Using Livestock to Fertilize the Market Garden (An 8-Year Study!)

[@familyforever6583]

I could listen to this guy talk all day. So intelligent and so informative.

[@Zednor9]

The information was great, but much like we're working on with my teenage children lately, I was getting distracted by the very frequent filler words, such as "uh", "um", "you know" and especially in this case "like". The speaker could work on slowing down, being more comfortable with small silences, and greatly reducing the use of distracting filler words. Information is much easier to absorb when the listener doesn't have to spend so much mental power filtering out all that cruft.

[@homegame-ls3ty]

Realy....., lets try fertilizer after..what 25 years.....

[@denisdufresne5338]

For a small gardener who aim to become autonomous this study is highly interesting. It confirms me that sheep are more useful than cows, at least on a small farm. Besides they are less dangerous to work with. However you need a gardian dog to protect the sheep. Aside from sheep the runner indian ducks are highly useful directly in the garden because they especially love gastropods (slugs and snails) and insects, so letting them walking in your vegetable is a great free help. Besides they do not destroy your garden like chicken and they give you eggs and meat. We can not ask more. As for the horse manure, it is interesting to know because a horse can replace tractors for many tasks.

[@markpiersall9815]

Put a tuna cans in the soil at Dusk and fill them with Beer. They will be full of Slugs at Dawn. Garter Snakes are good at eating Slugs too. Beer is not for drinking but baiting Slug traps.

[@denisdufresne5338]

@@markpiersall9815 I tried that solution and I prefer to use a combinaison of wooden planks that I turn over in the morning to expose the gastropods to my Indian running ducks, who happily clean everything for free. So this way I do not have to handle any gastropods, I feed my ducks and they make me eggs and meat for free. It can not be better.

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

@@denisdufresne5338if you were to put some banana leaves or any other larger biomass material in place of the planks and then they could eat the slugs along with the material? I saw someone find slugs just by places large cabbage leaves and turning over every morning g like you say. But definitely like your idea too, was just curious.

[@denisdufresne5338]

@@NoOneAnyMore4You The big leaves on the soil are a good option because when it is the same thing as leaving all the green waste on the soil. Tips: gastropods prefer to eat decomposing plants rather than healthy ones, because it's easier for them. So by leaving plant waste on the ground, we avoid having our crops destroyed. What's more, it's easy for ducks to pick up this waste and find the gastropods to eat it. So it's even less work than leaving planks. I only install wood boards if I haven't spread any plant waste on the ground.

[@roostertheastronaut4513]

I was also thinking that on a small scale a mini cow or two might work well in this system to provide a family or two milk, mini cows would obviously be safer and compact less, and could be integrated with sheep easy

[@KariAist]

We've found rabbits to be very helpful in our very small suburban organic home farm. Their manure is amazing.

[@melindawolfUS]

Agree! My bunny's poop took a yard that couldn't grow weeds and turned it into a lush jungle of plants almost instantly 😊

[@1millionpumpkins542]

Plus you can inoculate carbon with nitrogen by placing cardboard, biochar, etc under their cages to catch the urine. Plain clay cat litter / driveway absorbent is another amazing garden material when charged with rabbit pee.

[@FullCircleTravis]

​@@1millionpumpkins542 Greenhouse grade vermiculite.

[@alexanderpitman9433]

I was going to say that rabbit droppings is likely the best. But you beat me to it. That said, horse manure is a close second, but you have to plan ahead to make sure there isn't burn.

[@jakehvazdamusic]

I've never seen rabbits in a large scale. If someone was able to make a system to this scale using rabbits I bet it'd be revolutionary. I think the main problem is they dig so if you used a chicken tractor model, theyd get out. I've seen those spikes you border coops with to keep predators out. Maybe a large tractor, moved once a week rather than daily, using those spikes (easy to put in and take out) could work???

[@burnshirtvalleyfarm6337]

I run a herd of sows with a small flock of sheep. The sows keep predators out, the sows dont root as much as younger pigs, and the sheep eat more of the leafy vegetation to mow down a pasture faster and keep the animals moving. You must remove the pigs when the sheep are getting close to giving birth.

