We have a song thrush here on the Big Island of Hawaii that came from China. There was a terrible fire on Oahu in Chinatown and people who had the thrushes in cages released them when they were fleeing for their lives. Some made their way to most of the islands. Their songs are truly lovely
I’m just learning about growing my own food I’m 4 weeks in and I’m blown away I’ve started growing Carrots Spuds Onions Peppers Tomatoes All from seeds and supermarket vegetables They are coming on amazing My mini greenhouse comes next week Making my own compost too You have inspired me Chris Bless you x
Absolutely love the willow weaving hedge you've started. It's gonna take off and be a really beautiful asset there, I'm betting. Also be a nice windbreak for tender spring plants low to the ground. That's a real bummer concerning the weed killer. They're industrial shortcuts, made to push carrying capacity of land beyond anything possible without a huge amount of manual labor. Little thought was given to their effects a decade or two ago. I am hopeful that changes. Frankly, you're doing your part here in that struggle. It may have been a sour note to end on, but it's good to get the word out. Keep on living and working. I'm loving what you do.
For anyone whos interested: a good substitute for those garden sieves is to use those plastic crates you see fruit and veg shops throwing away all the time. Picked up a stack of them from a grocer on the high street. works a treat for getting stones and rubble out of out garden beds.
Hi Kris, A tip on filling seed trays. Use the bottom of a spare tray to compact the compost down on the tray you are filling, one push will do the lot. Nice Vlog. Keep safe
I just love watching you and your lady it really has been helping with my depression and the stress of potentially losing a job I've been at for 11 years. Edited to add ..I am sorry to hear about the weedkiller affecting your crop I can't beileve they sell that crap and I wonder does that stuff affect horses as well?.
It's brilliant what you have achieved and such a lovely Home.Bliss the birds and sheep noise real calming and relaxing instead where I live traffic noise.Keep up the great work your both doing. ☺
The other thing I heard of was what they worm horses with, which can also affect our compost! Keep up gardening Kris and Dot, awesome what you're doing in the garden, doing the same downunder going into winter but doing the prep work for spring.
Dear Mr. Kris. 👍👌👏 Very well done again. The willow hedges will be fantastic. Great channel way out west blog uses poplar for a lot of things and does a lot of gardening too (greenhouse, strawberries in pipes hanging of the ceiling etc.p.p.). If you don't know this channel already I highly suggest that you watch some videos from this great couple. 2) Uuuuh, what a pity and a shame because of that weed killer after all that work/effort/energy you two put in the vegetable gardening. It's really strange that the horses weren't affected. 3) I can hardly wait to watch the greenhouse build. 4) Thanks a lot for making teaching recording editing uploading and sharing. Best regards, luck and health to all of you.
Love the idea of a greenhouse built with timber frame. Don't feel like you have to explain yourself too much about not doing other large projects. You've been going strong for so long, and now that you have a comfortable setup, it's time to decompress and enjoy life a little more.
So hard to get the purity we want in in what we put in our gardens. Hope that compost works out. All the best . You are a great gardener. Hello from Canada 😉🌱🇨🇦
Hey Kris I don't live in the UK I live in the states but have been gardening for about 30 to 40 years off and on and have had laying hens a great deal of the time and that's all I used was the chicken manure and it does a fantastic job. And also I had some neighbors that breed rabbits and I had really good luck with the rabbit poo as well so with you having hens you should be all set. Keep up the great work !!!!
Your garden is really coming along nicely. I especially love the idea of a willow hedge / fence surrounding the garden. Looking forward to the greenhouse build. Stay safe and hugs from South Africa
Hi Kris, have you considered Hugelkultur beds for your garden? I'd have thought it ideal with all the wood / organic material available to you. On the weed killer thing, I believe from watching some other gardening channels that this is a problem even with a lot of commercially available compost. Hope the plants come through OK and you're able to enjoy all your hard work. Thanks for all the videos.
I’m so sorry about the poison in your garden. What a low blow. Sending good thoughts your way, and hoping you’ll still be able to eat some of the produce.
In most apprenticeships your goal is to get red seal certified. In your gardening apprenticeship your goal is to get green thumb certified. Love the idea of the hedgerow. Hopefully it will all take root.
Hi Kris, loved video. It’s great to see that you’re able to take time during these times to enjoy the gardening and work on the smaller projects. Sounds like a good idea to hit pause on the top workshop. I’d love to hear your plans about the new house if you’re considering a ‘just talk at the camera’ video. All the best to you and Dot.
Awwww that's such a disaster for you. You're doing amazing things on your land. I cant wait to buy some land and do something similar on a much smaller scale
Kris - so sorry to hear about the weedkiller after all your work. On the other hand better to find out about it now and be able to devise a way (perhaps) of ensuring that you do not get caught out again. So interesting to see your work on the garden (another side of you). Not all your work is lost - the fences - layout etc will still be there for the future.
