Chicken Compost - Leaf Bag Mountain and Rock Mulch working!

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Happy growing!

[@lawsonhannah]

I drive around local neighborhoods and collect the leaf bags. People spend hours filling up the leaf bag and you get all that labor free! :)

[@CharlieLemmink]

For anyone who wants to scale up, consider contacting landscape workers. I put a sign up near the road this year asking for leaves, and I was handsomely rewarded with at least 20 trailer-loads full. It's way more than I'll use next year (and probably even the year after that), but free organic material is always welcome (as long as you have the room for it!).

[@charlenekociuba7396]

@@CharlieLemmink Do you sell the earth made from the leaves? Is it a small business option for a senior citizen? I have been gathering all the leaves that have fallen for over a month, loading them onto cardboard and into a bin. I have found that I do not get enough earth to fill my "no dig" so I have retrieved some "black gold" and composted leaves from city recycle to add on lasagna style. I had to go and buy composted top soil with cow manure from a farm to add on the fertilizer part of the new bed. What point am I missing that I labored so hard to make the mounds for the veggie garden I seek to have going? It's all hard work especially since i have to climb up twenty stairs initially with the buckets and then hike up to the third level of my property. I would like to make my own and carry up far less in the future. I may go a hunting for some bags before they all disappear. I love your video, intriguing and except for the chickens, ( I don't have and can't have), your idea to let the leaves decompose is awesome. I have been loading on leaves for several years. But I'm game....!

[@CharlieLemmink]

@@charlenekociuba7396 The fact that I was able to have so many leaves delivered so easily has made me consider selling compost as a business option, but I haven't investigated it much. My impression is that it probably wouldn't be all that lucrative for me, but it's hard to say. At the moment, it is all for my personal use in building up what I'd one day like to call a "food forest." Before I had them delivered, I had "stolen" roughly 150 bags that were on the curb in town, so I can definitely recommend that! They're a lot easier to carry than finished compost (especially if you go for the unshredded ones--those can be very light), so taking those and composting them yourself could save some of the heaving. Also, I just want to clarify--I have no association with EdibleAcres (and actually don't even have chickens myself, yet) other than that I think they make great videos, but simply wanted to throw an idea out there that worked for me.

[@p_roduct9211]

@@CharlieLemmink what's your technique for gathering those 150 bags? Driving around Sundays? How much do you average per street or neighbourhood explored in a day? I'm wondering what the time and cost of gas is.

[@CharlieLemmink]

@@p_roduct9211 My wife and I have only one car, so on the days when I need it, I drop her off at work and grab the bags on the way home (and again after work). I also made a couple trips exclusively for grabbing leaf bags, but generally my leaf-bag-stealing was done when I was already in the area.

[@Growveguk]

I think this type of system should be deployed worldwide. We, as humans, have completely lost our way! Food waste is nothing but a crime against the planet. All waste streams should be diverted into feeding farm animals. Eggs from waste is surely a no brainer for us. Why in the world do we landfill good wholesome food scraps? I am shocked by the systems we have in place that we accept and call the norm. For a so called 'Evolved' species it seems that much of the time we have barely progressed at all. The older I get, the more I tend to pick up from nature, the planet has it's very own way and fully recycling all organic matter 100% without the need to dig great holes in the ground and pack it full of matter that is below the active soil biology. All we are doing is creating methane via anaerobic decomposition and adding to the greenhouse effect! Keep up the great work you and Sasha are rediscovering and hopefully it will make an impact on the populous of our planet.

[@Polish2075]

A small step towards the good... There's a platform called makesoil.org that brings Soil Makers (people who compost) and Soil Supporters (people who have food waste) together and therefore helps divert waste from landfill and to make Soil instead. Check it out :)

[@wolfbirdhomestead600]

I am emulating edible acres' system (ig: "oak park eggery") on an abandoned urban lot (10 minutes from the capitol building of Sacramento, CA) I get arborist wood chips dropped on site and receive large amounts of food waste (whole fruits/veg) from a local organization (that collects from restaurants/homes via bike). Sean and Sasha have been an incredible inspiration for me and I thank them for taking the time to share their valuable information.