[@TheAmbulatingFerret]

I'm so glad you mention not everyone being able to handle a walk behind tractor. I'm a middle aged woman and I highly doubt I'd be able to use one effectively without throwing out my back. Also I have geese and they do a fantastic job for micro grazing. They don't escape like chickens do, you don't have to worry about hawks, they truly graze unlike other poultry, and you can herd them like sheep.

[@dundeeorganix]

Goat manure was the best inputs we found on fallow fields. Sheep were not an option in tropics. Great info here, thsnks 🇦🇺

[@Zednor9]

I found this video quite informative and a worthwhile watch. The key thing that it got me thinking about is that I noticed a very high amount of external inputs to their system. They're clearly not feeding all those animals exclusively from grazing those tiny plots, with the extreme case of the horses appearing to be eating nothing produced there. When evaluating "regenerative" systems, I think it's very important to account for all external inputs. Otherwise it can often be more about shifting resources than generating them on site, which is likely then resulting in degrading another site. I'd love to find more sources of information on ether closed regenerative systems or at least better tracked and factored in external inputs.

[@jasonneugebauer5310]

I agree. The horses (hay burners) are bringing in a large amount of external nutrients for such a small operation. Using compost with materials gathered off-site is great for production but bad for researching a sustainable future based on what is available on site. It is better to figure out how to increase soil health and vegetable production using as much material gathered on site or very close and only inport vital nutrients not available on site.

[@PIESvcs]

Agree with the cattle and compaction, but I have issues with sheep. I can feed most cattle out of my hand, but my sheep require regular handling from birth or else they respond like I'm the Grim Reaper. We also have facial eczema (FE) spore in warm summer days after wet weather. Cattle are much easier to provide preventive zinc treatment than sheep. So the whole animal husbandry & health issue can be costly in both time, vet bills and the unfortunate circumstances where fellow livestock farmers say, 'where you have livestock, you have dead stock' ... very hard lessons to accept, especially when a cow and calf die. With 11 acres, we've needed grazing animals. The best production we have found is using the cattle to provide 'poo patrol' manure to fungal dominant compost from shelter belt trimming. It's all at the cost of less time on veggie production, but fruit trees - avocados, macadamias, citrus, apples, pears and peaches spread work load across seasons. We have a smaller market and the competition to supply restaurants has been 'a bridge too far' in marketing time. So food production feeds working holiday visa travellers interested in permaculture, horticulture and/or livestock care. Thanks for this video. We may try to use sheep more effectively, but they can be hard on fruit trees if they get into them. Also have had the same experience with laying chickens destroying gardens. We don't use them, but barter food for eggs.

[@NedGeeslin-hm7xu]

My father worked with sheep as a boy and always said they were the dumbest farm animals 😅

[@goatsofwar7181]

We work our dairy goat herd on the grass first, then run the chicken tractors over it, and then we rotate the garden beds around on it. All of our compost is produced here on farm by the dairy herd and the chickens.

[@dramatictiming]

This is a huge inspiration to me. Just to see, there are people out there investing so much time and effort in something I want to do in the future makes me hopeful

[@jasonneugebauer5310]

Awesome video. It makes a lot of sense to add 5% biochar to compost at the beginning to adsorb all of the nutrients that off gas from the compost as it matures. Typically, up to 50% of nitrogen is lost during the composting process. Much of this nitrogen can be retained by biochar.

[@tarjei99]

Cattle differs. Cattle races differs in size. You can vary the ground pressure by using young grazers. It takes a few years to grow cattle to full size.

[@Dirt-Fermer]

Also there are “mini” cows which are still large when fully grown but way more manageable

[@StrangeBranch]

This seems like a great opportunity for growers to team up with other farmers with the ability to do mobile grazing.

[@robertsexton9230]

or re-shape neighborhoods!

[@melissagoodwin2602]

Great idea.

[@Flowmaster925]

that would be the best HoA to be a part of

[@micahteich2089]

Thank you all. I love it when people share wisdom.

[@rickthelian2215]

Sheep grazing grasses or cover crops before poultry as they don’t like really long grasses, otherwise mowing is required.

[@victorandrews9790]

Great video! Super grateful that there are those who have the resources to do this type 'non-commercial' corporate farming research, so small farmers & gardeners can follow! I'm working a large garden with chickens & lack the research skills & monetary resources to push forward at a faster pace.

