Making More Raised Beds And Planting An Orchard For Self Sufficiency

[@davidstokes9275]

Kris man, make some children and take over all the world with your like minded offspring. God bless you both.

[@marka4204]

Looks good mate. What you will have to remember is that certain foods you wont be able to grow all year round .... in the winter its best growing brassicas. What you can do is if you have a freezer then you can part boil things like peas, carrots , cauliflower and broccoli, let them cool down and then portion them up and freeze them they will keep for months on end. With all of your root vegetables and potatoes you can build a big wooden box and fill it with layers of sand and root veg/potatoes, put a layer of sand at the bottom then a layer of root vegetables/potatoes and keep repeating the process and they will stay as fresh as the day you picked them for months on end. Potatoes dont need a lot of room , you will get loads out of that one square bed if you have put quite a fair few sprouting potatoes in there but if you done one more bed the same size then you will yield loads that you can store using the sand method I mentioned above.

[@DukeOfChirk]

Dot - “this bed? Oh, yes, this is the bed I buried Kris in when he wouldn’t stop doing his Welsh accent!” lol

[@JerryDodge]

No, don't Carole Baskin him!

[@riff2072]

Or ".....because he kept repeating everything I said."

[@jtigga15]

Always love when Dot is in your videos with you.

[@Ruffel24]

Could Dot explain the part about the plants? I would love it if she gets her own section in your videos :)

[@mcflapper7591]

Loved your welsh accent and the humour behind it. :)

[@D4NS80]

Great when you have neighbors with handy supplies :)

[@AnnetteZang]

We have goshawk in South Africa also. Put in higher corner posts around the chicken pen, and put chicken mesh fencing above the entire area where they run. It will keep the goshawk out. You can be totally self sufficient with half an acre of veg and fruit garden. Hugs

[@DeterminedDIYer]

I was going to say the same thing. That's how we do it in Ohio. :)

[@pippaseaspirit4415]

Just what I was going to say! A large net would work as well.

[@sarapulford5957]

@@pippaseaspirit4415 - A lot cheaper as well.

[@maryblaylock6545]

Do the same in Minnesota. We call it a run. Good luck with your chickens. 🐓🐔

[@KK-xz4rk]

Chicken fences need to be covered all time with nets. Hawks and eagles make fast meal out of your birds otherwise. But they are easy threat to defend against. When martens find your coop you are in trouble. They can chew through solid planks and climb through every small hole + they kill every bird in one night in killingfrenzy. In 30 years iv lost my chickens 3 times to marten.

[@limecool3035]

Head scarf looks good on you

[@timblackwood1531]

Your heath Robinson way of creating a solution for chipping wood is fantastic. 😁😁😁😍 This is KZbin gold mate 👌👌👌😎

[@gearbanger57]

I like the sketchy wood chipper. Making due with what you got.

[@jamess1787]

He needs to weld on a chute, then it would be complete! And safer too!

[@bwebs956]

@@jamess1787 came here to say that. 😀 It helps prevent that sudden violent swipe of the branch when it gets caught on the blade.

[@FurnitureFan]

That was ingenious, the stick strimmer.

[@stvooplayhouse]

Your truly blessed to have Dot as your future.maybe a wedding for content.

[@mikepapa3196]

Here in NZ we had hawks take two of our chooks, ended up stringing thin wire cross over head about a foot apart, then there's the ferret problem! Charles Dowding is your go to gardening man, no dig, awesome! Keep up the good work!

[@2ndSprings]

The closed captioning describes the lawnmower chipper sound as [music]. Brilliant!!!

[@2ndSprings]

The ash bark coming off the tree shows on closed captioning as [applause]. Which of course I felt compelled to add to. Great stuff!

[@TheJunkyardgenius]

The best ideas are the simplest. Well done mate

[@ArmouredKat]

Dot's worth her weight in gold :)

[@koningbolo4700]

My experience with gardening is from my grandmother. She used to have a large veg garden and the thing I remember is that gardening means having produce in spurts. You may have beans but like A LOT. You should be prepared to handle the amounts you will be getting. My grandmother obviously gave some away but the bulk of the harvest went into glass jars. She canned for days on end for a family of 8. I recommend you get hold of both a large canning kettle (and the paraphernalia associated with it), some jars (i recommend you try to get about 100-150 of the same size and shape jars and new lids for them) and possibly a pressure canner to be able to handle the insane amounts of vegetables which will come your way...If you were to post an ad on one of the local facebook advertisement pages saying you are looking for a certain type/size of jar you will be surprised at the amount of reactions you get. Simply choose a common size at the supermarket, try to find out what they are used for (pickles, veg or sauces) and ask those types from your local people. New lids can be found online. You can reuse many lids of they are undamaged and are not corroding. I find even new lids tend to go three or four times if handled gently enough.

