Nicely done! Tip: if you want to grow that Blueberry just build a raised bed for it. If you want a more natural look then build a small rockery type raised bed and amend it with a lot of peat and wood chips. Your Blueberry will love it without the surrounding plants getting too much acidic soil. This also works the other way around of course with other plants as well. If going with rockery type elevation then plant spring bulbs between and it will look really awesome in spring.
Thank you, that’s all great advice! We wound up planting blueberries in another part of the yard without using raised beds (we couldn’t afford that at the time and I’d prefer to use cedar). Otherwise, we may add more blueberries into this food forest area some day and your idea would be a great way to do it. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
This is awesome, I was trying to figure out how to layout my garden, I'm starting almost from scratch with the exception of 4 mature fruit trees. Thanks so much 🖤🇧🇸
Great video!! Thank you for"showing" us what you are doing!! New sub here. Looking forward to watching other videos similar as I'm currently working on establishing my food forest!
Thank you so much! For the first time I actually understand what and how! You are a great teacher. I learn with my eyes as my first modality and then with my hands by doing it my second learning modality. I have watch endless permaculture videos over the last 10 years and no one ever explained it so easy! Thank you ❤️ again. Fro South Africa. I am subscribing immediately!
I agree! I took screenshots of the plans. I need ideas to incorporate into my fairly new yard with professional landscaping. However, I had to get someone to remove 8” of mulch because I had mold toxicity. What a pain. I’m going to start doing living ground covers.
Love it! I just bought a house with a decent sized yard. I too am starting my own food forest over the next few years here. Zone 3 though. Already started taking cuttings and cloning all sorts of berry bushes. Still working out placement and design of everything. I have several MASSIVE boxelder maples I’ll have to remove to open the yard up to more sunlight. So I’ll have a great start on wood for hugelkulture bed and wood chip mulch. But next spring I’m gunna tap them and make a bunch of boxelder syrup first.
That sounds like a great plan! Sunlight is definitely a must have. We cut down the one maple tree mentioned in this video, but the other tree is still casting too much shade. We may also try to get some syrup from it before it has to come down, too.
Thanks for this! I was going to start seedlings for these but your method of germinating and direct sowing makes more sense. I will grow Clemson Spineless Okra this year and it is about 60 days which is great for my short growing season.
This video is well articulated and easy to follow. I really appreciate your effort and will follow through your journey. I hope to start my own food forest soon.
I think is "Hugelkultur" the right name for the technic, we use it here in Finland sometimes, really nice video, I subscribed.(nice to see cold weather areas gardens)
good king henry, and dock, are awesome perennial greens... also look into currants and gooseberry! they dont need acid soil, and they tolerate a range of light levels
Great information and presented in an easily understood way! I've been reading about food forests and permaculture for a few years now. I struggled to grasp, even with visuals, the tree guild. Maybe my brain finally processed the concept enough to see it now and understand. You, and one other guy in Texas I watched recently, have made it make sense. Finally! Thank you!
I am also just starting out at the moment. I live in Cape Town, South Africa and we have a much larger growing season. I have planted 6 trees so far from cutting taken from neighbors yards as they will be acclimatized to this area. I died and the avo tree is started from a pip. I do not have wood chips and my grass is tough so it has to be dug up and I started in a small area where I cover the soil with cardboard and cut holes in it so I can put "grow tubes" (cut from soda bottles) in the holes. I grow my veggies in a haphazard mixed up way inside the grow tubes. I only water inside the grow tubes to save on water as we almost ran dry 2 years ago I will also be digging water collecting swales in placed away from the foundation of my house. The cardboard has started to degrade and is feeding the soil and my compost bin is looking good. It takes a lot of hard work, but that's ok because I am a retired old guy and the exercise is good for me.
That's amazing! It sounds like a completely different environment for gardening. It's definitely great exercise and I hope you get some good food out of your garden.
@ some room to grow Arw you in Michigan? We are zone 6a (I think the zones have changed). MAGNIFICENT video. This is one of the most enjoyable videos that I have seen related to Forrest or edible landscape.
Thank you and you're welcome! Check out Edible Acres if you haven't already. They have a beautiful food forest and great videos on many types of guilds. Happy gardening!
My property had a 100 y.o. silver maple (6' diameter) right in the middle of the circular driveway where we parked. Talk about dropping branches! You're not kidding.
We also have an enormous maple tree that has a double stem from 2 meters upwards. We had specialists put in a special 'rope' so the two stems don't break apart. It's pretty far from the house; 25-30 meters, but will probably still hit it. We are probably not allowed to get rid of it. We also have an oak tree of 120 years much closer to the house. But that tree is very stable.
@@matthewfarrell317 Now that you mention it, my 100 y.o. sweet gum dropped a massive branch last summer. They're so old they ALL just need to come down.
Looking forward to watching more videos on this. But just wanted to say if Strawberries, if you want a blueberry bush and need to know a good companion, Strawberries are what you want. They tolerate the acid soil, they outcompete most weeds, they shade the soil and will protect the blueberries roots from drying out. My 11 bushes are surrounded by strawberries, the best choice I ever made. Just make sure they don't overgrow the blueberry.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow only just watched that one lol. Although no idea how the strawberries will react to the snow. It's not something I have to deal with lol
Hey, really awesome design and video! I especially appreciated how you showed the images of the plants-to-be in place. It was such a great visual that I was able to use as an educational resource for kids (they have been learning about forest ecosystems). I am learning about food forests as well, and the other day I came across a video that talked about pollarding trees as part of a permaculture food forest. That may be of interest to you as you consider how to deal with those silver maples, especially if you are interested in tapping them for syrup. Thanks for the great video, and happy gardening!
