I HATED Tent Caterpillars! Until THIS Happened...

[@phineusphineas]

I have four young children who are homeschooling. I have added your channel to the list of approved content creators. My oldest son watched your video on what dandelions are trying to teach us and now he asks me what all the other plants in the yard are trying to teach us. An old man once told me we seldom know how deeply we affect each other, and I want you to know you are positively impacting people you have never met! There is a new generation watching and learning from what you are doing.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Touching thank you for the testimony. Imagine if all young people had that attitude? Wow the future would be bright indeed.

[@marielaretivesiccard7162]

Back to Eden is another channel also John kolher growing your greens and green dreams also very good good luck home schooling 🌲💚🦋💐

[@shadwell749]

Good for you and them to be home schooling. You get to be closer to your children.

[@johnnycampbell3422]

Best to you and yours. Encourage that curiosity.

[@spoolsandbobbins]

We homeschool our 5 as well and watch Stefan too! We’re in Nova Scotia and just bought our farm!

[@cactusman69]

That bird singing at 4:21 is an incredible shot. Kudos.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You can see a lot more at Stefano Ianiro wildlife photography channel

[@nh7853]

Love this video. I have a slug teacher, a snail teacher a rat teacher, and a trash dumping neighbour teacher. The neighbour teacher is the most difficult to learn from at least the others have redeeming qualities. Lol

[@mihiec]

Give your neighbours a nice jar of jam. Or few fruits and tell them that they make you sad because of all that trash. Smile and just go away

[@ilovecharleston]

lol

[@allmantree]

Rattlesnake teacher, rabid raccoon teacher (twice) Chainsaw teacher Gravity teacher This is getting scarier so I'll stop now.. 🇺🇲🦅🪂👍🏼

[@franek_izerski]

What are the slugs teaching you?

[@skipbellon2755]

This is a fantastic perspective on monocultures and on life.

[@oscarinacan]

Very true. This video is a gem and going in my "knowledge" Playlist. Filled with deep things like this.

[@billvojtech5686]

I will always hate tent caterpillars. When I was in my 20's, I did a bike trip with some friends - NYC to Boston, via Long Island, ferry to New London, then continue to Boston. That year the East Coast was infested. The tents covered the entire tree, not just a branch here or there. The caterpillars dangled on strands of silk at face height. The trees were bare of leaves, so no shade for us. It was a nightmare.

[@Moriandrizzt]

You have such a healthy way of seeing things. This can be applied to almost everything.

[@davidthegood]

This is so good, Stefan. Thank you. I have been doing something similar in my vegetable gardens. It's marvelous to see the wasps chewing on the "bad" guys.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Hey David congrats on passing 100k. Perseverance has paid off.

[@SteveLurvey]

When David the good responds to another big name on my subscriptions 🤯🤯 they do communicate

[@scott1lori282]

Great info. The more birds, bees, wasp & even snakes I see are indicators that I'm doing something right.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Perfect

[@knuckledraggingneanderthal720]

Tent caterpillars are important for birds that use the web for nesting material. We spend much time and energy fighting, instead of cooperating and observing.

[@toneenorman2135]

Ain’t that the truth...🌻

[@thebluelunarmonkey]

Truth! Backyard birder here. I have an otherwise unproductive tree about the size of these apple trees that hosts tent caterpillars. I would rather not have the tree which partially shades my blueberry and other berry bushes, but I leave it precisely for the silk for bird nests and food. Particularly - my bluebirds which don't eat seed.

[@cory5510]

You don’t seem like a corporate type who is just in it for the money, love it. Ever since I moved to the country I love dandelions and long grass, it just seems right.

[@cnjhendricks]

for a few years now a wasp nest has been living in a birdhouse next to my garden, I leave them alone because each year I watch those wasps eat a variety of 'pests' in my garden. As long as I dont bump into them ~ we have an understanding.

[@Jimmywuu636]

Watch your plants and trees. I had ladybug larvae on my Autumn Olives and Sweet Scarlet goji Berry. I moved these 2 plants between my plum and apple trees,that where covered in aphids. These ladybug larvae are like little soldiers patrolling and eating all the aphids. It took about 2 days. So cool

[@Redhackle]

Always look forward to your enthusiastic approach to horticulture every week. Thank you.