Kris so sad to hear about the garden So a while back my neighbor told me about wood chips. My soil has a lot of clay and in the summer it turns to concrete. So I had the local tree guy dump a load of wood chips in driveway for free. I spread them out in a couple of places. the next year in the summer I move the chips to one side and I could push my finger right down into the grown. Trees roots go deep in the grown and pull up minerals that plants need. So as they decompose they make these nutrients available for your plants. I have been doing this for 5 years now and I have lush fertile black soil. My vegetables are the envy of the neighborhood. I would be happy to send you pictures of the garden and the soil. James has been doing this garden channel as long as you have been building and has a lot of great info. Good luck. So I also am a wood worker and all my wood chips saw dust and such go right in the compost pile along with all my garden and tree trimmings. I have 2 6 ft in diameter piles, at the end of the year I take the oldest pile and spread around my garden. then repeat each year. ua-cam.com/users/ThePermaculturGarden
Hi Kris, so sorry about the fertilizer issue ... didn't see that coming and I'm sure, neither did you. Well, now we know. I would think you're going to have to get it out of there ... that will put a stop to the consent thinking about it. The fence is serene to look at even if it didn't grow ... I hope it grows though, can't wait to see what it looks like. Willow is a wonderful plant. Thanks for bring us along ... all my best to you both.
Everything is looking good and coming on great. I am gutted for you both as well, I can only imagine the feeling after weeks of labour on it all. Fingers crossed the plants pull through. Thank for the content.
Yes priorities Kris and have some down time in the garden, Mr Dowding great very easy guy to follow, works from the soil (no dig, well amended soil) right through seedlings (multi sowing), thermal heat from compost to aid germination ........... just watch his channel you'll get it, so very satisfying when you start to harvest your own produce, so tasty. It has been problem for a lot of gardeners the weed killer issue we have had some commercial bagged compost which Im sure has been affected by it, but oddly not all my plants have been stunted just some areas totally agree should never have been allowed and now we have to deal with it, so we just pull the plants damaged, mark the areas affected leave them till next season, hopefully you won't lose to much. Im just loving watching your Homestead take shape, you have achieved so much when you think back to when you first started living on site, keep up the good work.
What a bummer about the insecticide. I feel bad after all the hard work you guys put into it. But looking on the bright side, it’s better than you found out now. Lesson learned. Best of luck, you’re doing a great job
Sorry to hear about the weedkiller Kris! Mankind has used and abused the earth for millennia.. but it is quite surprising how quickly it can bounce back given a little helping hand, which is what you are doing! Just doing your bit, and reaping the edible benefits in the process. 🍇🍊🍋🍅🍄🌽🍏🍓🥒🥕🥔👏 Well done mate!
I had a similar problem with broad beans and thought it was me not doing something right so that is for sharing - I reckon your video helped me recognize a problem I didn’t even think about. I bought an organic compost for container gardening on my balcony and had some produce but really mixed results and the plants really struggled to grow. Unfortunately I ate everything I could 😐 I watched a video by Charles Downing after yours about how to remedy this and contact with actual soil and the organisms that live in soil heals the compost with some time. That’s not an option for my balcony veg containers though so I guess I’ll have to get rid of it completely 🙁 but again thank you for sharing your bad news because without it I don’t think I would have even considered it because I bought flipping organic compost! Crazy world we live in.
Yay, a greenhouse build, looking forward to seeing your design come to life! Compost issue is a nightmare, but don’t dwell on it. I hear you though it’s a terrible situation humans are producing and as always comes down to money and greed! Making your own will resolve the issue moving forward so your on course! Please give us an update on your findings and solution.
Bad news about the beans and peas but it seems the majority of your garden is doing well. If the compost has been sitting that long hopefully there is enough weed killer to hurt it, but not kill it and as the plant gets more mature and hardy it might adapt to its environment. I would just double check the food grown from is still safe to eat. He probably also gets the horse feed from multiple sources and possibly you were lucky enough to end up with a portion of it that had the weed killer for that bed. Good luck man and thanks for sharing!
Because of my electronic engineering background I cant stop thinking about your electrical system. Could you explain a little bit more "detailed" about your power generation and consumption? About how much power comes from solar, from wind, Is it enough for your needs or do you have to shut down something to leave the batteries charging up again? Or are they 99% of the time fully charged up and wasting the incoming power? Do you schedule your work because of the electric power available? Would love to know a bit more of that. For now Ill keep enjoying your gardening vids! Amazing job
Don't quote me on this, but I thought he has previously mentioned that he had more than enough for his daily needs. At least, that's the impression I got from watching his videos for more than a year. I do agree that a video about his electrical system would be pretty interesting to watch!
@Totial Jesse is 100% right. Only recently is his Q&A under the porch iirc. Kris gave verbal answers to pretty much exactly your Q's. Go watch that - and _all_ his other great content.
Unless you eat a lot of radishes or are selling them, plant about 50 cm of radishes every couple of weeks. They can be planted in between other plants quite well also. Sucks about the compost. Love the willow fence. Something to consider in the short term is set some beds along the fence to grow your peas and beans! Best of luck!