Thank you so much! I’m really happy to hear that you found it useful for education, too. That’s one of the many reasons I make videos! We did have to cut down one of our trees, but we still have the other one. Thank you for the recommendations, I’ll check that out. Happy gardening!
Thanks for the planning stage of a food forest. I have the books to educate my choice process, but you made critical steps clear to begin, Merry Christmas.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Anytime! Really appreciate all the insights and knowledge of the channel. Any advise or thoughts on planting dwarf trees closely vs in one hole?
I’m glad to hear that! You’ll want to give the trees some space from each other, even with dwarf varieties. You can plant other support species close to the trees, like I showed in this video.
Silver Maples…there are so many other excellent trees that will not present negative issues. I never advocate removing mature trees, but in this case I would take them out too…. Great video, thanks
Agreed! We did take that tree down a few months after this video, then used much of the wood for hügelkultur beds. When we can afford it, we’ll probably take the other tree down and plant more fruit and nut understory trees.
I planted commercial cultivar strawberries early mid and everbearing. Just popped the runners around and thinned some runners out. Don't maintaint the area too much as it gets dense and just pull up taller growing plants. Different flavor than wild but big yields over extended periods.
@@CC-lv1ox Baker Creek is always good, but we do also like to save a little money with Seeds 'n Such. Prairie Moon is really great for midwestern native plants.
That could fill the spot for sure. They're pretty think like a bush usually unless you prune them. A tree like a pecan or something could be pruned open and allow light in. But I don't know the size of your space or your goals. Have fun with it!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow This is what I love. You can also check Martin Crawford's book Creating a Forest Garden. I think that its a must. A ton of knowledge. Also Grow a Little fruit trees by Ann Ralph is a great book if you want to have more fruit trees in less space. I bet your garden will be a paradise. Keep on going!
Have the trees cut down before you plant the garden - it is easier. Then burry some of the wood (if it is damaged) it creates good soil. Needs a little nitrogen (or deeper in a raised bed or compost heap, they draw nitrogen out of the substrate as long as the process goes on). A man high stump standing would be a good home for insects, birds, and you could grow mushrooms on the wood.
We would have preferred to do it in that order, but we couldn’t afford the tree removal cost at the time. We did eventually cut down one tree and used it to make hügelkultur beds, path borders and firewood. Now I’m going to make a flower planter in the stump!
Thanks! Yes, I have some newer videos that show this area being planted out. You can find a Food Forest playlist on my channel. Some of the plants have changed but it’s gradually starting to come together. We’ll be able to fill out more this year.
stead destroying trees we can be able to use Forest as building blocks then tearing blocks. I love the Teal colors. I hope you can this wise advise why? We can be able to change the world in 2 ways not just 1 we can be able to grow gardens in trees and grow them on the trees and we could make a new species
Love this video! What software did you use to design this?? Also what beautiful flowers in the yard for ground cover. What are all the little purple/blue flower and the yellow ones we see at the end of the video as a ground cover please please?? Thank you
I found Comfrey root cuttings on Etsy. There may not be very many for sale at the moment, but I'm sure there will be a lot more soon. The cuttings are easy: just stick one in the ground and you're guaranteed to have a plant within a month or two.
Thank you! I used a combination of Procreate on my iPad and Adobe After Effects on PC. I used a few plant photos for reference and freehanded the rest. Procreate is great to use for copying and pasting layers, moving them around for layout designs. You can draw your own plants or import photos. I use it often for garden planning!
I was going to grow blueberry next to blackberry. I heard it liked acidic soil.u dumped some vinegar on it. I still think it should do as the wild blackberry.
We’re very excited. The fenced garden is at the south end of the yard where we get the most sun. I’ve been reluctant to expand north into the yard because the silver maples shade out much of the property. But we’ve decided to remove those because they’re very high maintenance.
I haven’t read about that method so I don’t know how effective/safe it is. This is actually my first time growing fruit trees! I have zero experience with pest control in that field. That being said, I would prefer to find a more natural pest deterrent than Vaseline.
Wild Violets grow everywhere up here in 5b. Not to be confused with African Violets, which are definitely NOT edible. Wild Violets do spread easily and can be a nuisance, but they make a great edible ground cover. Congrats on the new garden and have fun with it!
I too enjoy tree dwelling rabbits 😂 Jokes aside, this gave me lots of good ideas! We have a double lot with only two trees, and large open areas of grass (blegh). I despise the amount of space being wasted and would like to make a sort of small food forest in the longer area of our yard.
Haha those wiley rabbits! I also hate seeing so much time and money going into boring grass areas that do nothing for the ecosystem. That sounds like a good idea for your yard, I hope it goes well!
Thank you! And that’s true. We may plant some apples in the future (Burgundy are our favorite) but we really wanted peaches so I made sure to find varieties hardy to our zone (5b).
