seeing the green plants amid the parched landscape must be of great comfort and encouragement to await the arrival of the autumn rains. No matter what, life seems to continue to progress, and Mother Nature gives us the impression of wanting to encourage your initiatives, Just like we do. Keep observing and learning, as long as you can. May be your neighbour will be interested in your approach, and will want to apply it, if only partially. This is how he will be able to appreciate the advantages, and, who knows, spread this idea of regeneration to his Spanish colleagues. As always, I wish you the best, because you deserve it.
Yes. It's quite a sight to see a few green spots. There will be more :-) The absent landowner isn't farming or ranching. Older person. He likely wants to rent out the land.
They prune the side branches on the Kiri because they don't want knots in the wood. The point about this wood is the parallel lines in it. Plus, without side branches, the main stem thickens faster.
I did talk to the supplier about that. In the case of that in CT02 the trees are there for shade and biomass. They can grow any way they like and as they have been attacked a few times already it doesn't matter much anyway. But the pruning is something should try in other places. There will be many more Paulownias.
Chickens would be a great asset to breaking up the compacted soil and could be rotated like your big livestock. They add the similar 'benefits', lay down tall grass, dig, scarify and mix organics into soil, and bigger yet for me, they turn my compost piles for me. I just pile it up, they tear them down, over and over, and get loud when I fall behind on the piles. My biological timers remind me. Love the videos thanks for all your efforts virtually and on the the earth, each person CAN make a difference.
Chickens are in the future. We almost started that but due to the fencing and the trees and the overall "master plan" we haven't yet figured out how to integrate chickens and other birds into the system. Check out the forest planting that we have started. That is supposed to also be a place for them.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito I have, I recently found your channel and have watched from when they were weekly reports. Those Paulownia trees are impressive. I've researched them, and just ordered some seeds for swales on my ground, thanks to your videos. The chickens have done wonders for my poor soil, and impressed me with the native regrowth the next growing season, after their presence on the land. Love the vids, keep em coming!!!
@@chucklaizure1442 Be careful with those from seeds. They can be invasive. The ones we use are infertile from paulownia.pro In your area there might be similar people offering saplings.
In Africa when we planted a shrub or a tree we filled the hole with water right to the top before putting the sapling in. This encourages the roots to go down to where the water naturally seeps. It works very well.
Same technique here. Due to the very hard ground the issue has been that the tree was standing in water and didn't like it. So we adapted and now mechanically fix the issue with the excavator.
@@rogerdubarry8505 Unfortunately not. This is not the compacted soil that plow was made to improve. There is very, very little biomass in the "soil" which is also very sandy and has a LOT of stones in it as it's basically the subsoil exposed. There is a video from digging a swale where one can see that. Plus navigating with a big tree every few meters is hard. These trees sit on contour already and so one would rip between contour lines up and down and also likely damage a lot of their roots. The oak trees can survive for a long time in very bad conditions and this area has always been poor soil with lots of stones.
The paulownia trees are looking great. That’s a lot of growth in a harsh environment. The pigs are very funny! They act so mistreated waiting for their supplemental feeding. It made my day!
Water your pots by watering from the bottom. It will wick up to the roots/seeds. Fill the tray with about a 1/2 inch of water, if the pots soak that up add more until the pots are moist enough to stop taking in the water. Repeat daily. I would leave the tray in the shade until the plants are showing there heads through the soil, then move the tray into partial sun, once they have 2 real leaves they are safe to be in full sun.
In dry climate for planting seed for trees what works for me. 1. Put a 6mm or 7mm nylon cord/rope through the bottom of and elevated seed container. 2. Water from the bottom and let it wick the moisture up. After a first watering. 3. Use wire fencing piece to make a dome cover. Put rock or wood under one side for some air movement. 4. Shade for good part of the day or heat of the day.
No idea if this is economically viable at your scale, but in Spain one can probably harvest Arundo and use it as a mulch or even burry it making sure that it is well chopped/crushed and dry. One would need to inspect the areas to pull out and destroy any growth. This did work OK for me in a small garden with a clay soil.
