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Illia, cardboard is excellent for covering raised beds, it encourages earthworms who will break down the soil for you The star you made is incredible !

I would take a stroll through the cow pasture that's next door. I would take the wheelbarrow and a pitch fork along, too. If any cow poop would end up in the wheel barrow put it in your raised beds.

Great job on the Hugelkultur! Raised beds: in my area, we put a layer of wire mesh under the bed to keep out digging rodents. If we don't, gophers and others will dig up from underneath and eat the roots off the vegetables. Hope you do not have digging rodents in your area!

Love the volume on this one. Usually I have to turn my volume on max only to hear you quietly. This was great! I love everything you guys do. Great opening too with the "Hunter" 😂

Nacre is mother-of-pearl, in case anyone else was confused too. I had never heard that word before. You are so motivated! Great projects! I love learning how to build.

Hoeve: hardest working couple ever. May all your labors produce dividends!!

Your star is brilliant! What a surprise when you put it up at the end of the video. My dad and I lived 50' from a lake and it always flooded. We put up raised beds and were able to grow delicious vegetables after that.

Be careful with the raw sawdust in the beds...non-composted shavings will draw a lot of nitrogen out of the soil you put on top. Hopefully it will compost down a bit by spring in that context, but there may not be enough heat through the winter for that, Nice project!

Illia and Marina, you both constantly do better than before! The raised beds, the tiny home, and especially thinking outside the box when you run into an issue. You amaze me with your attention to details, something that would not happen if you had hired people to renovate your farm. Much love kiddos! ❤

Great job Illia building all the planter boxes, looking fantastic. Great use if waste products , dont forget to add ash to all boxes .. with layer composting soil, helps add potassium etc.😅 OMG THE STAR IS A WONDERFUL SIGHT FOR ALL TO SEE 😊❤

All that vegetation that you cut can be thrown into a compost pile as long as they don’t have seeds. That space will make a great garden. That’s an incredible star on that tree. ⭐️🌲

Back in the 1950's my mother used to take round florist styrofoam balls, poke tooth picks into the balls, paint them silver and gold then sprinkle each with gold and silver glitter. After they dried, she would poke them into the ceiling in our front room. We had an aluminum Christmas with a rotating light behind it. The light shone red, blue, green and yellow. The light reflected off of those crazy and dangerous balls on the ceiling! 😂😂😂 Funny your making those ornaments reminded me of Christmas long ago!

The Star on the tree is wonderful!! 🥰🥰🙏🙏 Doing the raised beds was a great idea! 😊 Love your vlogs, watching you two trade smiles is... comforting 😊❤❤ Stay warm!! 😁

Wow! With these raised beds you can provide the whole village with vegetables! 😊 Very well done! And the star looks amazing! Is there anything Ilia cannot do?? Have a nice cozy wintertime - see you hopefully next week. 😊

You are so gifted…green thumbs, tech brains, craftsman hands…🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

You need more than a 'LIKE' for this one! ❤❤❤

That star is phenomenal! Those raised beds will be wonderful when the spring thaw comes!

For your raised beds, you need to add L brackets either on the inside or the outside of the corners to keep the dirt from breaking the boxes apart over time. I made the mistake of making them the way you did and mine have pushed apart over time; this is something to seriously consider. Remember to plant your garlic before winter. The raised beds look really nice. Your star is absolutely gorgeous in that tree, well done!

FYI you need bracing in the middle of to prevent blowouts the pressure from the roots and time

Raised beds are unique structures!😊 Large star is spectacular!🎉🎉 Plan for meadow is very Earth friendly! ❤❤❤ Even snow early!❤🎉😊

Hahahaha LOVE the creative ways Illia says "like and subscribe"!

Amazing star and very ambitious veggie garden. Your perseverance is inspiring 👏👏👏

What a beautiful star to top that giant tree! As kids, my sister and I used to gather pheasant feathers in the woods to decorate our room. Glad to see you set up your beds in south facing direction. You could grow a few rows of corn behind them then create your fruit garden/orchard behind that! Hope you will mix in a lot of manure in those beds to break down over winter. Love watching you guys create your beautiful homestead!

You build wonderful planting boxes!! I was very nervous watching you climb the ladder into the tree, but glad you made it safely. The star is beautiful!!!!

Love seeing the father daughter projects. And I love how you save and reuse 👏

Wow the star looks incredible! And you are going to have such a fruitful garden next year!!

Do not forget to put a lot of calcium in the soil. Otherwise, tomatoes rot and vegetables in general suffer from a lack of calcium. Pour clean wood ash or eggshells into the beds. You will certainly have much better and better quality crops after adding calcium to the soil.

Illia, fantastic job on the raised beds! Good that you filled them with eco waste from the field and sawdust from wood projects. Yes, do brace up the outside corners to prevent bulge and breakage.👍 Marina, it was lovely to see one last stem of pink Cosmos flower in full bloom...in December!🤗❤

The star is amazing! I'm sure people in the community love it as well. The raise beds look great. That was a lot of work.