Weed killer. How gutted would you be mate. All that work. Damn. We’ve started a garden about the same time as you and have used the neighbours horse manure. It could happen to us also. So many toxic chemicals around in agriculture. If you need to start again, so be it. You’re an encouragement. A year from now, this setback will be forgotten. I once had a toxic battery leak and had to remove 100 tonnes of soil in a tip truck. It almost broke me, but it’s only a memory now.
kris; i think i have similar soil structure like yourself and have even had similar problems with horse manure. i have since used pine/fir tree mulch in my garden and the acidity has helped even out the soil. helped get rid of some of the garden issues including for my fruit trees which had spots on the leaves and unhealthy fruit. this year im looking at a bumper crop of fruit and veggies...
I realize this is a bit after the fact and you probably know this now, but when i was young we had a garden and always planted the squash and pumpkins in hills about 3 to 4 feet apart. These were the kind that grew with vines. I guess the seeds need good drainage-susceptible to rot, hence the hills. I do miss getting good soil under my fingernails. Good relaxing and stress relief the natural way. Good job.
Love all your videos. Thanks for producing and sharing them. One note, in the world of companion planting, peas and most legumes are mortal enemies (opposite of companions) of Onions, most alliums including leeks. Keep them apart for best results. Peas are friendly to most things because the add nitrogen, and are good for heavy feeders like corn, curbits, tomatoes and peppers.
sorry about your mishap Kris! that sucks. hopefully your plants pull through. usually heating these compounds causes them to decompose or at least significantly reduce their effectiveness (kinda like drugs). since compost piles can get really hot it might be partially neutralized. in the future if continue using your neighbors compost - which is a great source for free, you might want to figure out a way to test for the compound in the compost or even find a way to disable it. maybe by laying compost in the thin layer in the son, or covered by black tarp to increase heat. IDK, could be a solvable problem. i hope it works out for you best way possible
Re the weed killer... your crop should be okay to eat... try aerating the soil as often as possible over the Summer. Put the rest of the manure on flowers and maybe trees. If my memory serves me well Charles Dowding did a vlog about it a few years back. Charles n Huw are fantastic ... Huw especially should be helpful re sowing and planting times as he is near your area. PS. The slugs n snails will find you soon.... save wild BlackBerry sticks and place them along side your seedlings. The pesky varmints won't want to slide over the prickles. Have fun. xx
That was real bad news right at the end the way the weed killer found its way to you in such a round about fashion, hopefully it won't be too bad and things will grow and be edible. Great video yet again.
You are really amazing. I've never known anyone who has done all the things you do. Back in the late 60s and 70s had a book called, "Crocket's Victory Garden," that was one of the first issues. You remind me of him. Also I use to get, "Mother Earth News," which is still around. Bet they would be interested in doing some articles on what you do. Everything looks GREAT!
Not a boring video... Just relaxing to play while I work on a new project.🙂 And I'm so sorry about the compost issue. I honestly believe weed killers and pesticides in our food chain have created health problems that didn't exist decades ago... Like maybe celiac disease? Even those of us who don't have that disease can be extremely sensitive to wheat flour that hasn't been organically grown. I wish we humans could take better care of the planet, working with it instead of against it.
Somewhere in the middle of the video I started picking at dry skin on my hand from chemicals I had come in contact with and wondered if you had noticed any improvements to your skin and body after moving away from the city. Then you talked about the weed killer in the horse hay and my heart sank. Best of luck there - you've put in a lot of work on the garden.
I was so enjoying you planting and how wonderful everything was growing. The you came back on with this devastating news about the poison. I hope most of the plants can survive and are eatable
Hi Kris. Charles Dowding did a video about aminopyralids. If I remember rightly, it only affects some species like beans and tomatoes and potatoes, but is broke down by soil organisms in a year.
Ive not been a sub of ur channel for long, but i want to say i love what ur doing and wat u have done! To me its the perfect life! Working to better urself and ur life, not making someone else rich!
The bean curling could also be a virus, rather than a persistent biocide. Are there aphids on beans in past years when the beans thrived (aphids are vectors for Bean Common Mosaic Virus)? Is there a mix of yellow mottled leaves and healthy green leaves, which is a symptom of that virus? The curled and elongated leaves is another symptom of that virus. Beautiful to see your garden and hedgelaying, and helpful to learn the techniques. Happy and healthy spring!
Lovely to see the garden again, and the hedge looks great! There is definately more than one cause for curling leaves like that, so I've got my fingers crossed that you find out its not weedkiller after all and you can still get a good crop.
So lovely to visit with you and Dot today. I have lost much of my motivation since my 90 year old mother died in March. A DIY gal, she would have delighted in your projects and successes. Loving the Willow hedge. Made a tiny version many years ago. It got decimated by my son and his dog!🥺 So sorry about your veggies. DANG BLASTED WEEDKILLERS!🤬 I use white vinegar if I have to use anything. Hope some things are salvageable. Take care and God bless.