[@remlatzargonix1329]

Birgit Schlegel ...I was going to suggest drying as an alternative or in addition to canning, but you beat me to it!

[@JRC332888]

I would suggest that if you are just starting to gather canning supplies look for the wide mouthed canning jars. They are easier to fill, empty an and handle

[@H2Dwoat]

Hi, I’ve been looking into canning but here in the UK it is not that common but I will keep searching. Any one that can point me in the right direction it would be appreciated.

[@bigunone]

@@H2Dwoat not sure if they made it to the UK but look for The Ball canning book, from the Ball canning jar company

[@bigunone]

@Birgit Schlegel You can also run a string through the flat beans and dry them by hanging from your ceiling. When they are dry seal them in jars till you need them

[@Bunefoo401]

OhMyGosh... I’m pretty sure the lawn mower companies are busy revising their manuals to “DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS”, lol ... your Frankenmower seems to be the ticket for amending your soil, great job thinking outside the box

[@danfeeger8211]

With the trailer that doesn't tip. We just put a tarp in under whatever is going in and then you can pull it out as one big lump with two people. Heaps easier!

[@rudolfzaris675]

You are a funny guy Kris. :-) That is good. Both of you are doing a perfect work there and the most important is, that you are enjoying it. God Bless you!

[@philliphall3634]

You are truely living a dream my friend! Watching all the way from USA South Carolina!

[@RockinChairGoblin]

I've stumbled across you on accident, but suffice to say I'm here to stay. And I've shared your channel with a few members of my family who're doing this kind of thing so that maybe they can pick up a few things they don't know about.

[@TheDaf95xf]

Afternoon Kris. Dot is do sweet 😊 Is there no end to your talent 🤩👍🏻

[@Chris-fz5oe]

How nice is that orchard going to be in a few years :) sitting down in the shade of the apple tree drinking a nice cider......this is what dreams are made of Kris :) awesome ;)

[@juventusventuno9213]

I was wondering pro and con of grouping them by fruit so easier to harvest in proximity but maybe benefits of interspersing

[@CarlJones14]

What a great effort. Many ways to extend your veg into the winter months. Potatoes can last a long time if stored the right way. If you can run a large chest freezer, that is an easy way to keep your veg. The possibilities are limitless. Pickling is another good method. 👍

[@gowithbazza]

Oow the birds are going to love your fruit and young buds

[@villageinmoderntimes8533]

My favourite KZbin channel..

[@jons6125]

Nice to hear Dot 👍

[@chrisfryer3118]

do some sunflowers, for your chickens. Sweetcorn will love the rich bed, as will spuds

[@ellsappelle9929]

Can't believe how well you've developed you land Kris, been watching since the roundhouse amazing transformation it just keeps getting better and better! Keep on living the dream! 😍 Hope Pauline is recovering well!

[@mitchellringham]

Hi Kris, good effort. Some advice buddy, 1. Make 3× compost bins next to each other you fill one up, let one decompose and the 3rd is ready to use and empty. 2. You can use gypsum to breakdown heavy clay. Clay is really high in nutrients, keep adding the rotten wood and straw it will help. 3. Buy some comfrey seeds/plants. Site them in a spot that is damp and gets alot of water. Cut the plants down and make a 'tea' from the leaves. The tea is really high in potassium and nitrogen both good for alot of fruit and vegetables. Keep it up Mitch

[@TheRealMcJack]

you should defo dread that barnet now mate, getting looooong 😎

[@Who.is.Clinton]

Whoop whoop, our weekly dose of the best video content on KZbin, KUDUS to you guys!!!!

[@sempi8159]

Great to see you gardening!

