I'm here 5 years after this vid was made. I decided to binge watch your content because it's all so helpful for me and my husband. These older videos are still sooooo good, but you're much more outwardly enthusiastic now. Maybe it's gained confidence with speaking on camera...maybe it's happiness that you live in such a beautiful food forest. Either way, so many people are grateful that you're here.
I was listening without qatching and this popped up in my auto play. I could tell without checking this was an older video. Your energy is so high now. Keep up the good work.
@@thebird135 i have a very weak heart and i need to skip the intros because they give me a very bad startle and my doctor said one more big one and im done. it's a shame because james is so kind but sometimes he scares very badly and i make (accident, number #2 in pants) but i know he means well and is a good boy. just scary.
You really seem like a good human; like how God wants us to be. Good to the Earth, good to animals, to to people. That sounds weird maybe, but watching you in your forest makes me think of how the first profession/love God wanted us to have was for nature.
This IS how we worship Allah (God) but we have lost our way. May this brother keep shining the light of God. I am so glad Allah brought me to this brother today, just what I was praying for. Like minded believers......
The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni Speading chips as we speak, just got the guys working on the powerlines to dump a load of chips. Looks like a nice mix of branches from pine, cherry, and box elder. I have some black walnut trees they needed to trim so I told them to just point the shredder towards my yard so it would spray all over the yard but they looked at me like i was smoking crack, said the walnut would kill my garden... even though my garden is covered in peaches, apples, black walnut hulls and woodchips already and ive seen nothing but positive results.
Kudos for the video content! Sorry for butting in, I would love your thoughts. Have you ever tried - Parlandealey Impetigo Goodbye Process (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now)? It is a good one off product for finding some amazing landscaping designs for your home minus the normal expense. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my work buddy at very last got excellent success with it.
Dude!!! I'm subscribing. Why? Because you're the first person to say, "dust to dust" in reference to what kind of wood chips. You, Sir, are an altruistic genius, and I agree and relate to those types of folks. That is not saying that I am one. Shalom
If there is a costco in your area.. you can ask for "Slip sheets" which are just large squares 48" x 40" (i believe, the same size as a pallet board) of cardboard used to slip inbetween levels of product, so they have plenty.... easy to overlap
I'm in Australia and have started an urban food forest garden not long ago, I'm really looking forward to seeing this develop. I'm using newspaper to smother the grass piled up with rabbit manure, hay and woodchips. Fortunately Ive found a rabbit breeder who always has big bags of that to give away.
James, it was such a god send to find your channel - sound advice based on evidence and you clearly study and understand the science and the biology of the plants you talk about. Unfortunately there is so much mambo jumbo talked about gardening so channels like your deserve to get the recognition. Regards Julian from Scotland
Watching this from UK, I wish to thank you for this. You are an inspiration. I have actually watched almost all of your new ones and catching up on the old ones. This is my first year and I have learnt so much from you. I have grown or attempted to grow food from my heart ! I feel like I can relate to you as one of us and a genuine human being who wishes to spread the learning , joy and goodness. Thank you so much.
Videos like this are so important for improving the environment, and the world in so many ways! I love your channel. I have a pretty established front and backyard food forest. It’s fun to see others;)
James, I love your channel and energy. I watch your channel regularly and would love for you to create a new version of this video with your growth as a cultivator. Do you have a course you teach? With rising food prices and the importance of personal independence I feel your wisdom is some of the most valuable information out there. Thanks for the change in human consciousness that you have sparked! All the love to you and your’s.
I have three acres and bit off more than I can chew! I put cardboard down when I have it or I use the contractor paper. I've started planting in trios with a nitrogen fixer matched with a fruit tree. I'm splitting and using a lot of comfrey. I suggest starting in a small area and getting it going and then moving out. Ten yards of chips this weekend, nowhere near enough. I'm still in the initial stages but I can see it will get easier.
I run your videos on my big tv with surround and every time you give me a good idea I run outside to my garden,we all need your positive influences in our lives ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
We have poor sandy soil upper midwest US zone 4 and suffocated all the grass inside our large fenced in garden over three seasons starting mostly in the fall using clean cardboard from recycle dumpsters. We needed lots of cardboard, it was free and worked very well. We wet it using the rain water we collected, topped it with compost leaves grass clippings and any other amendments we had left over in the garage and finally wood chips. I could not believe the worms we got the first spring. We get nice yields so far and have only been at this since fall 2016. Summer of 2018 I saw different mushrooms growing and that fibrous web gardeners hope to get in their gardens. We look forward to adding more garden space wherever we can find it. The focus for 2019 is medicinal herbs, a couple fruiting trees and elderberry shrubs. I love your approach to gardening. Keep em coming! TFS 😀
This is great information, now I just need to convince my daughter that this is the way to go. She would just as soon send everything off to the recycle center whereas I believe that what is in my garden stays in my garden as mulch or compost. Somewhere there has to be a happy medium right!
Yup there is. One thing I have found is if you can make it look beautiful and organized people are more wiling to adopt it. Mine is a little more scattered but this coming year I will plant more flowers as bordering plants around the food forest to make it more inviting. When people see how beautifully things grow in it, they are more inclined to adopt it I believe. Be patient though and maybe just try it out in a small spot at first and see what kind of results you get 😄
Thank you James, I already have some beautiful dark purple salvia and wine red bee balm I intend to put at the end of the bed with the asparagus and rhubarb to bring n the pollinators. That's the "perennial" bed. Second bed will be for root crops, tomatoes, and peppers. Next 3 years it's going to be difficult not to harvest any asparagus but it will be worth it. That bed will also be bordered with alpine strawberries (ever-bearing). Yumm!
I am completely new to gardening and I started getting addicted into it. love your videos buddy, keep it up.. I am learning so much from you. starting in a small way with veges and after successful stint gonna buy a big land to start food forest
I look forward to starting my own forest garden next year. Thank you for this detailed information on how to start one. I've always felt grass was a waste of space.
Your helper is doing a great job of holding the cardboard down. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and making it easy for everyone to understand. Keep them coming....
