2-Year-Old Food Forest Tour - Already Doing Great!

[@davidthegood]

It's easier to plant and maintain a food forest than you might think! Today we take a tour of our two-year-old #foodforest in USDA Zone 8b. Join the Food Forest Challenge here: www.skool.com/the-survival-gardener/ Daisy's plant store: www.etsy.com/shop/GoodGardens Join us at SCRUBFEST III: thesurvivalgardener.com/scrubfest-2024/ Thanks for watching. Get out there and plant!

[@abundancefoodforest]

I’d guess that ginger is a butterfly ginger Hedychium coronarium 🎉

[@prubroughton1864]

I moved to new property 16 months ago- just a paddock covered in invasive grass threw down loads of cardboard and just started planting trees leaving minimal space between the trees and filled in with what ever I had and my trees are starting to blossom and we had strawberries other berries and rhubarb and nearly all our vegetables ( I am 76 and just thrive on gardening , my partner died 5 months ago and without my food forest would probably become very depressed) so get out there and garden til your fingers blister😊

[@ss-kz9ee]

Mine is half natives and just starting to put I food trees. I work on it when I want, maintenance is low. It's definitely my way of connecting with the earth. Improves my mood and health. Especially seeing the red back fairy wrens flying around

[@barbarafritchie2000]

I started one 4 years ago. I’ve planted 30 fruit and nut trees. I’m 76.

[@OhmSteader]

Since I added bees to the farm I am more hesitant to chopandrop until the flowering is done.

[@AnnsTinyLife]

I want to build a food Forrest! I WILL build a food Forrest!!! ❤

[@mjk9388]

You can definetly do it. My advice...start now and start small and figure out how much you can really take care of with your time. I created a 70ft by 30ft grocery row garden and it does take time to plant everything, weed anything that comes through the mulch, etc. But it is definitely worth it in the end. David also has an excellent book called Grocery Row Gardening that shows you how to do it...highly recommend it. Make sure you leave enough room in your paths to take a wheel barrow through. Best of luck!

[@mjk9388]

Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemingway is also a really excellent book alongside Grocery Row Gardening by David.

[@davidthegood]

Definitely. Great book.

[@DanlowMusic]

I would say watch David's series on Grocery Row Gardens and jump in. I started this last February. And even through a foot amputation, it's going good. Very minimal work needed. I stay up on weedwacking the pathways but other than a little chop n drop here and there it's been easy. People say to start small but I jumped right in with 4 new fruit trees with 12' beds 4' wide between them with blueberries, gooseberries and such planted in the middle with thing like potatoes and rhubarb inbetween those. I will be putting nitrogen fixing shrubs in where the potatoes grew this next year. Adding more fruiting shrubs and vines to the row as I go. Less annuals, more perennials over time. You can do it! Good luck!

[@davidthegood]

@@DanlowMusic Wow, even with losing a foot. Good for you.

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL David The Good videos!

[@akersquarteracre8002]

Such an accurate look into what a food forest can be. My FL10A food forest project has been going on for years, up until recently progress was slow. Not long ago, I learned from experience not to overthink or over plan, and just plant. I mix up varieties that grow well here. Best move I've ever made. Next year is going to be epic, things are going to fill in, flush out, and grow like mad. Thanks again for your inspiration and knowledge David. BTW, thank Daisy for the Seminole seeds when you get a chance. Those squash taste amazing and are my current favorite garden crop. So tasty.

[@ianewalker]

I hope you're adding some Osmanthus, Gardenia, Sarcococca, and Crinum lilies! They don't offer much in terms of edibility, but some perfume throughout the entire garden is always nice!

[@bjcdownunder]

Love your work and you are so right. Don't overthink; just give it a go. And when it works share it!

[@juliehorney995]

Three huge comfrey plants have helped provide wonderful mulch and nutrients to chop and drop. This is in their first year, here in NE Indiana! Our new food forest strip is already proving to be an amazing growing system! Radishes in an open area have way fewer pests than those in grow bags near "companion" plants. Yay God!

[@cherokeerose12]

Stay safe

[@manuelp.joseph753]

Getting ready with my 2 acre food forest.... Thanks.

