Creating Soil in the Desert | Sorghum Behind Pigs

When it comes to creating soil there are a lot of options. Today we're showing you one of the ways we're doing just that.
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#creatingsoil
#greeningthedesert
#greendesert
#desertsoil
#sorghum
#azgardening
#desertfarmer
#eonfarm

[@bandgeekforlife406]

I just wanted to say this: I also live in Az, and so does my brother and his family. Your farm has been inspirational and informational for both me and my sister-in-law. She in particular didn't grow up here and wasn't aware that it's possible to grow and harvest your own food even here in the desert, no matter how much I tried to tell her. As they say, though, seeing is believing- it was seeing channels like yours and others from around the Valley that convinced her. *Thank you!* She seems much happier here now that she's growing fruit trees in her backyard (she has more planned, I think, but they just bought their first house and can't do everything at once).

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That is really cool! It is truly amazing what we can grow here in the desert. We definitely have our challenges but we just work around those and keep growing:) Planting is addictive and now that your sister-in-law is hook I'm sure she isn't done if she has space lol! Thank you for sharing and we look forward to hearing how it is going for you guys!

[@hhwippedcream]

AWESOME!

[@thehiddenyogi8557]

I like how you passed wind at 7:05 and didn't bat an eye.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Better out than in I always say!

[@rashekasookdeo9039]

Hi. Dwaine and Lori. I have a suggestion. In order to protect da soil from wind erosion. Plant date palm on da boundary of your property. A wind break. You guys are living our dreams. Very inspirational.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a very good suggestion Rasheka. The way the current orchards are designed they will act as a decent windbreak in a few years when they are fully grown. Most of our in ground growing will be done in the areas surrounded by our fruit trees.

[@IVOrganic]

Sooo happy to see such huge growing successes @ The Edge Of Nowhere! Another GREAT lesson, Duane! 🌱👍

[@kylanvanemmerik9397]

What a great product! I watched them use it on one of the farm tours and Im sold!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thanks guys. We're looking forward to seeing how the soil performs behind this!

[@shannagarroutte7829]

I can’t believe I haven’t found your page sooner! Love it!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Shanna! We're like a ninja that sneaks up and surprises you! Minus the throwing stars and katanas of course. ;)

[@chetnash5991]

Those worms sure do a heck of a job! Glad you didn’t find any snakes there

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Chet, we were a little nervous about the snakes as well. The only thing we wound up running across was a healthy little rat!

[@jessicacass1783]

Your farm and family are healing the earth with your efforts. I'm so proud to see people taking their lives and making so much important difference. Great job! Love it.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Jessica, glad you enjoyed this one! We're hoping to encourage folks to do more of the same (and beyond!), especially in areas where it's an easier go of it. We're in a natural desert, but we have a lot of man-made deserts that would be much easier to turn around. Oh, and thank you for the encouragement!

[@zainzyklon8661]

So I would recommend to make absolutely something against the wind, either tree rows set best with maximally 80 meters distance to the rows, or vertical racks where one installs solar cells. In addition, in the desert it is best to make the cultivation areas in hollows, then the moisture remains where it is needed.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great suggestions Zain! We definitely find the low areas of the farm hold onto moisture much longer.

[@AmzBackyardOrchardandVineyard]

What a huge difference 2 years makes in creating soil! I can only imagine what the sorghum patch soil is going to be like, what do you have planned for the future of the sorghum patch?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Aaron! We're looking forward to peaking under the woodchips come Spring. Hopefully we'll get some rainfall to help with the breakdown of that organic matter. As for planting behind it, we haven't decided on that yet.

[@diannebartkus9893]

Hey! You found it! Way funny! 🤣😂

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Lol 😂 We were missing that for several weeks!

[@JupiterJane1984]

This is absolutely awesome what your doing here, it will benefit so many people!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We sure hope so Janet. That's one of our goals with documenting this process. Not only for us to remember what we've accomplished, but also to encourage others to do the same!

[@JupiterJane1984]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm well I wish I had the means to do participate in a project like this, it sure would feel good to know I was able to make a difference! There's no reason so many people on our beautiful planet should go hungry. Keep up the great work!!😊👍🌏🎄

[@LucasOliveira-fl7tt]

…then you could take a pic from above and say you got a “crop circle” in your farm…lol Another awesome video, Duane. Thanks for sharing!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a great idea Lucas lol! Glad you enjoyed the video.

[@dinosaur0073]

Thanks, now I know how to creat soil for my food...

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

It's amazing what this does for creating soil. I'll post the follow up we did after the Winter and you'll see just how much soil life we're seeing in this this patch of land; kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfbipqifrmErNE

[@downbntout]

You got the right ideas!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We're starting to put a few of the pieces together.

[@user-jt6fp3xb3t]

It would be really cool to try planting a patch of deep-rooted perennial prairie grasses and forbs, maybe inoculating them as well with the proper mycorrhizal fungi to allow the roots to dive deep. Perhaps just let the prairie patch mature for a while and let livestock graze or till it it once in a while -- sure to build good soil and attract beneficial critters.... really interesting and exciting work you have going.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great suggestions here. We're still trying to figure out some of the larger, open areas of the farm and what we can do with them. Just yesterday we were talking about some of the "dry land" we still have that won't be irrigated and what we can try, especially with smaller grazers like sheep and goats.

[@jurgenwauters2237]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm In Spain they use Vetiver grass which roots very deep.

[@jurgenwauters2237]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Just found out that Vitiver grass roots 2 to 4 meters deep...