[@quinto190]

The corresponding species here in Europe, lackey moths (Malacosoma neustria) were a problem once in fruit orchards, but have become rather seldom now. Those caterpillars are beautiful, just like the American ones. Yours is probably Malacosoma americanum, as you said (eastern tent caterpillar). Although, tents can also come from apple tree ermine moth (Yponomeuta malinellus), but they are small, fast moving caterpillars with yellow-black color pattern. Isn't it amazing, that a bunch of caterpillars can "build" (weave) their own houses? I've seen building them high-rises with staircases ... (strong vertical threads, on which caterpillars did move up and down half a meter. Those were created by spindle tree ermine moth, Yponomeuta cagnagella).

[@TherealSakuraKei]

Wonderful video ♡ That text chat tho. 🤣

[@michaelwalling8281]

Our culture has learned so much more about insects in the last 25 years. Thanks for spreading this message in such an easy to absorb manner.

[@rifelaw]

I've been anti-monoculture for over four decades. And I didn't have a monoculture at my place in Washington State. But I had multi-year tent caterpillar infestations and finally had to nuke them to salvage anything. One solution does not fir all.

[@annak804]

You may not have had the draw for the predators sorry you had to nuke. Hope you can try again.

[@HerEcolife]

Great video and energy as always. I'm so glad I came across your videos when I did before planting my orchard.

[@V14-h3y]

That's iit on change l'agriculture du Qc babyy!

[@effieinglish]

Found you through old videos from David the Good, and I'm so glad I did!

[@markpinther9296]

Thanks for the lesson. I really appreciate you sharing that. Ordered the book as well. I still hate tent caterpillars. A long time ago, they seemed to be so much worse. The grass was alive with them. They would crawl up and over houses in rivers.... 5 feet wide. Aluminum foil and vaseline would protect trees. It was nuts.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Thanks for the support

[@forrestchristy6631]

So amazing. I pray this kind of knowledge will spread more and more in this era

[@TonyisToking]

Thank you for imparting your years of experience, Stefan. Along with the professors of nature, our experiences and mistakes are some of the best teachers. It’s very interesting to hear your story of it taking 5 years for the advice to sink in. Sometimes it does go that way. Sometimes stubbornness does get the best of the best of us! Hehe. Love the video as always, never regret clicking onto your videos! Even when I’m 2 weeks late haha 😅

[@estellabignon8754]

I am studying nature protection and management and your vids are great!! Thanks from Normandy!! Great job! ☺

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@danielrk8]

First... "My Octopus Teacher" was excellent! This video... is excellent! Finally someone that gets it! Thank you for posting this.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Thanks for the comparison.

[@nikkimoritz6890]

You're an inspiration and a joy to watch 💚 I'm so glad I've stumbled across your channel

[@laurenrhoads9712]

Thank you for sharing this that caterpillars aren’t a pest if controlled and how important they are to our ecosystem. I have a butterfly garden so I plant to attract caterpillars and butterflies

[@showkatjami7445]

Another great video. Seems many thing can learn from you Stefan. Never knew before this caterpillar can be a good friend too . Specially bird's food . I enjoying your video very much . Big salute to you

[@wizdomdropzastrology3620]

Keep being awesome Stefan! Thanks for the good message - nature is the teacher

[@feralbluee]

We always had tent caterpillars in one group of trees. my grandpa got rid of them. but i loved playing with them and watching them grow. they started out as these little tiny caterpillars about 2 cms long and grew to over an inch. they felt like velvet. and boy, they were all over those trees!!! :) 🐛🍃🌷🌱

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

I just went out onto the garden and found my cup of tea from a while back. When I reached for it the mosquito larvae indicated to me that the tea had gotten cold, so I microwaved it until the mosquitos were no longer indicating that.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Hahahaha

[@jwrightgardening]

Your videos, including this one, have helped me be a lot calmer about our mini orchard and dealing with the minor crisis that pop up every couple of months. I've adopted the attitude of "what is this trying to teach me". Something I've learned from bugs and slugs is that they always know what is the tastiest to eat. So if my kids and I see a not so pretty fruit that has a nibble or two taken from it, we are happy to eat it anyway because it's probably the sweetest one.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Fantastic.

[@jayleaver728]

I absolutely love your channel its changed my whole process of gardening making the organic dream not only a possibility but to actually come true thank you so much for all the years of hard work and freely giving us the knowledge you have accumulated over the years. I will forever be thankful i came across your channel and look up to you in more ways. You could ever know

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Glad to hear it helps make a change in the right direction.

