CHOP AND DROP - Feeding a food forest

Feeding the soil by chopping and dropping in The Weedy Garden.
Two years after planting my first seeds, The Weedy Garden is producing an abundance of food (and mulch).
After weeks of constant rain, the Weedy Garden is more like a Weedy Jungle.
In this video, I chop and drop some of the growth around the swales, and relocate a carpet snake living in the undergrowth.
Enjoy your jungles
Weedy
www.theweedygarden.com
/ 1299275850451560
In this episode, I refer to the following videos:
The Flow Hive: • THE FLOW HIVE - Harves...
Lismore Floods: • LISMORE FLOODS 2022 - ...
What is Permaculture?: • WHAT IS PERMACULTURE? ...
How to plant a Mango Tree: • PLANTING A MANGO TREE ...
How to make Biochar: • BIOCHAR - Building hom...
Thriving in a Survival Garden: • THRIVING IN A SURVIVAL...
How to Make Great Compost (compashi) in 21 Days: • MAGNIFICENT COMPOST IN...
What I did with 242 Pumpkins: • THE PUMPKIN ECONOMY - ...
Swales Part three: • DIGGING SWALES FOR A F...
The Food Forest: • THE FOOD FOREST - How ...
Planting a Fruit Tree the Ellen White Method: • HOW TO PLANT A FRUIT T...
#selfsufficientliving #selfsufficient #permaculture #organicgardening #howtogarden #growingyourownfood #sustainableliving #offthegrid #growfood #gardening #gardeningtips #sustainability #vegetablegarden #organic #gardening #foodsecurity #foodforest #orchid #flowhive #beekeeping

[@TheWeedyGarden]

A Weedy Garden T Shirt is a symbol. It is NOT a discount item or a meaningless bit of Merch! The T’s are for those people who appreciate my FREE content, and who understand that to continue making FREE content, Weedy as everyone on the planet, needs an income from somewhere. Supporting local organic growers who grew them, the artist who designed them, the printer and TWG. I CAN get them designed, produced and printed in China, but the footprint is not worth it. You can also support TWG on Patreon, copy the design and print your own, but at the end of the day, the T’s are a symbol of your support, where you get something back…gratitude 💚🙏🏻👍🐸🎥

[@TheWeedyGarden]

First!! 🤣🤣 Just want to say THANKYOU to everyone who has donated to help the people in Lismore. Such a great community Weedy people :-) BTW, a few days since I edited this video, and the tik tok vid has now over 2.5 million views. Crazy. So follow therealweedygarden on tiktok and see what else I upload from the hip. Don´t forget to join my newsleter on theweedygarden.com for inbetween news ect. Love and photon particles - Weedy

[@suburbanhomestead]

It’s always incredible to see how much things can grow in a tropical climate when the machinery of nature is encouraged. Your fearless (or respectful) attitude towards the wildlife is quite refreshing. I don’t think I could be quite as courageous

[@TheWeedyGarden]

Lol. When u r an Aussie in the bush, you kinda have to be.

[@STEAMLabDenver]

I think you could. 😉👍🏻

[@TheVigilantStewards]

Hey Siloa! Nice to see you here.... oh noooooooo I just read your comment RIGHT BEFORE he picked up a snake... no no no nono no lol I wouldn't do that. I'm shocked that the snake was just trying to get away and was all calm... I've only seen rattlesnakes and copperheads up close like that mostly when I was a kid and I still remember them to this day.... the coiled up defensively Weedy is in refreshing in that manner, he makes me feel like I could imagine how it would be to not be afraid of snakes etc.

[@verimli_bitki_asilari]

subscribe

[@bao927]

@@TheWeedyGarden I want more videos😄

[@mitunknowngirl]

Mr. Weedy, love your choice of music. I always play Bach on piano while watching my vegetables grow outside through my window beside the piano.

[@LookHere3]

beautiful snake! thanks for saving her!

