Dear Maya please use special saw pants😅 it prevents the chain saw from hitting main arteries in case of an accident. You are mostly alone there, Please Please Please, be save. Life is too short and for less then 100 euro its not worth the risk. Be happy ♥️
Hello Maya. I'll give you advice. Here in Spain it is very common to put cattle in plots that have a lot of vegetation. That way, the cattle have good food and at the same time they will leave the land completely cleared and fertilized naturally. If you have a neighbor who has sheep or goats, talk to him and allow his flock to graze on your land for several weeks. They will leave it completely clean, and the farmer will be grateful for having left that food for his animals. Regards from Seville, Spain.
What these commenters fail to mention Maya is that every volunteer tree and shrub will be gone as well as the vegetation. If you have dreams of more native trees and shrubs, never use sheep or goats for this type of land clearing. This is a universal problem across Andalusia and southern Portugal. All the trees are old and dying because the next generations of native trees don't survive past a year or two. Generations of trees have been lost due to overgrazing by goats, sheep, pigs and cows.
But strimming removes the native trees and plants as well, just as much as grazing animals does, so why is using animals worse than what she is already doing, in your opinion? Unlike strimming, which doesn’t remove the roots of the mimosas, and therefore has to be done again and again, animals will clear a land of saplings so that they won’t return. Then you can replant, with species that you want. In fact, controlled sheep and goat grazing is being used as an ecological way of reclaiming Land from invasive species in certain parts of Portugal by the government, so it must work
@@nell5607 Grazing animals eat everything. If you are wise, you mark your desirable native trees and plants and strim around them. Cutting down competing plants that surround your desirable sapling or native plant patch is called "releasing". A released desirable plant or tree will have far more vigor than the one that is being outcompeted by less desirables and invasives. Seedlings grown in nature are far healthier than those that are nursery grown and planted out. They are better suited to the locale, grow more quickly and develop better root systems for the mature tree. Planting is a distant second to natural secession. Mimosa's only stop sprouting when the roots are dead. It takes about 3 years of consistent grazing or strimming to exhaust the roots stored energy. Humans can exercise discretion. Grazing animals can not.
Mimosa's will be a trunk-row, not a hedge-row, in no time flat. They're good being a nitrogen-fixer for the soil, and stopping erosion, but you will have to get rid of every one of them eventually. Otherwise they are a constant fire-risk, and one that's constantly expanding its footprint. In Australia they are a native first generation coloniser, holding and enriching soil until a hardwood species like cedar or mahogany can sprout amongst them. You could do the same with oak, birch or alder. You don't want pines, as they'd be a hulking dead monolith after a fire. A European or Middle-Eastern cedar might do really well with the increasing temperatures.
That was a piece of really hard work, but please take care about safety, never, really never use a chainsaw, especially on a ladder without protective pants. No one could help you out there or will be fast enough if anything happens❤😊
Great video , I'm from Australia and I cant believe how bad the mimosa/acacia is in Portugal , you are doing a great job ! Have you considered even just one goat on a long teather (to keep it away from the vegetables) , it would help you a lot ! And please get some chain saw chaps (protection for your legs) . Love your home !!!
OMG! did I hear our darling Maya swear? Turning into a real builder? My arms are sore just from watching all the trimming...lol...I always dream of a place like this to live. Enjoy your rest.
Just an idea that I read about in no till gardening: first the cardboard on the ground - then wet it! - then soil and compost - then mulch/hay - then you plant. The cardboard keeps the weeds from popping up and decomposes into nutritious soil. You planted into the dry cardboard 🤔🤔🤔 good luck next time, there are a lot of very good gardeners on RU-vid with a lot of info on no till gardening: Huw Richards from Wales is one of my favourites ❤❤
Keep an eye out for seedlings of native species of trees - I think possibly oak, cork (?) when you’re “weed-whacking” and cutting Mimosas. Put little fences around these when you find them to protect them from future strimming. The native tree species are more fire resistant than Mimosa. Also, avoid using non-native wildflower mixes. The native wildflowers are just as good and the insects there have adapted to pollinate them.
At 3:21, have you tried attatching a piece of styrofoam to the end of the intake pipe? This way, the pipe always would aitp,automatically float at near the water surface and never touch the ground -- unless your source runs very low on water, of course.
Good idea but wondering if maybe water bottles zip tied to the down pipe would be an evolution of your idea? Depending on how many you used for stability, you’d have to not over tighten the zip ties until the last bottle was attached.
