Thank you for your comment. To stop erosion I am building silvopasture in an eastern hardwood forest. Because the canopy is so thick there is not enough sunlight reaching the ground and no grass can grow. With no ground cover the rain does not penetrate the soil; it just runs off and washes away the soil. I will also introduce animals to the land to help fertilize it and build the soil structure to allow grasses to grow. I put the debris from the trees I cut down into the dry washes as a way to slow down the run-off and slow the erosion. The combination of the two should eventually stop the erosion and help regenerate the land.
At the beginning of the video the creek runs left to right at the bottom of the very bright area. In the middle part of the video it is on the left. At the very end of the video it is on the right. Check out the video I post tonight to see what it looks like after I finish clearing it out.
Dad would be really proud of what you’re doing on the land!! I know I am really proud of you!!! Do you have a block of salt out for the deer? Maybe people don’t do that anymore.
Thanks, Con. I really appreciate that. Clay put one out once, but that was back in the 70's. I have not put anything out for them but they seem to be finding what they need anyway.
Millions of years of natural selection overwritten within a single generation of individual populations... such bizarre novelty The problem isn't for the plants themselves, who enjoy the benefits of new unearned immunities- the problem comes in the relation of the modified organisms and the naturally selected ecosystem into which they're unnaturally thrust Humans are nothing more than a (linguistically conscious) delicate primate- we forget how inextricably linked we are with the ecosystem, how it controls us far more than we could ever control it. We're stewards, servants of the land, and naught more- to believe otherwise is a catastrophic vanity.
@@holmesteadridge so true! And to think- there are still folks who believe that rapidly releasing tens of billions of metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, naturally sequestered gradually over hundreds of millions of years, won't have a destabilizing effect on the global ecological equilibrium.. or as you say, won't "burn it down"
I did start a garden this year. The deer knew exactly what they were eating. Next year there will be an electric fence around said garden. Next year I will know what I am eating.
Thanks! Since mid-April I have managed to clear about 1.75 acres of silvopasture. I hope to clear one more acre by the end of the year. I try to keep my videos short. I see no reason why the vast majority of videos can't tell the story in less than 5 minutes.
Thanks for your comment! Food preservation is important. When I was growing up my Mom would can hundreds of quarts of beans and tomatoes and freeze many pints of corn. Most people have lost the skill and, frankly, just don't want to bother.
And all the food that people ate hundreds of years ago that we have all but forgotten because it is not profitable to produce it so now it just doesn’t count as food!
that glass is old. They don't make that color which I believe is Tourmaline anymore. Probably some target practice one day when that tree was just a little sapling.
A process called Inosculation, so when the lignin of the bark erodes away from rubbing against itself and the layers of cambium are touching, they will self graft/ grow together.
I got you beat. My does bring their fawns around to meet me. I will be hand feeding them very soon. My does have been bringing me their young to meet for over 10 years now. Hint: They love Safeway brand 5-seed bread.
At that perfect time of evening that you have caught in your video., As the sun is setting, and the tops of the trees are still illuminated….:. Is often my favorite part of the day
Great idea for a fast, natural and effective way to slow the water and save your silt! Being temporary, though, I see 2 options moving forward: - As leaves and silt built up in your check dams, start adding seed and plants to those spots so the roots can take over before all the wood breaks down, thus keeping the effect you want. - Or go back one day and make stone check dams and let the leaves and sticks fall in on their own, letting nature take the work over for you.
Thank you for your comment! There are so many trees in this area I will have plenty of material to add to these check dams for years. I also plan to add spent hay in the future which will provide both a method to slow the water and add the seed you suggest. Great suggestions! Thank you!
When I first started composting years ago, I made the same key mistake you're making here: moisture!!! As small as this pile is, you either need to water it twice a week or cover it with a tarp. If the pile was at least 2 times bigger, the shear volume helps retain water in the center, thus perpetuating the thermal process. Tips on easy, super-dense nitrogen: your own urine, animal dung, acorns (ground up), Japanese beatles (other captured pests). The example with acorns, if you run them thru a leave shredder, a SINGLE cubic foot of this goes thermal on its own within 1 hour!!! No additives, no water, not even close to the cubic yard they suggest for thermal. It has so much fat and water in acorns that they go thermal in your wheelbarrow lol. Do your research, locate rich sources of free material in your local area that's available with each season.