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Depending on where you are located and how much land is available : (The more edible Pine tree may not grow in the deep south. There are a number of companion plants that attract beneficials. Some trees have edible bark or the bark can be utilized for making fabrics.) "Eat the Weeds" : ("In the white oak family, the Live Oak’s acorns are among the mildest one can collect. Botanically the Live Oak is Quercus virginiana. Quercus (KWERK-kus ) was the Roman name for the tree and virginiana (ver-jin-ee-AY-nuh) means North America and usually where the species was first noticed, such as Virginia.") ("Acorns are quite nutritious. For example, the nutritional breakdown of acorns from the Q. alba, - the white oak - is 50.4% carbohydrates, 34.7% water, 4.7% fat, 4.4.% protein, 4.2% fiber, 1.6% ash. A pound of shelled acorns provide 1,265 calories, a 100 grams (3.5 ounces) has 500 calories and 30 grams of oil.) "Survive Nature" By Mike Millerson Inedible pines: the Yew Norfolk Island Pine Ponderosa Pines (Western Yellow Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, or Black Jack Pine). Edible pines include: Black and Red spruce White Pine Slippery Elm Balsam fir Yellow and Black birch
Thank you for sharing all of this info! I'm not familiar enough with all of the tree species in our area, 5b. I've only seen pine in a few small patches. I'll have to look into that more.
I noticed you planned to use sweet potato. I didn't think it could grow in zone 5, everything I have seen suggests it needs a longer growing season. I know people use ornamental sweet potato in landscapes, but do you get an actual crop of tubers? Genuinely asking from zone 6a
Excellent question! Sweet potato grows best as a perennial in warmer climates, but it can still be grown as an annual further north. I’m not sure how far north but I know it can be grown where we are in 5b. You have to harvest the tubers before first frost and cure them for storage. Then you can plant new slips next spring. There are a few colder climate UA-cam gardeners who grow them annually.
what software did you use to blend the animated Peach guild into the real picture of back yard? I am an aspiring permaculturist and Food Forest grower in the Appalachian mountain valley Pennsylvania
Wonderful video! Was Hazcaps (?) a type of blueberry? Also, I have a clay and rocky ground...thinking of planting in mounds...would that work, as I'm in NE OH in USA and we get snow, freezing temps..Thank you:) Also, best way to plant these perennials, knowing the type of hard ground I'm dealing with?
Thank you! Hascaps, aka Honeyberries, are similar to a blueberry. I’ve never actually eaten one, but I’ve heard they’re delicious. I plan on planting some this year. You could use a raised bed or other large container if you’re dealing with rough soil. Jenna from Growfully is also in OH and she has some great videos about dealing with hard clay soil.
I may be wrong, but I thought you need fruit tree varieties that produce at the same time of the season. Otherwise the earlier variety doesn't have a cross-pollinator.
Sorry to hear about your trees! I ordered these trees from Burgess. We’ll have to wait another year or two before they start producing fruit. Stark Brothers is another great nursery, too.
A mistake I've had to correct is that some trees (my hazelnut and I think the apricot, too) don't like much water so I had to transplant all the vegetation around them to a different spot.
That’s something to think about. It’s been a couple years now with this food forest, and I can mostly just let the rain take care of watering. It’s getting very close to a self-sustaining system.
That's too bad. The trees have grown ok here, but we still haven't gotten any peaches after 4 years. The buds are falling off before they start to grow and bloom.
Good question! We don’t have deer coming into our yard so we haven’t had to worry about that. I would suggest researching deer-resistant shrubs or ground cover to deter them or physically block their access. Permaculture literature (or videos) could help with that topic.
You can try chipdrop.com or just call a local tree trimming service and ask for free mulch. They usually have to pay to dump and store it somewhere, so they’re happy to save money and dump it at your house for free.
I don't think it works that way in Germany. We have to get rid of a couple of dead and dying trees (on already.broke and fell in the neighbours yard) and some companies charge less if they can keep the trunk and leave the top&branches.
Do you know anything about this, other than the research you've done? I tend to think not, since it appears that your raised beds (at least what I can see in the video) appear to be very close to each other, which is a common problem by those new to gardening. I have a permaculture garden, raised beds, etc. I hope you'll show progress as you get into the process.
I love this idea, but I have to say, I've spent the past 30 years trying to keep the native wildlife OUT of my garden. One deer spending an hour in my yard can devastate my entire season's growth. Rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, can do quite a bit of damage... and that's not to mention bears breaking our split rail fence and coyotes chasing the rabbits... Hmmm...
That’s true, it all depends on where you live and the diversity of wildlife that can access your property. Sean from Edible Acres has some good natural methods for dealing with that in New York state.
According to soil biologists like Dr. Elaine Ingham, nitrogen depletion only takes place in the very small area where the wood chips are in contact with the soil. Nitrogen further down around the root zones is not affected by fresh mulch on the soil surface.
Think of this: Make it part of getting the licensing necessary to build/develop housing, the applicants had a class in appropriate, helpful, beautiful, sustainable TREE-PLANTING. Eh?
![Create Your Own FOOD FOREST In 3 Steps [How To Transform Any Piece of Land Quickly]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CTfV9OZKL24/mqdefault.jpg)
⏱TIMESTAMPS⏱:
0:47 Why perennials?
1:29 What is a food forest?
