if your only choice is chlorinated municipal water you can fill buckets and let it sit for 24-48 hours to off-gas the chlorine. I used to do this for a freshwater aquarium to avoid killing the fish
Just ask chatgpt or google where your town gets its water from, and then ask if they put chlorine GAS or chloramine, one gases off one requires vitamin c powder is my understanding.
There are water filters that are used by RV's. They are designed for garden hoses. They're about $15 and will last a whole summer d3pending on how much you water. Might need a 2nd if you need to water heavy
Permaculture has both some challenges, and some benefits no one ever really calls out. It is really not a recent phenomenon in terms of methodology, but there have been a few personalites who have culturally appropriated native and ancient methods and rebranded them to sell training seminars, books etc. That is annoying. Then there was one very popular individual who adapted and taught everything based on the climate in the Pacific Northwest, which is very unique and singular, and not applicable to almost anywhere else in the northern hemisphere. One of the biggest "permaculture" bungles is the idea that you can grow crops under trees in climates that have a frozen winter (the season and days are too short for most crops to gather enough energy to fruit, and you are gonna starve). Fortunately "permaculture" as a rebranded method, has grown beyond some of it's early messiahs. Today it is lot of ecology rolled into the organic gardening movement in the 60s/70s (which was driven by people who remembered and wanted a return to the pre-WW2 non-chemical methods). So the name "Permaculture" is inflated, but combining ecology with the methods our grandparents used absolutely makes sense. The place where Permaculture absolutely shines is not the "method". It is the COMMUNITY of like-minded people who collaborate, learn, and garden together. That is a PHEONOMENAL ACCOMPLISHMENT. To me, that is what "permaculture" is really about. The methods have been around forver, and the name is a marketing thing, but the community is new and worthy of a solid tip of the cap.
@@saltwaterpurl Please stop using made up terms like "culture appropriation". It is vital for humanity to SHARE our cultures so that we can coexist and learn from each other.
@@saltwaterpurl Calling the sharing of methods for growing things cultural appropriation is a crock of horseshit. Stop being a victim. No one harms you by sharing methods for growing things. The hypocrisy of you saying permaculture is about community and collaboration after just whining about cultural appropriation when someone else shares it is absolutely pathetic. Grow up.
Interesting topic. So I googled some information in Dutch. The top soil can lack calcium but the roots will take in calcium, transport it to the leaves etc above ground. When the dandelion dies it will give it's calcium to the soil life. Dandelions are good for insects and for humans. It's a great medicinal plant. For the liver, the kidney's, the heart, the skin, digestive system, relieve bloodpressure. Chewing the leaves can restore teeth enamel. Salve for arthritus. The plant has antioxidants, minerals and vitamines. Roots to make "coffee", leaves for tea, tinctures and making "honey jam" from the flowers. In times of need the dandelion is a good friend.🌷
wish I had known that about the leaves restoring enamel. my teeth are all gone now. have you got any proven recipes for arthritis salve? are the roots actually caffeinated? I've always wondered about that.
If you're diabetic dandelions could save your life. And feet. And eyes. I dry them and put them in a little chopper/grinder. Then I make a tea out of them. Yes, they taste like dirt. On old Italian guy told me his mother told him you have to get the leaves before they grow flowers. I don't know... It's too late to try that this year. Seriously, though... If you're diabetic you should do some reading about dandelions. Maybe talk to a doctor... 'Cause I'm not a doctor. All I know is that I was taking over 100 units of insulin a day. Now I don't.
Foragers love dandelions because their invasive nature means they can eat them all with impunity. I’ve tried eating them and never found them particularly tasty, but if I were starving I would definitely make use of such an abundant resource.
As a new viewer, I am absolutely astounded. This is the most "work smarter not harder" gardening imaginable. Why doesn't everyone do it this way? I've never heard anyone talk about using weeds in this way, but it sounds like the most natural response to make in the world. Weeds aren't just problems, they're plants that wanna grow for a reason. I wish that all farmers could find a way to work with nature more naturally like you, instead of just using a slash and burn style. It makes so much sense to respond to the issues mother nature gives you. Don't kill and poison the land, work with and respond to what the weeds tell you the soil needs; what it wants to grow! You don't need to do all the fighting against the weeds on your own; you just need to give the plants you want to grow enough of an advantage to outcompete them. You, ma'am are a genius!
Thank you! But weeds are a fire hazard where we live because they die in the summer. I let gophers have free reign! They eat and bury almost all grass and weeds! I plant vegetables in pots. 💕
The main reason is: big farmers with big machines need one crop, in perfect rows to harvest. Unlike normal humans that plant for consumption and harvest by hand, and we can harvest in almost any conditions
Due to circumstances i cant replace my thistle with anything (I have plans but its low priority right now), i let the thistle grow, just when i see flower heads forming i take a weed wacker, knock the whole lot down and let it all rot. After 3 years, ive seen less thistle but started seeing wild local berries that are edible. I knew the thistle was bringing up nutrition from deep down and breaking up the hard packed clay. Turns out I was right and now when I want that area to be a garden bed, my life will be easier.
I have been battling thistles for 3 summers in this home and it's in this one area. I have felt CRAZY digging the root out and being careful to get it all. It is in an area of grass I want to keep (rather than add a garden there) so I haven't done anything (except kill the grass). I have been nervous to leave the thistles because the area is right in the middle of where my littles play (ouch). So I'm curious if chopping them when I see them (but not digging them up) will help nourish the ground and reduce the thistles. I fear I've been sabotaging myself over the years as I'm trying to eradicate them. I noticed the thistles return in the same areas I'm digging them out...(annoying), but it must be trying to tell me something!!
@@DaveE99I can't figure out what you mean by exudates. I only found: noun plural noun: exudates 1. MEDICINE a mass of cells and fluid that has seeped out of blood vessels or an organ, especially in inflammation. 2. BOTANY•ENTOMOLOGY a substance secreted by a plant or insect
@@HallidayBrittany exudates secreted by plant roots are like when plants feed cookies (carbs fats protien) to bacteria and fungi that then use that energy to mine and harvest nutrients in soil in non plant available forms and digest them to make them plant available. The plants then absorb these nutrients that were processed by the soil food web.
Yep, a weed was not planted by man's hand. In a cotton field, any cotton plant not growing in this year's cultivation, and are called "volunteers" and are "weeded" out. (hoe that row). Weeds are good ground cover and make good mulch even if you don't eat em.
@@seezuceo Totally agree. We need to be more discerning of what plants we allow on the landscape. Indigenous plants need to be cared for because our ecosystems need them to thrive.
LOL, my Brother lived in a neighborhood with an HOA....they gave him and others so much grief that he became the president of it and put a stop to all the knuckleheads who had nothing better to do then to tell other people how to live their lives....and after he did that they ended the HOA :)
Ok, so my husband happened to be in the room while I was watching this video. 😂 He said, "Holy smokes! It's like your taking me around the gardens and telling me all the same stuff. Are you related!?" Kindred spirits for sure. The forest forage video is totally me too. 😅 I really appreciate this video and I think you being dyslexic is actually what gives you this great way of sharing information that others are be able to absorb better, so don't beat yourself up too much about that, we all have our gifts to share and in our own unique ways. Imagine how much we could all learn if we could receive information in a multitude of ways, to help us understand this crazy world we live in. Keep up the good work. ☺
@@philliusphoggwick8299 Dandelions are really good and comfrey is known to have all of the N, P and K. You can make a mix or individual buckets for specific purposes. Usually what is growing in your garden is what your soil needs. You put the weeds in and fill with water. It’s done in about 2 weeks and you use it like you do a water soluble fertilizer (small amount in a gallon watering can). The longer it sits - the stronger it gets and the less you use. It smells like manure, but it’s natural and gives the plants what they need.
First timer here on this channel, and I just realized I dont think Ive EVER seen another aging woman actually leave in the video for all to see, that brief moment of going from squat to stand while your muscoskeletal system has to reconfigure, with a groan and a squirm, before taking that next first step! Haha- love it, and the gray hair... you made the slight struggle look COOL, somehow! Yeah, it is what it is, and ladies, remember- with age comes wisdom, so, OWN IT HONEY! But, I like your style already! ALSO- Im a first year permie myself, just put in my first fruit tree guild, complete with a symbiosis of plants and "weeds", such as mullein, horseradish, comfrey, echinacia, yarrow, herbs, and strawberries for ground cover! Heavy on the perrenials, and chop and drop every chance you can, to infuse back into your soil...Comfrey (specifically Russian Bocking 14) fixes nitrogen issues in your soil! If you are unaware, look up permaculture GUILDS... plus, after the first year, it will almost takes care of itself! Just like a forest! GREAT VIDEO, GREAT INFO! ALSO, SO MANY THINGS WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT ARE WEEDS, ARE ACTUALLY EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL, either for food, or medicine! It's sadly almost lost knowledge. Or intentionally hidden? 🤷♀️
Yeah, I feel it, too, and can't get on my knees to work as much anymore. I've had to start sitting instead of kneeling, and it is a bit more awkward, but it is really hard to do work with your hands unless you sometimes get down to ground level. Good job, Anne and other lady.
