Charred Wood Hugelkultur Food Forest - John Kaisner The Natural Farmer

www.johnkaisner.com/
The Tropics cycle nutrient faster than anywhere on the planet. Often times too fast. Charring logs before burying them can help. In this video John walks you through the creation of a Charred Wood Hügelkultur Food Forest.

[@RAHIWAadeyNayGdiniyu]

This is just a valuable lesson. Thank you

[@koicaine1230]

Love this video! I'm growing in sand and even Terra Preta didn't work. I dug down from where I put it last year and the only thing left was a few pieces of biochar. I'm doing Hugelkultur right now and throwing in what was left of my biochar from last year. It makes so much more sense to do it this way. Thank you!

[@hemamittal9338]

Hi Jagannath, Very nice idea for the left over land. I am an Indian lady but resident of nz & have great passion for environmet. In any way can we achieve these kind of piece of lands to create for sustainable modles^ to save the land. It's all for volunteer & teaching& sharing purpose. Thanks Hema

[@partidaportet27]

Hi John Thanks for the content. It's really good stuff. I had read a paper a while back about smoke, charring and it's relevance to mycorrhizal fungi. It seems these burning events have a long standing relationship with soil fungus, much of which we know to be of huge benefit to our plants and ecosystem sustainability

[@markus_selloi]

Can you tell me what paper it was, please?❤

[@amalasyamadas9259]

Jaya Jagganatha!! So beautiful what you got going.

[@NgocDatGuitar]

Charred Wood Hugelkultur Food Forest vườn cây rộng quá anh rất thích kênh bạn The Natural Farmer chia sẻ chúc bạn nhiều may mắn hạnh phúc và thành công. Ngocdat.guitar sang thăm bạn và giao lưu rung 🔔đồng hành cùng bạn.Cảm ơn bạn nhiều 😜😜❤👍.

[@RFinkle2]

This is a brilliant synthesis of two great concepts. Thank you for sharing, and keep up the amazing work.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+RFinkle2 :) Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@svelanikolova5776]

@@TheNaturalFarmer another question. I am building a hugul mound. Can I plant just beans the first year . And beans and something the next ?

[@nilaneedias-abeyesinghe4862]

Thank you for sharing. I hope to use your method of making bunds and harvesting the rainwater and growing a food forest before September as the monsoon begins in September. You are a God send. Thank you so much.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you for your nice comment. Good luck!

[@wildlifegardenssydney7492]

Brilliant solutions

[@carmenortiz5294]

I started my little 1/3 acre food forest 15 years ago, slowly, because I had to pull all the garbage lawn out by hand and I am OLD. Many of my trees were not planted by me, but by the birds, especially the nitrogen fixing trees, that somehow began showing up. They know more than we. I also have sandy soil, but mine is in Minnesota. It is finally worthy of its name. Lots of native beneficial insects have moved in, plus many types of birds. My first year, I only found a mother bumble bee and her daughter, now there are all kinds of bees and wild edibles, that also showed up.

[@jlfoodforest]

same here, my food forest is going real slow. on top of being old I'm kaputt with arthritis & fibro

[@carmenortiz5294]

@@jlfoodforest We are tough, the heck with pain. LOL I try to ignore my knees and the fibro. Taking an aspirin in the morning helps me. By the time the effect wears off, it's time to get inside.

[@nene25138]

Thanks! Very helpful!

[@joaozitogameplays]

Really great vídeo. Helped me a lot more than others, since I live in the tropics too. Cheers from Brazil and thank you.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

My pleasure. Thanks for your nice comment.

[@izzimk11]

I watched most of your videos. I am so happy that you created such informative and wonderful videos. Best wishes ;-)

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+Linh Dinh Cool! Thank you very much. It's what I like to do :)

[@joshsandeep]

Thank you for valuable information 👍👍

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

You're welcome. Thank you for your nice comment

[@christinaperez254]

wow! excellent video!!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you very much.

[@CarbonConscious]

Very nice video, well explained and it's all very clear what you planted and why.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+Permaculture Playground Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.Thanks for your comment.

[@CarbonConscious]

Have you looked into small TLUD biochar cookstoves? They are the perfect stoves for people in poor areas where cooking on open fires or 3 brick stoves is very common. You can see a video of the one I made which is based on the Champion TLUD stove.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Permaculture Playground Funny you should mention that. I've just left a village of 50 people where we build smokeless mud and brick stoves for the families. TLUD is not practical for them as they will never reduce the sticks to a small size in order to fit into a canister. They prefer bigger sticks. I have a video of this coming in the next few weeks....

