Ruth Stout Gardening Method

I wanted to share a quick look at a gardening method known as “The Ruth Stout Gardening Method” and show you some pictures of how I do a modified version of it. Some folks really enjoy structured gardening, and some prefer a bit of chaos and I’m some exhausted version in the middle. Ruth’s method is very simple and laid back as you’ll see in the video below.

Unfortunately, while there are some gardeners/farmers who are well known, Ruth isn’t as well known since she passed away back in 1980, and I wanted to high light some of her books and post any videos that I could to help you learn about her.

The one thing that I don’t do with my beds is use hay, there have been more than a few gardeners who have lost crops due to Grazon contamination. You aren’t safe if you just avoid using hay either, due to the fact that Grazon can survive digestion, so you must be very careful if you use compost to inquire about any possible exposure. Once my seedlings get big enough, I just rake up some dead leaves and sprinkle around the plants once they get to a decent height.

Books –

The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book (Linkage)

Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, The Busy, and the Indolent (Linkage)

How To Have A Green Thumb Without An Aching Back (Linkage)

Video –

Interview & Garden Tour w/ Ruth Stout (Linkage)

Wiki Bio (Linkage)

Due to us living in Florida, every year they prepare for hurricane season a few months in advance and go through neighborhoods cutting down any tree branches near power lines. So, we stop them and have them drop a few loads at our home, then I use the mulch as the border for the bed and during the season it will naturally break down and be returned to the soil. I’ll run twine around the poles when the peppers and tomatoes get big enough to need some stability but for now, they are just babies.