Hey we're Gary & Gita and together with our daughter In 2018 we left the UK and moved to the middle of a forest in deepest north Latvia to start looking after and managing the smallholding/homestead and the forest.
There's a lot of work to do and we want to become more self sufficient following principles that allow us to work with nature to produce abundant and nutritional food and live a more self sufficient lifestyle.
Follow our new adventure as we make the most we can from our land and experiment with ecology and technology on our 50ha of land and forest.
As well as the usual homesteading type videos we'll introduce you to all things Latvian such as crafts, culture and food so expect recipes, dancing, knitting, beautiful landscapes and much more!
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I like the video - thank you. I have bought this machine myself, and only jused for 45 mins. I think the chips are too big. Do you know if there are a way of changing the sizes of the chip?
The chip diameter is set by the width of the branch that you are chipping. How will you use the chips? For me it’s fine any size as they are either used on walkways or for composting.
@outnabout57 i think they are spreading by people giving plants to each other, eggs in the soil. MIL won’t like it but I will have to ban all plant swapping unless bare root.
@@BalticHomesteaders Hmm. Alternatives? Hmm, we could have a conference on such things/ I believe also soils sold by the retailers may have many bugs in them. Maybe burning soils may have a place in process for the garden. Wow, we could have a conversation on bugs in our homes as in used clothing store hitchhikers and bed bugs as well as ticks etc. We used to remove the shelled snails, but with the new Spanish ones the snails seem to be no problem. They used to be in the thousands. Now the Spanish and before them the black slugs came. I thought maybe they come on the migrating birds as they come through their migrations, eggs are on their feathers and feet. Food for a few videos here. :)
I’m sorry you have had so much rain, that has to be disheartening day after day! We have mostly had just the opposite, although we do expect a very dry summer.
It just gets too cold here to store water over winter. The tank you mention is actually needed to water the other greenhouse as well. The whole water storage solution on-site here needs a total rethink and some serious infrastructure work so that water can be stored and pumped about and go dry for winter but that’s nothing to do with the PSG really.
@@BalticHomesteaders Thanks for your quick response. I expect to move to an area that has more mild winter than Latvia, Eastern Kentucky or Tennessee, and perhaps use collected rainwater for household and garden use. So I'm thinking that putting the storage containers into a greenhouse would extend the growing season and minimize effort to keep them from freezing. In that area, with the different terrain, it might be more practical to keep things from freezing by using earth sheltered design. But, AFAIK, Latvia is pretty flat, while Appalachia is often too sloped.
@richdobbs6595 flat as a pancake here, albeit we’re still not a slope down to a lake. Yeah I reckon you’ll be ok there, it’s got to be pretty cold night and day for barrels to totally freeze. We do use a lot of rainwater but it’s just as easy to pump it up from the lake.
I love the mister idea, but where will the moisture evaporate to? I have a poly tunnel and live in a very hot dry climate. This year we had temps over 100F for several weeks! I have tried pretty much everything else to be able to grow tomatoes and peppers in the poly tunnel. I have it covered with a shade cloth, roll the sides up and have a vent and door in one end and a big fan in the other. It still gets up to 120F in the daytime.
If the humidity level is low (which it will be in your case) it will simply be taken into the air to increase the humidity level. What % is your shade cloth?
Hello! I know that it is unlikely that you are thinking of designing a system to use geothermal energy for greenhouse air conditioning, but it would be very interesting if you could discuss the subject, please.
I kind of am, that was what I was hinting at at the start :) I did some tests with a thermometer in the found this year but haven’t got round to doing anything about it.
Sorry to hear some of the responses to your Instagram post were doom and gloom. Seems to be a trend these days, even moreso on social media, to destruct and tear down. Your channel, with all the constructing and creating, is a great antidote. It's so easy to criticise and tear apart; making and remaking is so much harder (but is really where all the fun happens!)
Umm I think it was about 51% I need to check next week. I sort of had plans, well I did for the trusses. I wanted to make sure I could make 1 truss from a 6m piece of timber whilst at the same time maximising the height and depth and getting the angle roughly right. If you ping me an email I’ll send you the pdf’s I made (email in about us tab).
That was cool! I’d love to see what rye plants look like up close, I don’t think they grow that particular grain here, although there are many others grown here in my state.
It's not great to be honest, I have already decided that I'll make a little solar charger for it. I can of course play more about with the shutdown sleep and wake stuff and take fewer readings.
Great build cost breakdown. On the OSB plywood. I've been using OSB on exterior grade projects over the years and I have found it pretty resilient to weather, if it's stained or painted with an exterior grade paint. I've even used it on trailers and truck boxes in harsh winters and salted roads and held help through it. All in all a great choice for the cost.
