Another brilliant and thorough video!! On the concept of nutrient accumulators I keep getting confused. I had seen somewhere that plants make their own nutrients, not specifically mine them. Maybe they make vitamins, but mine minerals?! How does that work? I'd love an explanation if you have time to elaborate. :)
The thing about this is that conventional wisdom on this topic has changed so much in the last few decades. People previously thought that capillary action brings all nutrients into the roots, and that plants basically suck nutrients up like straws. That's kind of true but also very much not true. It also completely ignores how those nutrients got there. For example, plants need nitrogen to grow leaves, but is that in the form of NH3, NH4, NO, NO2, NO3, etc? Unfortunately answering your question requires an hour long TED talk type video, or writing chapters in a microbiology book out. I'll try to boil it down as much as possible... Plants can't get nutrients themselves. They can acquire CO2, O2 and H2O and that's really about it. The rest they need to get from soil microbiology. The soil microbiology breaks apart microscopic nutrients in the soil. Bacteria basically use acids to dissolve minerals and make glue out of it. This glue makes things called aggregates. Fungi can then disassemble those and pass nutrients through their networks to themselves and to plants via a mychorrizal association. Bacteria are really good at making alkaline glues and nitrates and nitrites (NO3 and NO). Fungi prefer to make ammonium NH4 (not to be confused with ammonia NH3). So weed-pit bacterial dominated soils tend to be more alkaline and old growth forest fungal dominated soils tend to be more acidic. A big part of that is also compaction based, and how much nasty acids are being produced by anaerobes. So much depth to cover in this aspect alone, because it really determines plant health tremendously, and the blocking of various cation exchanges. For example you can have tons of Calcium in your soil, but if the soil chemistry and biology is wrong, it can get blocked from your plant's ability to access it. Moving on... Protozoa and nematodes then eat both the bacteria and fungi and are the next step (and possibly greatest importance) in nutrient cycling. After digesting all that stuff, and pooping it out, only now can plants actually access that nutrient. The guts of a worm is one of the most complex places on the planet - microbiologically speaking. Various minerals that the plant needs to survive, the plant needs to have them dissolved by bacteria and fungi, then consumed and chelated (bound to an amino acid) by these slightly larger microbiology critters. Only now can the plant actually use the minerals in the soil. And it's at this point where the plant can slurp it up. So the whole "plants slurp up nutrients" is true, technically, but it also ignores the incredible importance of the soil food web of life in making that nutrient bio-available. Short answer is that yes plants can technically slurp up nutrients, but MORE IMPORTANTLY plants absolutely CANNOT feed themselves. I'm not sure how "fun" a video like that would be, but I can take a crack at it if you think people will enjoy it. Even if it gets low views for the amount of work it will take to produce, it will still be a good video to have in my library - that other people can point the real plant geeks towards, and maybe turn those people into permaculturists. I'm going to pin this just so people may get value out of me typing all this out.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy wow. Yes, Thank you, so valuable. I'd love to geek out on a video like that but only if others would benefit too. I can only imagine how much work it'd be!! ;) A friend keeps telling me to go back to school for this stuff, but I worry they would teach outdated concepts... haha. I will need to read through this a few times to grasp it, science wasn't ever my strong subject. ;) Thanks again!!!
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy the other consideration, IF you opt to create such a video, would be to share practical ways to increase said biology on the scale necessary to initiate a new permaculture orchard. (Specifically for dead soils) I am currently in that dilemma myself. Even grasses won't grow in some spots because the soil has previously been stripped! I have looked into the IMO's and KNF and it has helped tremendously. But the addition of soil feeding photosynthesizing plants is one part I had only learned from your channel. Currently stuck in the awkward in between waiting game as it all does it's magic... haha. Anyway, it's all so very fascinating and I just love learning about it, and applying it all!!
My notes on the Six functions 1. Protect the soil from the sun. Dense planting and shade. Ground cover and herbaceous layers prevent bare earth. 2. Nutriant accumulators with deep tap root to pull up minerals. Mullen 3. Nitrogen fixer , legumes develop root noduals of nitrogen which will be released when we chop and drop the green foliage. Clover, Sea Buckthorn 4. Attract pollinators with flowers, through out the season, 5. Confuse pests with herb odors. Repel pests and attract predictors (you can’t have one without the other to balance). 6. Plants to occupy all 7 layers: canopy overstory, understory, bushes, herbaceous, ground cover, root, vine.
Instead of clover and sea buckthorn, I'd use peas and beans. Turnover time is shorter, if you don't want to harvest fresh just ignore them, they will produce something you can eat over the winter or use as seeds for the next year. Sea buckthorn is something you may want to keep, not kill for the nitrogen in the roots. Deep tap root: comfrey. Mullein is useful for when you have a cough. Comfrey for when you have broken bones. Your choice... I'd use Claytonia for ground cover, nutritious and delicious... (and very pretty) Any suggestions welcome!
Peas and beans are great also. I use clover myself because it's perennial. Plant once and it's done for life. But in areas that I manage more often, peas and beans are a great alternative low growing nitrogen fixer. You just need to sow them each year. I'm trialing and area where I just don't harvest them at all and see if they resow easily. Last uear they didn't, so I went bigger this year. I will see what pops up this spring.
Thanks 😊 for clearly summarizing the 6 points. I’m a consummate note taker 📝😉….And have written copious notes on this talk. I’m definitely NOT SUCCINCT. Thanks 👌🏼👌🏼
@@doinacampean9132 i noticed they sell peas (like split pea but not split) in harris teeter and i can confirm that these do sprout. Can these do it? Also will comfrey work well in a raised bed?
Great video! I have always believed that everyone with land should grow perennial fruiting trees, shrubs, and plants because it was the way my grandparents and parents farmed. Now as a senior, I find the idea of building self-sustaining ecosystems the solution to reducing labour associated with producing food by eliminating the need to mow grass. We are fortunate to have 100 acres, with about 5 acres as our maintained yards. Embracing a no-till vegetable garden to also lessen workload makes sense as running a large tiller through soil was getting more challenging every year. We all need to plan for our future considering age and mobility. I am thrilled with the way our own no-till garden and food forests are progressing. Because of your channel, I have discovered new plants and shrubs to try as I am in the same growing zone. As a retired teacher, I also want to commend you on your ability to present information in a manner that is clear and thoughtful without adding needless over-the-top hype as found on so many channels today. Thank you.
Thank you this means a lot to me. My father in law (Poppy) has really enjoyed moving to a no till system for the same reason. He's in great shape for his age but he is still getting older. The tiller used to really give him pains that lasted weeks.
@@jerrysamuels8716 All of our growing areas are mulched beds (wood chips or straw) spread around the 5 acres we maintain. All of my newer fruit trees & shrubs are in a food forest setup in multiple sections. I have some old apples that are 40 years old now that we planted in the traditional way. We are also in the process of 'taming' some of the wild apple trees that grow all around the farm; pruning and grafting our favourites. There are currently about 30 acres of tillable land seeded in a perennial hay mix, and the balance is made up of two small woodlots and a full bush. The majority of the trees growing on the farm are those we planted in the '70s or their seedlings. We have a few of the original sugar maples dating back to 1849, along with stands of hickory, ironwood, and beech. These too have produced many young trees on their own filling in the woodlot quite nicely. I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to remember what the back half of the farm looked like when we moved here in 1974. You could see across the back 60 acres that were mostly giant ground level rocks with huge cracks between them. Now there are only a few left to be seen. Soil created by tree leaves, needles, fallen branches, and dead trees covers nearly all of the bush acreage. It only took 100,000 trees and four decades. :) The wildlife species present have grown with the trees.