[@QueenNerdoftheNerdHerd]

I also let the weeds grow. I used to pull them like crazy and then I was in an accident and broke my wrist and couldn't pull them and I found that my garden was as healthy as when I first planted it where before it had started to suffer. It seems the weeds go through seasonal die off and feed back into the ground and make it incredibly fertile so I stopped pulling them. Plus there is the added benefit that many of them have small flowers that the bees and butterflies love so it attracts all sorts of pollinators to areas that they wouldn't normally be right when we need them. We only started our small food forest a few years ago and I hate to admit but we didn't plant a lot of flowering shrubs or perennial flowers to begin with so I wind up chasing the seasons trying to get things next to certain trees to draw in pollinators from other parts of the yard. For instance in the spring it's almost impossible to draw the bees away from our blueberry patch to our peach. nectarine and plum trees. We're still very much a messy work in progress :)

[@RedneckHillbillies]

That looks fantastic! I am so glad that I started my food forest long before I thought I was ready. Next spring will be 2 full years since the first few trees and shrubs went in! I am in a much colder climate, so I can't grow many of the things you do, but I still learn so much from your videos. Thank you!

[@agentbarron9768]

Got 20 pond apple seeds today , planted 3 of them in a spongey area of my property to see how they do , cant wait to graft some sugar apples and custard apples onto them

[@davidthegood]

I love those trees.

[@americanajooma4457]

Goodness knows I would love to just slam some plants down on my property but they would all immediately die from deer. Sigh. I have to plan. But so glad yours worked out. It is truly inspiring!

[@Patrickhenry17seventysix]

Eat the deer that eat your garden

[@davidthegood]

Our little dog helped a lot.

[@agentbarron9768]

Deer are edible tho , just part of the food forest?

[@Southern195]

Same here!! Deer ate all of my field peas, butternut squash and stripped my okra leaves. Didn’t eat any okra pods but chomped off every leaf. 🤦🏻‍♀️

[@leomiranda-castro6908]

This is looking beautiful! And wow, in less than two years. It's definitely very inspiring! We will expand our food forest and be part of the challenge!!!

[@coolbreeze8572]

I hope ypur not jealous type because im in love with your garden 😊

[@Patrickhenry17seventysix]

I saw a good video on how to make jam from chickasaw plum looked good

[@davidthegood]

Yes! There was a lady at the farmers market near Ocala that made lots of it every year.

[@Patrickhenry17seventysix]

@davidthegood a lady I used to work with made it with a little red pepper in it so it was spicy pepper jelly

[@agentbarron9768]

I'm jealous I spent like $20 on a chicksaw plum " starter tree" on mercari , and lady shipped me 2 skinny little twigs 1 with 0 roots and one with some very dark brown roots , I sent her a message about how bad her product was and she left me negative feedback lol which sucks bc I'm only a seller and this was my only purchase on mercari and my only negative feedback ever , I've ordered several "starter trees" on other platforms and have received very healthy living plants, so I know it's her product that was the problem not me " not fully understanding what I purchased " So yeah no more purchasing things on mercari for me lol I know ebay would have let me remove that feedback and probably do a refund , I did try to root the twigs she sold me but they are obviously not viable So the quest for a chickasaw plum continues lol , i found one from a nursery for a good deal , but my plant sales must cover any plant purchases so working on that now Can't wait super excited for my chicksaw plums going to use them as rootstock for other stuff

[@davidthegood]

@@agentbarron9768 One of the nice things about Chickasaw is that they sucker. If you get one tree, later on you can often divide off suckers in winter while they're asleep, then plant those to start new trees.

[@Patrickhenry17seventysix]

@agentbarron9768 they grow wild everywhere they aren't hard to find just go find one growing along the roadway

[@GamingGardeningAndLayingSiege]

Thanks for the tour. I currently feel like a lion in a cage, but with gardening and growing stuff. The loft is very full, I can make soil whenever I want... I just need customers willing to let me play in their garden... green fingers crossed.

[@stephaniekelly3962]

@GamingGardening Are you looking for somewhere to plant veg, trees etc. I have more land than I need, located in Manatee County. FL

[@GrandmomZoo]

Love this! You are my mentor. Thank you.❤

[@davidthegood]

That is very kind of you

[@rebelmidwife]

Gorgeous!

[@E1TV]

I have planted gourds to grow hanging on tree branches.

