The Farm Get's a Christmas Present!

[@ronniekoehn9413]

Why did tobacco farming cause the farm to not have top soil?

[@UniqueWhat]

Minimal input farming (ie just NPK) depletes soil structure then erosion.

[@johnsadler8637]

And it was an every-year, bare-soil tillage, usually. On sloping topography.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

tobacco is a very fertilizer intensive crop, basically the entire field is bare and baked by the sun, eroded by the wind and rain and the soil just goes away to nothing.....deep turning and disking of the land just rips up the soil structure...the strange thing is that it's still super common for folks to turn the land in the winter to get "biologic material" like grass and weeds into the soil...when we could just leave it alone and let it build structure....tobacco fields are just dirt and tobacco plants...no ground cover, fertilizer intensive and destructive

[@mushethecowboycook9353]

If you look at a traditional farm in the winter, you will see bare soil or very little green for a cover crop. Even the cover can barely grow because the soil is depleted of nutrients

[@robertbraeking8811]

@@StoneyRidgeFarmer The same thing happens in hay fields, although the soil is not bare. You can't take off the nutrients without replacing them. My farm was once a hay field for a dairy. All the milk was sold in Galveston as well as the male calves. I ran goats to eradicate the weeds with the added advantage that weeds are extremely deep rooted and bring up micro nutrients. The goats deposited those nutrients as pelletized fertilizer on the surface.

[@NZBallBag]

9:02 we had fruit trees and an awesome veg garden. Woke up one morning and the veg garden was clear felled by the red deer. They were delicious deer 🦌 😋 😍 😂

[@alletechniek]

Enjoyed the video, lots of respect for how you ar building the soil top. Merry Christmas Josh!

[@Hamers-House]

Hey Josh your supposed to use the Dibble about 4 inches away from the tree to close the hole then tamp with your big foot.😜

[@kdegraa]

The best day to plant a fruit tree was ten years ago. The second best day to plant a fruit tree is today.

[@connieguillot6999]

Great place to plant ur fruit trees ! And knowing where to plant . Hoping the freeze doesn’t kill them this year ! MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄🇺🇸

[@natevanlandingham1945]

Yep Josh. I know I have told you before I'm a Forester. For our area, now I'm in SC but close enough to your location I like to see trees (reforestation) planted in December or as close to it as possible. And I don't like them planted after February for optimal survival. Good advice. Most probably think spring cause that's when they see them pop up at Lowe's!

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yep....the dumbest thing you can do is plant fruit trees in may/june when they're looking all pretty at the store....struggle all darn summer to keep them alive and stressed

[@mattkennerson1060]

Great content.... learned a lot.... Most important is to stay away from your fences. Great job....❤❤❤. Thank you.

[@GradyBanyay]

do you still have a 4 wheeler with a front loader?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

no I don't

[@michaelholmes4808]

Merry Christmas Josh. Stay safe and happy in the new year.

[@bohammarberg4072]

Good morning !!! 🌹🌹🌹🌹

[@bhsaproduction]

Any plans to built the tenth and final raised bed in your garden area. The one that was going to fill the gap, even up the rows and to block the spot the deer would land - when they jump the double electric fence?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yep...it's coming!

[@mcchupka9718]

Love it. Herd looks great and pastures are shaping up.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

Thanks, buddy...we're trying to get them to fatten up!

[@davebarnes9099]

Merry Christmas

[@ClickinChicken]

I used to do the Burgess seed magazine thing for horticulture a while. It was a lot of work to make them, live. But I enjoyed myself at the time...

[@JandJHomestead]

Great video. Be sure to also remember to avoid planting the graft union under the soil.

[@maddmaxx6730]

Donny is the perfect name, my wife and both laughed. Moooooo 🐄

[@michaelblum6222]

Loved today video. Merry Christmas

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

Thanks! Merry Christmas to you too!

[@briandaniel9434]

You get me every time with the fast forward on the quad😂😂 I'm like where's the fire 😂😂

[@dsulli7383]

The rut may be over but the bucks still have antlers right now. When I moved to my 40 acre piece of land here in Northern California 4 years ago I spent about $1200 and planted 40 fruit trees in January. Well after the rut ended. Well, within 6 weeks every single tree had the bark scraped off all the way around. Zero of those trees survived. The next year I built an 8ft fence around that half acre area and now I’m finally growing some fruit trees.

[@opp7981]

Look into the bone sauce from perma pastures farm great stuff, good luck👍

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

you spent $1200 on 40 fruit trees, dang...we gotta get ya on the food forest nursery!? If you have a rubbing problem, I've found that driving a rebar stake beside the tree stops it immediately .....I have a video out on a simple deer fence that works also...no need for some giant monstrosity of a fence to ugly up your place my friend.