Thank you! But weeds are a fire hazard where we live because they die in the summer. I let gophers have free reign! They eat and bury almost all grass and weeds! I plant vegetables in pots. 💕
I don't see "an aging woman"! I see a tired young woman. 🙂 It seems to me that an effect of light gives an impression that she has more grey hair than she actually does (she could also be having highlights): the mass of her hair from the side and back is very dark. She has beautiful and youthful arms with very tight skin that any woman would envy ❤
I've done all the things...weeding, digging, and laying down cardboard. Not doing any of it anymore. My veggies and weeds and grass are all figuring out how to co-exist.
@@EmbracethechaosPortugal Yes some are too big to pull and some for sure need to be removed so it's not crowding the other plants too badly. I chop em down and if they have seed heads that part gets cut off and into the trash. Everything else is laid down in the beds in layers to serve as mulch but also to put nutrients back into the soil the same way nature does. Works great for me. Happy growing!
Remove weeds around plants after a good rain and then pile up the roots and scatter around the plants. This will keep future weeds from returning while keeping the soil moist and as it breaks down it will replenish the soil
according to a study i read crops grown with other food crops and or wild plants/weeds eventually learn to co-exist in about 2-3 generations. it leads to lower yields but the plants are more resilient and they don't waste energy trying to kill each other. instead they use eachother to help survive and they adapt to have similar traits to the other species that are around them. might explain how weeds like oats and rye eventually turned into "mimics" of wheat and self domesicated themselves.
I’m dealing with nettles, creeping charlie and a few other nasty persistent perennials. If I let them do their thing, they choke out everything else. I can only eat so much nettle.
I let clover/dandelions grow up until they go to seed (helps the pollinators). Purslane is growing pretty wildly in my backyard garden, but the good thing about it is that it's also edible (combats eczema problems). Any other weed (up until they go to seed) are good for breaking up compacted soil and composting (greens part of compost).
I am a veteran gardener, food educator and author of the northern gardening book Sun, Seed & Soil (Boulder Books, 2023). Love your video. So clear and easy to understand. This is vital information that we need to understand how to raise healthy food while working with nature rather than against her. Also love the real life elements that keep sneaking in. Thank you.
@obiwankenobi661 They listed their credentials to add more credibility than she already had to what she was saying. The fact that you had so much vitriol towards them shows a deeper problem in you. WHY did it upset you enough to take the time out of your day to disrespect them? WHY do you care so Much? Are you insecure about your own opinion? Because as you said, ANYONE can give a compliment. Yours would have been just as appreciated as the next but instead you chose to be rude.
Last year my garden was overrun with native invasives like nettles, thistles, plantain and dandelions. I was not physically able to deal with trying to destroy everything so I thickly planted clover. This year, I still had the unwanted weeds, but the clover worked wonders breaking up the clay soil and letting the soil retain some water. I am now chopping and dropping the weeds before they set seed, leaving most of the clover to bloom and thrive. As extra mulch I use an inch or so of unused bedding shavings. I cleared out just enough area to plant some tomatoes, peppers and flowers. The pollinators are loving the clover, the plants are loving the mulch from the weed vegetation, and the clover is keeping the soil cool and retaining water. The clover is creeping out into the rest of my prairie property, breaking up the soil without needing any extra water. The looser, cooler soil is bringing in the garter snakes, and we no longer have voles digging up the plants. Thank you for confirming that I may be on the right track by being a lazy gardener.
This is so interesting! I live in a subdivision, dream of owning rural land, but we've just been letting the weeds grow in our lawn. Some of my neighbors have beautiful, thick, lush green lawns, and they pay for it. Someone comes and regularly "treats" their lawns with chemicals. We used to do that too. Then I had a dog get diagnosed with terminal cancer, and my next door neighbor had a cat and a young dog die from cancers, and I have two more unrelated male dogs, 2 years apart in age, that developed tumors in almost identical places at the same time. They are still with me, but one has already exceeded his life expectancy that he was given last summer, and I'm happy to report that if I didn't know he had cancer already, I wouldn't know he has cancer. He's still doing well, even with kidney disease that was diagnosed prior to the cancer diagnosis. These circumstances, and a recent interest in growing my own food and learning about herbalism has made me more weed tolerant, but what I am learning from this video takes that to a whole other level. Thanks for taking the time to share this information! 🙂
Sorry, I meant to leave my comment as a primary comment to the video, but I'm using an old device so I can't edit it in any way. It works with your comment too though. You are sharing your experience too, and I appreciated the layer of information you brought as well. 🙂
@@charmc4152 Thanks for your comment. You might want to check out adding microclover as a lawn substitute. We used it for backyard lawn in the city. No need to mow or fertilize(although you can), it acts just like regular clover but stays short and very manageable. It's used on golf courses to supplement the seasonal grasses, keeps the soil healthy with little maintenance. I'm thinking of throwing some out in the mowed defensive space around our house.
I raise rabbits. They eat clippings like raspberries, grapes, lots of weeds. They fertilize even the house plants. I thought they would ruin my garden but all my plants are still intact. They will dig a hole to live for a weather controlled environment. My chickens eat bugs, keep snakes away and provide food. I love your video. It makes sense to enter into an agreement with weeds. You have excellent information. Thank you. It takes away the frustration of gardening!
@@kellyschlumberger1030 I am shocked that they don’t bother them. One of them dug a trench around my new watermelon plants so I filled the trench up with rabbit poop and it was not touched again. I have seen them nibble on my chives but not enough to hurt them. I planted some new black berry plants and they chewed on them a little but they never touch my raspberry or Logan berry plants. They really like weeds especially thorny ones and dandelions. I love watching them run around the yard. They like to sit in the lawn chair with me sometimes. They are diggers so your fence has to be very secure.
Biggest thing which is important is your bunnies and livestock poo aka fertilizes the land, disperse seeds through poo….my favorite fertilizer is manure….gods gift to gardening.
I was really busy at work and let the weeds take over a section of my garden with some watermelon and tomatoes and various other things growing around (we practice permaculture in a community garden plot) and the tomatoes that grew untrellised on the floor surrounded - darn near crowded out - by "weeds" grew the most voluptuously and have the least tomatoes split and rot on the vine. there's something here for sure!
I learn something new and important every time I watch one of your videos. Never a waste of time, informative, and humorous. You're a great teacher. Btw... love your new apartment. It's beautiful!
UA-cam recommend this and I clicked it out of curiosity, and OMG I DO NOT REGRET IT. This is the video I didn't know I needed! Thank you!! This should be taught in schools!
I was so happy when you mowed down the sticky weed! We have mowed paths through wild fields and the "weeds" very quickly give up with weekly mowing. Now we have beautiful lawn paths through the fields and brush. It's not only enjoyable for us, but the wildlife love it! They have sweet short grass to walk and forage and they can duck into the brush when predators come around. We also started our food forest by mowing. And then we do like you have demonstrated and cover with cardboard and compost and mulch. Works so well for us!! We love your content and gardens!! ❤
Thank you for another great video of valuable information to use what's there to improve soil for planting what you want to grow. Also presented with bits of humor that make them so enjoyable to watch. That means I'll remember more. Thank you, Anne and Adam.
Your channel is very influential to my lawn. I've literally let it grow and had a wild turkey mother and her three young babies eat for a few nights and days. Wildlife seems to love love my overgrown backyard and front yard. How do I keep the neighbor complaints away? I just mow what they can see from their perspective walking by... I haven't gotten one complaint this year!
Plantain is something I keep a close eye on in my yard. It's my go to whenever I am a banquet for mosquitoes! Highly recommend! I chew it a bit and rub it on the wound, instant relief!
I make a salve using plantain,yarrow,calendula and comfrey, people love it so much for almost eveything,the reviews have been great,itching ,sunburn,bruising broken bones,even relieving arthritis pain,that I was encouraged to make it to sell. My first batch of 40 jars sold out within a week 😳😊
Wow! I have actually been using the same homemade weed fertilizer method this year by complete coincidence! I like to keep 5 gallon buckets all around my property and if I’m out weeding, I throw them in the bucket, let them fill with rain, and threw in some manure and then I watered my plants that are nearby with it. It’s been amazing!
Wow, just based on the intro to this video: a charming host with great personality and humor, a history lesson for why we are seeing these problems now, an explanation for why it was done that way, and proposing a scientific and natural way to address the issue, this is high quality work
Thank you, that is a big compliment, because I've been working really hard to try to work more of that kind of stuff into the videos recently, and it's tougher than one might think!
Years ago at a yard sale I bought a book called the benefits of weeds. Two things I remember from it are how they'll tell you the type of soil you have and the insects will eat them instead of your crop, hopefully 😊
As a “mostly” conventional row crop farmer from the Midwest, I love this video. You are smart and sustainable! My goals are to transition to more wholistic farming, primarily minimum tillage and cover crop additions for starters. Thanks for sharing this.
