I lived across the street from the Dunbar Springs Community Garden where Brad is the center of a very creative universe of permaculture activism and education. He totally walks his talk, lives his passions, and endlessly, enthusiastically educates, encourages, and inspires. Rock on Brad!
I know! RIGHT!! I keep telling my mother that, she needs to leave the leaves that fall on her grass area and the soil will get natural fertilizer to grow her grass! She lives in Williams, Az. I really love the Tucson area!!
Brad is legendary in Tucson. My wife and I moved here, bought some land about 45 minutes away and his books have taught us SO MUCH about creating an oasis using rainwater. Plus how he integrates all the different systems together using low tech systems is awesome. Kudos to Brad!
I and my wife are devoted viewers of your channel Kirsten. Hello from Mumbai, India. This episode in particular is full of learnings because global warming is slowly turning much of India into the desert landscape. Thank you.
Every city needs to design around this guys knowledge! The world would be so different... "He never learned it in school" says it all! The education system doesn't teach anything for all the money it costs
The government knows this stuff works. But they choose the solution that allows them to drain the most money out of its citizens. Without fail. They don't care about our benefit, they care about our money
Capitalists don't need free, independent, self-sufficient people - they need obedient workers who have no other choice but to work and be slaves for the benefit of the few owners of this world. So the education system is doing its job well - turning people into obedient slaves.
@@Paul-gz5dp Its illegal to live autonomous off the land,they want people to be dependent from corporations and governments while working as a slave for the most basic needs. Do I sound spot on?
@@silverhairdemon Yes, and that is why I can see most Christians as opposing God and actually working for their devil as they oppose Christ. I would have never thought decades ago studying Satanism to find that Satanists are closer to Christians that know Christ, that people that think they are Christians because they go to church and believe as they are told. It is this believing as one is told that make people slaves, not the flock of the Lamb, but the Herd. Also a large part of this slave mentality is letting others do things when they are able to do those things themselves, as they are not so disabled they can't figure them out. It is easier to understand quantum Theory than the laws that we are expected to follow and from what I can see that is part of the plan, and if I loose what I have that I have worked to get for so many years I really so no point of going on for the enjoyment of others. As the saying goes it is better to rule in hell than be a slave in Heaven.
Capitán Obvious You can literary measure around the lowest IQ percentile and still have kids and be allowed to marry! And because of that we need people like this guy in the video who actually has something to contribute.
I love his energetic excitement... especially, when he talks about chasing the car thief. Also ...incredible life and living skills !!! That should be taught at schools.
Brad's house & neighborhood are what happens when smart people with lots of imagination & energy solve problems with innovative solutions. Good show, Brad.
Awesome! The ideas and creativity involved astonishes me Maybe because I never had a need until now I have to use @ least one or two of these ideas just to see if I can do it. Good Luck To Me😊
No, not figured out over time lol, but STOPPED using COLONIAL methods from Europe! And returned instead to what they SHOULD be, INDIGENOUS methods 🤦🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️
I want to tell you that this video has had a tremendous impact on my life. The quote in the first 2 minutes about something that Zephanaiah Phiri Maseko said is so profound. It gave me the image of being a potted plant versus being a tree. When you are a potted plant you can never grow roots. But when you grow into a tree, your roots grow deep and you can weather any storm or drought. I watch this video every year just as a reminder of how far I have come. Thank you for making this so many years ago. I have watched it every year since it came out. God bless 🙏🏽
What a gem this guy is! Love his ideas. Using a chest freezer as a refrigerator is genius AND his solar hot water heaters. His permaculture garden is fantastic but he drops all these other little jewels along the way. Thanks for posting another excellent video KD.
Freezer to Refrigerator is advertised all over for brewing your own beer! I used cheep chest freezer set to coldest, but power to chest only delivered by regulator when regulator's temperature probe (accurate within 2 degrees) with its own thermocouple on end of long wire and set into 'cup' of gel set on freezer bottom (so that opening/closing lid does not instantaneously affect refrig on/off, just when 'contents' affected. Electronic regulators accurate within 1 degree, overkill but if my labor involved I want to know I screwed up so as to either learn to do it right or get help/quit.
Brad Lancaster is brilliant! I love everything that he has built! I'd love to tour his property and pick his mind further. Awesome video, Kirsten! And I like that your children are gaining an outstanding education with all this exposure to these out-of-the-box alternative ways of living. All the best to you and your family!!
I think I enjoyed this video the most out of any of your videos I've watched (though they are all great!). This guy isn't spending tons of money, he's using what is already there. That neighborhood is beautiful. I've been planning to turn my entire backyard into an edible garden, but the cost of watering it would be an issue. That led me to permaculture and collecting rainwater and then this video popped up. The way he describes all of it makes it so much easier to understand. It makes so much sense!
Mulch, mulch, mulch. I never water my edibles. Plant according to your rainfall and climate because you're going to have to water if you plant thirsty things in an arid climate. Take a look at the 'back to eden' method. It can be done with any organic material you can get your hands on. Good luck with your garden! I've been growing food for 5 years now with this method and i will never look back. Grassclippings, rodent bedding, horse bedding, straw, woodchips, prunings, leaves. Just pack it onto the soil and *thick*. It will grab and hold every drop of rain that falls. The soil never dries out and it breaks down to create more organic matter in the soil, More soil life, more fungal activity, increasing the sponge function more and more over time.
Of course! Paper and cardboard. :D I love using conifers as well. Spruce, pine, anything. Even the fresh branches i use to keep the blackbirds from digging it all over. Little black winged piglets, oink! I still want to use hugelbeds too but my back is not that great so i loathe digging. Maybe i'll do a bit at a time. Meh, all in it's own time.
There are probably hundreds of back to eden style gardening videos on youtube. Search words like back to eden or mulch or lasagna gardening or sheet mulching or no till or living mulch or no dig basically all point you to the same sort of methods with subtle differences but basically doing the same thing. Also a lot of permaculture people use these methods, next to a lot of other really helpful gardening methods. I usually end up watching a lot of those. They have the most holistic approach to life in general.