[@reno_death]

Camellia Sinensis! That is the next thing I want to get going this fall. I'd like to supply my own caffeine addiction.

[@johnliberty3647]

Guessing that it’s butterfly ginger. It replicates so fast that it’s hard to give away at the same pace.

[@ibrstellar1080]

Such a beautiful and vibrant space you've created David.

[@tinad6812]

Beautiful. I love how you made the pathways and islands. It looks really nice. Thanks for sharing.

[@MommyBits]

This! This is what I want. Super cool!

[@agentbarron9768]

Nice man I mowed and bagged up 3 acres of my yard today , I have a decent pile of grass now , but honestly it's not even that much , I'll have to do it a few dozen times to have anything to brag about I use a push mower bc its all I got

[@davidthegood]

I have done that

[@FloridaGirl-]

I have also! But grass clippings are a great resource. Or I wouldn’t bother.

[@thebigshmoog]

Weeds still put out root exudates...which feed the microbiome. I'd rather have weeds than nothing, and those microbes struggling until a "wanted" plant eventually grows in that space.

[@davidthegood]

Great comment. Yes!

[@dnawormcastings]

U have a great looking farm looks peaceful 🇳🇿❤️

[@ceedee2570]

so, so, super fantastic!!! thank you so very much for your inspiration. I am seriously considering the challenge. thanks for the invitation.

[@roslynhorton5196]

You have Spider Lilies! Over here in east Alabama we know fall has arrived when they pop up.

[@DanlowMusic]

I was looking at a White Myrtle shrub the other day. It was told to me it will only get 6ft. I hope it doesn't get that big if i get it. Lol. I was looking at a few nitrogen fixers to throw in my Grocery Row Garden.

[@PermacultureLongboarder]

Hurricane Lillies "lycoris Radiata" Gives ya a natural way of know when the season is in :)

[@Mary-z7x]

Awesome food forest David thanks for sharing

[@deliaquested7123]

Great to see you and your gardens!

[@Vgardener]

Awesome video. Thanks for sharing

[@TheBigjay927]

Awesome Food Forest......love your process and design eye.

[@mollytrap]

Excited for ScrubFest!

[@AAHomeGardening]

Beautiful!

[@davidrobertson1980]

Good Onya David, doing well

[@KristinGasser]

I found you via Garden KZbinr Huw Richards, who mentioned you a couple of weeks ago as a big inspiration for him! I really LOOOVE your way of making it simple & cheap, not overthinking, just doing! I’m a garden „greenhorn“ and just started gardening last year, and it turned out that I’m not having two brown thumbs… 😅 we’re in Croatia, Zone 7b, central south-eastern Europe. I would love to join your challenge, but unfortunately I’m not at home for the next three weeks due to work…😭

[@Yesimthatkid]

Looking good! Btw that ginger looks like the Japanese “Myoga” that grows all over my yard. I don’t know if other gingers look like this or not, but the one you showed looks exactly like mine

[@rosehavenfarm2969]

It's lovely. Encouraging, even.

[@heroofguitar25]

Awesome!

[@takeitslowhomestead5218]

Beautiful! 🌱

[@hazelbellefarm476]

Such an inspiration

[@chezelleconroy2951]

Thanks Dave!

[@monkeyfoodgarden]

Evening

[@AAHomeGardening]

danny's cane looking good

[@paul.1337]

Crepe Myrtles can have pomegranate grafted to them I've heard.

[@ragheadand420roll]

Thanks to following the chop and drop ideas. I had 2 paw paw fruits from my 5 yr old baby tree. It has done more the last year since ive chopped and dropped than the rest of its life. The paw paw is truly amazing. It was like a butterscotch pudding with a cotton candy hint. Do paw paw seeds usu need cold strat? Thx. ✌️🙏👍🇺🇸

[@davidthegood]

Yes, stratify fresh seed

[@danfay4860]

For the first time in 3-4 years of gardening I am seeing a lot of insects and worms in my garden. this year I found 1 and 3/4 praying mantis !!!

[@davidthegood]

That is great.

[@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim]

"and 3/4" haha

[@bonniekuhlman867]

I love how you make it so easy....BUT where are your onions, and tomatoes...carrots...peppers....I love the things you've included, but where are the annuals?