[@devinsullivan7233]

Yes fruit trees from Dave Wilson nursery “Zaeger genetics” run about 30-35 bux a piece. If you want some of the best varieties in the world from “Zaeger genetics” they are going to cost you that much, unless you are buying thousands of trees at a time. I’ve tried everything to keep deer away including putting cages around each tree, which is expensive and time consuming. Trust me man, I grow fruit and vegetables for a living. You have to build a fence. Although I have found that 6’ fence will keep them out just as good and it’s a lot cheaper and easier to work with than 8’. You can say a piece of rebar works but where is the proof? Your trees have all been wiped out by deer. Rubbing is not the only problem. They also eat the leaves off over and over again until the tree dies.

[@devinsullivan7233]

I also put my rows of trees 20 feet apart and grow all my veggies for farmers market and restaurants in between until the trees get big. So the fence is worth while

[@guytech7310]

Deer love cherry trees You really need to fence in the orchard to avoid deer damage. I used steel posts & 7 foot deer netting, but modern deer netting is too thin. so you have to add some wire or nylon rope to prevent the deer from plowing through the deer netting. I use white nylon rope because the deer can see it and are less likely to try to get through the netting & end up tangled up. The issue with those mail order trees is the very long time before they will fruit. It will probably take a decade before they start fruiting as for the first 5 years the tree development will be in the roots, than another 5 years before they grow enough to start fruiting. Better off going to a local nursery in the spring & buying the largest potted fruit trees, which will like start fruiting 3 to 5 years after you plant them. Also recommend adding irrigation before you plant them. Drought seems become more & more of a problem (at least for me). its not fun carrying watering 40+ trees each with a 5 gallon bucket of water every other day during the long summer drought.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

I use German shepherd deer netting lol he keeps them out of the yard most of the time

[@natevanlandingham1945]

Your cows look very clean and healthy. Speaks volumes of the pasture rotation amd not having them constantly walking and laying amd eating in their own crap all the time.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yeppers...folks just don't get it until they see it....most farms around here are a nasty and muddy mess right now! Mine look the same as they did this fall before the rains and winter cold

[@steveningrahm8928]

I enjoy these videos, although I am a now retired 6th generation farmer, 12th generation if you count Colonial America. Hay must be precious in North Carolina. An 1800 pound net wrapped big bale of quality grass hay (non-fescue) would cost you from $50 to $60 here in Missouri. By the way, its not the net wrap that sheds water, its the tightness of the bale. The better the bale, the less rain water is able to penetrate the exposed surface.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yep...that's the thatch....not the wrap for sure. Now 1800lbs is a big one that's for sure! This is the highest quality round bale I can get and it's around 800-1000lbs per bale...around $50 is the going rate.....$35-$40 for twine wrapped lower quality

[@steveningrahm8928]

@@StoneyRidgeFarmer We're blessed to farm in an environment that produces abundant feed supplies. Our pastures and hay fields are a base of Bluegrass, Orchardgrass, Brome and Timothy with some K31 Fescue. Also have abundant corn and soybeans and their byproducts available in bulk from multiple sources. We are in beef cattle heaven.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

nice!

[@dennissweeney7743]

Man of many talents!

[@TheCritterWindow]

Mulberry's grow like weeds here in Indiana

[@devinsullivan7233]

Mulberry’s grow like weeds everywhere

[@mikewigim2864]

I've never seen a dibble before. I use a tiling spade to plant trees in kind of the same way but I can see how the dibble disturbs the soil less than a shovel.

[@natevanlandingham1945]

We use them in forestry that's how they plant pine trees on clearcuts.

[@scottsmith6846]

Hey Josh thank you for the video woo

[@MikeSTGL]

Never knew that was how plain root trees were planted .

[@ShortbusMooner]

Mmmmm, plum preserves.. 😋

[@THATOFFROADCHANNEL]

I live in Franklin county VA not to far from nc

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yeppers....you ain't far away...I grew up in Henry Co.

[@THATOFFROADCHANNEL]

@@StoneyRidgeFarmer heck yeah

[@toddpacheco4748]

Josh,along the way you’ll be having fruit coming out of your ears for quite some time now 😮😊❤

[@philwhite5815]

I love Mulberry and Plum. I have a mulberry in my side yard

[@martinmeltzer2696]

Hey Josh! "The man who plants a tree under who's shade he will never sit... understands how the Universe works." Well Done!

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

interesting thought! Probably right!

[@vincentnail2881]

Hey, Josh. Great video. What do you use to maintain the soil in your raised beds?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

great question! Complete video coming out this week!