[@peem1244]

Hi Kris, Dot, Snoop, hope you are all well. Garden is looking amazing, super progress. How about some ballerina fruit trees near to the solar cable. Compact and bijou as they say, easy to manage, lots of fruit. Maybe you could trade excess garden yield for horse manure with your farmer neighbor. Start a local co-operative. As if you'd ever have the time. In Germany many people will leave excess fruit/veg from their gardens in boxes at the front of their property to share with passers-by. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe and keep up the good work. 👍🖖😎😺🐔

[@pierrotgretillat9365]

Salut vous tank you vidéo magnifique bravo

[@lawrencenlberg]

Ash and small bits of charcoal are really nutrilicious I would add your left overs from your fire place to your garden beds Keep up the good work!

[@sandracunningham2689]

Kris I wondered if you had thought of getting 2 smaller sized pigs? They can eat like royalty on your land and help clean it up. Another step in self sufficiency. You are one hard working couple.

[@wendyweaver8749]

sandra cunningham - Have you watched videos on The Hollar Homestead channel? They use pigs as you suggest - to clear the land (including eating kudzu, roots and all). They now are raising pigs for food, too.

[@SuperCidermonkey]

The leaf litter and soil underneath all over your property would make an awesome growing medium! Thanks for the video, Kris!

[@monabale8263]

yes! leaf mold is AMAZING... bonus; many little critters for the chickies as well..

[@SuperCidermonkey]

@@monabale8263, Yes, I missed that! Those birds will shred that litter and poop all over it, adding to the goodness!! :D

[@joshuahasson9687]

Simple netting loosely draped up & into the lower limbs of the trees (obviously over the chicken fencing) will keep the hawk out. Also, you might consider welding a 4”+ diameter pipe to your modified mower. It’ll allow easier & saver chipping of those branches. Once they’re too short to feed in by hand gravity & the next limb will take care of it completely. Great video!

[@thisoldditty]

That is the funniest thing, you're mad! I love it, I'm doing that for sure.

[@rickvangunten4800]

Brilliant Chipper. Looks like You folks have really been busy. A bit of Composting Advice. Wetting the pile between layers will help the pile compost more evenly and keep it from getting too hot. Your garden really looks great

[@Abcxoxo-vt8tq]

Realy cool! Much love and respect family! 💖 💖 💖

[@josephkerley363]

What a great idea for the using the lawnmower as a chipper!

[@MsAhadley]

You should put chicken tunnels through the garden so the chickens can eat the bugs. It adds protein to the eggs and keeps the bugs from eating the plants

[@chriswills9530]

As big a part of self-sufficiency as what you, and how much you grow, is preserving the glut crops to see you over the winter. Root cellar, preserving beans in jars, tomato sauce in jars, things like that are probably a good idea to be thinking about ready for the harvest(s), and I'm sure you are/have been. Nice work and smart to (eventually) get to talk to next door's muck mountain owner - priceless.

[@veronicabalfourpaul2288]

Oh lucky you having access to all that horse manure, etc!!! Black gold, that is. You can add the fresher horse stuff to the compost heap. Makes it get really hot, quickly.

[@chrishall6220]

Another ace and informative videos, cheers guys!

[@samsam3499]

A couple of bee hives will help your trees produce more fruit plus the added benefit of honey. A root cellar for food storage will work as well.

[@staxter6]

My Uncle Les (RIP @ 96 years young) said to me in 1975 it took him almost 20 years in Wiltshire to finally create an agronomic and productive soil system without costly inputs, seems like Shawn James et al can do it in less than a few weeks. Agree with Annette Zang comment, raptors don't enjoy swooping under obstacles to prey unless its a juvenile, learned in Eastern Tvl SA. Nice chipper Kris.

[@martinwinfield2935]

It's times like these that we are at our most inventive. Great idea with the mower. Sorry about the Hawk attack if you have something's like goal netting you could put that over the top.

[@jamess1787]

+1 for welding a chute onto your diy woodchipper!

[@williamfrancis7697]

I love hearing the welsh assent

[@koningbolo4700]

Assent Welsh to no end...

[@slougo5909]

Man's gotta do, what man's gotta do

[@Shavenhamster]

Get some squash, I recommend butternut and crown prince they will keep all winter and roast up lovely.

[@Totial]

Haha wonderful ideas! Congrats

[@robg521]

Good on for wearing that PPE mate 👍👏👏

[@m4pdy]

We keep ducks at work, we have run fishing line over the top above head height of thier run, we then used old cds and foil, and things that made noise. Also made sure that the fishing line cruised crossed the whole area so to deter the birds of prey. It has worked for us. Maybe worth a try?

