What my Permaculture Food Forest looks like after 3 years

Part of why I made this video is to remind myself that when we’re climbing a mountain we have to look back every now and then when it gets tough, so that we’re able to see how far we’ve come.
But I also want to share epiphanies I’ve had over the last three years. I hope this video speaks to you and inspires you to follow your truest, wildest dreams.
Sending so much love, light and magic 💛☀️✨
About Goldifarms:
My name is Erin. I started Goldifarms in my backyard in January 2020 as part of my journey to heal myself and restore this land. I follow permaculture design principles to create regenerative abundance here on the Central Coast of California in zone 9a. My intention with this KZbin channel is to provide inspiration so that together we can create a more beautiful world that our hearts know is possible.
Thank you for all your support, I hope these videos will inspire you to follow your heart and pursue what lights up your life ✨ 🌼💛
Sending so much love to you on your journey. Thank you for watching 🐝💛🌻
For a brief history of Goldifarms, check out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u5z7...
For pics of the whole project, visit: / goldifarms
To support Goldifarms (which would mean the world to me!), you can become a Patron: / goldifarms
If you never want to miss a Goldifarms video, subscribe by clicking here: kzbin.info?...
For access to exclusive videos, consider joining my membership channel:
/ @goldifarms
Music from Epidemic Sound. If you create videos and are looking for a huge selection of music, feel free to use my epidemic referral for a free month: share.epidemicsound.com/hlg6dg
For image credits: / goldiland

[@davidhoogendijk6675]

“We are actually nature, saving herself” I really like that perspective, never thought about it that way.

[@infjstardust4357]

"...and allow nature to re-wild us." -this is amazing!

[@TavernCrawler]

Wake up and see the Magic sounds like a good tag line to me

[@etiennelouw9244]

Nice job, I live in Cape Town, South Africa. In August 2021 I started a food forest in my front yard. Over here we do not have wood chips or any free stuff. I dug a swale in the flat piece of ground and so far have 2 trees (fig and white mulberry), Cape gooseberry, Fat bush (rich in omega 3 and vitamin c), asparagus from seed and garlic. 2 Tomato plants came up by itself, but this is the slowest food forest anyone has ever started due to lack of resources, but it is going and over time it will self improve.

[@Goldifarms]

That's amazing! My understanding is that Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate, somewhat similar to here. It can be so tricky when you go long periods without any rain! The food forests in the jungle grow so fast, but they have such fertile soil and so so much rain! I planted several elderberries for medicinal purposes, but most of them we decided to use for chop and drop, they grow really fast and create woody and leafy material. Elderberries may be an option to explore since you don't have access to woodchips. You're absolutely right, it will improve! 💛

[@SPINNIGERIA]

Thank you and your Family for allowing us see your contributions to Nature Preservation

[@fredsnyder3063]

🌞 my peas are popping as I type. Thank you for being a Teacher young lady.

[@helendurow8211]

Wild child of the Universe ❤❤❤

[@joanies6778]

"Life is best lived by focusing on your goals and dancing through all other distractions." Words of great wisdom to live by! ✨️💖✨️

[@saltriverorchards4190]

Such a beautiful video with a beautiful message. Thank you.

[@patriciaking4230]

Thank you 👍🌺🙏❤️🌼

[@petekooshian5595]

Wow. Idk how you managed to make an entire documentary in such a short video but well done!

[@sweetsavour6174]

I started my Food Forest in March of 2021, next to an existing Little Woods, **before there were leaves on the adjacent trees**. 😮 I've spent the last 2 years feeling stupid for planting there as it's very shady. **This year** the berries I'd planted are finally showing blooms and a few berries, I wised up and moved the borders of my FF to incorporate more sunlight, and I've played with the idea of transplanting and moving plants to other parts of the yard to make use of the sunniest spots. Your videos have been **so inspiring ** ! I actually stopped halfway through the first of your videos I watched the other day to go outside and move the wooden beams that mark the border of my FF. I realized I did not make a mistake. I only need to adjust! 😊 Thank you for your channel. You're doing a Good Thing!!! ❤

[@22jawky]

9:19 whoa took the thoughts right out my head

[@kallasusort2986]

You have created a beautiful life filled with good friends and sweet animals. May we all be able to return to a more natural world, with fresh clean water, air and soil. May all be well.

[@FloridaFoodForest]

What an awesome video! We are 100% on the same path! Let’s get growing! ❤

[@agusfebrian5991]

I very happy for your mind set, keep fight, everything has been connected. Make God smile

[@obelus5985]

Beautiful. That was wonderful and inspiring. You are very wise. May God continue to bless your endeavors and may He show you the He is that Love.

