Apple Tree Guild Part II

[@wendyr435]

I'm a little late to the party since this video is 2 years old but I completely agree with you on how we have to modify some permaculture theories. I also live on the high desert in Southern Arizona. Our biggest problem here is animals. I cannot just plant fruit trees into the ground without creating a smorgasbord for gophers, rabbits, mice, rats, and javalinas. It's so frustrating. Never in my life have I had so much resistance to nearly everything I have grown. Last year corn ear worms ate most of my corn, squash bugs moved in on the squash but thankfully at the end of the season I did get squash. There have been many times I have just wanted to give up. This year I am trying the Green Stalk planters and maybe I'll be able to harvest some strawberries. Anyway, all that to say I agree with you.

[@epitt22]

I enjoy your teaching as you “simplify” it with charts. (And who doesn’t love graphs and charts!) but that way I can put the plants needed in categories and search out what will work in our area. Thank you so much for your time to put the videos together.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

emily1922: Thanks for sharing! We are happy that Pam makes the information easy for you to understand and use. Jim

[@crescentandsparrow27]

great video, like always! We have apple, peach, nectarine, and pear trees and I'm very excited to build some guilds for them all!

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Sounds great! Let us know the results. It may take a while. Jim

[@YenniHope]

These two videos are educational and honest - permaculture is site spesific and I - living in Northern Europe - also have got excited on methods from areas that are way too different from mine. BUT still, I have learned from this video and many videos from enthusiastic gardeners who are willing to try out things in completely different climates. I can't do exactly same things. but I get ideas and develop them trough trial and error here.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Thank you so much for watching our videos and for your comment. Best of luck as you go forward!

[@AcornHillHomestead]

I wish those sharing gardening information would tell viewers their zones, locations within the country and their soil types. Its so frustrating. You are so thorough. Thank you for that. Most of us don’t have money to waste on trial and error when the plants don’t fit our situations.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

We are in 7b, but the only thing that tells you is when our last frost date is. It says nothing about the aridity or humidity which also affects plants. Parts of Arkansa is also in 7b and we can't grow a lot of what they can. We don't get nearly the rain! We have still had to do a lot of trial and error to get much of anything to grow here!

[@wendyr435]

@RoseRed Homestead -- That "Woman with a Gadget" right! The zones do not take into account all of the little microclimates we all have in our gardens. We live a short distance from a river and the temperature difference in the winter from places just down the road can be 20°colder here. This is why it's so important to get outside and study your properties. Where does the water flow when it rains, is one area cooler than the other? Our house is colder in the back than it is in the front. There's just so much to consider and can be daunting! I didn't ever have to think about what I planted back home in Colorado but I literally have to think about every single thing I plant here in Arizona.

[@akfinn5308]

Try not wasting money on trial and error by not spending money on them. Get them thru friends or people who share plants in your area. That would mean you would have to talk to others.

[@paularizzo5217]

Those tree guilds are lovely. I had never seen those. By the way, earthworms love cardboard. They love the grooves in it. It is very interesting seeing the progress of each guild. I love the look of the compost/mulch layers.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Thank you so much.

[@carolynmcbride3136]

Last year I planted 2 columnar & 3 dwarf varieties of apples...They all bloomed well a month after planting but didn't set any fruit...This Spring, moderate leafing & 1 stem on 1 tree set 6 apples...I pruned off 3 & left 3 & they're growing well...I'm so thrilled!

[@patriciamccrea8236]

You are honest and wise and encouraging and inspiring! Thank you!

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Patricia: You are welcome. Jim

[@vikkisoderquist6013]

Thank you! Please stay safe and sending hugs to you both! 💜🙏😎

[@maggiewallington491]

I have been watching your channel for a yr and am so happy to see your apple guilds. I have also learned the hard way of which I'm in the Arizona mid desert area. It took me 5 yrs to figure out how to get a tomato to grow and get a yield. ( 8 qts of sauce) so excited for this yr of gardening. Back to your guilds, I have two apple trees: 1 yr. They had me worried, but with every 3 months of fertilizer. Chicken and rabbit poop that I soak in 5 gals of water. They are wonderful this spring. One guild is with mulch, and the other is with 1-inch rock. They have different seasons but seem to have a justed great. I have to now plant my herbs and plants for protection. I love watching your video show, and thanks for all your efforts. Maggie W.

[@cipriantodoran1674]

8:15 beautyfull to get a revisit to a failure, and rethink everything. Thx

[@monarchkitty]

Love your guild videos. Would love to see an update.