What an incredible abundance of life you have on your property! A resource that is always growing in value, I hope you're putting all that green biomass to work for you in a compost system!
You're doing amazing work! It's daunting to take on all by yourself, I'm sure. But remember, these homesteads were built and kept by families of many, many hands in a family.
Hola hermosa Maya encontré tu canal y tuve que ver todos los videos son increíbles, se los envíe a un sobrino que compró un terreno al sur de Chile 🇨🇱 para que observe y aprenda a cómo va ser su vida cuando empiece a vivir allí, eres una gran inspiración, estoy suscrita y ansiosa de ver que mas tienes para enseñarnos, un abrazo una gran admiradora 🫶
I recently used a petrol strimmer for the first time: clearing land to start a new garden. I only did about 2 hours of strimming but my wrists ached for days! But I thought of you the whole time x You must be so strong, Maya!
that's great job letting the river flow again and woke up the past hidden life that had been but remember nature always wins nothing you can do about that just keep on top of it your a good worker keep it up and enjoy your new home your family will enjoy it also ah the very best
Such a delight, watching your transformation is such a bucolic setting 😊What a powerful strimmer you have. They should be paying you for an infomercial. Have you thought of creating biochar with all that biomass? If there are any water sources nearby with less than clean water, the biochar can be used like a filter to extract excess effluence while charging the biochar, which then can be used as amazing fertilizer, sequestering the carbon and feeding your gardens. It can also be used to neutralize composting toilets. Biochar was created by ancient cultures in the Amazon to create fertile soil. It seems a shame to waste all that biomass. Also, hemcrete might be something you want to include in your building renovation, perhaps even a hempcrete envelope for the cabin, to protect it from potential fire damage. Thanks for the videos!
Amiga Maya las mimosas debes cortarles la corteza hasta la mitad para que se sequen asi no volveran a salir, si solo las cortas ellas se reproducen mas y mas. Saludos excelente trabajo.
Maya, use that charcoal from your bonfire in your garden. It works best if you soak it for several weeks or months in compost tea or urine to make it not hydrophobic. Look it up, biochar, there is huge benefits for the plants during drought times. Is there any info from government agriculture authorities on how to eradicate the mimosas?
Hi Maya 👋 love you’re channel, I’m Portuguese , living in other country, but missing my country so much. My dream is to go back , and to have a piece of land and a house to go off grid, with my kids. So you’re an inspiration 🙌 bless you🤍
Well done Maya. I also use the bush cutter around our property. 🥵 The petrol machine is so heavy it kills my arms and back. I know exactly how hard you are working, well done.🎉 What you did looks great. 👍
Once the land is clean just throw seeds for wild flowers.cut nice paths were you walk .ends up look so nice plus less work and the pollinators will thank you along with everything else live in and about the grass.your doing a great job on everything.you look like you enjoy this way of life .I no I do so calming at most times.you will prevail I can tell that for sure.Nothing like watching beautiful woman be so happy.
Well done work. You should consider to invest in some chainsaw proof pants, or even better due to the heat; chainsaw proof leggings. They don't cost too much, considering how long they last, and the safety they provide. It seems like you mostly work alone, so it's smart to avoid the greatest dangers when using equipment with the ability to instantly harm/rip flesh in a severe way, as the chainsaw actually are capable off.
Dear Maya i have used a similar method for planting through cardboard for several years now with good success. I do it slightly differently to you as i mix the mulch into the ground first then lay your cardboard down plant through it then lay trimmed branches on top of it around the plants. It keeps the cardboard in place and allows the cardboard to get truly soaked when it rains, maybe try one patch and compare. Please wear more safety equipment when chainsawing as it can happen in a split second and give a serious injury, then we wouldn't be able to watch you lovely video's. Sending you love and well being from John in the uk 🇬🇧 xxx
Garden Weed Barrier Landscape Fabric,Weed Block Fabric Heavy Duty 3.2OZ,Woven Mulch for Landscaping Ground Cover Weed Control Fabric, Black Garden Bed Liner (1.4ft x 150ft) Amazon's Choice in Weed Barrier Fabric by EXTRAEASy. Maya you install this type of fabric in area where you want to kill all weeds. You pin it to the ground with metallic pins on perimeter. I made them out of wire cloth hangers. On flat surface I used stones in the center then covered with mulch or wood chips. On the slope I used flat stones with heavy pins to hold tnen mulch. You place will be transformed to country estate. No back breaking chores will be needed.