This makes my heart sing to hear. It is harder to do this stuff on a larger scale, but the tech is coming slowly but surely. If you happen to have an hour, watch the episode of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime that shows the regenerative farmer who plants a huge section of his farm with three crops together. It wasn’t super successful the first year, as you know it takes a while to transition soil back to be less reliant on chemical fertilizers, but it showed what was POSSIBLE on a large scale, and that was so encouraging to my farmer heart.
This is super helpful. Thanks for this information. My grandpa used to fight a war in his garden with snails and all kinds of pests and weeds. It came to the point where I refused to eat the stuff he planted as I knew all the chemicals he put in the soil. So it took me years but we started to cultivate habitats for birds, mice and even hedgehoges as well s releasing insects that would eat the pests. Now his garden has barely a problem with pests even when the neighbors are overrun. The only downside, hedgehogs can be very loud when they get amorous.
I'm from western Washington and I lived near Chattanooga in 2012 but moved back home after a couple years. I hate the politics of this place and I wish I could afford to move again. I absolutely love you and your energy and love for life and animals 💕 Thank you for the excellent helpful tips at the end!!!!!!
Using weeds to test the soil is great…. And collecting and eating those weeds (dandelions… great pre biotic for your probiotic ) is one of mother nature’s most wonderful gifts!!
Wow! I've learned so much in just this video! My little tiny raised bed is full of chickweed, which I've not really seen around here before. All this years "garden" has are peas and petunias. And massive amounts of chickweed. I've pulled some up, just pull and drop, to prevent bare soil around my plants. Despite being in a desert (literally) my soil has stayed more or less hydrated, even when I've missed days watering. I planted peas to fix nitrogen, but it sounds like my fall planting of peas did the trick, and next year I can grow zucchini again. Yesterday I looked at a half acre summer garden plot out of town so I can have a place to grow, regenerate, and learn. While marveling at the berry trees, shrubs, and bushes that have survived 5 years without being tended, I noted the abundance of red clover, which is also something I don't see around here. Now I know, that's where I need to be planting peas!
Hi Anne thanks so much for your info! I have a community garden and I have been struggling with weeds all summer! (New Gardener) I call my plot the messy garden compared to every other garden plot! Your information is so helpful…now I give Mother Nature and her weeds a lot more respect! I should have known that there is a reason for everything that Mother Nature does. We as gardeners just need to get to understand her and her actions and work accordingly!👍💕
I had a small herd of sheep , I wasn't ready to turn them out on green grass right away. I needed to keep them close for awhile. So I let them put into the farm yard for a couple of hrs twice a day . I started noticing that their urine was really red looking , concerning, to say the least . I called my vet, and he told me to keep an eye on it for a couple more days , watch for sickness or changes in behavior . So I started spending most 9f my day hanging with the sheep. Observing their every move, nibble and squat. Then I locked them up and kept them locked up for 2 more days. No red urine. I Let them out and observed . They went straight to the dandelions, even fighting over them . Soon there was little dark urine spots around the yard . Moral of the story sheep ❤❤❤❤❤❤ love daddies. So do goat's , cows, chickens , and horses. That calcium is good for them . Dandilion flower tea is delicious, and as good for you as it is for the critters.
I have a huge amount of chlorine in our water and use rain water when I can, that said, when I must use tap water ,(it does not rain every day in Malakwa BC) , I have found if I fill buckets with tap water, letting it sit for an hour or so , I can use it safely on my gardens. I love your videos! I have begun watching what the Goddess puts on the ground here, to preserve water.
Tech if it’s the gas you let it sit like 24 hours. If you look up how fast it gasses off. Also if you want to collect rain water persistently, put tadpoles in the water they eat mysquitos
I posted this elsewhere but I wanted to let you know that you can use an RV water filter. They are designed to go on a garden hose. $15 for a season. You might need 2 if you water heavy. You can get them at Wmart or anywhere they have RV supplies.
The Carolina Parakeet was the only animal that ate cockelburrs. The pioneers drove them extinct in order to put their feathers in their hats. The burrs are like a time capsule. There are multiple seeds in each burr but usually only one germinates each year. Best way to control them is to mow or bush hog them when they flower about late July to Sept before the seed can mature.
+1 on that ! Also, please read this article by the Miami Herald from 04/22/2024 "Miami-Dade County’s urban tree project unable to shade residents from record heat". We need your support for trees not lawns - Thank you!
Thank you so much for validating this. I have been beating this drum for decades. Weeds are the best soil test and observing helps you rectify most deficiencies.
Yes! Yes! Yes! (As long as it’s not grass. That weed is beyond noxious.) I let wild nightshades grow near my kale & chard. Great trap plants! And I LOVE your instructions on replacing the weeds with similar plants! I’m excited for next year!
You know this lady is about her business when she grabs a turd and calls it nitrogen. PASSION! 🤣 Thank you for making this video, I learned a lot. Since I'm starting a garden of my own I'm trying to get as much advice and education as I can so that I can have a successful harvest. I appreciate the thorough explanations and the visuals as well as the engaging humor. You make learning fun :)
Yay! I have for years observed the weeds in the yard. The weeds change and I have noticed how what they provide is beneficial for both grounds and people.
I've been doing this for years. I'm beginning to analyze my weed water, and it's amazing how much potassium, phosphorus, and ammonia is produced. It's my only source of fertilizer in my garden.
I try to plow the undesired weeds under before they make seed whenever I can. That works pretty well. I only use herbicides to kill weeds and vines around my fences and in uncultivated parts of the property that I can't mow. I haven't used fertilizer the past few years. But I might this year, because we planted kind of late.
If it would be possible to mow rather than plow, even the garden, you’ll get a far better fertility and moisture retention over time than any benefit plowing could ever offer. Have you, by chance, seen this video? ua-cam.com/video/hfBSgHgcSc4/v-deo.html
@@AnneofAllTrades No. I'll have to look at it later. Too much to do, right now. I might switch over to mowing next year. This year and the past two, plowing has helped me tear down some old sections of terrace and reshape this hill to be less erosion susceptible. Mowing might be possible on the upper part next year. This property was abused and neglected a lot in the past. You might want to take a look at my comment in your video about the worst year of your life. I think you'll find it encouraging.
Dandelion potato salad... use spring tender dandelion leaves and buds, wash them and mix them with large freshly diced cooked (skins on), potatoes, minced: ; onions, green and red peppers, and whatever other veggies you like, cubed tofu (or eggs)... to dress it use Italian vinaigrette or oil and vinegar with salt, pepper, garlic, spices of choice. You can also add your favorites, i.e. capers, olives, pickles, whatever. This is a great salad that my mother would make. We never pulled dandelions, they're wonderful!
Purslane is also very high in Omega 3 fatty acids. It may be one of the most nutrient dense plants in the garden... but like most salad things, tastes like cow food.
A patch of nettles came up near my cannabis patch and I've let them do there thing. I harvested this spring for greens. Some of these I made into a dual extract. I started harvesting seed yesterday and intend to cultivate a big patch next year. Along with chickory, mullen , and spruce trees and black locust. I've also be eating purslane from my wifes garden.
I allow my garden to grow naturally! A year ago I stopped fertilizing entirely , this summer my strawberries, my fruit trees, my roses… after being dormant for a very short time - started producing beautifully without anything other than sun and water😂❤
This was so helpful. Thank you Anne. I’m dealing with a lot of horsetail and it’s nasty. I know it’s a sign of anaerobic soil and it sprang up after I switched my garden to no till and added cardboard and woodchips. Now I’m trying to fix that but haven’t had success yet. Any tips? Or do you have a resource that taught you about weeds and what your soil is looking for?
I have been pondering about this exact same thing. Why are we constantly fighting nature, instead we should cooperate with eachother. Thanks for this amazingly informative video.
Love your personality!! Would you happen to know what our soil is lacking by allowing bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) to grow and spread? Thank you so much!!!
So thankful I found you tonight. I have been feeling like the odd duck out lately. Everyone I know that takes care of any plant life around me(husband included) looks at me like I am nuts when I hit them with my, "Just go with it", mentality. You seem like a kendrid spirit sister. Thank you for confirming the things I know I am not nuts for seeing with my own 2 eyes.❤
Bwahahahahaha!! This has got to be my favorite of all your videos so far. Packed with AWESOME information... and eff the HOAs! 😂 (As the former treasurer of one who has since moved to rural north GA, I totally understand!) Thanks to you, and my ongoing fight with thistles, I now know exactly where I'm going to be planting my artichokes!!! 🥰 You're the best! ☺️
Great videos, But could I advise you that when you are showing a plant to the camera and naming it that you hold it closer and hold it very still please?