[@judithhobson5868]

james from new jersey is so enthusiastic but like you i live in a completely different enviroment (dry mediterrainian) but have taken on board the soil nurturian and due to my nursing career with the disabled for over 30 years i have included raised beds up to my waist, (just made with galvanized iron and half filled with gravel then topped off with compost and manure).i started guilds about 10 years ago and use daffodils as the first line od weed suppression from the rest of the garden

[@christopherinsaudiarabia]

It looks wonderful! So amazing to see the changes, but also to learn from your trial-and-error experiences. Thank you for sharing your insights and lessons learned.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Hi Chris! You are welcome. It is always fun to share things like this.

[@lynsmith2698]

Thank you Pam....you inspire me. And even though we live in totally different climates, and even though they are both challenging, we can learn things and get inspired to try new things. And that is what is important. I had to google what a guild was, now i know and want to watch your other video so i can take that idea and make it work for us. I am so loving your channel, dont ever stop.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

You are so welcome! Thanks for your comments. It is so good when we can all learn from one another--we love that as well!

[@Stephenrsm7600]

Such a difference a year makes in the growth of your guilds!!! Thank you for inspiring words and for all your help!!! Ya'll have such a fantastic homestead!! Just amazing!!! Thank you for sharing and educating!!

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Our pleasure!

[@akfinn5308]

It is wonderful to have big dreams and visions. Without them the people perish - Scripture says. But we sure do need to live in reality. Up here in Alaska, we too have gardening challenges. Like you said, "you just need to keep trying".

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Such good advice!

[@desireengjackson8369]

Thank you so much for sharing these videos! I'm very interested in trying permaculture myself and I also live in the high desert (Different location and very different soil I'm sure) but your trial and error videos have been very educational and I really appreciate them

[@RoseRedHomestead]

I am so glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing your comments.

[@sarahdunn1855]

I have so much fun helping!

[@RoseRedHomestead]

And you are so good at it! We love having you here.

[@christasmicroflowerfarm2695]

Hi from Australia, thanks for the great advice and I'll be getting this method happening around my many fruit trees on our new property. we are currently building our new house and renting 2 streets away. Who ever would have thought we'd be building during a pandemic. We have our son with us as well as he is high risk. We are about 8 weeks away from moving in, yayyyyyyy.🏡💚🍎🍏🍎

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Best of luck! Thanks for watching!

[@joeyhardin1288]

Thank you.

[@Lauradicus]

As for building your worm population it is best to leave the cardboard, they love it, will break it down completely and it becomes castings. When it is really dry placing a small plank on the ground gives worms a cool damp place to hang out and they are protected from birds. In august plant daikon radishes throughout your guilds. Leave them alone, they won’t set seed that late in the season. The deep roots will aerate your soil (bio drilling) letting the rain that does fall be stored deeper in the soil. When the daikons die back with the cold the worms will spend the off season eating the roots creating a tube of worm castings and eggs. As for fennel, it’s best to direct seed, transplant shock can kill it and it’s easy to shock unless you use cloches or can guarantee 10 days of stable weather and climate conditions. As for the microbiome recovery, the less you interfere under the soil’s surface the faster it will stabilize and come back to health. For example, rather than creating a hole in the ground to transplant avoid digging at all. Rather, scatter oregano seeds on the surface, scatter a thin layer of compost over the seeds & only enough water to keep the compost from blowing away then leave them alone to sit through the winter. It will come up, most likely prolifically, a very successful plant in your climate. On the other end of the spectrum, rather than pulling up grass cut it right down to the ground level. Each time a portion of the roots die back. When the rootlets die they feed the microbes. The grass is weakened over time and will eventually stop growing. The M. Fungi are not disturbed, the carbon sequestered in the soil is intact, the micro-water channels are intact, the system is not stressed and the latent seeds in the weed bank don’t get the “soil is disturbed time to grow” message and most will remain dormant. We have to remember these systems are designed to work just fine without us. The hard part for those of us in our generation is to remove ourselves from the equation as much as possible. I had to put my hand tools in a box for 2 months to even become aware of how many times I was going to interfere unnecessarily without even thinking about it. 🙄💚🥰

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Thanks for your comments. I wish what you suggest worked in our climate but after trying most of what you suggest, we have had to find alternative methods that work in our hot and very dry high desert. We are now in a major drought situation, which has further complicated things.

[@Lauradicus]

@@RoseRedHomestead I’ve grown in IL, KY, AZ desert, OR Central Valley, CA maritime and WA soggy boggy no sun cold-11-months-of-the-year.... anywhere from dry desert to rain forest so know what you mean about what works better in other places. But worms love the glue in cardboard no matter what the weather. Cardboard reduces evaporation no matter how windy. A board will keep soil cool and damp no matter how hot. And daikon radish roots will become tubes of worm poop wherever there is a winter season. And time will heal all wounds, even the damage humans have inflicted upon Mother Nature. I was watching your video on comfrey and was a little surprised when you said that chop and drop doesn’t work because of your summer winds. That the comfrey just dries out. That is the way nature in your area hastens decomposition so I’m not understanding why you think it doesn’t work. It’s the minerals and nutrients in the broken down cells that work their way down from the soil surface into the deeper soil levels that regenerates the nutritional cycle. Can you tell me what it is you expect to happen with chop-n-drop? I mean, why do you think it has failed? Some folks have gotten alarmed when the comfrey leaves turn black and sit there for several months until they found out that is what is “supposed” to happen. 🙃

