Transform Your Soil with NO MONEY & a KNIFE

[@christinewilliams1294]

Hi everyone My last home was covered in Japanese Knotweed, we looked at it in every way possible,we did not have the time either we needed the land sorting. Our solution was we bought pigs, they churned up the land and fertilised it . They were very cheep to keep we bought them as piglets. Within months we had food on our table, sometimes, you just need a little thinking outside the box (guys symbiosis,) as a thank you , they were fed all our excess veg it was a lot. We bred them and it was a second income. When they have done the work you can sell them or like us keep them, just keep them in a strong fence, give a manageable area , then move the fence till it's done. This was done in a residential area not a small holding. The neighbour's loved them , gave them all the unwanted veg as well. We started with 2 piglets, finish with 12 pigs . Our area was about 1/2 an acre not at all big won't work for everyone though, they are intelligent, clean animals.

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

[@lemongauche]

This is great to hear! I've been pondering about how to reduce the marching of knotweed. It was starting to seem like herbicide and deep smothering were the only ways. Did the knotweed stay down after the pigs were moved on?

[@peterellis5626]

It's also worth considering that in terms of the area that we nee to grow our own food, we're not talking about 6 acres, or even one acre. Even if we're looking to grow for sale, the current era of successful market gardeners are (commonly) actively farming less than two acres. It's not as if we Need a larger plot in order to have a viable productive garden, or even farm. When you get up there to needing to take down acres of cover crops, you probably ought to also be looking at using your mob grazing rotation to go through and graze those crops ;) Stack your functions! ;) But you don't have to be working that full six acres. You can pick the best section and work there for your garden. You can let the cover crops grow on the rest and let Nature cycle them while you focus on the smaller area. For some of us, part of finding a good parcel of land that we could afford also involved being rather remote. Access to resources in the form of other people's equipment and/or labor may be as difficult to achieve as anything else. But we don't Have to work on that larger scale to be productive!

[@realrasher]

Well said! Plus you can feed your grazers microbes & minerals that they can spread via exudates... further stacking.

[@paulbraga4460]

yes, well said. purpose and goals? kinda question the plant biomass paradigm though to build good soil. this is central to what Powers is saying. the labor is the issue. i say John Kempf is right. what builds soils is a healthy plant. no need for much plant biomass. now if you have weeds, that is nature working for you but what then jump starts your soil building is to have plants that are photosynthesizing at peak and then these shunts large amounts of carbon into the soil.... bless all

[@ecocentrichomestead6783]

"You can't fend off the deer" Every time I hear a statement similar to that I think the person is thinking about it backwards. We shouldn't "fend off the deer", we should be designing an area that deer don't bother to go. When I have a wildlife issue, my first question is "why is that animal there?" Once I have the answer to that question, I can change things so the animal would rather be somewhere else! What do you think?

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

[@melissab8500]

That's what works for me, that and a dog

[@SelfSufficientSarah]

Hi Matt, good video! Just to sum up, for people with clay soil (like myself) you recommend throw sowing the 5 cousins and then chop and dropping? Then adding compost/compost tea? I also plan on spreading manure in place to sit for a few years, my soil is very heavy clay!

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

Yes but I tried to make it so there's wiggle room in there: cover crops, some or one of the cousins, cousins of cousins, just weeds, etc. all can be chopped and dropped. Timing is key ( chop and drop before seed heads develop) esp for weeds, BUT there are so many examples of biomass accumulation being the key to fast soil development without costly input. Ernst Gotsch's methods are a great example. He uses perennials and trims, but I like the annuals so I can really set the stage for a clean slate.

[@SelfSufficientSarah]

Ok thank you, I have tons of perennials in the area at the moment that are just getting mowed. I’ll add some of the 5 cousins and as much organic matter as possible to speed up the process. Thanks for all your great videos and advice!

[@realrasher]

Side note: Does anyone know if Daniel (sp?) is going to be offering more rice knives? I can’t find the US website and the AU website says they’re out of stock. Looking for the small version of the “Premium Hand Made Serrated Sickle (rice knife)”. I have the medium size “PT1” I absolutely love it! Maybe we need a kickstarter for Permaculture Tools too?!? Thanks for all you do Matt! Rock on!!

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

I can organize an order for 10 with Danial and I think we're almost to that many that have brought this up. Maybe I'll order them and sell them on my site too - idk, but it's vital that the small rice knife be more available: it's the BEST!!! :)

[@realrasher]

I think that it would be awesome to offer them on your site! Shipping from Australia is rough at best. ;) And I agree, the small one makes the most sense... I love my medium size but it can be tricky once you get a little tired. I’d be first in line to get one, possibly two. They would make great holiday gifts to expose friends and family to permaculture. Please keep us posted!