2:15 Long-term planning
2:34 Improving soil with wood chips
3:05 Food forest design
5:44 Considering "weeds"
6:16 Trees: overhead canopy
6:29 Problems with Silver Maple
8:26 Conclusion
What awesome visuals!! And you have such a nice way of talking and explaining, not rushed or talking in circles. Thank you for sharing this!
Thank you so much, I’m glad you liked it!
The picture I got when you told of rabbits making homes in trees was something!
Thx for the morning jolt of humor + surprise.
No problem! Sometimes it happens when I don’t plan it.
Nicely done! Tip: if you want to grow that Blueberry just build a raised bed for it. If you want a more natural look then build a small rockery type raised bed and amend it with a lot of peat and wood chips. Your Blueberry will love it without the surrounding plants getting too much acidic soil. This also works the other way around of course with other plants as well. If going with rockery type elevation then plant spring bulbs between and it will look really awesome in spring.
Thank you, that’s all great advice! We wound up planting blueberries in another part of the yard without using raised beds (we couldn’t afford that at the time and I’d prefer to use cedar). Otherwise, we may add more blueberries into this food forest area some day and your idea would be a great way to do it. Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Put your blueberry in a big pot, with a shallow saucer. That is how I grow mine. They do really well.
This is awesome, I was trying to figure out how to layout my garden, I'm starting almost from scratch with the exception of 4 mature fruit trees. Thanks so much 🖤🇧🇸
You're welcome, I'm glad it helped!
Where is that flag from? 😊
@@p_eople6789 I'm from The Bahamas, that's how our flag looks 🇧🇸
I cannot lie this video was very informative, it displayed a real case of permaculture, loved it
Thank you! I just made another video about food forest layers where I visit a real forest for reference.
Great video!! Thank you for"showing" us what you are doing!! New sub here. Looking forward to watching other videos similar as I'm currently working on establishing my food forest!
Thanks and I appreciate the sub! I’ll have an update on this soon and much more over the summer. Best of luck with your food forest!
Thank you so much! For the first time I actually understand what and how! You are a great teacher. I learn with my eyes as my first modality and then with my hands by doing it my second learning modality. I have watch endless permaculture videos over the last 10 years and no one ever explained it so easy! Thank you ❤️ again. Fro South Africa. I am subscribing immediately!
I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you so much, I do enjoy sharing what I've learned about growing food. Thank you for subscribing as well!
I agree! I took screenshots of the plans. I need ideas to incorporate into my fairly new yard with professional landscaping. However, I had to get someone to remove 8” of mulch because I had mold toxicity. What a pain. I’m going to start doing living ground covers.
Love it! I just bought a house with a decent sized yard. I too am starting my own food forest over the next few years here. Zone 3 though. Already started taking cuttings and cloning all sorts of berry bushes.
Still working out placement and design of everything. I have several MASSIVE boxelder maples I’ll have to remove to open the yard up to more sunlight. So I’ll have a great start on wood for hugelkulture bed and wood chip mulch. But next spring I’m gunna tap them and make a bunch of boxelder syrup first.
That sounds like a great plan! Sunlight is definitely a must have. We cut down the one maple tree mentioned in this video, but the other tree is still casting too much shade. We may also try to get some syrup from it before it has to come down, too.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow it’s unfortunate I have to cut them down, but they shade out prime garden real estate for half the day.
@@Baffi_ I totally understand, and sometimes it just has to be done.
Thanks for this! I was going to start seedlings for these but your method of germinating and direct sowing makes more sense. I will grow Clemson Spineless Okra this year and it is about 60 days which is great for my short growing season.
This video is well articulated and easy to follow. I really appreciate your effort and will follow through your journey. I hope to start my own food forest soon.
Thank you for the feedback! I will be posting more videos about this as we add on to it this year.
I think is "Hugelkultur" the right name for the technic, we use it here in Finland sometimes, really nice video, I subscribed.(nice to see cold weather areas gardens)
Yes, it is. Somehow I spelled it wrong and I can’t change it now. At least I got it right in my newer videos! Thanks for subscribing!
good king henry, and dock, are awesome perennial greens...
also look into currants and gooseberry! they dont need acid soil, and they tolerate a range of light levels
Awesome, thanks! I did just add some currants to the food forest. I’ll talk about that in a future video.
By far the best video on this ive seen. Yhry never say how to organize the plants!
Thank you and I’m glad it was helpful! I’ll be sure to make more videos like this. 😁🐝
Great information and presented in an easily understood way! I've been reading about food forests and permaculture for a few years now. I struggled to grasp, even with visuals, the tree guild. Maybe my brain finally processed the concept enough to see it now and understand. You, and one other guy in Texas I watched recently, have made it make sense. Finally! Thank you!
That’s great to hear, I’m glad I could help!
This video most helpful yet for design and visualization which is what I need right now. TU!!!
That's great to hear, thank you!
I am also just starting out at the moment. I live in Cape Town, South Africa and we have a much larger growing season. I have planted 6 trees so far from cutting taken from neighbors yards as they will be acclimatized to this area. I died and the avo tree is started from a pip. I do not have wood chips and my grass is tough so it has to be dug up and I started in a small area where I cover the soil with cardboard and cut holes in it so I can put "grow tubes" (cut from soda bottles) in the holes. I grow my veggies in a haphazard mixed up way inside the grow tubes. I only water inside the grow tubes to save on water as we almost ran dry 2 years ago I will also be digging water collecting swales in placed away from the foundation of my house. The cardboard has started to degrade and is feeding the soil and my compost bin is looking good. It takes a lot of hard work, but that's ok because I am a retired old guy and the exercise is good for me.