[@sandraperez7331]

@@wolfbirdhomestead600 do you work with an organization in sacramento? I am interested.

[@wolfbirdhomestead600]

@@sandraperez7331 it's just me but I would love to be able to get organized and scale up the operation. I would like to get more restaurants/neighborhood involved in consistently bringing their food waste as well as strategically placing more sites across the city, where people can conveniently bring their food waste to a local site. Right now I'm working on so many projects right now (just got 50 yards of compost!) so I am spread thin but it's definitely doable if more people get involved.

[@johnrobertson2520]

conglomerate business can't monopolies the regenerative system.. Our education system doesn't value A healthy ecosystem. Raising a population of takers

[@briantorsell]

Others may have the goal of climbing Mt. Everest; I want to conquer Leaf Bag Mountain. Another great video!

[@KnolltopFarms]

+1 for inducing smile function!

[@lanesteele240]

I mean a kid could get lost in there

[@mceniryroschke]

Nice video!! I just buried some tree trunks in fall leaves (creating similar leaf mountains contained in snow fence) with intention of creating three 12-18ft hugelkultur beds. I need more nitrogen to kickstart the breakdown and I'll soon start collecting coffee grounds. I've released my worm bin in the meantime, but it's small. I envy your chicken helpers. I plan to cover with community compost in late winter. Hopefully it works. I'll be following your updates.

[@draco4540]

i hate heights, but i think i can handle the leaf bag mountain.

[@elizebethparker5412]

"Vending machine of compost." That is awesome!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Sean, you may like my "Old man trail" video series - it will give you a laugh. I collected 1370 leaf bags this year, and turned them into winding future food forest strips. When you said it's an ugly aesthetic but "I like it", well, there's at least one other dude out there who agrees with you. These things are like treasure bags at the end of driveways. So much insane value out there to collect. I absolutely love your home setup. It's just absolutely beautiful (and functional). You are the reason I'm doing this, and I'm going to spend the next 40 years of my life watching your videos and thanking you for changing my life.

[@edibleacres]

That is an amazing feat right there! It is exciting to see more and more folks getting really into the leaf bag world. I bet you are seeing that with your viewers and online community, too. They are an amazing resource and just so much fun to work with I find :) Great to see your channel growing and the content flowing, I'm going to put your channel on my main edible acres youtube page so more folks can find your great content. Thanks for doing what you do up there!

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

@@edibleacres thats so kind of you, thanks so much. A watcher of both our channels, Charlie Lee started a leaf bag challenge on reddit in /r/composting. It has been fun to watch people get excited about this wonderful resource available to us from people who know not the value of their waste stream :)

[@janelightning73]

I love that you care about the chickens' little feet staying out of cold mud!

[@boyofGod81]

A person doesn’t have to care about their chickens to know that it’s unhealthy for most animals to be running around in mud. Although like me, it sounds like his chickens are highly valued, cared for, and loved.

[@davidschmidt270]

Right?

[@elariel01]

There is something so soothing about watching healthy happy chickens just living their best chicken life. Convinced this is what chicken utopia looks like.

[@sbffsbrarbrr]

I will never be doing what this gentleman does but clicked on when I saw the "leaf bag mountain". Maybe I've just noticed but more and more people are realizing what a great garden resource leaves are. I've seen a number of postings on Facebook Marketplace for "free leaves" at this time of year. In fact, many posters are quite hilarious and can go into detail about why their leaves are the best! I was also able to score 2 free 4'x'4'x4' pallet packing crates on marketplace and completely filled these up with leaves. The wood crates are more suitable for my smaller suburban back yard. I hope there will be a little leaf mold next spring to add to my raised garden beds.

[@ianonley65]

And if I could pick up bags of leaves like that I’d be in double heaven. From Australia

[@reogrande8020]

I'm in Australia,I travel with sheets in the car, when you see a bunch takes up to get mulched or where the council will clear it you can just sd t rake it up and carry it off.