How to bulbs do in this climate? Our place is unusual being pumice sand. In winter lots and lots of rain and things grow really well. Then two-three weeks without rain and shallow rooted things are crisping up and summers can often result in very dry land climate as the soil doesn't hold water (and yes ofc we are building soil that does). Bulbs do really well here. As they grow in winter and 'recharge' in spring and naturally die back in summer. So fit the system really well. We have 'onion weed' (Nothoscordum × borbonicum) under our deciduous walnut tree and close to the paulownias. This is a edible crop (everything edible) called a weed as if lactating cows eat it, it makes the milk smell / taste of onions. Not something that farmers want. But if you are not selling milk then no problem. Anyway something that you might like to try under your paulownias if bulbs can handle the climate. I don't know of any other edible / useful bulbs, although I do wonder if they exist.
Surprised that your tagasaste didn't survive. Ours self seeds on mass on the driveway on / in the gravel. If it wasn't a disease like 'damping off' (fungal attack from overwatering) then I suspect maybe a lack of water or maybe that the watering droplets were to big and splashed them out. Although they do have a good root system for their size when even when small like this. I'd lean towards not watering enough and having them die off in the sun, the area they self seed gets shade in the heat of the day, so I think this allows them to get established compared to the full sun. A great tree and loves drylands. So very useful for all sorts of things. In New Zealand growing paulownia for lumber the ideal is a 4m internodal length, and they are pruned to create the tall stem. Ideal pruning times and what height etc I don't know and for your system I suspect pruning should be done when feed is short so the prunings can benefit the animals.
Thanks for a whole lot of good information. Now that we have an idea about animal husbandry we are moving towards learning about plants and forests and so step by step we'll be doing more and more in that realm.
If germination is the issue, - I thought they had germinated and then died off - then look up hot water and scarification. The seeds have a tough seed coat. They require sand papering or soaking in hot water (not boiling hot) overnight to get the water through the tough coat. I can't remember the details I did try soaking at various temp's and all I can remember is boiling killed and hot was much better than cold. The seeds naturally scarify on our gravel driveway and come up in large volumes so we just repot from this natural system and then go on in pots until we sell them, or get large enough to plant out in other areas. In our system they need to be tall enough that the ducks don't trample them / kill them.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito I also tried to grow tagasaste from seed with even less success. The issue seems to be not during the germination but after: little, less than 1cm tall plants seem to die off because of some mold/fungal infection. I have seen it also in the past with a batch of lupinus seeds. Will try again with sterilized sand as a growth medium, some anti-fungicide and cleaned up seeds before scarification.
Jeff Lawton mentioned in a video I saw that you could also decide to prune lower branches to provide a shaded shelter for animals. I guess some animals like goats would prune them for you.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito saddened to hear about his passing. He wasn’t in a good shape over the last few videos as we saw his progress. I was afraid this would be a outcome. Thanks for the reply! Much appreciate it.
So beautiful to see so much green coming up and the trees growing strong in this heat. You are doing such an amazing work.🌞 I love that you allow Mother Nature do its thing and adjust to that!🙏🌷Will you be using the pigs to create some ponds or there is not enough rainwater for that? Take good care!
Thanks. Yes, the 14 pigs we have currently will go to different "job sites" and there will also be more water retention features step by step. This theme will be on for several years ;-)
One more thing, when your trees drop their leaves, go out with a mower and collect them all. Hardwood leaves make the best mulch ever. Chop them as finely as you can, to break down faster. If you don’t get much rain spray water once in a while.
The oak trees do not shed their leaves. They are evergreen and only change their leaves every few years. The Paulownias will soon lose them and they are meant for mulch in the area where the trees stand.
Be careful about watering your mulch in Spain,,in summer ,,as damp compost can get too hot and combust, The last really big fire local to me was started by compost,,it burned for many days and destroyed thousands of hectares of mountains,,
I have heard (on Polyculture Farms' channel) that in drylands, it is better to feed the greens as fodder to your livestock (chop and feed) than to leave them on the ground, as all the nitrogen just turns into gass and disappears into the air due to the dryness. Would you consider that with the vetiver?