Thank you. Feedback on using OSB was mixed as I was expecting. But as you say and as I thought if it's well looked after it should be fine. I've not noticed any worsening of the boards this year after the initial settling in.
Great video! If I could suggest a different kind of wire that would be less expensive than aircraft cable. I would look for a farm supply store and or a farmer that might sell you some barbless galvanized fence wire. Its super strong and pretty inexpensive. I used it this year in my greenhouse to string my tomatoes and cukes and it was 1/10 the cost of what the greenhouse supplier wanted for crimped trellis wire. Cheers!
I didn't know you can actually leave it to cool overnight. I would usually take it off the stove and cool immediately in ice bath while whisking. Might have to try your recipe 🎉🎉🎉 thank you 😜😜
Hi Gary, I know you've touched on it before but could you do a video on how you make your no dig beds, from scratch. And maybe touch on the size of your growing space and how much it produces for your family/ how long it keeps your stocks up. I'll be moving to North of your border so trying to get a sense of the size needed and how to start a garden similar to yours as its really inspiring. Keep up the good work.
Hi. I think it’s mostly covered with n the no-dig transformation vidéo a few years back - they are not full no dig with compost because of the supply issues. The garden is (or was) something like 40m x 10m but it’s now extended albeit I haven’t done anything with the new bit yet. As to exact details of what it yields I don’t really keep records (other then anecdotal) and of course there’s so many variables (considerations) at play in any given year but I know for example we always have enough onions and garlic. Also we have other areas that food is grown such as greenhouses and the new GH garden area (this video). I’ve got a few planning videos as well to help you plan. My gardening methodology works because I have the tools (handmade) to work with it to be efficient which is another consideration. So are you moving to Estonia, where are you moving from, is it a big lie change type event? I will soon be offering consultation as I get asked a lot of if I do for people trying to make the change. I will do a video of things to consider for self sufficiency as I’ve been wanting to do that for some time. Look forward to hearing more about your move. Hope that was helpful , thanks :)
@BalticHomesteaders thanks for the reply. I'll have to re-watch the transformation video. I love the tools you use, seem to make things so much easier than traditional techniques. I might take inspiration from them 😉 I'm moving from culturally dull Milton Keynes to be closer to my partners family, in between Pärnu and Haapsalu. Hoping for a real change of lifestyle, our current allotment yields a good amount but our flat lacks suitable cold storage for root veg, etc. We're also keen to improve our sustainability and we feel it's slightly easier to do that in Estonia. A video on self sufficiency would be good, I'll look out for that! I appreciate your videos a lot, seeing how you've adapted to a similar culture that I'll be immersing myself in and how much you've developed over the last few years. Keep up the good work and thanks for the videos!
@Hazlar09 ah the famous UK grid city :) You’re already established gardeners then. The 2 big changes will be the climate seasons and the use of peat moss, true compost is impossible to buy. You might strike lucky with a local supply of horse/cow manure. We love Parnu. Once you’re settled if you want to visit then get in touch.
@BalticHomesteaders we attempt to garden every year, it seems this year is less successful though... We currently just use old fashioned techniques of turning the soil yearly but the plan is to upscale in Estonia and manage the land better using the nodig method which will be a learning curve in itself. I am grateful of you introducing me to the Ruth Stout method for potatoes! Yes the seasons will be very different, I'm sure that'll take a while to get used to. I can see why you grow so much under grow lamps. And yes I see so many in the local village with peat moss! It'd be great to get hold of some cow manure. Yeah Pärnu is lovely. From what I can gather, you're not far from Valga, I've always wanted to visit the town in two countries. Yeah that'd be great to meet you, I'll keep that in mind.
TLDR: Passive solar greenhouses can be effectively designed and constructed using a combination of glazing, insulation, thermal mass, ventilation, and automated systems to maximize energy efficiency and create optimal growing conditions for plants. 1. 00:00 🌱 Proper positioning, glazing, insulation, ventilation, and other key considerations are essential for building an effective passive solar greenhouse. 2. 01:52 🌱 Consider building a passive solar greenhouse with precise south orientation, polycarbonate glazing, and double-skinned insulation for better heat retention and light diffusion. 3. 03:23 🌞 Diffused light makes glazing angle less important, construction materials are mainly a budget consideration, using pine and spruce for main posts, leftover fibre cement tiles for roofing, solid sides and back made from moisture proofed OSB. 4. 04:37 🌱 Insulation is necessary for walls, roof, and possibly ground to keep out frost, with options including blanket roll, foamboard, and natural fibers. 5. 05:56 💡 Use solid materials like stone from ruins to build a large mass for heat storage in a passive solar greenhouse, and consider adding a mini rocket stove for additional heating. 6. 06:51 🌱 Proper ventilation, including windows and fans powered by solar energy, is essential for cooling a passive solar greenhouse during hot summers. 7. 07:35 🌱 Good soil is essential for the success of the project, so various substrates will be added to the native sandy soil, including biochar, high-quality compost, and slow-release organic fertilizers, to create a strong foundation for soil life to thrive. 8. 08:28 🌱 Automate ventilation and watering in passive solar greenhouses to optimize growing conditions, reduce workload, and improve plant health and productivity.