[@davidthegood]

The high-need annuals go in our regular gardens.

[@TheBigjay927]

Speaking of 'weeds', have you ever harvested Florida Betony and eaten it.........raw in a salad or pickled? There is a bunch in the Spring here down in Mobile; but now that appear to be coming back up in the cooler fall weather. Tastes like jicama.

[@davidthegood]

I have eaten it fresh, pickles sound good though.

[@agentbarron9768]

Do you never worry that the invasive air potatoes will get in your yard and you accidentally eat them or does the potatoes look clearly different

[@glassbackdiy3949]

Looks amazing David, could you get away with Breadfruit in your climate? We need more 'Feed a whole family' trees, I planted a Monkeypuzzle in my design, only takes 50yrs to fruit, I heard a story that in olden times the potential wifes father would traditionally ask the prospective son in law how many monkey puzzle trees he was going to plant, as one tree would feed a generation eventually, a reflection on how many great grand children he could expect, not sure if it's true but it's a lovely story.

[@davidthegood]

Too cold here - we miss breadfruit

[@oneperson5760]

You have no idea how much your videos help! I'm trying my best to have total faith in Jesus and just ignore the bad stuff, but it's worrisome, as a mom/wife with a lot of people i deeply care about. I dont' wanna see anymore politics. I don't wanna see any more economics. Really, I can barely manage the homestead I have right now, the animals, the plants, the greenhouse, planning for fall planting and compost and mulching, and how am i gonna get the hay from the pasture, since we don't have a tractor and will a stall in the old barn have a good enough roof to keep the hay dry, so i don't have to buy expensive hay from tractor supply this winter, and if i just chuck hay in the stall, will it get infested with mice? etc etc etc... Having my thoughts occupied with productive, positive things that help my loved ones is a relief. May God bless your family abundantly.

[@hannahvk7050]

Hi! Enjoyed the video, how focused on planting native species and ecologically helping your native insects are you in your space?

[@davidthegood]

I mix in natives with non-natives. We have native plums, crabapple, honey locust, etc., alongside our other useful species. Seeing more insect life this year.

[@brianpalmer967]

Here's something I don't hear much in the food forest community: don't feel like trees and plants are precious, and must be completely permanent once planted. You hinted at this in your video, but seriously, be willing to just chop things down if you change your mind! Of course you can't do this with $60 nursery trees, but srsly, I save all the seeds from the apples I eat, and plant them out. I get dozens and dozens of apple trees like this every year. If I want to cut one down? No problem! I grow them for free! Plant willows by taking cuttings from nearby trees for free, and stick them in the ground. You'll get 100% success, and have an instant food forest for rabbits, goats, and sheep. Plant your avocado pits. Don't do anything fancy - just plant them in the soil; they'll grow! Plant material is not precious, which means designs are not precious; they're fluid, versatile, and an open canvas.

[@davidthegood]

Absolutely

[@gratefulprepsnj]

This is awesome. Looks manageable the way you are doing it. What do you do with pokeweed?

[@davidthegood]

I let it grow as a chop and drop

[@holly1225s]

So it looks like you have islands and grocery rows going on at your place.

[@davidthegood]

Yes!

[@jimjam36695]

Can the cocoplum grow and produce fruit in North Florida / South Alabama?

[@jimjam36695]

Have you seen many/any large pawpaw varieties producing fruit in South Alabama? I am wondering how well some of the KY varieties will work here seeing that we are just outside the native habitat.

[@davidthegood]

I have not seen any producing ones yet

[@jimjam36695]

@@davidthegood There is a guy up in Wetumpka with a pawpaw orchard. We got some fruit a couple of weeks ago. Not sure if that is close enough to our area to count. Considering chill hours are a bit higher there.

[@jimjam36695]

@@davidthegood Finally found one kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqjViYuXoZaFh5osi=gV5bf98xENZQDfL4

[@jimjam36695]

@@davidthegood Found a video of a fruiting one in North Florida kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqjViYuXoZaFh5osi=sEzVB15pPzT8OCdT

[@TheDiversifiedFarmer]

The delineations looking quite demure.

