Turning forest into gardens with pigs

We've been turning forest into gardens with pigs for a few years now. For a low budget off grid homestead, it can be a great way to clear land and build gardens. It takes a while, and still requires manual labour but you don't need big machines, it's cheap like borsch, the pigs add fertilizer, AND it builds bacon at the same time.
Our process is pretty simple; log the big trees, fence, let the pigs destroy vegetation and loosen the ground, pick sticks, break the ground with a broadfork, and plant with straw (if you need to create topsoil).
We don't sell ham or veggies, but the girls make and sell some cool stuff on our store: www.gridlessne...
Did you know we actually post on the IG!? / gridlessness
The awesome music is courtesy of Jospeh Tebulte and Last Horse Standing - • Last Horse Standing - ...
Think turning forest into gardens with pigs is a fairy tail for foxes? You might as well subscribe and see what other strawbrained ideas we sow.

[@astol87]

Turning forest into garden + bacon. This is the formula for infinite power.

[@bobbygreen2291]

After having and raising five daughters, Rose is most definitely the worlds most beautiful woman to accomplish this feat , everyone who agrees give me and rose a like.

[@TBPollock]

When it comes to beauty and class, Rose is in a category all her own, a few equal her, none exceed her.

[@bobbygreen2291]

That’s right and what is even more astounding is she is more beautiful than lots younger women , and she doesn’t even need any makeup to get there , astonishingly natural beauty is to the highest of levels.

[@ArchFundy]

"Eating dirt just like kids should". Now I understand why you are such a great dad. You truly understand what being a kid is all about.

[@rickholloway5218]

That's cause Jeff is still a kid at heart, himself! Which, in my opinion, is a good thing!

[@denisewilson8367]

Mud pies, literally.

[@EwigWinterreich]

Well MY Saturday just got a lot brighter!

[@its4electric]

You guys are so good together and Rose is so pretty if I can say that

[@CplSkiUSMC]

And the best thing about pigs is that while they are making a garden for you, they're also making bacon for you!!! That's what you call a win win situation!

[@themanonthestreet]

CHILDREN unafraid and "told" to do chores that are not very fun or glamorous grow into well rounded PEOPLE with great work ethic!

[@at347est]

I'm not even sure they have to be told.

[@tmccune4]

My dad grew up on a farm in Wisc. when they wanted to remove tree stumps they would take dried corn on the cob break it in half and stuff it under the roots of the stump and let the hogs root it out of the ground , even when they have gotten all of the corn they think there is still more .

[@Makete100]

I like that idea.

[@kaycarle8361]

Genius!

[@worklion50]

I saw what Rose did with bales of straw last year. I tried that here in south Texas this spring. Just yesterday I had to take a laundry basket of produce to work, sharing the abundance with my crew. They went after it like your little piggies... sounds were included! Love to see and hear from you guys, so thanks for sharing, and making me smile!

[@jamjar5716]

Worklion, that cracked me up!😂

[@mrbakerskatz]

Well one thing about it , I can not eat my rototiller when the garden is in ! Thanks love from Ohio !

[@ButterflyMatt]

I like that you chucked whole, sprouting taters in there, and didn’t micromanage the thing.

[@carolhub8080]

Amazing gardens and I had no idea pigs would work the land and forest as they do! Who needs heavy equipment when you can use pigs and then get yummy bacon and roasts later. God did make an amazing earth. We have fewer problems if people would get back to digging in the dirt. Good for the soul! Always enjoy your videos. 👍

[@TombstoneHeart]

This bloke is obviously so fascinated with hard work that he can watch it being done all day. That's why he gets to film these videos and all the sheilas do the work. It's just like Tom Sawyer painting his aunt's fence. I'm in awe of you, mate!

[@tomrichardson3107]

Horseradish can be invasive and take over your garden plot, beware! Nice work on the gardens. 😎👍👍🇺🇸

[@Gridlessness]

Tom Richardson good to know!

[@kevintulak9987]

The best garden we ever had was when we used the pigs to turn it up. No weeds for two years. Lots of manure to feed the soil. And the pigs tasted great. Thanks for sharing.

[@kaviarasu1836]

this is the best way to live a beautiful life. Awesome feeling...

[@jessieratcliff168]

Omgosh you guys are so lucky. I love your home. I know you have and still do work hard. I just wish I was young again and could do that. May god keep blessing you and your wife and daughters.

[@matthewwalker6401]

Alway enjoy your videos !!!!

[@picklesgherkin]

Rose is awesome...that girl can do anything she puts her mind to..

[@davidraines2873]

Good ole pigs making garden spots and bacon. You have a beautiful family and a great life. Oh to be young again. I used to be known for my gardens when I lived in New England.

