@@edibleexpressions9899really? Where in nature is there green houses, drip lines, metal cages? Those fruit trees would do a lot better in an orchard where livestock can’t touch them.
Get some help. And if ur really that bat-sh!t, why ain't you living on a 30 acre homestead doing it urself? Is there RU-vid in nature? @@edibleexpressions9899
Justin, your Son is right. You NEED an orchard. Plant them elsewhere. You can plant cheaper shade trees for the paddocks, but move all fruit producing trees to an orchard. LOL, your Son is now smarter than you. Remember what Joe Salatin told you about those fruit trees. Grow smarter not harder. It seems you never learn because of your obstinance!
Justin's smart, it was a great idea in theory, but at this point he's stuck in sunk cost fallacy, so he's wanting to invest more to protect what he's already spent. Jonah's idea was real smart though. Lots of sun around the road, easy to drive in fertilizer and water, easy to harvest and trim them as well. If they're beside the road, just stop and gather up some on the way in to the house each day, plus think about the beautiful view driving home!
Justin the boy is on to something. I can understand the shade aspect for the animals. But the fruit trees would look and do better along side the road. And you should also be fertilizing them and trimming to promote more faster growth! I agree with Jonah. But I would plant them along both sides of the main road, on your land.
@@NoraMkenda I agree. The fact that Jonah knew the cost for materials off the top of his head and was evaluating his options from that point of view is amazing for a kid. I guess he’s a very knowledgeable and mature “kid” (not a kid). He will be a very successful businessman. 👍
Who plants fruit trees in a livestock pasture. A dedicated orchard would be protected with a PROPER fence. Fruit trees do not work for shade trees. Goats and sheep will eat the bark and branches. Horses and cows will go after the branches and fruit. But hey, all these crazy decisions make for problems to solve and are great for the viewers. How about using google for information before starting stuff.
There's a reason fruit trees are planted in a proper orchard, not in a pasture. Besides the livestock and deer detergent, fruit trees have specific needs as to fertilizer, and insect and disease sprays to prevent loss. Each needs pruning and fruit thinning to get a quality harvest. Read up and move those trees where they can be given the attention they need. They are not shade trees for livestock, they are garden trees for people food.
Why would you plant your trees in your pasture, should they not be in an orchard? Somewhere you can protect, I mean the amount of time and money you have spent protecting these trees, you can move them to another area and protect it, listen to your oldest boy, he seems to have a great idea :)
I loved your daughters little laugh when you two were on the 4wheeler lol She is so nurturing like her mother; God Bless You All and Happy Memorial Day 😊
Amen. They tried. I am confident, that it WILL BE a continuous, loosing battle '.' So sorry for your dream. Do more maple trees, and gather sap, for syrup.
Jonah is correct. The trees should be along the access roads for the paddocks, for access. But also so that you can fence the animals away from them, but they still get shade, and then when they are large, you can include the margins of the pasture back into rotation. Also you can replant the trees you already have. You have an excavator.
I like when Jonah is in charge, he has great ideas. I think you need to do panels 5-6 feet away from tree, this way you are prepared for when the tree branches out but aren't tall enough or strong enough for cows to be close to them. You save money when you do things right the first time and build it to last years. Some of those trees will take many years before they will be a good size. To save money start protecting a few trees and do more in a few months.
Where on earth did he pluck the 10k figure from? Some imagination! Most of those trees will recover in time,the issue is its not the mesh or fencing that failed,but the tposts..tposts will not stand determined cattle pushing on them.
@@foragingandurbanfarmingatt4745 I raise sheep, and they definitely like to eat fruit trees, but they are easier to keep away from the trees vs cows or goats.
Justin pain in feet and knees you are trying a lot of things which is great. But as a person out of a car accident 20 years ago. I have to have a decent pair of shoes or work boots on my feet. As soon as they go bad I have to get new ones. I know you are in and out of mud and yuck but I am telling you it will help. I have to be on my feet take care of them. Put some good boots on your feet. You are always walking on even ground. I wish you nothing but the best and the best pair of boots Mr. Brown!
I was thinking why not something less see through. Like shade cloth?? Perhaps if the cows couldn't see the leaves they wouldn't go for it? I don't know, just a thought. Or even like you're saying, something solid, the tree will grow upwards towards the opening ...
