SPRING JOBS IN FULL SWING AND MAKING IMPROVEMENTS ON THE HOMESTEAD

Рет қаралды 11,164

Roots Down Homestead (formerly Quinta Life)

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 99

@martinwyke 10 ай бұрын

Wattling would make a more aesthetic looking back than wire.

@ericheise4051 10 ай бұрын

Before concreting garage you may want to build a French drain to carry subsurface water away from building

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Great idea! Thanks!

@glenyscallaghan1195 10 ай бұрын

They look much improved more loved.⭐️👋

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thank you :)

@irili100 11 ай бұрын

hi Mark. When you cut a branch of a tree the diameter of an arm, you first cut slightly below the branch from the bottom up and then cut a clean and smooth cut from the top down. This prevents the branch from falling and the bark from tearing. When the branch is thicker and longer, make 3 cuts. The first in the middle of the branch to take off the weight, the second below the final cut and the third from top to bottom as a final cut. It is always better to cut clean when the peel is nice, complete and smooth. This will promote closure of the wound and reduce the risk of water, disease and pests entering the wound. It is also recommended to apply wood paste to the wound for the same reason

@jannavozar2634 11 ай бұрын

❤ I was thinking of saying that.😊 learn by doing, nature's classroom.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Great tips as always Iris, thank you :) I keep having that problem so hope it will solve it :) We actually have beeswax to seal it but i've been a bit lazy with using it (or not using it / forgetting to do it)

@irili100 10 ай бұрын

Beeswax is an excellent product for the purpose. But if you beforehand cut the branches in such a way that the rain water will flow down, it is very good. Plus if you cut the branch close to the main branch, the bark has a good chance of closing and covering the wound. I wish it was possible to add links or pictures for a better illustration..@@rootsdownhomestead

@evelyngorfram9306 10 ай бұрын

Structural engineers like to say: "When in doubt, make it stout." I'd add some more support to the wood store. If nothing else, you're using it for pine cones now; but what might you or someone else wind up using it for sometime in the future? ("cozy"core AirB&B? 😜) Nice of the weather to supply you with so many tea breaks.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

That's a good saying! Should probably add more in to make it sterdy! Haha yeah, tiny house airbnb ;)

@Thebluelandy 10 ай бұрын

In traditional sheds wood storage is often used as an additional insulating layer for the house, you can keep wind or sun off the building. That's why they use most of the time only one layer of wood all around the house, so according to your design I would make it not as deep to cover more of the outer walls. great videos, enjoy watching them

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Oh really? Didn't know that! Probably helps as that part of the house gets superhot in the summer, as it's South facing! Thanks so much :)

@melanieshields3048 8 ай бұрын

You can look into tree bending for young plants to spread them outward instead of upward. Also you can take some of the biggest branches and "weave" them together quickly then load it with other branches that way you can drag it out instead of making. Extra trips with arm loads. Or you can dump smaller stuff into a wheel barrel. My grandpa says work smarter not harder.

@jannavozar2634 11 ай бұрын

You should look up planting asparagus. What you did is fine but putting the crown roots on a mound in your planting hole is optimal. Love all your videos.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much and appreciate the tip. Yeah i messed up a bit in my rush, i did get that tip last time. Shame on me for not remembering :)

@SonyaTainton 11 ай бұрын

Giggle a moment (frustrating for you - shame), bloody entertaining for us 🤣😅😂 Back in the day my dad was known as the butcher pruner (fruit trees, roses, etc.), but who had the bounty crops and 1m stemmed roses? 🍑🍎🌹 Apropos the rocks - many years ago I volunteered on an established kibbutz & one of my duties was to take the kids every day after school, with tractor & trailer for them to collect the rocks....an ongoing, almost never ending task BTW 🎼🎶🎵🎼 👏👏👏👏👏 😉

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Haha yeah i know my frustration is good entertainment :) Butcher pruner, love it! Got to take a lot off to get a lot back, i heard! Haha yeah i bet that was litreally a never ending task, more always appear too ;)

@neutonrenda2303 11 ай бұрын

Loved hearing the colourful language with your accent in the wood storage bit, that on its own was me smiling for the next half hour.😂👍

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Hahah thank you :)

@rickadams1881 11 ай бұрын

Hey, keep up the good work! Rick from Arkansas, USA. Your soil looks like what the dozer guy left. He scraped off 10" of forest soil while taking trees down. He said, "You have beautiful soil." He buried it under tons of wood. 65 yrs old and now with a pacemaker still rebuilding my soil and cutting my way into the tangle of oak trees, they were so thick we could not have a garden. You inspire this old man.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Aw thanks so much Rick, really appreciate it :) lovely comment

@rootsdownhomestead 11 ай бұрын

Thanks so much for landing on our channel :) Subscribe, like, comment and say hello :)

@neutonrenda2303 11 ай бұрын

The olives are a lot to catch up with, but once you've done them all it's going to be much easier harvesting and future pruning. They look quite mature already, some of them must be quite an age. 👍

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah exactly, we wanted to try and do them all together, so we can keep on top of them. They won't need another prune like that for 5 years or so!