Great info on types of wood chips and when to lay them. I have clay soil in the high mountain desert, so the info about prepping clay soil was especially helpful
I'm jumping in a bit late, for feeding the soil. I've got an area in my yard that's ready. The grass is all dead cause there was siding laying on top of it all winter...now I just gotta get the mulch and contact paper to put there before I start the gardening itself. So happy you're here to help us greenhorns!
I never had access to woodchips, so for years, i used newspaper for mulch, topped with grass clippings from my huge yard and leaves from all the trees (except the nearby black walnuts!). The first time I ever heard of this was from Fred Wiche, the local tv Weekend Gardener. He said it was a great way to start a garden with little or no tilling...folks thought he was just a wee bit nutz, but I was convinced to give it a try. I had neighbors who did not use chemicals on their yards so their grass clippings and trees were free of chemicals. they were also very happy to dump onto my compost piles. they didn't mind giving up their newspapers either... but after they saw how much success i had with my small 15x25 garden, they started using their newspapers for their own small gardens. LOL another thing I did was ask one of my neighbors for the water out of their freshwater fish tanks. Like you I started my no till garden in the early fall with a heavy layer of newspapers, some fresh and some composted grass and leaves and soaked it all down with about 30 gallons of "fishy water". The first garden of simple tomatoes, beans, beets, carrots, peppers, and squash was surprisingly bountiful. The second year, that little garden took off like a rocket. I had half a bushel of Thai peppers... I was giving the dried peppers from 4 plants away. LOL My biggest success was I grew something no one thinks to grow here, because they almost always fail, honeydew melons. I had two successful plants that sat about six fruit. I was overjoyed. I did something else. I planted a tiny 6x4 sacrifice garden. I just broadcast a handful of seed, sprinkled it with compost, and let it go. did nothing to it. no water, no attention at all. Because the plants were stressed they drew away harmful bugs and pests from the main garden. I did, however, end up with a zucchini the size of a junior-sized baseball bat and just about had hard. LOL
I am pretty keen on doing gardening when I get old. Harvesting fruit and vegetable in my own garden makes me happy and is also a delightful job. I want to grow plants and rear livestock and feed them everyday.
What a fantastic video. I'll be watching this over and over until all this info. is permanent in my brain! I love the video at 15:04 - the happy boyish grin when you say "when you water you are feeding the plants compost tea". So obvious you love what you do. Thanks. ~Sherrie
Hi, I have been enjoying your videos. This year we were inspired by the Back to Eden garden method. This was back around the first of July. We killed the weeds and laid down chicken manure compost and then layered about 6 inches of wood chips. The woodchips were from a local farmer who didnt want them and had been sitting there for a few years, good stuff. This all was covering a 20 × 30 ft. Area. After that we thought we would let that sit till next spring. We changed our mind and decided to plant some things like squash and peppers, and okra. Everything failed. Then we thought that we made a big mistake by not adding enough soil and we started converting our area again by scraping up sections of the woodchips and laying down leaf mould, goat manure, mushroom compost and then a little wood chips on top. We have basically made 5 raised bed areas but have had to remove a lot of the wood chips and it has been a tedious process. Maybe an unnecessary one. Maybe we just needed time. What are your thoughts? We have a lot of children and would really like to grow our own food in this way. Thank you.
If a potted tree is root bound you can always wash the soil out of the roots and gently seperate them. You will have to fertilize it and heavily just outside the rootzone to get them to seek the fertility.
Thank you for this information! We have just acquired 1.2 acres of land that has been in my family for about 200 years. It was previously farmland, recently used to grow hay for catle. I am very excited about it because I've been wanting to start a food forrest garden for years since I first watched Jeff Lawton's channel and now is my chance. I like how you lay down the steps that make it seem easier and I will be following them come this fall.🙂
I think this is my most favorite video of yours so far. It is very helpful that you pointed out how many inches of mulch to add for planting annuals versus young fruit trees. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I started my garden last spring by digging up the grass and roots in a 4’x4’ section along my fence and planting flowers. I put two layers of cardboard boxes down along the rest of the fence with rocks on top to hold it in place, it killed all of the grass and weeds which softened the soil so I continued tilling by hand a section at a time down the length of the fence. By June I had a beautiful flower garden. Now I’m working on another area of my yard using the same method. I don’t like the idea of having wood chips delivered, I’ve heard that you can bring a lot of pests and diseases into your garden from others property and also chemicals which I don’t use. I love the contractors paper idea though I’m definitely going to get that but I do love recycling all of the cardboard boxes that I get when I have things delivered from Amazon. Thank you for your videos. Robbie
If you decide to go get a potted tree sand plant it in the ground. When you go to transplant it dig out your whole two times as wide and two times as deep as the container soil is best then lossen up a good amount of your potting compound and fill back in the hole until its only the depth of the container again. Pull out the tree and either take a saw and cut through each side of roots or pruning snips. Put it in the hole and fill around the root ball and some on top. Pack it in with your hands and water. The roots will take off just like if it was never potted.
Truely it is Your vids that inspired me to start my own Food Forest. So far people are drop jaw over how much I have accomplished after just 4 months. Yeah I grind and every day I go futher..
+Jennifer Prescott that’s so encouraging for me to hear!! That’s what gets me motivated, knowing that others are taking action. Thank you for being one of the few to actually take the action and get planting!! I would love to see some pictures, and follow along with your progress in the future
First, I found this video to be very informative. Keep up the good work, James! Second, this growing season, I'm using heirloom seeds and I'm using leaves, twigs and grass clippings as my ground insulator. I don't or I haven't found easy access to wood chips. So, last fall, I collected probably 70 or 80 bags of leaves, from my neighborhood, and just dumped all of this onto my garden spot. By the time I was finished, I had accumulated about 18" deep of leaves on a garden spot roughly 12 feet by 12 feet. I'm looking very forward to upcoming growing season.
As I mow this summer, I'm going to dump my collected lawn clippings onto my leaves, and if all this works out as expected, I'll be collecting more leaves this fall.