First off, its great seeing Rebekah involved more in the VLOGs and getting enough time to put into her garden again. I can only imagine how tough the last year has been with the remodel and all that requires to keep it going, not to mention living in a temporary much smaller space in the meantime. She's a true behind the scenes hero. Some thoughts: If you are going to invest in fencing for trees in paddocks (at least until they are established) then put multiple trees together and position them at edges or corners of paddocks. If they are at the edges or corners of paddocks they can be excluded using the electric nettings until they are bigger, and less protected in the early years when they are being established. Don't worry much about the trees spreading out width wise you only want those trees to put their energy into growing tall enough to have their branches away from the animals, you should actually be proactively trimming lower branches. As well, giving the steers already grazed land and not big enough paddocks is just asking them to go after the trees. This is mostly bad planning, implementation, and husbandry. That said... I think one of your guys super powers is not overthinking and letting inertia hold you back from getting stuff done. Sure it may require attention later or fixes, but at least it gets done and you move forward and learn. And there is no reason it can't be addressed easily enough with some common sense fixes. Put the steers elsewhere on the property, or with the cows. Considering they are in the last month and are being "Fattened" giving them leftover already grazed paddocks seems counter intuitive. Put them on some lush grass all you can eat buffet to put on those final pounds. Also you can use temporary fixes like adjusting where the electric netting allows them to go, etc. Not so much a disaster as a learning experience.
Dwarf trees will probably NEVER be out of the cows reach. 2X2's will never work. You will probably have to pasture around the trees or move the trees across the street.
You've got a backhoe, dig the fruit trees up and plant in a different place. A protected orchard area. Then plant some other kind of shade tree in their original hole.
Well, Justin, , , you had a dream, you tried it. I am always open for new ideas, bbbbut!!! I really, really cringed at this, fruit trees IN the pasture idea!!!! How high do you WANT your fruit to hang. Cows can reach as high as you can. Drawf trees will never ever be a shade tree for animals. They will continually eat the leaves, the flowers, and especially the fruit!!! And what a headache to run all over the pasture to bring in your harvest. Please plant them where the cattle can not get to them! Plant big trees, like maple trees, and harvest sap, to take the place of store sugars. Justin, you tried it, just reading alllll these comments, Not. One. Person. Recommends. It! Moral. It is a fruitless pursuit!😂
@DOMEstead to drive anywhere he wants..I guess some people in USA think of the gun licence as a freedom licence..I'm not in the USA, we think of the independence of being able to drive very freeing.
Too much time and money for a few little trees. Those trees could get a blight, freeze, or just die. Why dont you please listen to your son. He gets it. Plus, if you keep micromanaging him he is going to leave that farm as soon as he's old enough. He has hundreds of skills that have nothing to do with homesteading. He's going to want to be his own person.
Just a bigger square or triangle could work. But maybe focusing on sheep instead of cows would be a better idea. Sheep are at least as profitable as cows, and less dangerous.
It may be helpful for you to sit and listen to your son. Make a better plan on how to properly farm instead of being a Reactive Farmer. Proactive and planning ahead will save you alot of chaos all the time. It's difficult watching at times because of the constant chaos. Love your kids. They are hard working kids. Home grown food planned ahead without constant issues. I grew up on a large farm. We had 60 head of cows. My dad used two pastures and would prepare both and secure them before they were turned out. Yes, occasionally cows got out but rarely. When you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Never plant your food with the animals food. They don't know the difference.
I love how respectful Jonah was as you were problem solved how to save the trees! I especially love that just so you know that cattle panel is $100 lol! He is learning problem-solving and communication skills! You guys are doing great!
When I saw how small the area around the trees would be, I thought of posting my concerns, but I can't recall if I did. I doubted my post would be read, & once you'd done all that work, it seemed unlikely you'd consider making the protected area large enough that they can't sinply reach over the fence & help themselves. The leaves may smell tasty, like apoles. You could try larger areas around the trees. That would make it easier to step inside to trim the grass. At the same time, you could make a wide, deep, mulched collar around each tree to retain water & to keep roots cooler, to give them a good start. Good luck. If you could, make a doorway to easily enter to work on the trees for ladders when pruning & picking apples, you'd be better off. Consider the apples dropping too, and the width of the fruiting branches. You could have room to sit inside, put down a blanket & read or have picnics! It's a nice thought to provide them shade, but even if full grown, the leaves & new growing branch tips would smell like food to them. Also wood rots & many fruit trees live a lot longer than 30 years.