@teresaedwards3659 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for the video!

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

And thank you for watching it :)

@davidstoddard9160 11 ай бұрын

When you discover wild aspargus, you should mark each one so that the following season you will know exactly where to go to pick them. Otherwise, too often they are hard to find when young and tender, and you dont discover until they are too far advanced for that season.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thank you, that's a great tip!

@JenEmmEmm 11 ай бұрын

Hi Mark & Alice I am watching your channel from Melbourne Australia and am constantly surprised at how similar the landscape and flora is in Portugal to that in Victoria, south eastern Australia. Am staggered to see how many eucalyptus trees are all over Portugal. Definitely an invasive species for you guys. Congratulations on all the progress you are making with your property. Jeni

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Hi Jeni, ah really? Lovely to hear the similarities! Yeah it's a bit of a pain, mostly because of the intense plantations. I don't think they're overly bad but can be a problem in certain situaitons! THnaks so much :)

@neutonrenda2303 11 ай бұрын

I'm very interested in seeing how the asparagus does, it's something I've never planted, but would love to try. 👍

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Same here! we planted some before and it turned out well :)

@davidlittle6621 11 ай бұрын

I just wanted to say, that I admire your hard work. Others could certainly learn from watching .

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

I appreciate that David, thank you! :)

@manny-perez 11 ай бұрын

The way you pruned those olive trees, you won't see very many olives for years! 🥵🧠

@louiseswart1315 11 ай бұрын

Maybe not for 2 years at most on the irrigated ones. Olives are very vigorous growers when watered well. The dry land trees would take longer, I agree.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Two years, probably :) But the harvests over a 5 year period are meant to be optimal!

@robynclarke5274 11 ай бұрын

I used wood wool packing which sometimes is used when sending parcels. I found the block lighters had a nasty smell.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Great tip, thanks :) Yeah we use the bio ones so they're not so bad but the other ones are horrible

@marybarnett9645 11 ай бұрын

Well done Mark a mammoth task with spring approaching 👍🏻always so much to get done . Really looking forward to seeing everything coming together x

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much Mary :)

@darrenharber6711 11 ай бұрын

You should get yourself a old box trailer to go behind the 4x4 and put all the pruning in 1go , maybe bolt the chipper it somewhere so it chipped into the trailer, so you just drive up to dump site,one self-contained little unit,, would have to be easier bru

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah great tip Darren, had that suggestion before and to be honest i always keep an eye out for old/cheap trailers but NOTHING is cheap here in Portugal. Second hand stuff in England, free or next to no cost. Here the opposite!

@TheEmbrio 10 ай бұрын

Rich countries almost give away, poor ones find value in reuse, yes

@polgarauk5606 11 ай бұрын

Lots and lots of work done around the contrary weather. Wood storage looks good to me with what changes you have made but I don't really know much so that's no help😂😂 We are having the same contrary weather here but that's typical UK weather really. See you next week xx

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much :) Feels like the UK working around the rain haha, so know how you feel. I've learnt to appreciate rain since we moved to Portugal :)

@floydgraves3997 11 ай бұрын

Your chipper would make the tree scraps into nice mulch and/or compost for both your veggies and trees. I know you've said it's hard to move it, but maybe a cheap used trailer you can pull behind your truck or tractor, would do? The finer the tree trimmings are cut up, the faster they will turn into compost or mulch you can use. OR... you may want to try turning the piles into Hugekutur garden beds or mounds. The wood would help hold the moisture in the soil and break down into rich soil. I really enjoy seeing you work this property into a productive farm. I hope these tips will help save you some time.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah that's a great idea, we may have done that and it could be something in one of the up and coming vidoes ;) One thing i learnt about Portugal is nothing is cheap haha. Even trailers that would go for £100 in the UK are many hundreds Hugekutur is a good idea too, we have done it before but want to try it on a bigger scale! :) Really appreciate the tips!

@LifebyBertie 11 ай бұрын

Right proper I'd say, good work Marc. That is some massive olive tree pruning there, you get a better harvest from that they say, making the tree grow sideways instead of all the up-shoots. Have a great week!!! Cheers Bert

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks :) It's a good way of doing it although looks bad, the overall harvest over a 5 year period is meant to be greater but the first year you don't get many!

@thenodiggardener 11 ай бұрын

Blimey, I'm not quite sure whether you're actually beating us on rain inches here in England right now. Good job pollarding those threes though. Looks like they'll really benefit from it. Those crowns were huge compared to the piddly things we get here too. You should get some nice mulch from those eventually too.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah we probably aren't far off! :) So good for the land though, i've been told we're due another tough summer so hope all this rain helps :)

@elainemcgran8828 11 ай бұрын

Could you give us a house tour . Don't think you have ever shown inside the house or talked about the condition it was in when you's bought it. I watch quite a few videos. People moved to Portugal, but every one of them bought a run-down property and are rebuilding .

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

We have thought about it but there isn't much to see i guess ;) It was actually freshly renovated (mostly) by the previous owners, as we were/are working full time we couldn't take on a big renovation!

