughly! This is amazing.

@GrowfullywithJenna

11 ай бұрын

Wow, thank you!

@teresaforsyth6185

4 ай бұрын

Absolutely great video!!!!!!

Really great video. Thank you for sharing.

In my opinion clay soil is very good. I found out it is good idea to add compost to it and maybe also some sand. As fertilizer manure is good.

Thank you. Excellent information and well done experiments.

There are several grades of sand and stone. The all purpose sand must have a lot of fine particles and possibly some plasticizer nutrients, something which would make it horrible as a clay soil amendment. Just like you tested. Coarse sand or a particular small grade of ground stone will most probably give good results in amending clay soil. The main benefit of this type of materials is that they are cheap and available everywhere. Anyway, your experiment was very well executed. Thank you!

Thank you!

My grandfather used to live on a farm in the Freestate South Africa and he had some large open patches forming in his fields where nothing grows he said it was due to salts accumulating in the soil he ploughed in some gypsum and the grass started to grow again, a combination of cow manure and biochar should also work well Self-sufficient me from Australia also use broken down cow manure with very good results

I love sheep manure for overall soil improvement. I bed/litter with straw which makes a super compost, amendment and fertile mulch.

@GrowfullywithJenna

11 ай бұрын

Good to know!

Thank you for putting in this work and sharing with us. Very helpful!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Amazing experiment! Thx for taking the time to share and educate!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

fantastic, really helpful!!

Thanks for sharing! Not a big surprise that manure won. It's almost like recreating nature is the best method.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I'm pretty well convinced that following nature's lead is always the best method!

thanks for the related links in the description! heading off to the 1st video to watch in order.

@GrowfullywithJenna

11 ай бұрын

Happy to share!

Great video and thanks alot for taking the time to produce and share it. Some very surprising results, and alot to ponder to on, as I start looking at preparing my first garden - thx alot!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much!

Bocking 14 comfrey is amazing. Dig a planting hole, add fresh compost with worms and wait three years. Yoúll be able to push a dowel into the ground without any problem. Tradeoff is time vs effort. Glad you found earthworms with the manure!

Great experiment. I live in California wine country in the clay

I wish you would have did worm castings as one too. That’s what I use as a soil amendment for my garden and on my lawn after aerating and it results in really nice soil!

I just moved an my dirt is red clay. That's easy up like concrete. I'm from indiana. This video gave me so much information. Thank you

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad it helped- and best of luck with that soil!

All this hard work done by you is extremely helpful, thank you so much! wishing your garden great harvests!!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I'm glad to hear it, thank you!

I've seen great results with heavy dose of ag lime....also include minerals, nutients included in soft rock phosphate, kelp meal, oil seed, potassium sulphate (small dose), bacterial-fungal innoculant and small dose of compost.

It might be interesting to see a comparison of mixtures of 2 amendments. I added both compost and cow manure to clay in my raised bed and wow!

Lots of great information, Thank you for this video!!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

I really looked forward to this video! Thanks.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

U always put out such helpful info, thx!!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you for this!

@GrowfullywithJenna

10 ай бұрын

My pleasure!

Thank you for all your dedication and hard work.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I appreciate that!

This was such a helpful video!! Thank you!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Amazing video, thank you for having so much dedication to this experiment ❣️

You are so thorough and thoughtful, thanks so much for all your videos!!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad you like them!

Great Video!!!! Good job detailing results.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thanks, John!

Ooooh interesting! The results on mushroom compost were particularly informative. Thank you!

Amazing work planning, executing, and reporting on this experiment. Thank you!

@GrowfullywithJenna

4 ай бұрын

Thank you!

Good experiment!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Thank you for this test. It really shows how simple is better.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Yes indeed- it's so often the case but we (myself included) tend to want to overcomplicate things!

I love everything about this video. The scientific approach was spot on right down to the use of a control. I also loved that old school cow manure was the best thing for your garden.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it ( I was pleased with the 'old school' results too)

Thanks so much for this video!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

You're welcome!

Awesome video! I think Biochar is a long term investment while cow manure is a short term investment. This means, you will need to periodically add cow manure to your soil (each year to every other year) while biochar, once you get the soil amended where you like it, is a permanent upgrade. I could be wrong though.