[@ColectiveConsciousness1111]

Really enjoyed listening & love sensible concepts. Buy locally, support your community, offer your food waste to local farmers ❤

[@WorkingAussiesHomestead]

This is awesome! We run a 1/4 acre market garden and rotationally graze a small flock of layers and 5 Gulf Coast Native sheep on an acre. It would be fun to integrate them in this way!

[@babsoneverything3060]

Such a wonderful video, Jesse! I think this is very good news! Can't wait to see more from Green Acres farm!

[@Dorpers89]

I have been doing this exact idea with the sheep/chicken/cattle for 3 years now. It does work but you will want to mow what they leave after for best results, even just a scythe or weedwhacker if you want to reduce compaction and the size is reasonable.

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

This is what I was thinking. Im simply planning, but if like you say allowed them to graze and in my case, use a bagged mower collect left over trimmings and reuse into vermicompost system(worm and critter bin) Just curious which cover crops you personally use. I don’t have live stock but will mow it down so even the aggressive ones are ok since I use the biomass. Thanks for any answer and the information already given!

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

I’m also in basically a pure sand south environment so the conditions might change the answer but again any info is appreciated thank you!

[@vidard9863]

​@@NoOneAnyMore4Youin my sand just adding charcoal appears to be making a difference to the soil's ability to retain nutrients. The problem is just getting enough charcoal on my limited budget/free time, but plain charcoal seems to do more than good compost in a years time. (Because the compost just washes out over time)

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

@@vidard9863gotcha makes sense for sure, I’ve looked into organic SAP, super absorbent polymers but very little research, basically the whole idea of using fruit peels broken down to add into say the bio charcoal and/or compost. Personally I have found vermicompost holds a lot of water however since I have sand as my main input with cardboard it can get hydrophobic in extreme heat. So definitely charcoal and such sounds like a great add in to help that and I’ll try it with the vermicompost. Something about the loafy texture of the vermicompost and how my plants react has me hooked with the worm bins so far. Thanks for sharing 🤙

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

@@vidard9863and do you buy the charcoal or produce it? Obviously I’ll buy a bag first and d then try to replicate it for my region I suppose. I’m just messing around with it all though, so no risk of any loss just reward of knowledge so any suggestions I’ll experiment with for sure

[@HelenEk7]

I find learning about what didnt work so well equally interesting as what did work well. And please do a follow up video in a year so we can learn how the sheep did.

[@travisbriggs8102]

You can definitely do a no till with pigs. I took soil from 2% organic matter to 5% in 6 months with pigs.

[@fayecorbett9768]

We had American Guinea hogs and they graze, not much rooting. Amazing how they regenerated the land.

[@travisbriggs8102]

@fayecorbett9768 that's what I had as well. If they're from a feed lot setup or they were given feed before you got them then in my experience you have to teach them to root. I had agh that loved to root but I have Berkshires now and I had to teach them to root. They would only graze and I couldn't get them to root so I was having to feed them corn. One day right after I fed them corn it rained very hard and they mushed some of the corn into the soil and the next few days all they did was root up that corn. I did that one more time and I don't know if it taught them to root or just hardened up their noses but now they will root like crazy!

[@TheSwiftCreek2]

Some of these ideas are great. Building soil with animals, using mulch... Some of the ideas seem more in line with finding what can be called "educational", getting paid for it, and not worrying about whether it works or would make money sans grants. I'm talking about the biochar locking up CO2 (it doesn't) and the horses.

[@elusive323]

I put my char into the compost piles too,works the best i think.

[@TheFamilyFarmstead]

That was fantastic. Very informative and gives me lots of ideas for my property. Thank you.

[@rebeccawatson9284]

awesome! thanks to all of you!

[@lisamcdonald1415]

As a farm that has been learning how to incorporate animals I really appreciated this video. One thing I would add is pigs have been good for tilling new ground in our experience

[@augustasimone9323]

The role of the shepard and the hearding dogs is very valuable .

[@project1003]

Rabbits are fantastic animals to raise for fertilizer on a smaller plot. Their manure doesn't need to age like most other manures and won't burn crops. They are close to chicken when comparing feed conversion rates if you are looking for a meat source and require a lot less daily labor.