[@hugshoney3409]

Always enjoy the Chicken TV. I'm learning so much about chickens.

[@edibleacres]

Really glad

[@MsMary-mg3ho]

I usually watch with the volume low and the closed captioning on, and during "chicken TV" the captioning picks up the chicken sounds as "applause" and "laughter." So, I think they're happy! 😂🙂

[@edibleacres]

Wonderful!

[@jeffskinner1226]

Those chickens climbing over a mountain of dry leaves just looks right.

[@edibleacres]

Doesn't it, though? THey seem so relaxed and happy when they're on there, I can imagine it being fun and comforting

[@jennifermansfield9327]

I love how the girls go crazy as you are making these new compost piles! I used discarded leaves from our town drop-off - folks were a bit surprised as they forked leaves out - I was taking them into my mini. It was great - now I need to research what the town does with all those leaves....

[@edibleacres]

Great image :) I wonder if you can connect with them, or better yet a worker for the town, and see if they can skip the dump and move them directly to your spot!

[@JLJohnson]

Greetings from the ‘burbs of Kansas City, MO. I’ve been watching you all year from a townhome with zero land. We just upgraded to a house and have huge plans for spring in part thanks to your videos. Our leaf mountain isn’t nearly as large but with generous neighbors we must have 20 bags plus four rings. Thanks for your super relaxed I formative videos.

[@md6397]

@ 8:43 😂🤣 you're dry humor is nice. You have influenced me to bring home truckloads of leaf bags every time I make a trip to town. Got around 40 so far and i'm with you...I like the ones full of shredded leaves better.

[@gardenboots7464]

Chicken TV - it doesn't get much better :) Didn't get to collect bags of leaves this year - so this is the next best thing! (contented sigh) SO GRATEFUL for your channel - keep being you.

[@CristalPNL]

Chicken TV is so adorable and funny idea I love it 🥰

[@melindadoennig7799]

That is the richest soil I have seen!! Amazing job!!

[@jonrev5630]

That chicken let you know it was feeling stepped on ! :)

[@AmandaIsAwesome]

I love this channel. Your set up is so inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing 💕

[@yolylacy5416]

What a great system. Thank you, Sean for taking the time to show and teach us what you are doing.

[@David-fv7zg]

I have done almost the same thing for several years now. Basically build a wall from the leaf bags, I do not dump them, three bags wide. I build it tall, about 6 feet as long as it needs to be. I then cover it with any old compost or manures. By the next spring it is composted, bags and all. I also fill the chicken run with loose leaves. The chickens tear it up and by spring, this is super stuff, for planting. Let the chickens to the work turning it. I usually use 350 bags of leaves. I make a LOT of compost, enough to last an entire year.

[@edibleacres]

That is awesome, you are doing it at the real deal scale there, so glad you found a system that works so nicely, wow!

[@jksatte]

How big is your garden. That seems like it would make a whole lot of compost. I can't wait to get a place to start these things. Janice

[@jlazelle1]

Ha! I went and got a few loads of leaves today but you guys are ridiculous. You work so hard and it is really inspiring.

[@ZombiesCometh]

Love seeing those pumpkins 🎃 I was able to get several crates of “ornamental” squash, the bumpy/wart covered gourds for free at the farmers market for my chickens this week. 80% were perfectly fine, but they had no more sale-ability. Smash them open with a hammer and on the pile they go! My system 100% inspired by your guy’s. Ty!

[@christineortmann359]

Great job scoring leaf bags- our neighbor chopped his leaves, Pine needles and grass and bagged them and gave them to us!! 30 plus bags 😁. Love your videos!! Inspiration to us !

[@edibleacres]

Oh wow!

[@beck5787]

Every year I wish I’d collected more leaves. They’re an incredible resource. Kudos! Totally worth your time and effort.

[@edibleacres]

I wish I collected more, too! It is really pretty fun to do.

[@reogrande8020]

I once had my entire 350 metre back yard 20cm deep in leaves, my chickens were pushing through it like a snow drift and only weeks later I wished that I'd had more. I recently made a grass stack 5 foot tall and wide and 10 feet deep and after a few months of adding it to paths and bird enclosures and mulching potatoes I wish I'd got more, alwaysxgwt twice as much free carbon as you think you'll need then do it again.