[@RoseRedHomestead]

@@Lauradicus I get all that. We laid cardboard down as part of our permaculture process nine years ago and it has not disintegrated yet in some places. The ground dries out too fast. And where it has finally decomposed, we never found any worms. I mulch piles of leaves for months and we do get a few worms at the very bottom, but not many. I use the rotted leaves to add organic material to our soil. I have purchased worms and put them everywhere. I have grown worms, or at least attempted to, but not with much success. We don't need daikon radishes to break up the soil because our soil is almost all sand and very loose, although I did grow them last year--all leaves and very little root. The pH of our soil is at about 7, which is excellent, but it takes more than a good pH to grow things, and we are making progress. albeit it slow, on learning to work our land. I take copious notes on planting data so I don't repeat mistakes. We have boards, bricks, blocks, you name it, down on the soil all over the place and there are a few roly polies once in awhile when we turn them over and once in a great while we see a worm or two. Before we were in this harsh drought and we could afford to water our back acreage I planted cover crops of buckwheat, legumes and green manure mixes that Jim then tilled in with the tractor. Comfrey leaves drying out is not the same as decomposition. Decomposition is when material breaks down into its components. Where we live the comfrey dries out and petrifies rather than decomposes and the wind carries it off. That is why I use the comfrey tea. I am sorry you think I do everything incorrectly, and without adequate knowledge, but that is not the case. Your experience is not my experience. You have expertise with what you deal with, and I have plenty of expertise with what I deal with.

[@andresamplonius315]

Hi, you could try Yarrow if you haven't done so already. Accumulator, compost activator, ground cover, medicinal, mulch, pollinator... Think it's good for chickens too... Ever tried growing Quinoa? It's hardy, should do well in your place's conditions. Also Teff... A high altitude root crop's Olluco could work...

[@milfieldfamilyfarm2228]

Wonderful channel! You deserve more views

[@RoseRedHomestead]

I appreciate that! Thank you.

[@judyjohnson1012]

Great job! We live in southeast Texas where it’s very humid and hot. I have had to do the same thing. Just find out what works in your area and on your land. Have you done your comfrey video yet? I have comfrey and would like to know more. Thanks

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Yes! Here is the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iX7TlGebhNWigNk

[@graylinranchnevada2175]

How do you deal with all the Russian thistle and cheatgrass? I'm in a similar climate in Northern Nevada at 5000' also.

[@meh4164]

I am looking through internet to learn about guilds for tropical region. Though this is temperate region, the information is worth a lot.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Thank you. We have really enjoyed building guilds around our fruit trees. Hope you can find the information you need.

[@florencemariagardy584]

Hello. Rose Just word on worms I live 30 miles above Binghamton. N. Y As soon as the ground is semi workable. I begin burying vegetable peelings saved throughout the winter I end up with what looks like a potholes plot I begin doing this at the end of March By the end of May in time for planting I find 100’s of worms Can this happen in your area?

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Florence: Thanks for the information. Jim

[@paularizzo5217]

Your cooperative extension service may be able to help you with native plants for your guilds.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Paula: Thank you! Jim

[@nancyhaywood6486]

do you have a rosemary bush. be glad to send you one if you'd like one.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Thank you so much! Yes, we have several rosemary bushes. They do well here and even survive our winters.

[@seachellegramma9847]

I watch James just to watch Tuck eat veggies. Lol

[@RoseRedHomestead]

Karyn: I am confused by your comment. Jim

[@seachellegramma9847]

@@RoseRedHomestead hi Jim. Rose mentioned a gardener in her video. I believe it's the one with the little dog "Tuck" who accompanies him through the video munching on carrots, cucumber, and broccoli. Besides your videos, James and Tuck are my favorite ones. Thank you for always having great information, as you see by my comments over a year after you put out content, it's timeless.

[@Michelle-oz1jc]

What will you do with the Comfrey? I’d like to make my fruit trees into a guild like this.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

We plan to do a video on comfrey in a few weeks showing its uses. i think you will really enjoy have fruit tree guilds--it is so good for the trees. Thanks for watching.

[@Michelle-oz1jc]

I’m looking forward to it-

[@carolynmcbride3136]

By the way, I in east Tampa, FL.

[@Jay-tk7ib]

Tomato hornworm? Plant lots of Dill.

[@RoseRedHomestead]

We've got that going this year--hope it really works. Thanks for the tip!