Gardening is an incredible way to turn a few tiny seeds into a supply of fresh, high-quality food. You do need to invest in some supplies up front to ensure your plants will thrive. However, as one creator just demonstrated, you can gather a shocking amount of material from the world around you for free.

The scoop

Collins Country Farm (@CollinsCountry) shared a YouTube video showing an easy and completely free way to get right, high-nutrient garden soil for raised beds.

"We're at the back part of our property, in the back of the holler as we call it, and my parents are over here today, and we're getting up some of the best soil you can get out of Kentucky for their raised garden beds this year, and it's from a dead tree," she explains. "When a big massive dead tree falls and starts to decay and break down, oh my goodness, it makes the best garden soil. Let me show you."

The video shows a wooded area of the farm, where leaf litter is thick on the ground. A large, decaying tree trunk has been rolled aside, and the area has been dug up.

"So we got a lot of soil out of this last year for my raised beds, and now we're getting tons of soil for my parents," she says. "Look at how dark and rich this stuff is. Look at that! That's amazing! All this up here... My dad and I pushed over this big log and it exposed all this nice dirt underneath, and then also some more over here that my dad's digging up."

Later, the video cuts to a truck bed full of buckets of dirt. "All of these buckets are completely filled," she says. "Ten five-gallon buckets full. This soil is really dense and nutrient-rich; it's going to be great."

How it's helping

Normally, you can buy bags of soil from a garden or hardware store. You can also use the natural soil in your yard, but it may be difficult to grow anything in it if the quality is low. Amending the soil quality with fertilizer or compost takes more time and material.

By gathering soil from an area where wood has already been decomposing, you'll be able to take advantage of the naturally rich nutrients for free. Ultimately, it makes it easier than ever to grow your garden, which in turn helps you enjoy the health benefits of fresh veggies while reducing your impact on the planet.

What everyone's saying

Commenters were interested in trying this for themselves and asked for tips. 

"Does this soil require any pH adjustments?" asked one user.

When do you plan to start gardening this year? I already have 🧑‍🌾 In the next couple of weeks 🗓️ As soon as the ground thaws 🥶 Probably never 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

"Nope. It's the perfect loam," the original poster replied.

"I'm gonna do this tomorrow," said another user. "Have 50 acres with a lot of downed trees from last summer winds."

"Nice! Do it," said the original poster. "It usually takes over a year for the tree to really decay but go searching! It's like a gold mine!"

Another commenter had an idea for growing even more food with the decaying wood. "I'd be making a mushroom slurry to pour around some wood," they said.

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