[@actcityottawa]

Awesome wisdom...being aware and open is how we learn best...KMAN

[@timc333]

You are the guy who confirmed for me the huge benefits of the dandelion plant for the ground and ground composition , I never quite felt that they were a bad plant or a weed at all , and your teaching on that has been spot on as well , I leave them alone , and they give me a beautiful lawn for it , it' is a true win win . You are as well one of the KZbinrs who helped me get over a life long phobia of all bees . Started last year I instead of expecting a fight with them , was looking for the good they do , they saved (they being Bee's of all forms , mostly wasp and hornets)a tree in our yard that I am a bit partial towards , from being killed by those spotted lantern flies (I sat there most of the summer and watched them work for us here) I am grateful to the different bees now , I have always loved seeing the honey bees , but now they all are welcome . This year we have a giant orange colored hornet here , I really believe however that it is a cicada killer , but it could also be a giant European hornet or even the giant Asian hornet (it is a very dark orange color) , but no worries , it seems very docile and not very interested in myself or my dog , it checked us out real good a few times and has been leaving us alone since , it flies very slowly and with a definite purpose in it's flight direction . Anyway I really just wanted to say THANK YOU !!!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Welcome. Glad the videos helped.

[@shursts]

Thank you Stefan. You have taught me more in a few short videos than I may have learned in a good long time. Thank you for pointing me toward thinking of dandelions, wasps, tent caterpillars and aphids as teachers and not the problem. How refreshing. How helpful. More please...

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You’re welcome Scott, yes more lessons to come. Lots of them in other past videos as well.

[@marielaretivesiccard7162]

Plant wall flower ( tarragon) and other herbs between the apple trees / harvest herbs to work the trees...🦋

[@ruthmore8803]

Outstanding! Thank you for such informative and beautiful videos!! 👏👍🏼❤️

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes they’ve become more beautiful lately.

[@sowingtreesinstorms]

I think what my Bermuda grass and bindweed are trying to teach me are that they grow better than flowers or vegetables. :P

[@RealJudyi]

Lol. Grass locks in moisture and keeps your soil rich. You might even be able to put in a tree and the shade will eventually stop them from coming in like crazy. My home is the same. Instead I planted trees and underneath I planted partial sun flowers. Worked like a charm.

[@annebeck2208]

Laughing as I see the caterpillars that the robin is bringing to their babies and the flycatcher is trying to use my decorative bird house for nesting and the finches are sharing the duck food.

[@katojoubert3949]

They are beautiful to look at and make lovely silk tents!

[@LM01234]

So so so blessed to find your channel. Flips my perception of gardening. I thank you and those you learned from

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I’m blessed by everyone who gets the perception change.

[@tomkelly8827]

Brilliant, just brilliant, such an important perspective to bring forward! I remember being eaten by mosquitoes while gardening and being very annoyed but I went and sat down and stopped killing them and let them just bite me and within a minute, a swarm of dragonflies decended and ate or scared off all the mosquitoes areound me. It was amazing! I am glad to hear that you have had a similar experience with tent caterpillars.

[@brettbrignac7591]

That is good info. Back in the 80s, I found that white wash, limestone powder, does the trick to keep the worms and moths away.

[@quinn9915]

This was such a good watch, thank you for the video!

[@ellieatteberry8164]

Ok, Earwigs are devouring our flowers, ants you won't believe. Trying Irish Spring chunks hanging from a few stalks to scare off the earwigs. Lawn spikes for ants.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Earwigs are just looking for a shady area. They’re more abundant after a wet year. Very useful creatures actually, especially if you have pear trees.

[@Skashoon]

If you can have them, get some chickens

[@aubriealexandra6388]

You're an awesome teacher!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Yes those caterpillars are great. I’m getting better as well.

[@Mikkirose1]

I saw the octopus teacher, gosh I cried so hard! Great movie!