[@RAG_KR]

Вони дуже вутлі для утримання та захисту на полі

[@79PoisonBreaker]

Agree on rabbit utility, but not so much on less daily labor. If grazing them in tractors like chickens be the same labor and if not then daily labor to bring food to them and labor again to deposit the garden gold pellets where you want them. I don't think there is a rotational grazing option other then in tractors for rabbits, at least not that I have thought of yet.

[@RAG_KR]

@@79PoisonBreaker тракторный выпас кроля, есть ссылка на практическое видео ?

[@79PoisonBreaker]

@@RAG_KR kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIKokqt9a7aob7ssi=pJJULrSonbKVodDg

[@79PoisonBreaker]

@@RAG_KR hope that is what you were looking for. If translate worked.

[@jvin248]

How about "Dexter" or other small frame lighter cattle instead of huge black angus?

[@williammaxwell2239]

Non stop information. A good feast.

[@EvaMarieK]

This is great. I would love to hear more specifically about sheep and how they care for them. So interesting!

[@wormulous]

Still sometimes forget Sundays are the best. Love the info!

[@dianeladico1769]

That was fantastic. Looking forward to more. Thanks so much for seeking them out and highlighting them on your channel. He mentioned Ohio State briefly. The OSU extension is a good resource for home gardeners as well. I've gotten really good info and advice from them. Our local county office is especially good.

[@calebfast8088]

Love hearing about research projects like this. :)

[@bensabelhaus7288]

Worked well on the grandparents farm :) They rotated corn, potatoes, cabbage etc... fields every few years and grazed cattle on the fields in off years. Granted they were tractor plowing it. But the basic concept improved is great. I know those tractors were new to the farm in his generation. The first tractor they bought killed Grandpa's older brother when he tipped off a wash out. So at some point not long ago they were still old school:)

[@momcomputer6461]

I absolutely love this! ThanQ so much, Jesse. You're the best! I had to watch it twice. It aligns with what I am doing on my new farm. I am always grateful for confirmation!

[@williambronson2935]

I'm a regenerative agriculture enthusiast and Cincinnatian. The hills here are covered in greenery, mostly invasive honeysuckle. It is not good for much, but it does make good biochar. Their production and use of low nitrogen compost is in line with some s of the no-till growers I've heard on this podcast network, who have turned to high carbon mulches , rather nitrogen rich composts for weed suppression. I am looking forward to finding out more about their composting set up.

[@AlgiereRanch]

Man super helpful!! Thank you, we are just getting started!

[@oldj472]

This place is about 7 miles away from me and I’ve never heard of it..may need to go visit it. Pretty high rent district part of town. Interesting location.

[@notsofunpj]

They've got a farm tour coming up. Check their website!

[@gregosparta]

This is the dream! Good work!

[@anna-qx8tg]

So inspirational and inspiring thanks for giving me the tips and hacks

[@UniqueBoredomBlog]

Was talking to family recently and they talked about collars that tell cattle where a boundary is so they can move without being stressed. You could possibly use the same technology on the sheep so remove the need for fencing etc.

[@chefevielee]

Wow this is great information! I can't wait to find out the results from the biochar bed.

[@gedofgont]

oh my gosh...this work is so vital! very proud to be a human when i see folks like you. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the big petro-chem co's help to supress funding $ to these kinds fo studies. But, like you said, farming is trial-and-error...we can relearn what we've forgotten and share share share until we don't need the polluting profiteers any more.

[@melissagoodwin2602]

i really appreciate this video i was thinking about how can I maintain fertility using nature. I'm really happy about this.

[@timbushell8640]

I took less than 1 min, to choose to like this vid. Excellent choice of subject. Now shut up, and let me watch and learn. : ))))

[@marcob1729]

By adding no till and composting at the same time, they kind of missed a bit in doing a better controlled experiment. Still doing an awesome job! I just wish we could’ve seen what happens when you do one without the other

[@teebob21]

The University of Nebraska is doing a study of no-till, compost, biochar, and geotextile covers, plus all the varying combinations, as well as control plots. I'm in the study. It finishes next year.

[@xaviercruz4763]

@@teebob21what have you seen so far?