It's now 2021, and I just hope Brad is still doing this wonderful work. Beautiful, sustainable yards, living WITH the environment instead of against it. Using the natural resources wherever we may live, I hope, will be the way of the future. But, I guess we have to go through learning curves first. Huge Cheers to Brad and to you Kirsten for making this mini doc. So inspiring!
my power company keeps destroying my land with herbicides & pesticides. They don't care about the land or nature. They use the excuse that cut and slash all green growth is in their way and their precious wires. They come on my land and cut my trees down, spray poisons and then leave the mess for us to see. They sprayed herbicides and killed all of my honey bees. Never said a word to me about it ! They are evil ! Local poleeticians are worthless unless its re-election time . I have been 30 years fighting to keep my land and trees organic but they keep spraying and cutting. Karma to them !
@@triumphmanful Have you and your neighbors tried suing them for damages and if so, what was the result?.. In my area, we have the right to restrict access, unless it's an emergency. I kicked the gas company out of my yard with their nonsense. They complained to the city and I then kicked the city out of my yard :)))
Doesn't it let water pool under the road though, which destroys the road over time? Edit: you can even see that the road is cracked, so it's probably happening. There's a lot more ground area than just the road, there are better solutions to this.
@@tmmtmm Well, seeing cracks in a road doesn't mean the topic of the video has caused them, you could be right but roads get cracked without water pooling on the verge (I would have thought that it would be more likely to drain away from the road foundation than seep into it, especially as where it pools there are lots of plants ready to make immediate use of it). In any case, the local authority obviously doesn't believe it is a negative thing because @49:30 he explains that they now not only allow residents to cut the kerb, they will give them rebates to do it. They have surely checked with their engineers as to whether it could damage the road. I think this is great, that the authority has assessed the move, seen the positive side to it and got behind it.
I now live in Tucson and the roads are horrible & flood quite a bit anyway. They should do waaaay more of this around town. Can't wait to track him down. ;))
Ok, the thing about this is that I have to retrain my eye... I see standing water and I immediately think improper storm drainage, I'm used to seeing very manicured lawns as my standard of reference... This flies in the face of that type of thinking.
I understand. When I saw that standing water I immediately thought mosquito breeding ground but Nevada is a desert and the water doesn't hang around long enough for the relatively few mosquitoes to find it, I'm guessing
We hold the water in the soil beneath the surface, instead of on the surface as a puddle. Puddles infiltrate quickly so mosquitoes never have a chance to go from egg to adult.
of all of Kirsten's videos, this is probably my favourite. what an awesome guy, wise, sage and infectious energy. the kids must've loved tasting the watermelon and listening to his stories
What a problem solver, I love this lifestyle. I learned so much in this 52-minute video. ty "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." Confucious
Brad sells the big rainwater cisterns that are now amazingly popular, holding water most of the year from our few rains here in Tucson. We now have a lot of tax intensives for water catchment! A lot of friends here are into permaculture of their houses and Brad is kind of a local leader of 'planting the rain' ideals. We have a fun community here and it's great to see Brad tell these stories of desert life and create habits to make our community better while working with nature.
I loved getting a peek into this man's life. He is just wonderful. Casually amazing. THIS is critical thinking at it's best. "thinking" Thanks so much !
I didn't want to watch a long video but after watching for a couple of minutes I got hooked on it and enjoyed the whole thing. Brad is enthusiastic and fast talking so covers so many interesting things with no wasted chit chat. Awesome video. I'll be trying some of these ideas in dry Los Angeles.
Learned of Brad's neighborhood from him here in Tucson a couple years ago, there are many more resources now in Tucson because of his efforts! Watershed Management Group included. Steady progress.
What a great quote. "You can't go, if you run away from your problems, you will just plant problems everywhere you go. You got to go home, set your roots ever deeper than you ever thought possible and figure out solutions."
Mychorizal fungi are the missing link in most gardens, and it's totally missing in farming. Paul Stamets shows how fungi feed and protect plants. Been using fungi in the garden for years, and no pesticides are necessary, nor is fertilizer.
@@greenghost6416 but both occur naturally and can be maximised naturally if you know what you are doing. Are fertilizer and pesticides added to natural landscapes to make them grow ? Permaculture is about imitating how natural systems work, while using plants chosen to serve a desired function, in order to create a self-sustaining system that can also enhance human life.
"I never plant a plant until I've planted the rain water." Sounds simple, but I love it! Amazing idea with effective practical application. I can listen to Brad talk about structuring systems all day. I learn so much about regenerative living from him. I just began watching the interviews. Where is Brad?? I need to see and hear him lol. Thank you.
I love this dudes energy. So enthusiastic and positive. Actually solving problems with current solutions, rather than talking about what to do for years and years.
it inspires me to see someone that cares and loves nature so much. He is actually putting in effort to provide a natural environment. Most people nowadays can care less about planting things. respect
This has been the best 52 .13 minute video that I have sat and watched and learned from in a long long time. I am in the Philippines living on top of a mountain where for part of the year we have so much rain and then a long dry season. I have wanted to try to store rain water here and this mountain is limestone rock with about 3 inches of top soil . I am struggling to save and make top soil in a culture that that likes to cut or dig up everything that is not eatable and burn it. Well my mountain will be the example now. Thank you for the insight.
Brad is inspiring by being receptive he has learned how to use natural processes to transform the landscape of Tucson and the lives & the minds of those whom live there as well as those whom are lucky enough to watch this video. Imagine if there were more Brad's in the world - this would be a much better place to live.
I watched this years ago, and is one of the best of Kirsten's interviews. This is a wonderful layout this guy has created; anything he doesn't need in the home is stored on an outside wall. Blew my mind with his water expertise. Love this dwelling, not the kind of abode you put together in a week; truly inspiring. Lol.