@@lgrantsimmons it is very inspiring and beautiful, thank you for sharing :) we have moved out of the big city on the acreage property and I am learning all about food forest and planting fruit trees:) planning g to visit Jeff Lawton ‘s Zaytuna permaculture farm in Australia
I am sure someone has already answered and you have found the answer to your own question about the common red soldier beetles. They love flowering herbs like dill and cilantro. I used to think they were pests until I found they are very "beneficial" as predatory and pollinating insects. The lesson I learned is to never overreact when I see insects on my plants and try to let nature find its own balance.
One of my favorite plants for guilds are lupines. They get huge taproots, can be chopped and dropped and they fix nitrogen. Plus pollinators love them. And lots of native types of lupines to choose from along with some cultivated types. Really great plants for temperate guilds.
Indeed. They are a strange plant also. Can be very difficult to get established, but once they are they can be so rampant that they are considered invasive in some places. Pretty typical calling nitrogen fixing healing plants (who grow well on depleted soils) invasive. It's like we don't want to restore our soils.
I have had the best luck scatter sowing Lupine in late summer (as nature does) and they germinate the following spring. But I'm in the PNW where they are native. I absolutely adore them! (I also cannot help but think that after this video discussing nutrient accumulators, the slugs who devoured them knew best and that when topping them, they'd allow the nitrogen nodules to be released back into the newly wood mulched soil.) Hmmm...
Yeah for sure. The slugs were doing natures work. Sure maybe not in a conscious way, but the plant adapted to being eaten and turning that "bad thing" into a good thing. Any now millions of years later due to that adaptation, its still passing on its DNA when billions of other plants faded into history.
Wow!!! Have been studying permaculture for 2 years. This is everything that we needed to have access to! Thank you so much for this incredible comprehensive and easy to understand guide! I now understand guilds completely because of this!!
Thanks DJ! You are always solid on these bug IDs. Do you have a background in Entomology? It looks like these guys are mostly predators of small insects. And apparently they eat coddling moth larvae! I'm floored! To find those on a Queen Anne's Lace directly next to a pear tree, and have a coddling moth predator on that plant... wow!
Nope. But I do love a challenge to look up wild animals/bugs/plants. I learn something too in the process. The key is learning correct search string parameters on Mr. Googly; then expanding to Googly Images for verification. (yes, it's dumb but I'm retired and have all the time in the world to tell you about it). :)
I couldn't agree more. Having a learning mentality is the secret cheat code to life. Learning something new every day and decades later you are a pretty useful fella.
Excellent presentation of how a guild should function. Love the emphasis on experimentation and accepting the idea that not everything will work perfectly but it’s all a learning experience. Some videos can be almost discouraging because growing areas are presented as the pinnacle of perfection and I’ve been gardening for 60 years and am still learning. That’s what I love about it! Thanks for your honesty, it’s very refreshing.
I like the idea of using algae and duckweed as a nitrogenous mulch. It grows incredibly quickly. It's less of a chop move and drop and more of a scoop and fling.
Free is always good. Thanks for your generosity. Guilds (to me) are the connections between elements, not the elements themselves. Diversity builds sustainability.
This was the first permaculture guild I've watched that didn't confuse me enough to just say forget it. Thank you. Thank you for going into detail about the purpose of the layers, and examples of each. I have a garden that has fruit trees and fruit bushes, but nothing is mixed together. It's February, so I'm planning what I'm going to start doing this spring to turn it into permaculture guilds, thanks to you.
I just can't say thank you enough! So important to have people doing permaculture in cold hardy regions. I'm in Callander, Ontario, your channel inspired me to pursue a PDC
This was excellent. Full of very good material. I learn something new about permaculture every time I watch one of your videos. You truly are doing a valuable service to the planet and your fellow human beings by uploading content like this. Thank you.
For someone who doesn’t have a lot more experience with gardening than I do, it’s pretty inspiring to see what you can accomplish in not too much time. This is my third year growing vegetables and first year doing perennial fruit bushes. Can’t wait to buy a piece of land where I can set up a food forest 🌳
Great video. Best advice was to focus on the structure and functions, and to oversow with a wide variety of beneficial plants and let Nature sort it all out.
Thank you from Australia! This is the most informative, educational video I've seen on guilds. I now understand how to choose plants for the functions and understand what Im looking for so I can also use australian native and bush tucker foods to incorporate into my guilds. I really appreciate how much time you put into these videos and for the science behind the whys and hows. Many thanks.
Mother's Day 2024, and this video was very helpful as I begin my permaculture food forest from an empty field. Thank you. Going to binge watch your other videos now.
I love this. We started a small orchard in our bee yard and have been thinking of doing a guild for a bit now. This is perfect cause we live in bear and moose country and have a large fenced area I call my forest garden. Adding a guild will be the perfect addition. Thanks so much. Great video 🇨🇦🐝
Been on a Permaculture binge for a few weeks now and found your channel in a search. I very much appreciate the breakdowns you give with the science references. Scientific Strategy from the scientific method. Plus the goofs and outtakes, 👍.
Your video might have been too good at its job. I stopped half way through and added a dozen plants to my first year food forest. I will have to watch the rest later tonight.
I personally section off areas of my garden with landscaping rocks.... I then planted a fruit tree in each section. Then I plant stuff underneath the trees ... So far strawberries have been a fantastic ground cover for.umder the trees. Then you can plant bushes and such like blue berries in the strawberry patch
Perfect. Indeed, it's hard to keep everyone happy. I think most people who comment here would like longer videos. People always ask for them. However, I think the majority of watchers (most who don't comment) prefer roughly 8 to 15 minute videos. I'll try to do a nice mix of lengths, and make sure to include timestamps for those who want shorter videos. In this video, if someone wants something shorter they can just jump to the tours, and skip the plant functions part.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I think, it also depends a lot on the subject. There is not much, that could be explained about "how to plant a lemon balm", so a minute is probably plenty long. It also depends on what other videos you already made on or around the subject, to which you could link, to keep the new video shorter. What I really really REALLY not like, is when somebody keeps repeating the same stuff over and over and over again, just to make a video longer. "Guilds" definitly need a long video, especially as the first one on the topic. :)
Great feedback Martina. I can also see how those videos happen especially when shot over a couple days. Often I repeat myself, not on purpose but just out of habit or coincidence. Most of my editing and cutting out is to remove stuff that I'm saying for the second time. In this video here I kept a few things where I repeat myself (mostly about not caring about specifically which plant goes with which plant), because I really wanted people to hear that part multiple times so it sinks in. Hopefully it wasn't annoyingly repetitive!
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I did't find anything annoying :) I know from first learning about new topics that "getting" that there are principles to be followed, not recipes, is the most difficult thing. I'm a dog trainer. That topic has principles too, which are really simple (reward behaviour, that you want to see more of...) but people always want to hear recipies "What to do how, where, when... so the dog does XYZ". Or, even more likely: "how to make him do NOT something." :D Which amounts to an other principle: teach the dog, what he should do, because nobody can learn "not"/"don't", because the brain simply doesn't "hear" it. As in "Don't think about the pink elephant!".... Soooo what exactly should I plant around my apple tree again? ;) Answer: pollinator/pest predator attractors, nutrient accumulators, ground shading plants, plants that cover all the other functions. And those plants need to be able to grow in my very on region, climate zone (and micro climate of the specific spot.... BÄMM! :D
I love how you explain things your not talking so fast that I can't keep up. Don't ever change how you do your videos because I have been trying to learn about this the last several years but I think I have learned more listening to you this last week then I have the Last 5 Years so thank you very much
This video has been so useful and I'm only a fourth of the way in. The whole idea of looking at guild FUNCTIONS rather than specific plants was eye opening to me. I am just learning about food forests and have started to watch a lot of videos about them. This particular video has been the first to make it all make sense to me. I have a science background and love to hear about the whys for how this food forest concept works and, in particular, the whole guild concept.