Oh Kris, I know how disappointed you and Dot must be, it’s not just the hard work, or the damaged/lost plants, it’s another real world example of how humans continue to damage the environment. Finally, it’s the ever present concern that goes through your head continuously, worrying if you should even risk eating anything. For that reason alone, I encourage you to roll up your sleeves like you have done so many times in the past, fire up the tractor, and remove all contaminated compost, and replant. In the long run you will be glad you did. Wish I was there to help and provide encouragement!
will be great to watch the greenhouse project i would like a mini one for my garden, by the way if you want to control your slug population, get yourself some friendly toads
Feeling for you. I have just added loads of horse muck in a bit to get soil quickly. Fast answers aren't all ways good. Hope it's fixable for you. I wait to see how my veg beds do
Wow..... I'm so sorry about the weed killer ending up in your garden. I now wonder how much of the organically grown food I buy has such stuff in it. I so like the fence.
Broadbeans and Dill are as I've heard good companions against blackfly. Marigolds are helpful too against something.... don't know the English word. And onions and carrots love eachother, both in the ground and in the pan. (Look up the recipes for hutspot, kale stamp pot and more of those 😀)
Gutted for you. I bought a load of cow manure 11 years ago for my allotment and had the same thing. Will you be planting a fruit area? Gooseberries and Currants. Great job on the hedging. Impressive start to your gardening adventures.
From experience, the leaf curling in broad beans is often down to herbicides. Did you put manure on the bed, or compost that has come from another (as in outside) source? If so, it could contain herbicides. The leaf curl is a classic sign of herbicide contamination. I would strongly suggest ditching the entire contents of the bed and leaving it fallow for a year. Start the broad beans again from scratch and plant them in another bed.
Thanks for highlighting this. We had to stop growing tomatoes an potatoes a couple of years ago due to what we thought was blight but looking at the pictures of aminopyralid damage I fear that we may have brought in contaminated compost. It was banned for a period but how they were able to get their licence to sell the stuff reinstated is near criminal.
Hi mate. Gutting about the weed killer! Is there a way to rectify it? or has all that soil gotta be dug out/used on more hardy plants? Looks like you’ve got some pretty bad Ash dieback there too, such a shame! I have seen parts of wales have been really badly affected with it. On a positive note though, the willow weaving looks ace! And well worth the time investment properly lovely little garden you’ve got going there mate. Thanks again for the video really appreciate the work and being able to follow your journey. Also I think a very good decision to hold off on the top workshop this year you will be very thankful you did when you light the wood burner up on a cold winters day! 😃 look after yourself mate. 👍
Your loud bird is a song thrush. You also have robin, wren, blackbird and chiffchaff in the background in case you were wondering.
Is the movie ‘The Big Year’ about Thomas Mansfield!? Nice work sir!
@Marcell Nagy And how the F is your brain so small?
We have a song thrush here on the Big Island of Hawaii that came from China. There was a terrible fire on Oahu in Chinatown and people who had the thrushes in cages released them when they were fleeing for their lives. Some made their way to most of the islands. Their songs are truly lovely
you are so n dire need of a haircut!! looks like a chicken roosting on your shoulders
I’m just learning about growing my own food
I’m 4 weeks in and I’m blown away
I’ve started growing
Carrots
Spuds
Onions
Peppers
Tomatoes
All from seeds and supermarket vegetables
They are coming on amazing
My mini greenhouse comes next week
Making my own compost too
You have inspired me Chris
Bless you x
Happy gardening!
Kris, your videos are never boring. Thanks
Hi Kris - I’m sorry 😐 about the weed killer . Everything looks so beautiful and tranquil. Thank you again for sharing . You’ve done an incredible job.
Absolutely love the willow weaving hedge you've started. It's gonna take off and be a really beautiful asset there, I'm betting. Also be a nice windbreak for tender spring plants low to the ground.
That's a real bummer concerning the weed killer. They're industrial shortcuts, made to push carrying capacity of land beyond anything possible without a huge amount of manual labor. Little thought was given to their effects a decade or two ago. I am hopeful that changes. Frankly, you're doing your part here in that struggle. It may have been a sour note to end on, but it's good to get the word out.
Keep on living and working. I'm loving what you do.
For anyone whos interested: a good substitute for those garden sieves is to use those plastic crates you see fruit and veg shops throwing away all the time. Picked up a stack of them from a grocer on the high street. works a treat for getting stones and rubble out of out garden beds.
I just found some of those left in a pile next to some garages today, so I grabbed a couple. Had to come back to say thanks for the advice.
Good thinking Batman :)
Don’t beat yourself up mate, nothing you could have done. Lesson learnt and it won’t happen again now 👍🏻
Not boring at all. Love this video. Very relaxing
Hi Kris, A tip on filling seed trays. Use the bottom of a spare tray to compact the compost down on the tray you are filling, one push will do the lot.