My gosh, this is amazing! I have SUCH respect for Brad's commitment to thinking through issues that architects and landscape architects SHOULD BE designing into modern construction. This is so so smart and the environment around this garottage is thriving because of it. My straw hat's off to you Brad. And Thanks Kirsten for the video. This one should be seen in every university. Young people need to be inspired to see that a beautiful planet and future can be realized. We just have to care enough to make it happen!!!
Brad is such an amazing story teller. Loved his energy and I'm inspired. NB: Today I learnt from Brad, that the plant we grew up eating and using for firewood is called "MESQUITE" and I knew there must be other uses for it. Didn't know you can grind the pods into flour. Thanks Brad!
I'm just so amazed - by this guy's perseverance, his passion and to be honest, his way with words? I mean... The Garattage? Exulation? HAHAHA. His cost-effective solutions that make use of what he has available - just amazing. WOW.
I agree! I wish I had a neighbor like that! Next best thing? Take his lead, follow our own passions & continue to learn, experiment & maybe WE can have a fraction of the impact on our own neighborhoods. His enthusiasm is contagious...
This guy is so freaking cool and a conscious awesome human being bringing us back to realities of how we need to rebuild our communities and be more conscious human beings I love this video I'm sharing it with a lot of friends and I have been living this way off and on for years wishing him and his family many more blessings❤
Wow! Brad has it going on, on so many different levels. What an inspiration. He's a natural educator. I love your videos, this one did not disappoint! Thanks for sharing.
This is Beautiful! This video is Exactly what people need to be doing - everywhere! I have driven through those neighborhood of dessicated, parched yards and it never even occurred to me to wonder why. This guy is brilliant. I am going to take this idea and run with it for the rest of my life.
I've never learned so much in one video...ever. Thank You for taking the time to film and upload something so useful, and Thank You Brad for being so smart and thoughtful.
this reminds me so much of how my grandparents (from colombia!) built their own home from the first brick!!! i just love this guy... he is really respecting nature, society, and those who came before him and will come after...
What an amazing interview! Seems more like a class in rain water collection and ecology but also using critical thinking for sustainable solutions. So many unique water tricks for gravity feed systems!
Best video! It reminded me of my family in Africa. We salvaged all the Rainwater, desh and shower water and distributed evenly to all trees and plants. And loved watching him chase the car thief, that was too funny! Beautiful! Thank you for sharing! 😂😂💚✌🌍🌎🌏
I loved this - lots of great inventive ideas! Go Brad! I actually drove through some neighborhoods in Tucson a couple months back and was wowed by how lush they were, now I know why! Be the author of your own reality, your own life, you are your own author-ity, no one presides over you.
This is by far one of the most spectacular an outstanding videos I have ever seen in my life. How I appreciate everyone involved in doing this and bringing it to the community at Large. God bless everyone involved and thank you for such a creative piece of work. Sending love and blessings from Sugarland Texas.
This is seriously my favorite video on RUclips. I found this about 7 months ago and I've watched it probably 10 times. I love it so much. He has thought about everything and makes it so simple
Kirsten, I so loved this video, as I do most of your videos,. Your genius in these videos is not finding the most interesting architecture, but rather finding people who are passionate about their architecture and giving them a forum to express that passion. I works well.
I just recently stumbled on this video and I just love it! Thank you Brad Lancaster for reminding me about zesty living and finding joy in solving problems and living our best life! And thank you Kristen for sharing this with us all!
Wow! This makes Tucson look like a great place to live! Someone should make him the Official Ambassador of Tuscon! So many great ideas that I have not heard of until viewing this video. I love the desert.
@@eavening4149 lol that part was so great, it was so funny the commitment to running down the street, it's actually why I'm watching this again, just scanning to watch that part again! 🤣
People talk about taking the Los Angeles run off and doing the same thing… This is an excellent and inspiring video.. rather than protesting and complaining, you take action.. total admiration and respect.. 💯👍🏽
While I enjoy all of your wonderful videos, I have to say that this has got to be my all-time favorite thus far! Thank you both for allowing us the opportunity to see this wonderful home. Tucson has been my home for over 10 years, and this has definitely inspired and sparked some ideas that I can apply within my own place. Thank you, again!
What a delightful character. I'm so proud of my generation. More and more of us are beginning to see the light and restore what our parents and grandparents concreted shut, leveled out and crammed full of the most destructive toxic junk humanity could come up with. Thank you, Brad. Lets heal this dump.
What I get from this is, our concrete roads and concrete pathways, concrete carparks, anything concreted space have contributed to the loss of groundwater and floods. Guess we should put policies/regulations or change the way we concrete our public spaces to make way to harvest rain and put them back in the ground again. Very educational video and a brilliant man with brilliant ideas.
I think I just realized why it's so nice to listen to these videos, even if you never had an interest in doing what they've done... You're listening to people talking about what they dreamed about, made happen and fell in love with
It’s impossible to watch this too many times! I have Brad’s book, saw this 4 years ago, and am finally putting these practices to work with projects in CA fire country. Huge thanks, Kirsten, for bringing all this good to YT!
Me Too!!!!! Just finished reading the book, have taken a Permaculture Design Course and bought our home last year. Just now beginning to implement rainwater harvesting and looking at earthworks to divert all of the downspout flow. So excited to begin and dreading all the physical labor it's going to require!! :) hahhaahhahhah
I have watched this video at least 25 times because it is SO INSPIRING. I currently live in a similar city with similar problems and constantly look back to this video for inspiration on how I can make change in my community. I love this video and recommend it to anyone!
Guy has implemented so wonderfully with water. I have applied my treated wastewater to watering my trees. He had a great passion his works and the world is a better place with people like him.
Wow, this really get's you thinking. It must be so satisfying to see the changes in the neighborhood, and how connected the community is becoming. A couple more people at a time and so on... We might just be able to help our planet heal. Thank you for sharing this story.