Thank you for such an in-depth talk about these systems and how they interact. Makes teaching others much easier. You're awesome!!! From what I understand, Goji berries come from the mountains and don't really care for rich, moist soil. May try some better draining areas and a trellis type setup for air circulation, perhaps. Let them struggle a bit. Some plants thrive on the struggle.
This is an excellent comment and is bang on. The place I have lined up for them is on the side of my pond hill where there is great drainage (a hill) and the soil is just junk backfill from the pond. It's important to match each plant to the environment it evolved to dominate in. Thanks Haven.
Oh you are right. I planted some elsewhere but I haven't been using it that much and didn't realize it was here too. I must have put it there a few years ago.
Another engineer here (Mechanical & Software)! I knew about plant relationships but polycultures and guilds are new terms for me - thanks for the great info, from the Scottish Highlands!
Very nice! I do beg to differ on one companion planting though. Basil confuses the crap out of tomato hornworms so if the THs attack one of your crops put in basil. It’s very wet here some summers, can be very cool too. When that is the case I wail actually continually sow basil under cover and replace plants that don’t make it, it works that well.
I do also find marigolds work really well with tomatoes also. I did basil one year with the tomatoes and that was also great. SOME of the companion planting stuff is good. I just think that 99% of it is hot garbage, and worse than that, it often paralyses people and they don't plant out of fear that they aren't doing it perfectly. Half of the reason I tell people to ignore all that stuff is to hopefully free them out of their fears, so they can get busy planting and changing their lives.
My parents were from a tropical island so permaculture is what they grew up with and it rubbed off on me. Living in Zone 9 gave me an added bonus since things just pop up here overnight. Since 2020 for some reason my fruits and olive trees are giving double harvest. I was taking a nap when my eyes opened your video was playing so I watched and found it fascinating so re-watched from beginning. Thoroughly enjoyed your content. Jealous of that pond...
No overkill. I have a 30x40 foot garden fenced in that i am slowly transitioning from a flat sunny space to permaculture here in East Texas. Thanks for a great video, especially the seven -layer segment. Nice tour, also. Your concepts about non-specific planting, and not sweating about the plants that die are right on. Thanks for this encouraging video.
Excellent guilds! Lovely and beautiful combinations! Gouji Wolfberry is very easy to grow. You may plant it and forget it 1. Gouji may tolerate most soil types, sandy soil is best 2. Gouji loves full sun light 3. To encourage growth, help Gouji to STAND UP and face the sun to tricker growth. If it lies down, it sleeps... 4. Let the roots expand freely and avoid too many neighbors fight nutrients with it. It's a good fence if you tie it up 5. Cut the old branches and trim the top a little to promote growth 6. Water only in the very hot summer months 7. add NPK in the fall. 8. Mulch it in the winter if temperature goes subzero. I'm in New York, I never mulch mine, they thrift many years.
Thanks for the great comment! The strange thing is that I've tried gojis 5 separate times, in 5 separate locations, and every time they died. I have no idea why, because I hear they are bullet proof. I'm going to try them in another few years, as the food forest matures and matures more.
Just found your channel - so impressed! Can't wait to dig into more videos. Fellow Canadian youtuber here - we love sustainable living, so it's wonderful to find your work.
I've been doing my best to create a great garden for my family, for years. I've just barely heard about permaculture. I've watched so many garden videos over the years and this has been the best garden video I've seen, by far. Amazing information! Thank you.
I found your RUclips site a few days ago. I'm very particular about which channels I follow because on RUclips there's great information, useful information, useless information and completely wrong information. We're flooded with information. But of the 3 or so videos I've seen on your channel (so far), they are packed with the great information. Thank you. Subscribed, notifications on and liked.
I appreciate it. As a scientist/engineer, I go to extraordinary lengths to validate and cite/reference my information. Half of why I'm doing this is to fight misinformation in this space.
Fabulous! I know I’m going to watch this repeatedly to capture the many levels you revealed here . Thank you my son in Hawaii sent me this and I’m very grateful to both of you.
There are quite a few plants that CAN grow under juglones! Just have to pay attention to what does ok to well with them (raspberries, dewberries, pawpaws, elder, and many others).
Fantastic video. Just what I needed to get my head around the topic and to be effective in building a guild structure around the fruit trees I planted just this spring. Note: I did the online PDC (Geoff Lawton) some years back and have never encountered solid practical how-to advice like this before. It is great to know the principals ... but the practical interpretation and application is a whole different suite of knowledge. Well done.
This was such an amazing and informative video. What I love is that you have great facts and teaching but you show us the examples and a thorough walk through the gorgeous plants in your guilds. It is so helpful to hear about what you try, what does not work, what works and does not. That is just so great to hear. For somebody trying to prepare a garden, but stuck most of the time in the city, visiting your greenery filled property through your videos just get me through the long winter months.
Just planted 5 dwarf fruit trees this spring. This video is VERY helpful! Right on time💚 I knew about most of these, but I hadn't put it all together yet. Thank YOU🙏 I'm in Michigan, 5b also🌻
My guilds are pretty simple. I put stuff with different types of flowers near my fruit trees (right now it's a "carrot"-like flower and something that's old-world for the honey bees). As I get more plants to propagate I'll fill in some of the spaces with herbs, ground covers, bulbs, etc. Some of the plants that I want to put in don't do great in full sun here, so I'm waiting for the trees / shrubs to fill in a bit more (for afternoon shade, usually). I should put in edible annuals in the empty spaces while I wait.
I loved this so much!! So much informative information following by the real payoff, a tour while you identify what is growing and how it is all doing. Such a wonderful and inspiring way to learn. Theory first and then seeing the application of the guilds as they are growing. Best gardening source on RUclips. Thank you for taking your time out on a Sunday to create it.
24:12 it's analysis paralysis Also, great video. This is exactly what i needed. I'm still new to this but i feel like if you just live by the principle "if it came from the ground, back to the ground it goes" Mulch everything, use the bacteria and fungi that's in the soil and make it hospitable for them to grow with your plants.
Glad I found your channel! You do an excellent job teaching what you have learned and are you clearly passionate about it! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences! 👍🏻
This is such an EXCELLENT video, worth repeating! It would be even better if the circle would be completed by adding what you've done to the soil in each guild. Also, I'd love to see some terra preta and hügelkultur methods added into a video like this.
This was by far the most informative video on food forests I’ve seen, both from the information value and visually Big thanks & Greetings from Germany 🤘🏼
Fantastic video, super helpful....Love to see a Canadian doing this for our cold northern climate. Your channel is great, you share knowledge in a very informative & instructive manner. The way in which you make your videos allows people to learn more readily. Adding the why to things is imperative in the learning process for some types of people & you really nail it. Thank you for your channel.
Just saw this. Your extensive knowledge and the way you share it, is second to none. Your delivery is beautiful. I enjoyed every second of this, I found it fascinating. Thank you so so much. People like you is what makes the difference. You are inspiring. Best wishes to you and your family from Australia.
This was extremely helpful for this newbie. I have a Japanese garden that's gone wild. Now I want to change it to a food forest. I didn't glaze over until about 50 minutes. Fantastic. I like how you began explaining the roles of the plants. I've been watching other vdos and searching online for any guild maps. This episode broke me free of that. Can't say thanks enough.
Thank you - just started making my guild and your video has been the best one I've come across because you explained it so much better than others, that I was able to understand!