[@jurgenwauters2237]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm maybe silly idea, if you could get a hold of waste from oranges, that is great to put a thick layer on the ground... don't remember, was it in south America, a couple did this in place where the rainforest was completely gone, a miracle happened.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@jurgenwauters2237 I've heard of that grass before, but I'm not sure whether or not it will do well for us.

[@sarcasmo57]

Wow. Good luck with it all.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thank you for the well wishes. We're hopeful the things we're doing now will have long term, positive consequences to the land.

[@kennethwoolard5910]

Awesome plot of ground!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We're hoping so Kenneth. Only Spring will tell!

[@fCLEF007]

Wow! You have a drone now! Good video :)

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey stranger!!! One of my favorite Aussie viewers of all time. Yes, we have a drone and probably don't use it as often as we should. How how are things heading into Winter? Any new plantings?

[@fCLEF007]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm It's good to catch up with you Duane! Yes, we've just begun getting some decent rain, our climates are similar so you know how valued that is! Mostly I'm planting native trees for the wildlife right now, and I want to create swales to catch the water better (bit hard bc of the granite, though) but I have this awesome garden tool called ""the Long Prong"" which is made here in Australia, and can lever out huge boulders - best flipping garden tool I've ever had! So that helps tremendously. (Highly recommend). As for for food trees, etc, at the beginning of summer around December, I did put in some sultana seedless grapes, but they need another year to get to the height I want so they can dangle down off an overhead structure like they do in Italy. Water is always the determining factor for everything and hand watering is a pain - I might avoid summer veges at the end of this year for once! But it's Autumn now .. have you ever grown mangel wurzel? I've got that in the vege garden just because it sounds so funny! :D

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@fCLEF007 you're getting a head start on us with starting your desert adapted plantings. We have yet to get that underway, but have the back half of the property to work with eventually! I have never heard of mangel wurzel, but now I feel like I need to find out what it is. Off to Google I go!!

[@NirvanaFan5000]

god i love what you're doing. very jealous. regreening landscapes is just so terrific

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We're working on it. It's a long term project, but there's a bit more green around here each season!

[@willbass2869]

Your sorghum should've been rolled/mowed right as seed heads were forming. You waited too long and plant shifted from growth phase to reproduction phase. The C:N ratio in the plant thus shifted to higher C. The greater part of the N ended up feeding the birds. Those sorghum stalks will now take much longer to breakdown/ cycle. Next time kill the plant at boot stage. Better yet, use a perennial grass to build soil. Those 90-105 day annuals aren't going to cut it, imo. Not enough photosynthesis gets done to push carbs into soil. Just make a commitment for 4 or 5 years of a plot of mixed warm season perennial grasses and winter annuals (wheat). A perennial grass mix builds topsoil and enhance soil life better than annuals alone. Good luck.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thanks for the notes Will. We actually have this area planted with a few annual veg plants for this season along with some blackberries which will be the permanent crop in this area. The worm activity we're seeing with the larger sorghum stalks is phenomenal, but I can see where mowing would have made this much easier at this point. We're doing the exact same thing with the area the pigs were on this past season, so we'll try to incorporate some of your suggestions this time around.

[@hhwippedcream]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm This might matter if you are planting cover crops as green manure but I tend to let stuff go later and garden in a semi-arid, wind whipped area. The birds coming to the seeds will bring nitrogen in their droppings and the leftover seed will sow itself so you don't have to. SOM (Soil Organic Matter) is measured more in terms of soil carbon % and is one of the key indicators of drought-resilient soils. The irregular stalks and chips protect soil from uniform compaction which helps keep things aarobic. Thanks for sharing.

[@mrlondon963]

Video should've been much longer. Its very enjoyable to watch.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I'm glad you enjoyed this one. We usually get the opposite request (shorter videos), so this was a nice change. Thank you!!

[@danielfisch655]

Thank you for another great video. Wood chips, compost and worms make the best soil.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Totally agree with you Daniel. It's amazing to see the difference it makes for our soil!

[@silverrose7554]

Old pottery shards do amazing things for soil .

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

You've peaked my interest. Are you saying on top of the soil or in it?

[@demontalembertjean1432]

Most interesting !!Thank you !!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@Hbombyeyyey]

Can't wait to see this update next year

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Oh me too! Looking forward to planting in this area:)

[@liverocks62]

Hi Lori, hi Duane! You don’t know how excited I am for you to see how the soil will be in a year 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼. If you had a lawnmower you could have chopped the sorghum in smaller pieces to help it worms get to the soft parts of the plant. Watching you guys work on the farm is so inspirational, it’s like what I would have done if I had a farm, I live my farming dreams through you guys 😂😂🤣. Crazy huh😄. Well keep on doing what you’re doing😘😘😘👋🏻

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Ahh, thank you for the kind words and encouragement. We're learning a lot from going through this process, but it's worth every minute and to hear your enjoyment makes us even more excited for the future of the farm. Good call on the mower by the way. I (Duane) almost used that ride on mower to do just that and decided to see how it would do if we just knocked the stalks down. Keeping our fingers crossed it turns out well in the end!

[@boweniscool]

Tractor with a Gannon would have worked well It's how my grandpop always did his weeds, never got the weeds to stop coming back but sure was a quick way to kill them lol

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hmm, now that would be a good option. Maybe we could keep the tractor off the patch so as not to compact the soil too much.

[@wildcat4478]

Water is so valuable in desert 🌵 8:35 yeah finally we found it 😄

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

So true when it comes to water. We're still working on ways to grow food, but steadily reduce our need for it over time. Building soil from the outset is our goal. That tub was missing for at least a couple of months!