Thanks so much for providing specific information depending on your native soil type. I'm stuck with heavy orange clay, so I appreciate the info. I hope to plan out a small garden section, so thanks for helping us get the soil back to life!
Thank you for inspiring people to feed the soil. Great job, James. Just started my Fall soil preparation, laying cardboard mulch today. I cover it with untreated grass clippings and leaves. Maybe some coffee grounds. A bonus layer of Comfrey leaves. I layer this again and again. About 2-3 feet deep or until I don't have the materials any more. Ready for planting in Spring, zone 5, Wisconsin.
Your welcome. Thanks Larks. Nice, that sounds perfect! Smart to add comfrey and others things, I like that. I bet your soil is LOADED with worms come spring!!
LARK'S GARDENS I have been laying down cardboard for two months since I learned to do it. I do not see any deterioration. How will the worms get to the material???
I really like what you have achieved! I am currently (on a very tight budget) trying to turn my property into a food forest. I live in the edge of the woods and have taken down a number of trees to bring in more light. If only I had a wood chipper! lol. So far, my only fruit trees are 2 figs, 2 apples, 2 Cavendish bananas,1 blood orange, 4 Lisbon lemons from seed (10 yrs old this year), 1 wild cherry, a few wild Mulberries, and Farkleberry, the wild blueberry. I have babies started from cuttings and a few of seed. ..4 Kumquat, 1 Mandarin orange, 1 Meyer lemon, and 2 Grapefruits from seed. Still waiting to see if my peach seeds and plum seeds sprout. Thank you for putting yourself out there!
Thanks for a great video. Like you say site selection is very important. A good way to kill weeds prior to planting is to lay black plastic on the ground and the sun will cook the weeds/grass on site and they will begin to compost, then remove plastic and continue as you have. The sheet of black plastic can be moved to the next section planned.
James, you're so brilliant! I love watching your videos, they are so informative! I'm trying to start my own permaculture garden & I've learned so so much from you. Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing! Costco and Sam's will give you the cardboard flats that go between stacked items. They're usually about 4 or 5 feet wide and have no slits or plastic tape. They are great weed barriers and are free!
We've been watching you a while now and have wanted a garden for six years and always put it off. I finally bit the bullet and ordered plants and seeds and got compost and am gonna get wood chips and will be planting this week. So excited! Thank you for showing us by example how great it can be :)
I just incorporated a seam on my addition to the first section. I have echinacea going at a borders edge. Lemon thyme on that border may attempt invasion. I’ll have to chop chop! Have to wait till spring to plant. The only thing that’s first and for most to plant is a black elderberry 🌳 tree. This winter may be fun!
Great video. The only thing I would add is that here in the south, with the runner grasses, the contractor paper doesn't work that well....at least not a single layer. It tears easily and breaks down to fast. If you double layer the paper that will help a lot. The cardboard is better though because some of that runner grass is so persistent and will find a way to come up through. Also, if you are going over runner grass, just as James said, mow to the dirt first, and layer on the woodchips extra thick. Even with doing this, I still find some runner grass coming up through now and then.
Hi James! You mentioned topping hard clay/rocky soil with several inches of compost, without using construction paper. Here's my question: Before doing this, should I first lay down 1/4 inch hardware cloth to prevent burrowing critters? I've seen you do this in other videos. I live in a 7a/7b growing zone as well, only I'm in the northern desert. If anyone out there has any advice, I'd appreciate it! Thank you for all you do, James and Tuck! Blessings, health, prosperity and peace to you and yours and to all who read this! 👍😘😇💖
I have 35 sugar maples 1 cherry and 9 loquat trees getting ready to go in the ground. It does no goog here to put down mulch. I have bermuda and johnson grass both thrive in all layers of mulch. I will fight them with shade!!! Eventually. You inspire me
I have just found your channel at the perfect time. I'm planning to start my forest garden in the spring so this video was really useful and seeing your forest garden is an inspiration. Thanks!
I live in a house where nothing has been done for ages. There is a large field in front of it. I have broken down my front fence and am going to take some cuttings from fruit trees that are around my house and grow them starting in my front yard and spreading into the field I am intending to grow a "field food forest". The prickly pear in the field is coming on slowly. It is going to be a hell of a project as in this area people dump in the field all the time. I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
Etienne, this sounds like an amazing project! One word of advice, start in one space and build out from there. It will take less effort to manage, water, and care for if you begin that way. If you spread things out too far, it is easy to become overwhelmed. ;)
Absolutely love the Video. So much Info. We are starting our Food Forest as a Windbreak and for Privacy on the West edge of our Homestead. Thanks so much for pointing us in the Right Direction
Thank you so much for addressing clay soil. Out here in Oklahoma, it is mainly clay soil and while it does allow growth, it is sometimes so solid that some things have no chance of growth without a lot of work. Your method is SO much easier!
Thanks for the info. You've inspired me to start converting my woods into a food forest. I like learning from your videos but I have to admit, Tuck adds an additional layer of fun to them & his cute factor is off the scale.
Your garden/forest rocks. Jersey I think you said? Great job for the north east. We just relocated to south Florida. From NH. Close on a new home in 2 weeks. Super psyched to have a 1/2 acre. Lots of usable space. Growing banana avocado moringa papaya mangoes pineapple at our rental. Excited to have our own space to design. Lots of helpful tips and ideas. Thanks so much.
Clad to meet you, and I thought I was crazy, clad that you are just like me. I live in South Africa and have same. I get crass cuttings twigs leaves etc as malsh, breed own earth worms then other insects move in. Next step is to get a malsh machine. I also use sprinklers around the food garden it makes it look like it is rain looks beautiful insects love it.
Sounds God's work generations will congratulate and appreciate you sir . This is the good fight peeps . Food water shelter live the good life the rest are just dreams and wants . This is as "REAL" as it gets . Ty
We do have some polythene or some material really thicker than the thickest trash bags used as agricultural ground cover. Its totally thick and black. It's quite an investment in Malaysia but you get some 800ft coverage and you can reuse that thing.