[@donalenaparadise5940]

Last year my family thought I was crazy because I managed to collect about 600 bags of leaves. This year I’ve only been able to collect 80 bags so I’m kinda bummed but my family saw how everything break down so quickly but at least they get it now

[@etruedus]

Hurray! Another beautiful video of the chickens and the compost. Thank you Shawn and Sasha! I wish you a great and bountiful winter!

[@salliebeard1899]

Amazing....love the added heat source for the greenhouse....love chicken TV, don't have any YET😁

[@deecooper1567]

I love using what Mother Nature has given us❣️. Warms my 💚 to see that Huge pile of leaves👵🏻👩‍🌾❣️

[@edibleacres]

I'm so excited for this years harvest :)

[@kimberlysmith258]

LOVE THESE VIDEOS! Thank you for your hard work. Peace Love, stay safe!

[@edwardcave1947]

I have a source of pallets that are not useable for the forklift. They pile the unwanted ones outside for people to have. I made a square of 8 pallets. I drove 2 stakes 2 feet tall into the ground for each pallet so I can lift the pallet on and off. Then string tied the corners. I filled it with leaves,, using the empty bags as insulation . Then added coffee grounds, old rotting grass clippings, sugar and water spray, and some granular fertilizer. I’ve covered it with a plastic sheet and will turn it over in a week. I’m hoping for some decomposition and heat to carry it through the winter in SW Ontario.

[@greeneacreshomestead]

I love the rock idea! Aesthetically pleasing and cost effective! The use of the leaves is very well done too. Grateful for your shared ideas.

[@tylerehrlich1471]

What a fascinating and EASY way to work with Chicken's gifts to benefit the trees! Love to see it!! And Wow, your chickens have so much to do and so much clean, always cycling bedding, they are clean and happy in a way I rarely see!

[@RagbagMcShag]

Love the timelapses with all those little chickens scattering over the stuff :D

[@edibleacres]

They're fun to watch for me too, seeing how much activity is going on.

[@susanquinlan7426]

You always inspire me. Be the change!

[@barrypetejr5655]

Lots and lots of leaves.....gotta luv it....never such a thing as too many !!! Leaves is what saved my garden during the drought last summer. And they turn in to such rich black gold...and the chickens do love them so for bedding !!! 😊

[@erikasanchez7972]

Awesome, I had the same idea for my area, chicken coop. Let them help me compost

[@OG-Everthing]

Thank you so much

[@kcmgfarm2389]

Love chicken tv, honestly🐓

[@KnolltopFarms]

Hello Sean and Sasha, I was hoping for a little of your calm, thoughtful insight into dealing with the psychological burden of realizing how incredibly wasteful our society has become when you collect these resources. Yesterday I assumed the responsibility of taking the food waste from the produce dept. at my local grocery store, and the sheer volume of it(roughly 600lbs.on the 1st day), coupled with the completely edible nature of 70% of the food, has my mind a bit blown at the moment. Thankfully the 600# figure is from 2-3 days worth of back-up, after the previous person 'dropped the ball', as the nice produce manager put it. So, now I'm onboard for 5 days a week, and after doing the math...again, mind blown! On one hand, I'm super happy to have the resource, on the other I'm hoping the obscenity of it all wears off so I can continue...I think, or is that just making myself callous? Please help with any insight you may have on the matter, Thank You.

[@edibleacres]

So proud you are doing what you are doing. I'm afraid the stunning feeling of just how massively wasteful this society is will probably not wear off. I'm 15 years into digging around in dumpsters for old food and it still shocks me. We've started taking things like onions, squash, avocados, etc, things that have their own 'wrapper' and if they are in good shape we eat them. THis has saved us a lot on food bills and doing this work helps us feel like we are trying to be doing some good in this crazy world, but seeing a mountain of perfect broccoli or super ripe bananas, etc. It's always a little depressing. But keep at it, it's important work!