[@daveaz9962]

When your blackberries fill up their garden beds how do you plan on recharging the soil? Probably will need to use man made chemical fertilizers? Very happy for you both, your hard work shows!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question. We use a combination of composted pig manure and chicken manure for those blackberry beds and so far it seems to be working well for us. There is a LOT of worm activity in there with the compost, so I think that's what is keeping us in blackberries!

[@dannyhughes4889]

Nice job !!!!!!!!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Thanks Danny! We planted in this area a couple of months ago and were amazed at the worm activity we found. I'll link that video for you here if you want to take a peek; kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfbipqifrmErNE

[@dannyhughes4889]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks.....will check it out. Have you tried growing Moringa and Comfrey?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@dannyhughes4889 We have not grown comfrey yet, but we have grown Moringa. The tree we had on our old farm died when we hit 20 degrees a few years ago. We plan on adding them to the farm here and protecting them during hard frosts, but we haven't started that yet. We do have one in a pot that has survived so far, but it's only there because we haven't had a chance to put it in the ground. I'm not sure how comfrey will do here, but we may give it a shot for chop and drop.

[@dannyhughes4889]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I chop and drop into buckets, add water and make Comfrey Tea to fertilize plants.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@dannyhughes4889 we've done the same with deep rooted weeds and it does wonders for soil biology.

[@50X262]

Love our pigs. They live in the desert but look very happy.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Funny thing about pigs. If they have a little mud, room to move and plenty to eat they're as happy as can be!

[@cynthialouw2970]

I am so so glad I saw this month's ago. So i grew sorghum and millet. It grows so easy. I only had a tiny are to grow but got some seed and the mulch for that tiny area!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Woohoo!! It really is amazing to see the growth on these crops and what a great green manure for us!!

[@cynthialouw2970]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for sharing!!! I love watching you work together. Not to be rude but how old are you both? I'm 54 and am only started all this gardening frenzy 3 years ago.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@cynthialouw2970 Lori is 46 and I'm 49, so we're not far behind you. We've been growing fruit trees in earnest for the last decade, so we have a few years of experience on you, but that's about it!

[@cynthialouw2970]

Thank you but it’s also muscle memory. If you doing it every day its amazing how fit you get. I pray I can go out to a bigger place soon. Bless you guys! Awesome to see the desert become an oasis!

[@AlyxGlide]

Edge of Nowhere indeed

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

For now, the city is moving this way pretty quick!

[@postharvest]

We need to bring you to Australia! :)

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I would love to come see you guys in Australia. We've made a lot of friends down under and it would be a lot of fun to see everything. Then again, you guys have arguably the most productive permaculture teacher/designer to ever live in Geoff Lawton. Talk about knowing your way around soil creation!

[@ericbowers1620]

Nice video showing how to create a space in an essentially lifeless area that can sustain life. And how to make crop circles too lol!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Eric, the key to those crop circles is landing the aircraft right in the middle of the field and then working your way out from the center. Err, I mean, yes that's how it's done. Nothing more to see here.

[@ericbowers1620]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm lol ahhh so thats the secret!

[@Psalms20A21]

🌿Thank You

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one!

[@timothyblazer1749]

I think if you add a skid steer you'd be all set :-) beautiful work! I'm up at altitude in. Middle desert, And I'm genuinely inspired. Thank you!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Now that would have done the job for sure Timothy. Really anything heavier than me, which doesn't take much! How is the weather up your way? So far we've been fairly mild for late May, but absolutely no moisture to be found.

[@AlexHop1]

Great!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Glad you enjoyed this one Alexandra!

[@jurgenwauters2237]

Good work, spread the news so in other places it can be also implementet.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Jurgen. We agree with you here. Soil is life and we are losing too much of it to erosion. Even in more temperate climates where building soil is much easier than it is for us here in the desert.

[@jurgenwauters2237]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Here in Belgium problems are starting also. With decreasing water levels already now, and its not even summer, i see a building site in a town near Antwerp, next to a canal/water way, were they are doing drainage of the soil to build the fundaments of the building, and that clear water is being pumped into the canal, now already for 2 weeks... can you imagine...

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@jurgenwauters2237 oh my goodness! I can't even imagine you guys having water issues in Belgium.

[@wackyrice1]

. . have you ever pressed your sorghum for the syrup, it would also breakdown the plants for quicker decomp.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We've had a few people suggest that, but it's not something we have on the plans.

[@dapperchap572]

A plank of wood drilled at both ends with a rope tied to hand hight would be a rapid way of flattening crops. You step on the plank to flatten the crop and use the rope to lift it up. It was the method used to create crop circles.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I've always assumed those were aliens making those circles, now my hopes for space travel have been dashed 😉If we can't come up with a better solution we'll give that a try this coming Fall as we're doing this same process behind the pigs from this past season. Thank you!

[@cynthialouw2970]

Fabulous! Did you reap and store sorghum seed for chickens?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question Cynthia. We didn't store any of these seeds as the birds wound up eating most of them. This was more of a test to see whether or not the stalks would make a good source of nitrogen for soil building. That being said, there are plenty of seeds that fell to the ground in this patch, so it will be interesting to see what sprouts up in the Spring.

[@kylanvanemmerik9397]

I love the sorgum idea!! Ive been looking into that and comfrey for a few odeas to help this desert soil. It looks like youll have an awesome area come spring time! Are you going to cover that with a tarp? What are you going to plant there? 😁

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Kylan. Comfrey is on our list as well, but we'll have to see if we can get it to thrive in the summer. As with most things, it takes irrigation to keep anything alive, so it would need to be in and around the trees probably. No plans to tarp this area, but we've found that the soil moisture stays pretty consistent under that much wood chip material during the winter. As for planting this Spring, we haven't nailed that down yet.