[@bobrobert6277]

around here on flat roof building they put fishing line to prevent birds from nesting on the roofs

[@mcflapper7591]

Ha! We did this for our fish in the pond. Guess what, herons come walking along, get their fish, walk away and start getting airborne couple of meters further. Clever bastards!

[@alancollett5566]

absolutely BRILLIANT!

[@NameisLeon]

The place is really taking shape. Having a source of well rotted manure close by is gold. If you need any help or advice about growing, just give me a shout. I’ve taken a load of good advice from your channel so happy to reciprocate. Cheers, all the best. Leon

[@NameisLeon]

Just to add, make sure you plant successionally so that you get 3-4 different crops in the same space. Will turn a 50m2 space into 150m2 just by planning. Cheers.

[@paulwaldrop]

Great Job Kris and Dot.

[@SusanLarrabee]

Love your videos! And thank you for wearing safety glasses! A+

[@tastyw0rm]

Loving the lifestyle you're living. Am very jealous and will have to simply live vicariously through you. Thank you for all of your videos, a pleasure to watch.

[@TaMoose101]

Great video, fantastic work so good on you & dot

[@Nightsoil626]

Have been watching your back catalogue while in lock down,really enjoying them,educational and entertaining,you are a skilled man,thankyou

[@thefoodhobbyists7352]

Brilliant! Some preserving techniques would be a great video in the autumn.

[@jessjulian9458]

Absolutely wonderful. You two have it going on. You have about all your are going to need.

[@marleycharkwick]

Love the lawn mower trick

[@cryptochris4224]

John Seymour has a great book on self sufficiency

[@amberclemons-lopez7220]

You are so creative!!! Genius.

[@amberclemons-lopez7220]

I saw one video where a man had shrubs in the chicken pen so they had a place to run and hide from sky predators.

[@sophiechandler955]

A tip for planting veg is to stagger the timings or you get a glut of crops ready all at once and you don't want waste. You have plenty of beds for two people if you're clever with timings, crop types and rotating the beds. For example, do two or three potato crops so you can have a balanced staggered harvest, but like everything, you learn as you go.

[@tovaritchboy]

Looks GREAT, and sorry to hear about the hawk going after your birds. Should look at getting a couple of geese, they are good at protecting the chickens.

[@stormriderstudios]

Sounds like you need a guard goose to protect your chickens!

[@krisg3984]

Frankenchipper !! Love it 😄😄😄😄😄😄😄

[@michelec152]

I recommend a solar-powered owl scarecrow with a rotating head perched on one of your fence posts over your chickens. They're fairly cheap online. The solar power allows the head to move... Scares the crap out of small hawks like a goshawk. I also recommend putting some spikes (metal or wooden) on the tops of your other fence posts to remove easy perching opportunities. Also trim any branches that hang over the pen.

[@anitamitchell3452]

Neighbors who share their 20 year old compost are the best! Love the Franknchipper maybe it will come in handy later. The garden is coming along very well. Pet the chicken for me.

[@tastindaganja]

Hi dude, We use Sky sails strung up on posts over over our pond(its about the same area as your chicken pen) it keeps the herons away as they cant see below and makes it harder to navigate flying into and out off. and they move so act as scarers too.

[@marygordon3032]

Awesome Kris! 👍👍👍💯💯💯

[@moiragoldsmith7052]

You are so lucky having the Farmers 'waste'. Bloody brilliant! Re compost making; 'Household liquid activator' is the best compost activator and it's free. Any crap from the chickens will quicken a compost heap too. Comfrey and nettles are great in a tub, the resultant liquid(+ water) is fabulous for watering anything that fruits n flowers. Exciting times. Well done. xxx

[@keithlilly4007]

Kris you need some bee hive boxes!! I'm surprised you don't have them all ready, get you some honey bro! You'll need the pollination for all those trees and veggies

[@carlacowling1789]

You're freaking brilliant! I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to come up with a load of compost. Never would have thought the lawnmower would chip wood. I'm scared to use manure because of the widespread use of herbicide on the hay. It persists in the manure and kills everything except grasses for years. Has even shown up in bagged compost from the home improvement stores. Terrible stuff.