Thank you for this video! Out of all the numerous permaculture food Forest videos that I’ve watched and articles that I’ve read this is the most simplest and easiest to understand! It makes more sense to me now that you’ve explained it in a functions system. It’s like a light bulb and I think I can do this now!
Great info. I won’t be using your plants. Living in Texas makes that impossible. Thanks. Ive wondered about the details. Your information is the best I’ve seen
This is how I plant & teach people to do, as well! Kudos! Thank you for a great video. I, too, have purchased from Whiffletrre - I saw the tag. ;) Have a great one. Subbed.
I just recently moved into a house with a big backyard. This is the first time I ever had a backyard! You're videos are educating and helping me feel confident in my actions. I'm gonna build a thriving beauty [:) Thank you!
LOL. In editing I'm constantly cutting stuff like that out. I ramble SO MUCH, and stuff like that makes it easy to not miss cutting it out in editing.. And I think I've formed a habit now. Lol. I figured I'd leave one in as a gift specifically to you. Honestly, watching unedited footage of my videos would be like watching some plinko game of a drunk sailor slowly make his way out of the bar, bouncing off every wall, chair and Patron, before falling out the door. That's my video making process in a nice little visual.
@@PaleGhost69 oh my, I had to rewind that part. HILARIOUS. I'm so glad he left that in the video. Who does that? That's one of the reason this channel needs to go viral... this can be a really dry topic, and I love those moments of humour. What about "Seabuckthorn is one of my favorite trees" then this guy goes and cuts one to the ground. I'm DYING over here laughing.
So glad I found this channel. I rarely watch an entire 1-hour video but I did it for this one. I'm in zone 6 in Eastern BC. I've found lots of permaculture resources, but not many above a zone 8. I've been doing more traditional gardening for years as I was always in rentals and didn't want to commit to setting up a permaculture system. We finally got 2.5 acres of land last summer and it has a good start of a huge variety of fruit bushes and plants with drip irrigation everywhere. However, it's been neglected and has some bizarre features (like garden boxes planted under a walnut??), and really sandy soil. It had a few years of neglect and the drip system had a few run-ins with a lawnmower, so the trees outside the garden area are in sad shape. I'm keen to get them a guild to help protect them a little. Anyway, sorry for the rambling. I'm just excited. I tried to go easy on ordering seeds and plants this year, but I'm suddenly feeling like I need more, lol. I look forward to the rest of your essential playlist. Do you have any recommendations for books, podcasts or other channels with cooler climate permaculture?
I love the long video! Thanks for all the commentary on why each plant was intentionally planted near others. I want to do the same on my land but don't have the $ to buy, any specific advise to do what you suggest and just plant for purpose and save money?
Indeed. It sometimes helps to start small and work up. Learn what your soils can take. However as long as you are protecting the soil with mulch, and growing the soil, then your soils will be able to support more and more plants.
Thank you!! I have been implementing some permaculture principles over the years but just purchased a larger piece of property and working on planning and designing a good forest. I have been on the hunt for informative specific design examples like this. I'm in zone 8 so will have lots of different plants but this was so helpful!! Thank you for taking the time!
Very helpful. Nothing like a practicum, which is one of my favorite teaching/learning techniques. We just moved from Southern Oregon to Maine. What a learning curve it is. This will also be my first attempt at creating a real food forest instead of just polyculture plantings like I have done before. Understanding functions and layers are very helpful. Your experience is most appreciated.
Excellent topic. My own practices in my gardens and food forest were veering into guilds but I didn't have the words or knowledge on the concept. Thank you for amazing deep dives into these important concepts. My upcoming season will be better than ever. I hope your 2023 is amazing as well. Cheers.
post script: I love how you refer to plants' leaves as solar panels. It's a great way to help people bridge the gap between what plants do and what we can do.
Thanks 😊 Thinking of leaves as solar panels really helps get across the point about how we can increase the energy available to a system simply by installing more solar panels (by planting more!)
Yay awesome! I haven't watched it yet but I just wanted to comment before I do that I am so excited you put this together. I love your longer videos and really love the videos you have on guilds. Looking forward to watching it!
Thank you! This is awesome. I had already gathered a lot of these types of seeds to plant, but did not have focus. Understanding the goals will help me in planting more productive guilds. Glad I watched this BEFORE planting.
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Another brilliant and thorough video!! On the concept of nutrient accumulators I keep getting confused. I had seen somewhere that plants make their own nutrients, not specifically mine them. Maybe they make vitamins, but mine minerals?! How does that work? I'd love an explanation if you have time to elaborate. :)
The thing about this is that conventional wisdom on this topic has changed so much in the last few decades. People previously thought that capillary action brings all nutrients into the roots, and that plants basically suck nutrients up like straws. That's kind of true but also very much not true. It also completely ignores how those nutrients got there. For example, plants need nitrogen to grow leaves, but is that in the form of NH3, NH4, NO, NO2, NO3, etc?
Unfortunately answering your question requires an hour long TED talk type video, or writing chapters in a microbiology book out. I'll try to boil it down as much as possible...
Plants can't get nutrients themselves. They can acquire CO2, O2 and H2O and that's really about it. The rest they need to get from soil microbiology.
The soil microbiology breaks apart microscopic nutrients in the soil. Bacteria basically use acids to dissolve minerals and make glue out of it. This glue makes things called aggregates. Fungi can then disassemble those and pass nutrients through their networks to themselves and to plants via a mychorrizal association.
Bacteria are really good at making alkaline glues and nitrates and nitrites (NO3 and NO). Fungi prefer to make ammonium NH4 (not to be confused with ammonia NH3). So weed-pit bacterial dominated soils tend to be more alkaline and old growth forest fungal dominated soils tend to be more acidic. A big part of that is also compaction based, and how much nasty acids are being produced by anaerobes. So much depth to cover in this aspect alone, because it really determines plant health tremendously, and the blocking of various cation exchanges. For example you can have tons of Calcium in your soil, but if the soil chemistry and biology is wrong, it can get blocked from your plant's ability to access it. Moving on...
Protozoa and nematodes then eat both the bacteria and fungi and are the next step (and possibly greatest importance) in nutrient cycling. After digesting all that stuff, and pooping it out, only now can plants actually access that nutrient. The guts of a worm is one of the most complex places on the planet - microbiologically speaking.
Various minerals that the plant needs to survive, the plant needs to have them dissolved by bacteria and fungi, then consumed and chelated (bound to an amino acid) by these slightly larger microbiology critters. Only now can the plant actually use the minerals in the soil.
And it's at this point where the plant can slurp it up.
So the whole "plants slurp up nutrients" is true, technically, but it also ignores the incredible importance of the soil food web of life in making that nutrient bio-available. Short answer is that yes plants can technically slurp up nutrients, but MORE IMPORTANTLY plants absolutely CANNOT feed themselves.
I'm not sure how "fun" a video like that would be, but I can take a crack at it if you think people will enjoy it. Even if it gets low views for the amount of work it will take to produce, it will still be a good video to have in my library - that other people can point the real plant geeks towards, and maybe turn those people into permaculturists.
I'm going to pin this just so people may get value out of me typing all this out.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy wow. Yes, Thank you, so valuable. I'd love to geek out on a video like that but only if others would benefit too. I can only imagine how much work it'd be!! ;) A friend keeps telling me to go back to school for this stuff, but I worry they would teach outdated concepts... haha. I will need to read through this a few times to grasp it, science wasn't ever my strong subject. ;) Thanks again!!!
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy the other consideration, IF you opt to create such a video, would be to share practical ways to increase said biology on the scale necessary to initiate a new permaculture orchard. (Specifically for dead soils) I am currently in that dilemma myself. Even grasses won't grow in some spots because the soil has previously been stripped! I have looked into the IMO's and KNF and it has helped tremendously. But the addition of soil feeding photosynthesizing plants is one part I had only learned from your channel. Currently stuck in the awkward in between waiting game as it all does it's magic... haha. Anyway, it's all so very fascinating and I just love learning about it, and applying it all!!
