Part 1: Context or Why Is Bruce Doing That?
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Part one of a series of videos about some of the broader ideas and issues relation to getting more people to grow more of their own food. This first video focuses a lot on my own story, and the context in which this RED Gardens Project started.
0:00 Why?
0:58 Being an Outsider
3:27 Journey to food
5:10 Growing our own
6:36 No Skills or Credentials
8:20 Building a Home and Community
9:54 Finding a Way
12:08 Videos make sense
Help me develop these gardens and make more videos through regular contributions / redgardens
Or use www.paypal.me/redgardens as a simple, once-off way to support this project and the time and energy that goes into making videos. Thanks so much!
Part of the Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Tipperary, Ireland www.thevillage.ie
Bruce, I moved to a new home and started a new garden just as you were spinning up RED Gardens, and you have been instrumental in my development here from day one. Your methodology and presentation style clicked with me instantly. It feels unreal that it has been seven years, now. I’ve been delighted to be able to support you in a small way through Patreon, and will continue to do so for as long as I can. Your contributions to the global community of food growers have been outstanding. As always, your shared experience and insights are deeply appreciated. Thank you.
Wow, thanks for that comment! It means a lot to know that people find value in my work. And thanks for the support of Patreon!
"CZcams hadn't become the amazing resource that it is today". Indeed, the RED Gardens youtube channel hadn't been created yet!
Haha 😝
I like your analytical and straightforward approach. Sharing the results of your methods/ experiments is indeed useful.
Really great that people like you appreciate my approach to all of this.
I love the analysis and how you present your findings too.
One can also get a little curious about the people making the videos and how they arrived where they are. People's stories have always intrigued me; the journey they take.
I first found your videos when I was clearing ground and saw you sieving with the chickens hoovering up worms and bugs and that's exactly what I did.
We are the product of our upbringing.
Thanks, you teach and learn all in the same vein, you fucking rock!
aw, thanks!
as you say Bruce, youtube has become a really wonderful resource - at this point i think you could genuinely say its possible to construct a tertiary qualification in horticulture (or anything else) for oneself. but your project is one of a kind which is why I've been watching your videos for many years. instead of promoting a particular approach to gardening, you simply present the evidence from your experiments along with your really helpful and articulate analysis of what you understand to be going on. as a viewer this has hugely helped me on my own journey towards growing as much food as possible with the space and resources available to me. if you write a book I will certainly buy it (some of your recommendations, like steve solomons writing, have been extremely helpful) and i would also happily volunteer some of my time to help in the RED garden if i was ever in your neck of the woods. all the best from country NSW mate
Thanks for that comment, it means a lot!
Hello from Siwa Oasis, Egypt.
I might be from a totally different climate but i find your videos extremely informative and helpful. I appreciate the scientific method you are working with and i am sure that if you fully unlocked the self-sufficiency goal of your project, this wealth of knowledge would be extremely valuable to be monetized.
Awesome, thank you!
Correct statement ❤
Thank you.....I sincerely appreciate all your hard work....
🙂
Thanks for sharing your journey. That was quite interesting. I can relate. Experiences like that really shift your mental grid. I understand how you would feel like you didn't quite fit anymore. Context is powerful and life changing quite often. The cool thing about it is, that you carry all the experience with you into all that you do.
Yeah, it is great to be able to carry all those experiences with me.
Your honesty on what works, and what doesn't along with the realistic guesses on the underlying mechanisms is why you're one of the handful of YTers I paid any heed to.
Wow, thanks!
I believe that you have made a difference, my gardening techniques have improved. I understand more about why I do things to improve the yield, this has helped families around me. For me you have made it possible for me to be of use in my older age. Thank you
Birdy
Wonderful!
O wow, I really enjoyed this video. And it did answer a couple off questions. Thank you for your openness and honesty. Be blessed from South Africa 🇿🇦
🙂
I've been watching your videos from the start. I love watching all of the ways you've developed your platform and style. So, it's great to finally learn more about your background! I appreciate the ways you have contributed to gardening knowledge and am always happy to see a new video. Keep up the great work and thank you for all you do!!