That's amazing! It sounds like a completely different environment for gardening. It's definitely great exercise and I hope you get some good food out of your garden.
I want a wood chipper for my birthday!
Same here! Or any time, really.
@ some room to grow Arw you in Michigan? We are zone 6a (I think the zones have changed). MAGNIFICENT video. This is one of the most enjoyable videos that I have seen related to Forrest or edible landscape.
Thank you, that means a lot! We’re in Iowa 5b.
I subscribed and looking forward to all things related to help a novice gardener, like myself, with planning an edible landscape on small home yard.
Yeah I am in SE MI and always used to see us as 5 (not sure which letter), but now see 6.
This video was wonderful, and information I needed! I have a blank slate property, and want to add fruit tree guilds. Thank you!
Thank you and you're welcome! Check out Edible Acres if you haven't already. They have a beautiful food forest and great videos on many types of guilds. Happy gardening!
My property had a 100 y.o. silver maple (6' diameter) right in the middle of the circular driveway where we parked. Talk about dropping branches! You're not kidding.
Yup, they’re notorious for falling apart!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Yep, now all I have to deal with are the neighbor's limbs cluttering up my back yard. 😂
We also have an enormous maple tree that has a double stem from 2 meters upwards. We had specialists put in a special 'rope' so the two stems don't break apart. It's pretty far from the house; 25-30 meters, but will probably still hit it. We are probably not allowed to get rid of it. We also have an oak tree of 120 years much closer to the house. But that tree is very stable.
Sounds like a few of our gums here in Australia. One hot day and down come the massive branches
@@matthewfarrell317 Now that you mention it, my 100 y.o. sweet gum dropped a massive branch last summer. They're so old they ALL just need to come down.
Looking forward to watching more videos on this.
But just wanted to say if Strawberries, if you want a blueberry bush and need to know a good companion, Strawberries are what you want. They tolerate the acid soil, they outcompete most weeds, they shade the soil and will protect the blueberries roots from drying out. My 11 bushes are surrounded by strawberries, the best choice I ever made. Just make sure they don't overgrow the blueberry.
I’ve heard about that, too. We planted two blueberry bushes last fall so we’ll put some strawberries around them ASAP.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow only just watched that one lol. Although no idea how the strawberries will react to the snow. It's not something I have to deal with lol
There are some cold hardy varieties and I know a few people who grow them in our climate.
I'm in 5b and neighbor's 2 silver maples have caused us this exact problem. One big branch took out my garden in 2015!
Oh no! I hope it’s doing better now. We got rid of the one tree and hopefully we can do the same with the other soon.
Hey, really awesome design and video! I especially appreciated how you showed the images of the plants-to-be in place. It was such a great visual that I was able to use as an educational resource for kids (they have been learning about forest ecosystems). I am learning about food forests as well, and the other day I came across a video that talked about pollarding trees as part of a permaculture food forest. That may be of interest to you as you consider how to deal with those silver maples, especially if you are interested in tapping them for syrup. Thanks for the great video, and happy gardening!
Thank you so much! I’m really happy to hear that you found it useful for education, too. That’s one of the many reasons I make videos! We did have to cut down one of our trees, but we still have the other one. Thank you for the recommendations, I’ll check that out. Happy gardening!
Interesting design. Eager to see how it unfolds.
Thanks, I am too! I need fresh peaches in my life 😂
Awesome video. I will now binge watch them all and soak up as much as possible.
Thank you, I’m glad you liked it!
Looking forward to seeing how your garden unfolds
Same here! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the planning stage of a food forest. I have the books to educate my choice process, but you made critical steps clear to begin, Merry Christmas.
You’re welcome and Merry Christmas!
First time watcher! Can't wait to see what it looks like now 😍
It’s filling out! We don’t have everything I mentioned here, but we’re getting there.
Love this and am also starting a food forest in 5b - will have to keep updated and exchange ideas. New subscriber!
Thanks for subbing and good luck with your food forest!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Anytime! Really appreciate all the insights and knowledge of the channel. Any advise or thoughts on planting dwarf trees closely vs in one hole?
I’m glad to hear that! You’ll want to give the trees some space from each other, even with dwarf varieties. You can plant other support species close to the trees, like I showed in this video.
Silver Maples…there are so many other excellent trees that will not present negative issues. I never advocate removing mature trees, but in this case I would take them out too…. Great video, thanks
Agreed! We did take that tree down a few months after this video, then used much of the wood for hügelkultur beds. When we can afford it, we’ll probably take the other tree down and plant more fruit and nut understory trees.
I planted commercial cultivar strawberries early mid and everbearing. Just popped the runners around and thinned some runners out. Don't maintaint the area too much as it gets dense and just pull up taller growing plants. Different flavor than wild but big yields over extended periods.
Excellent! I just ordered some wild strawberry seeds but I’d still like to grow larger, everbearing varieties.
@some room to grow where did you get wild strawberry seeds? I am looking for organic
I ordered them from Prairie Moon Nursery, they have all native seeds.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow thanks so much. What seed companies have you found are the most reliable?
@@CC-lv1ox Baker Creek is always good, but we do also like to save a little money with Seeds 'n Such. Prairie Moon is really great for midwestern native plants.