That's a good point. We are actually looking to catch the right moment for cutting the vetiver for mulch. The leaves go purple and that means it does not grow anymore because it gets too cold. That is moment to cut it or the plant itself will start going dormant and lose the leaves. We have fed the vetiver once but people say it can hurt the animal's tongue due to hard edges.
Why you don't plant Moringa tree? Moringa oleifera, I have already saw that tree in the north Portugal without water in summer season and the tree was beautiful
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito I've just read your project on your web site . Very interesting! I'm landscaper specialist on Mediterranean plants, I think that you can plant Pennisetum purpureum (elephant grass) that grow well and produce a good strong biomass. There are a lot a trees to use too, like acacias species from Australia, or Acacia nilotica from Northern Africa. Keep going!
I looked below but didn't see any identification the new volunteer you noticed at 6:14. I have had this same species show up on my land as well. My chickens will not eat it. I believe it is a member of the tomato/night shade family, produces small tomato like blossoms, and tiny little green tomato like fruits/seeds. Spreads fast, water carries seeds downhill and aggregates of seeds sprout where deposited by the water action, the next season. Anyone know what it is or where native to???? Worried it may be invasive.
We already had one: a generator. But you are referring to a forest fire and yes, that could be a problem. The moister the ground is, the less risk there is. So the better our restoration works, the less we have to worry about it. BUT our land is narrow and the situation around can still affect us.
If one of your neighbors were to want to sell, do you think you'd want to add a bit more land to the granja or is that still much farther off in the future?
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito It seems to me RUclips might have eaten my previous reply. :S Bee-eaters are a group of very colorful birds. Their European species would be Merops apiaster and from the little research I just did on Andalusia they are definitly breading birds where you are! I am pretty sure you can hear them calling in your video (0:26 in the background for instance). If you keep your eyes peeled and have binoculars at hand you might be able to spot them on fence posts, tree tops or telegraph wires. They are a joy to look at and usually appear in flocks.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Well my experience with birding shows that you rarely spot things you are not at least slightly looking out for. Also they are pretty shy so knowing their sounds help alot in identifying them.
@@KnorpelDelux Certainly. It would be great to have them. We had hardly any birds here before things started to improve. Actually the roof of our temporary house is full of birds. They seem to be tit birds of the greyish variety. Huge flock by now. We hardly have any flies around the compound.
seeing the green plants amid the parched landscape must be of great comfort and encouragement to await the arrival of the autumn rains. No matter what, life seems to continue to progress, and Mother Nature gives us the impression of wanting to encourage your initiatives, Just like we do. Keep observing and learning, as long as you can. May be your neighbour will be interested in your approach, and will want to apply it, if only partially. This is how he will be able to appreciate the advantages, and, who knows, spread this idea of regeneration to his Spanish colleagues. As always, I wish you the best, because you deserve it.
Yes. It's quite a sight to see a few green spots. There will be more :-)
The absent landowner isn't farming or ranching. Older person. He likely wants to rent out the land.
They prune the side branches on the Kiri because they don't want knots in the wood. The point about this wood is the parallel lines in it. Plus, without side branches, the main stem thickens faster.
I did talk to the supplier about that. In the case of that in CT02 the trees are there for shade and biomass. They can grow any way they like and as they have been attacked a few times already it doesn't matter much anyway.
But the pruning is something should try in other places. There will be many more Paulownias.
You're doing a great project!
Chickens would be a great asset to breaking up the compacted soil and could be rotated like your big livestock. They add the similar 'benefits', lay down tall grass, dig, scarify and mix organics into soil, and bigger yet for me, they turn my compost piles for me. I just pile it up, they tear them down, over and over, and get loud when I fall behind on the piles. My biological timers remind me. Love the videos thanks for all your efforts virtually and on the the earth, each person CAN make a difference.