[@emilydart808]

Wow your video made me cry. My heart yearns for this world as well

[@susielane1411]

what a wonderful positive outlook on life and about letting go of the past

[@eliahlopez]

I LOVE THIS SM i’ve watched this so many times

[@monikasieradzan6359]

you are in GoldiLand, you just don't know it yet ❤ beautiful story

[@foreverskryd]

You have the most beautiful, poetic and inspiring channel I have found in a while, thank you!

[@user-mm8xc1rm8f]

Thank you so much for sharing your story! I am trying to create a food forest on a mostly barren property and am facing many of the same issues you have. I have been very discouraged thinking I'd never be able to fulfill my dreams so seeing this today was exactly what I needed to renew my hope. Thank you!

[@Goldifarms]

Trust yourself, you can do it! I had so many people tell me it couldn't be done and I'm so glad I listened to my intuition instead and kept going. There will always be challenges, but collaborating with nature to fulfill your dream is worth every moment 💛

[@livingonceuponatime]

Wow, you brought tears to my eyes. What a wonderful journey you are on, so very honest, beautiful and inspirational.

[@543BeeBop]

Love from Canada. This is my food forest's third spring. I agree with everything you have said and discovered. Thank you for sharing!

[@wengb3153]

Beautiful, thank you for sharing this video. We are building a food forest too, it has only been a year. The challenge is we can only go on weekends since we work full time in Los Angeles. It is our happy place.

[@KeanuV111]

Beautiful ❤️ thank you for sharing with us your journey. Truly inspiring ❤

[@pret1102]

10 minutes documentary ! Wow ! Just wonderful ! 💕🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿

[@michellechilders-garrison7996]

I love your content. Keep that spirit of self exploration we all have treasure inside.

[@LeeorAlexandra]

This is beautiful 🥹😍💓

[@tedpreston4155]

Wow. I keep replaying that narrative in the second half of this video. I want so much to live in that community. I dearly hope that Erin keeps preaching, and bringing converts to that way of thinking. Go back and listen to that again! 🙂 Sadhu, Sadhu, Sadhu!

[@3v388]

I cried. Thank you for sharing your brave and beautiful journey. 💛

[@timaidley6073]

Creator, creation and created beautifully integrated - just being here! Love holding it altogether and growing into fullness - look, here it is! Joy a-bounding through the forest as a deer - look, there it goes! A peace of land expressing all you hold dear - be still, for It is here! Keep taking those breathtaking leaps of faith further & further away from fear - look there it goes - where? Twas never meant to be there!

[@MartinaSchoppe]

Greetings from a small food forested backyard in northern Germany. YES! What IF all backyards (and frontyards and hellstrips and flat roof tops where ffood forests! It would be paradise. Or goldiland. 😊

[@DJ-uk5mm]

Wow . You read my mind (or I read yours? ) thanks for sharing

[@MaestraKsiusha]

So inspiring! I'm in the begining of the route. But I hope to get there.

[@Goldifarms]

And you will!!

[@user-pd7rc9vm9b]

Beautiful ❤

[@ednitsche8188]

What a beautiful place you made! Great job! Good luck, looking forward seeing more videos, and adopting ideas. Thank you for sharing.

[@gatheist6716]

Beautiful video and message. Thanks for bringing us along on your journey!

[@rickloftus9330]

Thank you for a story of land and personal transformation. It’s the lesson of “The Bluebird”-what we seek is found in our own backyards.

[@therandomguy8160]

The most beautiful video i've ever watch

[@eliahlopez]

authentic, raw, real, natural… i love it

[@dawngagliano6118]

Great video ! Thanks for sharing your experience . My husband and I started our food forest 4 years ago and are now giving clippings and plants to the community in hopes that we can get more to grow their own food . Happy planting !

[@off-gridsimplyhappyrodriguez]

Where are you?😮

[@dawngagliano6118]

@@off-gridsimplyhappyrodriguez central florida

[@branchingoutpermaculturewi4766]

i love your food forest. im three years in and still in love with growing and tasting my fruit. cheers great video

[@JayZeee23]

LOVE LOVE LOVE

[@sharidivinity2500]

That was lovely ♥️

[@AtomicMosquito]

Tha k you for sharing this video and your journey. It touched my heart very deep x

[@mamakaka73]

Beautiful❤❤

[@futurecaredesign]

Awesome video. Liked and subscribed.

[@Goldifarms]

🙏🏼

[@terifarrar7317]

Ditto!! ❤️

[@saritathyng6441]

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

[@SS-fs3ld]

I rarely comment on You Tube. Your video is extraordinary... powerful expression of a bold vision and putting challenges in their place. Thank you for sharing your wins. We plan to join you in this beautiful future!

[@jonettemurray-n.z.artist1359]

Yes, all of this!! ❤

[@DextersWorld]

Keep going. Love and support for you from Dexter's World.

[@marianreddy9848]

How absolutely beautiful!