[@SAROXBAND]

This is by far the BEST video I have seen in 2 years of studying permaculture. Thank you for taking the time to craft such a video that pulls you right into the food forest. The magical earth is the best part. If people only knew how much magic is in the earth! Blessings from tropical Puerto Rico! My family and I are starting a food forest and you are so very inspiring to us. Thank you for this channel. 🙏🦋♥️🌎

[@amythinks]

First day watching your channel. Came for the garden content, stayed on account of the spectacular filmmaking. You sir, are no amateur. There's a professionalism that is clear.

[@theunclegilbertshow7676]

this guy is something special

[@Alexander361cmongimmieahandle]

Mate, I'm so glad you're here, on this Earth, at this present moment. Thank you for coming, and sharing, and being you.

[@sourcelight369]

Thank you and much love to all 🙏💜🙏

[@lisathiedeman4487]

Haha cow 'pee'. Loved that green question!

[@margareth1504]

As soon as you said " like a carpet, or big carpet " and the word came up on screen, it was a sure thing, there had to be a carpet snake in that lot.

[@JRoadzReegz]

How is it that this feels somewhat meditative while watching? Best 30min yet Weedy! Thanks for another 30min of laughs and smiles and blessing us by inviting us into your space !!

[@ashleyczarnecki196]

😂jj00😮

Amount of organic material is astonishing.

[@TheWeedyGarden]

subtropics wet sesson 🌧🌦🌧🌦🌧🌦

[@elneserato3766]

best t-shirt ad ever

[@johnskelly2542]

What you have achieved in two years is outstanding

[@mtcarmelman632]

2 years and 120,000 subscribers.......WOW and WELL DONE SIR! I'm glad I was here almost from the very start and look forward to EVERY VIDEO, THANKS!!!!

[@NKBabu]

Watching you from Nepal🇳🇵.& Learning something from your every vedio.Sending you Love ♥️ and respect (Namaste 🙏). 🥰🥰

[@SaseDegete]

Good to have you back! :D

[@chantallachance4905]

Ohhh noooo dont throw away the ginger leaves You can cook it or dry the leaves for a ginger leaves tea You work so hard for your permaculture garden but now it’s WONDERFULLY I really ENJOY all of your videos thank you 🥰

[@jenniferprescott8655]

My heart soars when I see you've put out another magical Magnificent vid. Thank you so much for the love and smiles..

[@phineusphineas]

I really took something away from this video about the power of mindfulness! My many young children will be watching this today.

[@kundalisacibusmedicina4303]

Sally was such a beautiful specimen and a testament to your Weedy Garden. Bless you for being kind and loving, and bringing light.

[@Dirt_hands]

always hear bad things about pre-bed screen time, but I gotta make the argument that ending the day with a good piece of media on youtube is no different than a good book, thanks for thoughtful videos

[@Kier4n99]

Most phones have settings to dim the blue light now, make sure to check if yours does.

[@ginnyross7289]

Yes I listen to weedy when I feel stressed too and the good vibes put me in a great mood.

[@mcarolivm7280]

Yeah!!! gardening barefooted like you said more connected with the earth feeling the soil, the plants, all the energies! Just the best! Having fun doing the work, getting all dirty then cleaning up at the end of the day sitting back at the end of the day appreciated the efforts.

[@alwynman]

Your advert is pretty cool and seems very organic 👌

[@psychonaomi]

Every huntsman I come across I name Harry

[@TheWeedyGarden]

😂 I call them Fred! 🕷

[@Alicesgardenau]

They are called Esmeralda in our house! 😂

[@jameskniskern2261]

You get a thumbs up for having Bach in the intro.

[@peterjdo]

The garden looks wonderful and full of life . Cow Pee is cow pea 🤣🤣🤣

[@TheJoshmaka]

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BRUTHERR

[@rahulmalsani6202]

It's greeny garden.....

[@somethingforthefamily5869]

Snakes are one of the greatest signs for the soil being very healthy.

[@MassimoCastelli]

Tropical climates are so crazy. If you encourage growth, you will get a lot of it. Good on you. Well done.

[@TheWeedyGarden]

I reckon!!

[@shroomieshrooms6551]

Weedy is for me the youtuber with the most beautiful soul and its awesome how he is able to translate that through his videos

[@seangilchrest6091]

Your place is so beautiful and amazing I can't believe it I wish I lived there

[@rolfwelsch8570]

Dear Weedy, It's nice to see how you lovingly design your garden. The landlord is constantly interfering with me. The material is often removed during what is known as chop and drop! Unfortunately, using teddy bears to scare the landlord away won't work!

