DFV | Water Brings Life | Fertilizing Begins 

Ahh, thank you for the kind words Alicia. It's comments like this that make us keep pushing forward. Thank you! :)

Glad you caught that cloud action in the time lapses Brandon. It's the main reason we left those in!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm when you all start getting some good fruit in the next couple of years you better have me out there for a taste test!! It’s a short trip from Goodyear.

@@Boboggins74 I think we can make that happen!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm You can put me to work and give Lori the morning off!!

@@Boboggins74 she wouldn't argue with that!

You've seen a lot of the changes so far, so we're hoping you hang in there with us to continue watching the progress. You encourage us to keep it going and share all we can!

Daniel, you hit the nail on the head with your assessment of those larger rings. The mulberry trees are our oldest trees with those extended rings and they are also the largest.

Ha! Yes, she definitely does. And I think she would agree with your suggestion on the flip flop with wine time!

Glad you enjoyed this one Tony. We always end our videos the same way encouraging everyone that they can do this too. You're no exception to that rule. Ask yourself how and follow that dream!

Eric, only a fellow gardener such as yourself can appreciate those worms. Lori and I both get excited every time we unearth one of those little helpers!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm So true. I feel bad when I hurt one if Im digging and one gets injured. I cant wait till my soil is crawling with them!

@@ericbowers1620 we're seeing them more and more around the farm and they seem to be traveling to find the places where soil is being created. So you should have them everywhere in no time!

Hey there Jordan, glad you're enjoying the content. Fun fact, my (Duane) best friend through High School was named Jordan, so every time I meet someone who shares your name it brings me back in time!

Hey guys! It is fun to watch life bloom from barren desert. It's amazing to watch things grow no matter where you're planted, but there just seems to be something special seeing it where there was no life before. I hadn't heard of that process with the prickly pear pads, but it does make sense. If nothing else you have plant material down there that gives food for the beneficial bacteria and other microbes that the tree will depend on to thrive. I'll have to research that a bit. Maybe we need to get some prickly pear on the farm. It is a fruiting plant after all!

Glad to hear it Jaxson. You're the reason we keep putting these out there!

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it interesting!

Amen to that Linda. With the inconsistency of rainfall you just can't count on access to water falling from the sky. Prioritizing it's use is the key to success.

Wow, I imagine you have some wonderful memories of the Mediterranean. I (Duane) have similar memories of the Pacific Ocean growing up in Southern California. We do most of our irrigation in the evenings, but these days it's a matter of having the time to get the hand watering done. It's simply easier for us to do that in the mornings before we get started for the day. Eventually we will have the majority of what you're seeing us hand water on automated irrigation which runs in the evenings.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I understand. It was obvious that a person with your knowledge and with a climate as dry as Arizona, would water in the evenings. I just wanted to make the comment. I hope it wasn’t inappropriate. I now live with my wife for half a year in Andorra (Europe) and the other half a year in Baja California Sur (Mexico). I love your channel !! You are doing a great job.

@@classicmusic6547 not inappropriate at all. It was a valid suggestion and is absolutely the right way to go! So do you guys travel between those 2 places based on the weather? We have a lot of folks in Arizona that we call snow birds who live in colder climates during the summer and here during the winter.

So true Mark. Those little helpers are the key to success in the long run!

Water is truly the key to life Carolle. Haven't heard of Kalgoorlie before, so need to Google that one!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Weather-wise or just the name itself? Like California,, it shares a similar geographical western position of a large sized continent and was/is known for minerals, in particular gold. But I will never forget that image of green as we first drove into the outskirts of the city due to the vinyards. Vinyards, waterspraying irrigation (what a wastful way to irrigate) and goats. I will never forget the size and the taste of that delicious peach that a neighbour shared with us. A peach, in semi-desert. Gold for sure. As precious and a source of wonderment as the metal that put Kalgoorlie on the map. Beautiful red soil. All you needed was water, And that neglected Antigony bush that literally(?) sprang to life after the first watering? As a young girl then, these impressions have stayed as vivid as the day ithey transpired, many years - a lifetime ago. Since then, I have been fascinated by the bringing to life of the desert regions and the miracle of accessed water. The idea in some areas of Phoenix, AR using flood-irrigation is amazing. Likewise the ancient methods of water conveyance and channel irrigation and some modern day methods of reclamation. That "first" tree. - the first step, apart from water, towards the reclamation. If you get enouh trees you can create your own mini bio-climate through condensation. Water conservation - a very important factor that many communities take for granted. Water - the luxury, despite the devastation in such areas of desert as the Oman where flood and downpours caused recent devastation. How much of that could have been better managed? And for the future? I love viewing what you have done/ are doing. I can hardly wait to see that first large, golden-ripe, aromatic, delicious peach the juice of which would run down my arm as I bit into it, freshly plucked from the tree. Truely a vision of Paradise, ( Oh dear, what a screeed for a comment.- well, I guess that is one way of communicating and sharing ina community of like-minded. Here we share our love of the Earth and show it respect. I love watching your pig-pile and wonder, how amazing is that, add the supply, water, wood-chips and turn and voila, worms. Praise God, the source and power, to my mind, of all that which is Nature.