Yo it's so satisfying seeing the progress you made with your videos. The difference between this video and the new one's you put up is basically night and day. LOVE IT keep up the great work boss man
Yo! Lol! Thanks, I wonder if I should take these down but maybe I will at some point. I think maybe some people will find it encouraging. You should see the first video I posted that's public, it's tragic, but it was the start
@@jamesprigioni Please leave them up. New YT creators need to see how you've grown. Many may hesitate because they don't have the polish. No one does until the rough spots are softened by the tumbler of experience. May encourage some young ones-your legacy.
Excellent idea using the contractors paper. I have used both newspaper and cardboard and agree with you on their drawbacks. I will be giving this a try.
Also I like taking a hay roll and yes I can use a tractor or if someone wants they can buy hay by the bail. But I do alot of gardening on hill sides so I take a hay role set it at the top of the hill and sit it the right way and cut across the bailing twine then when it flaps down I give it a roll off the hill and it will roll a 6 get wide path of hay 75 feet down a hill then I let it sit all winter and when planting season comes the worms and breaking down hay has it where the soil is just dark brown black amazing and just like it's been tilled over and over . But I even do this on flat ground and put allot of hay and plant the plant straight in and it works awesome .
I love this. Thank you for what you’re doing. I’ve been wanting to do a good forest for a good 5 years now. Had lots of obstacles that are all now clear. I’m starting ASAP. 5 years of vision is about to take root. I’ll be digging through your videos for ideas, for sure.
I hope you know that you should eat only once a day, a few hours before going to sleep. Not only would you have more energy during the day, but you can save hundreds of dollars every month. I suggest you search for videos about the One Meal A Day diet.
I recently started watching your channel and Love it !!! You are such a great educator!!! Thanks so much for the education. Great video!!! Btw I love you animals so cute and obedient 😁!!! God bless and hope you continue to have bountiful harvests !
Hey man. Love what youre doin. On my 3rd year of gardening and folks like yourself have been an enormous help. Ive been composting and mulching but havent done woodchips yet. Been savin for years and about to get some acreage so i will be trying soon. Keep doin your thing brotha
I just started watching your channel - really good stuff! I must say I really like the pace of this video. It’s not as fast paced as the other ones I’ve seen which are sometimes hard to understand what your saying. But I understand you’re trying to get a lot of stuff in the video and I appreciate how detailed you are! I wish my area had easy access to wood chips and leaf mulch. We live in the country and our town won’t give it up! We just made our own when we cut down our trees. It’s a slow process but we’ll get there some day...
Potted trees are not bad, but you need to untangle the roots first or even better - cut off the lower part of the roots block in order to get rid of weak thin and small branched roots, and leave only bigger and stronger parent roots which have strength to penetrate the soil deeper and find more moisture there.
Thank you for your time and effort. I love having a garden, it's just been past my first year and I have lots of vines and berries and fruit trees. Learning what I can and can't have in my area as it gets below zero in winter and up to 50 degrees Celsius in summer and my soil is poor dirt and rock haha.
You explain everything so well. I'd love having you as a next door neighbour. However the we in the West of Scotland don't have your climate lol. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
I'm here 5 years after this vid was made. I decided to binge watch your content because it's all so helpful for me and my husband. These older videos are still sooooo good, but you're much more outwardly enthusiastic now. Maybe it's gained confidence with speaking on camera...maybe it's happiness that you live in such a beautiful food forest. Either way, so many people are grateful that you're here.
I was listening without qatching and this popped up in my auto play. I could tell without checking this was an older video. Your energy is so high now. Keep up the good work.
Man, you have become so much more comfortable in front of the camera since this video was recorded, haha
I was thinking the same thing. The video started and I was bummed he didn’t do his normal intro.
@@thebird135 i was also thinking the same thing lol, it's dope how much it has progressed
@@thebird135 i have a very weak heart and i need to skip the intros because they give me a very bad startle and my doctor said one more big one and im done. it's a shame because james is so kind but sometimes he scares very badly and i make (accident, number #2 in pants) but i know he means well and is a good boy. just scary.
True!!!!!!
It's almost kinda cringy compared to his later videos. much like his forest, he has grown too.
You really seem like a good human; like how God wants us to be. Good to the Earth, good to animals, to to people. That sounds weird maybe, but watching you in your forest makes me think of how the first profession/love God wanted us to have was for nature.
❤️🙏🏻😁
This IS how we worship Allah (God) but we have lost our way. May this brother keep shining the light of God. I am so glad Allah brought me to this brother today, just what I was praying for. Like minded believers......
God is still to be found in The Garden.
@imogenbegins the man is doing a great job, why'd you bring up a silly god and disrespect his work. You donkeys never seizes to amaze me.
Valerie Sanchez so your stupid god is offended if I don’t put a capital letter?.. o how insecured silly little shit it is.
"you can grow more shade; cant grow more sun"
never heard it put that way before, sounds logical lol
Hahah! Yup, it common sense. But these days common sense isn’t so common 😂
The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni
Speading chips as we speak, just got the guys working on the powerlines to dump a load of chips. Looks like a nice mix of branches from pine, cherry, and box elder. I have some black walnut trees they needed to trim so I told them to just point the shredder towards my yard so it would spray all over the yard but they looked at me like i was smoking crack, said the walnut would kill my garden... even though my garden is covered in peaches, apples, black walnut hulls and woodchips already and ive seen nothing but positive results.
he's from new jersey!! what'd you expect???
Not really. You can cut to make the shade. But I agree. Most plants want full sun compared to full shade.
Kudos for the video content! Sorry for butting in, I would love your thoughts. Have you ever tried - Parlandealey Impetigo Goodbye Process (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now)? It is a good one off product for finding some amazing landscaping designs for your home minus the normal expense. Ive heard some incredible things about it and my work buddy at very last got excellent success with it.
Man I'm watching this video 4 years after and i have to say you have grown a lot with your presentation. Great content.
this was his xanax period..