I have a huge bag of native grasses, flowers and cover crop. Spent about 100$ on multiple by the pound mixes at my local seed store. And I chunk it on bare spots and on the perimeter of my property. It has been awesome and lasts for a long time… I do not like invasive weeds so this helps me learn about soil conditions. Adds biodiversity and I just keep adding to the seed mix. Occasionally I get purple coneflowers, Shasta daisies, and passion flowers. If the soil is cracked and dry. I’ll cut/mulch grass and spread it out over the barren area I just spread the seed mix over. If you can let the grass dry out and then spread it. Plus rough up the soil before seeds
I was just hoping for another one of your awesome videos, then it popped up. Great minds! Great idea on the HOA. Just hit delete on all the crazy complaints! I love it! Keep up the great work.
I like that you actually acknolige the existance of a seed bank in the soil. Most people cover that with a lawn and call it a garden. I'm going to clear my back garden next month. Will leave it to rest and add compost. Will plant the actual plants for the new garden at least 2 years later. People can't understand that you can't get soil from a bag and put a plant in it. So, when i'm getting the tiles out and re-level everything. I'm going to kill a lot of stuff. But that's also good. Fungi that's dead is just a bunch of sugar. But i will wait for it to stabalize inside the ground before i put my expensive plants in like bare root trees. So, i'm basicly add compost for 2.5 years and wait for the ground to settle to the right compactness.
Dandelion leaves are indeed not very nice to eat. But! You can make an amazing golden honey substitute from the flowers! And that's very tasty and a real nice treat for your vegan guests. 😊
My garden is sited on a sun damaged area of my property that never grew anything. I established a food forest system and initially used pine shavings for mulch. Various weeds such as sweet clover, dandelion, sorrel and buckwheat grow as volunteers and I occasionally go through with a string trimmer to keep them in check. The garden plants thrive this way.
@AnneofAllTrades It's so good to see this video. Many in the US seem to be about twenty years behind in things such as not just having a monoculture lawn, but having a garden, that produces benefits for the whole environment, including human beings. We try at the Zen center to educate people about this and this video is just great. Thank you for what you're doing.
yes, but you'll also need to do the other nature-mimicking things in tandem to create/improve favorable soil conditions in which this will all work, ie: this video: ua-cam.com/video/GicG2aDPfXw/v-deo.htmlsi=o95iYp4IPmi5g0A3
"Nitrogen deposits." Ha! I will use this. It sounds so scientific and polite. This video is the first of yours I have seen. You are awesome. I have subscribed. As a beginning gardener, I am grateful for this help.
This woman is a revelation to me in a sense. Over the years my mind has wondered how and why different weeds have appeared at different places at different times? This woman has opened my eyes 😊Will
Where I live the weather changed the last years from extremly wet to drought and back. I endet up giving all my flower seeds to the patch I tried to grow them. We cut few times a year the growth and look what is not welcome and open up some areas a little bit by removing stingy nettles and thistles bevor they seed. We do not water. We have had a totally different garden every year. My favorite was the chamomille field in the most dry year where nothing else cooped as good. Working with nature instead of fighting it.
I have three raised gardens.. for last 4 yrs I have not touched one but burn it when it turns yellow .. every year it grows something new . First year flowers second year was sunflowers and lambs quarter.. 3rd year lots of sheep heads now this year it's cheat grass .. can't wait for next year..
Southwest GA here, I just planted Red acre cabbage Burpee long lasting tomato Dinosaur kale Big kahuna garden bean Swiss chard and bok choy I left all the purslane, dandelions and a few others.
This is the most brilliant UA-cam video I have seen about gardening. We are planning on moving to a farm and one of the main things I have been worried about is dealing with whatever soil and weed problems might exist on handover. We would like to get a running start on how to manage these issues in order to plant food crops for ourselves and our livestock. My husband and I are both ecologically conscientious people and are looking towards environmentally healthy ways to manage our land. If you write some books, I will be the first to purchase them. Please keep up the good work. The planet needs more people who think and garden like you. 💗🙏🏽💗
I am now a subscriber! Thank you! You’re a GREAT TEACHER! I actually took a Masters Garden class which DID NOT go into NEEDED DETAILS YOU JUST SPOKE ON!! Thanks for sharing!
I find this really interesting...im currently studying agricultural and one of our modules is cultivated pastures...and the first 2 chapters is basically problem plants and herbicides...i love this video because its natural deweeding, and rebuilding the soil with what the weeds are telling us we need...instead of killing it with poisons
I love what you are sharing; on my channel, I have started calling weeds Medicinal Plants For The Soil. You're 100% correct that we can find out what our soil lacks by looking at the plants that Mother Nature is growing in any spot. .
This is exellant. I grew up fed by dandelion greens. Some older plant leafs needed to be soaked overnight to make edible but mixed with other food are delicious. Especially when you are really hungery..!!
Ton of information in just one short video!! I love the fact that you include so much explanation and information without it seeming like a boring lecture. Thanks for all your effort and looking forward to more such videos!
Thank you Brooklyn Bedding for sponsoring! Visit brooklynbedding.com/anneofalltrades to get 25% off your mattress with code anneofalltrades
Taraxacum grows on compact soils with a large carrot like root. It will uncompact the soil with it's root and die.
I think you would find European medieval food gardens fascinating. Many parallels
Thanks for all this info this was just what I was looking for. Thanks for going through all the hard work for the rest of us.
telling me that all plants are weeds is not productive. you are a weed.... .... . . . . . . . .
Great video
if your only choice is chlorinated municipal water you can fill buckets and let it sit for 24-48 hours to off-gas the chlorine. I used to do this for a freshwater aquarium to avoid killing the fish
Totally! Or add vitamin c powder (the reason this works is more sciencey than I am able to explain, but I do this when making compost tea)
Thanks for that!
@@AnneofAllTrades isn’t that for chloramine, another option for municipalities to add to water to sanitize it in pipes but one that dosent gas off.
Just ask chatgpt or google where your town gets its water from, and then ask if they put chlorine GAS or chloramine, one gases off one requires vitamin c powder is my understanding.
There are water filters that are used by RV's. They are designed for garden hoses. They're about $15 and will last a whole summer d3pending on how much you water. Might need a 2nd if you need to water heavy
The way you rebranded permaculture to ✨lazy gardening✨ is absolutely the rebrand it needed to gain steam and I love it
Permaculture has both some challenges, and some benefits no one ever really calls out. It is really not a recent phenomenon in terms of methodology, but there have been a few personalites who have culturally appropriated native and ancient methods and rebranded them to sell training seminars, books etc. That is annoying. Then there was one very popular individual who adapted and taught everything based on the climate in the Pacific Northwest, which is very unique and singular, and not applicable to almost anywhere else in the northern hemisphere. One of the biggest "permaculture" bungles is the idea that you can grow crops under trees in climates that have a frozen winter (the season and days are too short for most crops to gather enough energy to fruit, and you are gonna starve). Fortunately "permaculture" as a rebranded method, has grown beyond some of it's early messiahs. Today it is lot of ecology rolled into the organic gardening movement in the 60s/70s (which was driven by people who remembered and wanted a return to the pre-WW2 non-chemical methods). So the name "Permaculture" is inflated, but combining ecology with the methods our grandparents used absolutely makes sense. The place where Permaculture absolutely shines is not the "method". It is the COMMUNITY of like-minded people who collaborate, learn, and garden together. That is a PHEONOMENAL ACCOMPLISHMENT. To me, that is what "permaculture" is really about. The methods have been around forver, and the name is a marketing thing, but the community is new and worthy of a solid tip of the cap.
@@saltwaterpurl you seem to know your history! What part of the world are you in?
@@saltwaterpurl Please stop using made up terms like "culture appropriation". It is vital for humanity to SHARE our cultures so that we can coexist and learn from each other.
I agree this Women is Bright very bright.
@@saltwaterpurl Calling the sharing of methods for growing things cultural appropriation is a crock of horseshit. Stop being a victim. No one harms you by sharing methods for growing things. The hypocrisy of you saying permaculture is about community and collaboration after just whining about cultural appropriation when someone else shares it is absolutely pathetic. Grow up.
Interesting topic. So I googled some information in Dutch. The top soil can lack calcium but the roots will take in calcium, transport it to the leaves etc above ground. When the dandelion dies it will give it's calcium to the soil life.
Dandelions are good for insects and for humans. It's a great medicinal plant. For the liver, the kidney's, the heart, the skin, digestive system, relieve bloodpressure. Chewing the leaves can restore teeth enamel. Salve for arthritus.
The plant has antioxidants, minerals and vitamines. Roots to make "coffee", leaves for tea, tinctures and making "honey jam" from the flowers. In times of need the dandelion is a good friend.🌷
wish I had known that about the leaves restoring enamel. my teeth are all gone now. have you got any proven recipes for arthritis salve? are the roots actually caffeinated? I've always wondered about that.
@@skinnyway probably meant herbal tea, basically only tea made from the tea plant is caffeinated.