Thank you for conducting this experiment. I’m in Georgia where our clay soil can get as hard as concrete. As a lawn care enthusiast, I have been looking for something that will help loosen it up. I’ve tried gypsum and Humic acid with little success. I will definitely try manure to see if it helps.

Jenna and the whole community I want to share my experience with you how about a few things. I grew up with cattle during my childhood and that was the best experience I have had. Nothing beats pure cow manure and mother nature. I've used gypsum to break up clay here in Indiana. Nothing different from the Ohio soil. And I've had great success. Now the soil amendment just doesn't happen overnight. You have to work your soil over a few years to get it right. I used car manure, peat moss, gypsum, and other sources to amend my soil. That's how you do it. But cow manure is the best thing for your garden.

Good job on the experiment

Wow I’ve just found you channel. I’m in Columbus Ohio. This will be my 2nd year gardening. I could go on and on …. But, suffice it to say you are a breath of fresh air.. I can’t wait to implement your suggestions. Thank you so much so much so much.❤

Fabulous video. Love seeing the differences. What great timing, as hubby was going to rent a tiller this weekend and we wanted to work in something for our terrible clay. I WAS going to use peat and sand. Guess that neighbor that offered us manure will be getting a call. Thanks as always for great info!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you- Susan! One thing to be sure of (which I mentioned in the first video, but not here) Is that you want that manure to be aged AND be sure those animals haven't been feed any hay or allowed to graze on pasture that's been treated with persistent herbicides.

Thank you so much for this study! I have been educating myself using the internet to find the best way to amend my heavy clay soil. This test was well planned and executed. (even a control planting!) Of course every video or article I read swears their's is the best method. Your test actually looks at the results of all the soil amendments . This helped me to decide how I would tackle the clay garden I have. Again thank you!

Thank you so very much! What a generous generous information to share. Can't wait for more. Take care. 🙏🏼🌺🇵🇭

Thank you for doing this study. It was very helpful.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

great experiment I love your videos!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I am blown away by the sand making the drainage issue worse.....

I live in a housing tract in SW Washington State. The builders of my property stripped away the topsoil and left all clay mixed with rocks and random building supplies like nails and strips of metal. That clay was then hidden by sod and in areas with no grass, about an inch of bark mulch to make the yards all look neat and pretty. That's great and all, however, if anyone wants to actually take a shovel to the soil to make any holes to plant, they’re met with solid orange clay. This clay has become my nemesis. This clay is so solid, that it reminds me of a fresh block of pottery clay that you get out of the bag in a pottery class. That clay usually requires a wire to cut through it. That's the type of clay I have. Solid, sticky, dense clay when wet. In the summer it’s hard as a rock. Is there any way to plant in this sh*t? Or am I stuck with raised garden beds? No offense to people with raised garden beds….but I just don’t like the look of them for planting shrubs and flowers. Vegetables…. that's cool. But not flowers. This past Fall I was determined to dig a trench to plant some shrubs along the side of my house. I had the area staked off with string and immediately found out my shovel wasn’t going to cut it. I ended up going out and buying a pickaxe. My goal was to dig a 2’ deep X 10’ long trench. That soon turned into 1’ deep X 3’ long and then I gave up. I have tried to mix in soil amendments on the other side of my house, but the clays still likes to ball up. It doesn’t mix well. HELP

Jenna you are every bit as hot as a pepper! Love the experiment! I am trying to grow Brunswick cabbage, carrots, kale, lettuce, cilantro, lettuce, and few other things in bags out in a green house. Using my own dirt mix, goat manure.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Haha, thanks, Mike! I bet your veggies are loving the dirt/goat manure mix!

Thanks. Well done. I'm glad I found you.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

It would be nice to see how the manure test soil does with a second season. Wonder how just using kitchen scraps work.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I thought about using some of my semi-composted kitchen scraps... or would you want to see how just throwing the scraps directly into the dirt ('fresh' scraps so to say) would work?

@Randy_Smith

Жыл бұрын

I've used kitchen scraps in beds before and it really increased the worm activity. I used a sort of trench compost method by digging a trench about 8-10 inches deep, piled in the scraps and covered everything back up. I did this in the fall and by late spring everything was gone

I've seen major improvement in soil structures by adding 4 to 6 inches of fall leaves to top of garden / growing areas in late fall and just letting break down till spring , especially over a matter of multiple seasons . If leaves are mulched with bagged lawn mower it will help speed up break down .