Really enjoying your video!! 🌺🌺🐝💚
Thank you so much for sharing!
You’re welcome, glad you liked it!
This is helpful. Thank you!
Excellent.
Thanks for the video. You might consider a nut for the overstory..
You’re welcome! I’m thinking about hazelnut, which is more of an understory tree, but that’s fine for our small yard.
That could fill the spot for sure. They're pretty think like a bush usually unless you prune them. A tree like a pecan or something could be pruned open and allow light in. But I don't know the size of your space or your goals. Have fun with it!
Pecan would also be lovely if they’re hardy enough for our region.
The raised beds have some benefits , but most vegetables have expansive root systems ,
Here’s a small sample of excavations carefully done in 1924
Vegetable Plant Working Root Depth Maximum Root Depth Minimum Root Depth
Asparagus 54″ 120″ 36″
Bean, Kidney 36″ 46″ 24″
Bean, Lima 45″ 66″ 24″
Beets 72″ 120″ 18″
Beets (Sugar) 36″ 36″ 18″
Cabbage 62″ 80″ 18″
Carrot 60″ 120″ 18″
Cauliflower 39″ 54″ 18″
Cucumber 24″ 48″ 18″
Egg Plant 66″ 80″ 18″
Garlic 30″ 30″ 12″
Horseradish (@10 yr) 108″ 168″ 18″
Kohlrabi 84″ 102″ 18″
Leek 24″ 30″ 12″
Lettuce 60″ 72″ 6″
Muskmelon 12″ 54″ 24″
Okra 18″ 54″ 18″
Thanks for the info!
You could check backyard orchard culture system to grow even more fruit trees. I know I will try this system and mix it with guilds.
Thanks, I'll check it out! This is just the beginning, but we'd like to have apples, cherries, blueberries and more.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow This is what I love. You can also check Martin Crawford's book Creating a Forest Garden. I think that its a must. A ton of knowledge. Also Grow a Little fruit trees by Ann Ralph is a great book if you want to have more fruit trees in less space.
I bet your garden will be a paradise. Keep on going!
Awesome, thank you so much for the recommendations!
Have the trees cut down before you plant the garden - it is easier. Then burry some of the wood (if it is damaged) it creates good soil. Needs a little nitrogen (or deeper in a raised bed or compost heap, they draw nitrogen out of the substrate as long as the process goes on). A man high stump standing would be a good home for insects, birds, and you could grow mushrooms on the wood.
We would have preferred to do it in that order, but we couldn’t afford the tree removal cost at the time. We did eventually cut down one tree and used it to make hügelkultur beds, path borders and firewood. Now I’m going to make a flower planter in the stump!
Pretty well thought out/designed guild you have there. Is there any update with real-world practice?
Thanks! Yes, I have some newer videos that show this area being planted out. You can find a Food Forest playlist on my channel. Some of the plants have changed but it’s gradually starting to come together. We’ll be able to fill out more this year.
If you took out the maples, replace with a nut tree for food.
Exactly! We have a few in mind.
stead destroying trees we can be able to use Forest as building blocks then tearing blocks. I love the Teal colors. I hope you can this wise advise why? We can be able to change the world in 2 ways not just 1 we can be able to grow gardens in trees and grow them on the trees and we could make a new species
I’m just starting my journey!
Awesome, I hope it goes well!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow thanks, me too, I’m afraid that the wind might blow away all of the flowers and I’ll never see fruits 😅
@@amandathurston9915 that’s what windbreaks are for!
Love this video! What software did you use to design this?? Also what beautiful flowers in the yard for ground cover. What are all the little purple/blue flower and the yellow ones we see at the end of the video as a ground cover please please?? Thank you
Thank you! I used Procreate on my iPad to make the design. The flowers are the end are just the dandelions and wild violet that come up in our yard.
I’ve been having trouble finding comfrey, but I think borage is a close relative.
I found Comfrey root cuttings on Etsy. There may not be very many for sale at the moment, but I'm sure there will be a lot more soon. The cuttings are easy: just stick one in the ground and you're guaranteed to have a plant within a month or two.
Where are you based? I live in Germany and here it's called Beinwell. Last year I ordered a plant and today I got seeds by mail.
@@jinde75 we’re in Iowa, USA. We got a strain called Bocking 14, which has sterile seeds so you have to propagate it by root pieces.
@@jinde75 I'm in central California.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thanks for mentioning that strain! I have seen these for sale, but wondered why I couldn't find seeds. Makes sense now.
Great video. What design software did you use to show your layout? That was great! I'd like to try it to plan out my yard.
Thank you! I used a combination of Procreate on my iPad and Adobe After Effects on PC. I used a few plant photos for reference and freehanded the rest. Procreate is great to use for copying and pasting layers, moving them around for layout designs. You can draw your own plants or import photos. I use it often for garden planning!
Yes any recommendations for planning apps, sites, books.
I was going to grow blueberry next to blackberry. I heard it liked acidic soil.u dumped some vinegar on it. I still think it should do as the wild blackberry.
The acidity from the vinegar won't last very long in the soil. I would try using soil acidifier or elemental sulfur.
This is going to be amazing - quick Q - what position is your back yard facing?