A welcome break from working on the house. And it is good to use up that wood! Love that star!

Beautiful star the raised beds look great

You two are amazing. Love the raised beds . When he started to climb up the ladder against the tree I did honestly think WTAF are they doing now but when the simple beautiful star lit up it was magical ❤❤❤

Inspired treetop star!!! I must admit when you produced the "polystyrene cube with pencils stuck into it I was unimpressed. Fair play to you .......

Well done, Ilia! We bought some discarded potato crates from a farmer on eBay and refurbished them for our own use. We can always harvest a lot in summer, especially radishes, spring onions, herbs, melons, salad and much more. A raised bed is so convenient!

Love the star! Beautiful and so clever. Well done for working through the snow. 😘

The raised boxes are looking great. It will be nice to be able to attend to plants without getting down on the ground. Wishing you the best of success with this project I love the star on the tree 😊

The raised beds are wonderful, I have used mine for many years, I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

Молодцы, ребята! Шикарная звезда! Вы оч классная семья. Удачи вам!

Your cat is sure having a great time on her new property. Does Anneke still come around? Do they get along? What a great use of your extra materials. I love that you are very eco conscience. Merry Christmas.🎄🎄

Вау! Не ожидала, что звезда там будет, сначала подумала, что просто у дома поставите. Очень круто вышло! Жду ваши видео всегда с нетерпением. Утром под кофеёк просто идеально!

Your star is a brilliant idea and looks fantastic! The garden beds are equally brilliant…you will be able to feed an army..well done.

We do this kind of gardening now for 30 years and had to rebuild the wood every 10 years.

Beautiful star. How did you attach it to the tree? With the wind and blowing snow. I bet you can see it for miles. Snow letting you know to stop work. But not Illia. You created Hugelkultur garden beds. Great growing method. Planting will be a joy. Go inside and get warm. Have a great week.

Oh you two are adorable! This is a good way to get your biowaste composted quicker by putting them in smaller batches and mixing the layers.

Oh Marina and Ilia! The star on the tree.... it's beautiful!

Hi guys when you do something you do it right marvelous raised bed , I did just tree of those cause I am 67 and it is my first gardening experience and I put a lot of horse manure you should be able to find some in Belgium lol keep the good work and stay warm

Great job with the raised beds. You have space for a lot of plants. Good idea to use all your wood scraps, sawdust and clippings to fill the beds. The star lit up in the mist was stunning!

Awww the star on the tree looks beautiful.

Go to your neighbor and get some cow manure, Mix it with good top soil to top off your beds. Add in some peat and you will have a wonderful harvest. Like the star.

I love the Star. May you have a blessed Christmas. The raised beds are going to be another great addition!!

Winter crisp pink flowers.😍

Talk to the farmer and get some manure that been compositing for awhile. Superb addition to the raised beds. And next yer when you go to plant add some more manure. Your plants will thank you. Awesome star. Thanks for the wonderful video.

For your raised garden beds you should have dug a trench, filled it with all the plant material you cut down an then put the soil from the trench back on top. Also, the beds should be around 4 foot wide to add sufficient volume to retain moister and that will allow 2 foot of harvesting from each side.

I watched a vlog called the Best Family Homestead or Farm The owner built raised beds also. He made plant stands out of left over lumber so he could tie up tomatoes and zucchini and cucumbers. He also had a well near the beds so they were easy to water.

Illia, you did a great job with the boxes 📦, but, I especially love the star 🌟 you made from a cube of wood 🪵 and the pole you use for the garden ❤😊

Garden Tip: A layer of cardboard on the ground first, and the raised wooden frame on top of the cardboard (best way to minimize weeds coming through the soil, and the outside border of the wooden frames

Using so much green material in the bottom of the beds will make them get hot as they decompose, be aware of that and don't plant into the beds as the plants will fail as the roots will get burnt. 👍PS the star is awesome!

Awesome job, many blessings, and keep safe

Your so awesome the star on the tree is gorgeous and I love your raised bed you both have such great gardening skills thanks for sharing and just for the record your never boring love your hard work!!!

I love the star, I love the raised beds, but mostly I love your way of editing. You do a wonderful job in any way.

Goats would have that meadow down in 3 months! I found airborne seeds still invaded the raised beds so landscape cloth was necessary to keep them under control without chemicals. So happy to have another creative video from your family!

The Christmas star turned out really well! 🎄 I don't know anything about gardening, but I think the raised beds look really good! I hope that they work out. 😊

Awesome raised beds but you’ll never get any sleep in them with that big star shining all night 😲🍻

Wow the star looks beautiful ❤

Perfect dream team! 💪

I think you would benefit from a book called: Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew. It gives instructions on how to get the most from each square foot of space in the garden. I recommend the second edition as it includes raised beds. Also an other suggestion would be to learn Biodynamic Farming.

