As I have aged find myself in an apartment with nowhere to grow. Been watching your videos for several years and tonight your beautiful gardens have brought such a powerful yearning to garden again. Once I had an acre food bank garden planted in deep wood chips. Perhaps that is the way to go as I don’t own property. This time the focus would be food forest, as these gardens seem to be getting stronger with each year. Thanks, James for the inspiration!
Watching this series has shed a lot of light. It's nice to see things falling into place, not only on your property, but in my own way of understanding how the food forest is built and implimented.🌳🌱🍄🌻
My fiancé lives in Tennessee. Im potraying good future of my food forest in his backyard. He has mapple tree in his yard and marrygold cz i love that flower. I've subscribed you since months ago. And i am so excited on my moving from Indonesia to Tennessee. I do start searching some herbs that i can plant there. Your channel is my only trusted source in youtube. Thank you😀😀😀
It is AMAZING to see how much better my existing trees and plants AND new plantings are doing after putting down cardboard and a thick layer of mulch! Btw, I must reiterated how I thoroughly enjoy every minute of your videos. You rock, James!
I got a free load of Fir chips the other day! They smell amazing! So happy! Not going to be able to create a food forest, but will be able to mulch my existing plants!
Another great video. Nice pruning info - I remember being scared to make such drastic cuts, but time shows that it works wonders for production and overall health/strength of your trees. Also noticing that I should've saved my Stropharia question for a video like this where you discuss the 'seven layers of a forest info'... although it doesn't exactly match up with either the root or the groundcover layer. (In my garden I call that "7B: the fungus layer" :)
Hi James! Love this series on how to start a food forest! I’m saving your videos on growing fruit trees as i am planning on planting some next spring. I love Tuck as well....your partner in crime in the garden. : ) He’s adorable. You demonstrated how to prune grapes and also mentioned growing currants. Just wanted to say that they are both toxic to dogs. You are probably aware of this but just in case, wanted to pass along...I see how much Tuck loves to munch around the garden. God bless you and thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience and keep the videos coming!
Awesome as usual.... so my garden is now fully packed.... 3 tomato varieties, 6 different peppers, eggplant, carrots, beans, brusell sprouts, broccoli, watermelon, strawberries, raspberry, and blueberry, spinach.... and a couple more i probably forgot!!! going to hit a neighbor up for some wood chips, as I am learning from the best! thanks again!!!
The reality is sometimes we dont have the resources to do the job 100%. Each of us has to decide if we don't do anything or do our best. Yes, you did have to come back in a second time (once you had the resources), but as you said most of the grass was dead. lots of good nuggets to ponder on and implement. Thanks.
Learning so much as I watch these videos. It's also great fun following along each week as the forests progress ☺️ shout out to Tuck keeping everything in check😁🐕
I discovered your channel last week and have watched your videos non-stop since then. I think you are great, very informative, not a lot of fluff, right to valuable info. Tuck reminds me of my Yorkie that passed away after 13 years, love seeing Tuck forage his own food. I want to start a food forest you are giving such valuable information. Thanks for all your work.
I learned something. Very good easy pruning guide. Your comments on not thick enough mulch is funny coming from FL. You guys are lucky. Grass simply doesnt care here and will punch through a foot of mulch like it wasnt there. Even putting down thick cardboard and then mulching only works for a season.
You garden very much much like we do in the uk. I dont see many american growing or treating their plants the way I ways taught or the way you garden. I wish you had more watching the way you work I feel others would learn alot.
James! My daughter and I watch your videos in the morning before we head out to our own little food forest. She loves it when you "dig". You help me out so much. I am in southern ontario, so we're a couple weeks behind you in terms of weather. Its like a nice cheat source to watch your vids and remember, oh yeah I should be doing this soon. Thanks man lots of love
Why do I fear 'Pruning'??? - I am so glad you are sharing your 2nd food forest with us. .It's like we get the beginning (process) and the end (results) at the same time!... Seriously though... I am afraid to prune... Seems counter-intutive... I will save this vid and do some 'inner work' to overcome this obstacle. Thank You!
Love your energy today. Warning to your viewers...if live anywhere Virginia creeper grows, be aware that poison ivy loves it & grows up in it. Don't burn poison plants ( ivy, oak or sumac)...put in black trash bags with the gloves worn to pick up or dig them out and bury deep or send to landfill to bury. Clean digging tools in clean dirt afterwards by digging into clean dirt 3-4 cs up to past depth used on the poison plants. Then wash cloths & self in cold soapy water. Then a second time with Hot soapy water. Just a tip to keep from itching and weeping rashes.