[@johnrupert9988]

your vision is amazing. "put land into production", i live in Suriname South America, and food forests would be a great use of otherwise unused plots

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you

[@icebob8555]

Thank you I live in south Florida and it looks like home there all those plants and trees grow here to

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Nice. Yes, Tropics. Good to hear from you

[@SMShaik-tq3of]

Mr. Jagannath .... Your videos are really really very much useful to all who want to do ZBNF and very much inspiring, i am one of them ........... Thank you very much .......... Hope we will get more of video this kind in future from you, I wish you all the best. ..... God bless you ...

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+S.M. Shaik Thank you very much. Good to hear from you!

[@premkumarkora4565]

thanks a lot

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+PremKumar Kora :)

[@BenJamin-zw2pv]

Really nice video. I have a very similar piece of flood prone land that I've tried to turn into a food Forrest. As yet I haven't addressed the water movement so will probably lose or relocate some trees as a result. I'll be following with interest.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+Ben Jamin Thanks man. Sorry for the late reply. Any luck with the land?

[@farmerjones2766]

very cool man I love the combination of bio charring but leaving the logs intact in the swales and syntropic methods. I'm doing syntropic agroforestry on my farm and found sowing legumes around the trees accelerated their growth intensely. So nice one with the beans. but haven't considered charring the logs yet. My only question is do you have to watch the amount of soil you pile on as I imagine you might find it tough to plant bigger trees on top of these mounds when you dig down? Have you had troubles with that? Thanks for your good work.

[@bodilskumsrud520]

Great!!A food forest is my big dream….start with a swale and then…just plant??😄😃🌱

[@jlfoodforest]

I have flat land kind of like that except more flat LOL. I'm trying to do hugelkulture mounds banana & papaya circles just to keep the plants from flooding when it rains. this year we're having a drought again ( South Texas)

[@pedrotorre88]

Hello John! Thank you for your videos they are really helping me have some thoughts on techniques on Tropical Permaculture. I would like to know if you could recommend to me some books about tropical permaculture.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Hi Pedro. I'm happy the videos are helpful. Unfortunately I don't know of many books on Tropical Permaculture aside from Bill Mollison's Permaculture A Designer's Handbook. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[@ILikeTurtlesJah]

you and I farm alike all hand work hugelkultur!!! Great work!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+Alex Pletcher Haha. So does that mean your back hurts, just like mine? :) Haha. But seriously. Yes, I find it very rewarding to do this work by hand. I feel much more connected to the earth this way. Thanks for your comment. Keep up the good work!

[@ILikeTurtlesJah]

+The Natural Farmer Yes I agree! It is a wonderful feeling to look back on your work and see what you were able to accomplish for the earth! I have also burned down wood on one of my most recent beds, simply because my pile was getting to big and I was already getting complaints. Didn't realize bio char was also made this way! Let me know if you ever need any help, I am very interested in farming with like minded farmers, my goal is to make Hugelkultur beds until the day I die.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Haha. Sounds good man. Anytime you're in India please stop by. Our door is always open!

[@ILikeTurtlesJah]

+The Natural Farmer Will do! I will be in Africa soon

[@ILikeTurtlesJah]

+The Natural Farmer Will do! I will be in Africa soon

[@vmbijli]

Hi Jagannath. Wonderful video. Exactly what i was looking for, for a while. Food forest in the water logged erstwhile paddy fields. We have a lot of them now a days as paddy cultivation is not viable now a days due to lack of labour. A food forest in the paddy field is the perfect solution for me. How ever there are a few issues that needs to be addressed. 1. The fields get water logged during the rains. The fruit trees we plant have to be able to withstand water logging. Even during the summers, the water table is just about 2-21/2 feet below. Hence the height of the bund is crucial. How high should be the bund when you plan the food forest in the water logged paddy fields? 2. The soil is mostly clayey soil and not ideal for all types of fruit trees. What are the tropical fruit trees which can be planted in such soils? I am aware that banana, tapioca, ginger, pineapple etc are grown on raised beds in the paddy fields. But trees to be planted in food forest is the question. Coconut tress grow well in the paddy fields. Rubber trees are also being planted in these fields. My query is about the other tropical trees that is suitable for occasional water logged areas with clayey soil which is hard to find. Dont the tropical trees normally have long tap roots and long tap roots are not feasible in the paddy fields as the water table is just a couple of feet below. The peripheral roots will of course support the trees but lack of tap root might cause the grown up trees to get uprooted during heavy winds. The next problem of planting fruit trees in the erstwhile paddy fields is excessive vegetative growth due to the easy availability of water. Wont excessive vegetative growth result in less fruiting? Wont quality of fruit also get effected as a result of clayey soil as well as excess water. These are factors that need to be considered while planting fruit trees in erstwhile paddy fields where water logging is frequent. Comments pse Jagannath.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

bijli vm We have the same situation. Our water table actually goes above the surface of the land in that area, during monsoon. What we did is to get an idea of the maximum height that the water goes to during maximum flooding, then build the bund about 3 feet higher than that. This will give the trees enough security from the flooding.