This was one of the best videos I've seen in years on RUclips. Thanks for sharing, and making this video full of knowledgeable information that I will be using this spring and summer where I live. Brad showed us alot of great ideas, not just for us to lower our utility bills but to give back to mother nature and her animals/children. I live in a rural area but I still refuse to cut standing trees unless they need to be and I love to feed an plant stuff for the wild animals to eat. Like some foods they need but can't get year around. When you go on a nature walk, take a foldable shovel with you inside your backpack and walk off the common path a little ways where there is no water source for wild animals to drink from and dig a good size hole so when it rains it can fill it up to provide water for them. Try to use a clay type dirt if you can for the bottom so it holds water longer. I do that and I've noticed deer tracks by it when they wanted a drink along with squirrels, rabbits, racoons an many others including small birds an our wild American turkeys also, they are so beautiful to watch. Be kind to nature and pass the love forward. It will be rewarding to every living thing that you have touched with your heart an soul showing respect for all of nature. Everything around you that you helped make better remember the things you do today will effect things that will be there for your grand children in their life time to enjoy and being part of. So plant fruit trees and dedicate them to all of your current grand children and great grand children. Not only will they love eating the fruit, but the wild animals will too. Plant Love, we really need more on this planet to fight the evil. God loves those who helps feed others. An the fruit trees can last decades and even centuries so get started today. God bless you if you finish reading this post. Share Love not Hate, try your best to never speak bad with negative words. Be a positive person an see and feel the difference, you will like it alot more. We are All the Same and We hlHave Only One God and he is Good not evil. The Devil is evil, you don't want to be with him, so do good and share your heart that's filled with positive energy and you can help so many others alot more using kindness and love. Try it, give a hug and and or a smile, it's free and it works like magic to someone that might be having a bad day. I hope you can feel the love I just shared with you from my heart. God bless you all. Thank you Jesus.
I lived across the street from the Dunbar Springs Community Garden where Brad is the center of a very creative universe of permaculture activism and education. He totally walks his talk, lives his passions, and endlessly, enthusiastically educates, encourages, and inspires. Rock on Brad!
"Leaves are called leaves, because you're supposed to leave them!" needs to be on a t-shirt :)
It would make a great T-shirt, without screaming at everyone to do your bidding.
I know! RIGHT!! I keep telling my mother that, she needs to leave the leaves that fall on her grass area and the soil will get natural fertilizer to grow her grass! She lives in Williams, Az. I really love the Tucson area!!
Pretty sure they are called that because the trees leave them all over the ground.
if you run away from your problems you’ll just plant problems everywhere you go. ❤️ you plant your roots deeper than you thought possible⭐️
That was a great quote - so glad you caught it and commented on it.
Profound wisdom ❤
Should be taught in every school all around the world.
I watched this for the second time today and then ordered rain barrels and trying to figure out how I can recycle the laundry water !!!
Oh my god I have the same idea but didn’t know how to express it!
This is all knowledge that Indigenous communities have been doing for centuries. ❤❤❤❤
Brad is legendary in Tucson. My wife and I moved here, bought some land about 45 minutes away and his books have taught us SO MUCH about creating an oasis using rainwater. Plus how he integrates all the different systems together using low tech systems is awesome. Kudos to Brad!
Handeeman what is the name of the book?
Neville, the books are Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster - Volumes 1 and 2.
Thanks Brad for so many practical ideeën Hopefully Now the whole town is green with trees and is the river begins to run.
@@jouski2677 Thank you!!!
Ù⁶⁶ùù⁶uuù
I and my wife are devoted viewers of your channel Kirsten. Hello from Mumbai, India. This episode in particular is full of learnings because global warming is slowly turning much of India into the desert landscape. Thank you.
Namaste , Jay Hindi Jay Bolenath.. 🤝
you didn't just build a garden, you helped build a community
Could someone please give this effort a Nobel Prize!
Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone lived like this man?
Truly inspirational.
Every city needs to design around this guys knowledge! The world would be so different...
"He never learned it in school" says it all! The education system doesn't teach anything for all the money it costs
Well, schools teach a lot of important stuff, but not teaching basic farming and how to take care of plants is a bit of a disappointment.
The government knows this stuff works. But they choose the solution that allows them to drain the most money out of its citizens. Without fail. They don't care about our benefit, they care about our money
the system teaches for life in the system only.
what you don't know you're supposed to let the system "understand" and control.
Capitalists don't need free, independent, self-sufficient people - they need obedient workers who have no other choice but to work and be slaves for the benefit of the few owners of this world. So the education system is doing its job well - turning people into obedient slaves.
That guy is so positive-minded and respectful. I wish him the best
He would not have the same attitude if he lived in southern California. As everything that he has done is illegal here.
@@Paul-gz5dp Sounds like its illegal to be happy there where you live.
@@silverhairdemon For the most part that is true.
@@Paul-gz5dp Its illegal to live autonomous off the land,they want people to be dependent from corporations and governments while working as a slave for the most basic needs. Do I sound spot on?
@@silverhairdemon Yes, and that is why I can see most Christians as opposing God and actually working for their devil as they oppose Christ. I would have never thought decades ago studying Satanism to find that Satanists are closer to Christians that know Christ, that people that think they are Christians because they go to church and believe as they are told.
It is this believing as one is told that make people slaves, not the flock of the Lamb, but the Herd.
Also a large part of this slave mentality is letting others do things when they are able to do those things themselves, as they are not so disabled they can't figure them out. It is easier to understand quantum Theory than the laws that we are expected to follow and from what I can see that is part of the plan, and if I loose what I have that I have worked to get for so many years I really so no point of going on for the enjoyment of others.
As the saying goes it is better to rule in hell than be a slave in Heaven.
You regrew the desert. You are reversing the damages we're making to our Mother Earth. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Fantastic - this guy is actually figuring things out rather than just having a high design concept that is too expensive to implement.