[@busker153]

Billy from Perma Pastures Farm directed me to your site in one of his videos, and I am so glad he did! I just watched the splash video (now I'm playing this through for the view time!), and have to tell you what happened last week. Well, I started my urban farm (a rented house in Tucson, AZ) on July 11, 2021 (a year and three months! Wow!), and last month I started noticing "disgusting" things in the soil. Like worms, but fat, and oogey. Yes, oogey! I found out from a neighbor that they are Palo Verde Beetle slugs, and that they bore into tree roots, killing them. I knee jerk reacted by starting to get rid of them, of course! Well, I know that bugs only eat plants with an unhealthy low brix reading, and know that bugs are not pests. I know you don't have a slug problem; you have a duck deficiency. I know that nature will balance everything out in time, if you just leave things alone. But, I still reacted like a fool! Then, in worship last week, God called my attention to the matter, and shed a little light on it. So, I asked Him to send whatever it is that eats them to our yard. A couple days later, some birds took up residence in our 2 tall date palm trees. One has been occupied by birds before, but the other has not. And, we have not had any birds living in them for a strangely long time. If they primarily attack Palo Verde Trees, I figured they could be useful in removing one I want gone. Cool, eh? Well, it was a good idea, but a couple days later, God brought it to my attention that I had made a decision without asking Him first. So, I did. I asked Him what I should be doing about the palo verde slugs, and He said, as clear as a bell, that I was simply to, "leave them alone." Which is consistent with my basic, foundational perspective: less work is always better. How much time would it have taken to get them all out? And, would that be good for the garden/urban farm/food forest (I don't care what it's called...LOL)? Well, I decided to listen to God, and just watch the trees. I have a couple fruit trees, and a lot of Moringa Trees, all looking very healthy. So, I am happy! I know bugs do not eat unhealthy plants, but deer and other animals do. I did not know which category vine bores and root bores fall into...still don't. LOL Well, all that happened last week, and now I see your video, and was dazzled. The Bible says to go to the ant and be wise. I believe that the ant was just representative of all the creatures in nature. I am so enjoying what I have come to call Yard Farm.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

You get it.

[@busker153]

@@StefanSobkowiak My old achin' bones are saying I should have gotten it years ago! LOL But, better late than never, eh?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Working outdoors a moderate amount, especially in the morning does wonders to keep the aching at bay.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Working outdoors a moderate amount, especially in the morning does wonders to keep the aching at bay.

[@phoenixrizn]

About 10 or 15 years ago here in Seattle, we had a tremendous tent caterpillar infestation across the city. You'd walk down the sidewalk and they would fall out of the trees on to you and their bodies covered the walkway. My mom had nests all over her cherry tree in the backyard, and we were sitting there talking about how many were up there and what to do about them. My dog had a friend over that day and they were in the yard playing and the other dog started barking at him and she had kind of a shrill bark. The craziest thing happened - every time she barked, the tent caterpillars rained out of the tree. We started laughing till we cried it was so weird, and cool! It's nice to have another positive way to look at them... 😁

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Hahaha that’s how alternative solutions are discovered, by observation. Now just make a product out of the shrill bark to scare the caterpillars out of the trees. Great story, thanks.

[@PsychedelicChameleon]

Thank you Stefan for this pleasant teaching video. Your orchard is beautiful!

[@christophergruenwald5054]

I leave my wasps alone until fall when raspberries are in harvest. The paper wasps and yellow jackets are all over them eating the raspberries and you have to be really careful not to grab a wasp while harvesting. I wish we could get along, but i ended up hanging a wasp trap over the patch during harvest season to reduce their numbers a little on the berries.

[@Dandelion_flight]

I used to hate possums sneaking into my garden picking eating my vegetables and peaches until one night I went out and met it, and it quickly scurried up the olive tree, it is so cute that i offered it another peach. From then on I love possums.

[@oceanmellon6169]

Thank you for your incredible knowledge! You are the "Peter Wohlleben" of gardens. 🌳💚

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

I never thought to just send a dm to my pests...brilliant!

[@wandasway6882]

What is a dm?

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

@@wandasway6882 A direct message

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

Everything in nature has a purpose - even if the purpose might not be readily apparent. I'm looking at the pecan trees where the tent caterpillars were heavy last year, and seeing all of the birds that the feeders and bird baths have brought in, perching on the branches - I don't think the tent caterpillars are going to be a problem this year, at all. I've seen them investigating the houses that we put up, so maybe by next year they will begin to use them 😊

[@sukhjohal8998]

everything is so connected in nature

[@thokomasango2294]

Thanks for this amazing lesson... My eyes are opened 🤗❤️

[@sidilicious11]

I just realized we have no tent caterpillars this year in NW Oregon! They were everywhere up to 2 years ago, then less last year, none this year! There’s no mono culture here, mostly feral rural forests and underbrush.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

They are a cyclical species with big cycles every 20?? years or so.