If you're diabetic dandelions could save your life. And feet. And eyes. I dry them and put them in a little chopper/grinder. Then I make a tea out of them. Yes, they taste like dirt. On old Italian guy told me his mother told him you have to get the leaves before they grow flowers. I don't know... It's too late to try that this year. Seriously, though... If you're diabetic you should do some reading about dandelions. Maybe talk to a doctor... 'Cause I'm not a doctor. All I know is that I was taking over 100 units of insulin a day. Now I don't.
Dandelions were first introduced to America as a food and medicinal plant. It is a foreign invader but it is now endemic.
Foragers love dandelions because their invasive nature means they can eat them all with impunity. I’ve tried eating them and never found them particularly tasty, but if I were starving I would definitely make use of such an abundant resource.
As a new viewer, I am absolutely astounded. This is the most "work smarter not harder" gardening imaginable. Why doesn't everyone do it this way? I've never heard anyone talk about using weeds in this way, but it sounds like the most natural response to make in the world. Weeds aren't just problems, they're plants that wanna grow for a reason. I wish that all farmers could find a way to work with nature more naturally like you, instead of just using a slash and burn style. It makes so much sense to respond to the issues mother nature gives you. Don't kill and poison the land, work with and respond to what the weeds tell you the soil needs; what it wants to grow! You don't need to do all the fighting against the weeds on your own; you just need to give the plants you want to grow enough of an advantage to outcompete them. You, ma'am are a genius!
Thank you! But weeds are a fire hazard where we live because they die in the summer. I let gophers have free reign! They eat and bury almost all grass and weeds! I plant vegetables in pots. 💕
exactly!
The main reason is: big farmers with big machines need one crop, in perfect rows to harvest.
Unlike normal humans that plant for consumption and harvest by hand, and we can harvest in almost any conditions
Due to circumstances i cant replace my thistle with anything (I have plans but its low priority right now), i let the thistle grow, just when i see flower heads forming i take a weed wacker, knock the whole lot down and let it all rot. After 3 years, ive seen less thistle but started seeing wild local berries that are edible.
I knew the thistle was bringing up nutrition from deep down and breaking up the hard packed clay. Turns out I was right and now when I want that area to be a garden bed, my life will be easier.
True. Plant exudates look it up
Finch love thistle seed
I have been battling thistles for 3 summers in this home and it's in this one area. I have felt CRAZY digging the root out and being careful to get it all. It is in an area of grass I want to keep (rather than add a garden there) so I haven't done anything (except kill the grass). I have been nervous to leave the thistles because the area is right in the middle of where my littles play (ouch). So I'm curious if chopping them when I see them (but not digging them up) will help nourish the ground and reduce the thistles. I fear I've been sabotaging myself over the years as I'm trying to eradicate them. I noticed the thistles return in the same areas I'm digging them out...(annoying), but it must be trying to tell me something!!
@@DaveE99I can't figure out what you mean by exudates. I only found:
noun
plural noun: exudates
1.
MEDICINE
a mass of cells and fluid that has seeped out of blood vessels or an organ, especially in inflammation.
2.
BOTANY•ENTOMOLOGY
a substance secreted by a plant or insect
@@HallidayBrittany exudates secreted by plant roots are like when plants feed cookies (carbs fats protien) to bacteria and fungi that then use that energy to mine and harvest nutrients in soil in non plant available forms and digest them to make them plant available. The plants then absorb these nutrients that were processed by the soil food web.
"The difference between a weed and a flower is a judgement"
-Some ancient eastern philosopher
I always say “A weed is just an unloved flower”
Yep,
a weed was not planted by man's hand.
In a cotton field, any cotton plant not growing in this year's cultivation, and are called "volunteers" and are "weeded" out. (hoe that row).
Weeds are good ground cover and make good mulch even if you don't eat em.
I love monarchs! I’ve seen a black and yellow one last few days. And some big bumble bees!
@@seezuceo Totally agree. We need to be more discerning of what plants we allow on the landscape. Indigenous plants need to be cared for because our ecosystems need them to thrive.
No actually just the actual definition of weed lol. The definition of weed is "unwanted plant." Which is entirely subjective.
LOL, my Brother lived in a neighborhood with an HOA....they gave him and others so much grief that he became the president of it and put a stop to all the knuckleheads who had nothing better to do then to tell other people how to live their lives....and after he did that they ended the HOA :)
Her video is a treasure trove of information. Comments like these provide additional great ideas!
Some of the former HOA members act like they’re still in one
Chaotic good.
Ending HOA is one of the most American thing to do Awesome!!
Great attitude and approach!
Ok, so my husband happened to be in the room while I was watching this video. 😂 He said, "Holy smokes! It's like your taking me around the gardens and telling me all the same stuff. Are you related!?" Kindred spirits for sure. The forest forage video is totally me too. 😅
I really appreciate this video and I think you being dyslexic is actually what gives you this great way of sharing information that others are be able to absorb better, so don't beat yourself up too much about that, we all have our gifts to share and in our own unique ways. Imagine how much we could all learn if we could receive information in a multitude of ways, to help us understand this crazy world we live in. Keep up the good work. ☺
My neighbor has so many weeds, so I fill buckets and make my weed tea. I love this subject. Nature is so perfect in its ways. Thank you 😊
Interesting! Any particular kinds of weeds you like in the tea?
@@philliusphoggwick8299 Dandelions are really good and comfrey is known to have all of the N, P and K. You can make a mix or individual buckets for specific purposes. Usually what is growing in your garden is what your soil needs. You put the weeds in and fill with water. It’s done in about 2 weeks and you use it like you do a water soluble fertilizer (small amount in a gallon watering can). The longer it sits - the stronger it gets and the less you use. It smells like manure, but it’s natural and gives the plants what they need.
@@tinad6812 ah Hahaha I thought you meant drinkable tea, like mint or strawberry leaves or nettle! Cool thanks.
@@philliusphoggwick8299 Haha. I do collect all the nettles and dandelion and also make tea and eat them sautéed with garlic or dandelions in a salad.
Dandelion vinegar is very medicinal
First timer here on this channel, and I just realized I dont think Ive EVER seen another aging woman actually leave in the video for all to see, that brief moment of going from squat to stand while your muscoskeletal system has to reconfigure, with a groan and a squirm, before taking that next first step! Haha- love it, and the gray hair... you made the slight struggle look COOL, somehow! Yeah, it is what it is, and ladies, remember- with age comes wisdom, so, OWN IT HONEY! But, I like your style already! ALSO- Im a first year permie myself, just put in my first fruit tree guild, complete with a symbiosis of plants and "weeds", such as mullein, horseradish, comfrey, echinacia, yarrow, herbs, and strawberries for ground cover! Heavy on the perrenials, and chop and drop every chance you can, to infuse back into your soil...Comfrey (specifically Russian Bocking 14) fixes nitrogen issues in your soil! If you are unaware, look up permaculture GUILDS... plus, after the first year, it will almost takes care of itself! Just like a forest!
GREAT VIDEO, GREAT INFO!
ALSO, SO MANY THINGS WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT ARE WEEDS, ARE ACTUALLY EXTREMELY BENEFICIAL, either for food, or medicine! It's sadly almost lost knowledge. Or intentionally hidden? 🤷♀️
Yes, weeds are food, medicine, and help the ground. 👍
Yeah, I feel it, too, and can't get on my knees to work as much anymore. I've had to start sitting instead of kneeling, and it is a bit more awkward, but it is really hard to do work with your hands unless you sometimes get down to ground level. Good job, Anne and other lady.
Nettles dandelions comestible. (Some mayweed (chamomile look-a-like) is toxic though)
Thank you! But weeds are a fire hazard where we live because they die in the summer. I let gophers have free reign! They eat and bury almost all grass and weeds! I plant vegetables in pots. 💕
I don't see "an aging woman"!
I see a tired young woman. 🙂
It seems to me that an effect of light gives an impression that she has more grey hair than she actually does (she could also be having highlights): the mass of her hair from the side and back is very dark.
She has beautiful and youthful arms with very tight skin that any woman would envy ❤
Probably one of the best episodes yet! Thanks for explaining in layman's terms how to garden with nature!
I like the idea of putting the dead carcass of a dandelion around the plant as a warning to other dandelions.
I've done all the things...weeding, digging, and laying down cardboard. Not doing any of it anymore. My veggies and weeds and grass are all figuring out how to co-exist.
Me too..the weeds still outgrow everything though..work in progress I guess!
@@EmbracethechaosPortugal Yes some are too big to pull and some for sure need to be removed so it's not crowding the other plants too badly. I chop em down and if they have seed heads that part gets cut off and into the trash. Everything else is laid down in the beds in layers to serve as mulch but also to put nutrients back into the soil the same way nature does. Works great for me. Happy growing!
Remove weeds around plants after a good rain and then pile up the roots and scatter around the plants. This will keep future weeds from returning while keeping the soil moist and as it breaks down it will replenish the soil
according to a study i read crops grown with other food crops and or wild plants/weeds eventually learn to co-exist in about 2-3 generations. it leads to lower yields but the plants are more resilient and they don't waste energy trying to kill each other. instead they use eachother to help survive and they adapt to have similar traits to the other species that are around them. might explain how weeds like oats and rye eventually turned into "mimics" of wheat and self domesicated themselves.