Nice Vlog. Keep safe
I just love watching you and your lady it really has been helping with my depression and the stress of potentially losing a job I've been at for 11 years.
Edited to add ..I am sorry to hear about the weedkiller affecting your crop I can't beileve they sell that crap and I wonder does that stuff affect horses as well?.
It's brilliant what you have achieved and such a lovely Home.Bliss the birds and sheep noise real calming and relaxing instead where I live traffic noise.Keep up the great work your both doing. ☺
The other thing I heard of was what they worm horses with, which can also affect our compost! Keep up gardening Kris and Dot, awesome what you're doing in the garden, doing the same downunder going into winter but doing the prep work for spring.
I like how you're prioritizing your projects to maintain sanity and focus on what's more valuable.
Dear Mr. Kris.
👍👌👏 Very well done again. The willow hedges will be fantastic. Great channel way out west blog uses poplar for a lot of things and does a lot of gardening too (greenhouse, strawberries in pipes hanging of the ceiling etc.p.p.). If you don't know this channel already I highly suggest that you watch some videos from this great couple.
2) Uuuuh, what a pity and a shame because of that weed killer after all that work/effort/energy you two put in the vegetable gardening. It's really strange that the horses weren't affected.
3) I can hardly wait to watch the greenhouse build.
4) Thanks a lot for making teaching recording editing uploading and sharing.
Best regards, luck and health to all of you.
Love the idea of a greenhouse built with timber frame. Don't feel like you have to explain yourself too much about not doing other large projects. You've been going strong for so long, and now that you have a comfortable setup, it's time to decompress and enjoy life a little more.
So hard to get the purity we want in in what we put in our gardens. Hope that compost works out. All the best . You are a great gardener. Hello from Canada 😉🌱🇨🇦
YOUR ARE A HARD WORKING MAN AND LOVE WHAT YOU ARE DOING.
Hey Kris I don't live in the UK I live in the states but have been gardening for about 30 to 40 years off and on and have had laying hens a great deal of the time and that's all I used was the chicken manure and it does a fantastic job. And also I had some neighbors that breed rabbits and I had really good luck with the rabbit poo as well so with you having hens you should be all set. Keep up the great work !!!!
Really enjoying watching the gardening video.
My new favorite channel
This is a very nice relaxing video. Love watching your work.
This video was not boring. It was relaxing. Thank you!
I agree. The use of toxic chemicals is out of control. Keep us posted on the outcome.
Your garden is really coming along nicely. I especially love the idea of a willow hedge / fence surrounding the garden. Looking forward to the greenhouse build. Stay safe and hugs from South Africa
Hi Kris, have you considered Hugelkultur beds for your garden?
I'd have thought it ideal with all the wood / organic material available to you.
On the weed killer thing, I believe from watching some other gardening channels that this is a problem even with a lot of commercially available compost. Hope the plants come through OK and you're able to enjoy all your hard work.
Thanks for all the videos.
It looks like he already put some logs at the bottom of the raised beds
I’m so sorry about the poison in your garden. What a low blow. Sending good thoughts your way, and hoping you’ll still be able to eat some of the produce.
Another lovely video. Sorry about the weedkiller! However garden looking good. So enjoy seeing how your living the dream nice to see. 👍
love this channel , you have the best life. you created it . its beautiful
In most apprenticeships your goal is to get red seal certified.
In your gardening apprenticeship your goal is to get green thumb certified.
Love the idea of the hedgerow. Hopefully it will all take root.
Hi Kris, loved video. It’s great to see that you’re able to take time during these times to enjoy the gardening and work on the smaller projects. Sounds like a good idea to hit pause on the top workshop. I’d love to hear your plans about the new house if you’re considering a ‘just talk at the camera’ video. All the best to you and Dot.
I’m a Charles Dowding fan too. My garden is doing really great due to him. Btw, love your channel and enjoying all your brilliant woodworking.
happy with the gardening content. My own garden got very ambitious this year, and I too am an apprentice. Be well, stay safe.
I’m so sorry for y’all. You’ve both worked so hard. Fingers crossed it will all work out. Beds and hedge fence look amazing.
Awwww that's such a disaster for you. You're doing amazing things on your land. I cant wait to buy some land and do something similar on a much smaller scale
Kris - so sorry to hear about the weedkiller after all your work. On the other hand better to find out about it now and be able to devise a way (perhaps) of ensuring that you do not get caught out again. So interesting to see your work on the garden (another side of you). Not all your work is lost - the fences - layout etc will still be there for the future.