After watching I told my wife it was one of the best things I've seen on youtube. Really valuable and inspiring content. tTo see the shape of the tree at such an early age was really eye-opening. Thanks James!
I was told when you receive your trees to plant if it has a blotch of paint one side. They put that on to mark the north of the tree, so when you get it you are suppose to put that to the north as well.
I am taking notes all the time while watching your videos. It is so informative! Im gonna build a food forest myselfe once i have some land! :) ty so much
James, can you please explain more about pruning grapes to the two buds? We are raising grapes in our food forest (the second year for them ) and they are covered in grapes. I just do not want to do something to hurt their growth. We really enjoy your videos and watch them to be entertained and inspired at the same time. THANK YOU!
started last year and olanted 20 plis trees...was so disappointed when I thought they all had died and didn't do well....this year half of them are budding... yay... planting another 15 fruit trees and a lot of perennials....definitely on my way...
James, I'm excited to say that I started my food forest in April. Thank you for the consistent guidance. I appreciate the time you take to make these videos so much! I pruned my asian pears down to single sticks based on some other feedback, wish I had waited to hear your take on them! Think they will be ok?
You are keeping me rolling ;) If you wouldn't uploading video so often I would just sit on my butt and do nothing, instead I planted 20 tomatoe plants yesterday on my hugel bed :D
Always a joy watching your vids. This is epic though, seeing how you are applying all of that built up knowledge and experience for the last 7 years into a brand new plot. Very inspiring!
It would be awesome if you could do a video or short part of a video with pictures of common weeds in their early stages - right now it's hard for me to tell if what's growing is a weed or what I planted because I'm new and not great at knowing what I'm looking at yet
I was wondering if I should wet the contractor's paper before putting the wood chips/mulch down. (I see you didn't do that.) 😒 Do you think it would make any difference in breaking down the grass/weeds?
You should try bending branches like Stefan Sobkowiak from Permaculture miracle farm. You can do it just with one tree to try. I would love to see if it better than hard pruning.
No problem. I have read somewhere that's bending branches can save 80% of your time that you would normally spend on pruning. When branches are full od fruits they are bending naturally, and then some kind of hormones are increased in tree telling plant to stop growing up and start producing fruits. So there are more flowering buds. You can cheat the tree and bend branches early to focus tree on producing fruits rather than growing up.
Hi James! Thank you for sharing your knowledge! Im 63 and not very mobile and I have been looking for a way to grow food for my family but not have to work very hard! I love your Food Forest and we will be using your methods to grow our food forest! Just one important question - where do I get black leaf mulch?
Yup, I’m excited about that! Not sure, I haven’t decided yet. You all have given me some good ideas. A natural beehive is a good one, someone else said I should carve it into something 🤔
If you get bees to your garden, they ll think they died and were sent to heaven..😀 There are very useful videos on natural beehives on youtube if you decide... Carving is also a good idea..
James I would really like to get some of the Mulberry tree's that you have growing. Second if I start layering wood chips with wheat straw leaves and grass clippings would it be ready to plant in next spring as a back to eden type garden and start to a food forest?
I'm glad you took the opportunity to do a teaching moment on the pruning of the Peachtree. I just installed a 4' x 20' raised flower bed and two 4' x 8' vegetable raised beds as well as a young Peachtree on my small lot today. Now I have a good understanding of how to prune it. Thanks for sharing my friend.
That's a great idea. Typically you would take the pruned branch and graft it to a hardier root stock, for more vigorous growth. And bam you now have another fruit tree.
I would love you to mention the dates and temperatures, so we can know what time of year you are planting. Love the videos, though. Definitely inspiring.
Thank you James! The details included here regarding pruning and transplanting make this particularly helpful. I'm curious - what resources do you use to learn the specific pruning techniques suitable for each type of tree?
I just found your channel, great job and awesome content. I think we both start this same process about the same time. I like to use cardboard under my wood chips. saves it from going to a landfill and i usually put it several layers thick, just depends on the ground under it.
Love your videos. Question: do you have to water the food forest? Want to plan a forest in the back of our property, no water nearby. Can run a long hose. Will also have to put up a tall fence to prevent deer from entering.
Thanks James another great video. Question, I put two grapes in a month or two ago, is it too late to prune them like you did this spring? Should I wait for fall or next spring? Also I have a peach tree I have the same question about, too late to prune now? Thanks.