[@teebob21]

@@xaviercruz4763 I can't tell that it makes any difference one way or the other, but I really do like gardening through fabric and plastic: so much less weed pressure.

[@marcob1729]

@@teebob21 covers that weeds can't break through are amazing

[@yooptrooper]

Awesome content! Can't wait to binge these video's and glean more info. As an old fart, I don't think I'd survive an apprenticeship... Question. What kind of offgassed compounds does biochar production cause? Or is the offgas used to further fire the production, like making charcoal in drums? It's all organic matter, isn't it?

[@cindyhollings2079]

There are quite a few clever systems that use the heat for farm or household use. If you burn in an enclosed system without airflow, the gases are completely burned, but you do need to have an external fire to heat the container, so depends on how you build it, from my reading and little experiments. Dyson farming has gone gangbusters on it I seem to remember.

[@hughmanatee7433]

I have for many years used laying hens in symbiosis with gardens,greenhouses and orchard stock. My set up has been 3-1500’ greenhouses each with a 1500’ garden between them. Across the back I built a building to house chickens. I used 35 chickens for a week or two in each growing space before and after cropping. My system also included crops that were direct sown, or mulched with hay and leaves or black plastic. I simply open a door to put the girls in the appropriate space and they go to work eating bugs and bug eggs, weed and weed seeds, and crop residue. I plant a garden with crops that will all finish at the same time. When it’s done I send the chickens in for a week and then plant again. My rotation is heavy organic mulch with a crop that likes that like brassicas followed by chickens. Then a crop with black plastic applied over the mulch with no tillage. The plastic I used is called Lumite which is a woven material used I commercial greenhouses for walk paths. It is extremely tough and photo-resistant. I have been using the same material for 30 years, it’s pretty bulletproof. You must not cut it with the a knife but rather use a propane touch so it doesn’t shred. As I have gotten older I began cutting the Lumite into 12x12 foot sections so it is easier to apply and remove. I screw 1x3” strapping to opposing sides to keep the wind from blowing it around. After the plastic mulch season I again run the chickens through. If to organic mulch I had left below the plastic is rotted away enough I rake the surface clean and plant a direct sow crop. If there is still a lot of hay there I would just grow another crop with the Lumite. I used to use a rototiller but I switched to a broad fork. You don’t really want the chickens in for too long as it will accumulate salts. Think like compost:30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen and you will be ok. I like the bio char idea and started using it in the henhouse sprinkling a bit on top of the dirty bedding just before I add another layer of clean shavings. In the peak of summer I like to put the chickens in a hen house on a trailer and graze them in my little home use orchard or my acre of asparagus.

[@PazLeBon]

cool man

[@brokenmeats5928]

I love ALL No-Till Growers videos!

[@aaronweeks9207]

GOLD! killer episode 🤙

[@Godisincontrol325]

Really enjoyed this video 😁🎉 Thank you..

[@TheBeaker59]

I am quite lucky to have enough land to have 4 steers (cattle) at the beginning we started with young calves the land had been "let go" once excellent grazing land hadn't had animals on it for several years, the calves when I put them in the paddock basically disappeared into this regenerating jungle after one year we now have productive pasture. we have removed several truckloads of rubbish and produced Biochar for our gardens from the wood waste. I love cattle for this purpose and you get a gorgeous steak or two at the end. Chickens though are the most productive animal on our place by a country mile. We keep our flock stationary in one of 2 large coops 1000 square feet in size vegetable garden for 1 year chicken coop the next rotating, the only addition being lime and mulch when gardened fertility is off the charts. Wee started with the intention of feeding our family and ended up donating literally trailer loads of excess to our local food bank. We live on the edge of a small village of economically constrained people who bring all their food scraps over and collect the eggs we don't need. Maybe not the most optimized farming but pretty good I believe.

[@devinsullivan7233]

When your compost is too high in carbon and low in nitrogen, but you still windrow and heat the pile up…Then what you are creating is wood ash. I’ve seen many commercial composts being sold that are black in color.. They are burned wood particles. Very high in potassium and very high ph. No nitrogen is available to plants at a high ph. Therefore you see yellow plants . You should only use a cold compost process preferably in the shade when making a high carbon compost. It should take 1-2 years to be finished and ready to use. Manure heavy compost or straight horse manure is what you want to heat up and compost quickly. This compost has a slightly acidic ph and will have an abundance of both water soluble and slow release nitrogen available to plants. Use this compost to mix into native soil or top dress and plant directly into.