[@winnipegnick]

@Knolltop Farms, I was reading an article and saw some videos on how potato factory was dealing with the massive amount of peels and waste that are produced daily. I recommend that you try search for it and maybe you will get ideas.

[@lifepuzzler8004]

Foodbanks and breweries as well. I have 30 pigs and 70 something birds - and pay nothing but labor to get PALLETS of UNexpired food. Foodbank scraps from local church, pallets of chips/nuts from tax write off donations, and endless brewery mash.... Seek and find, my dude!

[@p_roduct9211]

@@lifepuzzler8004 very interesting application. Cool to hear a business take convert something old for use.

[@bethatz252]

Watching the chickens moving around you while you were constructing leaf mountain was pretty entertaining, especially in fast motion.

[@Mary-had-a-lil-farm]

Happy happy chickenland there 😁. Love the leaves in the pathways. Like the sound and smell when walking on them. Love the leaf pile. Reminds me of raking the leaves in a pile as a kid. Of coarse we then played in the said piles and had to rake again lol. Great video, thank you.

[@VagabondAnne]

This is so helpful right now, thank you! My chickens tore up my summer garden, and I'm working on "systems" for next year. I want happy hens, but a garden too!

[@freshfromthegarden5892]

Great video! I've got a similar pile at my garden; it's about 8 cubic feet penned in by a big piece of spare 2x4 wire fencing and insulated on the sides by the paper of the bags. Such a great fall resource.

[@slaplapdog]

Small scale compare to your mountain, but I have stashed some leaf bags in a pallet "cube", with a tarp under the pallet "lid". That is my solution for keeping them dry, so they can be chicken bedding. The pallet "cube" started out as a very deep(tall?) raised bed that I was filling with woody debris. That first layer of wood keeps the bags away from groundwater. I am planning one more such cube and a bunch more half as high, all as leaf storage that can become raised beds as they are emptied. I need to shake loose more time to grab leaf bags, I've yet to have enough!

[@andrewsackville-west1609]

Leaf bag mountain! I love it! Meanwhile, yes, I'm getting lots of inspiration from these videos. Thanks for doing this.

[@edibleacres]

So glad!``

[@reogrande8020]

The dust bath ladies reminded me of how I got home from work today to find the neighbours kid had let the hens out again and they were dust bathing having dug up my recently sown bed of corn. I like my birds, and giving the neighbours a peice of my mind isn't worth it.

[@renaissancewomanfarm9175]

Perhaps a latch on your chicken yard... higher than the little fart can reach.

[@caterchatter4671]

@@renaissancewomanfarm9175 LOL!

[@mickdhein6180]

I am glad you are back to making more frequent videos now that fall nursery season is over. Your videos make me hopeful for the future and help me with many of the ailments caused by this "new normal" Covid life. Thank you for your interesting content and just for being yourself Sean.

[@edibleacres]

So glad you find the videos valuable. We'll keep em coming for sure :)

[@FoodForestLiving]

Love your leaf bag mountain! We got ourselves several bags this year too :)

[@pharmerdavid1432]

I'm inspired by the videos here!!! /GRATITUDE/RESPECT/ (for the camera partner too)

[@naimahmuhammad9294]

Woow 🍃 what a Bountiful Yard 🍃 I really enjoyed this whole presentation . Thanks for sharing ‼️

[@edibleacres]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@foziahramli3001]

Very interesting and doable technique of composting.....a win win situation for your chickens and your neighbourhood...

[@richardgore2000]

Very inspired, excellent work

[@PleasantPrickles]

This is my second fall/winter watching your channel and I really respect the fact that your processes are ever evolving with your resources and your growing knowledge. Always enjoy seeing the chickens in their chicken paradise! 🐓

[@edibleacres]

Definitely keep evolving, some ideas proving to be silly or not as valuable, but worth showing the process, if only to help other folks realize there isn't a 'perfect' design they need to implement,but that all of this is iterative and evolving.

[@rhondamontiel3827]

I too get very excited with the bounty of fall leaves. Love 💘 this!