This video is everything I needed today. Thank you Kris for bringing us along on your gardening venture. This is what makes my soul happy. 🌱💚
Definitely not boring content mate. really enjoy these types of videos
Kris so sad to hear about the garden So a while back my neighbor told me about wood chips. My soil has a lot of clay and in the summer it turns to concrete. So I had the local tree guy dump a load of wood chips in driveway for free. I spread them out in a couple of places. the next year in the summer I move the chips to one side and I could push my finger right down into the grown. Trees roots go deep in the grown and pull up minerals that plants need. So as they decompose they make these nutrients available for your plants. I have been doing this for 5 years now and I have lush fertile black soil. My vegetables are the envy of the neighborhood. I would be happy to send you pictures of the garden and the soil. James has been doing this garden channel as long as you have been building and has a lot of great info. Good luck. So I also am a wood worker and all my wood chips saw dust and such go right in the compost pile along with all my garden and tree trimmings. I have 2 6 ft in diameter piles, at the end of the year I take the oldest pile and spread around my garden. then repeat each year. ua-cam.com/users/ThePermaculturGarden
Love how you weaved the willows, thanks Kris! 👍👍💯💯
Hi Kris, so sorry about the fertilizer issue ... didn't see that coming and I'm sure, neither did you. Well, now we know. I would think you're going to have to get it out of there ... that will put a stop to the consent thinking about it.
The fence is serene to look at even if it didn't grow ... I hope it grows though, can't wait to see what it looks like. Willow is a wonderful plant.
Thanks for bring us along ... all my best to you both.
Everything is looking good and coming on great. I am gutted for you both as well, I can only imagine the feeling after weeks of labour on it all. Fingers crossed the plants pull through.
Thank for the content.
I really enjoyed this video. Sorry to hear about the weed killer. That totally sucks. Great work on the planting and willow hedge!
perfect timing - was just binge watching ur channel 😂
once that hedge fills in its going to look incredible!, well done!
Yes priorities Kris and have some down time in the garden, Mr Dowding great very easy guy to follow, works from the soil (no dig, well amended soil) right through seedlings (multi sowing), thermal heat from compost to aid germination ........... just watch his channel you'll get it, so very satisfying when you start to harvest your own produce, so tasty. It has been problem for a lot of gardeners the weed killer issue we have had some commercial bagged compost which Im sure has been affected by it, but oddly not all my plants have been stunted just some areas totally agree should never have been allowed and now we have to deal with it, so we just pull the plants damaged, mark the areas affected leave them till next season, hopefully you won't lose to much. Im just loving watching your Homestead take shape, you have achieved so much when you think back to when you first started living on site, keep up the good work.
What a bummer about the insecticide. I feel bad after all the hard work you guys put into it. But looking on the bright side, it’s better than you found out now. Lesson learned. Best of luck, you’re doing a great job
Good plan! With the workshop. Use this year to get the little jobs and enjoyable things done. We’ll be watching all the same :)
Sorry to hear about the weedkiller Kris! Mankind has used and abused the earth for millennia.. but it is quite surprising how quickly it can bounce back given a little helping hand, which is what you are doing! Just doing your bit, and reaping the edible benefits in the process. 🍇🍊🍋🍅🍄🌽🍏🍓🥒🥕🥔👏 Well done mate!
I had a similar problem with broad beans and thought it was me not doing something right so that is for sharing - I reckon your video helped me recognize a problem I didn’t even think about. I bought an organic compost for container gardening on my balcony and had some produce but really mixed results and the plants really struggled to grow. Unfortunately I ate everything I could 😐 I watched a video by Charles Downing after yours about how to remedy this and contact with actual soil and the organisms that live in soil heals the compost with some time. That’s not an option for my balcony veg containers though so I guess I’ll have to get rid of it completely 🙁 but again thank you for sharing your bad news because without it I don’t think I would have even considered it because I bought flipping organic compost! Crazy world we live in.
Yay, a greenhouse build, looking forward to seeing your design come to life! Compost issue is a nightmare, but don’t dwell on it. I hear you though it’s a terrible situation humans are producing and as always comes down to money and greed! Making your own will resolve the issue moving forward so your on course! Please give us an update on your findings and solution.
Bad news about the beans and peas but it seems the majority of your garden is doing well. If the compost has been sitting that long hopefully there is enough weed killer to hurt it, but not kill it and as the plant gets more mature and hardy it might adapt to its environment. I would just double check the food grown from is still safe to eat. He probably also gets the horse feed from multiple sources and possibly you were lucky enough to end up with a portion of it that had the weed killer for that bed. Good luck man and thanks for sharing!
So sorry about your compost , all that hard work , hope it works out , sending positive vibes .
"Got to build a greenhouse for the tomatoes! " I'm crying lol ;-) if anyone can Kris can.
Because of my electronic engineering background I cant stop thinking about your electrical system. Could you explain a little bit more "detailed" about your power generation and consumption? About how much power comes from solar, from wind, Is it enough for your needs or do you have to shut down something to leave the batteries charging up again? Or are they 99% of the time fully charged up and wasting the incoming power? Do you schedule your work because of the electric power available? Would love to know a bit more of that. For now Ill keep enjoying your gardening vids! Amazing job
Have you been through his back catalogue at all? He has covered this stuff in quite a lot of detail already.
Don't quote me on this, but I thought he has previously mentioned that he had more than enough for his daily needs.