[@fujitsu454]

Stefan ,,, you are the best !!!!!!!!!!!!

[@zarahsgarden2097]

🐛 "brb eating all your trees lol" 😂💕

[@hallowelt2673]

Very nice, shows a better way. We don't have to destroy with chemicals. Give all your thumbs.

[@trumplostlol3007]

There is a book called Miracle Apples (that was made into a movie) that is about a story of a Japanese apple farmer who could not grow a single apple in 10 years. The reason why he could not grow a single apple in 10 years was because he tried not to spray chemicals in his apple farm. He got laughed and mocked at by all his neighbors. One day he went up to the hill and tried to hang himself. Then all sudden he realized that nature never just grows apple trees and nature does not remove grass and weeds underneath any trees. Monoculture is THE reason for having pests. If you let everything else grow, everything will grow. If you only grow fruit trees, you will end up fighting against nature. You will always lose.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I’ll have to look it up thanks. Sounds familiar.

[@ChrisJohnson-pd4hh]

Monoculture may produce pests. I don't have monoculture but I do have the pests! - Chris Johnson, The Lincolnshire Bucketeer.

[@trumplostlol3007]

@@ChrisJohnson-pd4hh In nature we don't just have fruit trees. We have nitrogen fixing trees, deep rooted trees, deciduous tree, evergreen trees, vines, shrubs, grass and weeds, ... You want to have more birds, you need to have vines and shrubs so that they can hide themselves and build nests. Plus you can't cut your grass so that it will produce grass seeds to feed the birds. Small native berry trees may invite more birds to your farm too. When the grass dies back, its straw will serve as a good ground cover so that ground spiders can have good shades to hide during the hot and dry summer. Everything in the ecosystem has some functions. If you only grow human selected commercial fruit trees that at mostly non-native, you WILL ALWAYS have some problems and you WILL ALWAYS need to fight against nature. Human selection is the problem. Crabapples are much more resistant to diseases, deer browsing, vole attack, ... Commercial apples are tasty but relatively unhealthy and weak.

[@chromiedoodles]

Appreciate this video! Had tentworms on my riverbirches a few years ago. Over time, after we've planted more diversity in the yard, we have more birds and diverse plants, and the tentworms get less and less. But we didn't know what that diversifying would help, we were just planting all kinds of things because we're a bit eclectic. A couple days ago I saw 3 squash bugs and 1 japanese beetle on in my garden and because I've been watching your channel, I decided to leave them be and wait and see. The next day I couldn't find them anywhere. In previous years, they would multiply exponentially overnight it seemed! Haha! Appreciate your time and sharing your experiences and expertise. I started learning about permaculture just a few months ago. I wish I'd discovered it when I was a kid. But I have the rest of my life to learn.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Absolutely. Good job with observing.

[@Sue-ec6un]

Always good information and a happy heart. Who could ask for more? Thanks Stefan

[@ayshaatman8857]

Truly wiseful. Thank You!🦋

[@jc308sr]

I really like you videos! Thanks for posting!

[@geomundi8333]

I try to recruit 10% of my trees in my orchards each year (about 50 trees). Each year you find a new species niche that needs balanced or enhanced. Recently I have been putting in paw paw in shade, nut pines in full sun, and persimmons in both if wind protected. Now I'm up to about 10 different species in my orchard with countless varieties. This guy has been really inspiring!!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Love it. As trees die out you will have openings for even more species. Don't omit the fruiting shrubs, they fill in space nicely.

[@LukePermoda]

I love this, I love you, I love your orchard. Thank you

[@eightdragonkings]

Sound advice, however, for some folks, the natural vegetation in the area will determine if you get an infestation. These tent caterpillars will develop in aspen/poplar forest and will move many kilometres eating almost everything in their wake. If.your orchard is in the path its toast.

[@elainekilgore1352]

Tent catipillars love alder trees, too. There was a virtual sunami of the in the ‘80s in Wa.state. They covered trees, roads, and houses in their migration. You could hardly take a step.

[@jeanniehernandez7220]

Thank you 🙏:) this is so beautiful!