[@gurdala224]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!! I have a question about biochar! I have so much charcoal and I would like to know if it's ok to use it instead of biochar? Appreciate your input on the topic? Thanks

[@wildchookMaryP]

Soursop is custard apple here in Australia. They are yum :)

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

So... Cherimoya, paw paw, custard apple, soursop and annona are all Annona cherimola or Annona muricata? I've run into some confusion here. Locally, in Sicily, we call this plant Annona (and yes they are yum!) But are they the same as a custard apple and soursop?

[@wildchookMaryP]

I am sure they are from the same family except for the pawpaw. Us Aussies are lazy to label our fruits, so if it looks like a custard apple it must be a custard apple LOL Also, what we call pawpaw is what others call papaya. This is confusing especially when I am talking to my American friends. Another thing that is confusing is the cassava. I grew up knowing that they are called arrowroot. Funny, there is another plant here that it’s called arrowroot and its look like the canna. I grew up eating 2 types of custard apples, the usual ones you find at the store and the huge ones. I have only seen the small variety in my store. I am originally from the Cook Islands and I grew up eating all kinds of tropical fruits, some I don’t know their English names. I live in the wrong end of Australia where I have to baby my tropical plants, flowers and fruit trees or force them to grow. It makes me smile seeing them growing in my garden even if they will never fruit (maybe I shouldn’t jinx them now lol). You never know, if I apply your growing methods to create an ideal environment for my babies, they might surprise me in the near future :)

[@andresamplonius315]

@@wildchookMaryP The aforesaid fruits are different species of Annonacea. Soursop or guanábana or graviola is Annona muricata. Chirimoya or custard apple is A. ... Rollinia is A. ... Asimina triloba, called "Paw-paw" IS NOT Papaya, it's another Annonacea, native to North America, in fact the only one not native to tropical or subtropical latitudes. Cassava or yuca or manioc, tapioca's the starch processed from the roots... Arrowroot's a different plant altogether... Canna's or canna lily's Canna edulis, known as Achira in Perú, where it was domesticated 5,000 years ago, found in the ancient city of Caral, north from Lima

[@andrewhill4986]

Great video. That hat is awesome! What’s it made of?

[@dorothyfaulkner1263]

I should of added city ditch on north side and husband going to take off all grass to use for green on top of wood but don't want to dig because of water level. Thinking hugleculture in middle after grass removed.Do you have to dig for huglculture?

[@bjwilliams8869]

How do you know what makes a good chop and drop tree (coppicing?)?? Thank you

[@daveeade5074]

trompe for the pond

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+Dave Eade You're right, it definitely needs something. For a trompe I need falling water don't I? We don't use a pump. How would I get falling water?

[@daveeade5074]

Perhaps a pulsar pump or an off-grid water ram? Great videos, keep them coming!

[@svelanikolova5776]

I planted 5 fruit trees and mulched them. Can I plant thd beans next to the trunk?

[@premkumarkora4565]

thank you for the quick response. if I do this under mango tree for shade growing plants, will termites be a problem for mango trees.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+PremKumar Kora Hello PremKumar. I think there was a misunderstanding. In your original email I understood that you wanted to use the trunks of mango trees to bury - like you had cut down old mango trees and wanted to bury the wood in the same way that we had buried the coconut trunks. My misunderstanding. Now I understand that you have existing mango trees and you want to make a food forest that would integrate them. I do not recommend you make a trench near the mango trees. You will cut the roots and cause damage to the trees. The video I have shown is for starting from scratch, with no trees in place. In your case, where you already have mango trees that are living (presumably for some years now) I would simply add some nitrogen fixing pioneer species trees (as shown in the video) and then then chop and drop them as mulch under the mangoes during the monsoon. This will build soil and add nutrient to the mango trees. If you want to start a food forest, with a trench and hugelkultur and a bunt, then I would find contour in a different area of the land and start fresh. Does that make sense?

[@shifass5322]

Hi Prem kumar, the termites won't be a problem for the mango tree, as it only dwell on dead tissues.