Dude!!! I'm subscribing. Why? Because you're the first person to say, "dust to dust" in reference to what kind of wood chips. You, Sir, are an altruistic genius, and I agree and relate to those types of folks. That is not saying that I am one.
Shalom
BEST GARDENING CHANNEL ON UA-cam IN THE HISTORY OF THE PLANET AND UNIVERSE!!!!!! EVEN OUR PARALLEL UNIVERSE!!!!!!
If there is a costco in your area.. you can ask for "Slip sheets" which are just large squares 48" x 40" (i believe, the same size as a pallet board) of cardboard used to slip inbetween levels of product, so they have plenty.... easy to overlap
I'm in Australia and have started an urban food forest garden not long ago, I'm really looking forward to seeing this develop. I'm using newspaper to smother the grass piled up with rabbit manure, hay and woodchips. Fortunately Ive found a rabbit breeder who always has big bags of that to give away.
James, it was such a god send to find your channel - sound advice based on evidence and you clearly study and understand the science and the biology of the plants you talk about. Unfortunately there is so much mambo jumbo talked about gardening so channels like your deserve to get the recognition. Regards Julian from Scotland
Watching this from UK, I wish to thank you for this. You are an inspiration. I have actually watched almost all of your new ones and catching up on the old ones. This is my first year and I have learnt so much from you. I have grown or attempted to grow food from my heart ! I feel like I can relate to you as one of us and a genuine human being who wishes to spread the learning , joy and goodness. Thank you so much.
After watching too much of videos on permaculture, I found this very knowledgeable
Videos like this are so important for improving the environment, and the world in so many ways! I love your channel. I have a pretty established front and backyard food forest. It’s fun to see others;)
James, I love your channel and energy. I watch your channel regularly and would love for you to create a new version of this video with your growth as a cultivator. Do you have a course you teach? With rising food prices and the importance of personal independence I feel your wisdom is some of the most valuable information out there. Thanks for the change in human consciousness that you have sparked! All the love to you and your’s.
Thank you so much for a chilled relaxing video that has really encouraged me to give this a go
I have three acres and bit off more than I can chew! I put cardboard down when I have it or I use the contractor paper. I've started planting in trios with a nitrogen fixer matched with a fruit tree. I'm splitting and using a lot of comfrey. I suggest starting in a small area and getting it going and then moving out. Ten yards of chips this weekend, nowhere near enough. I'm still in the initial stages but I can see it will get easier.
hows it going now thats its 3 years later?
I run your videos on my big tv with surround and every time you give me a good idea I run outside to my garden,we all need your positive influences in our lives ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
We have poor sandy soil upper midwest US zone 4 and suffocated all the grass inside our large fenced in garden over three seasons starting mostly in the fall using clean cardboard from recycle dumpsters. We needed lots of cardboard, it was free and worked very well. We wet it using the rain water we collected, topped it with compost leaves grass clippings and any other amendments we had left over in the garage and finally wood chips. I could not believe the worms we got the first spring. We get nice yields so far and have only been at this since fall 2016. Summer of 2018 I saw different mushrooms growing and that fibrous web gardeners hope to get in their gardens. We look forward to adding more garden space wherever we can find it. The focus for 2019 is medicinal herbs, a couple fruiting trees and elderberry shrubs. I love your approach to gardening. Keep em coming! TFS 😀
This is great information, now I just need to convince my daughter that this is the way to go. She would just as soon send everything off to the recycle center whereas I believe that what is in my garden stays in my garden as mulch or compost. Somewhere there has to be a happy medium right!
Yup there is. One thing I have found is if you can make it look beautiful and organized people are more wiling to adopt it. Mine is a little more scattered but this coming year I will plant more flowers as bordering plants around the food forest to make it more inviting. When people see how beautifully things grow in it, they are more inclined to adopt it I believe. Be patient though and maybe just try it out in a small spot at first and see what kind of results you get 😄
Thank you James, I already have some beautiful dark purple salvia and wine red bee balm I intend to put at the end of the bed with the asparagus and rhubarb to bring n the pollinators. That's the "perennial" bed. Second bed will be for root crops, tomatoes, and peppers. Next 3 years it's going to be difficult not to harvest any asparagus but it will be worth it. That bed will also be bordered with alpine strawberries (ever-bearing). Yumm!
I absolutely love the amount of updates on this channel! The garden looks so different daily!
+Jeremy Wendelin awesome!! I plan on continuing to upload through the fall and winter. Thanks for your support and input 😂
+Jeremy Wendelin 😁*
I am completely new to gardening and I started getting addicted into it. love your videos buddy, keep it up.. I am learning so much from you. starting in a small way with veges and after successful stint gonna buy a big land to start food forest
I got addicted to. I will try to get more information and start on small area,then spread it
I look forward to starting my own forest garden next year. Thank you for this detailed information on how to start one. I've always felt grass was a waste of space.
I'm readying myself. Actually really excited. This is the perfect time to start. I hope I can pull this off by myself!
Your helper is doing a great job of holding the cardboard down. I appreciate you sharing your knowledge and making it easy for everyone to understand. Keep them coming....
Great info on types of wood chips and when to lay them. I have clay soil in the high mountain desert, so the info about prepping clay soil was especially helpful
I'm jumping in a bit late, for feeding the soil. I've got an area in my yard that's ready. The grass is all dead cause there was siding laying on top of it all winter...now I just gotta get the mulch and contact paper to put there before I start the gardening itself. So happy you're here to help us greenhorns!
Good luck with ur gardening 😊👍
I never had access to woodchips, so for years, i used newspaper for mulch, topped with grass clippings from my huge yard and leaves from all the trees (except the nearby black walnuts!). The first time I ever heard of this was from Fred Wiche, the local tv Weekend Gardener. He said it was a great way to start a garden with little or no tilling...folks thought he was just a wee bit nutz, but I was convinced to give it a try.