[@TheWeedyGarden]

get a real bear 😝 or educate them in a gentle positive way 💜🕉

[@rezayaseri2790]

Thank You, It was amazing especially the snake part 😉😆

[@suzishealthyhome8678]

The instant the music started "like". My fav. "how do i catch cow pee?? "😂😂😂

[@beansprout1308]

Beautiful lush garden. I love it. 👏💪👏💪👏

[@gardenescapism3394]

I live in a big city cement jungle. Dreaming of a green jungle some day!

[@suenavivedisfruta558]

Wow! Is looking really lush.I love your modeling of your shirts. Great video. 😊

[@marijanabahun3884]

Just purrrfekt! Thank you!

[@RekimNZ]

Carpet Python (Sally), non venomous and nice to see you relocate.

[@planterbanter]

Love you weedy! :)

[@oliverpurser489]

watching your videos is my happy place

[@ramthian]

Good morning folks.

[@TheWeedyGarden]

🖐🏼

[@Bali_permaculture]

Great video mate. To durably remove your banana suckers you need a spade and to remove the white hard rhizome below the sucker that connects it to its mother. The banana will of course grow more suckers but at a much slower pace than the regrowth of the suckers when you just chop them off. That white banana corm will be great food for Wormville 👍🏻

[@bodilskumsrud520]

Mmm…Bach!!!!!! 🎶😃

[@patrickdearing6079]

you're welcome, can't wait to see how it's used, from the Central Coast NSW

[@Kelsdoggy]

I wish you hadn’t questioned Geoff and just spent weeks trying to collect cow pee 😂. Would be hilarious footage. As usual, this was a wonderful video nevertheless

[@Morphic-Realms.]

@wes0me video Dave, had me smiling the whole way through, in'la'kech you beautiful human

[@pavlakosinova7736]

Thank you for all the beauty. I´m watching your videos from the central Europe, a relatively cold and dry place, and it nearly makes me cry.

[@richardk.latigo8724]

hello there Mr. Weedy Garden. Your channel is always refreshing. Not just the images but the story of life that comes along. I thought to share that to keep the bananas down without repeatedly cutting the growth, cut a sizeable tree brunch, sharpen the edge and drill it down the plant. That is the African (in Uganda) way of managing them.

[@TheWeedyGarden]

I try this. thanx

[@kmw4359]

So lucky - saw this when it posted!

[@ThomiBMcIntyre]

I live in a small town in central NY state. My house is 165 years old and over the last ten I have converted the entire front yard (about 1000 square feet) into food - veg, herbs, and plants to feed my rabbits. I am going to attempt something like your challenge this summer. Starting in May and going as long as possible, I aim to eat 80% from my property with the remaining from oils and other ingredients I can’t produce. Love a challenge!

[@nobodies6853]

I loved the echo when u bent in to the tree

[@connieatkins7390]

Whenever I need some calm in my life, I go to the Weedy Garden.

[@starrmasner6015]

you inspired me to live you saved my life, THANK YOU

[@fireintheheadstudio]

Lovely to see your attitude toward the other beings in the weedy patch. And I heartily agree with your reasoning with being barefoot and being able to feel what is underfoot. Too many folk think that snakes lurk in readiness just to attack us or something! Couldn't be further from the truth. So much growth. But what a stellar job you're doing up there. Such a beautiful space 💚

[@ypsplus]

Still sad we can't grow bananas in Germany, and have too little use for a machete, either, but luckily all I ever have to carry into the forest is a bucket full of slugs. Will consider using a bag next time, tyeing it up at the top and scare the neighbours.

[@francoissmith2295]

You bring me so much peace within. My life dream is to get a plot like yours and start a garden of my own!

[@aboveallthingslove6349]

7:40 Wow Weedy, twice today I was thinking about C. Dundee and the knife thing. I haven't given any thought about that for many years, so this synchronicity is pretty satisfying. Thanx Weedy.