Capitán Obvious You can literary measure around the lowest IQ percentile and still have kids and be allowed to marry!
And because of that we need people like this guy in the video who actually has something to contribute.
*literally
I will do the warm bin also, :>)
@@BorysPomianek LOL
@@BorysPomianek .Exactly, to teach those kids (and all of us). Because not allowing people to marry and have children is a bit creepy, right?
Why isn't this type of "landscaping" used more? People need to hear and learn about this. This is genius!
It will be after people watched this video and word gets out.
not profitable enough, and too unconventional prolly.
I love his energetic excitement... especially, when he talks about chasing the car thief. Also ...incredible life and living skills !!!
That should be taught at schools.
🤣😂
It's incredible how much water there is in the desert. I love this guy's enthusiasm and passion.
@Tiffany Patton not sure what you're on about. I was commenting about this video (3 years ago), not about your person experience.
You should read his books. They are awesome.
Brad's house & neighborhood are what happens when smart people with lots of imagination & energy solve problems with innovative solutions. Good show, Brad.
Have to admire his passion. Very interesting to see the solutions they have figured out over time.
Awesome! The ideas and creativity involved astonishes me Maybe because I never had a need until now I have to use @ least one or two of these ideas just to see if I can do it. Good Luck To Me😊
Same, diggin this dude!
Meet him in his neighborhood, very cool guy
@@alvenatgolden1781 llllo[))[ewe
No, not figured out over time lol, but STOPPED using COLONIAL methods from Europe! And returned instead to what they SHOULD be, INDIGENOUS methods 🤦🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️
This is four years old? I want to see more of this guy - he is absolutely awesome!
Brad Lancaster he has a channel
I saw this when it was first on.
"Leaves are called leaves because you're supposed to LEAVE them." lol!!!
I want to tell you that this video has had a tremendous impact on my life. The quote in the first 2 minutes about something that Zephanaiah Phiri Maseko said is so profound. It gave me the image of being a potted plant versus being a tree. When you are a potted plant you can never grow roots. But when you grow into a tree, your roots grow deep and you can weather any storm or drought. I watch this video every year just as a reminder of how far I have come. Thank you for making this so many years ago. I have watched it every year since it came out. God bless 🙏🏽
What a gem this guy is! Love his ideas. Using a chest freezer as a refrigerator is genius AND his solar hot water heaters. His permaculture garden is fantastic but he drops all these other little jewels along the way. Thanks for posting another excellent video KD.
Freezer to Refrigerator is advertised all over for brewing your own beer! I used cheep chest freezer set to coldest, but power to chest only delivered by regulator when regulator's temperature probe (accurate within 2 degrees) with its own thermocouple on end of long wire and set into 'cup' of gel set on freezer bottom (so that opening/closing lid does not instantaneously affect refrig on/off, just when 'contents' affected. Electronic regulators accurate within 1 degree, overkill but if my labor involved I want to know I screwed up so as to either learn to do it right or get help/quit.
Brad Lancaster is brilliant! I love everything that he has built! I'd love to tour his property and pick his mind further. Awesome video, Kirsten! And I like that your children are gaining an outstanding education with all this exposure to these out-of-the-box alternative ways of living. All the best to you and your family!!
I think I enjoyed this video the most out of any of your videos I've watched (though they are all great!). This guy isn't spending tons of money, he's using what is already there. That neighborhood is beautiful. I've been planning to turn my entire backyard into an edible garden, but the cost of watering it would be an issue. That led me to permaculture and collecting rainwater and then this video popped up. The way he describes all of it makes it so much easier to understand. It makes so much sense!
Mulch, mulch, mulch. I never water my edibles. Plant according to your rainfall and climate because you're going to have to water if you plant thirsty things in an arid climate. Take a look at the 'back to eden' method. It can be done with any organic material you can get your hands on. Good luck with your garden! I've been growing food for 5 years now with this method and i will never look back. Grassclippings, rodent bedding, horse bedding, straw, woodchips, prunings, leaves. Just pack it onto the soil and *thick*. It will grab and hold every drop of rain that falls. The soil never dries out and it breaks down to create more organic matter in the soil, More soil life, more fungal activity, increasing the sponge function more and more over time.
Of course! Paper and cardboard. :D I love using conifers as well. Spruce, pine, anything. Even the fresh branches i use to keep the blackbirds from digging it all over. Little black winged piglets, oink! I still want to use hugelbeds too but my back is not that great so i loathe digging. Maybe i'll do a bit at a time. Meh, all in it's own time.
+melovescoffee Do you have suggestion for reading to learn about this method?
There are probably hundreds of back to eden style gardening videos on youtube. Search words like back to eden or mulch or lasagna gardening or sheet mulching or no till or living mulch or no dig basically all point you to the same sort of methods with subtle differences but basically doing the same thing. Also a lot of permaculture people use these methods, next to a lot of other really helpful gardening methods. I usually end up watching a lot of those. They have the most holistic approach to life in general.
Okay cool. I wanted a lasagna gardening book but it was out of print. But thanks for all the other search terms.
It's now 2021, and I just hope Brad is still doing this wonderful work. Beautiful, sustainable yards, living WITH the environment instead of against it. Using the natural resources wherever we may live, I hope, will be the way of the future. But, I guess we have to go through learning curves first. Huge Cheers to Brad and to you Kirsten for making this mini doc. So inspiring!
my power company keeps destroying my land with herbicides & pesticides. They don't care about the land or nature. They use the excuse that cut and slash all green growth is in their way and their precious wires. They come on my land and cut my trees down, spray poisons and then leave the mess for us to see. They sprayed herbicides and killed all of my honey bees. Never said a word to me about it ! They are evil ! Local poleeticians are worthless unless its re-election time . I have been 30 years fighting to keep my land and trees organic but they keep spraying and cutting. Karma to them !
Sorry about that and that's terrible. Karma to them.