[@Mandy-cn5cl]

Yay veggies at last ☺for good no dig look no further than Charles Dowding & Stephanie hafferty the very best ☺

[@KrisHarbour]

I have been watching Charles Dowding every night all week.

[@richardkashfi6251]

Great job on the garden !

[@badtimesprepper6913]

Love the garden project. For hawk protection how about a big net over the chicken pen .

[@CaptainDansWanderings]

Your garden looks great. Have you tried peeling back the grass with the tractor bucket? Seems like you could put it a couple inches deep then scrape the grass off by driving forward. I can't wait to see the orchard and garden by the end of the summer. It will be quite a sight. Well done.

[@tiggasmum]

So glad Pauline was okay, Put a top on the run it is the only way to stop aerial attack , it is so hard protecting chickens , I had them for quite a few years , my last one got taken by a fox right in front of me,there was nothing I could do, I am not having any more as it is so upsetting and it is a shame as they are such good fun :(

[@daves.3895]

Kris, from my own mistakes I would highly encourage removing the center row of the orchard and planting those further away. Otherwise in a few short years the trees will be competing for light and space growing into each other. If you watch Stephen Hayes he's removed dozens of mature trees in his orchard for this reason. Best of luck on these projects I'll be following along!

[@DatsWhatHeSaid]

Yup, I immediately thought "well that's a bit crowded looking" aswell, when he showed the finished orchard spot

[@subliminal_donkey]

@@DatsWhatHeSaid does Kris say what rootstock the trees are on?

[@daves.3895]

@@subliminal_donkey typically if they're box store trees they're semidwarf which is too large for that spacing.

[@KrisHarbour]

They are 2.5 - 3 meters apart, i went with the spacing recommended on the labels. none are full grown trees all are on a dwarf rootstock. i cant remember exactly but it says they will grow 3-4m tall. so the spacing should be fine.

[@WSJeffery]

I agree, having seen how sprawling my trees have got over the years, these look too close together

[@rexsheeley8177]

Very nice to have such stones for the base , lots of these stones in CT USA where me wife is from, but not here in Northern Indiana . Good info

[@natemorlock2379]

You can prevent hawk predators with netting the same way they prevent them at fish hatcheries. Not sure what the netting is but it's black and covers all of the outdoor tanks at the hatcheries here in Washington State. Love the great content. You place looks incredible

[@derekmartin1581]

Beautiful set up , thanks for sharing

[@villain1409]

Radish,i liked growing them for health benefit & they only take 3 weeks to grow more or less. I would grow more than needed & trade & sell them,loved growing beetro0t amongst other veg & had nearly every hen on the market,with a load of geese & ducks,oh the fond memory's.

[@badtimesprepper6913]

As you was showing the Apple trees I was counting the the litres of home made cider you'll be making in the future lol.

[@SHGRetro]

Fishing line around 7 feet above the pen will stop it in it's tracks and it's a cheap and easy solution! I use to use it for when I use to keep Koi!

[@kenleach2516]

Bloody awesome, oh ask the Farmer... Compost!

[@glennwilck5790]

Make sure you have planty of water for your beds shallow beds dry out quickly I just built some 2' raised beds so hoping they will stay wet longer nice work mate gonna be a nice harvest for you and yours! Also look into growing potatoes in those wire mess screens filed with compost then you just dump to harvest seems interesting

[@Jala2]

Thanks Kris for helping to fill our day during this difficult time of "Lockdown". Hopefully we will survive the dreadful virus and the boredom, with your help.

[@Kuffdam-t3z]

you should make a worn bin which would make composting faster and you get the bonus of getting worm castings aswell

[@tolerante1]

Absolutely love watching these . Keep up the great work Chris n dot 😁

[@kennethgibbons2487]

Garden looking great Kris... someone suggested leaf rot as a good source - a good idea. Your property is looking more and more settled and organised which is good to see - looks like a small farm.

[@jonathansweet1112]

Great video yet again, youve taken another step in your off grid lives and the fact that youre doing all this in your own way and at your own pace is commendable. Well done and best of luck.

[@maryblaylock6545]

I have a small suggestion for you if you like. Manure tea. I'm sure you can look it up on line. Just water and manure (aged) and let it cook in the sun. Excellent for a pick me up for your garden and orchards. I put manure in my compost pile also. A good book to read is "Square Foot Gardening". Have fun!