Thanks Dean! It’s called “contractors paper” it’s like a thin piece of cardboard. I get it at either Lowe’s or Home Depot. I put the contractors paper down, then thick like 10-12 inches of wood chips. Then if something comes through, only the strongest I pull them. Persistence is key. Once you have them gone and you keep them ground covered, they will be gone for good
James, thanks for the knowledge you give to us! we appreciate it very much!! I want to start a garden raise beds in my back yard, because I don't have much room for a nice size in ground garden. I want to do wood chips in raise beds, how do I go about it to get rich nature like soil, worms and all?
Great question Sandy! I have for a few on my side garden but the trees seem to take up more space like that because the aren’t as vertical. I would probably do it more if I had more land. 😁
The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni For zones 10-11 should I be using 2 layers of contractors paper instead of 1? James I appreciate your'e energy! A great vibe!
Another informative video, thanks for sharing. Do you clean, sharpen and disinfect your pruners regularly to reduce the possibility of transmitting plant pests and diseases. I do it at least once a month and spray a little vegetable oil on them to prevent rust and as a lubricant.
Looking good! Great tips here. I should start getting my truckloads of chips this week. I'm a little worried about creeping charlie. That stuff is crazy and I have a lot of it. Have you ever had to deal with it in wood chips? I'm hoping it'll choke out but that stuff will outlive Keith Richards post apocalypse! Also, how do you deal with leaves in the fall? I usually mulch and compost but I won't be able to do that now.
Hey James! I'm a recent subscriber, I'm so thankful for all the incredible information you give to us! I'm in the same zone, but different continent, so really thankful for your tips and experience. Just wondering, do you have any recommended reading for me? Love the videos, but I'm also looking for some books to bulk up my library and to reference back to. Thanks in advance!
Great vid, I'm wondering when will you stop adding wood chips to the ground ? if you keep adding woodchips, will the ground keep getting higher and higher?
Another amazing video.you are truly gifted.does the thick mulch prevent maple seedlings from taking root? I'm constantly pulling up the seedlings.any advice would be appreciated.
@James I feel like you mentioned this on your channel before. I cannot find it. But how close together are you placing your fruit and nut trees among other trees?
Hey man, I'm new to your channel and what you are doing is truly amazing. Just curious about a few things. Some of these are not relevant to the video but I thought to ask. 1. I saw that you layered contractors' paper on a portion of your land. When you plant, do you make holes in it so that you can place the saplings in the ground, or do you wait till they get decomposed? 2. Also how long did you wait after you fully covered the area before you planted the first tree? As in, how long will the weed take to die? 3.What if I add a layer of compost above the layer of wood chips? 4. Can I use polythene instead of Contractors' paper? They may not decompose but I can easily make a hole to plant. Bdw, I live in the tropical region (Sri Lanka) and we have 12 hour Sun throughout the year. The only downside is that the soil is damn hard! Also, I found a great source of wood chips from a carpenter nearby. Totally free. Thanks a bunch for the videos!
There are books and articles online, as well as videos like this. I know peaches like a lot of pruning. I had neglected peach trees that barely produced in the yard of an apartment, and I cut off about half of the branches, and had huge crops the rest of my time there.
Should have eaten the wild violet.. lol. I got 6 rasberry/blackberry root stocks from a big box store in March and planted out in March.. They have no new bud growth and still look like twigs in the ground.. The roots took hold nicely though.. should I return these plants or give them more time for new growth?
tcotroneo if you've got roots that means they're still growing. The crazy spring may have knocked them back on buds this year. I think you should wait it out. Lots of farmers here talking about doing just that with young trees this year.
Edie Boudreau thanks!! I cut the root stock branch down on many and didn’t find any green.. I gave a couple tugs and they came right out of ground.. safe to assume they were dead so i returned them.. The ones with green bark I left and will give them another month or so for new growth..
Curious: Is there a reason why you did not lay the contractor's paper down when you first placed the mulch in Stage One? Love, love, love your videos by the way! A
So I have been searching all over RU-vid for videos on the actual permaculture design of how you arrange the different layers of the trees, shrubs, and lower layers. Would you be able to go into detail on that? My only other option seems to be paying hundreds of dollars for a permaculture design course which I can’t afford! I’m afraid to plant things in the wrong places.
Hey James thanks for the videos bro changing my landscapeing into edible thanks to you. I work at a box shop I was wondering if chopped up boxes or a regular paper liner for a box would work for that first layer?