You need a bigger diameter and stiffer cage, cement reinforcing wire is what we use. Longer t posts so you can raise the cage off the ground so top is higher than nose of anything that reaches over AND you can weed wack or mulch under the trees. 5 t posts per tree and BIG cage to suffice for 10 years or it's pointless. It's the only way we have protected ours from deer. Is that more affordable than moving or buying new trees? Blessings Jan
Justin, I understand your frustration with the cows eating the trees. If it were me, I would rethink my orchard. I would plant new fruit trees around the perimeter of the field and fence them off with field fence inset at least ten feet. Then devid your field into four paddocks and move your cattle from paddock to paddock with strategic gate locations for ease of movement. You all spend so much time moving the Premier One fence and your time is valuable! That’s just my opinion and I don’t live your life, I just want the easiest and best life for you all. It also might make it easier for your family to keep the farm up if you were to have health problems again, GOD forbid! Love to you all! ♥️
Once the trees are established, silvopasture is a fabulous way to make an orchard more biodiverse & resilient. The problem is the solution. I live on a 50-100 year old apple orchard. Neighbors pay rent to graze in this orchard. The soil is fertilized & aerated. The orchards around here who incorporate grazers are far healthier than those who don't. If you invest in protecting the young trees, you will have a much healthier orchard overall.
I mean it all depends on when they start to produce and how much they produce for how long and what type of tree they are. If they a normal trees they can produce 500 lbs a season if fully grown. That's easy 1k a season and 9 tree's that would be basically 2 season to get your money worth from them even if you don't sell them. As for semi dwarfs or Dwarf it would take 1-2 more seasons to get your money worth from them. The problems is that it take 3-6 years of growing before you start seeing them bare fruit and start to become fully grown trees. If they don't take care of them properly they may not reach the size they want or produce the amount they want.
I don’t know what it would cost you, but you can make a Cheyenne pepper spray or just put Cheyenne pepper on the trees until your able to block them out. Make sure your upwind and wear protective glasses. Worth a try
Saw this one coming when you made those wimpy barriers. Those are dwarf fruit trees? They will need to be protected indefinitely. Mature size will still be vulnerable to livestock as they will be able to reach 2/3 of the way up the tree. Each tree should have a fence around its mature diameter. Off the land? Cedar posts and 4 board fencing. Make it big enough to protect the mature trees from browsing and you should be good to go. Until you get it done, move the cows away from the trees.
Yeah the boys right I'm not sure of his name he was in the green shirt in the very beginning we've had cows and pasture and you will forever have to create barriers around those trees and fight off the cows . keeping the orchard out of the cow pasture in our situation at least has common sense. I haven't followed a long long enough do you know exactly why they planted trees in a cow pasture but yeah if that's your future food and fruit if you're trying to quit the grocery store then you would put those trees somewhere away away away from the cows that's just I don't understand why you wouldn't he had to give more credit to those boys they're smart they've lived on that farm forever and have watched how things go and I think sometimes as adults we think we know best or we think something will work I've learned sometimes my 14 year old son sees things I don't see and comes up with solutions that I might not agree with but the outcome is usually correct in his favor
Justin, Jonah has a good point about planting the fruit tree's else where along the road or make a different place for the orchard, it does not work with cattle and sheep. Also by each fruit tree plant some Comfrey. Comfrey’s biggest advantage is its very long taproot. It’s able to reach minerals deep below the soil and draw them to the surface. It’s what’s known by organic farmers as a dynamic accumulator. Those minerals end up in the comfrey’s leaves. They’ve been shown to contain a bunch of important macro and micronutrients. These include calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, selenium, sulphur, copper, and zinc. As the comfrey dies back in winter, those nutrients are released back into the soil. In spring, they’re ready and waiting for your fruit tree to access as it comes out of dormancy. Also an orchard should be fenced off. Have a lovely day. Jonah you have a very good Idea.