[@edibleacres]

Isn't it so much fun ? :)

[@kygal2873]

Love watching!

[@poodledaddles1091]

Heck ya I'm inspired! Thanks for the video!

[@irinaa1458]

Very informative video, thank you very much! I will certainly implement that with my chickens as soon as I get them. As for the rock 'mulch', I have been using this method (medium sized cobbles in my case) in my previous garden to keep the grey squirrels from digging and damaging the roots of my potted trees. Apart from the barbed wire placed in pots, that my neighbours used, the rocks was the only other thing that worked.The pressure was rather intense, they dug in every corner, even dug up my freshly planted garlic... In the end, I resorted to laying chicken wire over the beds every fall until the garlic was good 10" tall in spring.

[@edibleacres]

Wow, that is intense squirrel life right there. I haven't heard of that level of pressure. Glad you have the rocks to work with, the barbed wire seems kind of nasty.

[@puffcrusader696]

Love the chicken compost system. Been trying to integrate some of the techniques for my own flock so they produce more than just eggs. So far so good! Love these chicken compost videos

[@edifying]

Same here.

[@fry9000]

Enjoyed the video!

[@KFemenias]

Love watching your chicken paradise.

[@mariolopez1613]

Thank you much

[@monabale8263]

i love your rock mulch idea. the southwest corner of my house & flowerbed get wind whipping around the corner so fast sometimes that all coverings that i have tried there, get blasted away- until i began placing random sandstones in the path wind would take. they block & protect the plants, give a jumpstart of warmth in spring and also hold water, which keeps them from cooking the plants in summer.

[@markjudymenting2996]

I have adopted your leaf system for my chicken run. They LOVE it. The yolks of their eggs are getting deeper color, so they are almost orange. Thank you! And the rocks around the trees is genius. They were uncovering my lilac bushes, but they don't mess with the rocks. Now I'm gonna take wire rings and make little compost towers like you did. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@edibleacres]

So glad these ideas are working for you.

[@sheliadean9548]

Just found your channel today. I love it thank you for sharing this information with us

[@edibleacres]

Shelia, we're glad you found us, thanks for coming along for the adventure!

[@donnabrown1518]

I have just been giving my own yard leaves, household and garden scraps to our chickens along with giving them chicken feed. I have been cooking root crops from the garden as well. They really love the turnips and winter radishes cooked!

[@edibleacres]

Your hens are really loved.

[@boyofGod81]

Great ideas you are sharing. I live on a hill so gravity helps me with my compost going into the chicken pen. My dad started years ago putting leaves in the chicken pen to keep the mud down. Good old country boy who was born in the chicken pen was he.

[@chafouincatnip5648]

So smart ! thanks for sharing !

[@SuperHank777]

Can’t wait to see the progression of the pile

[@michaelgauro]

I like the way you are gardening. And your chickens are very lucky. Greetings from Germany!

[@edibleacres]

Thank you very much

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

The "BTE" idea has everyone talking about getting "wood chips" for their gardens. I bet if you started calling leaves something like "Fertilizer from heaven" or some such, it would go viral! I filled a 4'X4'X4' bin with packed maple leaves, they have settled down now. Snow hasn't came here yet, maybe I will fill it again. Wanting to experiment with making leaf mold. I was just thinking I might not bother getting hens again. But every time I watch your chicken videos, I want them!

[@prestonfunkhouser1301]

cool ideas. thank you for sharing

[@olgakuchukov6981]

Seriously, chicken TV is the best. You should make a multi hour reel. I’d watch it. Having chickens is impractical for me on my very small steep wooded hill but many people have them all around me, friends, etc. and I LOVE to hang out with them, listen to them. Beats yulelog TV every day!