At least, that's the impression I got from watching his videos for more than a year.
I do agree that a video about his electrical system would be pretty interesting to watch!
@Totial Jesse is 100% right. Only recently is his Q&A under the porch iirc. Kris gave verbal answers to pretty much exactly your Q's. Go watch that - and _all_ his other great content.
Nice Kris , ciao alex from Milan italy. 👏 👍🌳🌲🌻🌼🌷
Unless you eat a lot of radishes or are selling them, plant about 50 cm of radishes every couple of weeks. They can be planted in between other plants quite well also. Sucks about the compost. Love the willow fence. Something to consider in the short term is set some beds along the fence to grow your peas and beans! Best of luck!
Weed killer. How gutted would you be mate. All that work. Damn. We’ve started a garden about the same time as you and have used the neighbours horse manure. It could happen to us also. So many toxic chemicals around in agriculture. If you need to start again, so be it. You’re an encouragement. A year from now, this setback will be forgotten. I once had a toxic battery leak and had to remove 100 tonnes of soil in a tip truck. It almost broke me, but it’s only a memory now.
kris; i think i have similar soil structure like yourself and have even had similar problems with horse manure. i have since used pine/fir tree mulch in my garden and the acidity has helped even out the soil. helped get rid of some of the garden issues including for my fruit trees which had spots on the leaves and unhealthy fruit. this year im looking at a bumper crop of fruit and veggies...
I realize this is a bit after the fact and you probably know this now, but when i was young we had a garden and always planted the squash and pumpkins in hills about 3 to 4 feet apart. These were the kind that grew with vines. I guess the seeds need good drainage-susceptible to rot, hence the hills. I do miss getting good soil under my fingernails. Good relaxing and stress relief the natural way. Good job.
You guys have a lot to be proud of, you are right about the weed killer, take it easy and God Bless ❤️
Love all your videos. Thanks for producing and sharing them. One note, in the world of companion planting, peas and most legumes are mortal enemies (opposite of companions) of Onions, most alliums including leeks. Keep them apart for best results. Peas are friendly to most things because the add nitrogen, and are good for heavy feeders like corn, curbits, tomatoes and peppers.
sorry about your mishap Kris! that sucks. hopefully your plants pull through. usually heating these compounds causes them to decompose or at least significantly reduce their effectiveness (kinda like drugs). since compost piles can get really hot it might be partially neutralized. in the future if continue using your neighbors compost - which is a great source for free, you might want to figure out a way to test for the compound in the compost or even find a way to disable it. maybe by laying compost in the thin layer in the son, or covered by black tarp to increase heat. IDK, could be a solvable problem. i hope it works out for you best way possible
Just found your channel. Really like it so far.
Re the weed killer... your crop should be okay to eat... try aerating the soil as often as possible over the Summer. Put the rest of the manure on flowers and maybe trees. If my memory serves me well Charles Dowding did a vlog about it a few years back. Charles n Huw are fantastic ... Huw especially should be helpful re sowing and planting times as he is near your area. PS. The slugs n snails will find you soon.... save wild BlackBerry sticks and place them along side your seedlings. The pesky varmints won't want to slide over the prickles. Have fun. xx
That was real bad news right at the end the way the weed killer found its way to you in such a round about fashion, hopefully it won't be too bad and things will grow and be edible. Great video yet again.
The willow windbreak is charming and the hedgerow a lovely boundary.
Love the gardening videos mate not boring at all. I've just planted some corn, moneymakers tomatoes, san marzano tomatoes and a variety of peppers. 👍
If everyone (farmer, builder...) took so much effort to protect and make new diverse ecosystems, world would be a better place.
You are really amazing. I've never known anyone who has done all the things you do. Back in the late 60s and 70s had a book called, "Crocket's Victory Garden," that was one of the first issues. You remind me of him. Also I use to get, "Mother Earth News," which is still around. Bet they would be interested in doing some articles on what you do. Everything looks GREAT!
Not a boring video... Just relaxing to play while I work on a new project.🙂 And I'm so sorry about the compost issue. I honestly believe weed killers and pesticides in our food chain have created health problems that didn't exist decades ago... Like maybe celiac disease? Even those of us who don't have that disease can be extremely sensitive to wheat flour that hasn't been organically grown. I wish we humans could take better care of the planet, working with it instead of against it.
Somewhere in the middle of the video I started picking at dry skin on my hand from chemicals I had come in contact with and wondered if you had noticed any improvements to your skin and body after moving away from the city. Then you talked about the weed killer in the horse hay and my heart sank. Best of luck there - you've put in a lot of work on the garden.
I was so enjoying you planting and how wonderful everything was growing. The you came back on with this devastating news about the poison. I hope most of the plants can survive and are eatable
I am excited to see the greenhouse build
I need to replace my fence and your fence is giving me ideas...
Kris a good root veg to grow is Jerusalem artichoke....easy to grow low maintenance.....and are really good for you...
