What area of Spain are you in? What varieties of olive tree are these or the ones that predominate in this region and what variety is the one that you can almost eat directly from the tree?
Thanks, I don't know for sure why the habit was to clean the land or till the soil but, probably so that at harvest time it was easier to collect the crop. As you know trying to get the olives from tall grasses and other green growth is not easy. Also there is the idea that cleaning the land from competitors will allow more water and nutrients for your trees and improve yields. Possibly!
Great point, keeping the soil tilled has its benefits but before the mechanized plow, they probably used livestock to keep grasses at bay and to fertilize the soil at the same time. The way I understand it, the benefits of improved yields from plowing initially come from breaking up healthy soil life and organic material, making nutrients more readily available for the tree. However, continuous plowing eradicates the soil health and soon you are left dependent upon chemical inputs for nitrogen and other nutrients. There is some competition from weeds but if the system is healthy the effects should be negligible.
In Portugal - similar ecosystem - the main reason to 'clean' the land is to reduce wildfire risk. Lots of farmers do till, I don't, but I also don't have grazing animals so I have to cut down the grass/herb growth. If I leave it standing then when it's tinder-dry in June any slight spark could run a fire through the grove, and tall grasses will let the fire jump into the branches. Olives are naturally fairly fire-resistant so if the 'fuel' beneath them is kept at a minimum there is a very good chance they'll survive a wildfire. The best regenerative solution is to use a version of mob grazing at strategic times of the year, and I hope to be able to do that over the next few years. And yes, ease of harvesting too, at a later time of year.
Thanks for these videos. Would love to know the name of the sweet olive tree that you can pick and eat directly off the tree that was mentioned in this video.
It's called _Dolca_ meaning sweet. Julian said it is a local variety that is not very resistant and might be challenging to get to survive. I've added a link to the variety in the video description.
Spreading the wood chips on the ground without incorporating doesn't take nitrogen in any significant amounts from it. You don't have to put nitrogen on it, the majority of our atmosphere is nitrogen. If you want to compost it then you'd need nitrogen, and plain wood chips only bind nitrogen *temporarilly* when they are incorporated in the soil.
Thank you. True, if you chip and don't incorporate in the soil their isn't a nitrogen trap. While the atmosphere is rich in nitrogen most plants don't have the ability to capture it. I believe Julian is trying to get the best yield from trees that are already quite stressed due to drought and poor soil practices in the past.
@@marxagarden Then a some woodchip mulch can be a really good thing! :) It helps a lot with evaporation, i forgot if he talked about other mulches, but that would definitely benefit the plants :) What i meant with the atmospheric nitrogen, is that the woodchips get saturated with nitrogen by just being out in the air (if enough moisture is given) And to the last part, if plants have optimal health, they indeed all can use endophytes that are nitrogen fixing, thus making them all use nitrogen from the air c: Much love
@@marxagarden John Kempf's work on plant nutrition is truly incredible! Look it up, when plants once have all they need, they sustain themselves pretty much. Talking about rhizophagy and stuff
What area of Spain are you in? What varieties of olive tree are these or the ones that predominate in this region and what variety is the one that you can almost eat directly from the tree?
Thanks, I appreciate the info! Would be awesome to hear more about Olive groves in regenerative manner!
Thanks for the info! Love what you guys are doing, should do wonders for the watershed and soil health 👍👍👍
Thanks, I don't know for sure why the habit was to clean the land or till the soil but, probably so that at harvest time it was easier to collect the crop. As you know trying to get the olives from tall grasses and other green growth is not easy. Also there is the idea that cleaning the land from competitors will allow more water and nutrients for your trees and improve yields. Possibly!
Great point, keeping the soil tilled has its benefits but before the mechanized plow, they probably used livestock to keep grasses at bay and to fertilize the soil at the same time. The way I understand it, the benefits of improved yields from plowing initially come from breaking up healthy soil life and organic material, making nutrients more readily available for the tree. However, continuous plowing eradicates the soil health and soon you are left dependent upon chemical inputs for nitrogen and other nutrients. There is some competition from weeds but if the system is healthy the effects should be negligible.
In Portugal - similar ecosystem - the main reason to 'clean' the land is to reduce wildfire risk. Lots of farmers do till, I don't, but I also don't have grazing animals so I have to cut down the grass/herb growth. If I leave it standing then when it's tinder-dry in June any slight spark could run a fire through the grove, and tall grasses will let the fire jump into the branches. Olives are naturally fairly fire-resistant so if the 'fuel' beneath them is kept at a minimum there is a very good chance they'll survive a wildfire. The best regenerative solution is to use a version of mob grazing at strategic times of the year, and I hope to be able to do that over the next few years. And yes, ease of harvesting too, at a later time of year.
They think that the soil ''breathes'' when they till
good stuff im in malaga moscatel country.imlearning about swales and permaculture methods in the hope to save my land and trees.
Best of luck! It's a long process to transform landscape but definitely worth it. Have you got mostly olive trees?
@@marxagarden thanks yeah 10 or so nice olives few figs almonds.i planted a windbreak of alamo 20 yrs ago maybe 20mts tall.
Thanks for these videos. Would love to know the name of the sweet olive tree that you can pick and eat directly off the tree that was mentioned in this video.
It's called _Dolca_ meaning sweet. Julian said it is a local variety that is not very resistant and might be challenging to get to survive. I've added a link to the variety in the video description.
Thank you for your instruction. Plant olive tree in Sweden, also challenging 😂
Best of luck. I imagine under protection of some sort, right?
Thats's "Dipotaxis Erocuides", from the same family like Mustard, Brassicacaeae.
Thanks for the ID, could never get the apps to give me a good result. There are too many similar plants.
@@marxagarden Best "App" is Google lens, in my opinion.
what part can be eaten? Can the leaves be eaten raw or do they need to be sewn?
How is it going ? Does no dig work for you
Spreading the wood chips on the ground without incorporating doesn't take nitrogen in any significant amounts from it. You don't have to put nitrogen on it, the majority of our atmosphere is nitrogen. If you want to compost it then you'd need nitrogen, and plain wood chips only bind nitrogen *temporarilly* when they are incorporated in the soil.
Thank you. True, if you chip and don't incorporate in the soil their isn't a nitrogen trap. While the atmosphere is rich in nitrogen most plants don't have the ability to capture it. I believe Julian is trying to get the best yield from trees that are already quite stressed due to drought and poor soil practices in the past.
@@marxagarden Then a some woodchip mulch can be a really good thing! :)
It helps a lot with evaporation, i forgot if he talked about other mulches, but that would definitely benefit the plants :)
What i meant with the atmospheric nitrogen, is that the woodchips get saturated with nitrogen by just being out in the air (if enough moisture is given)
And to the last part, if plants have optimal health, they indeed all can use endophytes that are nitrogen fixing, thus making them all use nitrogen from the air c:
Much love
@@marxagarden John Kempf's work on plant nutrition is truly incredible! Look it up, when plants once have all they need, they sustain themselves pretty much. Talking about rhizophagy and stuff