[@robertsingleton1893]

A tree covered with these webs is sometimes referred to as a "Fuzzy tree" and contact will cause an itchy rash hence the line in the Elvis song "All Shook Up" I'm itching like a man in a fuzzy tree.😀

[@trackerbuckmann1627]

Do you have a video specifically on grasshoppers? They're the bane of my existence.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

No but good idea.

[@MZapps]

Subscribed! Great knowledge. We learn from our experience👍

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Welcome aboard.

[@truthtoad]

What a wonderful permaculture primer! Thanks Stefan

[@ecospider5]

We got paper wasps in our attic right off our back patio. I watched them for a couple weeks and decided they were not coming near us when eating on the patio. So I was just going to let them be for the season and seal up their access during the winter. But they ate a hole in my kitchen ceiling during a party and we had wasps in the house. So I covered the hole quickly with hard plastic and painters tape. Opened the windows to let them out. Then called the exterminator. I was bummed we had to kill the nest but they made it impossible to live with them.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Great progress in letting them be even for a time.

[@AstroRef68]

I love it Great advice. Please don’t burn 🔥 any leaving organisms fire really hurts Just make them food for some one of you can .

[@holdinmuhl4959]

I got a lot of predators in my garden as well. I have no big problems with caterpillars. But some withe the birds. When hundred starlings plunder the cherry trees almost nothing remains for me. And such beasts like magpies that build their nests on my huge trees eat my young plants and sometimes even destroy them deliberately.

[@jenniewilliamsmural]

I've always agreed with you - but now I agree with you in my gut.

[@dodopson3211]

Hmm I only noticed tent caterpillars in my apple tree once; simply took a small (already fallen) twig, "mopped" them all up and relocated them to the denser bushes for the birds to eat. 🤷 maybe a few escaped that but that's fine.

[@NashvilleMonkey1000]

Recently the caterpillars were just eating the very same leaves that I was about to pull out anyway, like leaves on the tall flowering brassicas to bring light to the newer plants on the surface. Last year there were a million aphids completely covering two radish plants that I wanted to keep, but since they were genetically predisposed to feeding aphids, I pulled out the two plants and dipped them in hot water. The rest of the aphids were spread out so much they were not a problem, especially with all the good bugs in the garden, like mantis~

[@FirstNameLastName-vh8wo]

Thank you for all these videos, Stefan! I love the lessons you teach, and your attitude in doing so. I am attempting to glean as much knowledge and wisdom from them as I can. Where I am, we have all sorts of bugs, but the one that is most over-abundant (and which presents the most physical danger here) are ticks. There are ticks everywhere!!! The lone star tick is just taking over the area, and a number of folks relatively nearby have even developed alpha gal from their bites. I haven't been able to discern a lesson that this overabundance of ticks is teaching. Do you have any ideas?

[@StefanSobkowiak]

We hope to do a video on them but we don’t have any on our property.

[@indefinitehiatus2473]

I had them as pets, I always loved these

[@ablanccanvas]

Variety/Diversity... is the ‘spice’ of life. 😌

[@XVNRX]

I use to collect them when I was in elementary school every year From Pennsylvania, Never knew the actual name of them until now

[@rnedlo9909]

Thank you for sharing that. It is so true! As a forester to my heart break, about forty years ago, one of the most beautiful continuous forest in the world was attacked by the Northeast Tent Caterpillar. For tens of miles there was no leaves in August. It wiped out the hard maple (black maple) forest. Hard maple can propagate in the shade, so few other trees can compete. It had taken over large sections of the Northeast United States. To stand in a hard maple forest was amazing. Large trees with hardly any brush. but the point was: Nature Hates A Mono-culture. Now, many different hard and soft wood trees have filled the void left by that infestation, producing a much more balanced forest. So what is true for an orchard is true for everything, including us humans.

[@AustinAOkay]

Wow they were sooo bad this year in Tucson due to the returning monsoons

[@mayberry6932]

Bonjour dommage qu' il n y ait pas la traduction

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Un jour lorsque des gens se porteront volontaires pour le faire je les mettrai sur mon canal français.

[@mayberry6932]

@@StefanSobkowiak il existe sur KZbin une traduction automatique. Y ai déjà regardé des vidéo en sous titré

[@beeu9841]

This is one great video. Looked up Oak tree worms and found this video. Love birds and very insightful and educational. Mother Earth 🌎 ❤

[@georgelackey622]

I have used torches for years to keep them from stripping fruit trees!