@@triumphmanful Have you and your neighbors tried suing them for damages and if so, what was the result?.. In my area, we have the right to restrict access, unless it's an emergency. I kicked the gas company out of my yard with their nonsense. They complained to the city and I then kicked the city out of my yard :)))
@@Autism_Forever I got arrested trying to kick them off my land !
@@Autism_Forever they arrested me for chasing them off my land ! American Justice ?
Cutting the curb is brilliant!
Doesn't it let water pool under the road though, which destroys the road over time? Edit: you can even see that the road is cracked, so it's probably happening. There's a lot more ground area than just the road, there are better solutions to this.
@@tmmtmm Well, seeing cracks in a road doesn't mean the topic of the video has caused them, you could be right but roads get cracked without water pooling on the verge (I would have thought that it would be more likely to drain away from the road foundation than seep into it, especially as where it pools there are lots of plants ready to make immediate use of it). In any case, the local authority obviously doesn't believe it is a negative thing because @49:30 he explains that they now not only allow residents to cut the kerb, they will give them rebates to do it. They have surely checked with their engineers as to whether it could damage the road. I think this is great, that the authority has assessed the move, seen the positive side to it and got behind it.
I now live in Tucson and the roads are horrible & flood quite a bit anyway. They should do waaaay more of this around town. Can't wait to track him down. ;))
Have to love the slow movement of bureaucracy.
@@tmmtmm The road can be engineered to prevent this if that is even the cause of the cracks.
Another beautiful human being a person who cares for the environment and the quality of people's lives
You know, everybody needs a "thing", something that they are truly passionate about, to give life meaning. This guy has obviously found his passion.
Ok, the thing about this is that I have to retrain my eye... I see standing water and I immediately think improper storm drainage, I'm used to seeing very manicured lawns as my standard of reference... This flies in the face of that type of thinking.
+TheDtfamu89 He reenacted jumping down his fireman's pole to stop a car thief? Hilarious..... Lol
I understand. When I saw that standing water I immediately thought mosquito breeding ground but Nevada is a desert and the water doesn't hang around long enough for the relatively few mosquitoes to find it, I'm guessing
We hold the water in the soil beneath the surface, instead of on the surface as a puddle. Puddles infiltrate quickly so mosquitoes never have a chance to go from egg to adult.
+noviceprepper53 except Tuscon is in Arizona and he does demonstrate how to set up his mosquito net.
of all of Kirsten's videos, this is probably my favourite. what an awesome guy, wise, sage and infectious energy. the kids must've loved tasting the watermelon and listening to his stories
Bonus points for Brad for rescuing the lizard from the earthen pot :)
Lizards are jerks.
I am glad someone noticed
@@herkimer2257 Well this time, he wasn't talking about Democrats.
@@herkimer2257 No they aren't. They eat certain bugs, therefore even helping us.
@@afringedweller you just gave me a good laugh thank you!!!🤣
“Leaves are called leaves because you are supposed to leave them!” I love this …. I love the lot 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
What a problem solver, I love this lifestyle. I learned so much in this 52-minute video. ty
"Life is really simple,
but we insist on making it complicated."
Confucious
Brad sells the big rainwater cisterns that are now amazingly popular, holding water most of the year from our few rains here in Tucson. We now have a lot of tax intensives for water catchment! A lot of friends here are into permaculture of their houses and Brad is kind of a local leader of 'planting the rain' ideals. We have a fun community here and it's great to see Brad tell these stories of desert life and create habits to make our community better while working with nature.
I loved getting a peek into this man's life. He is just wonderful. Casually amazing.
THIS is critical thinking at it's best. "thinking"
Thanks so much !
I didn't want to watch a long video but after watching for a couple of minutes I got hooked on it and enjoyed the whole thing. Brad is enthusiastic and fast talking so covers so many interesting things with no wasted chit chat. Awesome video. I'll be trying some of these ideas in dry Los Angeles.
Yes.
Learned of Brad's neighborhood from him here in Tucson a couple years ago, there are many more resources now in Tucson because of his efforts! Watershed Management Group included. Steady progress.
What a great quote. "You can't go, if you run away from your problems, you will just plant problems everywhere you go. You got to go home, set your roots ever deeper than you ever thought possible and figure out solutions."
Mychorizal fungi are the missing link in most gardens, and it's totally missing in farming.
Paul Stamets shows how fungi feed and protect plants.
Been using fungi in the garden for years, and no pesticides are necessary, nor is fertilizer.
Paul Stamets is genius.
James Fenton soil is a living ecosystem and we damage it at our peril
@@chezmoi42 Absolument!!
Complete BS yes pesticides are necessary and so is fertilizer.
@@greenghost6416 but both occur naturally and can be maximised naturally if you know what you are doing. Are fertilizer and pesticides added to natural landscapes to make them grow ? Permaculture is about imitating how natural systems work, while using plants chosen to serve a desired function, in order to create a self-sustaining system that can also enhance human life.
"I never plant a plant until I've planted the rain water." Sounds simple, but I love it! Amazing idea with effective practical application. I can listen to Brad talk about structuring systems all day. I learn so much about regenerative living from him. I just began watching the interviews. Where is Brad?? I need to see and hear him lol. Thank you.
I love this man. The world can use more people like him ;)
I love this dudes energy. So enthusiastic and positive. Actually solving problems with current solutions, rather than talking about what to do for years and years.
it inspires me to see someone that cares and loves nature so much. He is actually putting in effort to provide a natural environment. Most people nowadays can care less about planting things. respect
This has been the best 52 .13 minute video that I have sat and watched and learned from in a long long time. I am in the Philippines living on top of a mountain where for part of the year we have so much rain and then a long dry season. I have wanted to try to store rain water here and this mountain is limestone rock with about 3 inches of top soil . I am struggling to save and make top soil in a culture that that likes to cut or dig up everything that is not eatable and burn it. Well my mountain will be the example now. Thank you for the insight.
why do tropical climes burn their compost matter? i saw this in s america and se asia. baffling.