I’m dealing with nettles, creeping charlie and a few other nasty persistent perennials. If I let them do their thing, they choke out everything else. I can only eat so much nettle.
As a non-gardener, this was a gem. No jargon, just simple explanations for newbies like me. Subscribed!
That's exactly what I need
I let clover/dandelions grow up until they go to seed (helps the pollinators). Purslane is growing pretty wildly in my backyard garden, but the good thing about it is that it's also edible (combats eczema problems). Any other weed (up until they go to seed) are good for breaking up compacted soil and composting (greens part of compost).
Most are edible and NUTRITIOUS, I harvest my weeds, the ones I don't care for make great compost tea😊
I am a veteran gardener, food educator and author of the northern gardening book Sun, Seed & Soil (Boulder Books, 2023). Love your video. So clear and easy to understand. This is vital information that we need to understand how to raise healthy food while working with nature rather than against her. Also love the real life elements that keep sneaking in. Thank you.
i stopped reading after your first sentence. anyone who starts by listing their "credentials" has typically nothing valuable to say.
@@obiwankenobi661if you kept reading, you’d see he was giving her applause on great information.
@@nikkihall1 anyone can give a compliment, thats not valuable information and requires no knowledge/ experience.
Who cares if he gives his credentials. Why can't he just leave his comment without you saying something rude. Get a life man
@obiwankenobi661
They listed their credentials to add more credibility than she already had to what she was saying.
The fact that you had so much vitriol towards them shows a deeper problem in you.
WHY did it upset you enough to take the time out of your day to disrespect them?
WHY do you care so
Much? Are you insecure about your own opinion?
Because as you said, ANYONE can give a compliment.
Yours would have been just as appreciated as the next but instead you chose to be rude.
Last year my garden was overrun with native invasives like nettles, thistles, plantain and dandelions. I was not physically able to deal with trying to destroy everything so I thickly planted clover. This year, I still had the unwanted weeds, but the clover worked wonders breaking up the clay soil and letting the soil retain some water. I am now chopping and dropping the weeds before they set seed, leaving most of the clover to bloom and thrive. As extra mulch I use an inch or so of unused bedding shavings. I cleared out just enough area to plant some tomatoes, peppers and flowers. The pollinators are loving the clover, the plants are loving the mulch from the weed vegetation, and the clover is keeping the soil cool and retaining water. The clover is creeping out into the rest of my prairie property, breaking up the soil without needing any extra water. The looser, cooler soil is bringing in the garter snakes, and we no longer have voles digging up the plants. Thank you for confirming that I may be on the right track by being a lazy gardener.
This is so interesting! I live in a subdivision, dream of owning rural land, but we've just been letting the weeds grow in our lawn. Some of my neighbors have beautiful, thick, lush green lawns, and they pay for it. Someone comes and regularly "treats" their lawns with chemicals. We used to do that too. Then I had a dog get diagnosed with terminal cancer, and my next door neighbor had a cat and a young dog die from cancers, and I have two more unrelated male dogs, 2 years apart in age, that developed tumors in almost identical places at the same time. They are still with me, but one has already exceeded his life expectancy that he was given last summer, and I'm happy to report that if I didn't know he had cancer already, I wouldn't know he has cancer. He's still doing well, even with kidney disease that was diagnosed prior to the cancer diagnosis. These circumstances, and a recent interest in growing my own food and learning about herbalism has made me more weed tolerant, but what I am learning from this video takes that to a whole other level. Thanks for taking the time to share this information! 🙂
Sorry, I meant to leave my comment as a primary comment to the video, but I'm using an old device so I can't edit it in any way. It works with your comment too though. You are sharing your experience too, and I appreciated the layer of information you brought as well. 🙂
@@charmc4152 Thanks for your comment. You might want to check out adding microclover as a lawn substitute. We used it for backyard lawn in the city. No need to mow or fertilize(although you can), it acts just like regular clover but stays short and very manageable. It's used on golf courses to supplement the seasonal grasses, keeps the soil healthy with little maintenance. I'm thinking of throwing some out in the mowed defensive space around our house.
Food food food & medicine!!!
Weeds All of which are Great medicinal plants . God's pharmacy thier here for a very Good purpose !! Thier a gift . Hardly discusting
“I became the secretary of the HOA, deleted all the complaints….and then we moved!”😂😂😂😂😂😂
So cool😂
I delighted in hearing that!!!! I lived in an HOA neighborhood for 10 years and absolutely will NOT do that again. Not my style.
@@robinsiciliano8923me neither!
@@robinsiciliano8923 - People who live in HOA communities cannot think for themselves and need someone else to create a false utopia.
Hope you handed the mantle to someone like minded.
I raise rabbits. They eat clippings like raspberries, grapes, lots of weeds. They fertilize even the house plants. I thought they would ruin my garden but all my plants are still intact. They will dig a hole to live for a weather controlled environment. My chickens eat bugs, keep snakes away and provide food. I love your video. It makes sense to enter into an agreement with weeds. You have excellent information. Thank you. It takes away the frustration of gardening!
Thanks. How do you keep the rabbits from eating your food plants?
@@kellyschlumberger1030 I am shocked that they don’t bother them. One of them dug a trench around my new watermelon plants so I filled the trench up with rabbit poop and it was not touched again. I have seen them nibble on my chives but not enough to hurt them. I planted some new black berry plants and they chewed on them a little but they never touch my raspberry or Logan berry plants. They really like weeds especially thorny ones and dandelions. I love watching them run around the yard. They like to sit in the lawn chair with me sometimes. They are diggers so your fence has to be very secure.
Biggest thing which is important is your bunnies and livestock poo aka fertilizes the land, disperse seeds through poo….my favorite fertilizer is manure….gods gift to gardening.
I was really busy at work and let the weeds take over a section of my garden with some watermelon and tomatoes and various other things growing around (we practice permaculture in a community garden plot) and the tomatoes that grew untrellised on the floor surrounded - darn near crowded out - by "weeds" grew the most voluptuously and have the least tomatoes split and rot on the vine. there's something here for sure!
That's really impressive and informative. The weeds basically protected the plants
Why can’t I meet awesome people like Anne in the wild and become best friends with them 🌸 🌱
Dandelions are nature's gift to us...make tea, or use in salads...it has amazing health benefits 😊
They also heal the soil and feed the bees
I learn something new and important every time I watch one of your videos. Never a waste of time, informative, and humorous. You're a great teacher. Btw... love your new apartment. It's beautiful!
UA-cam recommend this and I clicked it out of curiosity, and OMG I DO NOT REGRET IT. This is the video I didn't know I needed! Thank you!! This should be taught in schools!
SHOULD BE!!! But that would go against the foundation that has already been laid, Holmes...🥸
I was so happy when you mowed down the sticky weed! We have mowed paths through wild fields and the "weeds" very quickly give up with weekly mowing. Now we have beautiful lawn paths through the fields and brush. It's not only enjoyable for us, but the wildlife love it! They have sweet short grass to walk and forage and they can duck into the brush when predators come around.
We also started our food forest by mowing. And then we do like you have demonstrated and cover with cardboard and compost and mulch. Works so well for us!!
We love your content and gardens!! ❤
Thank you for another great video of valuable information to use what's there to improve soil for planting what you want to grow. Also presented with bits of humor that make them so enjoyable to watch. That means I'll remember more. Thank you, Anne and Adam.
That was the single greatest sponsor integration I've ever seen
Your channel is very influential to my lawn. I've literally let it grow and had a wild turkey mother and her three young babies eat for a few nights and days. Wildlife seems to love love my overgrown backyard and front yard. How do I keep the neighbor complaints away? I just mow what they can see from their perspective walking by... I haven't gotten one complaint this year!
Plantain is something I keep a close eye on in my yard. It's my go to whenever I am a banquet for mosquitoes! Highly recommend! I chew it a bit and rub it on the wound, instant relief!
It also works (at least for me) on wasp stings, and fire ants bites/stings, and I like the way it tastes.
Harvest the seeds for cereal/flour
I grow it on purpose, like bought seed.
I make a salve using plantain,yarrow,calendula and comfrey, people love it so much for almost eveything,the reviews have been great,itching ,sunburn,bruising broken bones,even relieving arthritis pain,that I was encouraged to make it to sell. My first batch of 40 jars sold out within a week 😳😊
@@dsoldier9227what is your company name? Sounds interesting to try :)
Wow! I have actually been using the same homemade weed fertilizer method this year by complete coincidence! I like to keep 5 gallon buckets all around my property and if I’m out weeding, I throw them in the bucket, let them fill with rain, and threw in some manure and then I watered my plants that are nearby with it. It’s been amazing!