Your hard work is to respect, and inspire. Wallnut trees dont need to be water, after the firt year, specially in your climate.just mulch around. Just a tip for the strimmer-mower (and chainsaw) try to let it work until all gas is finished, it will help a lot with kepping the carburator clean...
Hi, I would like to advise a little , you can adjust the cutter strap a little bit upper around your waist, and you don't have to hold the whole mass of the cutter by hand. It would be helded from shoulder. BTW good luck for the renovation
Maya you need to get a pet goat or two to keep the grass down , or better choice is to rent or borrow them from a neighbor for a week per month. They do an amazing job with grass and nuisance shrubs. You'd have to fence off the areas where you have fruit and vegetables. Hi from western Canada.
Hello Maya. You may want to check where the blades connect to your trimmer. I have had things to wrap around the shaft between the parts to connect. When I started the trimmer and it was warm, when I pulled the trigger, the motor died because if things wrapped around the shaft. Have good days!
Maya you are the hardest working person I know !!!! WUNDERBAR and you are an inspiration to people to show them what can be done.Kind regards from New Zealand.
Hey lass, just a thought for the water pipe. You had the old toilet etc on your property, you can if you still have it use the float out of the cistern attached to the end of the pipe so that it will naturally go up and down with the water level. That or as others suggest use some water bottles, the 5l ones would be perfect but I would avoid styrofoam as it breaks apart as it degrades over time and will leave poeves in the waterway. Otherwise, great wee video of essential work needing done.
We are also brushcutting this week. I feel your pain 😅😂 You did such a great job. Hardest part sometimes is packing up tools after the job and when you are so tired. So glad you have your fire breaks now! ❤ from South Africa 😊
I recommend getting a riding mower for that kind of maintenance. It will also mulch the grasses finer. It will result in a better look, be faster and a small mower tractor with a landscape trailer has MANY uses.
I will suggest a fertilizer that you can spray on the leaves of your veggies until the cardboard starts to decompose. The yellowing you see in the leaves is likely chlorosis - not enough nutrients for the plant to make sufficient chlorophyll. Any retail shop that has a garden center should have what you need. Just ask for a general purpose vegetable fertilizer and a hose end sprayer for dilution and application. You need to jump start those little veggies before they get attacked by something. Seedlings growing vigorously are always better survivors. 😊
Well done - you are so fit! Decomposing organic material eats up nitrogen before it releases it again, so you might need to find a way of feeding your plants until the drier weather slows the decomposition down...
A neverending battle against the mimosas......Isn't there a more permanent way of getting rid of them....I presume you don't want to use any chemicals. But wow!!!!
Instead of burning, invest in a shredder. Let all branches dry and mulch them. You can use them everywhere, on paths, to mulch veggies, to enhance soil etc.
HELLO. I WISH YOU A LOT OF HEALTH, BECAUSE YOU DON'T LACK SIMPLICITY, SYMPATHY, INTELLIGENCE, BEAUTY AND A LOT OF WILLINGNESS TO WORK. ALWAYS CONTINUE TO BE LIKE THIS.
How long do you expect the walnut trees to take before they fruit? Maya, if a woodchipper makes sense for your property, I would encourage to have a fund raiser to get one. I think many of your views would be glad to help you out, especially for something specific that might not be on your shopping list for a couple years.
I got tired just watching you clean up ALL the long grass.If only everything grew as fast, your Olive tree's are very healthy looking.I like you have a hot summer 100+fh or 40+cl.( Bloody hot) Maya you have done sooo much since you have been at your very own place.All the best.Woman can do whatever they want,as you have shown us . Noreen Australia 🦘
Hello!! You should try to take out the roots form the mimosas so they dont grow again. There are other methods that might work but that ones in the most effective one!
Merhaba Maya, Her zaman sıkı çalışıyorsunuz. Bu harika..! Bu sıkı çalışmalarınız kalıcı olmalı.. ! Yangından korunmak için çiftliğin etrafı otlardan kalıcı olarak kurtulmalıdır.
I question weather investing in a pop shade tent set up + ripping those roots from the ground would be worth the time? Or some sort of ground tilling so that you do not have to wip those invasive mimosa's down ever spring / summer. On the plus side, it is a good workout & you get fire kindling. Good job with your land management, your doing great! Thank you for sharing with all of us.
Well done Maya, it looks so much better, but I do think you should ask a man to do the hight parts, you made me gasp when you were cutting up the ladder, take care ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Hello Maya I bet showers are your best friend on those strimming days. Cheers. Thanx for the inspiration Gina in Upstate New York USA moving to Portugal