Awesome! Thank you!
for what it's worth, i've been inspired by your work for as long as i've been watching it... what you're doing is important in a way that that of us who are interested in self sufficiency understand better than most. i'm looking forward to seeing your harvests this year - much love from england
Thank you for watching, and commenting!
Also a canadian living as an immigrant in europe. 9ur enthousiasm at growing all year long is probably one reason gardening has become such an important part of my life. Your tests and analyses are very useful
It is so great to be able to grow things all year round!
congratulations, Bruce, you've really come a long way since your beginning here on youtube. Your consistency and persistence is admirable.
Thank you so much
Interesting Bruce! I'm sitting watching this eating a fish stew containing my own garlic, leeks and beans. It's a very valuable skill to be able to grow your own vegetables and you are doing an excellent job showing how it's done..
Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the video and the stew!
Really interesting story - I always love these personal context type videos to get an understanding of the human(s) behind the channel. It adds so much extra depth to the channel. Much of your story resonates, especially in terms of being an outsider and being useful.
I've been following quietly for months, and am still saving for a large-ish polytunnel. Hoping to finally get my first trailer load of compost from a local supplier in the next week or two, so I can start to try and grow some food myself (I'm on a often windy hill with awful acid soils over in south Mayo, also an expat/immigrant, and a townie with little practical experience but my parents loved growing a little of their own veg and it always tasted so so good.
Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to upload all of the detailed experimentation you've done on your work there. It's providing a wealth of information 🙏🏻
Thanks. Hope you have a good learning experience with your new growing space, and lots of vegetables!
I may not have seen all 200 videos... But I very much appreciate the ones that I have seen. Still amazes me there aren't more subscribers.
Thanks for watching. I wonder how many people have seen all or most of them?
Such an interesting and valuable childhood.
🙂
Thanks for posting this. Truly interesting to hear about your journey and how you ended up where you are today.
🙂
Very interesting video for me as I am on a similar path in regenerative grazing. If it was not for youtube and being able to bring luminary lecturers like Ray Archuleta to my small town, I would be basically lost.
I came here years ago looking for an answer to question I cant even remember now. Glad I stayed around. I might even set up a community greenhouse directly because of you channel.
Thank you
Glad you stayed around! Hope you get that community greenhouse set up soon.
I definitely appreciate all your hard work and effort, your videos are a great ressource and inspiration in my own gardening journey, so thank you 😊
🙂
Great video as always. I built my compost screener after watching one of your video's a few years back. You're a great influence for sure. My garden probably resembles about 4-5 CZcams producers, with a bit of tilling, a bit of no-till, back to eden, and heavy mulching, and because of pest issues, some no mulch crops. It's all about what works for you, you're location, growing zone, soil, annual rainfall, available resources, storage capabilities, deer, moles, neighbors dogs, homeowners associations, the list goes on forever. No two gardens will ever be alike. But you should be growing is what I say, regardless.
Nice! Cool that you are using so many different methods. And I completely agree, people should be growing regardless of the method!
Hey Bruce, I really enjoy and appreciate what you are doing. I teach small scale organic agriculture and recommend your videos to all my students. Love your latest video on your background and context of your project. I look forward to this series 👍
Ah, thanks. It is so cool that you are recommending my videos, and that you liked this video. I wasn’t sure if people would appreciate the backstory.
I have loved your work for years now. You are the best. Best wishes from Sweden.
Wow, thanks!
Hello from Alberta. I appreciate your work. I have found your experiments on your channel very helpful for evaluating growing food in my own garden. Thank-you.
So cool that you have found my efforts helpful, even in a very different climate like Alberta!
Awesome. Thank you for the story behind the garden. Many garden CZcamsrs have a minimal vocab and it hurts my brain to hear constant buzz words over and over again. Keep up the genuine good work.
