Clearing Woods for a Garden + Farming Herbs

[@ThinkLittleFarm]

i've always appreciated your book recommendations. wondering if you'd consider dedicating a future Growers Daily ep to highlighting maybe your top ten or so farming and farming adjacent books (fiction and non, of course) with a short summary and/or key takeaways? as always, thanks for the content.

[@xsillyxcorex]

^^ Yeah! This one!

[@ursamajor1936]

I started gardening and caring for flowers and fruit trees when i was 4. It's still a daily adventure to me almost 7 decades later.

[@GaryHughes]

I've always had a garden of some kind, just as a hobby. I started taking it seriously a few years ago while helping someone else homestead on off-grid property in the woods. It was different when growing for survival vs growing for fun. It was actually this channel that got me seriously interested in Market Gardening specifically.

[@piedmontfarmstead2535]

We cleared a section of to expand our farm from a young pine forest. We cut and chipped all the trees we could with 6" chipper we bought used and sold after the project was done. We chose to cut the trees leaving a 3 feet stump to have someone come in with an excavator and removed the stumps and then graded it with a track steer. The chipper was great because we were able to use the chips on the existing farm.

[@KorvidRavenscraft]

My journey mostly started around 2015-16 with permaculture voices, which led me to Curtis Stone, Jean-Martin Fortier, No-Till Growers, Ray Tyler, Connor Crickmore, Josh Sattin, Ben Hartman, and the rest of the market gardening rabbit hole. I'm planting my first crop of garlic, and hoping to build from there in 2025, thanks to everything I've learned from all y'all's content

[@robertcotrell9810]

I'm just a home gardener currently. I started gardening because it seems like it could become a necessary and important skill as climate change continues and/or as our world seems to move toward a certain level of destabilization from the norm. Covid has highlighted those concerns, and the election certainly does not bode well for the safety of our food supply given Republicans' insistence on deregulation. More specifically, on the newest administrations stated goal of destroying a number of agencies that keep corporations in check. And corporations will just as easily sell us tainted food as not, especially if profit is a factor toward the latter. Anyway, I learned that I really enjoyed cooking, which sent me down the cooking content pipeline. Chef's Table comes to mind; that show highlights a lot of chef-to-table cooking. I found other shows, too. Once covid hit, I started actively learning about gardening having had zero previous experience doing so. My wife and I were SUPER lucky and landed a house, which allowed me a yard. I've turned nearly every inch of our property into garden space of some kind, but the back is specifically for food. This entire learning adventure was catalyzed by you and Charles Dowding and the idea of No Till. So now I'm applying knowledge and trying to rack up experience while also living my life.

[@sixoh_diesel5662]

companies around me take care of the trees but in the process destroy any topsoil as well leaving churned up red lifeless dirt covering the area cleared. I would have to have truckloads of topsoil (who knows what the origin is of this stuff) and plant a cover crop as fast as I can to rehabilitate the soil. All in all it would take a few years still to reclaim my forested acerage. At this point I may just relocate to an area with more fertile soil and less pine.

[@denisekelley2292]

I grew up with my mom and grandparents gardening. I enjoyed helping in the garden and the fruit and veggies. As an adult, my husband and I moved a lot (planning another move) and didn't have room for more than ornamentals. As our kids grew up and I didn't have sports and activities to fill my weekends I started dabbling in our yard. When we move to this house four years ago, we terraced a backyard hill and needed something to do with the terraces. Enter KZbin and searching for terrace garden ideas. I fell in love with growing our own veggies and some flowers and the rest is history. I think social media could be the most recent garden spark.

[@PushinUpDaisiesNZ]

Clarksons farm has done so much to raise awareness about farming and ecology

[@RootboundRanch1]

Im clearing land right now. We cut trees down. They go into the chipper or posts or firewood. Im rotating animals on it and cover with chips....repeat. Im on the Canadian shield so its been challeging like you said. Mostly poplar and recovering pastures and loving the results.

[@paulsims6888]

I love listening to people who have thought out the process and are willing to tell others. Food in today's world has a wide description. Fresh, no pesticides, is what I am looking for. But I must say, thanks for putting in the time to educate us dumbies, not zombies. LOL.

[@dianeladico1769]

First, I truly appreciate your approach to topics. You're intelligent, thorough and well-considered. I'm just a home gardener so many of the subjects aren't directly relevant to me but I love learning so I'm always eager to listen. That had to come first but aside from that, these podcasts are just so well done. Your voice, cadence, pace, spacing of the ads and intros/outros are just perfect (IMHO). You've honed your presentation with the videos over the years but podcasts are a different animal and you're doing beautifully.

[@notillgrowers]

That's nice to hear, thank you!