I had neighbors who did not use chemicals on their yards so their grass clippings and trees were free of chemicals. they were also very happy to dump onto my compost piles. they didn't mind giving up their newspapers either... but after they saw how much success i had with my small 15x25 garden, they started using their newspapers for their own small gardens. LOL another thing I did was ask one of my neighbors for the water out of their freshwater fish tanks. Like you I started my no till garden in the early fall with a heavy layer of newspapers, some fresh and some composted grass and leaves and soaked it all down with about 30 gallons of "fishy water". The first garden of simple tomatoes, beans, beets, carrots, peppers, and squash was surprisingly bountiful. The second year, that little garden took off like a rocket. I had half a bushel of Thai peppers... I was giving the dried peppers from 4 plants away. LOL
My biggest success was I grew something no one thinks to grow here, because they almost always fail, honeydew melons. I had two successful plants that sat about six fruit. I was overjoyed. I did something else. I planted a tiny 6x4 sacrifice garden. I just broadcast a handful of seed, sprinkled it with compost, and let it go. did nothing to it. no water, no attention at all. Because the plants were stressed they drew away harmful bugs and pests from the main garden. I did, however, end up with a zucchini the size of a junior-sized baseball bat and just about had hard. LOL
I am pretty keen on doing gardening when I get old. Harvesting fruit and vegetable in my own garden makes me happy and is also a delightful job. I want to grow plants and rear livestock and feed them everyday.
What a fantastic video. I'll be watching this over and over until all this info. is permanent in my brain! I love the video at 15:04 - the happy boyish grin when you say "when you water you are feeding the plants compost tea". So obvious you love what you do. Thanks. ~Sherrie
Live your video's. But i always watch what tuck is doing 😆
Tuck was a star even before the videos! ❤❤❤ Tuck ❤❤❤. Great content James!!
Hi, I have been enjoying your videos. This year we were inspired by the Back to Eden garden method. This was back around the first of July. We killed the weeds and laid down chicken manure compost and then layered about 6 inches of wood chips. The woodchips were from a local farmer who didnt want them and had been sitting there for a few years, good stuff. This all was covering a 20 × 30 ft. Area. After that we thought we would let that sit till next spring. We changed our mind and decided to plant some things like squash and peppers, and okra. Everything failed. Then we thought that we made a big mistake by not adding enough soil and we started converting our area again by scraping up sections of the woodchips and laying down leaf mould, goat manure, mushroom compost and then a little wood chips on top. We have basically made 5 raised bed areas but have had to remove a lot of the wood chips and it has been a tedious process. Maybe an unnecessary one. Maybe we just needed time. What are your thoughts? We have a lot of children and would really like to grow our own food in this way. Thank you.
If a potted tree is root bound you can always wash the soil out of the roots and gently seperate them. You will have to fertilize it and heavily just outside the rootzone to get them to seek the fertility.
Thank you for this information! We have just acquired 1.2 acres of land that has been in my family for about 200 years. It was previously farmland, recently used to grow hay for catle. I am very excited about it because I've been wanting to start a food forrest garden for years since I first watched Jeff Lawton's channel and now is my chance. I like how you lay down the steps that make it seem easier and I will be following them come this fall.🙂
I think this is my most favorite video of yours so far. It is very helpful that you pointed out how many inches of mulch to add for planting annuals versus young fruit trees. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
Sentence pacing is perfect in this video! Love the forestry too 💚
I started my garden last spring by digging up the grass and roots in a 4’x4’ section along my fence and planting flowers. I put two layers of cardboard boxes down along the rest of the fence with rocks on top to hold it in place, it killed all of the grass and weeds which softened the soil so I continued tilling by hand a section at a time down the length of the fence.
By June I had a beautiful flower garden. Now I’m working on another area of my yard using the same method. I don’t like the idea of having wood chips delivered, I’ve heard that you can bring a lot of pests and diseases into your garden from others property and also chemicals which I don’t use.
I love the contractors paper idea though I’m definitely going to get that but I do love recycling all of the cardboard boxes that I get when I have things delivered from Amazon.
Thank you for your videos.
Robbie
Tuck is the most hard working farmer..❤️❤️❤️
If you decide to go get a potted tree sand plant it in the ground. When you go to transplant it dig out your whole two times as wide and two times as deep as the container soil is best then lossen up a good amount of your potting compound and fill back in the hole until its only the depth of the container again. Pull out the tree and either take a saw and cut through each side of roots or pruning snips. Put it in the hole and fill around the root ball and some on top. Pack it in with your hands and water. The roots will take off just like if it was never potted.
Truely it is Your vids that inspired me to start my own Food Forest. So far people are drop jaw over how much I have accomplished after just 4 months. Yeah I grind and every day I go futher..
+Jennifer Prescott that’s so encouraging for me to hear!! That’s what gets me motivated, knowing that others are taking action.
Thank you for being one of the few to actually take the action and get planting!!
I would love to see some pictures, and follow along with your progress in the future
First, I found this video to be very informative. Keep up the good work, James! Second, this growing season, I'm using heirloom seeds and I'm using leaves, twigs and grass clippings as my ground insulator. I don't or I haven't found easy access to wood chips. So, last fall, I collected probably 70 or 80 bags of leaves, from my neighborhood, and just dumped all of this onto my garden spot. By the time I was finished, I had accumulated about 18" deep of leaves on a garden spot roughly 12 feet by 12 feet. I'm looking very forward to upcoming growing season.
As I mow this summer, I'm going to dump my collected lawn clippings onto my leaves, and if all this works out as expected, I'll be collecting more leaves this fall.
Thanks so much for providing specific information depending on your native soil type.
I'm stuck with heavy orange clay, so I appreciate the info. I hope to plan out a small garden section, so thanks for helping us get the soil back to life!
Thank you for inspiring people to feed the soil. Great job, James. Just started my Fall soil preparation, laying cardboard mulch today. I cover it with untreated grass clippings and leaves. Maybe some coffee grounds. A bonus layer of Comfrey leaves. I layer this again and again. About 2-3 feet deep or until I don't have the materials any more. Ready for planting in Spring, zone 5, Wisconsin.
Your welcome. Thanks Larks. Nice, that sounds perfect! Smart to add comfrey and others things, I like that. I bet your soil is LOADED with worms come spring!!