@@carolleenkelmann4751 you must be a writer as this was very eloquently communicated. In a comment thread on RU-vid none the less.

We haven't done time lapses like that in a while, but we wanted to capture the clouds moving through with that storm. It's pretty cool to watch.

Hey Daz! Yeah, it's always fun asking Austin over for a visit. He pretty much knows the drill and jumps right in with chores. We make sure to keep him well fed and set aside time for Happy Hour in the evenings!

Really glad to hear that Daryl. We are always amazed by our friends here on RU-vid and the support you guys give us. It's not taken for granted!!

10-4 Daniel! We joke about getting chewed out by everyone when we don't have them on, but we need to heed the advice!! Our rule is, morning sun until about 9am and then hats until about 4pm (assuming we're still out by then). Need that vitamin D, but no thanks to skin cancer!

We've only had it for about a week, but so far it's working really well. We had another viewer here in AZ suggest it and swears by them. We may pick up another one for watering some of the larger in-ground planting areas. They're not badly priced, so it's worth having an extra one around anyhow!

LOL!! Kelly, that is just classic. Needed a laugh after this long weekend. Thank you!!

Pamela, you are so right on with your assessment on a pool. There's no doubt it would be filled with either dirt, or fish to run aquaponics to planting beds around it in no time!

Carolle, you share our heart when it comes to looking at the conservation of water on this property. The tree ring design and mulching systems are designed to capture as much rain as possible when we do see rainfall. We don't see much runoff, but I am concerned with topsoil erosion. It's very apparent when we take the tractor across any part of the property that the soil is wanting to take off with either the wind or water. I like the idea of incorporating capture on the livestock acre. That spot of land has a very shallow, natural wash that runs through it (hence the extremely hard soil). So capturing some of that and keeping it on property needs to be a consideration.

Hey Patrick! Glad you found the channel and are on your way down the homesteading path. It's a lot of work, but definitely worth it when you can start producing for yourself!

I was wondering about the reality of growing either edible of medicinal mushrooms on the farm. We get plenty of who knows what kind in the woodchips naturally and I really believe it's one of the reasons the trees respond so well to having that natural, heavy mulch around them.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yes. Do it like God taught. I have some Rush Pea seeds, I hope. Hard to find them ripe, but there's very few ants left. Rabbits love them and I have yet to lose garden plants or trees to them. I think the protein level is equal to clover.

@@marschlosser4540 if you get a chance, you'll have to send us pics of that rush pea.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Will do. I think I can still message on foul book.

Hey Chet! The trees are definitely coming along nicely. That worm activity is the key to ensuring they have a fresh stream of fertility whether we stay on track with our fertilizing schedule or not! Oh and the cattle don't have access to that pile any longer. We have the fence up back there to keep them away from the trees we have planted there now. They do look at it longingly as they stroll past it though!

You are reading our minds with that suggestion on the space between the trees. We were just talking this weekend of the need to get those filled in now that we have the ring expansions completed. It makes such a difference for those trees and their ability to keep spreading those roots out!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm And weed control. I know most people don't care about weeds but I like the clean look. Also, it keeps the dust out of the air.

@@TheFatTheist very true Alan. Lori is right there with you on wanting to keep things looking sharp!

I would say your best bet is to dangle a bunch of that ripe fruit in front of them, but don't share until they agree to at least help fertilize the trees!! Funny you should mention those scars from that little tractor sprinkler. We were just talking yesterday about how much fun we would have as kids with one of those!!

We're still trying to work out irrigation outside of the fruit trees. We're limited on the amount of water we can use for irrigation, hence the focus on systems designed to limit water usage.

Hey Lori, great questions. For rabbits we really try exclusion techniques to keep them out of the areas we're growing in. You'll see fencing pretty much everywhere, including cages around the younger trees. As for gophers, that's all out chemical warfare right now as we're seeing them attack pretty much everything that is green. If it's a pellet that is supposed to take them out we're probably using it at this point. We're out every day searching for new mounds and so far we seem to be knocking back the population. We've tried trapping them and it just doesn't seem to work. Oh and the pellet gun and .22 are used regularly where needed.