Wow, just based on the intro to this video: a charming host with great personality and humor, a history lesson for why we are seeing these problems now, an explanation for why it was done that way, and proposing a scientific and natural way to address the issue, this is high quality work
Thank you, that is a big compliment, because I've been working really hard to try to work more of that kind of stuff into the videos recently, and it's tougher than one might think!
Yes, but you make it look effortless 😉
I pull up and use weeds to put nutrients back in the soil, and also as mulch to keep the soil moist.
Weeds as a soil test is a genius metaphor
It's not a metaphor
Genius technique!
Years ago at a yard sale I bought a book called the benefits of weeds. Two things I remember from it are how they'll tell you the type of soil you have and the insects will eat them instead of your crop, hopefully 😊
As a “mostly” conventional row crop farmer from the Midwest, I love this video. You are smart and sustainable! My goals are to transition to more wholistic farming, primarily minimum tillage and cover crop additions for starters. Thanks for sharing this.
This makes my heart sing to hear. It is harder to do this stuff on a larger scale, but the tech is coming slowly but surely. If you happen to have an hour, watch the episode of Clarkson’s Farm on Amazon Prime that shows the regenerative farmer who plants a huge section of his farm with three crops together. It wasn’t super successful the first year, as you know it takes a while to transition soil back to be less reliant on chemical fertilizers, but it showed what was POSSIBLE on a large scale, and that was so encouraging to my farmer heart.
@@AnneofAllTrades I have watched all of the Clarkson’s Farm seasons 😄 thanks for the reply.
This girl is my favorite kind of weed. No herbicides for her. Natural nutrients only. She'll outlive us, all.
💯👍
*woman. Assuming she/her pronouns…. I haven’t checked yet….
@@defectivebarbie I don't speak commie mommy talk.
@cd-vg3nz replied: "actually a stealer of life, a rather have a morsel in her mouth than let an animal live kinda weed"
Being able to grow and know is THE GOLD. I have so much admiration for people who do this. Thank you.
💯.
Read the weeds, use the weeds, feed the weeds!
Weeds, in most cases, are harvesting what the soil doesn't have or is deficient in.
That’s a fantastic summary!
This is super helpful. Thanks for this information. My grandpa used to fight a war in his garden with snails and all kinds of pests and weeds. It came to the point where I refused to eat the stuff he planted as I knew all the chemicals he put in the soil. So it took me years but we started to cultivate habitats for birds, mice and even hedgehoges as well s releasing insects that would eat the pests. Now his garden has barely a problem with pests even when the neighbors are overrun.
The only downside, hedgehogs can be very loud when they get amorous.
Oh MYLANTA - you are the only person I've found that uses that phrase! My family has used it for years! You are my people! LOL
It's big in the NW!
@@dfreak01yes, it is!
Ha!! I use it too!!!!
My SIL says “oh my cow.” Strange….
I got it from fuller house! 😂
I'm from western Washington and I lived near Chattanooga in 2012 but moved back home after a couple years.
I hate the politics of this place and I wish I could afford to move again.
I absolutely love you and your energy and love for life and animals 💕
Thank you for the excellent helpful tips at the end!!!!!!
Using weeds to test the soil is great…. And collecting and eating those weeds (dandelions… great pre biotic for your probiotic ) is one of mother nature’s most wonderful gifts!!
Wow! I've learned so much in just this video!
My little tiny raised bed is full of chickweed, which I've not really seen around here before. All this years "garden" has are peas and petunias. And massive amounts of chickweed. I've pulled some up, just pull and drop, to prevent bare soil around my plants. Despite being in a desert (literally) my soil has stayed more or less hydrated, even when I've missed days watering.
I planted peas to fix nitrogen, but it sounds like my fall planting of peas did the trick, and next year I can grow zucchini again.
Yesterday I looked at a half acre summer garden plot out of town so I can have a place to grow, regenerate, and learn. While marveling at the berry trees, shrubs, and bushes that have survived 5 years without being tended, I noted the abundance of red clover, which is also something I don't see around here. Now I know, that's where I need to be planting peas!
I learn so much from you. I’m loopy with the ADHD inattentive kind so I have to watch/listen over and over but I enjoy it so much. Thanks Anne
Hi Anne thanks so much for your info! I have a community garden and I have been struggling with weeds all summer! (New Gardener) I call my plot the messy garden compared to every other garden plot! Your information is so helpful…now I give Mother Nature and her weeds a lot more respect! I should have known that there is a reason for everything that Mother Nature does. We as gardeners just need to get to understand her and her actions and work accordingly!👍💕
I am SO HAPPY I found you, Anne! You are a breath of fresh air and I am learning so much!!
I had a small herd of sheep , I wasn't ready to turn them out on green grass right away. I needed to keep them close for awhile. So I let them put into the farm yard for a couple of hrs twice a day . I started noticing that their urine was really red looking , concerning, to say the least .
I called my vet, and he told me to keep an eye on it for a couple more days , watch for sickness or changes in behavior .
So I started spending most 9f my day hanging with the sheep. Observing their every move, nibble and squat. Then I locked them up and kept them locked up for 2 more days. No red urine. I Let them out and observed . They went straight to the dandelions, even fighting over them . Soon there was little dark urine spots around the yard . Moral of the story sheep ❤❤❤❤❤❤ love daddies. So do goat's , cows, chickens , and horses.
That calcium is good for them .
Dandilion flower tea is delicious, and as good for you as it is for the critters.
I have a huge amount of chlorine in our water and use rain water when I can, that said, when I must use tap water ,(it does not rain every day in Malakwa BC) , I have found if I fill buckets with tap water, letting it sit for an hour or so , I can use it safely on my gardens. I love your videos! I have begun watching what the Goddess puts on the ground here, to preserve water.
Tech if it’s the gas you let it sit like 24 hours. If you look up how fast it gasses off. Also if you want to collect rain water persistently, put tadpoles in the water they eat mysquitos
I posted this elsewhere but I wanted to let you know that you can use an RV water filter. They are designed to go on a garden hose. $15 for a season. You might need 2 if you water heavy. You can get them at Wmart or anywhere they have RV supplies.
The Carolina Parakeet was the only animal that ate cockelburrs. The pioneers drove them extinct in order to put their feathers in their hats. The burrs are like a time capsule. There are multiple seeds in each burr but usually only one germinates each year. Best way to control them is to mow or bush hog them when they flower about late July to Sept before the seed can mature.
+1 on that ! Also, please read this article by the Miami Herald from 04/22/2024 "Miami-Dade County’s urban tree project unable to shade residents from record heat". We need your support for trees not lawns - Thank you!
Thank you so much for validating this. I have been beating this drum for decades. Weeds are the best soil test and observing helps you rectify most deficiencies.
Brilliant Anne! 👏🏻
Love your common sense approach as well as your sense of humor. Thank you for another great lesson!
Yes! Yes! Yes! (As long as it’s not grass. That weed is beyond noxious.) I let wild nightshades grow near my kale & chard. Great trap plants! And I LOVE your instructions on replacing the weeds with similar plants! I’m excited for next year!
You know this lady is about her business when she grabs a turd and calls it nitrogen. PASSION! 🤣
Thank you for making this video, I learned a lot. Since I'm starting a garden of my own I'm trying to get as much advice and education as I can so that I can have a successful harvest. I appreciate the thorough explanations and the visuals as well as the engaging humor. You make learning fun :)
Anne, you make it sound so simple as you're saying it. Love your channel.
Such a useful video. I implemented several things from previous videos this year in my garden. Richly blessed. Thank you for your time and efforts!!
So glad to hear it!
From one passionate lazy gardener to another, thank you for your wisdom and wonderful way of communicating it!
I find your vlogs so relaxing, your enthusiasm mixed with the beautiful scenery and animals, especially the donkeys ❤
Yay! I have for years observed the weeds in the yard. The weeds change and I have noticed how what they provide is beneficial for both grounds and people.
Thank you Ann. For sharing your knowledge. Love your energy, love your garden and appreciate your willingness to teach us. You are a blessing.
I've been doing this for years. I'm beginning to analyze my weed water, and it's amazing how much potassium, phosphorus, and ammonia is produced. It's my only source of fertilizer in my garden.
That was soooooo helpful! I’m feeling armed and way more confident! Thank you!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I try to plow the undesired weeds under before they make seed whenever I can. That works pretty well. I only use herbicides to kill weeds and vines around my fences and in uncultivated parts of the property that I can't mow. I haven't used fertilizer the past few years. But I might this year, because we planted kind of late.
If it would be possible to mow rather than plow, even the garden, you’ll get a far better fertility and moisture retention over time than any benefit plowing could ever offer. Have you, by chance, seen this video? ua-cam.com/video/hfBSgHgcSc4/v-deo.html
@@AnneofAllTrades No. I'll have to look at it later. Too much to do, right now. I might switch over to mowing next year. This year and the past two, plowing has helped me tear down some old sections of terrace and reshape this hill to be less erosion susceptible. Mowing might be possible on the upper part next year. This property was abused and neglected a lot in the past. You might want to take a look at my comment in your video about the worst year of your life. I think you'll find it encouraging.