It is so frustrating watching Justin make the same mistakes over and over and over and over. I swear he knows he's doing it, but he's doing it for content.
Justin - I don't understand why you are being so STUBBORN about not committing an area of the property to a dedicated orchard. If you want shade for the animals - plant oak trees. Put the fruit/nut trees in their own place to protect them from predators - including CATTLE/SHEEP,/GOATS, etc.
Tractor Supply 50 feet underground wire 29.99. Just put a hot wire at the top of the fence you currently have. They cannot push it or they will get zapped.
I feel your pain; we just took a heifer to the "chill" department because she walked over the fence. Greg Judy is on to something. Thank you for introducing us to him.
Now that your livestock has a taste for fruit trees they will always try to find a way to get them. Save yourself from future headaches and transplant your trees to a better spot.
If your a wise shopper it takes 1 hour too plan meals 1 hour too make a list and look who has sales another 3 hours too shop around for best buys. Then spend an hour a day weeding your garden too save money . Lol it never ends but worth it . A women who knows.
@@shirleymurphy1958not to mention all the hours that have to be worked in order to purchase the food if your buying everything from the site instead of growing it
Yep, when planting in pasture, 6 feet square using wood post wood planking with woven wire and barbed wire at bottom, middle and top will work. Barbed wire will keep them from rubbing. Needs to be 4 to 5 feet tall.
6 ft long sheep panels framed with boards-made higher than a full grown steer can reach over, formed into a triangle, wired to and braced by T posts can be placed around each tree. You can hinge the corners with dooor hinges, but change out the pintle for a carriage bolt long enough to doublenut. This way you can remove the panels to mow, weed eat, and harvest fruit. Cows are super addicted to anything apple and will utterly destroy any bits they can get to. This worked for us beautifully.
There's lots to think about on a farm and trial and error is part of life. Would trying 2 ways be worthwhile? If disease hits an orchard you will still have some trees spread aroudn the farm. If animals harm trees then you still have an orchard. For example, Move younger trees in one part of the paddock to an orchard above frost as Jonah suggested. Keep fruiting trees as is and try 2 with cattle panels and 2 with Justin's fix. There is nothing wrong with using what you have first until you decide on a long-term solution. Justin was thinking it all through looking at what was available, listening to Jonah, looking at the trees and pricing out new supplies to show the process which can evolve. Rebekkah's green house is looking fantastic and good call on the ground drip watering system. I enjoy the info and learning together is part of being a team even as a family. Well done
Our local farm store has at their entrance door pennies in a ziplock bag for flies. Great family teamwork y'all. Jonah congrats on getting d-license, which will be very helpful having a 3rd driver in the family!
Yes and the fence around orchard needs to be sturdy and more than 8 ft high and go into the ground.cows may have brute strength but deer can leap really really high and deer and other critters can wiggle under amazingly small spaces. Oh and pigs can dig. Also you should have planted them in containers if you wanted to baby them near the house. Now you will have to disturb the root system if you have to move them. Also look at them carefully if you really can't save that tree make as many cutting from it as possible and grow the roots you can find good rooting techniques for cuttings online. But you have to be quick.
Hey Justin I'm wondering if there is any well established trees in the cow area where you can put some scratching bristles on, id imaging they would be attracted to that area more than the cage for a scratch. I'm assuming they are using the cage to scratch leading to them weakening it then they discover the delicious leaves and branches. Keep up the good work guys, loving the show ❤
Justin, I miss the name of what it was that you were taking for detoxing for your feet. My husband is having a lot of difficulty with his feet and he could use some support with that. Could you reach out or put it in your notes?
What if you created a mobile tree protection cage? All of your saplings are not that tall. You could create a removeable 7ft cage which you move every time you move the cattle. When you put it around a sapling, you could create a bolt which you could stake into the ground to keep it in place until your next move. You move them every couple of days right? If the cattle cannot see them- will they try to eat the the trees? The trees would survive a few days blocked from the sun. In any case, you could create a tree nursery, which you keep away from cattle until they reach a certain size and then aim to transplant them in the autumn after the cattle have grazed each section for the last time before winter.