[@vivianking8143]

What are your thoughts on a trifoliate orange tree? Someone gave us a few very young ones several years ago, telling us they were lemon trees, as they thought, but they are not. I have looked them up and they really are too tedious to deal with, but they do have wonderful blooms, and the down side is the great thorns. We are thinking of cutting them down. Just wondering if you have any thoughts. Thanks for all you teach us. In Joy

[@davidthegood]

You can graft other citrus onto them. But I think they are beautiful on their own. They can be made into marmalade and lemonade. I planted about 20 of them at one edge of the property.

[@PhilippinesFarmLife]

Looks like my Videos From my Food forest in Batangas Philippines

[@davidthegood]

Great climate there!

[@PhilippinesFarmLife]

@@davidthegood we can grow rocks here🤣 with this year round tropical weather

[@deborahkennedy8131]

I am in 6A. How does the food forest work in the midwest?

[@soilbellefarm3710]

🎉🎉

[@janbeck7989]

Those are spider lilies. They come in the fall.

[@davidthegood]

Technically, it's Lycoris radiata. Tons of common names. But yes, they are the harbinger of fall!

[@janbeck7989]

@@davidthegood I live in Mobile Alabama, not too far from you. Normally they come after the last grass mow and spread around the lawn. It's a very pretty flower. I wonder if we're going to have an early fall?

[@troyheald77]

AAA+++Bedford, Texas

[@gladser7401]

When you plant nut trees in the food forest, do you prune them to keep them small, or just let them do their thing?

[@gladser7401]

Also, is a pecan tree ok in a food forest? I have a three year old pecan in my food forest now, but just recently learned that they are in the same family as black walnut. (Although, not nearly as strong.)

[@davidthegood]

I leave them alone to grow big

[@alexburdsall3580]

Does the poke berry have a purpose? I just hacked a couple to the ground

[@davidthegood]

I use them for compost, and to chop and drop to feed other plants.

[@i._.witness]

Did you incorporate any KNF methods?

[@davidthegood]

No.

[@markkristynichols845]

Analysis Paralysis… that’s me 😬😂😂😂

[@runningwarrior5468]

Fully grown trombacino rampicante squash.....so do we eat it or sign it up for kindergarten!!!?🤣🤣🤣

[@davidthegood]

If it's full-size, it will be too tough to eat. Keep it for seed.

[@essentialcomforts2166]

Im seeing videos about allelopathic plants. Makes it sound like nothing can grow together. Have you had issues with mixing plants like this?

[@davidthegood]

No, the problem is way overstated!

[@eddielyles8930]

I went to the link in the forest challenge, and it wouldn't let me access it. Ant suggestions?

[@davidthegood]

It's inside the member's area: www.skool.com/the-survival-gardener

[@eddielyles8930]

@@davidthegood thank you. I'd found it after I commented. But thanks for the reply

[@nathanthompson4600]

What do you do to get rid of bermuda grass? Chop and drop just makes bermuda worse for me...

[@davidthegood]

We crushed it with a double layer of cardboard and a foot of woodchips.

[@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim]

It hates being stifled. Even just a tarp can do it if you've got some hit days and a black tarp it will suck all that heat up and just suffocate the grass underneath.

[@nathanthompson4600]

@@davidthegood Ok thanks, time to start collecting cardboard.

[@iartistdotme]

BIDEN weed is EDIBLE? I pull pounds and pounds out and leave to the sun and it disappears. I would rather eat it. Really? Also, is there another Biden that is toxic and how do I tell them apart? LOVE your food forest. I've wanted to try growing sugar cane and never could find any for sale now that I want to try it. Of course. I will be getting some from your daughter. Thanks again.

[@davidthegood]

No poisonous ones I know of. Green Deane at eattheweeds.com has great info.

[@breaking_bear]

Is it called Biden's alva because politicians like to smell it?

[@qualqui]

Missed the IRIE Food Forest Goodstream David, but here just plain DAZZLED by it! So then you not only have your Grocery Row, but now a young but ever so diverse and fruitful Food FOrest?

[@davidthegood]

Yes, that's right. The GRG is for higher production. The food forest is for later, when we'll be reaping baskets of fruit.

[@ZE308AC]

I need that big ginger 🫚 in my life 😩

[@mekay235]

[@utubeCENSORSaregai]

Does the bidens alba ever forget where its at? ✌️🇺🇸🙏