Thank you for spreading this message!
Dandelion potato salad... use spring tender dandelion leaves and buds, wash them and mix them with large freshly diced cooked (skins on), potatoes, minced: ; onions, green and red peppers, and whatever other veggies you like, cubed tofu (or eggs)... to dress it use Italian vinaigrette or oil and vinegar with salt, pepper, garlic, spices of choice. You can also add your favorites, i.e. capers, olives, pickles, whatever. This is a great salad that my mother would make. We never pulled dandelions, they're wonderful!
Purslane is also very high in Omega 3 fatty acids. It may be one of the most nutrient dense plants in the garden... but like most salad things, tastes like cow food.
A patch of nettles came up near my cannabis patch and I've let them do there thing. I harvested this spring for greens. Some of these I made into a dual extract. I started harvesting seed yesterday and intend to cultivate a big patch next year. Along with chickory, mullen , and spruce trees and black locust. I've also be eating purslane from my wifes garden.
I am on team Mother Earth!
I allow my garden to grow naturally! A year ago I stopped fertilizing entirely , this summer my strawberries, my fruit trees, my roses… after being dormant for a very short time - started producing beautifully without anything other than sun and water😂❤
This was so helpful. Thank you Anne. I’m dealing with a lot of horsetail and it’s nasty. I know it’s a sign of anaerobic soil and it sprang up after I switched my garden to no till and added cardboard and woodchips. Now I’m trying to fix that but haven’t had success yet. Any tips? Or do you have a resource that taught you about weeds and what your soil is looking for?
Ooh you can harvest the horsetail for the silica! You could maybe even sell it if you wanted to
I have been pondering about this exact same thing. Why are we constantly fighting nature, instead we should cooperate with eachother. Thanks for this amazingly informative video.
Love your personality!!
Would you happen to know what our soil is lacking by allowing bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) to grow and spread? Thank you so much!!!
So thankful I found you tonight. I have been feeling like the odd duck out lately. Everyone I know that takes care of any plant life around me(husband included) looks at me like I am nuts when I hit them with my, "Just go with it", mentality. You seem like a kendrid spirit sister. Thank you for confirming the things I know I am not nuts for seeing with my own 2 eyes.❤
Bwahahahahaha!! This has got to be my favorite of all your videos so far. Packed with AWESOME information... and eff the HOAs! 😂 (As the former treasurer of one who has since moved to rural north GA, I totally understand!)
Thanks to you, and my ongoing fight with thistles, I now know exactly where I'm going to be planting my artichokes!!! 🥰
You're the best! ☺️
your awesome BTW.. I'm going to be 60 in August so you are NOT old!.. Thank you for all you share.. Breath of fresh air!
Great videos, But could I advise you that when you are showing a plant to the camera and naming it that you hold it closer and hold it very still please?
I have a huge bag of native grasses, flowers and cover crop. Spent about 100$ on multiple by the pound mixes at my local seed store. And I chunk it on bare spots and on the perimeter of my property. It has been awesome and lasts for a long time… I do not like invasive weeds so this helps me learn about soil conditions. Adds biodiversity and I just keep adding to the seed mix. Occasionally I get purple coneflowers, Shasta daisies, and passion flowers. If the soil is cracked and dry. I’ll cut/mulch grass and spread it out over the barren area I just spread the seed mix over. If you can let the grass dry out and then spread it. Plus rough up the soil before seeds
I was just hoping for another one of your awesome videos, then it popped up. Great minds! Great idea on the HOA. Just hit delete on all the crazy complaints! I love it! Keep up the great work.
I like that you actually acknolige the existance of a seed bank in the soil. Most people cover that with a lawn and call it a garden. I'm going to clear my back garden next month.
Will leave it to rest and add compost. Will plant the actual plants for the new garden at least 2 years later. People can't understand that you can't get soil from a bag and put a plant in it.
So, when i'm getting the tiles out and re-level everything. I'm going to kill a lot of stuff. But that's also good. Fungi that's dead is just a bunch of sugar. But i will wait for it to stabalize inside the ground before i put my expensive plants in like bare root trees. So, i'm basicly add compost for 2.5 years and wait for the ground to settle to the right compactness.
Dandelion leaves are indeed not very nice to eat. But! You can make an amazing golden honey substitute from the flowers! And that's very tasty and a real nice treat for your vegan guests. 😊
Do you have a link to an easy to understand recipe? Curious
@@DanielleBlanchardArts Look up dandelioney recipes. You can also make jelly out of the petals, it actually tastes like honey.
What would be a sugar that could be used to make this? My vegan friends won't eat commercially produced ones. 🤔
My garden is sited on a sun damaged area of my property that never grew anything. I established a food forest system and initially used pine shavings for mulch. Various weeds such as sweet clover, dandelion, sorrel and buckwheat grow as volunteers and I occasionally go through with a string trimmer to keep them in check. The garden plants thrive this way.
That is a way cool guest room.
@AnneofAllTrades It's so good to see this video. Many in the US seem to be about twenty years behind in things such as not just having a monoculture lawn, but having a garden, that produces benefits for the whole environment, including human beings. We try at the Zen center to educate people about this and this video is just great. Thank you for what you're doing.
So if you don’t want weeds, pick the weeds that you don’t want and put them in a bucket with water and water the soil and they won’t grow
yes, but you'll also need to do the other nature-mimicking things in tandem to create/improve favorable soil conditions in which this will all work, ie: this video: ua-cam.com/video/GicG2aDPfXw/v-deo.htmlsi=o95iYp4IPmi5g0A3
"Nitrogen deposits." Ha! I will use this. It sounds so scientific and polite.
This video is the first of yours I have seen. You are awesome. I have subscribed. As a beginning gardener, I am grateful for this help.
“Salad sucks, feed it to a beef cow and give me a ribeye”……….sold and subbed
When I first saw this video I figured this girl was probably a vegan but was pleasantly surprised to find out otherwise.
This woman is a revelation to me in a sense. Over the years my mind has wondered how and why different weeds have appeared at different places at different times? This woman has opened my eyes 😊Will
What I gathered from this video is that if you keep a beautiful woman around the farm you won't even notice the weeds...❤❤❤
Where I live the weather changed the last years from extremly wet to drought and back.
I endet up giving all my flower seeds to the patch I tried to grow them.
We cut few times a year the growth and look what is not welcome and open up some areas a little bit by removing stingy nettles and thistles bevor they seed. We do not water.
We have had a totally different garden every year. My favorite was the chamomille field in the most dry year where nothing else cooped as good.
Working with nature instead of fighting it.
I'm glad your hand healed and you folk didn't quit. I believe in weeds for better soil health. Thanks
You just solved all of my problems! Everything you mentioned is currently growing in my yard.
I have three raised gardens.. for last 4 yrs I have not touched one but burn it when it turns yellow .. every year it grows something new . First year flowers second year was sunflowers and lambs quarter.. 3rd year lots of sheep heads now this year it's cheat grass .. can't wait for next year..
Southwest GA here, I just planted
Red acre cabbage
Burpee long lasting tomato
Dinosaur kale
Big kahuna garden bean
Swiss chard and bok choy
I left all the purslane, dandelions and a few others.
This is the most brilliant UA-cam video I have seen about gardening. We are planning on moving to a farm and one of the main things I have been worried about is dealing with whatever soil and weed problems might exist on handover. We would like to get a running start on how to manage these issues in order to plant food crops for ourselves and our livestock. My husband and I are both ecologically conscientious people and are looking towards environmentally healthy ways to manage our land. If you write some books, I will be the first to purchase them. Please keep up the good work. The planet needs more people who think and garden like you. 💗🙏🏽💗
I am now a subscriber! Thank you! You’re a GREAT TEACHER! I actually took a Masters Garden class which DID NOT go into NEEDED DETAILS YOU JUST SPOKE ON!! Thanks for sharing!
I find this really interesting...im currently studying agricultural and one of our modules is cultivated pastures...and the first 2 chapters is basically problem plants and herbicides...i love this video because its natural deweeding, and rebuilding the soil with what the weeds are telling us we need...instead of killing it with poisons
I love what you are sharing; on my channel, I have started calling weeds Medicinal Plants For The Soil. You're 100% correct that we can find out what our soil lacks by looking at the plants that Mother Nature is growing in any spot. .
This is exellant. I grew up fed by dandelion greens. Some older plant leafs needed to be soaked overnight to make edible but mixed with other food are delicious. Especially when you are really hungery..!!
We make amaranth sabzi in india , just some oil, add few garlic smashed let it turn brown add red leaves and salt ...nothing else needed 😊
I am so impressed and i do not even garden or do farming, i feel like a huge nerd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ton of information in just one short video!! I love the fact that you include so much explanation and information without it seeming like a boring lecture. Thanks for all your effort and looking forward to more such videos!