We’re very excited. The fenced garden is at the south end of the yard where we get the most sun. I’ve been reluctant to expand north into the yard because the silver maples shade out much of the property. But we’ve decided to remove those because they’re very high maintenance.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thank you for the quick response - sad that your trees have to come down, but better than having them fall on someone
You’re welcome! We’ll put them to good use after we take them down, and we can find something better to plant toward the north end of the yard.
What’s your thought on putting petroleum jelly around the bottom of the tree stem to prevent crawling bugs from getting up to the fruit?
I haven’t read about that method so I don’t know how effective/safe it is. This is actually my first time growing fruit trees! I have zero experience with pest control in that field. That being said, I would prefer to find a more natural pest deterrent than Vaseline.
Lambsquarters are super delicious!
They are! We like the violet leaves, too.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow That's a new one for me. I'll investigate. I'm about to take over a lovely garden spot in Zone 10A in Mexico.
Wild Violets grow everywhere up here in 5b. Not to be confused with African Violets, which are definitely NOT edible. Wild Violets do spread easily and can be a nuisance, but they make a great edible ground cover. Congrats on the new garden and have fun with it!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Thanks! I'm pretty thrilled with this new opportunity.
I have a maple tree right next to my house and it drops branches everytime there is a storm they suck
They can be a nuisance that close to a house. Otherwise, they’re just trees being trees.
I too enjoy tree dwelling rabbits 😂 Jokes aside, this gave me lots of good ideas! We have a double lot with only two trees, and large open areas of grass (blegh). I despise the amount of space being wasted and would like to make a sort of small food forest in the longer area of our yard.
Haha those wiley rabbits! I also hate seeing so much time and money going into boring grass areas that do nothing for the ecosystem. That sounds like a good idea for your yard, I hope it goes well!
This is very well thought out, except, I think that apples would be hardier than peach.
Thank you! And that’s true. We may plant some apples in the future (Burgundy are our favorite) but we really wanted peaches so I made sure to find varieties hardy to our zone (5b).
Sensible!
Can your area take edible pine trees and the more edible oaks?
Thank you for sharing informative and helpful videos!
Thank you for watching! That's a good question but I don't know the answer. Maybe?
@@SomeRoomtoGrow
Depending on where you are located and how much land is available :
(The more edible Pine tree may not grow in the deep south. There are a number of companion plants that attract beneficials. Some trees have edible bark or the bark can be utilized for making fabrics.)
"Eat the Weeds" :
("In the white oak family, the Live Oak’s acorns are among the mildest one can collect. Botanically the Live Oak is Quercus virginiana. Quercus (KWERK-kus ) was the Roman name for the tree and virginiana (ver-jin-ee-AY-nuh) means North America and usually where the species was first noticed, such as Virginia.")
("Acorns are quite nutritious. For example, the nutritional breakdown of acorns from the Q. alba, - the white oak - is 50.4% carbohydrates, 34.7% water, 4.7% fat, 4.4.% protein, 4.2% fiber, 1.6% ash. A pound of shelled acorns provide 1,265 calories, a 100 grams (3.5 ounces) has 500 calories and 30 grams of oil.)
"Survive Nature"
By Mike Millerson
Inedible pines:
the Yew
Norfolk Island Pine
Ponderosa Pines (Western Yellow Ponderosa Pine,
Bull Pine, or Black Jack Pine).
Edible pines include:
Black and Red spruce
White Pine
Slippery Elm
Balsam fir
Yellow and Black birch
Thank you for sharing all of this info! I'm not familiar enough with all of the tree species in our area, 5b. I've only seen pine in a few small patches. I'll have to look into that more.
Se ve hermoso, subtitulen en español por favor, saludos desde mi lindo Ecuador
¡Gracias! Pronto incluiré subtítulos en español. ¡Gracias por ver!
Doesn’t comfrey get 6ft tall? Do I have to trim often/ can I trim to keep it 2-3 ft?
I don’t think it gets that tall, but it’s good to keep pulling leaves off to use for fertilizer mulch.
No, maybe about a foot high. The flower stems get a bit higher.
Hello from Ireland. New sub. Good video.
Hello Barry, thanks for subscribing!
Thanks for being.
@@barrylyons9296 😆
Love this video! May I ask where you get your trees?
Thank you! I got the peach trees through Burgess and they’re still doing great. We should get our first fruit on them next year.
I noticed you planned to use sweet potato. I didn't think it could grow in zone 5, everything I have seen suggests it needs a longer growing season. I know people use ornamental sweet potato in landscapes, but do you get an actual crop of tubers? Genuinely asking from zone 6a
Excellent question! Sweet potato grows best as a perennial in warmer climates, but it can still be grown as an annual further north. I’m not sure how far north but I know it can be grown where we are in 5b. You have to harvest the tubers before first frost and cure them for storage. Then you can plant new slips next spring. There are a few colder climate UA-cam gardeners who grow them annually.
what software did you use to blend the animated Peach guild into the real picture of back yard? I am an aspiring permaculturist and Food Forest grower in the Appalachian mountain valley Pennsylvania
I just drew the peach trees and other plants in Procreate on my iPad, then layered them on top of the image using Adobe After Effects.
Wonderful video! Was Hazcaps (?) a type of blueberry? Also, I have a clay and rocky ground...thinking of planting in mounds...would that work, as I'm in NE OH in USA and we get snow, freezing temps..Thank you:)
Also, best way to plant these perennials, knowing the type of hard ground I'm dealing with?