[@jasonneugebauer5310]

You are correct that adequate nitrogen is required to create good compost. You have to have the right combination of greens and browns as I was taught. In my opinion, the best way to create good compost is to grind up tree branches with leaves. I always have broken tree branches in the summer and also cut down unwanted trees in the summer and use them to create compost. I use all the wood larger than 3 inches for firewood, lumber, or posts. Thecompost from the small brances is immediately active and typically needs more brown material added because it has so much much nitrogen. It is great to get nutrients from deep soil with trees and then make high-quality compost

[@connief1919]

Well, I've been using horse poop compost in my garden, and I can't believe how beautiful it's grown. I've used chicken poop. It was too much nitrogen. It burned my plans. I don't have any pigs or cows, What's up? My neighbors have plenty of horse poop and it's free and my garden's beautiful

[@alfreddurbyn642]

I've been using it for years, I compost it with hay that gone bad and replenish my raised beds yearly and always very healthy plants.

[@peter.knupffer]

Great stuff! Thank you 🙏🏻

[@ForestToFarm]

I have been mentally studying how I want to farm on a small scale. Funny my plan is basically compost, bio char and a small flock of sheep. Pretty much the same thing you guys are working towards. I think it’s a good idea. Time will tell. I do plan to have some layers and will use their manure in the compost along with wood chips as well. Terry

[@landontesar3070]

gorgeous sweet potatoes

[@ManiacNation06]

Love all of your videos ❤

[@rickthelian2215]

Have subscribed to Greenacres😊🇦🇺

[@stevenabel1232]

thank you for sharing this

[@MrsStevenBrown]

Should have tried Guinea pigs too, love them in my garden

[@katpeters-midland8174]

I use my guinea pig poo in my gardens! I get really good results.

[@Lurksin1]

That’s awesome. I’d love to go spend some time over there!

[@FulaMediaLife]

Great video. Thanks.

[@brycehess6708]

I love this stuff more than gardening itself now lol

[@lesleypapworth335]

I love this. Thank you 😀

[@chessman483]

Our sheep are my favourite on our permaculture place . BUT real farmers working on the buffalo scenario in the Serengeti truely say cattle are by far the best. A third eaten a third left behind and a third get trampled which becomes mulch which is taken down into the soil by worms and bacteria etc. This air rates the soil. So no compaction long term??

[@c6q3a24]

That might be perfect for grasslands, but this land is not permanent pasture. It also needs to support grain and vegetable crops - it's a homestead.

[@chessman483]

@@c6q3a24 you obviously haven’t looked at Gabe Brown and the millions of acres which work on that concept.

[@hstwodrainage.1410]

I kept pigs, but indoors, and the veg that did not sell went to the pigs along with carrot tops, cabbage outer leaves turnip tops, anything you would put in the compost, when it went through the pigs and was then composted it was better than just compost for the ground.

[@GregoryBoysHomestead]

This was a really good episode! I like it !!

[@DuckhavenOamaru]

Awesome stuff 🐑

[@79PoisonBreaker]

I would guess dexter cattle (I think is the smallest breed) in a orchard style with mostly perennial vegies like asparagus , walking onions, rhubarb, raspberries(not primal cane) might have a chance. Kunekune pigs may even be able to get in if rotated enough as low impact as pigs get. I love this episode, Thanks so much. Now to watch the other half and maybe comment way too much hahaha.

[@79PoisonBreaker]

Great video, Thanks again for sharing.

[@drafthorseswithalexa]

We have both Dexters and Kunes - Dexters are still big compared to sheep or goats (5-6x the weight) - our bull is around 1000 pounds. Kunes are great, but they also wallow and root, despite information stating otherwise....no, not nearly as damaging as standard breeds, but they are still pigs! Good fencing and quick movement is key to successfully managing both...