[@vincentnail2881]

@StoneyRidgeFarmer Cool I'll be watching.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

comes out tonight at 6pm eastern...if you're a channel member you'll have early access. Hope ya enjoy!

[@petermavus4131]

The cows should get a job with SCOTTs

[@maddmaxx6730]

Sugart? Not sure that flows downhill 😂😅

[@Edwib-w5h]

What are the best fruit trees to plant on elevation property?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

what is "elevation property"?

[@jerryhubbard4461]

The fig tree will produce in a little a two years. Most of the others trees planed here will take 8 or more years.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

well....I would say a couple years but probably not 8 years....good gracious...the plums I have here are only 3 years old and I picked piles of them last year

[@douglasroberts2250]

you need to get rid of that post hole digger and get an auger. This one I have bores a clean hole so easily , even hard soil.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

Na....not really brother. Driving a 6000lb tractor through my yard in the wet just to dig a couple holes probably not my thing.. takes longer to hook up and unhook the post hole digger than it would to dig the few holes here

[@douglasroberts2250]

@ no, it’s a hand held auger. I can bore a hole anywhere with that thing. Takes up a lot less space than a post hole digger

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

Man...in a perfect world I guess. I don't have a $500 auger...I do have a $30 post hole digger....digging 3 holes today brother....just don't need a powered post hole digger when I've got to arms and a manual one

[@douglasroberts2250]

@ lol nooo, it’s a hand held auger, just the auger with a T handle, turn it in the soil and it cuts through like butter. I paid $40 for mine. You wouldn’t believe how much easier it is. I promise you , you’d toss that post hole digger away.

[@lalitheshm9575]

Believe me you are living my dream life and you escaped the rat race😊

[@marcelitabellaesconde2258]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You and Yours 2024!

[@GradyBanyay]

8 tons of bio mass

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

200 bales 800lbs each..80 tons!! That's alot of poopy!

[@thurlowfamilyfarm4628]

Have you had any calves sired by Donny yet? I’m curious to see how they perform.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yeppers...every calf last year...18 of them

[@natevanlandingham1945]

Those Mulberry must be cuntivars as we call them and looking at the name im sure it is and the fact it sounds like they all have mulberries. Our mulberries down here in the south are what we call Dioecious meaning they have male and female trees and only the females have fruit. You need to have male and female somewhat near each other for pollination.

[@ClickinChicken]

You'll get a lot of wasps from the plumbs on the ground. Ask me how i know.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yep....I try not to let them get to the ground lol

[@a-survivors-journey]

Really good seeing you plant fruit trees on your farm. Proud of you!!!! Keep up the great work. Don’t forget to enjoy life!!

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

oh man...this is enjoying life for sure!

[@robertbraeking8811]

You are leaving a void at the bottom of your hole. Put the dibble bar back 4 inches from your transplant. rock foward and back to close the top and bottom of the hole. Stomp the hole away from the tree. The void will hold water.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yep....void will hold water and help them get a start...once the roots have taken hold and the soil freezes/thaws and gets rain on it...that little void will collapse and the roots will find a new home

[@robertbraeking8811]

@@StoneyRidgeFarmer Hopefully that tap root will not dry out before the soil collapses. Why risk it? Just insert the dibble bar 4 inches back and use it to push the soil against the bottom roots of the seedling.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

I'll have to try it next time

[@HomesteadingTheHardLife]

the man with multiple chainsaws is manhandling a bush ripping it out of the ground with his bare hands

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

man wanted to put a tree back in that there hole lol .....I will cut it up and use that yummy wood for grilling for sure!

[@philwhite5815]

16000 lbs of bio😊

[@johnsadler8637]

Did he say 800lbs each for 200 bales? I think there’s another zero after the 16, meaning 160,000 lbs, or 80 tons.

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

a little more than that my brother......add a zero! We spread out 180 tons of lime on the farm this year as well as that's a total of 80 tons! Lots of material brought to the farm this year for sure...then count what grew in the summer! So if it takes 200 bales to feed for 3 months out of the year...that's 80 tons....then the other 3/4 of the year the grass that's growing provides the biomoass. In other words a total of 320 tons of carbon goes back into the soil every year from grazing, sunlight and hay feeding! Awesome huh!