Thanks
I like to watch your videos, especially the trials 🙂This, sometimes, prevent me from falling into the same trap or gives me a hint of what plant might fit in my climate/zone. Keep moving and thanks a lot.
Glad they help, and thanks for watching!
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, thanks Bruce for being such an inspiration for me and so many others. My company TBSC was inspired from information you and many others have contributed over the years and it has been a journey so rewarding I cannot compare it to any other. Thanks again I love being a bystander in your journey
Awesome! Thanks for coming along on the journey!
Bruce, your videos are always interesting and thought provoking. It forces me to think differently about my garden choices and produce. My thanks to you.
I agree. I am even a horticulturalist but I still think people like Bruce bring new thinking and options into the world of home food production. There is the tried and true but there is always room to grow outside that box. I prefer to support this channel over some others because of that potential for growth.
Thanks for the comment. My main aim is to encourage people to think about what they are doing, rather than just adopting what others suggest. So great to get that kind of feedback.
Looking forward to this. Have often been intrigued as to how you got to this point. I think the "outsider" route is not unusual!
It does seem to prompt a searching.
He's back... Just in time
Sorry for the absence!
It sounds to me like you're already writing a book :) This was a great draft for the first chapter. I'm looking forward to the continuation of the series, and hopefully reading your book one day!
Yep, this was sort of the first section, or part of it. 🙂
Thanks for continuing your youtube channel. You have inspired me for years!
🙂
Late to comment, but I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the context you add in this video - and getting to know *you* better! I think a book would be an excellent project to pursue and I know I would order a copy if/when you decide to publish. I do agree that the video essay format is very effective for sharing your information and knowledge dissemination from your work has been on my mind lately. You've created a fabulous resource for local growers and it is exciting to know that people around the globe benefit as well. I hope that maybe one of the universities will be willing to act as a digital archive if you ever move on to different projects too. Looking forward to the upcoming growing season and this series, thanks a mill Bruce!
Thanks for the comment! It is so cool that there are people in so many different places that seem to find value in the work that I do and my videos!
I know its not what you're about generally speaking but I'm sure I'm not alone thinking I'd love to just see a tour of the plot and what's growing about the place from time to time.
That would make a good video I think, but at the moment everything is a bit bare out there!
@@REDGardens seeing what’s not growing can be as interesting as seeing what’s growing. A lot of gardening CZcamsrs make regular or occasional tour videos because viewers are interested in the lay of the land, looking around corners, basically a video version of how visiting the place irl would feel like. Yeah, we are very nosy but it also gives us a better understanding of the effort involved and better appreciation for the results.
I also point out that tour videos take minimal effort to make. Don’t need a script nor fancy editing. Just put your phone on a stick and move around describing things as if you were talking to a visitor. I really hope you will consider the suggestion. 👍👋
I told you I'm not alone. One person out of 6400 agrees with me.
It was fascinating listening to your story Bruce! The format of this video was refreshing and who doesn’t like to hear how others come to be where they are. If possible, I’d like to hear about what happens to the food you grow after harvest. Thanks for sharing. Enjoyed it.
Glad you appreciated the video and the format.
As a short answer, the food that we don't eat ourselves, or that is given away, ends up in my Veg Fridge, which is a type of honesty stand. I put the food in, and people in my community come, take what they want and pay what they think it is worth. Works well, especially as it is very little extra effort for me. I plan to make a video about it in the summer.
Ah I see, thanks and look forward to seeing it.
Thank you for your outstanding work! Much appreciation from Belgium!
Many thanks!
Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts.
🙂
Awesome. I have been wondering about the back story. 🎉
Cool, well there is some of it!
Have always enjoyed your videos ever since I stumbled across them some time ago and as I live in a very similar climate to you here in South Wales most of what you say or do is relevant to me
Glad you like them! And thanks for continuing to watch!
Your well outlined processes and gardening subjects makes you an expect to me.