[@Noacrehomestead]

Very interesting

[@Cobbmtngirl]

I wonder if they’ve considered using rabbits. Their poop is the best. You can add it (fresh) directly to the soil without any burning. And you also get the bedding. ❤🐇 Question: I’ve been concerned about possible forever chemicals being present in the hay I buy. Do you have any concerns around this in your area too? I never see an organic option although they claim that they don’t use chemicals. ~Northern California resident.

[@aileensmith3062]

I liked the rotation idea and moving things around. Also how they integrate as the materials on hand from the grasses and the horse manure to making compost. Haven't really tried biochar yet maybe next year? As always a wonderful and informative Sunday morning waker upper!

[@donmartin7728]

Try a scythe on parts of your cover crops, chop and drop.

[@w4447]

Very nice video. Interested to see the pest diversity along the hedgerows and if it changed in the garden for the better with the bug diversity in the hedgerows. I would think there would be a impact whether for the better or worse with them being there.

[@vidard9863]

In sandy soil i found that chicken waste would leach out and not leave anything in the soil. Simply using char however appears to be really improving my soil's ability to retain nutrients.

[@vianestrujillo7184]

Try a smaller breed of cattle. Corriente type graze like sheep. About 60% of the weight of angus plus they are lean meat. I have a few just out of curiosity. I raise beef cattle (angus) and I’ve done no till for 15 years on my hay fields.

[@ArizonaGrows]

This was so cool

[@robertsexton9230]

god damn, good video. Super interesting study.

[@dnawormcastings]

Great video 🇳🇿❤️

[@devinsullivan7233]

It’s very easy to alter your compost recipe. You have a high carbon source but also full of microbes from manure. Just add plenty of dry blood meal to your compost. It’s the best and easiest quick release source of organic nitrogen. Add a little bit of wood ashes to keep to ph from drilling too low.

[@YenZenBamboo]

Tractor. Goldoni E20 with floatation tyres

[@MistressOP]

Mini cows are the play. They give you the poop for the proper dung beetle but smaller size. on the land. A lot of what they are doing is just too heavy. if you move with minture pony. (which can pull a lot with less weight) Sheep do give you a lot of things but cuy could also be the play and ducks. If you have a full dead field, ducks and goose.

[@naomigolden4406]

I'd be curious to see how dairy goats would work in this system. I wonder if they would have the escape issues that they had with laying hens.

[@ashleycampbell8767]

It could be done but you have to pay attention to getting them trained well to the fencing to start and make sure they’re well fed. If you get a jumper, get them gone immediately they will teach the others. One thing to be careful of is if you bottle kids and raise them in pens, don’t let them outgrow their enclosure height. This is one way they get taught to jump. They jump it a couple times and then the owner gets them a higher fence, but now they have the idea and you’ve trained them to jump a little higher. Get them in a taller enclosure before they learn to jump.

[@brandynash1409]

I’ve found that large breeds of dairy females tend to be less of an escape artist. Especially if they are well fed. We held ours in 4 string electrical fence for 2 years with no issues as long as the fence was on.

[@joshdewitt6925]

So they went from straight grass/cover ley rotation to animals AND compost and things improved? So was it the animals or the compost? Would have been nice to do those separately to see the difference.

[@fluffybubble2093]

First time Im so early to see no comments! Love the video before Ive even finished it

[@notillgrowers]

🙌

[@michaelwanecek4633]

Hi there, My family recently moved to central Kentucky and purchased 19 acres. Do you happen to have a list of local vendors that you can recommend for your gardens? I will be a part-time farmer and I have been slowly absorbing all the information you are providing. Great Information!

[@birdman1325]

Any thoughts on using a smaller breed like Dexters? They're still significantly bigger than sheep.

[@4115steve]

wikipedia- Potash refers to potassium compounds and potassium-bearing materials, most commonly potassium carbonate. The word "potash" originates from the Middle Dutch potaschen, denoting "pot ashes" in 1477.[8] The old method of making potassium carbonate (K 2CO 3) was by collecting or producing wood ash (the occupation of ash burners), leaching the ashes, and then evaporating the resulting solution in large iron pots, which left a white residue denominated "pot ash".[9] Approximately 10% by weight of common wood ash can be recovered as potash.[10][11] Later, "potash" became widely applied to naturally occurring minerals that contained potassium salts and the commercial product derived from them

[@1rstjames]

Side note: utilizing black soldier fly breeding and dung beetle breeding here would rapidly contribute to compound hummus production.