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Wow, that was fascinating! I would definitely watch a video on it :)
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Fantastic reply. Love all your work, and my food forest is definitely benefiting from it!
My notes on the Six functions
1. Protect the soil from the sun. Dense planting and shade. Ground cover and herbaceous layers prevent bare earth.
2. Nutriant accumulators with deep tap root to pull up minerals. Mullen
3. Nitrogen fixer , legumes develop root noduals of nitrogen which will be released when we chop and drop the green foliage. Clover, Sea Buckthorn
4. Attract pollinators with flowers, through out the season,
5. Confuse pests with herb odors. Repel pests and attract predictors (you can’t have one without the other to balance).
6. Plants to occupy all 7 layers: canopy overstory, understory, bushes, herbaceous, ground cover, root, vine.
Instead of clover and sea buckthorn, I'd use peas and beans. Turnover time is shorter, if you don't want to harvest fresh just ignore them, they will produce something you can eat over the winter or use as seeds for the next year. Sea buckthorn is something you may want to keep, not kill for the nitrogen in the roots.
Deep tap root: comfrey. Mullein is useful for when you have a cough. Comfrey for when you have broken bones. Your choice...
I'd use Claytonia for ground cover, nutritious and delicious... (and very pretty)
Any suggestions welcome!
Peas and beans are great also. I use clover myself because it's perennial. Plant once and it's done for life. But in areas that I manage more often, peas and beans are a great alternative low growing nitrogen fixer. You just need to sow them each year.
I'm trialing and area where I just don't harvest them at all and see if they resow easily. Last uear they didn't, so I went bigger this year. I will see what pops up this spring.
Thanks 😊 for clearly summarizing the 6 points. I’m a consummate note taker 📝😉….And have written copious notes on this talk. I’m definitely NOT SUCCINCT.
Thanks 👌🏼👌🏼
Points 1 and 6 are the same: Maximize photosynthesis. Make full use of the space, both horizontal and vertical, so leaves can capture all the energy.
@@doinacampean9132 i noticed they sell peas (like split pea but not split) in harris teeter and i can confirm that these do sprout. Can these do it? Also will comfrey work well in a raised bed?
Great video! I have always believed that everyone with land should grow perennial fruiting trees, shrubs, and plants because it was the way my grandparents and parents farmed. Now as a senior, I find the idea of building self-sustaining ecosystems the solution to reducing labour associated with producing food by eliminating the need to mow grass. We are fortunate to have 100 acres, with about 5 acres as our maintained yards. Embracing a no-till vegetable garden to also lessen workload makes sense as running a large tiller through soil was getting more challenging every year. We all need to plan for our future considering age and mobility. I am thrilled with the way our own no-till garden and food forests are progressing. Because of your channel, I have discovered new plants and shrubs to try as I am in the same growing zone. As a retired teacher, I also want to commend you on your ability to present information in a manner that is clear and thoughtful without adding needless over-the-top hype as found on so many channels today. Thank you.
Thank you this means a lot to me. My father in law (Poppy) has really enjoyed moving to a no till system for the same reason. He's in great shape for his age but he is still getting older. The tiller used to really give him pains that lasted weeks.
Is your point that you maintain your 100 acre farm by primarily growing perennials? Or is that what you do to the 5 acre area only?
@@jerrysamuels8716 All of our growing areas are mulched beds (wood chips or straw) spread around the 5 acres we maintain. All of my newer fruit trees & shrubs are in a food forest setup in multiple sections. I have some old apples that are 40 years old now that we planted in the traditional way. We are also in the process of 'taming' some of the wild apple trees that grow all around the farm; pruning and grafting our favourites. There are currently about 30 acres of tillable land seeded in a perennial hay mix, and the balance is made up of two small woodlots and a full bush. The majority of the trees growing on the farm are those we planted in the '70s or their seedlings. We have a few of the original sugar maples dating back to 1849, along with stands of hickory, ironwood, and beech. These too have produced many young trees on their own filling in the woodlot quite nicely. I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to remember what the back half of the farm looked like when we moved here in 1974. You could see across the back 60 acres that were mostly giant ground level rocks with huge cracks between them. Now there are only a few left to be seen. Soil created by tree leaves, needles, fallen branches, and dead trees covers nearly all of the bush acreage. It only took 100,000 trees and four decades. :) The wildlife species present have grown with the trees.
@@lgrantsimmons Thank you for your thoughtful response.
@@lgrantsimmons it is very inspiring and beautiful, thank you for sharing :) we have moved out of the big city on the acreage property and I am learning all about food forest and planting fruit trees:) planning g to visit Jeff Lawton ‘s Zaytuna permaculture farm in Australia
I am sure someone has already answered and you have found the answer to your own question about the common red soldier beetles. They love flowering herbs like dill and cilantro. I used to think they were pests until I found they are very "beneficial" as predatory and pollinating insects.
The lesson I learned is to never overreact when I see insects on my plants and try to let nature find its own balance.
Exactly ✅️
One of my favorite plants for guilds are lupines. They get huge taproots, can be chopped and dropped and they fix nitrogen. Plus pollinators love them. And lots of native types of lupines to choose from along with some cultivated types. Really great plants for temperate guilds.
Indeed. They are a strange plant also. Can be very difficult to get established, but once they are they can be so rampant that they are considered invasive in some places. Pretty typical calling nitrogen fixing healing plants (who grow well on depleted soils) invasive. It's like we don't want to restore our soils.
I have had the best luck scatter sowing Lupine in late summer (as nature does) and they germinate the following spring. But I'm in the PNW where they are native. I absolutely adore them! (I also cannot help but think that after this video discussing nutrient accumulators, the slugs who devoured them knew best and that when topping them, they'd allow the nitrogen nodules to be released back into the newly wood mulched soil.) Hmmm...
Yeah for sure. The slugs were doing natures work. Sure maybe not in a conscious way, but the plant adapted to being eaten and turning that "bad thing" into a good thing. Any now millions of years later due to that adaptation, its still passing on its DNA when billions of other plants faded into history.
Considered invasive where I come from but I have heard there are varieties that aren't?
Wow!!! Have been studying permaculture for 2 years. This is everything that we needed to have access to! Thank you so much for this incredible comprehensive and easy to understand guide! I now understand guilds completely because of this!!
Yeah! thanks for watching! You may really enjoy the microbiology guide video also.
Long red bug on Queen Anne's lace at 17:57 is called a Common Red Soldier Beetle (Rhagonycha fulva).
Thanks DJ! You are always solid on these bug IDs. Do you have a background in Entomology?
It looks like these guys are mostly predators of small insects. And apparently they eat coddling moth larvae! I'm floored! To find those on a Queen Anne's Lace directly next to a pear tree, and have a coddling moth predator on that plant... wow!
Nope. But I do love a challenge to look up wild animals/bugs/plants. I learn something too in the process. The key is learning correct search string parameters on Mr. Googly; then expanding to Googly Images for verification. (yes, it's dumb but I'm retired and have all the time in the world to tell you about it). :)
I couldn't agree more. Having a learning mentality is the secret cheat code to life. Learning something new every day and decades later you are a pretty useful fella.
Hmm... Well, I think I could put the lie to that, but I appreciate your kind words. Cheers!
@@djmoulton1558 typical Canadian...deflecting compliments😂. Well done!💕
Excellent presentation of how a guild should function. Love the emphasis on experimentation and accepting the idea that not everything will work perfectly but it’s all a learning experience. Some videos can be almost discouraging because growing areas are presented as the pinnacle of perfection and I’ve been gardening for 60 years and am still learning. That’s what I love about it! Thanks for your honesty, it’s very refreshing.