[@natevanlandingham1945]

The Biomass question is complicated when one thinks about it. You could do the straight math and figure that out must you really need to take I to about the multiplier for growing Angus Beef cows on that acre. I think you know where I'm going with this. So you unroll X amount of Biomass based on the numbers you said. They Cows eat Y of it and leave some portion behind as it's rotted or trampled etc. they also poop out Z back onto the land in biomass, but it's net a 1-1 ratio as some of the has was used to grow cow and is now walking around as cow Biomass and burned in energy walking around and just living. And since you sell cows and they don't die on the land that biomass that was tuned from Hay I to cow leaves your land as you do t let them die and rot in pasture. It's a complex question and I'm sure some land grant university has all those numbers and equations to figure it out. As a type of scientist myself I do think about the complexity of the question and it would be interesting to see how many pounds of Biomass per hay bale are returned to the earth and how many evaporate in energy burned by the cow just living it's life and how much is turned Into cow? Ha bet you never thought some random dude watching your videos would leave such an in depth comment. 🤣🤣🤣

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yep...so here's the rub.....they're burning calories for sure....and calories is a unit of heat, which keeps the animals alive and keeps all of their bodily functions going. Now....they will consume some feed and gain some weight, especially the young ones. Maybe around 1500 lb s of body mass added over the winter on the younger cows and mamas with babies on board might gain #200lbs each. However, you've also gotta take into consideration the tiny fraction of weight lost in biomass as for weight of the cow. Food goes in, fuel and manure comes out. So....manure, urine, heat loss, digestive gasses all play a role. I'd say for winter biomass of 80 tons brought to the farm, we're looking at less than 2 tons of feed being "burned off" or as gains for the weight of the animals. You are right, it would be a fun science project....I think you'd really have to take into consideration the water consumption too

[@natevanlandingham1945]

@StoneyRidgeFarmer yep we're looking at this the same way!

[@kirkvancamp5390]

Do you have any problem with deer eating or rubbing on the new trees?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

not if it's after the rut...but..if we do have troubles we drive a rebar stake up beside the tree and it will stop any deer from rubbing

[@dsulli7383]

I don’t like mulberries because they taste like figs lol

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

when mulberries start tasting like figs here...we got problems lol

[@mxlman26]

What happend with Shitake experiment?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

they take a few months to get growing...they should bloom out in the springtime

[@egomaniac247]

Dumb question but how can you tell when your cows are pregnant? (beyond just when they're really far along and getting fatter)

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

just the same as you can tell your wife is pregnant. Ya kinda get to know the animals....how they carry themselves, where their babies are in their belly and how their lady parts and utters look. Live with them long enough and you'll learn their body language as well as the signs. Enlarged right side, swollen lady parts and utters as we get closer to birthing. You can just tell my friend. Some farms/ranches have a vet out to "preg check" but I simply don't do it....pay a vet $300 to tell me this when I can see it....$300 is about half the sale price of a calf in the fall.

[@freedomcowboy6274]

How did you learn soil science? We're you an Ag major?

[@tireddad6541]

Unfortunately they would not have taught it

[@freedomcowboy6274]

@tireddad6541 really? How would you know, respectfully?

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

study, life experience and growing up learning. Don't need a degree in Agriculture to understand nature my friend...in fact totally the opposite! A nice Ag degree will have ya lined up every spring at the fertilizer man's office...just ask my local extension agent....all I can get from the NRCS soil and water conservation service is how much N-P or K I need and what herbicides to use!!

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

because conventional western ag philosophy is more about chemical land management than holistic land management.they'll just tell ya what to spread, spray or plow v/s understanding advanced soil biology. It's pretty sad that we're a society that thinks there's just a "pill" to fix everything...it's sad

[@freedomcowboy6274]

@StoneyRidgeFarmer thank you Sir, for putting up theses videos. I know it's alot of work, plus responding to fellows and staying engaged

[@Chevroid]

More like 160,000 lbs of bio

[@brianhillis3701]

Need to subtract out respiration ( CO2), digestion ( CH4), and cattle weights. Amount added to soil is much less than the simple calculation because he is making cows too.😊

[@karlsening7726]

Josh, great video. I have an idea for a future video. Since you brought Donnie to the farm to bring South Poll genetics to the Angus herd, I thought it might be interesting to hear about your breeding plans and how it has been working.

[@johnsadler8637]

@@brianhillis3701he’s still adding the total. All the conversion eventually nets a very small addition, but the process of conversion is the benefit.

[@roberto.peterson9917]

suggestion a chicken mote around your garden/ orchard for keeping deer out and away from orchard trees Living Traditions Homestead as example fence doesn't have to be high just double fence with 8 ft apart???? would check on that something about being double fence mess with deer 🦌 abilities to feel comfortable about jumping their chicken and ducks Free range the mote with koops built at 90@° to inside mote fence acts as insect barrier from crawling insects ticks etc food for thought

[@StoneyRidgeFarmer]

yeah....probably not going to happen here....I don't want that many critters pooping all around my palce...video coming this week on my garden and deer fence, you'll like it!

[@petermavus4131]

The cows should get a job with SCOTTs