[@downbntout]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Comfrey grew to six feet where there was like 30 inches of annual rainfall and it was mulched with goat bedding about 8" per year. Notoriously hungry feeder. I was given some years ago with a warning "don't plant it too close to the foundation of your house". Rototilling greatly increases the number of plants because every fragment of root sprouts

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@downbntout we may give comfrey a shot. My understanding from folks around town is that it doesn't do all that well unless you irrigate it consistently. But, that's true for most of the grass/cover/chop&drop type crops we have here.

[@michaelsasylum]

That's funny, you used a similar technique to the crop circle makers to flatten that sorghum.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Funny, I don't recall for sure, but I think a documentary on crop circles was what gave me the idea!

[@hhwippedcream]

I recommend trying something fun and going to town on the sorghum with a machete, leaving 4x4 patches in whatever grid or row situation you prefer, where you've left the stalks a bit less than waist high. Then interplant with cowpeas or your favorite varieties of climbing/trailing cover crop. The "stick-ups" you leave make a great structure for pollinator access to the interplanted cover crop flowers. If you have issues with metals, sunflowers will pull that stuff out of your soil and the birds will take the problem elsewhere at a responsible dilution rate. Rambling..... Again..... Thanks so much for the great video content, for sharing your experience and knowledge.

[@hhwippedcream]

Personal preference - I like leaving a lot of cover crops to go to seed on the ground so they are ready any time we get moisture or I disturb the ground in the proper season.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Solid suggestions here. I really like the idea of leaving a few of the stalks for cowpeas and the like to climb. That would really be something to see when they come back in the Spring/Summer.

[@hhwippedcream]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I've done it with amaranth and cowpeas/tomatoes/tomatillos as well as flax and vetch. Works pretty well and love to increase the surface of my growing area whenever possible. Density begets biodiversity for some reason.

[@sdraper2011]

You both do so much work with your hands. Do you run into bark scorpions very often?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

There is always something to get done lol! As we talked about on livestream, we mostly see scorpions in rocks when we do see them. Don't usually see them in the woodchips, but that doesn't mean they are not there.

[@stephen7968]

Add humid acid before spring and before you add more wood chips.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Good call Stephen. That would be a fantastic addition prior to planting.

[@carolleenkelmann4751]

Looking into using sorghum for soil improvement and the way permculture use it, I was wondering if there might not have been more advantage to going over the sorghum with a rotary blade just to break it down into a finer subtrate consider the dryness of the area there at the moment. Are you expecting more rains to come?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's a good point Carolle and we considered that. In fact, I was originally going to use the mower to break it up a bit and decided to see how the stalks would do on their own. Usually winter is cool enough that the soil under the woodchips will maintain a decent moisture level. At least, that's what we've seen in the past. Only time will tell if that will be the case here with this patch of Sorghum.

[@rosewhite---]

you need worms to make good soil have a read of Charles darwin's book on Worms. you could put pig sewage in trenches around the plants. bulk up the pig sewage with shredded newspaper. MAINLY - to get lovely black soil like we have here in East Yorkshire, UK, YOU NEED WORMS! Dig a hole by a plant, add half a shovel of pig manure and a bit of dry straw, water well and then put 2 or three worms in. Pretty soon you'll have black soil.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Rose, this is FANTASTIC advice. We have found that pig manure tends to be our best bet for finding worms being as happy as can be! Hello in the UK!!!

[@hihosh1]

Great stuff, love watching. Personally for me I would have liked to have seen the desert sand itself incorporated into this instead of the wood chips, so that the desert sand itself becomes soil

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Ryan. Glad you enjoyed this one and you make a good point. While our soil has very little sand (it's predominantly clay) the soil on top of it will eventually get worked into the soil underneath. It's just easier for us to work with the new soil being created on top for these initial plantings.

[@AlyxGlide]

I'd like to see composting methods out there

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We have a few different composting methods we're using, but I would say our favorite is probably the poultry manure. For that we pretty much just pile it, water it once or twice a week and let it age. Wonderful stuff for our fruit trees and gardens. We'll have to cover those on an episode one of these days.

[@plookngo67]

grow sun chokes for soil building . stalks for composting/ carbon tubers for pig feed / nitrogen . once the sun choke beds are running they provide an on site easy to break down carbon source for soil building . i used carp as fertilizer in my garden . naturized invasive species easy nitrogen and micro nutrient source . use BT to control maggots on carp unless you want a maggot ranch to feed chickens .

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Jay. You must have been reading our minds. We have sun choke planted in all 4 corners of this area. In fact, we gave an update showing them in our vlog last weekend. I'll link the clip here for you to peak at; kzbin.info/www/bejne/epqQdqmQZdudmq8

[@theAmdisen391]

start to dig small holes everywhere about 1ft deep, it will fill up doing rain and at night, and hold it longer

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great suggestion Ksuy! We've done some of this on the back of the property, but not to a large enough extent.

[@peteengelhardt2783]

This seems rather water intensive initially to create soil in the desert. With the Colorado River very much in danger I would think that has to be another way less water intensive to start creating soil.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Pete. There may be other options out there and our goal is to eventually use less water over time and also retain much more water as the farm matures (more roots in the ground means more water into the soil, aquifer, etc). One side note, we're on a protected well here in Wittmann and do not have access to Co. River water.