Brad has a contagious love for life! I learned SO much listening to him and thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you KD.
Brad is inspiring by being receptive he has learned how to use natural processes to transform the landscape of Tucson and the lives & the minds of those whom live there as well as those whom are lucky enough to watch this video. Imagine if there were more Brad's in the world - this would be a much better place to live.
Kirsten and family thank you for opening our eyes, please pass my regards to Brad who is saving the world in his own way.
I watched this years ago, and is one of the best of Kirsten's interviews. This is a wonderful layout this guy has created; anything he doesn't need in the home is stored on an outside wall. Blew my mind with his water expertise. Love this dwelling, not the kind of abode you put together in a week; truly inspiring. Lol.
what kind of a dwelling do you put together in a week?
My gosh, this is amazing! I have SUCH respect for Brad's commitment to thinking through issues that architects and landscape architects SHOULD BE designing into modern construction. This is so so smart and the environment around this garottage is thriving because of it. My straw hat's off to you Brad. And Thanks Kirsten for the video. This one should be seen in every university. Young people need to be inspired to see that a beautiful planet and future can be realized. We just have to care enough to make it happen!!!
Brad is such an amazing story teller. Loved his energy and I'm inspired.
NB: Today I learnt from Brad, that the plant we grew up eating and using for firewood is called "MESQUITE" and I knew there must be other uses for it. Didn't know you can grind the pods into flour. Thanks Brad!
I'm just so amazed - by this guy's perseverance, his passion and to be honest, his way with words? I mean... The Garattage? Exulation? HAHAHA. His cost-effective solutions that make use of what he has available - just amazing. WOW.
I agree! I wish I had a neighbor like that! Next best thing? Take his lead, follow our own passions & continue to learn, experiment & maybe WE can have a fraction of the impact on our own neighborhoods. His enthusiasm is contagious...
Watched this four years ago for the first time, what an Inspiration on how to live your life and interact with your environment!
This dood... He's a feckin legend! When I grow up I want to be and live like him! (We're about the same age though haha)
This guy is so freaking cool and a conscious awesome human being bringing us back to realities of how we need to rebuild our communities and be more conscious human beings I love this video I'm sharing it with a lot of friends and I have been living this way off and on for years wishing him and his family many more blessings❤
Wow! Brad has it going on, on so many different levels. What an inspiration. He's a natural educator. I love your videos, this one did not disappoint! Thanks for sharing.
This is Beautiful! This video is Exactly what people need to be doing - everywhere! I have driven through those neighborhood of dessicated, parched yards and it never even occurred to me to wonder why. This guy is brilliant. I am going to take this idea and run with it for the rest of my life.
I've never learned so much in one video...ever. Thank You for taking the time to film and upload something so useful, and Thank You Brad for being so smart and thoughtful.
I have watched this video so many times and I’m still just always amazed by this conscious man. Aware of his world around him.
Learned a lot from this video. Loved the man's mentality. He looks healthy.
wow
amazing. I love how he applies his pent up energy into beneficial and creative concepts
this reminds me so much of how my grandparents (from colombia!) built their own home from the first brick!!!
i just love this guy... he is really respecting nature, society, and those who came before him and will come after...
What an amazing interview! Seems more like a class in rain water collection and ecology but also using critical thinking for sustainable solutions. So many unique water tricks for gravity feed systems!
Best video! It reminded me of my family in Africa. We salvaged all the Rainwater, desh and shower water and distributed evenly to all trees and plants. And loved watching him chase the car thief, that was too funny!
Beautiful! Thank you for sharing! 😂😂💚✌🌍🌎🌏
I loved this - lots of great inventive ideas! Go Brad! I actually drove through some neighborhoods in Tucson a couple months back and was wowed by how lush they were, now I know why! Be the author of your own reality, your own life, you are your own author-ity, no one presides over you.
Love this guy's enthusiasm. He definitely took the permaculture principles and ran with them!
I absolutely love this young man, I wish there where more people like him in world .
Absolutely inspiring story,how one man can change a whole community!
cathy roncetti. Many people would do things like this if the government would leave them alone. I know I would. p s....I love you.
This is by far one of the most spectacular an outstanding videos I have ever seen in my life. How I appreciate everyone involved in doing this and bringing it to the community at Large. God bless everyone involved and thank you for such a creative piece of work. Sending love and blessings from Sugarland Texas.
This is seriously my favorite video on RUclips. I found this about 7 months ago and I've watched it probably 10 times. I love it so much. He has thought about everything and makes it so simple
One of my faves too! Sweet water is still on my bucket list- I best get busy & hit the road! Still get excited by the possibilities this info brings!
Kirsten, I so loved this video, as I do most of your videos,. Your genius in these videos is not finding the most interesting architecture, but rather finding people who are passionate about their architecture and giving them a forum to express that passion. I works well.
I just recently stumbled on this video and I just love it! Thank you Brad Lancaster for reminding me about zesty living and finding joy in solving problems and living our best life! And thank you Kristen for sharing this with us all!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! AWESOME WORK!!!!!!!!!!!! THE REST OF AMERICA, AND THE WORLD, OWES YOU A BIG THANK YOU!!!!!!!... [THANKYOU, BRAD, AND KIRSTEN!!!]
Wow! This makes Tucson look like a great place to live! Someone should make him the Official Ambassador of Tuscon! So many great ideas that I have not heard of until viewing this video. I love the desert.
Kudos- this is very inspirational- for someone that didn’t know what they were doing it is very well thought out. Genius
I love watching wise people share their wisdom. Thank you for the treat! Greetings from Poland!
I love this guy! His enthusiasm and energy is amazing. He’s such a forward thinking dude! ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I love this guy! Being around him would give you a natural high!
Already did! ?
=D
Amen, Amen!!!
A Krick
You took the words out of my mouth...LOL
Thanks Kirsten! You are like a good news channel!
I sincerely appreciate you!