[@KusiuStunt]

cool story bro

[@Freedom-mm2df]

Cool

[@songweaver6076]

Great video!

[@tinyapothecarykitchen]

Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing your journey with us! 💚

[@youknownuno]

So much Love and work into this, thank you for sharing your inspiration !

[@worksmith5223]

love this 'coming home to self' story telling

[@cyrillius123]

oh wow, this was just posted. nice narrative. you're quite a storyteller

[@Papa_Reecio]

I love this! and your cat is my cats twin! makes me smile :)

[@elizabethhendriks9030]

I am so inspired by you! Just subscribe to all your videos I have started the same but double your age and just as you said chasing as fast as you can after the dream you imagine I too am trying to do the same thing. I’m a hospice nurse and I assure people into their new life after death each day of my working life. So when I get home it is so nurturing to me to nurture things into this life. I am starting to see some of Berry bushes provide me food but still building soil structure etc. had some surgery for carpal tunnel this year which set me back. Have an elder mother so chickens are on the back burner for now but your channel has inspired me to keep going! Thank you so much for sharing what you do a like you would envision a world where everyone had a backyard food forest wouldn’t that be Nirvana!

[@Goldifarms]

Hi Elizabeth, thank you for your beautiful comment 💛🙏 I'm sorry to hear about your surgery. Surgery is definitely a challenge, though I've come to accept that it's all how it's supposed to be to learn the lessons we're here to learn. Though it's difficult to have limited use of our hands. Getting injured and having surgery has taught me patience and compassion. And I'm learning that the things we imagine come, just not always on our time tables. Always more lessons to learn while we are here. Thank you for ushering the cycles of life with love and compassion. Blessings on your food forest journey 🌷

[@morningstar3561]

Very nice

[@_SunRa_]

Just found your wonderful channel~💚

[@stewartthomas2642]

Love your stuff kick on love it 👍 ❤

[@lynettemokgano9009]

You have done a wonderful job indeed. I feel inspired and ready to face this challenge on my own land.

[@Goldifarms]

You can do it!! 💛🧡

[@MsCaleb79]

I never tell what has happend to me aswell because I can’t even remember and it now it doesn’t matter. Very nice video

[@helendurow8211]

Perfect ! Such a Perfect note❤❤

[@helendurow8211]

Love your reply "now it doesn't matter... can't even remember" wow!

[@mandragola1985]

💚💚💚

[@cherylgreen9300]

So lovely!

[@dipakparekh3407]

That was incredible, thanks for sharing your dream ☺️ ❤️

[@gpayneinc]

I have the same dream. Your work is good.

[@SoulFaeWorld]

Incredible garden 🏡

[@laurensimonelli5654]

This is my goal. I spent the last year turning my 1/2 dead FL sand into workable soil. It took me less than 1 year to completely transform it and correct the erosion issues that were so bad it was causing the house foundation to shift. both my neighbors benefited- the neighbor on the elevated side was only 1/4 alive and the rest was baked sand, and the neighbor on the other side suffered from flooding. I create berms and alter the overall elevation with natural mulch I got by the truckload to correct the flow of water. I then planted hardy perennials to enforce those water breaks. "Running water must walk. Walking water must stand. Standing water must sink in." Water needs to percolate through organic matter to replenish the water table. Sun-baked earth resists water whereas healthy soil wicks water- the difference is the presence of organisms that produces the organic 'glue' that creates a spongy layer that can sustain root systems. Laying down thick mulch creates a habitat for mycelium- they are the foundations that will form a support network to plant root systems. Soil needs probiotics, too, and poop is the best way to put it there. I used rabbit litter- every time I cleaned the cage I used it in the garden. I also made a worm bin to upcycle my kitchen scraps into worm castings. I bought a burn barrel and turned Amazon boxes and tree debris into biochar. I would mix the litter, the biochar, the mulch, the worm castings, a bag of topsoil, and some local soil and use that for planting. The erosion stopped, the soil came back to life, and it became a refuge for local wildlife. This is only a rental property so everything I did was all proof of concept. It was really rewarding and I get so much interest from people that watched it transform in real-time. The neighborhood children would always ask me questions, and I'd teach them about what I was growing and give them seeds, cuttings, clones, etc. I've shared seeds with my neighbors, friends-of-my-friends, the mailman, the Orkin guy- no one is safe. My toxic trait is that I'll teach you something- whether you want it or not. This comment is proof of that. If I could somehow make restoring degraded land a profitable job- I'd love to do it fulltime.

[@Goldifarms]

Incredible work! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for all the work you are doing 🙏🏼💛🧡❤️

[@elizabethhendriks9030]

Would love to rescue some hens that no longer lay!

[@BlackthorneChronicles]

This was so beautiful to watch, friend! I'm glad to hear your ideas, and agree wholeheartedly. What a beautiful place you've created!