Chickens are in the future. We almost started that but due to the fencing and the trees and the overall "master plan" we haven't yet figured out how to integrate chickens and other birds into the system. Check out the forest planting that we have started. That is supposed to also be a place for them.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito I have, I recently found your channel and have watched from when they were weekly reports. Those Paulownia trees are impressive. I've researched them, and just ordered some seeds for swales on my ground, thanks to your videos. The chickens have done wonders for my poor soil, and impressed me with the native regrowth the next growing season, after their presence on the land. Love the vids, keep em coming!!!
@@chucklaizure1442 Be careful with those from seeds. They can be invasive.
The ones we use are infertile from paulownia.pro In your area there might be similar people offering saplings.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Holy smokes, I had not found information regarding sterile varieties, in my research. Thank you!
In Africa when we planted a shrub or a tree we filled the hole with water right to the top before putting the sapling in. This encourages the roots to go down to where the water naturally seeps. It works very well.
Same technique here. Due to the very hard ground the issue has been that the tree was standing in water and didn't like it. So we adapted and now mechanically fix the issue with the excavator.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Good solution which may be needed on your pastures too
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Perhaps either buying or building a Yeomans style soil ripper for your pastures would be faster than the excavator.
@@rogerdubarry8505 Unfortunately not. This is not the compacted soil that plow was made to improve.
There is very, very little biomass in the "soil" which is also very sandy and has a LOT of stones in it as it's basically the subsoil exposed. There is a video from digging a swale where one can see that.
Plus navigating with a big tree every few meters is hard. These trees sit on contour already and so one would rip between contour lines up and down and also likely damage a lot of their roots.
The oak trees can survive for a long time in very bad conditions and this area has always been poor soil with lots of stones.
The paulownia trees are looking great. That’s a lot of growth in a harsh environment.
The pigs are very funny! They act so mistreated waiting for their supplemental feeding. It made my day!
Pigs always make a lot of noise too - for a lot of reasons.
Water your pots by watering from the bottom. It will wick up to the roots/seeds. Fill the tray with about a 1/2 inch of water, if the pots soak that up add more until the pots are moist enough to stop taking in the water. Repeat daily. I would leave the tray in the shade until the plants are showing there heads through the soil, then move the tray into partial sun, once they have 2 real leaves they are safe to be in full sun.
The next round will be indoors in front of a window where the winter sun comes in.
In dry climate for planting seed for trees what works for me. 1. Put a 6mm or 7mm nylon cord/rope through the bottom of and elevated seed container. 2. Water from the bottom and let it wick the moisture up. After a first watering. 3. Use wire fencing piece to make a dome cover. Put rock or wood under one side for some air movement. 4. Shade for good part of the day or heat of the day.
That's a great idea!
No idea if this is economically viable at your scale, but in Spain one can probably harvest Arundo and use it as a mulch or even burry it making sure that it is well chopped/crushed and dry. One would need to inspect the areas to pull out and destroy any growth. This did work OK for me in a small garden with a clay soil.
To mimic nature…that’s the way,lovely. All is good…thanx for sharing!!😊😎🎶
Every time
Please endeavour with the potential new neighbours. Co-operation comes naturally to some, hopefully this will be the case.
Paulownia look amazing and the pigs were a joy to see.
The landowner knows that we are willing to help. We'll see what he wants to do. A lot depends on his understanding of the situation his land is in.
Very interesting. Seeing green back i. The barren dry summer landscape is good.
The contrast is pretty amazing.
How to bulbs do in this climate? Our place is unusual being pumice sand. In winter lots and lots of rain and things grow really well. Then two-three weeks without rain and shallow rooted things are crisping up and summers can often result in very dry land climate as the soil doesn't hold water (and yes ofc we are building soil that does).
Bulbs do really well here. As they grow in winter and 'recharge' in spring and naturally die back in summer. So fit the system really well.
We have 'onion weed' (Nothoscordum × borbonicum) under our deciduous walnut tree and close to the paulownias. This is a edible crop (everything edible) called a weed as if lactating cows eat it, it makes the milk smell / taste of onions. Not something that farmers want. But if you are not selling milk then no problem.