[@StefanSobkowiak]

I’ve been there. Now is much more fun.

[@kbjerke]

Very wise information! Thank you!

[@markcenci8000]

Yeah well I planted a crab apple tree in my diverse woods and it was stripped by tent caterpillars so they taught me to watch for them earlier in the spring which I did this year and I destroyed their tent and now my tree and I are happy

[@toneenorman2135]

What do you use crab apples for? Thank you.

[@bmiles4131]

Open the tents so the trichogramma wasps can eat them.

[@ummlittlemuslim]

My 5 year old loves your channel

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Thanks I try to make it simple with a broad appeal. I used to teach in university so have taught to all levels.

[@AustinAOkay]

Come for the knowledge, stays for the animatics

[@glaucouswingedgull]

I grew up North of Seattle on a cherry orchard and remember the constant battle against tent caterpillars, but as the region became more residential, the problem diminished, even though the orchard remained for awhile. On moving to Oregon, I was impressed with the huge outbreak in an undeveloped area of alder that completely stripped a large area of trees. The outbreaks and the dearth of caterpillars seem inexplicable. Just recently I found a half dozen nests in a mixed orchard of mainly apple, & pear alongside another orchard of filberts (hazelnuts) & almonds. I did have moderate deer damage last year. This year, I have not “mowed” the grass between the rows, and although I have seen some damage, it is not as significant, so maybe leaving things more “natural” is a good idea. The grass is up to about 4 foot high, and may become a fire hazard as the summer season progresses. I suppose, for everything there is a trade off. I do remember as a young teen (1960’s) spraying tent caterpillars with arsenic of lead, wearing only a bandana around my face for protection. I can’t seem to find it in the stores any longer.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Check out my video on roller crimping. Fantastic on tall grass, does not kill it just lays it down so it won't stand up again. Creates a mulch layer and conserves water.

[@glaucouswingedgull]

@@StefanSobkowiak Saw your video on crimping. I spoke too soon about the tall grass reducing the deer damage to my trees, as that very night the deer moved in. I had used a brush hog in the past for mowing, but it doesn’t really cut the grass too fine. Someone suggested I should use a flail mower, and one just came available to me, so think I’ll get out and try it before conditions get too dry and dusty. My ground is too rough and still has some tire puncturing hawthorn, to use a riding lawnmower. Thanks for the information.

[@reneelabute5649]

I have seen how effective wasps are at cleaning up unwanted insects in the garden, unfortunately they also eat monarch and swallowtail caterpillars so I have to collect them up before the wasps get them!😂

[@iRoxanneLady]

Thanks to you i solved my window garden fly infestation ..not a single fly anywhere anymore 🤗

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Glad to hear.

[@hoperules8874]

As a kid, there was an outbreak of tent caterpillars. They decimated almost every single tree for miles around. My Grandad looked sick to his stomach looking around & explained that every tent colony would have to be blow torched. They were even in the old oak trees (nearly double the height of the two story house they were beside). Luckily, the Grange was still a thing in that area and everyone worked together and got them under control.

[@hoperules8874]

p.s. no orchards, tons of diversity--sometimes pests just get out of control

[@hoperules8874]

fyi...that was only about 150 miles from your orchard

[@StefanSobkowiak]

We used to see that every few years. There used to be insecticide spraying of forests back then. Threw out of whack all kinds of insect cycles.

[@hoperules8874]

@@StefanSobkowiak Well, I wouldn't know about that at six years old, but that would make stuff a bit crazy.

[@lendavidhart9710]

I look at blueberry farms, with row after blueberry bushes, in an open field, in a natural setting they grow under the cover of forest trees....

[@email356]

3:06 Hi Stefan, informative video as always. Me and a few friends have been wondering how to get access to information that was common before corporations really influenced agriculture. My grandad was into this sort of stuff and I've got one of his older books by Sir Albert Howard "On humus and the earth worm". I was wondering if you would have any other book recommendations like this, as it's a great resource for learning how to improve our farm. Thanks, A young organic veg farmer.

[@StefanSobkowiak]

Go to the soil and health library online. It’s out of Australia. A gold mine of pre 1950 agricultural publications.