[@coreyholt8522]

great information about building soil. what's the water requirements like for that area? are your improvements self-sustaining or does it take a lot of resources to maintain?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Corey. We have water restrictions in place that we abide by that limit how much water we can pull from the aquifer at any time. The aquifer is fed by the Hassayampa river which is dry year most of the year except for when we get rain events (at which point it recharges our aquifer quite rapidly). With the restrictions and the river replenishing the water stores it's very stable (no more than a foot of variance up or down in any given year). As to self sustaining, that remains to be seen. We're trying to get as much root mass into the ground as we can and keep water on property during rain events as much as we're able. The hope is it will take less water over time to maintain as things mature and we begin to hold more water. If we were one of many doing this, I'm confident it would be sustainable long term. The problem we all have is, I'm a fractional minority in how land is stewarded.

[@pinkelephants1421]

The addition of shade would make such a difference to your water consumption and overall ease of cultivation. Just as Geoff and Nadia Lawton showed, quite successfully in their Jordanian Permaculture design Project.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I suppose that's true, the challenge would be keeping shade intact with our torrential winds that blow through daily. Upwards of 40 MPH (and much higher during monsoons) almost every afternoon during the Spring and Summer.

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Well I don't know what, if any, differences there are in wind speeds between the Jordanian desert and your area, but they have fairly hefty windspeeds from time to time & (mostly) seemed to come out unscathed. The shading wouldn't be forever, just long enough to really jumpstart soil accumulation & plant establishment. Might come down to how well you design the shading system, particularly anchoring. If you really want to see what challenging cultivation in a desert landscape looks like take a look at this...😂 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWecnIWpeMR2nbM

[@pinkelephants1421]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Forgot to say that I had shading of the netted variety in mind not a solid one as you're right, solid type of shading would just disappear on the wind. Just curious; with those windspeeds, do you take full advantage of wind turbine electricity generation? Don't envy your rock hard ground but if you have access to either a digger or backhoe & local people's foodwaste & or farm waste, it may be possible to speed up biomass/soil creation using double digging method. Dig a trench ~1-2' deep. Dump in whatever biomass you have. Dig another trench alongside, depositing soil back into previous trench & so on until you come to final trench, using soil removed from that one to infill 1st trench. Then heavily bark mulch as usual. Double digging can really help improve dodgy soils quite quickly; absolute hell to do by hand although great for (Rhinoceros rump removal), but with mechanical equipment, easy peasy.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@pinkelephants1421 you have some great suggestions and we're still learning, so I appreciate it. We don't have a backhoe, but our neighbor does have access to an excavator from time to time. We have swales planned along the back of the property (not there yet, still working in Zone 2-3) to slow the runoff that would typically occur that direction.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@pinkelephants1421 a bit of shade does go a long way and you're right, if it's anchored well it should survive most of what mother nature has to throw at it. We're seeing the same underneath the trees that are starting to take shape. I hadn't seen that clip before, but have been following Geoff for quite some time. Talk about a genius when it comes to permaculture techniques and working with the toughest growing conditions on the planet!

[@riveryzen]

Have you considered getting a scythe and cutting all of it down instead of trying to flatten it down by stepping on it (that growth at the 3:35 mark)?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We've had a few folks suggest one and we considered it, but decided on this route. We're doing this same thing again this year behind our last round of pigs and will be trying something different to keep the material at the end more manageable and easier to break down. A scythe would definitely be the right tool for the job though, especially at first cut!

[@bigonorganics5753]

The tool that your looking for smashing the sorghum was a cover crop crimper you can make hand tool versions. the boards width pushes the crop down and you have a rope tied to both ends of the board so you can hold the rope and pick the board while it has tension against your foot and you just walk the field with the board against your foot usually in straight rows it makes really easy to plant things in. you want to add a little metal L shape wedge under the wood if your crop isnt soft so it can actually get crimped.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

This sure sounds a whole lot more professional than what we demonstrated here. Thank you for the suggestion!

[@advanzeelive]

Soiling the desert, hehehe.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Better than diapering the desert I suppose.

[@junaidfaiz]

As far as your place goes. The land & climate is perfect for "Dates plantation" as well. The magnificent tree should also be part of your fruit trees farm.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey J M. That's a great suggestion and we've had several folks say the same. We try and choose varieties we will eat ourselves in addition to offering them for sale and neither of us eat dates! That's not to say we wouldn't consider them at some point, but it's not on our list as of yet.

[@andrewfetterolf7042]

Do you have swales in place on contour to collect runoff from the rare bud valuable floods?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We sure do. Not finished with that by any means, but we add them as we continue to work into new areas of the farm. We work our farm following permaculture "Zones" and try not to skip one zone to work on another.

[@victortiempo]

fungal reproduction is needed too for the wood chips decomposition

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Very true!

[@rosemarielee7775]

Why not run the pigs on the sorghum patches? Get the fibre incorporated into the soil and the manure will speed decomposition?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Definitely an option Rosemarie. The areas we have pigs on now are not where they will normally be located, so we're just trying to get that initial animal pressure to build soil for in-ground plantings. The area you see us working on here has squash and melons planted it in now and will eventually be for blackberries long term.

[@pault.juckniess7265]

I agree, if you look at the approaches of Greg Judy and joel salatin they are going to let the animals do all that work you did. I was surprised when I saw the pigs in the background.

[@harrywilson404]

Is there much activity in terms of water harvesting going on?. Have seen some great things happening in Tucson!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Harry. We do passive catchment (gutters and underground pipes) with our buildings and have swales set up to receive them into our growing areas (grapevines and berry areas) under mulch. We don't have storage set up as of right now, but do plan on incorporating that where we can.

[@Ilovethebush]

The hydrophobic quality of the wood chip can be eliminated if you do a small fire on top. Like Victor Steffensen 'cool burn' / 'culture burn.' It creates charcoal and biochar and they are strongly water absorbing and attract mist.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yes, that would be a great option. The challenge for us is we're not allowed to burn like that. We have heavy fire restrictions given our near constant state of drought.