@Liz-uq1ec 11 ай бұрын

You always work so hard and achieve so much.. well done you.. 👍

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much :)

@insAneTunA 11 ай бұрын

The wood storage seems fine to me. If possible a pile of that mulch from the pruned trees would make great compost. Much better as what you can buy because it will contain all your local micro organisms when it is ready to use. It will take some time to mature and season, but you seem to have space enough. A Johnson and Su composting system would be even better. And if you put that inside your greenhouse, or right against your greenhouse, it will even help to keep the greenhouse warm during the winter. And you can water the Johnson and Su compost pile with the drip irrigation that is already there. It requires a wooden pallet and some fencing wire. And about a square meter of space. And 3 parts very wet woody carbon rich material and one part green nitrogen rich material. Anyway, another job well done. Here in the Netherlands things are slowly coming to life, can't call it spring yet, but the plants and trees are early this year. 👍

@louiseswart1315 11 ай бұрын

Here in South Africa our fall is early this year.

@insAneTunA 11 ай бұрын

@@louiseswart1315Here we have record breaking warm temperatures for the time of the year. But it is tricky because we can still get nasty night frosts. Which could be very harmful for the plants that are already popping up. So fingers crossed for the next 6 weeks.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Great idea yes! We are using some for compost, some for mulch and chipping some to go in the woodchip :)

@evangelinamunroe6745 11 ай бұрын

❤❤❤❤❤❤

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

💚

@gillsmoke 11 ай бұрын

Seeing all that bagged compost, do you have access to clean manure (meaning no herbicide / pesticide) source? have you thought of making your own? it'd be better suited for your land being made on it. Even a little home grown compost can go way longer if you turn it into a tea with rainwater. getting organic material into the ground is the best thing to regenerate the land, animals can help a great deal too, but you have t manage them well. Being in a park that might not be allowed.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah we have our own composting area but the scale of the project we have no it doesn't suffice. We are hoping to try and find a regular supply of animal manure to build up, but everyone uses it for their own gardens so i've relied on the generosity of friends giving me a bit here and there :)

@michaelsilva8854 11 ай бұрын

Good content! Mike from sunny Virginia Beach ! If everything produces in 3 years you are going to be buried in food 😃 well done !

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much :) Yeah i think you're right there! :)

@lynnegunn3478 11 ай бұрын

Want a decent hardworking man you are, always so positive.👍⭐️

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

aw thanks so much :) made me smile!

@anniemac3075 11 ай бұрын

The expression re pruning shrubs, trees etc is to prune back not down. You might cut things down but definitely not prune down. You prune back to improve the shape, thin out crowded branches, encourage growth etc. You're doing a great job.

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks :) Didn't know how else to describe it :)

@anniemac3075 10 ай бұрын

@@rootsdownhomestead No worries, you're a newbie to all things gardening, horticultural etc. You're learning fast anyway, I'm impressed but you wear yourself out a bit being such a perfectionist. It's ok if things are wonky sometimes though I understand as I'm a lot that way myself. Once you see something isn't quite right it's the only thing you can 🙈 see.

@colinhead284 11 ай бұрын

Check the weather for this weekend mate, i'm sure you've got a storm approaching

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah, we did have a pretty big storm Colin the weatherman ;)

@annalinekennedy1027 11 ай бұрын

Good video thanks. Keep the hard work going

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thanks so much :)

@lindagage7315 11 ай бұрын

Looking good,you will be very busy in the coming months!

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Thank you :) Always busy :D

@jokevasconcellos6930 11 ай бұрын

Lot of work. Love to se the ND results of your labors. I'm sure you do too😊

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yes we do :) Thanks so much, excited to see the results!

@manny-perez 11 ай бұрын

Also where you store smaller pieces of wood you should not have such large spaces between the slats? 😉

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Yeah that's a good point :) Design flaw on my part ;)

@101life9 11 ай бұрын

Hi Marc, you have so much green grass on your farm. Are you able to keep some sheep/goats? 😊 Another question. Are you going to prune the fruit trees in the future? I think it is a good idea to do so for easy harvesting 😅. Just a thought 😉 😊

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Haha yes a common question we get asked. Not ready for them yet and too many young trees on the land to risk it :) We will prune the fruit trees also! It's on our never ending to do list ;)

@busybeaver793 11 ай бұрын

Hello Marc. How many olive trees do you have?

@rootsdownhomestead 10 ай бұрын

Hey :) good question! On the deeds it says like 30 something, quite a few have been cut down though. I keep finding some hidden in the overgrowth, i need to do a proper count

@tioraytm 7 ай бұрын

Don't build a road/swale. Build a road that has a 2% slope into a gutter/swale . That will get you a road that lasts for years. A 4% slope or more will eventually get those corrugations in the dirt road over time. Line the gutter with rocks where needed. I am surprised but your fruit tree plantings with out companion plants like legumes to fix nitrogen. I home to see a lot more mulch and green manure planting everywhere in your future videos. good luck and cheers. EDIT: Where ever possible put the gutters on the uphill side of the road.