Author: This backyard garden idea, the back to eden gardening method, is the perfect garden for first time gardeners! No weeding, no watering, just a high yield organic garden!
The Back to Eden gardening method is a way to garden that recreates natures intended growing environment. It also meant that with just 2 hours of bed prep and planting time, we yielded over 1500 pounds of food in the fall! All without any watering or weeding!
In 2016 we lost our jobs, started making real money blogging, and moved to the country. It was a dream come true and we were thrilled to finally be working towards a real homestead!
Of course a big part of that dream was the ability to grow our own food. So we started researching just what kind of garden we wanted to have. I’ll admit when I first heard about the Back to Eden gardening method I had two thoughts…
1. This sounds perfect! No weeding, no tilling the soil, and no watering?? I’m in!
2. Wait, I live in Texas. It’s hot here. This will never work.
And oh friends let me tell you, only one of those thoughts turned out to be true.
What is the Back to Eden Gardening Method?
I would just say “it’s magic” and leave it at that… because that’s totally true… but you probably need more information than that ;-)
Basically the Back to Eden gardening method is all about recreating the environment in which plants already thrive in nature.
For example: if you have some wild berry bushes that you harvest every year, you probably aren’t going out and watering every day and weeding around the plants right? And yet the plants grow and produce berries every year.
Likewise, our huge fig tree produces 100s of pounds of figs every year without a single inch of water or help from us at all? How?
Well, they are growing as God intended them to grow, by using the resources that they should have as provided by Him; ground covering to protect the soil quality and water from rain. That’s all they need.
But, since we are not 100% foragers at this stage of the game, we need a way to recreate those resources when and where we need them for the plants that we want to grow.
And that’s what the Back to Eden method is all about.
>> Do you know when to plant pumpkins for a Halloween and Thanksgiving harvest?
Setting Up a Back to Eden Garden
When I tell you about how simple this is, you’ll likely think me insane. I’m not, I promise! Just wait till you see our results at the end of the post!
Steps for Putting in a Back to Eden Garden Bed
Step One
Decide where to put your bed. You can do it where you have an existing bed, or you can do it where there is grass, dirt, rocks, or whatever. You don’t have to till up the soil for this method.
Step Two
(optional, but recommended) Cover the ground with newspaper. Make sure there are no gaps as weeds/grass will make their way up through any gaps. Cover with at least 3 sheets over the whole space.
We did this the first time but have since found that if we cover the ground with at least 6 inches of wood chips in step 4 then we don’t have anything coming up through.
We contacted our local newspaper and were able to get about 100 old papers for free which covered the whole space!
Step Three
Cover the spot with 3-4 inches of compost (we bought organic mushroom compost that also had composted chicken poop in there too. It was $3 a ton and we used 1 ton). Make sure whatever you get contains nothing you would object to your food growing in…
Note: We get our mushroom compost from a local mushroom farm with locations nationwide (Monterey Mushroom). However, if you don’t have access to a supplier in your area, you can make your own real mushroom compost OR make your own mock mushroom compost!
How to make real or mock mushroom compost!
Step Four
Cover the compost with 4-6 inches (6 inches is best) of wood chips. Be very careful about what you get for this step!
You don’t want lumber chips from treated lumber, and you don’t want wood chips that have been composted and are very small. You need the results of entire trees with their branches, bark, and leaves included being put through a chipper.
We found ours through the city dump. They take care of all the trees in our area that are cut down during construction or road work.
It was dark brown, had large chips 2-3 inches long throughout, and only cost $8 a ton! We used 2 tons for our 15×20 garden spot.
Step Five
Start planting! We scraped back the top layer of wood chips and planted about 1-2 inches deep. If you want to prep the beds early and let them rest for a full season, then the soil will be amazingly rich when you go to plant!
We didn’t want to wait so we planted the same day we finished the beds!
This is the automated tool we use for seed starting. That way we know exactly when to plant by variety and how long we’re going to have to wait for germination!
It’s completely customizable for your area, just enter the last frost date and the tool will do the rest! And, it’s free if you want to grab it!
Review of The Back to Eden Gardening Method
So, like I said at the beginning, I had two thoughts when I first heard about this concept…
First, that it was awesome and I wanted to start as soon as possible! And then second, that there was no way it would work for us in Texas where the temperatures reach 113 in the shade and rainfall is few and far between during certain times of the year.
But one I realized that Texas provides enough rain for all our native food producing plants I decided to give it a try. And I’m so glad I did! This one 15×20 garden gave us over 300 1500 pounds of food without a single drop of water from us, and when temperatures were well into the 100s!
RELATED: Common Gardening Terms Explained!
I’d say the proof is in the produce with this one… check out all this food! And this was just the tip of what was harvested!
When all was said and done, we had 1500 pounds of food that we brought into our home and either canned, froze, or ate fresh. About 25 pounds went to the chickens every 3 days above and beyond that!
>> Get the COMPLETE Guide to Back to Eden Gardening NOW!
Tips for Success with Back to Eden Gardening
Since we have a few seasons under our belts now there are a few things we’ve learned that make prepping the beds and planting even easier.