[@olgakuchukov6981]

Skip ahead a coupla years and I am getting chickens and ducks and figuring out a way! My neighbor got some and I’ve been interacting with them, turning into a bona fide crazy chicken lady. Chicken youtube university grad. Watching these videos again to design my much smaller system; understanding the systems so much more. It’s all very exciting and s complete game-changer with respect to their favorite writhing slithering food source. Their enthusiasm is off the charts. What fun beings! Thank you, Sean. 😎

[@samsmith9764]

What a great idea with the leaf pile! here in Australia, we don't have much by the way in deciduous trees. we have to manage with straw and lawn trimmings :D cute and fat chickens too :)

[@K1LD3R]

7:50 "UH" hahaha, glad she's okay - and you didn't fall all the way

[@OurSoVaLife]

great ideas. I love your channel. You have some creative perspective thinking ! Thanks for sharing

[@edibleacres]

Very happy to share

[@MartinaSchoppe]

Now I have "leave-bag-envy" :D In my part of Germany everybody seems to have understood to not give leaves away. The only source I have is the lady who is raking up the leaves off the walkways, streets ect. in our village. That gives me juuuuuuuuuuust about enough to cover almost all my garden beds. But I could definitly use twice as much.

[@gerardhoward5321]

Totally enjoy your videos...Very informative

[@edibleacres]

Glad you like them!

[@Lauradicus]

So nice to watch happy hens. Love the way your minds work. Thanks for sharing these great ideas. Leaf bags... hmmm. I wonder if they would be strong enough to use to level off a hillside for planting trees. A little bit of compost, a lot of wood chips uphill over a couple of years... hmmm. Maybe some tree limbs and stakes as a base layer to stop the initial layer from rolling or sliding with all of our rain here... hmmm.

[@edibleacres]

It's a really cool thought... They certainly could be part of a longer term solution, so long as a fair bit of soil/logs/rocks are included as well to tie things together for the future. Maybe start with annuals in a context like that for a year or two and see how it performs then fit in the trees...

[@renaissancewomanfarm9175]

I am starting to use the stick method to keep deer off my younger trees. Of course , it has to be upscaled but deer really do not like the feeling of getting their legs caught so keep their feet out of the brush. So far, so good. My coop is a smaller one and built on stilts and last year I left the leaves in the bag and wedged the bags between the coop legs. It blocked the wind and they liked going under the coop and hanging out in the middle of all that insulation. As they slowly pulled the leaves out, the bag would deflate, and then I would just shake out the remainder of the leaves and shove a new bag in. I'm trying to find ways to evolve my yard which is much smaller than yours, but I think I would like to build a small hoop house for them for the winter. You keep giving me ideas and I'm thinking since the pony will keep pooping all winter (as ponies do) that maybe I can just stay ahead of it and compost/process that in a small hoop and give the girls a nice place to hang out that would be warm and free of snow. Since my yard is small maybe I need to be incorporating a chicken tunnel system to get them to work on other areas. I don't know.... lots of room for thought.

[@edibleacres]

So many new projects always just round the corner :)

[@fallenangelwi25]

Thanks for another great video ☺️❤️

[@edibleacres]

You are so welcome!

[@JayBirdsDay]

Excellent chicken TV!

[@Ishmaler4]

Very cool been doing the exact same thing with wood chips for a year now it’s absolutely amazing isn’t it free and very healthy happy chickens and ducks that I have. Will also be introducing rabbits and toiteses as well.

[@groworforage342]

I use branches and driftwood around my plants, it works great to keep the chickens out. I have little rain so they don't decompose quickly

[@alleyapples]

I honestly would watch/listen to an hour long video of just your chickens making chicken sounds, doing chicken things. :) I was able to collect about 12 bags of oak+maple leaves from a colleague in the burbs (MN) for my vegetable garden this year. Hopefully I'll be able to tap into that resource for years to come -- would like to take home 30 next fall. We just lost the majority of our boulevard trees (ash) this summer. Our block has very few mature trees remaining: 2 maples, 3 walnuts (not good for an annual garden), and 1 hackberry. It stresses me out that neighbors on other blocks with more trees are burning their leaves and taking them to yard waste! They honestly don't believe me when I tell them that I want them! Hoping to see this shift over time as more folks get comfortable with keeping and using the leaves for compost or mulch.

[@edibleacres]

I hope more folks get onboard with respecting the value of the leaf!