LARK'S GARDENS I have been laying down cardboard for two months since I learned to do it. I do not see any deterioration. How will the worms get to the material???
Worms love cardboard, so they will eat through it to the material on top.
Kazzana Wow. Okay. I’m learning. Thanks.
Also wet the cardboard thoroughly
I really like what you have achieved! I am currently (on a very tight budget) trying to turn my property into a food forest. I live in the edge of the woods and have taken down a number of trees to bring in more light. If only I had a wood chipper! lol. So far, my only fruit trees are 2 figs, 2 apples, 2 Cavendish bananas,1 blood orange, 4 Lisbon lemons from seed (10 yrs old this year), 1 wild cherry, a few wild Mulberries, and Farkleberry, the wild blueberry. I have babies started from cuttings and a few of seed. ..4 Kumquat, 1 Mandarin orange, 1 Meyer lemon, and 2 Grapefruits from seed. Still waiting to see if my peach seeds and plum seeds sprout. Thank you for putting yourself out there!
Thanks for a great video. Like you say site selection is very important. A good way to kill weeds prior to planting is to lay black plastic on the ground and the sun will cook the weeds/grass on site and they will begin to compost, then remove plastic and continue as you have. The sheet of black plastic can be moved to the next section planned.
Right from the start I'm a believer. Thank you.
James, you're so brilliant! I love watching your videos, they are so informative! I'm trying to start my own permaculture garden & I've learned so so much from you. Thank you so much!
Thanks for sharing! Costco and Sam's will give you the cardboard flats that go between stacked items. They're usually about 4 or 5 feet wide and have no slits or plastic tape. They are great weed barriers and are free!
I can't wait to start my food forrest. I guess I'll wait for fall but in the mean time I'm building up my compost! I love watching your videos.
I love gardening .I have small garden and i spend all my time with .
We've been watching you a while now and have wanted a garden for six years and always put it off.
I finally bit the bullet and ordered plants and seeds and got compost and am gonna get wood chips and will be planting this week.
So excited! Thank you for showing us by example how great it can be :)
Living By Choice what seeds and plants are you starting with? Are you gonna make your own compost?
Great videos
Lots of very valuable information
Thanks for your effort to extend knowledge to others
Really appreciated
This is first time i am fully satisfied with gardening video , lots of info, right voice and tone just perfect . Or maybe i just liked him lol
I just incorporated a seam on my addition to the first section. I have echinacea going at a borders edge. Lemon thyme on that border may attempt invasion. I’ll have to chop chop! Have to wait till spring to plant. The only thing that’s first and for most to plant is a black elderberry 🌳 tree. This winter may be fun!
I personally love working in my garden so I do it a bit different but I love the idea
Great video. The only thing I would add is that here in the south, with the runner grasses, the contractor paper doesn't work that well....at least not a single layer. It tears easily and breaks down to fast. If you double layer the paper that will help a lot. The cardboard is better though because some of that runner grass is so persistent and will find a way to come up through. Also, if you are going over runner grass, just as James said, mow to the dirt first, and layer on the woodchips extra thick. Even with doing this, I still find some runner grass coming up through now and then.
Hi James!
You mentioned topping hard clay/rocky soil with several inches of compost, without using construction paper. Here's my question:
Before doing this, should I first lay down 1/4 inch hardware cloth to prevent burrowing critters? I've seen you do this in other videos. I live in a 7a/7b growing zone as well, only I'm in the northern desert. If anyone out there has any advice, I'd appreciate it! Thank you for all you do, James and Tuck! Blessings, health, prosperity and peace to you and yours and to all who read this! 👍😘😇💖
I have 35 sugar maples 1 cherry and 9 loquat trees getting ready to go in the ground. It does no goog here to put down mulch. I have bermuda and johnson grass both thrive in all layers of mulch. I will fight them with shade!!! Eventually. You inspire me
Learn sutten new every time I watch this dudes videos 👌🏾
I have just found your channel at the perfect time. I'm planning to start my forest garden in the spring so this video was really useful and seeing your forest garden is an inspiration. Thanks!
Wow I'm amazed by your videos .I want to plant my own vegetable garden . thanks for sharing . God bless you .all the way from Jamaica 😍
Thank you for all the sound advice. I look forward to more videos from your channel. May God bless you.
He’s organic gangster.
Haha!! Yess! ❤️🤣
Real O. G 😂
Not gangster he is
MONSTER ♥️
Absolutely madam.
I live in a house where nothing has been done for ages. There is a large field in front of it. I have broken down my front fence and am going to take some cuttings from fruit trees that are around my house and grow them starting in my front yard and spreading into the field I am intending to grow a "field food forest". The prickly pear in the field is coming on slowly. It is going to be a hell of a project as in this area people dump in the field all the time. I live in Cape Town, South Africa.
Etienne, this sounds like an amazing project! One word of advice, start in one space and build out from there. It will take less effort to manage, water, and care for if you begin that way. If you spread things out too far, it is easy to become overwhelmed. ;)
@@karlsfoodforestgarden6963 that is my plan. thank you
Thank you for making us understand the food forest. Thank you for heralding the urban back yard food forest. I Love all your videos!
Absolutely love the Video. So much Info. We are starting our Food Forest as a Windbreak and for Privacy on the West edge of our Homestead. Thanks so much for pointing us in the Right Direction
+Shannon Michael awesome!!! That’s a great idea, very smart!
Your welcome 😁
Thank you so much for addressing clay soil. Out here in Oklahoma, it is mainly clay soil and while it does allow growth, it is sometimes so solid that some things have no chance of growth without a lot of work. Your method is SO much easier!
where the wind comes whistling off the plains...
His videos are amazingly informative. Can’t wait to plant a garden next year. I am getting ready to work on the ground this month.
Bro, this content is gold! Much appreciated for this!
Doggy at the end eating carrots is so cute!!
Hey from RSA! Love your vids man. Can't understand why people still give a dislike🤔 👍
I love all your videos. This particular one has your carrot-eating dog and wood-chip loving chicken dance under your rap which is absolutely adorable.