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

Black soldier flies will introduce themselves, won't they? I know they hold an annual love fest in my compost pile. I don't have to do anything to entice them.

[@1rstjames]

@ColRubyDimplesManacha True. If you want to use bsf as an organic waste cycler, you can raise them and then utilize a portion of them to support a side hustle supplying geckos or other reptile owners, people who raise chicken, pigs, etc, as they are high in protein. If you do this, just be sure that the bsf diet is 90% comprised of non-fecal matter. After all, you are what you eat. Ensure the bsf eat human grade components when the intent is to feed livestock or fowl.

[@nathanielgillespie2627]

Quick question Mr. Frost, about your high tunnel. From whom did you purchase, and is it possible ridge vent wise, to install a wind and lee side?

[@denisdufresne5338]

But if I understand correctly, their compost is coming from outside of the farm or is it made with horse manure where horses are grazing with the sheep? Because the goal here is to be autonome in biomass while not degrading the fertility of the soil, is not it?

[@tornadohunter5536]

I’m wondering if using a smaller size cattle breed followed by daily pasture moves of the cattle could help lower compaction due to them not being on the same ground day after day.

[@MaxWalker-h9o]

I love videos like this that help me learn about this growing field ( hehe) and what farmers are doing to live and doing things more sustainably and help generate fertile land, which seems to be lacking around the world. (*cough cough* the UK). As someone in Michigan who doesn't really have any land or know anyone that are doing anything like this locally, I would be really interested in finding connections to learn how to do these thing, and eventually one day be able to have a farm like this of my own. Does anyone happen to know how to find these connection?

[@thegoodkidshow]

May i ask you a question... Im 57 years old and want to stay home a grow food to make a living. What would you grow and how much land would I need to make $100,000 profit every year, but working the farm by myself? Thank you

[@jakehvazdamusic]

I've never seen rabbits in a large scale. If someone was able to make a system to this scale using rabbits I bet it'd be revolutionary. I think the main problem is they dig so if you used a chicken tractor model, theyd get out. I've seen those spikes you border coops with to keep predators out. Maybe a large tractor, moved once a week rather than daily, using those spikes (easy to put in and take out) could work???

[@rbrack54]

It will be hard to mimic nature in a market garden. Most of the veggies we grow come from a tropical environment where the weather is about the same year around. The plants have an indefinite growing season. In zone 7 for instance we must grow tomatoes in full sun to get a harvest in before it gets cold. Tomatoes actually grow best in dappled sunlight but it takes to long for them to ripen before it gets cold weather up north.

[@Dirt-Fermer]

In 50 years I will have a tomato X Goji berry Hybrid for you. It will eventually taste like sweet cherry tomatoes on a perennial bush.

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

@@Dirt-FermerI’m lazily working on a Roma tomato/everglades cherry tomato mix. It’ll take time like you’ve said but maybe I’ll through some goji berries around as well.

[@Dirt-Fermer]

@@NoOneAnyMore4You the gojis might make everything else sour but the tomatoes will help sweeten them up.

[@NoOneAnyMore4You]

@@Dirt-Fermer interesting, thank you, and what all do you think is possible for a tomato to hybrid with? Would it have to be a flower to berry/similar fruit size type plant? I never thought of goji so I’m over here thinking of for a short part of the season I can’t soft wood graft a tomato stem on a good mulberry stem and see what freak thing happens haha nothing I’m sure but this is all so fun to still play with

[@Dirt-Fermer]

@@NoOneAnyMore4You gojis and tomatoes are both in the same plant family and so far their hybrids are basically just rare/ initial tests. I saw people do it with pollen in scientific experiments when I looked it up to see if it was possible so it is doable. It will just take forever to get going I assume. When/If I get done it will be the first cold, heat, and drought hardy perennial tomato bush that spreads like crazy and can be trained to a trellis easily. I got the idea from the tato plant in fallout

[@PetrBinhack]

With all due respect, I like the video very much but what is the difference or major innovation compared to the three-field system introduced in the 13th century in Europe which already integrated production/parture/fallow rotation?