It's 4 years later seeing this. It's so exciting, thank you! Really inspiring.
This guy is off the charts. Repurposing genius. Thank you for sharing !
This was better then watching a movie , he kept me in my toes 😂
I bet you have nice toes
@@herkimer2257 I bet you're real creepy! ;-)
Great inspiring and informative video.
He even reenacted stopping a car break-in. It was great!
@@eavening4149 lol that part was so great, it was so funny the commitment to running down the street, it's actually why I'm watching this again, just scanning to watch that part again! 🤣
People talk about taking the Los Angeles run off and doing the same thing…
This is an excellent and inspiring video.. rather than protesting and complaining, you take action.. total admiration and respect.. 💯👍🏽
While I enjoy all of your wonderful videos, I have to say that this has got to be my all-time favorite thus far! Thank you both for allowing us the opportunity to see this wonderful home. Tucson has been my home for over 10 years, and this has definitely inspired and sparked some ideas that I can apply within my own place. Thank you, again!
I agree... you would never stop learning around someone like him!
Inspiring .
Amazing guy.
Every neighborhood in America should have one person like him from whom one learn from.
Excellent video.
What a delightful character. I'm so proud of my generation. More and more of us are beginning to see the light and restore what our parents and grandparents concreted shut, leveled out and crammed full of the most destructive toxic junk humanity could come up with. Thank you, Brad. Lets heal this dump.
What I get from this is, our concrete roads and concrete pathways, concrete carparks, anything concreted space have contributed to the loss of groundwater and floods. Guess we should put policies/regulations or change the way we concrete our public spaces to make way to harvest rain and put them back in the ground again. Very educational video and a brilliant man with brilliant ideas.
I think I just realized why it's so nice to listen to these videos, even if you never had an interest in doing what they've done...
You're listening to people talking about what they dreamed about, made happen and fell in love with
It’s impossible to watch this too many times! I have Brad’s book, saw this 4 years ago, and am finally putting these practices to work with projects in CA fire country. Huge thanks, Kirsten, for bringing all this good to YT!
Oh hey whats the book called?
@@Qce-i6d ... Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, VOL 1 AND 2...
Me Too!!!!! Just finished reading the book, have taken a Permaculture Design Course and bought our home last year. Just now beginning to implement rainwater harvesting and looking at earthworks to divert all of the downspout flow. So excited to begin and dreading all the physical labor it's going to require!! :) hahhaahhahhah
I have watched this video at least 25 times because it is SO INSPIRING. I currently live in a similar city with similar problems and constantly look back to this video for inspiration on how I can make change in my community. I love this video and recommend it to anyone!
Guy has implemented so wonderfully with water. I have applied my treated wastewater to watering my trees. He had a great passion his works and the world is a better place with people like him.
Thank you for being a 21st Century pioneer and Teacher. ❤️😘❤️
amazing guy! He and his ideas are needed more than ever now.
Seriously Brad Lancaster is incredibly inspiring. We need tens of thousands of people like him. WOW! I'm amazed by this. Thank you!
Wow, this really get's you thinking. It must be so satisfying to see the changes in the neighborhood, and how connected the community is becoming. A couple more people at a time and so on... We might just be able to help our planet heal. Thank you for sharing this story.
This was one of the best videos I've seen in years on RUclips. Thanks for sharing, and making this video full of knowledgeable information that I will be using this spring and summer where I live. Brad showed us alot of great ideas, not just for us to lower our utility bills but to give back to mother nature and her animals/children. I live in a rural area but I still refuse to cut standing trees unless they need to be and I love to feed an plant stuff for the wild animals to eat. Like some foods they need but can't get year around. When you go on a nature walk, take a foldable shovel with you inside your backpack and walk off the common path a little ways where there is no water source for wild animals to drink from and dig a good size hole so when it rains it can fill it up to provide water for them. Try to use a clay type dirt if you can for the bottom so it holds water longer. I do that and I've noticed deer tracks by it when they wanted a drink along with squirrels, rabbits, racoons an many others including small birds an our wild American turkeys also, they are so beautiful to watch. Be kind to nature and pass the love forward. It will be rewarding to every living thing that you have touched with your heart an soul showing respect for all of nature. Everything around you that you helped make better remember the things you do today will effect things that will be there for your grand children in their life time to enjoy and being part of. So plant fruit trees and dedicate them to all of your current grand children and great grand children. Not only will they love eating the fruit, but the wild animals will too. Plant Love, we really need more on this planet to fight the evil. God loves those who helps feed others. An the fruit trees can last decades and even centuries so get started today. God bless you if you finish reading this post. Share Love not Hate, try your best to never speak bad with negative words. Be a positive person an see and feel the difference, you will like it alot more. We are All the Same and We hlHave Only One God and he is Good not evil. The Devil is evil, you don't want to be with him, so do good and share your heart that's filled with positive energy and you can help so many others alot more using kindness and love. Try it, give a hug and and or a smile, it's free and it works like magic to someone that might be having a bad day. I hope you can feel the love I just shared with you from my heart. God bless you all. Thank you Jesus.
I agree totally, God bless you sir and your love ones.
Brad is definitely Kirsten's greatest ever subject! His books are really well done, so happy to find this video. I'm smiling big time!
Mr Miseko ( hope that’s how his name is spelled) the guy that told Brad “You can’t leave”! sounds like a wonderful guy!
I'm more than impressed. !!! WOW !!! This guy needs an award.
You need to go back and visit this guy. This was amazing.
10/10 For the re-enactment - felt like I was there.
Wish my uncles were like this when I was growing up lol.
Yeah, WOW, trying to use your own imagination by that point was pretty much futile;
ruclips.net/video/KcAMXm9zITg/видео.htmlm58s
dothedeed hey! Whaddya think you're doin! Then I ran to my fireman's pole...
Very entertaining.
@@McDuffin Brad is lucky the thief just ran away. Glad nothing happened to him.
I love this guy!!! Perfect example human