[@robertfranc2365]

Chop and drop mate...keep it like a remote island or next year fight introduced weeds and bacteria. Never know what old mates got in that bale mulch or chips. But with a bit of work run away weeds means a heap of compost. Or chuck the weeds in with the bananas less work and best tasting bananas.

[@TheVigilantStewards]

I like the vocal cave reverb edit at 17:08 :) Also, I thought cow pea was cow pee when I first heard it too

[@newenergyawakening]

Wow!!! Everything is so lush and growing beautifully.....and yes, I learned some new stuff! from your vid, thanks!! Can't wait to see your garden after another year. What a difference rain makes...I'm in WA on a similar latitude to Brisbane and we've had a super-hot dry summer....luckily we have great bore water so my little food forest is still alive, but you chose an AWESOME location - on top of a hill, with warm weather ,where it rains a lot!

[@SentoHug]

It should get easier as the system matures and the canopy soaks up the heat and mitigates moisture loss in the warmer weather. Where are you like gero or jurian Bay?

[@newenergyawakening]

@@SentoHug Kalbarri....we just had the hottest summer people round here can remember - around 7 heatwaves all up. And then the second half of March and beginning of April has been wonderful weather - go figure!! My garden is just going into it's 4th year and I thought that fruit trees - avo, loquat, black sapote, bananas etc could BE the canopy on my small block but nope - am going to plant a couple of tougher canopy trees - ice cream bean, mulberry over the top. Lovely microclimates developing but more sun-sensitive trees like avos needing some overhead shade in summer!

[@SentoHug]

@@newenergyawakening if your trees are struggling think about native acacia/wattle trees to help build a canopy. They are also nitrogen fixing so you can chop and drop them. Shade for your more vulnerable plants while they get established.

[@D.Armitage]

5:27 😂 best part for sure, thanks fir all the great informative high quality videos and a good laugh every now and then...I would have thought the same thing 😁🤙🏾

[@TheWeedyGarden]

🐄😝

[@brandoc3150]

🤣 great video mate… yes to the T shirt

[@driedcheese]

2 years goes by so fast.

[@surajkumaru5981]

I would want to have my own Garden someday, You are such an inspiration. Respect and Love to you ,All the way from INDIA.

[@TheWeedyGarden]

Namaste Suraj 🙏🏻 and thankyou 🕉

[@QyetOne]

