The Lazy Gardener’s Dream: Ruth Stout’s No-Dig Method

We are building a new home for our family, and I’m dreaming of a garden at our new place. With so much to do when you build, I’m afraid we won’t have time for a garden this year, and I can’t imagine life without a garden. So, I’ve been reading up on no-work gardening and came across the Ruth Stout gardening method. WOW! I love it!

What an amazing woman! I love her free spirit and fun personality. I just watched a video interview she had late in her life and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

She was “planting potatoes” by throwing them on the ground and then covering them with straw.  I think even I can do that while building a new home.

Here’s that Ruth Stout method video if you’d like to watch it (not the best quality, but you’ll get what she’s doing): it’s about 10 minutes and worth watching!

What Is The Ruth Stout Gardening Method?

Ruth’s gardening method might seem crazy to some, but I’ve watched enough videos of people using her methods and read enough stories that I believe it with all my heart. She doesn’t prep for planting, except for placing a thick layer of hay mulch (8-12 inches!) where she plans to plant. This suffocates weeds, holds moisture, and slowly breaks down to enrich the soil. 

I successfully used this method for my 2024 garden, so even though we’ll be busy building a new home, we can still enjoy fresh herbs and veggies from our garden.

The Ruth Stout Garden Method

No matter what you call Ruth’s method of gardening, be it no-work gardening, mulch gardening, or even lazy gardening, once you try it, you may never go back to gardening the old way. And why would you? It’s so much more fun to get all the benefits of gardening and none of the hard work.

Here’s what her method entails:

• No plowing, cultivating, weeding, watering, or spraying
• No cultivating cover crops 
• Just sow your seeds on top of the soil, use your hand to cover the seeds a bit, and that’s all.
• Or, throw potatoes on the ground and cover them with spoiled hay.

Since the hay decomposes and enriches the soil, this gardening method will give you better and better yields as the years go by. As for fertilizer, she only used cottonseed meal. It adds a bit of nitrogen to the soil and keeps it healthy.

Books About Ruth Stout And Her Method

If you want to learn more about Ruth’s way of gardening (and living), there are a few must-have books. Take a peek below. I just got a couple of them myself. This woman is fascinating!

• How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back: A New Method of Mulch Gardening
• The Whole Ruth: A Biography of Ruth Stout
• The Ruth Stout No Work Garden Book: Secrets of the Famous Year-Round Mulch Method
• Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy, and the Indolent
• The Ruth Stout No-Work Garden Book

Proof That The Ruth Stout Gardening Method Works

I love this gardening method, and it almost seems too good to be true, so I decided to go to YouTube and see if anyone had any proof from their own garden.

I found lots and lots of videos. I’m just including one here, but you can check and see for yourself. Now, I can’t wait for spring to do it again! I will personally be focusing on the seven easiest vegetables to plant this spring.

Read more

Lasagna Gardening Method For Weed Control

The 10 Easiest Vegetables to Grow from Seed (Even for Beginners)