Brings so much joy to my soul to see you making raised garden boxes in December. Only a couple more months till seed planting time..STAR IS AMAZING!! MERRY CHRISTMAS

"Щедрик" Миколи Леонтовича прекрасний! Вітаємо зі святом святого Миколая!

"Oh wow, The star looks great on the tree! Much love from Oklahoma USA Jackie 🇺🇸💖

The star is absolutely stunning ❤👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 and great job on yhe raised beds!

Those leftover flowers in your wildflower area are called Cosmos. I didn't know if you knew that or not? You're raised beds look great.

No need for a gym membership to exercise when you work so hard at home. This garden will be really nice when it it done. Nice star. Your little house looks so lovely. I really like that color of the trim and the wood siding is very attractive.

Perfect episode in your life story. Thanks for sharing it with us.

The Christmas Star looks amazing!

Love the star! If you’ll take a propane tank and burn the outsides and top rails they will last a life time. Wish we’d of known this several years ago! It looks good!

Very smart build. You should have health veggies next summer. Marina is a good at advertising product. Hopefully more companies come your way with good products. Thanks for another well edited video. 👍👍👍

I was thinking the whole time where are they going to put that HUGE star. I just had to laugh when you turned it on. It's so bright! 😄 Will you have time to add some other lights to the tree? Those raised beds are amazing. Had no idea you were going to make so many. Can't wait to see what you plant in the spring time.

Wow! So beautiful, God bless ❤

Wonderful vid today x the market garden is a great step. ❤️ it

Beautiful star!!!!

What you call bio-waste we kids of farmers in the States call green-chop. I guess it's an old fashioned work or maybe just a rural word. We really like the way you made, and filled, your raised beds. You guys are so resourceful.

i have done similar boxes and have had great success , the wood rots down in time , every year i add more compost to keep the level up and rejuvenate the soil , the rotting wood raises the temperature in the beds and can extend your growing season

Wow, what a perfect spot for the star Illia made. I did not expect that at all. (I was wondering why he put the ladder by that humongous tree.) Beautiful. God bless.

I saw that tree in the background and thought how nice if it had lights, not even thinking about the star that you made at the start - great idea, and prefect location 😊

Зірка суперова! І город тепер буде раціональним і продуктивним - молодці!

I love the star you made for your tree! I can't wait for the rest!❤

Wonderful idea for a raised garden, smart.

The cow manure in your neighbor’s fields would be an excellent addition to your raised beds.

You need one of those zero radius turning lawn mowers. Not only do they look like an awesome mower, but lots of fun to operate! Lol There are many ways to build raised beds to fit the lay of the land, even on land that slopes. But how you build them and with what material will make a huge difference in how long they last. Make the raised beds deep enough to make it worth the effort and to be real raised beds. I hate to see raised beds that are only 6”-8” deep and even then only about half filled. They really need to be 2’-3’ deep to accommodate root depth of whatever you are growing. Using dense organic waste like tree trunks, limbs and branches, cut to fit in the bottom of the raised beds, then fill in with bark and wood-chips is a good way to slowly build soil in the bottom of the bed. I say slowly, because you really do not want the organic waste to decompose quickly causing the soil level above it to drop extensively during a growing season. This can cause gaps, air pockets around plant roots. Dense wood, even already starting to rot, will decompose slowly. If possible, I recommend that you stake, trellis or cage your tomato plants. Keeping them up off the ground helps a great deal in protecting a plants health, reduce produce loss, easier harvesting and keep the soil clean under the plants. If you can do the same with your pepper / chili plants, eggplants and any vining veggies, you will have better success with your produce.

Beautiful star 🤩👍

Wonderful use of saved organic materials! And a rewarding way to clean up the property!

The star looks just beautiful ❤

I am poor widow. My husband died 4,5 years ago, I hope you merry christmas and happy new year.

Good idea to put that plastic inside the boxes. We call it Platonmat in sweden. I think you could hade done the boxes wider, but not more than 1,4 m so you can reach from both sides. Brackets to hold them together is a good idea to. I would put weed fabric between the beds.

Lovely Illia love it

Good project, will copy😊

Ребята какие вы молодцы! Такие грядки удобные сделали! Подскажу малость - дерево, которое вы положили в грядки будет распространять плесень, поэтому нужно добавить микроорганизмы, которые будут очищать землю, сразу же и рыхлить и облагораживать, лучше даже чем дождевые черви, хотя эти помощники всегда нужны на огороде. Поэтому советую Байкал-ЭМ1, конечно, если есть там у вас, а может что-то похожее есть, главное живые микроорганизмы. Я на даче собираю всё, что может перегнивать, даже гнилую картошку, больные листья, ненадёжные ветки, всю ботву, какая только бывает на даче, всё абсолютно. Складываю на грядки, утаптываю и проливаю Байкалом, всё. На будущую весну отличный компост, правда, сверху подсыпаю землицы, чтобы не развеивало нужный перегной. Желаю вам успехов!

You guys are amazing!!! Merry Christmas 🎄

I love the star on the tree. Such a good idea.