Anyway something that you might like to try under your paulownias if bulbs can handle the climate. I don't know of any other edible / useful bulbs, although I do wonder if they exist.
Surprised that your tagasaste didn't survive. Ours self seeds on mass on the driveway on / in the gravel. If it wasn't a disease like 'damping off' (fungal attack from overwatering) then I suspect maybe a lack of water or maybe that the watering droplets were to big and splashed them out. Although they do have a good root system for their size when even when small like this. I'd lean towards not watering enough and having them die off in the sun, the area they self seed gets shade in the heat of the day, so I think this allows them to get established compared to the full sun.
A great tree and loves drylands. So very useful for all sorts of things.
In New Zealand growing paulownia for lumber the ideal is a 4m internodal length, and they are pruned to create the tall stem. Ideal pruning times and what height etc I don't know and for your system I suspect pruning should be done when feed is short so the prunings can benefit the animals.
Thanks for a whole lot of good information.
Now that we have an idea about animal husbandry we are moving towards learning about plants and forests and so step by step we'll be doing more and more in that realm.
That Tagasaste seed may have been old. Germination is always questionable if the material is old. and who knows how it was kept.
It took 2 months or more to get here from South Africa :-(
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito And who knows how long they sat on a shelf before that.
If germination is the issue, - I thought they had germinated and then died off - then look up hot water and scarification. The seeds have a tough seed coat. They require sand papering or soaking in hot water (not boiling hot) overnight to get the water through the tough coat.
I can't remember the details I did try soaking at various temp's and all I can remember is boiling killed and hot was much better than cold. The seeds naturally scarify on our gravel driveway and come up in large volumes so we just repot from this natural system and then go on in pots until we sell them, or get large enough to plant out in other areas. In our system they need to be tall enough that the ducks don't trample them / kill them.
@@zestoslife The instructions: lucernetreefarm.wordpress.com/seeds/
I followed them and will do so again to see - but indoors.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito I also tried to grow tagasaste from seed with even less success. The issue seems to be not during the germination but after: little, less than 1cm tall plants seem to die off because of some mold/fungal infection. I have seen it also in the past with a batch of lupinus seeds. Will try again with sterilized sand as a growth medium, some anti-fungicide and cleaned up seeds before scarification.
Jeff Lawton mentioned in a video I saw that you could also decide to prune lower branches to provide a shaded shelter for animals. I guess some animals like goats would prune them for you.
That´s how the Dehesa got its look. All the holm oaks get pruned by the animals.
Are there Armadillos in this area, or could introduce them if they are native, to eat the ants?
No armadillo in Europe I guess
How is the injured bull doing?? Haven’t seen him in a while
Yeah, was wondering the same. Also the blind Horse but we got some update in this vid.
The bull has died by now. He was not able to stand up anymore.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito saddened to hear about his passing. He wasn’t in a good shape over the last few videos as we saw his progress. I was afraid this would be a outcome.
Thanks for the reply! Much appreciate it.
So beautiful to see so much green coming up and the trees growing strong in this heat. You are doing such an amazing work.🌞 I love that you allow Mother Nature do its thing and adjust to that!🙏🌷Will you be using the pigs to create some ponds or there is not enough rainwater for that? Take good care!
Thanks. Yes, the 14 pigs we have currently will go to different "job sites" and there will also be more water retention features step by step. This theme will be on for several years ;-)
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Yes, I can understand it will take a few years. Thank you for responding. Wishing you the best!🙏🌞
One more thing, when your trees drop their leaves, go out with a mower and collect them all. Hardwood leaves make the best mulch ever. Chop them as finely as you can, to break down faster. If you don’t get much rain spray water once in a while.
The oak trees do not shed their leaves. They are evergreen and only change their leaves every few years.
The Paulownias will soon lose them and they are meant for mulch in the area where the trees stand.