Tip One
Don’t take more than a few days to finish the beds. So start small and make sure you can finish the area in no more than a day or two. You don’t want the paper to fly away, or the compost to dry out.
Tip Two
Finish your beds about 2 days before a good rain. This will help solidify the bed and will get everything prepped for planting.
Tip Three
Don’t agonize over perfection. Likely you will not have the perfect 4-6 inches of coverage over the whole bed. That’s ok! If it’s 3 inches here and 7 inches there, it really is fine! Just get it done and move on.
Tip Four
Be careful as you mow around the beds. Make sure that you aren’t throwing grass seeds into the beds when you mow by mowing with the side that throws the grass positioned away from the garden.
While this method keeps weeds and grass from growing up through the compost and mulch it’s great for planting in, so those seeds will take root and you will have to weed! Avoid that!
Tip Five
This is a learning process. Take it easy on yourself and keep at it. This method is the most amazing gardening method I have ever seen, it’s worth it to keep trying. Even in Texas :-)
Tip Six
Make sure you have good seeds to begin with; we like to use seeds that are heirloom, non-GMO. This is because we want to be sure we can harvest seeds from our crops and use them again the next year, without worrying whether or not they will produce food (and not just plants without produce!).
Ultimately, the Back to Eden Gardening method is perfect for anyone who wants to grow their own food without the hassle of weeding or watering all the time. Start your food freedom journey today!
Get the Complete Guide for Starting and Perfecting Your Back to Eden Garden Today!
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Hi! You’ve shared a lot of good information. Thank you. Back to Eden garden is easy to start as soon as possible. I like the new method.
Thank you
I have a question. My understanding would be that wood chips make the soil acidic. Do I need to add lime to the soil/ or wood chips to help them decompose? I am having a hard time understanding this concept. I’m new to this whole thing, any tips are greatly appreciated.
Hi Conrad! The wood chips and bugs in the soil do all the work to make the soil the proper PH, so you don’t have to add anything! If you’re worried about it in your area, you can wait a full season before planting to give the bugs time to break everything down :-) Hope that helps!
Is there any way I could contact you and talk to you in person? My phone number is (removed by admin). Do you have other suggestions where I can go for advice?
Hi Conrad, I’m far from an expert, so I don’t think I’d have much to share beyond what’s already in this post. However, the Back to Eden video was a great resource for me! You can get it here.
You can also write letters to the pioneer of the method, Paul Gautschi. He responds to every letter he receives. Pretty cool! I hope that helps!
Paul Gautschi says in his Back to Eden film that he began with a large pile of wood chips that he let decompose for a while before using as a covering. He didn’t want too much acid, as well. Pine chips would have more acid, probably, than most wood types. I started right out with whatever kind of chips I used (I have no idea what they were made of), I didn’t let them decompose. I started with six inches, as advised, and my first growing season and subsequent seasons have not seemed to suffer any ill effects to plants or produce. A lot of people don’t understand the “covering” principle. It comes directly out of the Bible.
I’ve found this exact thing to be true too! I didn’t want to wait for them to decompose so we “risked it” and got 300 pounds out of a late fall garden <3
I love gardening the way God intended!
Hi! We are about to move out to 6 acres and I wanted to start a garden but have no idea where to start. This seems almost too good to be true and sounds so easy that I could possibly get a garden started right away! What do you plant in your garden (does it matter?) and how much? Does it matter if you mix fruits and veggies?
Hi Nicole! Yes, this is the perfect method for new gardeners!! We planted all sorts of veggies in our garden, and also created a separate orchard and vineyard with it too… so you can grow anything you want!
I would keep in mind “companion gardening” when planting though, so you don’t have plants that hate each other side by side.
So to plant do you move the wood chips and then put them back and cover the seed? Also did you water the plants? Lastly, did you test the soil for anything (ph level, or anything like that) ?
I am in Texas as well and am curious
Hi Michael – Yep! Step 5 talks about exactly how we do that to plant the seeds.
Then for watering, we planted right after a big rain, as mentioned in Tip Two, but if that doesn’t line up for you when you need to plan, just give the ground a good soaking.
Last summer we ended up watering twice and that was it. Even here in South Central Texas! Good luck!
Great that’s so helpful!!
And you just used straight compost? No planting soil?
So after you have established your BtE garden plot, what do you do each year since the initial layers are already there? Do you do another repeat of all the layers? I’m just thinking of my raised garden beds and how that will eventually start spilling over the sides as I build it up each year. I would love to know how you maintain and refresh them each year. Thanks!!
Hi Heather!
Great question! I keep meaning to write a follow up post for maintaining BtE gardens after the first year.
So, you actually lose a lot of height each season. We have a few raised beds that have been BtE for about 3 years now and they are no higher than they were when we started, even adding additional mulch each year.
What we do to maintain is add about 2-3 inches of mulch and on top of that a light dusting of composted chicken poop!
If you find that your beds are starting to get too high, you can remove some of the dirt and move it to a new bed or some containers for potted gardening. Do this before you add the new mulch layer and compost :-)
Hope that helps!