[@rosewhite---]

Put plastic sheet under the plants to make a moist environment to speed decay of all the wood ships. WOOD CHIPS NEED EXTRA NITROGEN.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

More great advice here Rose. Our biggest challenge tends to be moisture. We have had a total of 4" (100 mm) so far year to date!

[@rosewhite---]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Can't imagine such dryness. I'm in UK and we get tons of rain. When I walk across the grass to hang laundry it like walking on sponge as the worms aerate it so much and my shoes get caked with black worm muck so I really have to wipe my shoes or make a mess of the carpets. I once read a book about a guy revitalising a Dust Bowl farm but can't find it now. Look at Darwin's Worms research online as it is amazing - and also contradicts his monkey to man theory!

[@rosewhite---]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I used to get sawdust from my brother's furniture shop to revitalise a neglected garden and found it grew great crops of fungi as it decayed then the dead fungi decayed in turn to feed the plants, but first application of sawdust had to have extra nitrogen.

[@rosewhite---]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I used to work at old country house that had a kitchen garden for maybe 200 years. Garden was on a slight slope up to a small cowshed and few pig sties - maybe 30 animals total. All their liquid waste went into a tank at top of garden. When planting a trench was dug on the contour, lined with about 3 inch manure, then a bit of soil, then beans, peas, etc were pput in the soil and covered with another inch or so soil then trench was filled with the black liquid. The crops were amazing. There was big old greenhouse complete with huge old boiler to grow grapes and figs out of season like rich folk did back in 18th century. The old compost was cleared out of greenhouse and refilled with about 8-10 inches old manure and the tomato crops planted direct in it and grew massive crops. Our trees here drop masses of leaves and I've tried telling gardening friends to add 4 inches around their fruit trees and let the worms convert it over the winter but it's like talking to brickwalls.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@rosewhite--- it's funny how we all have to work around nature to secure a harvest. I follow a fellow there in the UK who grows apples and he's constantly battling fungus and other pests that are just not an issue for us here.

[@hamoboy3000]

Curious, how hard is it to find wood chips in Wittman AZ? Seems like that would be a scarce commodity?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That is definitely the case Matt. We have had some success with Chip Drop, but the key has been a couple of friendships we've made with an arborist and one of our neighbors down the road who uses a chipper for taking down trees with his landscaping business.

[@audreybarnes6527]

Hi Dwaine, I was wondering as you are using woodchips whether you add calcium (crushed eggshell) and nitrogen? I would imagine you'd recognise the recipe for growing mushrooms 🙂. It would speed up decomposion?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey there Audrey! We don't add any calcium (our soil is rock hard and very high in calcium from our soil samples), but we do add nitrogen in our growing areas with the manure we use as fertilizer. Even without it, we see a TON of fungal activity on the wood chips as long as we keep them moistened. I'm thinking that comes from the large quantities of leaves that are part of the makeup of the wood chips we're using.

[@audreybarnes6527]

I think I've heard that a PhD student stood by the sea with a sticky board and obtained fungal spore in their samples. I'm guessing own you have the habitat they come and set up home. What you are doing is really impressive 👍

[@notinterested9097]

hello great video and please forgive my ignorance but why the mask when cutting down the sorghum?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question. The main reason is the dust and mold from the stalks and woodchips. Both of which have a tendency to get the sinuses in an uproar.

[@azpugmom5138]

In your planter bed, just wood chips and compost? Do you think that would work for veggies?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question and yes...eventually. We did get some sweet potatoes to establish in that bed prior to planting the blackberry into it. Most garden veggies need a LOT of nitrogen to be healthy, so you would need to give the wood chips some time to break down and probably still add some nitrogen to the mix the first season or two. Chicken manure would do well for that I think.

[@nd7908]

Pls dig a hole 3x3x3 feet , and put some good soil and plant a tree . It shoud help grow faster and good for low water area .

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Wow, that is a heck of a big hole! That would take a tractor to dig something that size in our hard, desert soil.

[@anthonymoses3697]

Where are you getting the wood chips from? Also, have you considered planting some native trees/bushes over your soil patches to provide shade for the soil to help reduce the heat and help retain moisture? I'm new to your channel so I have some catching up to do. Either way, I would definitely suggest native species for your shade crops because they would probably do well with preventing lots of transpiration. Great video. I look forward to seeing this develop over time. Hopefully you can get to a point where the soil maintains itself with little to no input from you. Edit: fixing grammar errors from autocorrect

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Anthony, great questions here. We have had some success with Chip Drop and make friends with the arborists as we see them. We also have a neighbor who is a landscaper and also brings chips to us if he doesn't have a Chip Drop option in town. We're still getting things underway on the farm and are working from Permaculture Zones 1 & 2 still trying to get crops going. We're a working farm, so the initial focus has been one of revenue generation (I.E. cash crops and livestock) which will fund the rest of the operation moving forward. Once we're past that we will start working on coming back and adding desert adapted trees where they make sense.

[@anthonymoses3697]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Hey! Thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions! I know that it must get pretty tiring keeping up with so many people and trying your best to interact with all of us, so thank you. I hope you have much good fortune in your endeavors and I look forward to watching your channel grow. I'm working right now to save up so that I too can purchase a little slice of land. Watching content like this helps keep me motivated when I start to lose focus on why I put up with the trials and tribulations along the way.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@anthonymoses3697 glad we can be a source of encouragement for you Anthony. We get the same from folks like you who spend time watching our videos, asking questions and sharing with us in all of the failures and successes. Here's to finding that piece of land and making it your own soon!