Be careful about watering your mulch in Spain,,in summer ,,as damp compost can get too hot and combust,
The last really big fire local to me was started by compost,,it burned for many days and destroyed thousands of hectares of mountains,,
I have heard (on Polyculture Farms' channel) that in drylands, it is better to feed the greens as fodder to your livestock (chop and feed) than to leave them on the ground, as all the nitrogen just turns into gass and disappears into the air due to the dryness. Would you consider that with the vetiver?
That's a good point. We are actually looking to catch the right moment for cutting the vetiver for mulch. The leaves go purple and that means it does not grow anymore because it gets too cold. That is moment to cut it or the plant itself will start going dormant and lose the leaves.
We have fed the vetiver once but people say it can hurt the animal's tongue due to hard edges.
Why you don't plant Moringa tree? Moringa oleifera, I have already saw that tree in the north Portugal without water in summer season and the tree was beautiful
Have a look at caimito.eu/projects/overview
There will be lots of tree species. The Paulownias were just an experiment at the time.
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito I've just read your project on your web site . Very interesting!
I'm landscaper specialist on Mediterranean plants, I think that you can plant Pennisetum purpureum (elephant grass) that grow well and produce a good strong biomass.
There are a lot a trees to use too, like acacias species from Australia, or Acacia nilotica from Northern Africa.
Keep going!
@@loicville6446 I have a nursery plant list with about 250 species. We will plant quite a few of these 250.
😎
Also, have you considered using the pigs for gleying ponds on your land and create additional water storage for the summer?
You'll see the pigs at a "job site" soon
I looked below but didn't see any identification the new volunteer you noticed at 6:14. I have had this same species show up on my land as well. My chickens will not eat it. I believe it is a member of the tomato/night shade family, produces small tomato like blossoms, and tiny little green tomato like fruits/seeds. Spreads fast, water carries seeds downhill and aggregates of seeds sprout where deposited by the water action, the next season. Anyone know what it is or where native to???? Worried it may be invasive.
I believe it belongs to pig weed or amaranth family. It's biomass and so it is welcome. We worry about the details later :-)
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Thank you, from USA.
How do you account for the risk of fire?
We already had one: a generator.
But you are referring to a forest fire and yes, that could be a problem. The moister the ground is, the less risk there is. So the better our restoration works, the less we have to worry about it. BUT our land is narrow and the situation around can still affect us.
Thanks :)
🍺
Why do I feel it has become more about the beer than the refrigerator? We might be getting addicted 😁
@@rajsinghji-84 to be honest, I don't drink beer. But I like the good company.
Were you finally able to get a Spanish tag for your truck or is that still the previous tag?
No. Would result too expensive because of the taxes. The truck serves us well on our own land.
If one of your neighbors were to want to sell, do you think you'd want to add a bit more land to the granja or is that still much farther off in the future?
If funds were not an issue, I would buy the whole region to restore it.
Did you plant paulownia via seed and if how’d you do it?
They are infertile hybrids. No planting from seeds.
Tudo herbs are ansarina branca e crisântemos
Sounds like there are bee-eaters around?
What would that be? Sounds interesting. Please share more
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito It seems to me RUclips might have eaten my previous reply. :S
Bee-eaters are a group of very colorful birds. Their European species would be Merops apiaster and from the little research I just did on Andalusia they are definitly breading birds where you are! I am pretty sure you can hear them calling in your video (0:26 in the background for instance). If you keep your eyes peeled and have binoculars at hand you might be able to spot them on fence posts, tree tops or telegraph wires. They are a joy to look at and usually appear in flocks.
@@KnorpelDelux I looked it up. No, never seen theses birds around here. Would be very nice though 🙂
@@ProjectGranjaCaimito Well my experience with birding shows that you rarely spot things you are not at least slightly looking out for. Also they are pretty shy so knowing their sounds help alot in identifying them.
@@KnorpelDelux Certainly. It would be great to have them.
We had hardly any birds here before things started to improve. Actually the roof of our temporary house is full of birds. They seem to be tit birds of the greyish variety. Huge flock by now. We hardly have any flies around the compound.