Starting ours this month (oct 2019)!!!
Stoney Point Farm how did it turn out?
I'm at the beginning of my gardening. I really enjoyed the video, thank you.
This was really helpful. Thanks. I'm going to do this is my back yard.
Thanks for the info. You've inspired me to start converting my woods into a food forest. I like learning from your videos but I have to admit, Tuck adds an additional layer of fun to them & his cute factor is off the scale.
Your garden/forest rocks. Jersey I think you said? Great job for the north east. We just relocated to south Florida. From NH. Close on a new home in 2 weeks. Super psyched to have a 1/2 acre. Lots of usable space. Growing banana avocado moringa papaya mangoes pineapple at our rental. Excited to have our own space to design. Lots of helpful tips and ideas. Thanks so much.
Clad to meet you, and I thought I was crazy, clad that you are just like me. I live in South Africa and have same. I get crass cuttings twigs leaves etc as malsh, breed own earth worms then other insects move in. Next step is to get a malsh machine. I also use sprinklers around the food garden it makes it look like it is rain looks beautiful insects love it.
Sounds God's work generations will congratulate and appreciate you sir . This is the good fight peeps . Food water shelter live the good life the rest are just dreams and wants . This is as "REAL" as it gets . Ty
We do have some polythene or some material really thicker than the thickest trash bags used as agricultural ground cover. Its totally thick and black. It's quite an investment in Malaysia but you get some 800ft coverage and you can reuse that thing.
Thanks for this wealth of info! I am preparing my area by your method now! I will be researching which trees to buy also! 👌👌
Yo it's so satisfying seeing the progress you made with your videos. The difference between this video and the new one's you put up is basically night and day. LOVE IT keep up the great work boss man
Yo! Lol! Thanks, I wonder if I should take these down but maybe I will at some point. I think maybe some people will find it encouraging. You should see the first video I posted that's public, it's tragic, but it was the start
@@jamesprigioni definitely don't take them down, take pride in your evolution while the editing isnt quite as good, the content is why we are here!
@@jamesprigioni Please leave them up. New YT creators need to see how you've grown. Many may hesitate because they don't have the polish. No one does until the rough spots are softened by the tumbler of experience. May encourage some young ones-your legacy.
Excellent idea using the contractors paper. I have used both newspaper and cardboard and agree with you on their drawbacks. I will be giving this a try.
+Kim in MT. Thank you! Awesome, I hope it saves you some extra work and aggravation
+Kim in MT. Awesome!! That should save you a lot of time and aggravation 😁
Thank you I'm starting my own food garden and I just needed the hows and some information on a good step to take.
Also I like taking a hay roll and yes I can use a tractor or if someone wants they can buy hay by the bail. But I do alot of gardening on hill sides so I take a hay role set it at the top of the hill and sit it the right way and cut across the bailing twine then when it flaps down I give it a roll off the hill and it will roll a 6 get wide path of hay 75 feet down a hill then I let it sit all winter and when planting season comes the worms and breaking down hay has it where the soil is just dark brown black amazing and just like it's been tilled over and over . But I even do this on flat ground and put allot of hay and plant the plant straight in and it works awesome .
One way I’m seen of dealing with grass is cutting it out in rectangle chunks and flipping it over (and it think then covering with wood chips)
Yeah but more work
I love this. Thank you for what you’re doing. I’ve been wanting to do a good forest for a good 5 years now. Had lots of obstacles that are all now clear. I’m starting ASAP. 5 years of vision is about to take root. I’ll be digging through your videos for ideas, for sure.
I hope you know that you should eat only once a day, a few hours before going to sleep. Not only would you have more energy during the day, but you can save hundreds of dollars every month. I suggest you search for videos about the One Meal A Day diet.
Thanks for the watering video. Had to buy the olive green T-shirt as gratitude. Keep on keeping on!
I noticed U smiled happier when surrounded by the greens...
Haha of course! I feel more at home 😂
Thanks for the great videos! You can also use NEWSPAPER instead of contractor paper! This is a great way to re-use a resource.
Its really very useful... thanks for telling us this all.. i do.really love planting😊😊😊
I recently started watching your channel and Love it !!!
You are such a great educator!!!
Thanks so much for the education. Great video!!!
Btw I love you animals so cute and obedient 😁!!!
God bless and hope you continue to have bountiful harvests !
Hey man. Love what youre doin. On my 3rd year of gardening and folks like yourself have been an enormous help. Ive been composting and mulching but havent done woodchips yet. Been savin for years and about to get some acreage so i will be trying soon. Keep doin your thing brotha
Thank you my friend. Awesome! That is so exciting. I think wood chips will make your life a lot easier, especially if your on acreage
I just started watching your channel - really good stuff! I must say I really like the pace of this video. It’s not as fast paced as the other ones I’ve seen which are sometimes hard to understand what your saying. But I understand you’re trying to get a lot of stuff in the video and I appreciate how detailed you are! I wish my area had easy access to wood chips and leaf mulch. We live in the country and our town won’t give it up! We just made our own when we cut down our trees. It’s a slow process but we’ll get there some day...
Potted trees are not bad, but you need to untangle the roots first or even better - cut off the lower part of the roots block in order to get rid of weak thin and small branched roots, and leave only bigger and stronger parent roots which have strength to penetrate the soil deeper and find more moisture there.
Thank you for your time and effort. I love having a garden, it's just been past my first year and I have lots of vines and berries and fruit trees. Learning what I can and can't have in my area as it gets below zero in winter and up to 50 degrees Celsius in summer and my soil is poor dirt and rock haha.
I'm starting to get it. This is great information. Kind of you to be so open and sharing. Good people.
Thank you this is super comprehensive... easy to follow and makes sense! We just bought our first home, I’m very excited to get out in the garden!
You explain everything so well. I'd love having you as a next door neighbour. However the we in the West of Scotland don't have your climate lol. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
That shouldn't stop you from starting such a garden, only with different vegetation. Love from Dunfermline. :)