Thank you! Hascaps, aka Honeyberries, are similar to a blueberry. I’ve never actually eaten one, but I’ve heard they’re delicious. I plan on planting some this year. You could use a raised bed or other large container if you’re dealing with rough soil. Jenna from Growfully is also in OH and she has some great videos about dealing with hard clay soil.
Anyone else scream "Mosquito!!" when the clover flower popped up? lol
what did you use to do the garden plan drawing
I used an app called Procreate on my iPad.
I may be wrong, but I thought you need fruit tree varieties that produce at the same time of the season. Otherwise the earlier variety doesn't have a cross-pollinator.
You’re definitely right, and these trees should have some overlap. They were recommended to grow together for cross-pollination.
where did you order your trees from? i am also in zone 5b and so far have not gotten fruit from 6 trees because of frost
Sorry to hear about your trees! I ordered these trees from Burgess. We’ll have to wait another year or two before they start producing fruit. Stark Brothers is another great nursery, too.
Real Trees is a good source for trees, I'm zone 5b as well. Hope that's helpful! :)
Thanks, I’ll check that out!
@@Irishjay-gu5pb thank you
@@SomeRoomtoGrow thank you
A mistake I've had to correct is that some trees (my hazelnut and I think the apricot, too) don't like much water so I had to transplant all the vegetation around them to a different spot.
That’s something to think about. It’s been a couple years now with this food forest, and I can mostly just let the rain take care of watering. It’s getting very close to a self-sustaining system.
hi, how does it do now ? did you expand your food forest with new species ?
It looks amazing now! It didn’t turn out exactly as planned, but it’s close. I’ll show more in new videos this summer.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow awesome
Great video. Thanks for sharing, would love to see more videos. Any chance you're in upstate NY?
Thank you! I’m in Eastern Iowa. Thanks for your interest, I’ll have a lot more food forest videos this year.
What did you use to make the picture
I used the Procreate app on my iPad
OK thanks
I'm supposedly a 5b. Elberta won't grow hear. Too cold
That's too bad. The trees have grown ok here, but we still haven't gotten any peaches after 4 years. The buds are falling off before they start to grow and bloom.
What about deer?
Good question! We don’t have deer coming into our yard so we haven’t had to worry about that. I would suggest researching deer-resistant shrubs or ground cover to deter them or physically block their access. Permaculture literature (or videos) could help with that topic.
Hugulkultur? I'm guessing you mean Hügelkultur?
Yup! I don’t know how I spelled that wrong. At least I got it right when I made a video about building hügelkultur beds.
How do we get a truckload of Free wood chips?
You can try chipdrop.com or just call a local tree trimming service and ask for free mulch. They usually have to pay to dump and store it somewhere, so they’re happy to save money and dump it at your house for free.
@@SomeRoomtoGrow So awesome! Thank you! I sub'd ur channel. Looking forward to more content and learning from ur channel. Be blessed❤
You’re welcome and happy gardening!
@@SomeRoomtoGrow TY❣
I don't think it works that way in Germany. We have to get rid of a couple of dead and dying trees (on already.broke and fell in the neighbours yard) and some companies charge less if they can keep the trunk and leave the top&branches.
Do you know anything about this, other than the research you've done? I tend to think not, since it appears that your raised beds (at least what I can see in the video) appear to be very close to each other, which is a common problem by those new to gardening. I have a permaculture garden, raised beds, etc. I hope you'll show progress as you get into the process.
I've learned a lot since I made this video over 2 years ago. I'm working on some updates on this food forest for my next couple of videos.
Dang sky rabbits
😂 that’s what happens when they eat your veggies
@@SomeRoomtoGrow dude I love your content
Thanks man! I’m taking a break from videos this winter but I’ll be back in the spring.
Don't be shy. It's okay to hate silver maples. They suck.
They can be dangerous, but it’s not their fault the landscapers made a poor choice with them back in the 70s.
Sorry it's Hügelkultur (translated Hill-culture) . Hugul is not a word
Yup, I don’t know how I messed that up in this video. At least I got it right for my actual hügelkultur video. 😂
@@SomeRoomtoGrow Don´t worry.. you would be surprised how many Germans mistreat English words :)
I love this idea, but I have to say, I've spent the past 30 years trying to keep the native wildlife OUT of my garden. One deer spending an hour in my yard can devastate my entire season's growth. Rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, can do quite a bit of damage... and that's not to mention bears breaking our split rail fence and coyotes chasing the rabbits... Hmmm...
That’s true, it all depends on where you live and the diversity of wildlife that can access your property. Sean from Edible Acres has some good natural methods for dealing with that in New York state.
All that green woodchip would be robbing your soil of nitrogen.
According to soil biologists like Dr. Elaine Ingham, nitrogen depletion only takes place in the very small area where the wood chips are in contact with the soil. Nitrogen further down around the root zones is not affected by fresh mulch on the soil surface.
Think of this: Make it part of getting the licensing necessary to build/develop housing, the applicants had a class in appropriate, helpful, beautiful, sustainable TREE-PLANTING. Eh?
That would be amazing! No more turf lawns, all native trees, shrubs and wildflowers.
I've cut a number of silver maples or stumps, out of my yard too.
We eventually took this one down and we’re glad we did. Much of it is now hügelkultur!