[@dancingcedar]

It is great that you have workable suggestions for folks doing this on a shoestring. It spreads fastest when the largest number of people can put the ideas into practice. Thank you.

[@amycosby5844]

Our Neighbor Actually Lets Us Borrow His Tiller And We Store It In Our Shed Since He Does Not Have A Shed.Sometimes You Can Just Talk To Your Neighbors Or Friends And Explain Your Situation And What You Would Like To Do And You Will Be Surprised At The Number Of Neighbors/Friends That Would Be Willing To Help You Out.I Was Actually Using A Shovel To Dig My Garden And I Think The Neighbor Kinda Felt Sorry For Me !

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

[@jillmadigan9841]

Thank you, Matt, for sharing your soil-building knowledge and observations. Were you referring to a scythe - by another name - to mow the 5-cousins crop? Bocking 14 comfrey is an early bff. I've been digging a patch at the slight hilltop in our Milwaukee community garden to plant berries (rasp, josta, etc.) after sifting oddities from the former dump-area where two houses sat. Excavation unearthed only one marble! In the meantime, a rhizominous thistle invaded, including assaulting an unsuspecting sage plant, since potted in-ground, for now. My efforts to locate the rhizome were a fail (at about 1.5') but I'm about to lay down some plastic sheeting (at hand) and burn a few holes for guided-growth pumpkins this year. Suggestions welcome! Also, I haven't yet seen the previous vid, but will correct that!

[@ryankowarsky5086]

I planted a great 16 species cover crop on my 45 acres, but didn’t chop and drop last fall. Will it still build the soil if I just left it ? And now that it’s almost spring here, should I just let it go without doing anything? 🙏

[@roberthayes2027]

ooh - ooh Matt! I'll bring my scythe and sharpening stone on the bus! And maybe, maybe the WHOLE 90 acres doesn't HAVE to be machined too! Wow! Wouldn't THAT be a gas? Let's beat the reaper and cancel cancel cancel all that machinery! Can people get to that acreage by PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION? Maybe there could be a community of car share too - is there an APP for that? I think some car share hookup would be so great. BTW the competition scythe rate might be 4 or even 6 acres a day - but why be so speedy? There's plenty of time even in wet spring when machinery can't be allowed...

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

The site we are on actually is mostly outside the abilities of a scythe: it's 15 year old scotch broom in many places. Thank you for the support and enthusiasm: the one way road up it is a definite restriction right now on access but the site has so much potential aside from public visitation. More to come!!

[@bubbleman441]

Matt, where are you located in CA? I'm in the process self education in permaculture/natural process farming. I feel like I need in-person, hands in the dirt training with someone like you who has walked the walk.

[@grlpeterson]

We all just need to get over our unhealthy "war" on weeds. They do much more than most of us have been trained to think of them.

[@maxhawke6294]

Love it all dude, best wishes from NZ!

[@Murphis55]

Don’t fend off the deer eat them!

[@JC326100]

I plan the first perm culture project in sri-lanka could do with your help

[@DustySplinters]

Scything the weeds or other growth down will build great soil and scything is very efficient and effective at low cost. It may take a week or two by ourselves to scythe and drop an acre of field, and it can be continuously done without adding more seed as the grasses will improve and it can become great pasture for animals or to harvest Hay from to layer up garden soil more quickly. As you mentioned, there are solutions out there, we have to think outside the box and do it positively.

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

[@DustySplinters]

@@ThePermacultureStudent We have some tough weeds as well in Northern PA which if let grow too long need a heavier approach. Sickle bar mowers are great too even though rotary brush hogs and flails have taken over. Newer methods all require bigger and bigger machinery which is often time out of reach for most small properties. You are correct, in that we should be partnering with others locally, understanding that someone with equipment does have to cover costs. Bartering, or even paying to have field mowed down is cheaper than owning the equipment. We should not forget the old ways, and when we build the soil we also need to remember not to disturb the soil much when planting so that all the underground organisms can grow and thrive.

[@dimck1813]

Do you break the soil, before you sew the five cousins?

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

For sure - I like using a broad fork from Meadow Creature

[@frankstockton4480]

Okay Matt, how do we “ read “ the weeds? Or the weed roots. Thank You

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

You inspired this morning's video: THANKYOU!! :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKSYnqeueqZoi8k

[@magicdaveable]

I grow grasses. It's pasture and the topsoil is 5" deeper than 7 years ago when I moved here. A winter crop? Not here. Winter comes early and leaves late.

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

Fall and Spring cover crops that you flail mow or harrow/till in can be great. Thank you for being a soil steward!!