Hey there guys, glad you enjoyed this one. A strange weather weekend for sure, right?

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Missed most of it was at BBQ in Cochise county. Meeting Homesteaders form Facebook group. Was a blast!?

@@gardenofthegeeks8277 very cool. I'll bet it was great to not only just be around other people, but also like minded folks!

Worms are just the bee's knees aren't they!

G M, you're reading our minds with your vision on the ground cover. We spent most of today planting in the newly vacated pig area. We need to get more roots in this ground!!!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Would be interesting to see tempreture records and humidity before and after the farm matures. But might be a little late starting. I can imagine ground cover and tree shade will change a lot of things.

@@gm2407 I imagine the overall feel of things will be quite different as the farm matures. Between the plants and animals there should be an entirely new ecosystem that is far different from the surrounding desert.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm You may need to develop a pond at the lowest point of the land which does not require refilling and has its own things to be a living pond rather than stagnent water. Might be hard with the land being so flat.

@@gm2407 that's a solid suggestion and we do have plans for at least 1 pond at the back of the property (the land naturally slopes down that way), but it would require us to fill it regularly to keep it from going dry. We figure we can at least get the dam built and go from there. Not quite there yet though.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I always enjoy having permaculture minded folks comment and make suggestions on our content. While not an all-in permaculture project, the intent is to incorporate many aspects of permaculture in what we're doing. We're firm believers that being good stewards requires us to work with nature and permaculture concepts lend perfectly to that.

It's always cool to see life spring from the desert!

Hey Jeff. Great call getting those holes pre-dug. It will save a lot of head and back ache in the future! As for the woodchips, it probably wouldn't hurt, but I would be cautious. They do pull nitrogen from the soil and you would want to get them all back out before planting the tree. Even if you fill them back in with dirt they will be a fraction of the hardness they are now. You might also consider amending the soil before you put it back in with some potting soil or something similar. That might keep it a bit more pliable for you.

Great questions here. The mulch against the tree is not an issue for us this time of year. We average high single digit humidity going into June and get very little rainfall. We also water away from the trunk, so the chances of any type of rot on the trunk is very small while the cover gives the tree some respite from the extreme heat. We're watering all of the fruit trees once a week and just ramped up to 60 gallons per week on the larger rings. That can push upwards of 90 gallons a week if we stay above 110-115 with no rain for extended periods of time like we saw last year. Keep in mind, this is in those larger rings where we're also trying to build soil, so that amount of water is high otherwise.

Thank you for your answer Duane! Will you stay at once a week only, during the whole summer?

@@franswa7251 that's the plan. We can always watch the trees and see if they need a boost mid-week, but the goal is to stay at once a week to keep it easier to manage.

Nice!👍🏻

Great question on that one. We are using passive rain catchment right now, but not storing any as of yet. We're hoping to get the trees and soil to a point where we can cut back on the irrigation, but at a true farming scale we'll need to bring in water one way or another. It's a business expense in the end, but we want to be good stewards, so we're trying to balance that as best we can.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I know, you guys are great. Ever watch handee man on RU-vid? They live off grid in southern Arizona and have a 2,000 sqft rain roof that drain into tanks. You have plenty of space for that.

@@DOC_AZ yes, we watch Handeeman from time to time. They definitely have it down when it comes to water harvesting and even though we're using a lot more water with the amount of trees we're growing, we could definitely offset a lot of that usage with additional catchment and storage.

@@DOC_AZ The problem from my perspective is cost. The cost of tanks to store the water is extremely high. Yes, once you get them and get set up they last a long long time but the initial investment is no joke.

That's a great question and I really wouldn't be able to say for sure. We didn't use one here on this property, but in Wittmann water levels are VERY consistent. If it's not expensive it's not going to hurt, but I've heard varying things on the accuracy of water witching.

This is a fantastic question and the answer is a bit complicated. The farm we're putting into place is for profit. We formed our LLC back in 2017 specifically with the intent to eventually turn a profit with the farm and as such we're accounting for true business expenses as we go. However, we're realistic with our timeframes and the need for significant infrastructure in order for a farm to actually show a profit (historically this takes much longer for a farm than a more typical business). I'm a firm believer in being frugal, but not cheap, so as you pointed out we don't skimp where it's critical. Right now the goal is to have Lori on the farm Full Time this Fall/Winter. It will be a few years before I (Duane) will be able to replace my off farm income, but that's something I'm looking forward to down the road. As for when the farm will turn a profit, that's something we leave to our accountant ;)

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for answering my question. A few years ago, and when I was a litter younger, I had a 30 acres farm. I used 3/4 of the land to grow grapes and Ain Shamir apples. I used the remaining 1/4 of the farm to grow vegetables. The vegetables (tomato) had a fast return to the investment. The profit from the tomato helped to supplement the farm expenses and the cost to grow the fruits. I kept the farm for a few years before I sold it to relocate and change career. I recently retired, and the idea of doing it again keeps popping in my head . So, for the time being, and till I make up my mind, I'll keep watching your adventure. Thank you.