Game plan update 😁👍
Good to clear your mind by planning the summer jobs, more always crop up so don’t make your list too big buddy 👍👍👍
Always a pleasure to watch you work, very motivating for me to get off my arse! 👍🌱💚
Hi Kris. Charles Dowding did a video about aminopyralids. If I remember rightly, it only affects some species like beans and tomatoes and potatoes, but is broke down by soil organisms in a year.
What a fantastic episode! Looking forward to more updates on this garden!
Oh mate, gutted for you, hope some of it is salvageable. Loved the hedge idea. Keep on doing!
Ive not been a sub of ur channel for long, but i want to say i love what ur doing and wat u have done!
To me its the perfect life!
Working to better urself and ur life, not making someone else rich!
The bean curling could also be a virus, rather than a persistent biocide. Are there aphids on beans in past years when the beans thrived (aphids are vectors for Bean Common Mosaic Virus)? Is there a mix of yellow mottled leaves and healthy green leaves, which is a symptom of that virus? The curled and elongated leaves is another symptom of that virus.
Beautiful to see your garden and hedgelaying, and helpful to learn the techniques. Happy and healthy spring!
Good job mate! Specialty the fence is looking fenomal. I love it.
I love the willow fence. I'm gonna do that too. I have loads of willow in my yard so I think it would be lovely way to split my garden
Lovely to see the garden again, and the hedge looks great! There is definately more than one cause for curling leaves like that, so I've got my fingers crossed that you find out its not weedkiller after all and you can still get a good crop.
So lovely to visit with you and Dot today. I have lost much of my motivation since my 90 year old mother died in March. A DIY gal, she would have delighted in your projects and successes. Loving the Willow hedge. Made a tiny version many years ago. It got decimated by my son and his dog!🥺
So sorry about your veggies. DANG BLASTED WEEDKILLERS!🤬 I use white vinegar if I have to use anything.
Hope some things are salvageable. Take care and God bless.
Oh Kris, I know how disappointed you and Dot must be, it’s not just the hard work, or the damaged/lost plants, it’s another real world example of how humans continue to damage the environment. Finally, it’s the ever present concern that goes through your head continuously, worrying if you should even risk eating anything. For that reason alone, I encourage you to roll up your sleeves like you have done so many times in the past, fire up the tractor, and remove all contaminated compost, and replant. In the long run you will be glad you did. Wish I was there to help and provide encouragement!
will be great to watch the greenhouse project i would like a mini one for my garden, by the way if you want to control your slug population, get yourself some friendly toads
Xaraxania, Wight Gold happy to send you as many toads as you want, we only have a few billion here in Australia that we are trying to get rid of!
Love the chill videos mate 👍 sorry to hear about the chemical crap
Great to see you gardening!
Feeling for you. I have just added loads of horse muck in a bit to get soil quickly. Fast answers aren't all ways good. Hope it's fixable for you. I wait to see how my veg beds do
Wow..... I'm so sorry about the weed killer ending up in your garden. I now wonder how much of the organically grown food I buy has such stuff in it. I so like the fence.
Love the garden and willow fence. You may have to dig out the contaminated soil and replace it. I feel for you.
Broadbeans and Dill are as I've heard good companions against blackfly. Marigolds are helpful too against something.... don't know the English word. And onions and carrots love eachother, both in the ground and in the pan. (Look up the recipes for hutspot, kale stamp pot and more of those 😀)
Can’t wait to see what you come up with for the greenhouse!
Gutted for you. I bought a load of cow manure 11 years ago for my allotment and had the same thing. Will you be planting a fruit area? Gooseberries and Currants. Great job on the hedging. Impressive start to your gardening adventures.
From experience, the leaf curling in broad beans is often down to herbicides. Did you put manure on the bed, or compost that has come from another (as in outside) source? If so, it could contain herbicides. The leaf curl is a classic sign of herbicide contamination. I would strongly suggest ditching the entire contents of the bed and leaving it fallow for a year. Start the broad beans again from scratch and plant them in another bed.
Did you actually watch the video?
Thanks for highlighting this. We had to stop growing tomatoes an potatoes a couple of years ago due to what we thought was blight but looking at the pictures of aminopyralid damage I fear that we may have brought in contaminated compost.
It was banned for a period but how they were able to get their licence to sell the stuff reinstated is near criminal.
I'm so sorry about your weedkiller discovery. Let's hope the effects are not too severe, after all your hard work.
Hi mate. Gutting about the weed killer! Is there a way to rectify it? or has all that soil gotta be dug out/used on more hardy plants? Looks like you’ve got some pretty bad Ash dieback there too, such a shame! I have seen parts of wales have been really badly affected with it. On a positive note though, the willow weaving looks ace! And well worth the time investment properly lovely little garden you’ve got going there mate. Thanks again for the video really appreciate the work and being able to follow your journey. Also I think a very good decision to hold off on the top workshop this year you will be very thankful you did when you light the wood burner up on a cold winters day! 😃 look after yourself mate. 👍