[@winnipegnick]

Maybe if you tell them you will return the bags, they may take you up on it? Or do a bag exchange, give them empty bags and ask them to fill them for you!

[@themicromansion4218]

I appreciate your experiments! I have adapted your chicken food stream to suit my limited mobility. My feathered friends have to work a little harder than yours. LOL Keep up the great videos!

[@k0mm4nd3r_k3n]

**VIDEO SUGGESTION** I am very grateful for how approachable, informative and insightful your videos are. I've already improved my place from learning from the edible acres crew. Having said that, chicken TV is a winner, and can I suggest a new Chicken TV half hour episode at the end of each of the four seasons, sort of showing the best footage through that season. I can't imagine it adds too much more than some editing sessions each season to your workload, and I really think lots of people would love it.

[@edibleacres]

Thanks for sharing this. I know Chicken TV is a winner as a lot of folks say so. We'll plan to film a lot more out there. Perhaps we'll do some this morning !

[@emcmanus5528]

Did anyone else really was Sasha to jump out of leaf bag moutain and scare us?! ;-) Think you guys are amazing. Thanks for all your videos.

[@leelastarsky]

Chicken TV for the win!!

[@christdriven8790]

Luv it thank you!!!

[@gerardmarques649]

Don't have chickens or a garden but thinking of how to revitalize a patch of our yard that we've been reclaiming from Japanese knotweed. There have been a few ideas that might help when I try next spring to reintroduce more native flora to the area. Thank you for the video it was informative even without being farmer

[@edibleacres]

So glad you found it useful. I'm not a farmer either.

[@antiowarr9467]

Another excellent video, when someone worries about a chickens feet getting cold u have to love there thinking. Look at them just resting on the compost you don't get chickens more content than this. lol lol I don't think I seen a chicken fight on this channel yet except for a scatter time 1 chicken will keep the others in there place, lol lol I bet the eggs must be awesome and any produce grown in that top soil must have a full flavor from all the vitamins and minerals in that top soil. keep up the awesome job. thx

[@lawrencelawrence3920]

I have no chickens but I gather leaves and mulch them up with my lawn mower then I spread and dig them into my garden. I also collect post Halloween pumpkins and take them to a chicken farm. The chickens love them

[@SugarCreekOffGrid]

I was all proud of my leaf pile until I saw yours!! Awesome

[@edibleacres]

We all do what we can where we can.

[@mickeygallz5483]

Totally went around my neighborhood in downtown Kansas City in my Honda CR-V picking up maybe a total of 60 bags. Only had 2 awkward interactions.

[@edibleacres]

That is a lot of bag per awkward! 30 bpa.. (bags per awkward :)

[@hymanocohann2698]

Grew up gardening and gleaning fields, good on you, a Quonset style plastic covered green house develops a tremendous amount of heat when filled with active compost..

[@edibleacres]

I plan to set that up this winter, I'm excited to see how it all works out.

[@ianonley65]

Hey, love your videos. I would use rocks to protect roots if I had them. I would have to go a long way though. I use old pallets on the ground. Put the tree/bush in and place the pallet over the stem. Generally they rot pretty quick and add to overall accumulation but they don’t interfere with growing stem if made of soft wood. Then I screw a wire ring to the top of the pallet till it gets high enough to be safe from chickens. You want no branches for the first 4-5 feet. You don’t want them resting on the branches, they do too much damage. Thank you for your videos. I love them :)

[@edibleacres]

Good notes here, thank you!

[@tiarianamanna973]

I love these systems 🐥🐔🐣🐤🐔🐓🐥🐓🐔🐔🐦🐤🐣🐔🐓🐔🐔🐔🐦🐥😍

[@dhammon64]

I can totally relate to leaf bag mountain. Been collecting leaves for the past several years to use in my compost so I can build no dig beds...

[@dhammon64]

Oh, and I'm over here in Cortland County!!!

[@edibleacres]

Hey there neighbor!

[@WILLITGROW]

very nice just found your channel..good stuff and info sir..

[@edibleacres]

Welcome aboard!