Hey Gary, thanks for also sharing your so-called gardening 'failures' during this season! I think we all have bad crops sometimes, but the good thing is that you can count on other crops that are doing incredibly well in years when some aren't having their best time :) In our gardening community here in Western Germany, onion fungus aren't too common but we've experienced it as well this year. The onions planted inbetween carrots did best and almost none of them was infected, so maybe combining those two crops doesn't just help with onion and carrot flies but also increases their ability of resisting or withstanding fungal or viral infection. So maybe it'd be worth trying for your next gardening year :) Keep it up, I'm looking forward to seeing you again soon! Greetings from Germany Walt
Hi thanks this is interesting. But how do you time the carrots and onions as they are planted at different times. Do you plant some onions then leave the space for the carrots to join them later?
@@BalticHomesteaders Usually we plant the onions (precultivated indoors from seed in late Jan to early March) and carrots in late March and April, depending on frosts and general weather conditions. This year for example, it was so wet during spring that we had to wait longer than expected with the potatoes but could sow the carrots and onions much earlier (2nd week of March). In early May, we try to sow another bed of onions and carrots for late autumn where we use small onions from sets or the seedling leftovers from the previous planting period in March/April. Due to the wet conditions the carrots sprouted very constantly this season so the second crop is also doing well, whereas we won't have carrots as big as those in the first crop of course. For us, this system works best in sandy soil because it allows the onions to even grow nicely in wet situations (prevents rotting and infections) and provides space for the carrots to dig into the ground well. It is also very suitable for raised beds. We grow 50/50 in raised beds and on the ground because our soil ist mostly very loamy and therefore sensitive to dry and warm weather conditions as the soil dries out quickly, then shrinks due to low water content and creates big cuts in the soil. Hope this does the job :) Thanks for the conversation, lokking forward to your next video. Take your time and have a great harvest! Greetings Walt
Too bad about the failures. I see bare soil everywhere :) I would recommend to really focus on making more compost to keep the soil covered. Nodig is as much about that as it is about not digging. It really helps with the weed suppression especially.
Yeah I simply can’t produce enough for my size garden, even with the upgraded compost area I have planned. I always knew this and have hinted in other videos I need a compost sponsor :) You can’t buy real compost here it’s all peat based substrates as Latvia is a producer. I wouldn’t get too hung up on whether ‘no dig’ needs compost or not, that’s just one variant - it’s literally about minimum soil disturbance it’s just that our soil type would greatly benefit from organic matter. We’ll get there in the end. To contrast this see previous video where I showed the garden on the other side that has done incredibly well.
Fantastic video. I've got a handful of roller derby players that turn to me for diy heath advice. Would this method of making calcium more bioavailable be useful for human consumption?
There are tons of videos on this. It’s sold as a supplement but make it yourself. Many studies on it being safer than other calcium supplements that cause heart disease. Dr kendberry is one awesome video example.
Very impressed in what you have achieved in just five weeks. I have struggled to grow anything this year in the UK, everything has been so slow. Really enjoy your channel, thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you for the tour in your greenhouse -great project, thanks for sharing your experiences with all of us out there! My tomatoes (just 10 plants in total, 7 varieties) are now setting fruit perfectly but also missed out on their first one to two flowering clusters foe no specific reason. To me it seemed to be most likely that there were pollinators missing at first but in retrospect it could've also been a very harsh change in late spring temperatures from lower than 10°C to almost 35°C over two weeks. Additionally this was right after I planted the seedlings from the pot into the garden beds so maybe the transplanting process was also a relevant factor. The varieties that do best here are the new German hybrid 'Primabella' (sweet cherry tomato) and 'Tschernij Prince'. I'm looking forward to seeing some great updates throughout the year! Greetings from Germany Walt
In Sweden in the old days they used to call Birch trees for "poor man's cow" because of the sap it provided... A very versatile tree and the sap taste so good!
I was born in Latvia during WW2 and left shortly after so my knowledge of the metric system is very limited. Would have been so nice to have the recipe in terms I would understand. I love this delightful little snack!
Hi. Metric can be converted into imperial very easily, cups don’t work as it’s a volume measurement. I know lots of other American Latvians who have made them successfully using this recipe :)
