Thank you for the video, will use this! Do you have any thoughts on syntropic methods, using ideas of natural succession? I'm a very science based and sceptical person, but especially for poorly developed soils I see value in growing a lot of pioneer species at the start (here alder, poplar, willow, even hazel) to get a lot of bio-mass and offer shelter for other plants to grow. Of course for a cold climate you have to be more careful with shading out, so it would need a lot of cutting back.
Thanks for watching! I don't have personal experience with syntropic methods but it's definitely worth trying. However, I'd have a few hesitations. First, there is the shading that you mentioned, I'd probably just use shrubs rather than trees (we were lucky because the whole back of our yard was already bordered by a well-established Siberian pea shrub hedge (a nitrogen fixer so I think that helped alot, not only with creating a microclimate but also with soil-buildind). There is also the fact that those nurse trees grow so much slower than trees in the tropics, even though some of them might be considered 'fast growers'. In addition, in colder climates, I feel like the breakdown of woody materials is so much slower that it makes establishment even longer. I used the sheet mulching method to build soil and brought in yards and yards of wood chip, manure, compost etc. from mostly free sources so that's how I 'sped up' establishment. I also seeded with clover and grew a bunch of comfrey in the forest. But it's definitely worth experimenting with. Do you know of any good syntropic examples in cold climates?
@@BrokenGround I don't know that much about all the food forests around here (still learning), but I visited one (De Park in Elst, the Netherlands) and spoke to the "manager". He told me they started on almost pure clay and a lot of plants wouldn't grow well, so they used alder trees. From my own experience I know that hazel and willow kan grow more than 2m in a year here, from the ground, so that would create quite some biomass. I've also seen videos from Edibleacres, with an intersting philosophy: grow lots of plants, some don't make it or have to wait for other plants to die, and you can steer it by cutting back. A lot of plants will be unproductive, but the system as a whole can be very productive. It would require propagating a lot yourself, so you don't feel bad cutting something back if it casts to much shade. You are "wasting" a lot of plants, but that doesn't matter if you propagate them for free, and it has the advantages of more biomass and always something waiting in line as soon as another plant dies (like a pawpaw seedling slowly growing underneath a shortlived peach tree).
@@sjoerdmhh Very interesting, thanks for sharing! I would say that syntropic methods might be more effective and efficient in a temperate climate with more rain than we have. So that's definitely a consideration. Quick search says that the Netherlands, on average, gets about 34 inches of rain per year and is a much milder climate than ours. Whereas we only get 16 inches so moisture and therefore breakdown are a lot slower. But again, it doesn't mean that it won't work in our cold, dry climate, the timeline just might be a lot longer.
Yes! Absolutely! Check out the tour of my food forest here: ua-cam.com/video/T4gSnSlKGZI/v-deo.html I grow apples, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries, honeyberries, currants and more! It is totally possible. You can get my guide if you need more support!
Thanks, as always, for the inspiration you provide to those of us who are climate-challenged. Always appreciate your common sense!
You're welcome! Thanks so much for watching!!
Excellent information! I'll definitely come back to this when I start to plant my orchard. Thank you.
Glad this was helpful for you! Thanks so much for watching!
Thank you for the video, will use this! Do you have any thoughts on syntropic methods, using ideas of natural succession? I'm a very science based and sceptical person, but especially for poorly developed soils I see value in growing a lot of pioneer species at the start (here alder, poplar, willow, even hazel) to get a lot of bio-mass and offer shelter for other plants to grow. Of course for a cold climate you have to be more careful with shading out, so it would need a lot of cutting back.
Thanks for watching! I don't have personal experience with syntropic methods but it's definitely worth trying. However, I'd have a few hesitations. First, there is the shading that you mentioned, I'd probably just use shrubs rather than trees (we were lucky because the whole back of our yard was already bordered by a well-established Siberian pea shrub hedge (a nitrogen fixer so I think that helped alot, not only with creating a microclimate but also with soil-buildind). There is also the fact that those nurse trees grow so much slower than trees in the tropics, even though some of them might be considered 'fast growers'. In addition, in colder climates, I feel like the breakdown of woody materials is so much slower that it makes establishment even longer. I used the sheet mulching method to build soil and brought in yards and yards of wood chip, manure, compost etc. from mostly free sources so that's how I 'sped up' establishment. I also seeded with clover and grew a bunch of comfrey in the forest. But it's definitely worth experimenting with. Do you know of any good syntropic examples in cold climates?
@@BrokenGround I don't know that much about all the food forests around here (still learning), but I visited one (De Park in Elst, the Netherlands) and spoke to the "manager". He told me they started on almost pure clay and a lot of plants wouldn't grow well, so they used alder trees. From my own experience I know that hazel and willow kan grow more than 2m in a year here, from the ground, so that would create quite some biomass. I've also seen videos from Edibleacres, with an intersting philosophy: grow lots of plants, some don't make it or have to wait for other plants to die, and you can steer it by cutting back. A lot of plants will be unproductive, but the system as a whole can be very productive. It would require propagating a lot yourself, so you don't feel bad cutting something back if it casts to much shade. You are "wasting" a lot of plants, but that doesn't matter if you propagate them for free, and it has the advantages of more biomass and always something waiting in line as soon as another plant dies (like a pawpaw seedling slowly growing underneath a shortlived peach tree).
@@sjoerdmhh Very interesting, thanks for sharing! I would say that syntropic methods might be more effective and efficient in a temperate climate with more rain than we have. So that's definitely a consideration. Quick search says that the Netherlands, on average, gets about 34 inches of rain per year and is a much milder climate than ours. Whereas we only get 16 inches so moisture and therefore breakdown are a lot slower. But again, it doesn't mean that it won't work in our cold, dry climate, the timeline just might be a lot longer.
Can I actually grow fruit in Montana
Yes! Absolutely! Check out the tour of my food forest here: ua-cam.com/video/T4gSnSlKGZI/v-deo.html I grow apples, pears, plums, strawberries, raspberries, honeyberries, currants and more! It is totally possible. You can get my guide if you need more support!