[@2212db]

My Saturday has just turned out better for seeing this. I had no idea pigs could be so useful while being so tasty.

[@awiteaawitea5273]

Wow !! Thanks a lot gridlessness for sharing a new vid. Love from mizoram (India)

[@rohkwaho]

You have a prime site for hugelkulture gardening with all that woody debris in various stages of decay. I wish I had such a site. I would be as happy as your pigs.

[@solo4441]

I have done this awesome. Do you add straw with pigs in older pen they mix it in , and sling seed corn oats after to reduce nitrates . the pigs love mulch hay and mix it in great . In that two years you will have a couple feet of soil. you wont have to loosen anything blow all leaf matter into garden in fall aswell. You will have so much fertile soil amazing

[@Mikefoxx55]

I just happened upon this channel and have been binging on the vids all day.. What an amazing family to have there... Stay safe and healthy 🙏 ... From NYC, USA

[@Gridlessness]

Thanks, and welcome to the channel!

[@Mikefoxx55]

@@Gridlessness definitely will. 👍👍

[@mathewtkhongsai10]

Happy family, where is beautiful Sarah💙💙💙

[@digingeorge5959]

We should learn from you how to raise kids. Great dad, wonderful human being who has a fantabulous family. Happy for you brother

[@paolobisogni1041]

Almost unbelievable seeing rosemary and basil growing up there. Good job! Now, if we could see some more hunting videos...

[@joshuabulliff2423]

Have been looking for a video exactly like this. Me and my wife are doing a similar thing on our land in New Zealand. Really appreciate you making this video, so so helpful

[@Gridlessness]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bobfitch607]

Awesome gardens guys 👍 from bacon to broccoli. WAY to back use if your resources. Well done. 🐷

[@jeffhardenbrook2695]

That’s a lot of ham sandwiches you’ve got there.

[@florafauna4584]

Thank you very much for this inspiring share will definitely include pigs to my loving helping goats. Love to your family from mine. Please keep sharing and inspiring.

[@PeterKNoone]

Just found your channel....Wow! Your daughters are super impressive.. I've got 2 myself and can't see them sawing the top of a skull off of a buck to tan a hide. Thanks for the awesome view into your exploits!

[@bobweglin9644]

Making topsoil with straw on land that pigs rooted and fertilized is an exciting process. Keep it coming.

[@banbanthailand4687]

Good video. 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@bc30cal99]

Top of the morning to you all from the sunny south Okanagan. Lovely video as always folks, thanks for sharing it with us. We always had a batch of pigs on the Saskatchewan farm where I grew up. One thing you don't ever want with pigs is to have them get a taste for meat. Ours did one year and after that started eating any chickens that wandered into the pen. They got a lot more aggressive with me when I was feeding too. Anyways, just something to watch for from an old guy. Thanks again, all the best to you all this summer and stay well.

[@immortalsofar5314]

The happiest pigs I've ever seen were our three when Fred Meyers were giving away Pumpkins after halloween. I cut holes in the top and gave them one each - nothing funnier than seeing a pig run around with his head inside a pumpkin, either! Give them straw to lie in, play around with and it mixes with the, shall we say, "organic" material they produce and it makes a great soil. Too hot for the first year but after that it grows amazing food. Send in the ducks to keep the slugs down and mix in a little chicken waste to get the straw rotted in weeks rather than years.

[@rollsroyce7325]

HAPPY PIGS 🐷🐖❤❤❤❤ !!!!! 👏👏👏👏👌👍 GOOD JOB GUYZ ❤❤❤❤

[@rainnielcapistrano2865]

I'm from Philippines and I love watching your videos. hope you upload more :)

[@9252LIFE]

This was definitely informational! This video was our family movie night out back on our hill with our little phone service! We call it our off grid drive inn. Great video!

[@jimf1964]

Not only do they help grow gardens, but they grow bacon! 🥓 So tree roots, as you know, are such a big part of getting new soil ready. If the pigs are helping so much is that because your roots are very shallow out there, or do you just not care about deeper roots because you're building up with the straw?

[@jay90374]

Deep dead roots are just slow release plant food that provide paths into the clay that veggie roots can follow 😁

[@jem1221]

Happy father's day brother...god bless...

[@randalltom9750]

Jeff & Rose, you’ve stepped back in time, to a slower, more wondrous time. A simply wonderful, glorious, memory filled, happy time... True, the clock still spins only one way, but it must mean there is more of it (time), or its quality and value make it so. The only thing that may seem too fast, is the girls are not so little anymore... make every moment last! Blessings to you and the girls.

[@ravineseder3133]

I can tell how deep the snow was when you cut those trees.