🙂
"Expert", dang spell check!
Thank you for continuing to do this. This was incredibly interesting background. I've been watching you for year and am also very greatful to the people who help you continue to do it.
🙂
Keep up the great work! I’ve been following along for a couple years now and I’m always excited to see a new post from red gardens
🙂
Love all your videos - excitedly looking forward to the next!
Yay! Thank you!
Very interesting thank you. Deeply appreciated.
Thanks!
Hey this is the first of your videos Iv watched, glad you made this!
Glad you found my channel!
Wow what an amazing & diverse life you’ve had. Very enlightening. Thank you for sharing it all.
🙂
Thanks for sharing! I love your content and it's really interesting to hear about the history behind this project.
Greetings from Sydney, Australia!
Thanks!
Excellent as always. Glad you have built both the project and the means to continue the project.
Thanks. Yep, it is great to have been able to find a way to continue.
I've found your work and information very useful since discovering your channel; and now knowing some of your biography and world travels' experiences, I find you to be even more interesting and informative! I'm looking forward to the rest of this series, and following your project's evolutions! Thank you!
Thanks for coming along on the journey!
Thank you so much for this . I see we have some things in common. I am a military brat. Grew up in many different places as my dad was serving in the Air Force. I am now in Nebraska, in which I still don’t feel like I belong. My gardening and continued learning in this area help me feel like I have a purpose. I learn a lot from you.
It seems a garden can be a very 'grounding' exercise (sorry for the pun!) to help those of us who don't feel we belong, to at least have a solid focus on something that is undeniably place-based.
Thank you for telling about your background and big thanks for doing what you do!
🙂
Very excited for this upcoming series. Its always great to explore some of the deeper info, some more background and a bit more of the "why"
I cant wait for more
Cool. I think there will be 6 or 7 videos in the series.
@@REDGardens your background is fascinating. while it's not ALL directly related, what an amazing upbringing. All we have, at the end of the day, is our experiences.
@@gregbluefinstudios4658 So true!
😃🎉 Excellent
I subscribed to your channel 🙏
I’ve learnt a lot today, Happy Easter😊
🙂
Bruce, I would buy your book in a heartbeat!
😁
You're an inspiration Bruce 👍.
😁
Delighted to hear you are thinking of running courses! Will be very interested in that
👍 Now I just need to organise them!
I really enjoy all your videos. Oregon USA.
🙂
Great job 🏞️
Thanks 👍
Thank you Bruce for an interesting and uplifting video.
I would love to read your book and would be happy to contribute through a crowdfunding project towards its cost.
I’m off now to walk through the woods. No allotment work today for me. It’s my 69 th birthday.
Happy Birthday!
@@phoebebaker1575 Thank you Phoebe.
Happy Birthday Michael!
One of these days I might start writing that thing!
@@REDGardens Thank you Bruce.
Your book would be a fascinating read I’m sure.
You might enjoy one of my books, Michael's Eyes. To a small extent some of my knowledge of growing plants in dry environments are used in the plots.
Sounds interesting.
A great history. I started watching from the US. Now from the Philippines
🙂
People local to you would leanrn so much from courses. I would buy your book for sure
😁
Thanks
🙂
Good video.
Thanks!
Bruce, can I request a session on correctly using and looking after tools? I particularly enjoy cooking your vegetables and then eating them while watching your latest video!
Cool, not many people are able to do that!
Sounds good. Your life is very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed the autobiography
Would you still do a RED gardens project if you were still in Canada instead of Ireland?
Does it count if this Canadian basically just follows what he does here? 😅
Ooooh, that is a good question. In a way this project feels like it would have been inevitable regardless of context. But I know that so many of the steps and ideas that led here were very random and dependent on the context, and if I had stayed in Canada, I probably would have ended up being quite a different person, doing something very different.
@@QuantumLeap11 RED Gardens by proxy!