Well said! Thank you.
I like the idea of using algae and duckweed as a nitrogenous mulch. It grows incredibly quickly. It's less of a chop move and drop and more of a scoop and fling.
Free is always good. Thanks for your generosity. Guilds (to me) are the connections between elements, not the elements themselves. Diversity builds sustainability.
Exactly right!
Pretty amazing how every living thing is one, yet astoundingly diverse and ever-changing. Truly beautiful
Didn't expect to be watching an hour long video about food forest gardening today, but here we are.
I've watched a dude turn compost before and had the same thought
Appreciate the reminder that we only see the plants that survive. "I'm not some kind of plant god" made me chuckle.
This was the first permaculture guild I've watched that didn't confuse me enough to just say forget it. Thank you. Thank you for going into detail about the purpose of the layers, and examples of each. I have a garden that has fruit trees and fruit bushes, but nothing is mixed together. It's February, so I'm planning what I'm going to start doing this spring to turn it into permaculture guilds, thanks to you.
Yay! This feedback is wonderful. Best of luck 👍
I just can't say thank you enough! So important to have people doing permaculture in cold hardy regions. I'm in Callander, Ontario, your channel inspired me to pursue a PDC
Absolutely fantastic! Welcome to the army LOL
Hey Neighbour. I'm in North Bay. Working on the same on my very small property.
This was excellent. Full of very good material. I learn something new about permaculture every time I watch one of your videos. You truly are doing a valuable service to the planet and your fellow human beings by uploading content like this. Thank you.
So kind, thank you
I'm so happy I found your channel. You explain so well and filled in a lot of gaps for me with thoroughness. Will be binging your channel.
Same here Laurie.
The only thing more rampantly abundant than your guilds is this comment section! Love the positivity! Love the videos!
Haha thanks! I try to give a little more value than the average channel. Gotta stand out somehow
Love the comprehensive and clear list of functions. Creating a whole ecosystem. This makes conventional monoculture look foolish.
Totally!
For someone who doesn’t have a lot more experience with gardening than I do, it’s pretty inspiring to see what you can accomplish in not too much time. This is my third year growing vegetables and first year doing perennial fruit bushes. Can’t wait to buy a piece of land where I can set up a food forest 🌳
Thanks so much! If everyone did such things, we all would live in heaven.
elevators and treadmills under a canopy idea is brilliant. Makes so much sense. Thank you
Great video. Best advice was to focus on the structure and functions, and to oversow with a wide variety of beneficial plants and let Nature sort it all out.
I’ve been searching for this video for months. Thank you!
Thanks Travis
Thank you from Australia! This is the most informative, educational video I've seen on guilds. I now understand how to choose plants for the functions and understand what Im looking for so I can also use australian native and bush tucker foods to incorporate into my guilds. I really appreciate how much time you put into these videos and for the science behind the whys and hows. Many thanks.
You're very welcome! Thanks for Watching Eva.
I'm in Australia too. I want to do the same thing. So much to learn.
Mother's Day 2024, and this video was very helpful as I begin my permaculture food forest from an empty field. Thank you. Going to binge watch your other videos now.
Happy Mothers day, and welcome to the family! ❤️
Loved this video. Loved the length and loved seeing all sorts of guilds in all their glory.
Relevant username! Thanks for wasting some time with me today! ha!
I have tried to understand permiculture, and you are the first person to make it so simple to understand. Thank you!
I love this. We started a small orchard in our bee yard and have been thinking of doing a guild for a bit now. This is perfect cause we live in bear and moose country and have a large fenced area I call my forest garden. Adding a guild will be the perfect addition. Thanks so much. Great video 🇨🇦🐝
Good luck!
Great video! The tip about leaving a few aphids makes sense. Soooo relaxing to get out into a naturalized garden.
Appreciate a presenter with a permaculture compatable disposition which is the best model possible.
Been on a Permaculture binge for a few weeks now and found your channel in a search. I very much appreciate the breakdowns you give with the science references. Scientific Strategy from the scientific method. Plus the goofs and outtakes, 👍.
Thanks, that's high praise from a pirate.
I have a dragonfly that actually follows me around! He follows me when i mow, and when im in my garden. I love it.
Adorable!
Your video might have been too good at its job. I stopped half way through and added a dozen plants to my first year food forest. I will have to watch the rest later tonight.
Awesome! LOL If I'm really good at this, people will stop watching and start planting. I'm totally cool with that!
Best use of words to drive home the terms for plants within guilds. If you only watch one video this is it!
Thanks!
I personally section off areas of my garden with landscaping rocks.... I then planted a fruit tree in each section. Then I plant stuff underneath the trees ... So far strawberries have been a fantastic ground cover for.umder the trees. Then you can plant bushes and such like blue berries in the strawberry patch
Loved this video-wouldn’t want them all this long, but occasionally when the subject requires it- it’s my treat!
Perfect. Indeed, it's hard to keep everyone happy. I think most people who comment here would like longer videos. People always ask for them. However, I think the majority of watchers (most who don't comment) prefer roughly 8 to 15 minute videos. I'll try to do a nice mix of lengths, and make sure to include timestamps for those who want shorter videos. In this video, if someone wants something shorter they can just jump to the tours, and skip the plant functions part.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I think, it also depends a lot on the subject. There is not much, that could be explained about "how to plant a lemon balm", so a minute is probably plenty long. It also depends on what other videos you already made on or around the subject, to which you could link, to keep the new video shorter. What I really really REALLY not like, is when somebody keeps repeating the same stuff over and over and over again, just to make a video longer.
"Guilds" definitly need a long video, especially as the first one on the topic. :)
Great feedback Martina. I can also see how those videos happen especially when shot over a couple days. Often I repeat myself, not on purpose but just out of habit or coincidence. Most of my editing and cutting out is to remove stuff that I'm saying for the second time. In this video here I kept a few things where I repeat myself (mostly about not caring about specifically which plant goes with which plant), because I really wanted people to hear that part multiple times so it sinks in. Hopefully it wasn't annoyingly repetitive!
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy I did't find anything annoying :)
I know from first learning about new topics that "getting" that there are principles to be followed, not recipes, is the most difficult thing. I'm a dog trainer. That topic has principles too, which are really simple (reward behaviour, that you want to see more of...) but people always want to hear recipies "What to do how, where, when... so the dog does XYZ". Or, even more likely: "how to make him do NOT something." :D
Which amounts to an other principle: teach the dog, what he should do, because nobody can learn "not"/"don't", because the brain simply doesn't "hear" it. As in "Don't think about the pink elephant!"....
Soooo what exactly should I plant around my apple tree again? ;) Answer: pollinator/pest predator attractors, nutrient accumulators, ground shading plants, plants that cover all the other functions. And those plants need to be able to grow in my very on region, climate zone (and micro climate of the specific spot.... BÄMM! :D
oh, and btw: I'd looooooove an update on the old man walking trail :)
I love how you explain things your not talking so fast that I can't keep up. Don't ever change how you do your videos because I have been trying to learn about this the last several years but I think I have learned more listening to you this last week then I have the Last 5 Years so thank you very much
cheers 🍻
Had never heard of guilds before. Have most of these plants but now I know what to do with them.
This video has been so useful and I'm only a fourth of the way in. The whole idea of looking at guild FUNCTIONS rather than specific plants was eye opening to me. I am just learning about food forests and have started to watch a lot of videos about them. This particular video has been the first to make it all make sense to me. I have a science background and love to hear about the whys for how this food forest concept works and, in particular, the whole guild concept.
