Josh Mings

I've seen this discussed elsewhere but not here on permies (unless I missed it!) Not to have them battle it out in a no holds barred battle pitching hot and cold compost at each other but... I tend to overthink things, and go back and forth on where to spend the time - turning compost or watching compost. I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both systems. I wonder if there's a happy medium? In my search, I came across Diego Footer's "Which compost system is the best?" where he describes his experiments on the Johnson-Su Bioreactor. And he's got a couple great playlist on both systems.



Wondering if anyone has tried these variations or variations of Ingham's system? Oh, and it might save our marriage! I want to try a Johnson-Su Bio-reactor, my wife wants to give Elaine's a go. Our challenge is getting enough brown material, so we're in a staredown amidst a piles of manure, cattle panels and landscape fabric.

Hi Helen! Looking forward to reading your book. We've been trying to establish a garden on our small farm in North Texas, battling all matters of grasses. I'm curious how you would convert the 1-acre of grass surrounding our house into a functional garden!

We have both soil and manure we want to test for mineral composition and chemical makeup, as well as for pesticides. We need to do it regularly across the property and neighboring properties so would like to be able to do it ourselves. Has anyone used a soil test they liked or is there a reliable at-home soil test that anyone would recommend?

HUGE! And still 30 days left! Let's GOOOOO!!!

Nice, Beau. If I haven't selected 'Notify me on launch' the link does it for me. There's no pop-up notification like when you select the 'Notify me on launch' button yourself but it does set the project as Saved. It happens either if logged in already or if one needs to log in first.

Overall, looks good, Beau. There are some spots with a lot of space. Kickstarter is a pain with the formatting I know. The REWARDS section looks good but the description and outline are inconsistent with the paragraph indent and spacing. I may be a bit OCD but the alignment/resolution on the Garden Master Course header image is giving me the twitches. It's also using the old Kickstarter wordmark - see latest KS brand assets here. I can update if you have the layered PSD.

Margaux Knox wrote:Wrote up a li'l overview of the course. Thoughts?
Would this get you excited? Would this get an unfamiliar aspiring gardener excited?
Any edits, suggestions?

Hi Margaux, it would get me excited. Many here will understand the terminology (e.g. ecological interaction, agro-ecosystems, etc) but I think for Kickstarter/new gardeners some simpler titles would help with those words in the tagline/sub-title or description. For example:

Unit 1: Getting Started
How everything is connected
Learn how light, temperature, water, climate, and terrain interact, as well as all the details on soil types, fertility, drainage, and health. Apply these learnings to your crop choices and garden designs, as we cover species and variety selection for year-round food production for home or market.

Unit 2: Prepare Your Soil
Understanding soil structure and ecology
Dig deep into soil ecology, soil fertility, nutrient cycling, and the “soil organic matter system”, including how to read a soil test, what the test can tell us, and the role and management of organic matter in your soil structure. Know when to till and when not to, how to use cover crops, and how to make and use your own fertiliser. Learn how to recognise deficiencies in plants, and how to fix them using compost, compost tea, and other natural amendments, as well as how and when to apply them.

Unit 3: Strengthening Your Garden
Managing beneficial insects, pest, and disease
Strengthen the “immune system” of your agroecosystem and tackle pests and diseases the natural way! Learn about beneficial insects and other critters, crop rotation, and microbial biological control so you can stop problems before they even happen. Know when to intervene to limit impact on crop yields.

Unit 4: Weeds vs. Garden
Working with plant competition in the farm/garden system
Learn about weeds, and the plants that they compete with. Know which weeds are which, what your crops can handle, and when and how to fight them or leave them be.

Unit 5: Growing a Diet
Planting, pruning and rotating for long-term success
Get the details on growing the right fruits and veggies for you. Learn how to propagate, save seed, space your plants, prune your plants, protect from frost, and rotate crops for long-term success.