[@ahabthecrab]

My mom was an avid gardener in Pennsylvania so I grew up around gardening. I moved to Florida around 30 years ago and have been really struggling with gardening until fairly recently mainly due to the lack of good advice and resources on southern gardens. Once I understood the differences between northern and southern gardening practices, improvements in production have been tremendous.

[@faithgriffin7974]

You are my inspiration in growing ecologically responsibly and growing fresh food!!! I've always wanted to garden in my backyard but I knew NOTHING! I started watching you on Facebook and moved to your KZbin channel. This fall, I prepped a 500 square foot garden, tilled once (as the soil/clay was severely compacted). I had the soil tested and added amendments with the till. Then I laid with layers of cardboard then local compost. I can't wait to start growing food for my family in the spring! I bought a 6x9 foot greenhouse to grow earlier in the season. You have given me the confidence to go big! I watch you every day and love your book!!

[@bliston78]

Within the last 3 years I found myself getting a promotion at work... Well, It was full of downtime, and KZbin was my outlet. You sir, Jesse, you were the spark for me. Simliarly to those that you've mentioned The Omniovores dilemma has been. And I got one of my other co-workers into gardening this year, he's been doing it with his 4-year old and... it's beautiful, It's just awesome stuff, I'm never turning back on it if I can help it. Funny enough my wife was reading that book the same time that I was having those same thoughts learning more and more about gardening and farming with my youtube downtime.

[@dougbatten7678]

We cleared 2 acres of tangled overgrown bush that was choking out a struggling forest. With a mini excavator the roots came out and flattened so we could BCS in our beds. Chipping/Chopping the trees for mulch and firewood

[@WesternMONo-TillGardening]

My interest in gardening started when I was in the Peace Corps and had extra time on my hands. Books like The Omnivore's Dilemma and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and movies like Food Inc. got me a lot more interested, and then I read Eliot Coleman's books. I didn't get REALLY into gardening until COVID. My grandparents have 10 acres, and going there to garden was a way I could be around my family safely instead of sitting in my house alone. I came upon No Till Growers and other garden/farm KZbinrs/podcasters as I looked for more information on gardening, and the more I have learned the bigger my garden has gotten. 😁Though it wasn't my path, I think a lot of people these days are getting into farming/gardening due to Growing Floret.

[@LittleKi1]

In my thirtyteens as well and def read The Omnivore's Dilemma along with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle in real time. These days, I see a lot of young people on permaculture-homesteading-prepping channels and gardener-friendly channels like Epic Gardening. Kevin now has something like 3.5 million people subscribed to watch gardening videos. KZbin has on-boarded a lot of people into this realm.

[@ardenthebibliophile]

I had to clear a section of bamboo forest out of our land in the early pandemic. I learned: * Dumpsters are very good at disposal. Its not worth chipping * Use a sawzall to cut the stumps below grade. * Section off an area either in your head or in reality and cut that down. It helps with the mental struggle of what feels like infinite canes. * When the tops are cleared, you will need to section and slowly pull rhizomes similar to sectioning the top. * Get a full steel shovel. * Lever with the shovel when removing rhizomes. As fun as pulling a long rhizome is, youll tire REALLY fast * Have patience as killing the rhizomes is a many year endeavor (you'll inevitably miss some) but it IS winnable. * Mow when you can't dig * If you can, hire it out

[@vdub1959]

Been doing the same here on one acre of cleared land. Got all the canes cut down, bulldozed the roots, still killing the runners (roots). Very hard, never ending work! Used a forest mulching service a few months back to mulch the pile of canes. Still too soon to know if that was a mistake, but it wasn’t cheap. Does roundup work for you?

[@abydosianchulac2]

If you're even thinking of converting some young growth forest to farming land, I'd say do some prep work and table whatever invasive brush you have in there as soon as possible (because it's almost guaranteed to be there). Most of these shrubs and vines are very resilient and take multiple years to fully eradicate, so they might be on the way out by the time you decide to start clearing trees. And even if you decide not to remove the forest, you've opened up the area for more beneficial native and naturalized species to move in to support your local wildlife.

[@carolleimbach6407]

What started my interest was boredom in 2020. Also, that sparked food insecurity concerns.

[@robertlarsonwoodford]

There is tremendous value in eastern red cedar and black locust timber for farm/homestead insfrastructure-if you are clearing out those species from an eastern woodland successional forest it may be worth the time to secure that yield.