[@HarionDafar]

So it's spring now! Are there any updates? :)

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We planted in this bed a couple months back and the worm activity was insane. I'll link the video for you here showing the progress of the soil....and the tremendous amount of worm activity! kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfbipqifrmErNE

[@Visigoth_]

How are you getting wood chips out in the middle of nowhere (in the desert)?* 🤔

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Nathan. We have had some success with Chip Drop and are sure to make friends with the arborists, so they come back! We also have a neighbor who is a landscaper who now owns a chipper and brings us chips if he doesn't have a Chip Drop option when he's in town.

[@Visigoth_]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I'm surprised that Chip Drop is working for you even out there (that's awesome; I really need to make some room for them and get on that, I keep hearing good things about Chip Drop "so it must be pretty useful/ being used by arborist."). - Thanks for the response. 🙂👍

[@feel7251]

as a gardener of some experience I whole heartedly recommend Wetta soil or any wetting agent to keep that moisture in the wood chips and at ground level where the worms and other microbes and insects can work their magic on the sorghum ,

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hmm, I've never heard of this before. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@feel7251]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm it will help you maintain the area needed for growth of microbes and insects to break down you mulch at a very fast rate in your climate 5 to six weeks

[@seriously1184]

Clay soil is good soil for plant cultivation It just needs to be loosens up and some water and you have very fertile soil

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Could not agree more with you on that one. It's amazing to see the growth and production with a bit of water and TLC.

[@seriously1184]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm So why did you say in this video that you needed to create new soil because the desert is full of hard clay ??? Now you are just contradicting yourself, instead of just admitting you said something completely wrong in the video !!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@seriously1184 I don't see the contradiction. We're planting annual crops in hard desert soil to allow plant establishment to access the heavy mineral content in the existing soil. The soil now existing of top of the hard pan is what allows organic matter to accumulate and eventually penetrate the soil. No contradiction.

[@Bateluer]

Did you guys get your worms from somewhere or are they natural? I don't think my sorghum is decomposing particularly well because there's few, if any, worms in my back yard soil, neither is my compost pile. I was looking at the Arizona Worm Farm.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Rob. They definitely make a difference when it comes to breaking down material like this. We found that to be the case in our garden beds with the Daikon this past summer. Our worms were "transplanted" in potted trees from the old farm. Not sure how they found their way to our old place, but we're encouraging them here on this farm and "transplanting" them like this where we can. The AZ Worm Farm would be an excellent source to jumpstart that.

[@kukulidouce2014]

I love you very much for doing this...!!! We should... ALL OF US, be thinking of manners to support efforts to save our God given Earth, by planting trees and keeping soils from degrading further... If they can do it in China... If they can do it in the Sahara... our combined opinions can and will save our planet...!!! Become attached to groups backing these wonderful struggles and you will be rewarded by the resulting farmland and greenery...!!!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Well put Kukuli. We're working with soil that has been desert for thousands of years, imagine if we did this in areas that are more naturally green. What an incredible place we would all call home! :)

[@mikewhite8170]

Do you bring water from someplace else?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We are on well water here and do not bring in any additional water. We have restrictions on how much water we can pull which we abide by, so our aquifer remains very consistent.

[@timbushell8640]

Sorghum... hedge trimmer... just 'slice' 100mm(-ish) off the top, until its is done. then weight, then 'dope' then cover... now in May 2022... will be looking back to see if you show the result.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Tim. I'll link the update video we did when planting several crops in the area a couple months back. The worm activity is incredible and the crops we planted are starting to produce (except for the blackberries, which are growing well). kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfbipqifrmErNE

[@felixmussik7203]

Just wondering where thr wood Chips come from. I can't imagine there is an overabundance of trees in the area which can or should be cut down for this.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Felix. These come from arborists we've found through Chip Drop. All of them come from the trees they either prune or cut down on people's properties in the city.

[@felixmussik7203]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for the response. Sounds like a great way to utilise them!

[@priyanjanmondal1439]

I am at 4:10, get a couple of goats man..🤪🤪🤪

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

So true! They would have had a blast helping with this project!

[@pimcramer2569]

Iv been readin upon the role of fungi in soil. One bed of grapes got shrooms and another didn't. The bed with shrooms greatly outperformed the other. Theory is that the shrooms root system 'trades' with the tree root system.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

I've read some very similar stories Pim. It's one of the many reasons we use woodchips so extensively here. We have different kinds of fungi that pop up all over the place from time to time and you can see the mycelium under the chips whenever we pull them back!

[@dimaur3697]

are there no storms ? high wind ?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We get wind almost daily out of the West/Southwest. That's one of the reasons we have our orchards set up as wind blocks on the East, West and South sides of the farm. Eventually it will help with the center part of the farm where we have our in-ground plantings, vines and shrubs.

[@eduarddvorecky3731]

If the wood chips are hydrophobic, just spread bit of dust/soil over it. I would just lightly dust over it became soil or sand would hold water in it until the organic matter can absorb it.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

That's an excellent suggestion Eduard. Over time they figure it out, but a bit of soil probably would make a difference!

[@dunedainmom]

Where do you buy your sorghum seed?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We buy that through Amazon from Nature's Seed. I'll link to the one we've purchase a couple of times over the years; amzn.to/3LU24Ye

[@ScamallDorcha]

7:08 those bigoted wood chips, what did water ever do to them?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

What's amazing is they seem proud of it and keep perpetuating the same belief system to subsequent generations!

