I have been growing a good majority of my food here in Landers, for 20 years. I have 17-3/4” EMT shade canopies with Aluminet shade cloth - 35% to 65%…A great majority except for the mulberry’s, are in air pots. Many of my canopies are covered with 1/2” aviary netting. Others are covered in insect barrier cloth to protect the summer plants from spider mites, etc. I went about it a little differently from you because of too many problems with wild critters, wind, etc. There is a 7’ wood fence around the entire growing area where vulnerable plants are growing. Even with all this, I still have many birds nesting and raising young inside these areas and I grow many plants for them also….like chiliquite berries. My chosen method for fertilization and creation of natural pesticides is the JADAM (Korean Natural Farming) where you make both from all biomass on your property….leaves, weeds, prunings, etc. The water usage charge is $60 every two months…..but actual water usage runs me about $60-90 a month. I also hand water. The main reason for hand watering is because all life is sentient…..to be a successful farmer/gardener, one must cultivate close relationships with each plant, bush, tree, including annual cover crops. Hand watering also allows one to monitor changing conditions…not over or under watering, and one is able to address health issues promptly. It is extremely rare for me to have anything die on me because problems are caught quickly, either thru the plants themselves communicating, or simple observation. Almost anything grows here…it is one of the best growing areas in the world and we are so fortunate to be able to grow year around.
525 gallons of water per person per day? That's unsustainable. That much water means the gardener might be in a hurry. Also, good luck with the ocotillos, they never grow that closely packed in a natural setting. Nice work though, your place is cool!
Read some of my posts. I wrote them since you posted yours. I hand water and grow most of my food…..my water bill, not counting the usage charge, is about $60-90 a month. I have about 30 trees and a hundred plants, including tropicals, like bananas. I also have a fairly big TCM plant garden as I am a TCM practitioner, along with typical Chinese plants like Jujube and Goji. 😊
Chicken wire, sadly, is useless. It should only be used temporarily till something better is put in place. Squirrels and rodents can squeeze right thru the holes, even baby bunnies. To grow successfully out here, you have to understand you are going to have to spend some money for long term protection. I have been growing a majority of my own food out here for 20 years….I have a huge background in mistakes 😂. You are going to have to put trees in 1/2” hardwire cages until they grow big enough to withstand gnawing…..at the very least you will need to put wrap around plastic tree guards on them. I changed to a different method of growing trees here about five years ago. Trees in a regular tree form…..I am talking about nuts and fruits…..don’t do as well here because they are more exposed to wind and heat stress. I cut everything down to 18” (except the mulberries) and turned everything into bushes. Huge success. I keep everything below 7 feet….easy to cover, easy to harvest, easy to protect when fruit is in production. Plus, the water usage is cut in half….and it’s easier to prune each winter. Read my other post I made here for some further tips. Questions are always welcome. 😊 I would like to mention also, don’t grow hybrid trees. Life expectancy is poor, they are more susceptible to disease, they have poor immune systems. It’s better to buy non grafted standard varieties and turn them into bushes or prune for small trees. A standard can live a 100 years…..hybrids can’t be cloned and they live only about 20 years and production is very small compared to standards.🎉
@@Elementaldomain That is very interesting! I have fig, pomegranate, kumquat and mulberry trees growing in Yucca Valley. And am trying out a peach, a nectarine, and a pear tree. Of course low would make them all the more susceptible to bunnies and ground squirrels. But every one of them have some sort of tree trunk protector and/or rabbit fencing or hardware cloth circle around them anyway. In bush form, a hardware cloth circle could do the job. I’ve also been experimenting with wrapping the cages with tulle fabric to keep the rodents from climbing over it; no clear answer on that yet.
@ I used tulle for a couple of years but it breaks down in the sun so quickly….mine only lasted a couple of years. Because I have so much work around the place, and there is only me…I tend to focus on constructing something that will work long term, even if it costs a lot. So sometimes I use a stop gap…which the tulle was until I could get enough hardware cloth at a good price. It’s surprising how fast time flies by…..it’s ten years since I put up greenhouse film and here it’s already time to re-do. I have been here since 78….and already I am seeing a need that I will have to change what I grow. Every year it stays colder longer. I used to have fruit ready to harvest in April, now nothing is blooming until late April. I have a pear….a Warren, but it hasn’t born any fruit yet. It’s a standard, and I have had it five years, so maybe this year…as well as the pistachios…..they don’t bear before seven years…this coming summer…maybe 😎.
@ My neighbor here in Yucca has had pistachios in the ground I’d guess 4 years? They are doing great and this year the females are producing nuts. Longer winters, eh? I only moved here in spring of 2017, but this was sure the longest, hottest and driest SUMMER I’ve seen!
"The first year they sleep, the second year they creep, the third year they leap." 👍🙏
I think that's true, but am about to find out. My trees all were planted three years ago and just headed back to them now.
I like what you said about watering being your meditation.
Nice work...a piece of land sadly scraped bare, now something special created in it's place.
Indeed!
Beautiful landscape. Hello from Serbia.
Very inspiring. I can see you love gardening and it shows.
fascinating. I also find watering my plants is like doing meditation
Awesome work Carl! What a transformation, it looks incredible!
I agree. Randy/GA
Great video. Beautiful property with an intentional vision. That elephant tree is incredible.
This is wonderful! Very inspiring. Go Carl!
Such an amazing transformation!!
This is absolutely gorgeous! I hand water as well and likewise it's meditative.