Wow! Great info! Thank you! The compost pile you see is less than 20 feet from a Red Oak which produces multiple cubic feet of acorns. I am literally surrounded by oak trees. I have never heard anyone mention them as an ingredient for compost, before. I will use your expertise and make a video in the future. May I mention your RU-vid handle in it?
I am happy to hear that. My last video, I “lost” a subscriber. Can’t please all the people all the time I guess, but if you stop back let me know how I can make a simple garden experiment more interesting!
I was under the impression that water was necessary to keep it going. I have made a couple large worm bins to handle my compost . Instructions by “captain Matt” about the flow through worm bin. At the end of last season, I was so excited to see the black soil that I dumped out of the cans…. It might not be for you but it was easy and the worms reproduce in the can so when I add it to my garden I’m adding thousands of worms
I have thought about vermiculture but it requires a little more effort than I care to put forth at this time. Composting, as I do it, is a much more hands off process and, generally speaking, produces more compost. I add water to the pile when necessary but by adding additional green material (kitchen scraps) there is usually not much need for water.
@@holmesteadridge you must live in a rainy climate. There's still green stuff growing. Where I am, everything is brown and dead, unless it is being watered, as we have 0 rainfall from March or April until October or November. Compost piles that aren't watered will sit for years.
Vermiculture is the next natural step for the full compost process. 1 to 2 weeks after your pile finishes it's last thermal cycle, you will have fungi moving to continue the process. It's this fungus and it's byproduct that worms eat directly. Most biomass needs to go thru the worm/insect process to be bio-available to plant roots.
Thank you for your comment! Where are you located? In our area of Kentucky we receive about 42 inches per year. Our dry months are July-Aug-Sept. We have had an inch or so in the past 36 hours, so that has been a blessing.
Yeah, it’s definitely weird for healthy branches to just calm down like that without a storm. I think I mentioned in your last video same thing happened at my place. Since then I came across one other limb that looked healthy down and one of my customers properties. I think maybe there’s just been a lot of new growth and they collapse under their own weight?
I really am without a logical explanation. The tree seems healthy. There was no obvious problem with the branch, itself. We had adequate rain during the spring. We had a dry June, but I don't think that would have any effect. Just a weird situation.
Every time I hear that “first time homesteading over fifty” my attention is peaked and I’m glad to be back. My tree shed a huge limb, almost hit my neighbors. Her description of the sound and experience was very similar to yours. I think that all the new growth and rain actually weighs down these old trees a bit to much. I agreed to remove my 300 year old tree after my neighbor’s experience and it doesn’t feel wonderful. City life is much different and not better.
I started using "over fifty" as a way to set myself apart from all the "kids" in their 30's and 40's who are doing this. Hopefully it will inspire others who are not-so young to give it a try. The video I show tomorrow is after I cut the branch up and get a look at the break, a "post mortem" of sorts. In a few days I will post another video of an ash tree, which has been dead for years, which finally fell. I heard it fall also. Not sure what the tipping point is for these trees but there have been a bunch of them over the past few years on Holmestead Ridge. Thanks for watching!
Yep. I was 7. It was an exciting time. I wish I had worked at keeping it clear back then. Well, maybe starting in the '80s. it would have made my life, now, much easier.
Thank you for your comment! I have about 24 acres to turn into silvopasture. I have years of work ahead of me. I pace myself and I will definitely continue the updates. Thanks for watching!
Thank you for the question. Silvopasture is pasture which includes trees. The trees provide shade so the livestock are not in full sun all day and allows them to graze instead of all of them clustering under one tree for most of the day, or worse, having no shade at all. With silvopasture there is enough sunlight getting through to grow grass and enough shade so the animals can graze in comfort. My job on Holmestead Ridge is to clear enough trees so we have the correct balance. It's a big job!
Awesome! That’s amazing. Do you achieve this by only felling whole trees or do you prune them also? Sounds like there might be a certain element of danger to your plan
A small silver coin in your water will keep alge and bacteria from growing also. It's a trick they used during the age of sail to keep water from going rancid during long ocean voyages... Could be a pre-1965 dime or a pure silver Tenth ounce coin or any silver coin larger.
