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I don't cut it back every year. The best time to prune is in late winter, early spring. But don't cut back to the ground, the grapes grow on the previous year's wood.I don't do any winter prep and my grapes have been fine. You could always mulch around the roots but that's about it. Because they are right next to my driveway, I get good insulation from the snow that we pile up there. So if you don't get much snow coverage, then I might put down an extra bit of mulch.

It often depends on how old your plant is. Is this the first year that you are growing egyptian onions?

Glad this was helpful for you! Thanks so much for watching!

Thanks for watching! I don't have personal experience with syntropic methods but it's definitely worth trying. However, I'd have a few hesitations. First, there is the shading that you mentioned, I'd probably just use shrubs rather than trees (we were lucky because the whole back of our yard was already bordered by a well-established Siberian pea shrub hedge (a nitrogen fixer so I think that helped alot, not only with creating a microclimate but also with soil-buildind). There is also the fact that those nurse trees grow so much slower than trees in the tropics, even though some of them might be considered 'fast growers'. In addition, in colder climates, I feel like the breakdown of woody materials is so much slower that it makes establishment even longer. I used the sheet mulching method to build soil and brought in yards and yards of wood chip, manure, compost etc. from mostly free sources so that's how I 'sped up' establishment. I also seeded with clover and grew a bunch of comfrey in the forest. But it's definitely worth experimenting with. Do you know of any good syntropic examples in cold climates?

@@BrokenGround I don't know that much about all the food forests around here (still learning), but I visited one (De Park in Elst, the Netherlands) and spoke to the "manager". He told me they started on almost pure clay and a lot of plants wouldn't grow well, so they used alder trees. From my own experience I know that hazel and willow kan grow more than 2m in a year here, from the ground, so that would create quite some biomass. I've also seen videos from Edibleacres, with an intersting philosophy: grow lots of plants, some don't make it or have to wait for other plants to die, and you can steer it by cutting back. A lot of plants will be unproductive, but the system as a whole can be very productive. It would require propagating a lot yourself, so you don't feel bad cutting something back if it casts to much shade. You are "wasting" a lot of plants, but that doesn't matter if you propagate them for free, and it has the advantages of more biomass and always something waiting in line as soon as another plant dies (like a pawpaw seedling slowly growing underneath a shortlived peach tree).

@@sjoerdmhh Very interesting, thanks for sharing! I would say that syntropic methods might be more effective and efficient in a temperate climate with more rain than we have. So that's definitely a consideration. Quick search says that the Netherlands, on average, gets about 34 inches of rain per year and is a much milder climate than ours. Whereas we only get 16 inches so moisture and therefore breakdown are a lot slower. But again, it doesn't mean that it won't work in our cold, dry climate, the timeline just might be a lot longer.

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Yes! I've totally considered that for sure! I'm not sure our cattle dog would appreciate a smaller furry friend though. He's very suspicious of small dogs. But yes, I've considered a jack russell or a dachshund!

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I do love dandelions but in the context of establishing a native garden, they’ll outcompete the natives so it’s best to remove many of them, at least initially, until your garden is more established.

Thanks for watching, glad that the video was useful for you!

It's a shrub - false indigo bush (Amorpha fructicosa)

Ribes aureum!

@@BrokenGround thank you!

​@@BrokenGround nice i have seeds of those.

That’s too bad!

What a stupid waste of time to post this. Move on troll-

Shoot! That’s no good! I’ve lost some of my coneflowers to Cole’s eating the roots!

I’ll have to check in with my clients to follow up. Sometimes I don’t get a chance during our busy growing season! Glad you like it!

I have a fence around most of my yard to keep the deer out. Is that what you mean?

I can't remember if it was fall or spring. But honestly, it might be best to buy a couple 1 gallon pots of it and that way, it will establish quicker. You don't need to buy much as the patch will grow and spread but that might be more successful.

@@BrokenGroundthank you 😊 great idea!

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome. Glad the video was useful for you. It is really surprising how much you can gain. I would suggest you use frost cloths rather than clear plastic, it has more insulation value.

Thanks so much for watching my channel!

I have both Patten and Parker Pears which both seem to do well in cold climates.

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You're welcome, thanks for watching!

The deer don’t seem to bother mine.

You can use the flowers in teas, the leaves and bark contain saponins so can be used as a mild soap when mixed with water.

@@BrokenGround awesome Maybe next time you can lead with those types of facts and I can promise you … it will draw more community to your platform 🤗 And thanks for the additional information Sometimes I don’t have time to research right away and too often forget to do it later 🤦🏼‍♀️

Welcome and thanks for watching my video!

Interesting. When do you plant them in your greenhouse? That might be one of the issues. I put seeds in the garden beds back in March. But they did take awhile to emerge.

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Definitely some global weirding going on, with temperature swings (it was in the mid-70s last week, but snow does happen in June here!

Yep! Gotta be prepared for anything these days!

Damn! That’s crazy!

Yes, though sometimes not in Montana! Gotta be prepared!

Good luck! I’m worried about tonight too!

Yes! everything survived, luckily!

Excellent! Thanks for watching!

I'm surprised. Though every flock has their preferences. I think if you train them early, that helps. Are they just used to feed?

@@BrokenGround Either they havent been accustomed to it as a chick or the feed is just too tasty and high protein for them to be interested.

Yes, the birds! One year, we had a flock of wild turkeys who were eating ours! Always a little frustrating, though, honestly, sometimes it's good if they take some, especially when they are super abundant!

Sometimes local gardeners will have it growing and can dig some up for you. Where are you located?