So beautiful to see life exploding, and I love that you're role modeling the permaculture insight: that natural ecology isn't bare soil and neat rows of a single plant, it is a thriving ecosystem of plants all living and working together! For those interested in "nitrogen fixing" here is a very simplified primer! As Weedy called out, the plants are soaking up sun (particularly using chlorophylls to grab a specific spectrum of sunlight), and using that energy along with CO2 to produce sugars and oxygen (photosynthesis). Those sugars move through the living plant as fuel, just like we animals do with our food. The sugars also circulate through the roots, where some leak out into the soil (exudates) to feed the microbial life in the soil! The atmosphere is mostly (~70%) nitrogen, but that nitrogen is an inert gas, and not accessible to almost anyone as nutrition! Plants usually use nitrates (oxygenated nitrogen), to produce proteins, DNA, and.... chlorophyll! So how do plants get nitrates?? Microbes! There are two broad, natural sources (processes!) of nitrates for plants, and they're both microbially driven. Plant and animal wastes (including decaying bodies) release nitrates and ammonia (nitrogen bonded with hydrogen). The ammonia is converted into nitrates by some microbes so that it can return to the plant nutrition. But that atmospheric nitrogen is also somewhat accessible to special microbes who can convert it into nitrates as well! So why is a "nitrogen fixing" plant so classified? In fact, it is not the plant that is doing the work, but the microbes! We call out the plant because "nitrogen fixing" plants actually have a symbiotic arrangement with these specialized bacteria. Leguminous plants form little nodules on their roots which are concentrated, semi-contained colonies of these bacteria who get sugar, atmospheric nitrogen, water, and soil ammonia from the subsoil web, and convert it into the accessible nitrate form for the plant! If you get a "nitrogen fixing" plant, and want to be sure that it's doing it's part, you can dig up a bit of the roots, and look for nodules. If there are no nodules, or the insides of the nodules aren't pink (bit of a generalization), chances are your plants are not properly colonizing with the bacteria who do this conversion process, and there are a variety of natural and semi-artificial ways to remedy that! All of this nitrogen is continuously cycling through all these different participants in the food web, each of them eating to sustain themselves and wasting the products, which are someone else's food! Here's where I think it gets interesting and not-well known, if you're trying to play a human role in moving that nitrogen food around: The nitrogen produced in those leguminous plants (theoretically) is almost exclusively being used in the host plant. It is going to make plenty of chlorophyll and other nitrogenous compounds. There is a theory, though we have a hard time confirming it, that the fungal network in the soil (mycorrhiza) is actually able to play delivery, so one plant/chemical process signals that it needs nitrogen, and nitrogen is shuttled through the soil from nitrogen fixing plants to the needy network members. Which is SO COOL. Otherwise, the nitrogen is trapped in the plants. This is where the "chop & drop" practice can be so so so valuable! By taking those fresh, bright green greens (chlorophyll!), you can transport that accumulated nitrogen yourself as a human shuttle to the places you want to supplement nitrogen naturally. The decomposition of those plant remains will deliver ammonias and nitrates to the soil where they are broken down, and the nutrition will shift and spread through the network! IMPORTANT Note: Here's the often missing understanding in artificial gardening concepts of nutrition. They acknowledge that plants need nitrogen, so they formulate nitrogen in a factory somewhere, using raw materials from who knows where else (or what else). This is delivered as a convenient bag of nitrate pellets, probably coated in sugars or other water soluble chemistry, so that when you add it to your soil, the heat and water will slowly break down these (comparatively HUGE) nuggets of nitrate, and your plants can grab it up. Cool, right? Here's the problem. We've focused on the food we want to give the plant, so we've brought in what they want, nitrates; this means that we're not feeding the microbes in the soil who rely on ammonia (which we remove if we take all those clippings/trimmings and dead bodies, and remove them to a dump somewhere). We've also brought in nitrogen from somewhere else in the world; which means we've added more nitrogen to the local cycle, but lost it wherever it came from. And we've brought it in at a scale (those pellets seem tiny to us but they're HUGE to the soil) that is unnatural; which means that a lot of that nitrate excess is going to wash away, and the excess nitrates washing into ground water, lakes, and rivers is causing the water biome to shift, destabilizing the life cycles there, which in turn causes huge washout of sediment (for a variety of reasons, but including the destruction of the plants and living network in the muck layer). Well meaning commercial fertilizer might give your plants some food, but that small gain can cause remarkable collateral damage to the whole ecosystem (even if we don't see it) because it was too focused on a sharp-focused outcome in a huge network of shared resources. The food your plants need, almost universally, is already there in the system. Dirt (as opposed to soil) contains all of the mineral needs (potassium, sodium, calcium, etc), almost without fail. The organic material from plants and animals living their lives contains all of the organic needs (carbon, nitrogen, etc). The microbes and plants and animals and birds and all of these wonderful participants, including you, are all arranging these components into an organization (soil, humus, etc) that allows the nutrients to continuously flow through the network and feed *everyone*.

[@sabrinawanderer7560]

That's too long to read but I learned a lot mate. Thanks.

[@QyetOne]

@@sabrinawanderer7560 Fair! =D Reference material is just handy to know it's there when/if you have a use for it.

[@billfeltenberger4716]

Watch al the way through, comment, Subscribe. Long live the algorithm.

[@sabrinawanderer7560]

The moment you said "mayt"/mate..i knew you're from Australia 😊😊😊😊😊

[@nancyfahey7518]

My mango, in a 30 gallon pot, survived 20°f temps. It lost all leaves and branches and is shooting out from the trunk. I'm so proud of her.

[@jennifermansfield9327]

We are still getting freezing temps at night - so I'm running out in the evening to cover up my tender peas and lettuce. It's so hearting to see your lush growth!

[@adelineparinduri]

You're a bit jumpy eh 😁 Morning to you. Cheers from Canada. Wish I can grow mango and banana tree as well (outside). Ow the T-shirt looks cool.

[@dikkylahari]

Much appreciate on your video editing!