[@dorothyfaulkner1263]

Hi john loving all ur videos.Wondering if u could help me figuring out how to turn my front yard into food forest?north 110'x east 185' x south 90'x west 180'very high water table, sandy loamy soil, middle mostly pond during winter and rainy season. I'm thinking make middle hugleculture bed to raise level up then cover w compost and wood chips. Just moved here sept. 2017.My neighbor has 5 acres I can forage for wood, leaves, etc.Have to purchase compost at this time so I'm trying to figure out cheapest why to build.Please let me me know what u think.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Hello Dorothy. Just saw this comment from 2 years ago. Were you able to get everything figured out?

[@smrsraja]

Good video. So the coconut trunks are all inside the bund? So do you mulch them above the bund or in the trench?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+smrsraja Yes the coconut trunks a buried in the bundt. It's hugelkultur. Burning them adds biochar to the mix. That's kind of the "bank" of energy inside the soil for the trees. It will decompose over time. In addition we plant nitrogen fixing trees for chop and drop. When we do this we drop the chopped branches and leaves on the surface of the bundt. We literally mulch the bottom of the production trees with the branches of the nitrogen fixing trees. This creates nutrient in the zone around the production trees.

[@kguna74]

Hi, do have fish in those ponds? how you deal with mosquitoes? if you have fish then in the dry periods, will the ponds dry out? Thank you for sharing

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

As you probably know, fish and frogs just show up naturally when you dig a pond. They take care of the mosquitos. But, unfortunately, the little ponds we have will lose their water during the dry season, as they are sandy bottom ponds. The big pond is deep enough to keep the water table exposed year round, so it stays.

[@premkumarkora4565]

Hi good video. can we use logs from mango trees instead of coconut bark. should I have to burn the barks or can I use as it is.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+PremKumar Kora Yes, wood from any tree will work. You do not have to burn the bark. It will work fine without burning, and will decompose into soil over time. We burned the surface of the wood because we are in the south of Kerala and the nutrient disappears very quickly with monsoon. The burning helps the nutrient stay.

[@De-tw7by]

@@TheNaturalFarmer ur right, the nutrients wash off easly in monsoon. Very good idea and I will follow ur technic. Thank u very much.

[@Oggiwara1]

Thanks a lot for this informative video, Jagannath! What is the name of the beans you use as niitrogen fixers? And is a land of 1500 - 3000 Sqm too small to work well as a food forest?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Svein Arne Grønnevik Hey Svein. So in my case I used a brown climbing bean local to this area. But if I had to do it again I would use a mung bean or some type of bush bean that doesn't send out climbing vines. Again, I always try to use the simplest materials available, as our project is connected to poor tribal villages, but any type of bush bean should work well. As far as size goes, yes, 1500 - 3000 sqm should be fine. Ours are quite linear. Many food forests are. Are you on flat land or is there a bit of a drop to the land?

[@Oggiwara1]

The Natural Farmer This is in the north east part of Thailand, just a few kilometers from the Mekong river. The land I am looking at is 1 reasonable plain lot claiming to be approx 3000 Sqm where they now grow Mango and 1 lot with banana and Pomelo of the same size but a few meters height difference as far as I remember. (I am in Norway now, but going there in September to start planning the layout). Both lots are somehow square or rectangular and located above the nearby ponds and rivers, but get flooded in the rainy season. And the land dries out quickly. As most of the Isaan area, most of the farmers are old and mostly poor, and since their children are moving to the cities for education and jobs, the land is not very productive. Lots of clay and sand as I can see. My idea was to try to have a ecologic self sustainable farm when I retire within a few years. An ecological farm that don't cost a lot of money to establish or run. And what I have seen in your videos is very interesting in that matter. And if I can teach the poor neighboring farmers to get a better yield by using the same principles as you are showing us, it would be a bonus. Because as an outsider can not come in there and teach them. They have to see that it works. And I think you know that your self in your work as well. :-)

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Svein Arne Grønnevik Yes, you definitely have to demonstrate a good solution to get anyone to listen. That is certain. So if I were in your position here is what I would do. When visiting the site, think about WAS - Water, Access, Structures. This means available water, quality of water, flooding issues. You want water security first. Then Access - is the driveway/are the roads easy to maintain? Are they in good condition? It's expensive to repair/make driveways/roads. Next, are there any structures? Are they in good condition? Probably the most useful thing you could do between now and when you buy your land is take a PDC - Permaculture Design Certification course. There are some offered online. It's the best money you'll ever spend, if you want to make an ecological, self sustainable farm. I would offer taking one from Geoff Lawton. I took it and found it very helpful. Plus he sends you a copy of all of his videos, which you can review again and again. Buying land is one of the biggest decisions any of us makes in a lifetime. It's best to be careful and know what you are looking for. I also find it extremely helpful not to be in a hurry. But to answer your original question, yes, that size of land is plenty big for a food forest. Just make sure you create a trench and a bunt high enough (as in this video) so that your trees don't get flooded and die in the monsoon. Hope this helps...