That's wonderful! I'm so glad it has been helpful.
Thank you for such an in-depth talk about these systems and how they interact. Makes teaching others much easier. You're awesome!!!
From what I understand, Goji berries come from the mountains and don't really care for rich, moist soil. May try some better draining areas and a trellis type setup for air circulation, perhaps. Let them struggle a bit. Some plants thrive on the struggle.
This is an excellent comment and is bang on. The place I have lined up for them is on the side of my pond hill where there is great drainage (a hill) and the soil is just junk backfill from the pond. It's important to match each plant to the environment it evolved to dominate in. Thanks Haven.
53:16 That plant with the yellow flowers is St John's-wort (Hypericum perforatum) a medicinal plant.
Oh you are right. I planted some elsewhere but I haven't been using it that much and didn't realize it was here too. I must have put it there a few years ago.
And the bees absolutely LOVE the hypericum too!
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy - St John's-wort will help your liver if you eat an oily dish. Yarrow, too..
Another engineer here (Mechanical & Software)! I knew about plant relationships but polycultures and guilds are new terms for me - thanks for the great info, from the Scottish Highlands!
Very nice! I do beg to differ on one companion planting though. Basil confuses the crap out of tomato hornworms so if the THs attack one of your crops put in basil. It’s very wet here some summers, can be very cool too. When that is the case I wail actually continually sow basil under cover and replace plants that don’t make it, it works that well.
I do also find marigolds work really well with tomatoes also. I did basil one year with the tomatoes and that was also great. SOME of the companion planting stuff is good. I just think that 99% of it is hot garbage, and worse than that, it often paralyses people and they don't plant out of fear that they aren't doing it perfectly. Half of the reason I tell people to ignore all that stuff is to hopefully free them out of their fears, so they can get busy planting and changing their lives.
@@CanadianPermacultureLegacy Oh I know a lot of it is guff and I agree, analysis paralysis is a real thing.
My parents were from a tropical island so permaculture is what they grew up with and it rubbed off on me. Living in Zone 9 gave me an added bonus since things just pop up here overnight. Since 2020 for some reason my fruits and olive trees are giving double harvest. I was taking a nap when my eyes opened your video was playing so I watched and found it fascinating so re-watched from beginning. Thoroughly enjoyed your content. Jealous of that pond...
Thank you for explaining for us that are not academic. Very easy to understand thank you
❤️
You have the most useful videos of anyone I have found so far for my zone. GREAT work!
thanks 😊
No overkill. I have a 30x40 foot garden fenced in that i am slowly transitioning from a flat sunny space to permaculture here in East Texas. Thanks for a great video, especially the seven -layer segment. Nice tour, also. Your concepts about non-specific planting, and not sweating about the plants that die are right on. Thanks for this encouraging video.
Thanks!
Excellent guilds! Lovely and beautiful combinations!
Gouji Wolfberry is very easy to grow. You may plant it and forget it
1. Gouji may tolerate most soil types, sandy soil is best
2. Gouji loves full sun light
3. To encourage growth, help Gouji to STAND UP and face the sun to tricker growth. If it lies down, it sleeps...
4. Let the roots expand freely and avoid too many neighbors fight nutrients with it. It's a good fence if you tie it up
5. Cut the old branches and trim the top a little to promote growth
6. Water only in the very hot summer months
7. add NPK in the fall.
8. Mulch it in the winter if temperature goes subzero. I'm in New York, I never mulch mine, they thrift many years.
Thanks for the great comment!
The strange thing is that I've tried gojis 5 separate times, in 5 separate locations, and every time they died. I have no idea why, because I hear they are bullet proof. I'm going to try them in another few years, as the food forest matures and matures more.
Just found your channel - so impressed! Can't wait to dig into more videos. Fellow Canadian youtuber here - we love sustainable living, so it's wonderful to find your work.
Thanks for checking us out! I will have to check your channel out when I have some free time. I saw lots of videos on canning on your channel.
Love this video. The length was a special treat for sure. I have been wanting extra information on guilds. Thank you so much!
Thanks as always Sam
Well done,obviously well informed and presented with no sales pitch.Offers options to fit any circumstance even for the already engaged.
Simply love how lush is the forest in the summer
I've been doing my best to create a great garden for my family, for years. I've just barely heard about permaculture. I've watched so many garden videos over the years and this has been the best garden video I've seen, by far. Amazing information! Thank you.
Hare Krishna. So beautiful place. Nice planting share 🎉🎉🎉🎉
❤️ Hare Krishna
I found your RUclips site a few days ago. I'm very particular about which channels I follow because on RUclips there's great information, useful information, useless information and completely wrong information. We're flooded with information. But of the 3 or so videos I've seen on your channel (so far), they are packed with the great information. Thank you. Subscribed, notifications on and liked.
I appreciate it. As a scientist/engineer, I go to extraordinary lengths to validate and cite/reference my information. Half of why I'm doing this is to fight misinformation in this space.
Video has great rewatch benefits. One picks up more and more details.
Fabulous! I know I’m going to watch this repeatedly to capture the many levels you revealed here . Thank you my son in Hawaii sent me this and I’m very grateful to both of you.
Cheers 😀
There are quite a few plants that CAN grow under juglones! Just have to pay attention to what does ok to well with them (raspberries, dewberries, pawpaws, elder, and many others).
Fantastic video. Just what I needed to get my head around the topic and to be effective in building a guild structure around the fruit trees I planted just this spring. Note: I did the online PDC (Geoff Lawton) some years back and have never encountered solid practical how-to advice like this before. It is great to know the principals ... but the practical interpretation and application is a whole different suite of knowledge. Well done.
Thank you so much!
This was such an amazing and informative video. What I love is that you have great facts and teaching but you show us the examples and a thorough walk through the gorgeous plants in your guilds. It is so helpful to hear about what you try, what does not work, what works and does not. That is just so great to hear. For somebody trying to prepare a garden, but stuck most of the time in the city, visiting your greenery filled property through your videos just get me through the long winter months.
Thanks! I should do an update this season with a bunch of different guilds I've added.
Just planted 5 dwarf fruit trees this spring. This video is VERY helpful! Right on time💚 I knew about most of these, but I hadn't put it all together yet. Thank YOU🙏 I'm in Michigan, 5b also🌻
Excellent, good luck!
"I want to create a bunch of problem solvers out of my audience." -- I love it!! Thank you for your wonderful videos!
Thanks so much
My guilds are pretty simple. I put stuff with different types of flowers near my fruit trees (right now it's a "carrot"-like flower and something that's old-world for the honey bees). As I get more plants to propagate I'll fill in some of the spaces with herbs, ground covers, bulbs, etc. Some of the plants that I want to put in don't do great in full sun here, so I'm waiting for the trees / shrubs to fill in a bit more (for afternoon shade, usually). I should put in edible annuals in the empty spaces while I wait.
I loved this so much!! So much informative information following by the real payoff, a tour while you identify what is growing and how it is all doing. Such a wonderful and inspiring way to learn. Theory first and then seeing the application of the guilds as they are growing. Best gardening source on RUclips. Thank you for taking your time out on a Sunday to create it.
Thanks so much:)
24:12 it's analysis paralysis
Also, great video. This is exactly what i needed. I'm still new to this but i feel like if you just live by the principle "if it came from the ground, back to the ground it goes" Mulch everything, use the bacteria and fungi that's in the soil and make it hospitable for them to grow with your plants.
Bang on 👍
I learned a ton from this video that I've been struggling to pick up from other books and resources. Thanks for the education!
😀
Glad I found your channel!
You do an excellent job teaching what you have learned and are you clearly passionate about it!
Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experiences! 👍🏻
Welcome to the family 😀
This is such an EXCELLENT video, worth repeating! It would be even better if the circle would be completed by adding what you've done to the soil in each guild. Also, I'd love to see some terra preta and hügelkultur methods added into a video like this.
This was by far the most informative video on food forests I’ve seen, both from the information value and visually
Big thanks & Greetings from Germany 🤘🏼
Thanks! Make sure to spread the word 😀😃
Great info. I watch nature. Planting simular trees, bushes ect in areas that these family of plants grow well together.
Fantastic video, super helpful....Love to see a Canadian doing this for our cold northern climate. Your channel is great, you share knowledge in a very informative & instructive manner. The way in which you make your videos allows people to learn more readily. Adding the why to things is imperative in the learning process for some types of people & you really nail it. Thank you for your channel.
Thank you! Tell all your friends LOL
your long video is great, well organized and full of info. kindly make more thanks
Just saw this. Your extensive knowledge and the way you share it, is second to none. Your delivery is beautiful. I enjoyed every second of this, I found it fascinating. Thank you so so much. People like you is what makes the difference. You are inspiring. Best wishes to you and your family from Australia.
So kind! Thank you 😊
This was extremely helpful for this newbie. I have a Japanese garden that's gone wild. Now I want to change it to a food forest. I didn't glaze over until about 50 minutes. Fantastic. I like how you began explaining the roles of the plants. I've been watching other vdos and searching online for any guild maps. This episode broke me free of that. Can't say thanks enough.
Haha wow! This was a long one. Good luck!
Thank you - just started making my guild and your video has been the best one I've come across because you explained it so much better than others, that I was able to understand!
Thanks 😊
Great video! Very insightful, unlike anything i’ve seen on the internet so far. Thanks 🙏
Great content, fine presentation, a wonderful garden and the way to heal the planet. Thank you for your sterling efforts. m
Very beautiful property!!!! Inspirational and exactly what I have been striving to create at our place. I want food everywhere 😁
Thank you for this video! Out of all the numerous permaculture food Forest videos that I’ve watched and articles that I’ve read this is the most simplest and easiest to understand! It makes more sense to me now that you’ve explained it in a functions system. It’s like a light bulb and I think I can do this now!
Thanks!
Great info. I won’t be using your plants. Living in Texas makes that impossible. Thanks. Ive wondered about the details. Your information is the best I’ve seen
This is how I plant & teach people to do, as well! Kudos! Thank you for a great video. I, too, have purchased from Whiffletrre - I saw the tag. ;) Have a great one. Subbed.
I just recently moved into a house with a big backyard. This is the first time I ever had a backyard! You're videos are educating and helping me feel confident in my actions. I'm gonna build a thriving beauty [:) Thank you!
😀
I just realized the length of the video. Hell yes!
Haha! People keep asking for longer videos, and this is a great topic to do a deep dive on.
25:07 I need to remember this exists
LOL. In editing I'm constantly cutting stuff like that out. I ramble SO MUCH, and stuff like that makes it easy to not miss cutting it out in editing.. And I think I've formed a habit now. Lol. I figured I'd leave one in as a gift specifically to you. Honestly, watching unedited footage of my videos would be like watching some plinko game of a drunk sailor slowly make his way out of the bar, bouncing off every wall, chair and Patron, before falling out the door. That's my video making process in a nice little visual.
@@PaleGhost69 oh my, I had to rewind that part. HILARIOUS. I'm so glad he left that in the video. Who does that? That's one of the reason this channel needs to go viral... this can be a really dry topic, and I love those moments of humour. What about "Seabuckthorn is one of my favorite trees" then this guy goes and cuts one to the ground. I'm DYING over here laughing.
So glad I found this channel. I rarely watch an entire 1-hour video but I did it for this one. I'm in zone 6 in Eastern BC. I've found lots of permaculture resources, but not many above a zone 8. I've been doing more traditional gardening for years as I was always in rentals and didn't want to commit to setting up a permaculture system. We finally got 2.5 acres of land last summer and it has a good start of a huge variety of fruit bushes and plants with drip irrigation everywhere. However, it's been neglected and has some bizarre features (like garden boxes planted under a walnut??), and really sandy soil. It had a few years of neglect and the drip system had a few run-ins with a lawnmower, so the trees outside the garden area are in sad shape. I'm keen to get them a guild to help protect them a little. Anyway, sorry for the rambling. I'm just excited. I tried to go easy on ordering seeds and plants this year, but I'm suddenly feeling like I need more, lol. I look forward to the rest of your essential playlist. Do you have any recommendations for books, podcasts or other channels with cooler climate permaculture?
In my video descriptions I have a link to my favorite books to read :)
For other videos, I also really enjoy weedy garden and edible acres
This is great info. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
Thanks for checking us out :)
Just the right thing to watch on this day!
Excellent video, I’m just starting Geoff Lawton’s permaculture design course, this is a great overview of a food forest guild! Thanks. 🇵🇰❤️🇵🇰
Good luck and have fun!
Thank you, so great and easy to learn from you. I will add mullein to my area. Multi purpose plant
I love the long video! Thanks for all the commentary on why each plant was intentionally planted near others. I want to do the same on my land but don't have the $ to buy, any specific advise to do what you suggest and just plant for purpose and save money?
Look up my video called "no land no prpblem"
Very helpful. I tend to underplant so the idea of cramming things in and letting nature decide has changed my plans for my plantings.
Indeed. It sometimes helps to start small and work up. Learn what your soils can take. However as long as you are protecting the soil with mulch, and growing the soil, then your soils will be able to support more and more plants.
Thank you!! I have been implementing some permaculture principles over the years but just purchased a larger piece of property and working on planning and designing a good forest. I have been on the hunt for informative specific design examples like this. I'm in zone 8 so will have lots of different plants but this was so helpful!! Thank you for taking the time!
Thanks for watching, good luck 👍
I'm going to have watch this a few times to understand the guilds. Very interesting. Thanks so much!
Very helpful. Nothing like a practicum, which is one of my favorite teaching/learning techniques. We just moved from Southern Oregon to Maine. What a learning curve it is. This will also be my first attempt at creating a real food forest instead of just polyculture plantings like I have done before. Understanding functions and layers are very helpful. Your experience is most appreciated.
Thanks 😊
Excellent topic. My own practices in my gardens and food forest were veering into guilds but I didn't have the words or knowledge on the concept. Thank you for amazing deep dives into these important concepts. My upcoming season will be better than ever. I hope your 2023 is amazing as well. Cheers.
post script: I love how you refer to plants' leaves as solar panels. It's a great way to help people bridge the gap between what plants do and what we can do.
Thanks 😊
Thinking of leaves as solar panels really helps get across the point about how we can increase the energy available to a system simply by installing more solar panels (by planting more!)
Another great video! I am south of Atlanta, Georgia in zone 7b/8a. I took notes and got lots of ideas. Thank you.
Awesome! Good luck 👍!
Thanks so much for this video. I am working on transforming my yard and learning more about fruit tree guilds was very helpful!
Yay awesome! I haven't watched it yet but I just wanted to comment before I do that I am so excited you put this together. I love your longer videos and really love the videos you have on guilds. Looking forward to watching it!
Thanks Katie 😊
I’ve watched this video so many times. It’s so good. Thank you!
❤️
Thanks for sharing great information! I’m on the Gulf Coast, zone 8b. Although we have very different climates we have a lot in common.
Oh for sure! Different plants, different rain, wind, soil, but same natural mechanism at play. Same science. 😀
Thank you! This is awesome. I had already gathered a lot of these types of seeds to plant, but did not have focus. Understanding the goals will help me in planting more productive guilds. Glad I watched this BEFORE planting.
Great!