@@acrylicpenblanks6735 I had a feeling the way you asked the question that you probably had some experience with this. Folks ask us business questions from time to time, but it's rare. The primary difference we'll have here is less dependence on the actual crops we're producing as compared to a traditional farm. We have a lot of folks who want to experience the farm in different ways, including viewing it through RU-vid (which is a regular income stream as well). We'll have farm tours, workshops, small events, etc. There are also farm membership options we're working on that we will put in place as production ramps up. It's definitely a multi faceted enterprise we're starting. Being a few minutes from the 5th largest city in the nation affords us a tremendous opportunity to reach folks and give them a taste of what it means to be close to your food. You never know, we might convince another farmer to jump back in the game!

Great question/suggestion Zaphoid. Technically it would work if we had consistent rain (even if only our Monsoon rains), but that is just not the case these days. We had woodchips on the old property that took almost 4 years to start breaking down into soil and that only around the trees we were watering on a regular basis. Without moisture they just sit there out here. To your point however, they do help with keeping evaporation down. You'll see as we move forward that more and more of the property will have woodchips or similar mulch to help with that.

Great question and it varies. The most consistent has been a tree service company that originally delivered through Chip Drop (which does work, but you need to accept logs and kick in some cash to pay for the service) and we became friends with one of their drivers. Now he brings them to us whenever they don't have a Chip Drop delivery. We also found a neighbor down the road who owns a landscaping business. We told him we would take pretty much anything he has as long as some portion of it is chipped. In addition, we've stopped chipping trucks when we're in town and asked them to deliver to us instead of heading to the dump. That works with varying success. Key thing here is taking pretty much anything you can get and being on the lookout for opportunities as the present themselves.

You definitely can use worm castings for your trees. As you can see here, we focus on animal manures for our fertilizing and it's similar to what you're going to find in worm castings. The addition of those worms into the tree rings gives us a good amount of worm castings that will be created "on site" as well. I'm not familiar with that fertilizer, but if you're consistent with the application you should be just fine.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks sir. I’m in Tucson, AZ

@@wildcat4478 not that there aren't plenty of UofA fans here in Phoenix, but I had a feeling you probably call Tucson home!

Forgot they did about 50k worth of damage on the satsuma 20k on the corn and peanut And 10 k or so to the tomatoe farms. I got out lucky. They just rooted in one field. I was able to fix the rooting but only lost about 30 ish rolls of hay.

We're hand watering in some areas and have irrigation run to all the trees. One of our projects for this summer is to get irrigation to the garden beds so we're not hand watering those every other day or so. We have javelina here in AZ, but nothing like what you're facing with those feral hogs. We're hunters here also, so I can only imagine what a day of working on those hogs must look like!

@@tbjtbj4786 that is just an incredible amount of damage to those crops. That equals bacon time in this humble hunter's opinion!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yea we eat them when we can. But a big boar in August 102° and 100% humidity. The guy that goes around to farms all over fl,ga and al. Last year estimated 4000 hogs killed over all. It was strange we would have a few some years. Then you could go a year or 2 with no sine of them. Then all of a sudden boom there were hundreds.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm there irrigation pipe was 4$ a foot. The trees were 50$ a pop. Then hiring people to put the irrigation back and replant the trees. On a 200+ acer field they lost 80% of the trees. There planted about 8 feet apart and the rows are about 20 feet apart. So it was alot of trees.

Get this content out there

Hey Jaxson. For some reason this comment just showed up in our RU-vid comment feed, but appreciate the boost either way!!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I tried lol happy to see to sorghum went well! Did you make any popcorn??

@@j.swipes it did really well. No popcorn though!

Great question Neil. These were probably from the old farm that we transported here along with about 2 dozen potted trees. We kept those pots on top of woodchips the first winter we were here to seed that area with worms and they have traveled from there. Usually they wind up hitching rides in potted plants that most of us purchase and then plant. Then it's up to us to give them a cozy place to call home. That's one of the reasons we mulch nice and heavy around our fruit trees. A little compost, water and cover and they will be happy campers.

Hey Shani. I'm pretty sure it's 10 feet tall. Plenty of space for me to pull the tractor in with the canopy up.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm awesome! Have really enjoyed your journey! Keep it up 👍🏼