[@TD-nf1qo]

Why wouldn't you plant something like mesquite or palo verde around the perimeter of your beds near the water lines to use as a free mulcher/chop and drop nitrogen fixer?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Great question/suggestion T D. We're 2 years into this and our first concern was getting cash crop and livestock production up and running for cash flow to fund the rest of the project. Once that's accomplished we'll be coming back and incorporating more desert adapted trees and crops to enhance the soil production we're starting to see. As to mulch and chop/drop we're leaning more towards moringa as it grows much more quickly and has many other benefits around the farm, from fodder to potential cash crop production. Mesquite is still a possibility and we have several growing on an area dedicated to future livestock on the back of the property. We may expand that as we move further into Zone 3 (permaculture zoning) and beyond.

[@TD-nf1qo]

​@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ​ Awesome. I'm right about 2 years myself. Biggest lesson so far is that it's better to get those roots going now - anything just to cover the soil, get the nutrients building, cooling the space, etc. Seeds are so cheap, just pop them in (even if they aren't where you want them growing later) and you can always chop them down later. I twiddled my thumbs for the first year, debating what to plant, completely overthinking, missing an opportunity to just grow *anything*, and have the organic matter growing regardless of my end goal. Been watching the agroforestry academy and even changed my mind about these weeds we call eucalyptus around here. Anything is better than nothing, just cover the dirt. You guys are doing great!

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@TD-nf1qo it's funny you mention growing everything. Lori and I chuckle sometimes because we wind up trying all kinds of random things just to see how they'll do. If we can get water to it somehow, chances are good we have something growing there. We even have trees that sprouted up around our wood chip piles that are dying back without irrigation, but like you I'm happy to see roots in the ground where there once was nothing!

[@johnthomas5806]

have you seen what they are doing in Gobi desert in China...and some of this knowledge is starting to be used in north Africa deserts also...Greening the desert, China

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yes, I have seen some of the China projects and the multiple projects in the Middle East. They have a LOT more experience than we do behind them, but it's incredible what is being accomplished.

[@logos144videos]

Where do you find wood chips in the desert?

[@sdraper2011]

Places like Home Depot and Lowes sell them, you can also get them from landscapers.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We started getting ours by signing up for Chipdrop. We have since become friends with them and another landscaper that know they can just come out whenever they have something someone else doesn't request.

[@troychampion]

i heard somewhere that alcohol makes water wetter, i.e. when you are trying to put water on something that is hydrophobic (water just runs off it) and you mix a little alcohol in with your water it will soak into the hydrophobic substance and make it easier to get that item to soak up the water... a person in your situation (or someone else reading this) where water is likely precious may find this tip useful... i hope you do.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hmm, now that is something I did not know!

[@diggerdog9096]

We now know how crop circles are made.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Amazing huh? All it takes is some plywood and a stomp or two...after landing the aircraft right in the middle of the field of course. ;)

[@diggerdog9096]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Take me to your lea--- ah -ah never mind wrong planet. LOL

[@JakobFischer60]

What about a chopper? That would be the right machine to deal with that.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Something to chop them up would definitely speed up the break down of the material.

[@mikewhite8170]

How often does it rain where you are?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Not often enough! We get some monsoon rain and then occasionally some winter rain. We had 4.5 inches of rain last year and so far this year we have only had 1/2 an inch.

[@Caseylawton]

I hope those worms don't get cooked when it starts composting haha

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Casey. We were curious to see what would happen as well, but you have to check out the result prior to planting this area in March; kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfbipqifrmErNE

[@michaspringphul]

so basically you "import" water to build up soil. The interesting part would be, how to do it w/o irrigation.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

With less than 4 inches of rain, all falling in 1-2 days, we wouldn't be able to do it this way.

[@michaspringphul]

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm what about shading by stones or dead shrubs. Is there a little moist during the night which could be saved that way?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@michaspringphul we do keep as much material covering the ground as we can, but it's primarily to cover irrigation water to avoid evaporation that way. As for moisture, it's bone dry in the morning unless we get rain. Today's relative humidity is 8% which is quite common. The dew point is 26 degrees F and our low was 72 this morning! It's hard to imagine unless you see the day to day. It was strange for me as well coming from Southern California. There you still saw moisture in the morning most of the year, even in some desert areas. After 24 years in AZ it's normal to me now.

[@mikewhite8170]

I was just sitting here thinking do you guys have running water in your home? Out there

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Yes, we do have running water. It's one of the many reasons we're on well water for the farm. While we really enjoy the farming lifestyle and being outside of the city, we want the inside of our home to be just like what you would expect living in the city. Best of both worlds I suppose.

[@leelindsay5618]

I'm surprised you didn't fence the area and toss pigs in there to flatten the sorghum.

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

Hey Lee, at this time the pigs were already gone.

[@Melicoy]

Are theose worms dead now that it dried out?

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

We have an update on this piece of land that we posted a couple months ago before planting that will give you an idea of how they're doing; kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfbipqifrmErNE

[@claytonsmoking]

So one way that yoy could flaten it is drive a car or tractor over it witha plywood board wieghted down to fleten everything or a 2x6with a piece of rope attached at the ends just walk it forward and step down

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

A couple of really good suggestions here for sure. We'll be doing this same thing with the area the pigs just vacated last week, so we need to figure out something!

[@claytonsmoking]

Also have you thought about using johnson grass it can grow upwards of 5ft tall only issue is it not good as feed for animals once fall hits but all spring and summer they are amazing for forage and for the fall can provide a bountiful amount of green manure

[@EdgeofNowhereFarm]

@@claytonsmoking we haven't tried that grass before. The key with Sorghum is it's ability to thrive in our extremely hot, dry heat. I'll need to research Johnson grass to see if it would fit the bill.