Very beautiful ❤️
Thank you! 😊
Good luck
Architect you say? Interesting, you have more the approach of an engineer I think - maybe you are/were one of those rare architects where function is more important than form? :o :)
Nice to hear that you were able to appreciate your uprooting and the years in Africa and Asia. Can't say the same for myself; I never "outgrew" the "being an outsider" after we came back to my homeland (although my brother did)
Yeah, probably would have made a better engineer, but I really value my architectural education.
Those uprooting episodes can be so rich with experiences, and so disorientating!
Thanks for the video. I have always wondered about your background/life. Just didn't want to be rude!
I feel the same about some of the other CZcamsrs I watch, so though there would be some interest in my background!
thank you for the background of your journey that brought you to where you are today. It was most fascinating to learn a bit about you. looking forward to following this series. Also I am wondering where the name of your project came from. Is your last name (or first) Red? Do you have (had) red hair? ;) Your favorite dog or pet named Red?
Again, thank you for all the info you bring to us. well done. :)
RED = Research Education Development
I meant to include that in the video, but forgot.
@@REDGardens well that make complete sense. :) thank you.
Hi Bruce, I am growing food over 20 years in Kilkenny and still struggle with seed germination, I try different seed companies etc. would love to do a course sometime with you, we’ve met over the years first time at the permaculture gathering 🌱
Hey John! Seed germination can be tricky, and I am not impressed with a lot of the seed suppliers in Ireland. A lot of the seed seems to be old. I get a lot of my seed from a larger company in Germany (Bingenheimer) that also sells to farmers, and their seeds seem to be a lot better.
Hey hey hey!! Bruce where you been?!! Time for a new upload my guy.
Yeah, I know, been busy, and on holiday! Working on one now. Hope to get it uploaded this evening.
@@REDGardens my man! I'll keep an eye out. Reporting in from Colorado in the US love your channel
Really enjoyed this video!
🙂
yeay! Fab to get an overview. Thanks
Glad you liked this first part.
😊👌
I was the guy in the manu shirt in the eco village
Hey, thanks for commenting!!!
✌️😎
👍
13:38 how do people usually harvest these faster? Any small equipment to help or just going straight up to a tractor or combine size machine? How does the supermarket get so many legumes shelled so fast sold to them?
Good question. I don't know of anything between the hand picking and the combine.
👍 🥦🥕🍅
👍
Hi there, I got an idea for a future trial:
One is regularly told that young plants, who got nurtured in-house (for example on the windowsill), before getting planted in the soil outside, are required to be hardened. The latest advise I found has even been very specific: three days in the shade, followed by a week unter an umbrella and finally into the open sun/the bed.
Honestly, I really wonder if this really makes such a big difference (though I can imagine so in case the plants were grown in the basement under artificial light).
Does this sound like something you may want to look into one day?
I have often wondered what kind of ‘hardening off’ is needed, if any. Would be interesting to explore.
Have you considered growing Zucchini vertically.
I have triad that a few times, with some success last year with a crop in one of the polytunnels.
You never said what brought you to Ireland, when people make a move like that there it's usually for a relationship or work. Why is it called Red Gardens? Interesting to hear your story nonetheless.
An Irish woman brought me home with her, and I stayed ... and still with her.
RED = Research Education Development
It had to be one of the two 😊 All the best for this years growing season, at least it's been mild with no frost so far, albeit continuing to be very wet.
I am disappointed your name is Bruce and not Earthworm Jim
Haha ... I'll stick with Bruce!
Just keep at it. You are very good at explaining growing plants. Your food looks great. I hope you have good luck 🤞🏽.🍀🍀🍀🍀🌹🌹🌹🌹🍀🍀🍀🍀🍓🍓🍓🍓🍀🍀🍀🍀🌹🌹🌹🌹🍀🍀🍀🍀🍓🍓🍓🍓🍀🍀🍀🍀🍒🍒🍒🍒🍀🍀🍀🍀🫀🫀🫀🫀🍀🍀🍀🍀
🙂