[@Goldifarms]

Thank you so much 💙🙏🏼💙 I’m glad you enjoyed it and I hope my journey inspires you ✨

[@mtoralf]

Beautiful

[@urallwyz3498]

Fantastic

[@annettemosell6947]

Great work

[@gracelucas-ge3cy]

You are and inspiration. We are starting our food forest here in the Philippines. Lets keep growing our food forest!🙂🌴🌿🌾☘️🌻🌼🌷⚘️

[@revoktorment440]

Such a beautiful woman with a great life

[@AbbySmithVSVEVG]

❤

[@pigboypunk]

we are the planet

[@KingOsirismindprogramming8888]

IM DOING THIS NOW FOR MY CHILDREN ☀️🙏✅☀️🙏✅☀️🙏✅☀️🙏✅☀️🙏✅☀️🙏✅

[@miramirez3574]

❤️‍🔥

[@empressjillybe]

I love you!

[@darthfiende1]

Here's to letting go of our old stories.

[@helendurow8211]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤!

[@figsinisrael1043]

Hard work and great results. Bravo!

[@off-gridsimplyhappyrodriguez]

I have 10.4 acres and i too dream of a food forest If you can do it i know i can. Im in Georgia I'm going to follow in your footsteps ❤

[@giljuarez9047]

Extraordinary!! Witnessing a legend in the making! I will sing stories of you. So much love. You are a champion!

[@kimberlyhollingsworth]

How inspiring! You did an amazing job! I was wondering if the chickens and rabbits need housing to protect them from predators or bad weather? I know chickens can get respiratory infections and die if cold and wet from rains? I would like to do this too…so inspired!❤

[@Goldifarms]

Hi Kimberly! Thank you so much for your kind words and love 💕. Yes everybody has access to shelter and are locked up at night. All my neighbors have dogs so there aren’t a lot of predators but there are still raccoons and cats that they need protection from. Plus chickens naturally want to roost so they go in their coop as soon as the sun gets low and then I shut the door and lock it with a raccoon-proof latch.

[@azfarsyed7082]

Overheated Earth is real problems. Love lands if no lands no live life.good natures lovers can make this 🌏 heaven...All the ways need friendly environment houses materials..love to come to stay paying guests.

[@adeptphototroph9741]

I appreciate your spading fork

[@eliahlopez]

i LOVE U

[@jez770]

"Back yard"!

[@maryswanson7146]

Music in the video is loud enough to deafen you while trying to listen to her whispered narration.

[@stevesmith5140]

I've tried to grow thing s in my back yard. I've watched dozens of these videos and I can't get ANYTHING to grow for very long. I plant fig trees, no figs. Plumb trees, no plumbs. Blueberry bushes, no blueberries. Tomato plants, big plants but no tomatoes. Not sure what I am doing differently. I compost, use wood chips and have had chickens. The only thing I can grow consistently is EGGS.

[@Goldifarms]

🧐 frustrating! Have you had your soil tested? This could provide clues. There may be too much nitrogen or something else in the soil causing your plants not to fruit.

[@jez770]

How much did you invest in this? Looks like a lot of workers and inputs..

[@Goldifarms]

Hi Jeremy, great question. Those workers are actually my friends! I had a few work parties with friends who are amazing and kind enough to help me out. I wish I did a better job tracking my expenses, but I estimate it was $5000 over the course of 3 years. Of course the initial inputs were most expensive- purchasing the plants and irrigation setup. I spent a couple hundred dollars on finished compost to amend with the trees and to inoculate the woodchips- but then later discovered I could get one yard of finished compost every year for free from the green waste recycling center. Oops... but now I know! All the woodchips were free and the imported soil was free (I go into this more in my 2-year video from last year). And now that I have a diversity of plants, I plan on propagating from what I have rather than purchasing from nurseries. I have been given quite a lot of plants now that I've met so many new friends who are into gardening. And I'm given a fair amount of "rescue" plants. They usually perk up once they're given lots of worm tea and proper growth conditions. All that to say, I think a project like this can be as inexpensive or expensive as you want. If you want everything to be done quickly and "easily" it can get expensive, but if you're willing to be patient and look for things on Craigslist free section, Facebook Marketplace, and thrift stores (like habitat resale, etc.) it can be much more economical. Depending on where you live and how resourceful you can get, I think it is possible to create a food forest for free.

[@jez770]

​@@Goldifarms thanks for the detailed and very helpful reply, I only just saw it now 🙂 My takeaway is that resourcefulness, and not being shy to ask help when possible, is key.

[@RisenUponTomorrow]

Do you find that you wish you had more space in the backyard?

[@Goldifarms]

Always!! 💕 still wishing it was Goldiland… in time 🙏🏼