@GrowfullywithJenna

10 ай бұрын

I love leaf mulch/leaf mold too!

This was super cool thank you

@GrowfullywithJenna

11 ай бұрын

Thanks!

What a great video!! We can see with our own eyes a truly scientific approach to how to improve our soil. Thank you Jenna for all the work that went into this!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you, Kate!

There's a documentary out there called garden of Eden? They made it in a clay soil here in Pa. We have massive amounts of mushroom soil here. Like a truck load for 30 dollars. Potatoes LOVE it.

Was looking forward to this one. I literally share all the same things here with you - Zone 6B with clay soils - so I follow closely. Your info is the most useful to me! Thanks!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Happy to share!

I watched a great video (Dr. Grow It Episode 28) and his guest talks about different nutrients (Mobile, immobile, partially immobile) surprisingly mushrooms hold sulfur and release it during rain/watering and when its released its ready for plant uptake. So don't sell that mushroom compost short. It may not ammend the soil the best, but the positives you're getting from the mycelium and fungi can't be replaced by cow manure! Great info overall!!!!

@GrowfullywithJenna

11 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

Outstanding video, well done

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

That was awesome! You did an amazing job and I learnt a lot!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad!

Great analysis. Subscribed.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Much appreciated!

this video is exactly what I needed, thank you for doing this... I have clay soil and want to be regenerative but have to amend this first year....... thanks again

@GrowfullywithJenna

3 ай бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you for the time and effort you put into recording these results and editing what was probably numerous hours worth of video. Your results really helped me solidify my decisions when I amended my clay soil for roses and fruit trees.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Happy to share!

You're so awesome, thank you J! You always do cool, needed little experiments

@GirlScoutC00kiezZzMmhhmm

Жыл бұрын

I had read somewhere that building living soil, increasing the active micros by aeration and drainage is the best to change the soil composition. I was kind of tentative about amending my soil mix with fresh or "hot" 🐔 manure, boosting NPK in an acidic ph, I added peat and didn't think about the added npk values, topped with a thin layer of bat guano( like a 8-1-2) or something around that, was surprised to not see any burn, the first few days it took them a minute to get used to all the goodies, the plants busted new greener leaves and showed no signs of over fert, or locking out. Drainage seemed to be improving slightly. You opened my eyes up to hugelkulture, I studied humic acid a little, I throw decomposing moldy wood in worm compost beds now, seems like a very good thing to do for the soil and biome. Seeing worms is the #1 indicator of healthy living nutrient rich soil I found, still the best indicator. My plants thrived in a high acid, heavy grey clay plot, with slooow drainage. I added mycos to the composted soil mix while it composted, and at the time of planting, chicken 🐔 manure doesn't burn as long as it isn't fresh out of the chickens butt, and is best composted for a bit, I even used tea I watered with worm castings(from black gold composted soil remnants in a 5 gal bucket) and chicken manure (from breaking it down to smaller easy dissolvable in 5 gal buckets) I'd let it sit for a week, let it condense or evaporate a bit, add fresh NON CHLORINATED water and proceed to water as a liquid, in between feed. The plants liked.😗🥦 I dont know what happens to perlite if it eventually breaks down, but I love it as it helps aerate and drain, innoculated (just with mycos) biochar crushed pretty small was mixed in my soil on the day of mixing it. Clay soil is one of the hardest to grow in, next to sandy high alkaline rocky soil, but it can be done. 😡🙂✌️

@GirlScoutC00kiezZzMmhhmm

Жыл бұрын

>>I had mag/cal issues starting before planting, so I added some Epsom salt in my mix, didnt seem to hurt anything, and took care of the magnesium and calcium deficiencies.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad you like them!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for sharing your experience!!

Wow…..thanks for doing all the hard work, so people with clay properties don’t have to waste time, money and sweat equity!

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

I certainly hope it can help some of my fellow clay soil gardeners!

Great test! Thanks for sharing.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it!

Wow! That was a lot of labor, time, equipment and cost for you, but many of us greatly applaud your great effort. I believe in a single all-consuming guideline, to wit: what does Nature do? Compost, mulch and water.

@GrowfullywithJenna

Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! And of all the guidelines one could follow, it's hard to go wrong with 'do what nature does'!