[@chriswills9530]

You've hit my sweet spot with this one - Love pigs, and have used them for ploughs myself in the past. The resultant pork was the nicest meat I have ever eaten. Just in the process for getting some again - 3; I think they are best in 3's, in my situation. Rose ok? Wearing sunglasses and then it became apparent that she was looking a little different to normal. Anyhoo; another wonderful vid, thank you all.

[@rough-hewnhomestead5737]

"Come on little tater...you can do it!" LOL Love it. I love what you guys are doing! Best wishes for a great harvest! Also, please pass the bacon!

[@lisapardue1197]

yep, my kids ate a lot of dirt growing up. Happy times, now I am letting my grandkids play in the dirt too.

[@Jimisuec]

Bacon seeds ..... yummy 😋

[@Sksk27547]

"So much drama with pigs", funny :)

[@david-lisaharden2100]

You can also add the ash from your burning wood to the soil to add potash to the nutrients available for plant growth.

[@mr.potatohead6138]

Nice to see pigs being able to be pigs. Can tell that Rose loves gardening!👍 Thanks for making Saturday mornings even better!🥓

[@theartofpoetry2135]

This is truly living, the life you've carved out of the wilderness for your family is simply amazing. Thank you for sharing your piece f heaven with us;)

[@bobburkinshaw6418]

Yes, the pigs are heroes! But the other heroes in this story are the earthworms. Not only were they working hard to convert the straw into soil, but they have been incorporating that organic matter into the clay below. My guess is that if you dig below the straw soil you will find the clay under there is now much improved soil. Hello from the B's in Ontario!

[@tartyqhwhx7575]

Very nice famely 👍👍👍👍🌹

[@barrykramer9125]

Another great video keep them coming in

[@richardmccombs617]

Great to see a video without snow! Nice info on how you prep and grow.

[@jadenwat2990]

Never thought a pig can be used for ploughing im loving it🤗👏👏👏

[@leoscheibelhut940]

An old pioneer farming trick to make the stumps even easier to pull was to drill small deep holes under the stumps with an earth auger then fill the holes with shell corn. The pigs will follow the corn down and excavate the soil underneath the stumps making them easier to remove and sometimes even completely knocking the stumps out.

[@tuddsmithers7101]

Wow that looks fantastic! Most folks don’t know that marigolds are nitrogen fixers. Your plan for the garden sounds great. It’s amazing to think that if you let it go for 10 years It would probably go back to forest again. Thanks so much for the video!

[@wildlifegrocery2965]

The ending was hilarious...yep, they mostly freak out when picked up. We have Idaho Pasture Pigs that are quite friendly, but they still tend to half freak out when their feet leave the ground. lol

[@summerland6397]

Wonderful! I picked plenty of sticks and so have my children now grown. I so enjoy your show and smile whenever a notice pops up. Thanks.

[@iamroberty]

You have the raw material to build incredible hugelkultur beds!

[@Crucisphinx]

This is a brilliant idea. I had a pet pig who, as a baby, cleared out his entire grassed and overgrown 200sq ft pen (he had other areas) in a couple days, at most. Having 10 of him you could easily clear a square mile in a couple weeks. Of course you have to do all the tree removal, but the pigs will take care of the soil. I also tried to grow potatoes at that time, and let me just tell you if you want to easily feed your pig friends just plant a few potatoes. I don’t know how but even if they haven’t dug it up they KNOW.

[@hogkillerjp]

heck yea!! i use my pigs in Louisiana to clear out all the snakes too!!!

[@frederickbierweiler8020]

love the look on Rose's face when she is uncertain

[@lydiamarcia3662]

I live in an arid climate in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Our soil is mostly clay. Might I suggest planting Daikon radish bio drills. The company that I get the seed from is called Territorial Seed Company located in Oregon. You plant them either in the spring or the fall and leave them in the soil. They break up the hardpan soil beneath the top soil and draw up nitrogen, phosphorus, Etc. It gives the worms something to eat and also the soil. It's a win-win! Ialso plant winter wheat and Clover to add biomass. I have built the soil without tilling by using this method and adding straw on top of my seed every time I plant my vegie garden. I no longer till my soil. When I lived in Cundiyo, New Mexico, a small Mountain Community, I raised a pig and kept it in an enclosure made of pallets, one pallet wide and four pallets long, and used it to till the soil because I didn't have a tiller. I would leave the pig in an area for 3 days and then move one side of the pallets to create a new enclosure. This method worked really well as the entire 4 acre property was covered in thistle. The roots were so deep I couldn't get rid of them. The pig absolutely loved the roots. I never fed my pig grain, just weeds from the property. He fattened up very nicely. Needless to say, the pig was put in the freezer that winter. It was the best pork I've ever eaten. Your goats will add a great deal of nitrogen and organic matter to the soil as their manure has the highest nitrogen content. Your videos are most enjoyable! You are living the life that I spent the last 30 years trying to develop. Although, I've had a few bumps in the road with a divorce and single parenting 4 very young children. It's wonderful to see how you and Rose are raising your children. I will shoot you an email and share my story with you. Blessings

[@borikkiv]

This is just how pigs evolved to live isn't it? Boars are forest dwellers that would have kept the ground turned over so new seedlings could grow.