I'm moving to slab city to do this
Meanwhile, i am sitting here, in the middle of the winter, dreaming of the sun, and summer ....
ruclips.net/video/BgvOps3QAto/видео.html 0:37 is mislabeled. That tree is actually a Chilean Mesquite
Watering is also my meditation.
Are you planting prickly pear for fruit
I have been growing a good majority of my food here in Landers, for 20 years. I have 17-3/4” EMT shade canopies with Aluminet shade cloth - 35% to 65%…A great majority except for the mulberry’s, are in air pots.
Many of my canopies are covered with 1/2” aviary netting. Others are covered in insect barrier cloth to protect the summer plants from spider mites, etc.
I went about it a little differently from you because of too many problems with wild critters, wind, etc. There is a 7’ wood fence around the entire growing area where vulnerable plants are growing.
Even with all this, I still have many birds nesting and raising young inside these areas and I grow many plants for them also….like chiliquite berries.
My chosen method for fertilization and creation of natural pesticides is the JADAM (Korean Natural Farming) where you make both from all biomass on your property….leaves, weeds, prunings, etc.
The water usage charge is $60 every two months…..but actual water usage runs me about $60-90 a month. I also hand water.
The main reason for hand watering is because all life is sentient…..to be a successful farmer/gardener, one must cultivate close relationships with each plant, bush, tree, including annual cover crops. Hand watering also allows one to monitor changing conditions…not over or under watering, and one is able to address health issues promptly.
It is extremely rare for me to have anything die on me because problems are caught quickly, either thru the plants themselves communicating, or simple observation.
Almost anything grows here…it is one of the best growing areas in the world and we are so fortunate to be able to grow year around.
There is a saying “The best fertilizer is the gardener’s own shadow” that expresses the same concept!
Water prices? Do you have a well and solar to keep it pumpung all day?
❤
Wow, that is seriously dry. The driest region of Australia in South Australia's far north gets 100mm of rain a year. (4 inches)
525 gallons of water per person per day? That's unsustainable. That much water means the gardener might be in a hurry. Also, good luck with the ocotillos, they never grow that closely packed in a natural setting. Nice work though, your place is cool!
I agree,that's a lot of water.
Read some of my posts. I wrote them since you posted yours. I hand water and grow most of my food…..my water bill, not counting the usage charge, is about $60-90 a month. I have about 30 trees and a hundred plants, including tropicals, like bananas.
I also have a fairly big TCM plant garden as I am a TCM practitioner, along with typical Chinese plants like Jujube and Goji. 😊
I planted some trees and the critters climbed over the chicken wire and ate the trees!! Any suggestions? Thanks!!
Chicken wire, sadly, is useless. It should only be used temporarily till something better is put in place. Squirrels and rodents can squeeze right thru the holes, even baby bunnies.
To grow successfully out here, you have to understand you are going to have to spend some money for long term protection.
I have been growing a majority of my own food out here for 20 years….I have a huge background in mistakes 😂.
You are going to have to put trees in 1/2” hardwire cages until they grow big enough to withstand gnawing…..at the very least you will need to put wrap around plastic tree guards on them.
I changed to a different method of growing trees here about five years ago.
Trees in a regular tree form…..I am talking about nuts and fruits…..don’t do as well here because they are more exposed to wind and heat stress. I cut everything down to 18” (except the mulberries) and turned everything into bushes. Huge success. I keep everything below 7 feet….easy to cover, easy to harvest, easy to protect when fruit is in production. Plus, the water usage is cut in half….and it’s easier to prune each winter.
Read my other post I made here for some further tips.
Questions are always welcome. 😊
I would like to mention also, don’t grow hybrid trees. Life expectancy is poor, they are more susceptible to disease, they have poor immune systems.
It’s better to buy non grafted standard varieties and turn them into bushes or prune for small trees. A standard can live a 100 years…..hybrids can’t be cloned and they live only about 20 years and production is very small compared to standards.🎉
@@Elementaldomain That is very interesting! I have fig, pomegranate, kumquat and mulberry trees growing in Yucca Valley. And am trying out a peach, a nectarine, and a pear tree. Of course low would make them all the more susceptible to bunnies and ground squirrels. But every one of them have some sort of tree trunk protector and/or rabbit fencing or hardware cloth circle around them anyway. In bush form, a hardware cloth circle could do the job. I’ve also been experimenting with wrapping the cages with tulle fabric to keep the rodents from climbing over it; no clear answer on that yet.
@ I used tulle for a couple of years but it breaks down in the sun so quickly….mine only lasted a couple of years. Because I have so much work around the place, and there is only me…I tend to focus on constructing something that will work long term, even if it costs a lot.
So sometimes I use a stop gap…which the tulle was until I could get enough hardware cloth at a good price.
It’s surprising how fast time flies by…..it’s ten years since I put up greenhouse film and here it’s already time to re-do.
I have been here since 78….and already I am seeing a need that I will have to change what I grow. Every year it stays colder longer. I used to have fruit ready to harvest in April, now nothing is blooming until late April.
I have a pear….a Warren, but it hasn’t born any fruit yet. It’s a standard, and I have had it five years, so maybe this year…as well as the pistachios…..they don’t bear before seven years…this coming summer…maybe 😎.
@ My neighbor here in Yucca has had pistachios in the ground I’d guess 4 years? They are doing great and this year the females are producing nuts. Longer winters, eh? I only moved here in spring of 2017, but this was sure the longest, hottest and driest SUMMER I’ve seen!
🎉❤❤❤❤
What about beans and potatoes
I wanted to put larger trees as well, but my budget is restricted. I am about an hour away from you.
Desert gardens are more beautiful than gardens here in Hawaii due to the unrelenting growth of weeds and grass etc......