[@Oggiwara1]

The Natural Farmer Thanks a lot, Jagannath! That was very helpful and tells me that I am on the right track. I have seen a few videos of Geoff Lawton and a course is on the to-do list.

[@svetlanikolova7673]

@@TheNaturalFarmer I have a question. I have a terraced rocky land. I want to.level it so its easy for me to garden and scythe the grass . Do you think that hey bales stacked along with grass clippings and compost on top planted with beans for the first year is a good idea?

[@civilsavage6337]

did the bio char get buried under the bunts? That section was left out.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+Civil Savage Yes the biochar is in the bunts

[@danielp1569]

Thanks for the great vdo! What is the holy tree? Is it Redactra

[@danielp1569]

Sorry no worries I see the helpful caption rudraksha, thanks!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

@@danielp1569 You're welcome :)

[@premkumarkora4565]

will termites be a problem if we start fresh bed. should we add neem powder to the bed.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+PremKumar Kora Sorry PremKumar Ji. I just saw this comment. We don't have any termite problems here, but if you live in an area where there are many termites, they will come. Do your termites attack the living trees though? Normally they just attack dead trees or unhealthy trees. Termites are just Nature's decomposers. They turn the wood into soil. But if they attack living trees where you live then, yes, you would not want to put the logs underground and attract more termites...

[@drraghusvanavatika9086]

@@TheNaturalFarmer wonderful video, very practical. Regarding the termite, krishi Rishi Subhash Palekar says keeping dead wood lying around would divert the termites away from the living wood. I tried in my mango farm. It's working.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

@@drraghusvanavatika9086 Yes. A very good solution!...

[@pablofernandez5617]

Where in India is your farm located?

[@martinarasouli7898]

Hi😊Do u keep dandelions?

[@yonokgaines8606]

I am at AL. Zone7 ,3 month ago I acquire 1 acre of very old farm land kept as just cutting grass for long time as vacant lot! I 'd like to to make food forest. Now I am collecting wood chips a lot . Start planting fruit trees,Apple ,pear,fig,peach. Would you help me with chopping dropping plant and nitrogen fixing plant?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

I'll make a video on food forests soon...

[@this-is-slammin-549]

How did you get involved in this?

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

I used to be an architect. I took a permaculture course while living in India and I was hooked.

[@nikhilp8838]

Hi...where is the permaculture course in India?

[@rgrant1892]

plant some bamboo for char coal and lots more moringa trees

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

+r grant Umm. Thanks. Got a bamboo circle growing just behind this food forest. But thanks for the advice.

[@andresamplonius315]

The central idea of Hugelkultur is the wood rotting, biochar's supposed to last many years. Frankly I don't see any problem if the logs rot quicker in the tropical climate... I'm skeptical about charring the logs, it's neither Hugelkultur nor biochar... Well, as they say "The proof of the pudding is on the eating", so we'll see in a couple of years how your experiment works out...

[@friendlyrooster1]

With all due respect, the biochar you made is NOT biochar at all. Next time burn your pile into a pit. There should be no or as little oxygen as possible when doing biochar. What you have done is simply burning trunks and produced a lot of wood ashes. You've turned your trunks into hard charcoal. Biochar is the opposite of hard, it easily crumbles within one's hand. Good luck with your next biochar trial.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Hello Pierre. You are absolutely correct. My apologies. I have since changed the title to indicate that this is in fact Charred Wood in a Hügelkultur Food Forest. Much appreciated...

[@tonychan2504]

Terra negre is the amazonion biochar you seem to be recreating. PIerre is technically correct, but smouldering trunks create a round of various amount of cellulose, biochar, charcoal, ash. Depending on the burning event. So encapsulating a spongey rotting woody core may be a technological improvement in terms of moisture, nutrient and structural integrity retention. (Nutrient leaching is a problem where rainfall is frequent, as opposed to salt poisoning where evaporation is excessive). I would be interested in how these “improved “ hugel mounds work out. I’m afraid a simple buried log would decompose so fast that any trees you plant on top of them can either drowned, and or topple down because they had rooted into an unstable “ground “. What you are doing is closer to Roman fortification technology of burning the spike end of the sunken timbers they used to build their occupation forts. You want the logs to have some strength. Love the many of the inspiration you bring to your videos . Thank you.