[@bomaite1]

When you start that, throw out some corn on the ground and then throw the straw on top of it. The pigs will churn everything up for you and be very happy looking for corn. Also, when you have the beds about the way you like them, spread straw in the walkways in spring. It keeps the soil moist and full of worms, keeps the mud off your feet, and will be mostly gone by fall. Toss this rich layer up on top of the beds before winter and next spring, do it again. Bury some of that rotting wood under your beds. Hugelkultur.

[@clevertondacruzsantos8984]

He's thinking it will become crackling! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 Cléverton from Brasil

[@joecorrero6763]

I try to watch all of y’all’s vids. Great, great humble family. Y’all are truly blessed. Keep an eye on that horseradish. It’s one of my favorites too but it can become invasive and take over. Stay safe and God Bless! Joe in MS

[@leelawrence3379]

How do you get the stumps out? Is that why you beefed up the suspension on the jeep? Always look forward to your posts they never fail to make a person smile.

[@sn00pgreen]

pigs are just such great animals..and as they say the only bit you can't eat is the squeal

[@fatbaldguy3271]

You should try garlic chives they are even better tasting than regular chives. I feel the same about kale dude, but the wife sneaks it in all the time. Lol

[@billa3785]

Y'all are the most amazing family. I love watching your videos.

[@boybants]

really love ur videos...jef, watching now while eating my dinner here in cebu, Philippines.

[@randychristiano1387]

Your vids are amazing! What a great family you have. All working towards the common goal like it was before modern life took over. Seeing your parenting and the response from your girls is truly inspirational. Keep up the good work.

[@wilynsuano3459]

Nice and beurtyful idea

[@WarthogChief]

Love how your daughter is promoting Dan Hurd from the blue t-shirt

[@juliusangawa802]

Wow! Great soil! And the pigs plowed it good!

[@fishingboats7197]

I found this channel few days ago watched every video love them . Great family i wish you all the best . Maybe put out videos everyday lol or give cameras to the girls show what they do in a day . Take care

[@edrosenberger6947]

No doubting it took a bunch of work to get your 20 acres to the neat point it is now in.....this is one hard working family. Thank you for your awesome videos!!!!!!

[@MrFatman1369]

"What are these guys? Kale, ah that's to bad" A man after my own heart! That was to funny!!!

[@rickatkins1493]

lol, Rose you rock ❤️

[@dixiewishbone5582]

15:37 Beauty and the beast!! Nice garden, you will probably need to think about adding some lime in the future. Horse radish, Yes sir!

[@abbaszahid9602]

Huge fan of this family lots of love from pakistan

[@danfil8608]

God bless your family! Psalm 128 ...with love from Romania .

[@denisewilson8367]

Lots of drama with pigs. LOL So true. But they do a great job tilling and make wonderful lard & meat for us as a bonus. Above and beyond prepping the garden space and fertilizing it too.

[@markscrim]

I love your garden and the pigs 👍🏻. Now is the time to see if your root cellar can accommodate the bounty. Are the pigs yours? Pork chops some day? Baby-backs? Sausages?

[@TheBcrug]

They will remove the stumps also, take an iron bar drive 2" holes as deep as you can get them as close to the stump as possible. Drop an ear of corn down there and cover it. They will go after it and move the stump out of their way to get it.

[@onoji1136]

I watched it with excitement after a long time posting, i guess it's a longing life after all. I'd like to go to your place to visit.

[@stuartgibson9741]

Rose you and the girls do such a great job! Love watching

[@markb9347]

Spring has finally fully sprung on the homestead, but don't blink, it is summer quick. Love the garden work! Amazing the progress from year to year.

[@Robbobshiskabob]

Love what you guys are making of your place! Gorgeous

[@edwardmclaughlin6126]

Everyone should have a bacon bulldozer. Well done fine Sir and Madame's.

[@KaleidoscopeJunkie]

Horseradish and Kale - pulverized into paste - spread thin and dehydrate. AWESOME KALE CHIPS. :-p

[@davidvid144]

Here we go again,. The best..

[@judyschmidt4547]

Love the garden

[@estellaknox4488]

Everything looks Amazingly health can't wait to see everything grow

[@jimmorwood9715]

That looks like the best way to clear land

[@GravityOfLife]

Educational, plus young pigs are the funniest. This is epic.