[@janetlovesu]

Considering acres of land. Would a scythe be effective here? Machete?

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

I can easily manage acres with a scythe myself and with help, it's much easier, but 10s of acres and that's much harder. It also depends a lot on the terrain and types of plants. If it's all poison oak and honeylocust you might have a slower time ;) I certainly would and find myself pacing myself as I clear scotch broom from dozens of acres.

[@jennybowen8656]

I'm one of those busy single moms he's being considerate of and I absolutely love my scythe, lol. Life saver. Mowed a cover crop down w/ it this year and it worked great.

[@MamaGrows]

Get those stripping warriors to come chop and drop. Great video Matt.

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

hehe

[@cherylzacek7074]

We've been on our small homestead for 21 years. We live in the middle of corn and bean fields in the midwest. Our soil was so compacted and "dead" that in our 40' x 60' garden we found only 2 earthworms when we planted our first garden 20 years ago! We knew very little about gardening and nothing of permaculture, but we've done a few things right here and there. One was using the weeds we pulled as mulch between rows, as well as bagging the grass we cut and using it as mulch. For a few years we just didn't garden and let our animals have the space for "pasture". Llamas, goats, pigs, and chickens fertilized for a while until we planted a garden in part of that area again. Then when we cleaned out the barn, we made piles in the corners of the garden with the barn litter and let it compost. We've used cover crops. We've been lazy and let the weeds die off and sit there all winter and tilled it in. I think we've done everything except using the 5 cousins, intentionally, since I'm just now hearing about it :) The soil out there now is amazing! Worms everywhere! It tills like a dream. I'm working on getting it to be no-till, but with our laziness on weeding, the tilling just needs to be done to chop all that up to get into the soil. I started learning about permaculture 6 years ago and have done a little here and there to integrate it, and it's a very interesting journey. Thank you for this video!

[@49testsamiam49]

do you have an idea the difference in fertility building between choppimg and dropping the sisters bet they sit in the field singing or just leavingthe field to winterkill? one avantage might be te interesting pattern of reseeding and see ifthe soil needs are met by nature? imight add another brassica to the mix for greens

[@ericburge9198]

Hey Matt have you ever tried biochar? You were talking about putting the carbon back in the soil. I add my char to the compost making it into biochar. I'm curious what you think about this.

[@msmaddox2918]

Found this video to be so helpful! Thanks! I instantly subscribed! 😊

[@budgegately5686]

I have an old rear pend loader I modified with old log 7ft long it a great foliage bruiser which I had good results with but if there frogs or similar about be careful! ConnectChar on instagram

[@jacoblopez6365]

Matt, you have a great smile. Enjoy your videos

[@budgegately5686]

ConnectChar is at Self sustaining saviour on instagram my apologies

[@sweetvuvuzela4634]

🧔🏽🥰

[@libbidickinson6916]

Love the harrowing bloopers! Lol! ❤😁

[@49testsamiam49]

ihave this idea to etend time not just incremental enriching our farms but large scale restoration with little resources... for eample : a question I would ask is,, Would swales installed through a large area self remediate on their own ? I seen to remember the really wonderful Lawton exploring century old earthworks and were like a food forest after all that time

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

It depends on the context - in some areas, the edibles go feral: here along the Russian River in Sonoma county there are grapes, blackberries, fennel, & more that are all feral garden plants that are growing everywhere!! I have a videon on the 75+ year old Tucson Swales here too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bp6np6egbdl9o7M

[@49testsamiam49]

@@ThePermacultureStudent great video do large scale minimal projects with the limited resources would be so cool to fill that desert with swales and see what happens

[@ausfoodgarden]

Thanks for this video. I tend to turn off your videos because you seem to have these fake smiles/laughs and over the top positivity. If that's just you, I apologize for thinking it's not genuine. I know you provide great information and this video was excellent. I suppose that basically, I'm saying this presentation level is more palatable to old folks like me than many you do. I hope you don't mind me saying all this, and regardless, keep pushing out the videos. 👍

[@ThePermacultureStudent]

To react with despair in the face of cancer, while a natural reaction, is a sure way to spread it. Enthusiasm is the only proven way that people win - being in contact with what makes them feel alive. Sometimes it's up to us supporting those with cancer to be the light in the darkest of times. Unstoppable Enthusiasm is a window into our family's last decade with cancer: www.amazon.com/Unstoppable-Enthusiasm-Habits-Build-Sustain/dp/173218786X/?fbclid=IwAR1iDUj7VLEPstFTejWT9K6Syv4KM3qDN4r8r189HFyXT9tbpuDggd6IoXU