[@evan_513]

🤣 cow pea, not cow pee. Hilarious, I thought the same thing "how do you catch the cow pee?"

[@lj4466]

Aww yay. Another video! I've been enjoying your channel so much Weedy! Sending much love

[@crusadingtemplar]

got to love weedys passion for nature...he told that bee to watch out like it was a little person, or a child..🙂

[@Micko350]

10:15 I thought you were expecting a snake, then a few minutes later you nearly stood on one! 🤭

[@TheWeedyGarden]

yep. I said snake twice before, and carpet just before. I’m screwing with your mind on purpose lol 😌

[@justinpeterdebeer]

Nice one. Happy Sally.Paradise.

[@carolexo7269]

That was interesting about the banana generations. I'm not a snake lover but Sally was beautiful and that was kind of you to relocate her.

[@lisathiedeman4487]

Glad that you asked the follow up question on the cow pee 😂

[@TheWeedyGarden]

🤣

[@craigmetcalfe1749]

Kudos for your choice of soundtrack. Bach Cello Concerto No.1 stirs the soul as does my garden and yours mon ami. I recently heard a very young gardener on Gardening Australia say that gardening at the end of his school day (COVID interruptions not withstanding) resets him. Your videos are the escape we make as gardeners in our mind's eyes that are writ large in your beautiful photography and video. Bach, Blues and Gardening is the Healer all over the world. Cheers my friend!

[@Mossman04]

[@saffymoonstonebear6270]

Totally love your t shirt. 🌻

[@CanadianPermacultureLegacy]

Really enjoy this longer video. I can't believe how fast stuff grows in the subtropics! A jungle in 2 years!

[@claireboxer6027]

After your first video with Geoff Lawton I looked him up and after some investigating I am now booked in to study permaculture with him in July. I am so excited! thank you :)

[@TheWeedyGarden]

Are you going to study at Zaytuna Farm or online?

[@claireboxer6027]

@@TheWeedyGarden at Zaytuna Farm :)

[@Thial92]

I am 29 and I would absolutely love to own a tiny piece of land outside of the city, to eat my own vegetables, to have a couple of chickens and my own bees but with the current skyrocketing prices it's a distant dream. Even small plots often cost like 500k Euro and it's only getting worse.

[@pod411]

Try not to let negative expectations get in the way of your Dream. Believing is Seeing. 🐝

[@schriki9582]

Same dream here. But dude we will find our piece of land! I can't imagine a different life so it will be a consequence 😄 Wish you all the best! 👏🏼 Greetings from Frankfurt, Germany 🤮

[@chepindichepindi3328]

Beautiful I love it.

[@UninstalledLeague]

Snakes keep the mice and rat populations from exploding. She was probably doing good work for you.

[@danielbenettuce4544]

weedy i love your work, you inspire and give me joy every day. When I watch your videos I feel happy I would come to your farm and visit if that would be at all possible if not I suggest a tour experience for people like me that want to be in nature and talking about growing and living in nature

[@malcolmthomas3949]

You really are living a dream life

[@nikismith1871]

You are more than an epic permaculturist! You are a Uber driver for Snakes!!!! ( so glad I live in Aotearoa, where nothing other than humans will mess with you in nature 😅) Thanks Dude! Scrolling back through your archives on KZbin, are just as brilliant as your latest content in 24🤩 What EPIC Human you are 💚👊👊👊

[@TheWeedyGarden]

Thanks 👍

[@julieb9215]

Showing us that the garden is, indeed, weedy. 😉

[@MyEverydayGarden]

Got such a big smile on my face!!!! So beautiful in so many ways!❤️🦋

[@megantorri1711]

Hello Weedy, love the t-shirt! I figured out this spring that I can hear all the bugs and microbes in my compost. Listen to yours.

[@LushGardener]

i have been binge watching your videos :) ...its 11 pm lol ...all lights off ..speakers on and watching this is pure bliss ...the tour had me in your weedy garden virtually :) keep up the good work

[@MelancholyRhyme]

What a magical place you got there! a magical place for a magical person

[@brockberrick2727]

YEEEEEEEYYY!!! NEW WEEDY VIDEO