[@chadeller5588]

79 herbs are covered in this book, which I enjoyed 🙂 The Chinese Medicinal Herb Farm: A Cultivator’s Guide to Small-Scale Organic Herb Production

[@yougotawarrant]

I bought a home with an acre of woods behind it last year, it is lowland and there is no access except from some stairs and a ramp I built going down from my yard about 3-4 feet before it slopes off probably another 6-7 feet over 50 yards... so I can get a small lawn tractor back there to mulch it up and box blade to grade a little but it's a lot of manual work as no heavy equipment can get back there... Currently I am designing a terraced garden with raised beds on the slope before the LOW lowland as during a hurricane it can be a foot deep in water for a couple days. Lots of pine so lots of pine needles, ashes should come in handy.

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!

[@tomandtinadixon]

Changing forest to gardens/crops, how about finding someone that wants to do pastured pigs? Putting pigs on that land, rotating pens, will HUGELY reduce the work needed to finish clearing it. You only leave them on a pen long enough to clear the understory and do a shallow till on the ground. We found it really cleaned up one of our shelterbelts here. Herbal gardening, perhaps to reduce the number of different herbs you need to plant, take a closer look at the medicinal properties of each one and if some of them overlap quite a bit with others, maybe you don't need to even grow it. Plus, check into other things. We have just recently learned that beetroot has HUGE medicinal properties! Omnivore's Dilemma was the thing that sent us down the rabbit hole too. It was one of many excellent books that were recommended reading for our herbal practitioner courses. Another that will REALLY open your eyes is The Story of Milk.

[@thenarrowpathfarm]

I’ve been trying to farm in the woods for 4 years now and the roots of the pines and water oaks here in Ocala FL just take over all the beds. I live a a VERY mature Forrest that Ive been trying to make a food Forrest and have had many challenges. Really considering clearing a 1/2 acre out of 6 so I can start market gardening and using the trees to frame the beds but it’s definitely way to much work for just me to do. Looking to start farming full time within the next year or so to be able to be around more for my growing family. Just trying to figure out what to do cause this is causing me a lot of work with negative profits. Farming in the woods is hard lol

[@MinTubaTuba]

Chipping Trees: Yes, the chippers that can take on a tree trunk often produce very chunky chip, with large pieces included. Such material would take a long time to compost, and just leaving it in huge piles.. well, issues. HOWEVER.., missing the opportunity to chip thinner branches (less than 2"/5cm) is for composting is just CRAZY.. These branches are high in nutrients, being mostly living wood (green), and can be chipped used machines that chip to a compost-friendly size. Even if this means getting the paid professionals to put them aside in big piles (incl. brash/twigs), and then chipping them separately yourself, it is still an invaluable (and even irreplaceable) resource, and well worth the effort. Good quality wood-chip not only makes composting easier, it makes better compost. So much is this the case that any farmer with any woodland under management, even woodland strips/hedges/etc., should seriously consider coppicing. Using the 1/3 method, cutting away only 1/3 of stems each year, means a continuous supply of this nutrition-rich wood-chip, while maintaining cover/food for wildlife. Coppiced trees grow more vigorously & live longer - you are becoming the beaver/huge herbivore that the tree's evolution expected..

[@cuznclive2236]

Thank you.

[@Havrix_ggs]

I got interested in gardening because I always like zombie movies and I wanted the skills to survive if one happened. That was like 12 years ago and now I just use my hyper fixation powers to learn as much as i can bout it.

[@thenarrowpathfarm]

Cuban Oregano grows effortlessly here in FL

[@derekrupert8369]

Omnivores Dilemma was very important to me, too.

[@camerondrew3779]

Omnivore’s Dilema! Ftw.

[@ProlerSkyphet]

I’ve read Omnivore’s Dilemma, but my absolute favorite farming book is One Straw Revolution by Fukuoka it’s farmlosophy

[@BethGriffin-i3b]

Pat, check out A Natural Farm in Howie in the Hills and/or Reed’s Farm in Deland. They are super knowledgeable and helpful.

[@jacobgenco1705]

What do you think about the use of a yard vac for composting/light land clearing. Thanks

[@naturalgardeningagricolture]

What is the coolest cover crop? Alfalfa male

[@NBarSMicrogreens]

I would put Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver right up there with Omnivore's Dilemma. No clue what is inspiring the cohort of now 20 somethings... but 15 years ago, those two books as well as being connected to local foods through an AmeriCorps program, planted the seed for my now farming. Two other folks from my cohort already entered ag years ago... i am just late to the game. Expanding to half an acre this year is my 40th birthday present to myself (or mid life crisis!).

[@WesternMONo-TillGardening]

I ♥ Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

[@harlowecustommicrogreens]

We just (this year ) cleared land to farm. I’d like to do a quick video to show it and answer your questions best way to connect you with that video when done?

[@dorcasrodriguez2901]

❤❤❤

[@hoosierpioneer]

Black locust nightmare!