Three years ago we decided to rename this channel, and declared that we were now on a mission to explore a more sustainable future, get back to basics and back to nature. Or as we like to put it, back to reality.
And over the past few years, that’s mostly entailed learning to grow and store our own food. But, we also know that there are many other aspects to sustainable living besides just the products that end up on our plates, and so we figured it was about time we started looking into those as well.
So in this video, we cover what we’re calling the “Spectrum of Sustainability”. A concept that allows us to become more sustainable, even when perfection isn’t possible.
Tree of life (2:18) image source: David M. Hillis, Derrick Zwickl, and Robin Gutell, University of Texas.
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Hey guys! Just a quick clarification: when I refer to "chemicals" in this video, I'm using the word in the colloquial sense (e.g. harsh pesticides, etc). That said, technically "chemical" means anything that is made of matter (in other words, everything is made of chemicals – even us). So just like the tomatoes, there is nothing inherently wrong with "chemicals". They each sit somewhere on the Sustainability Spectrum too. Some are really bad, some are really good, and most fall somewhere in between. I hope that helps.
Also, totally off topic and just for fun… did anyone happen to recognize the particular "landmass" that I chose? 🙂
One item you failed to mention is the taste. I find that the food I grow taste way better than the ones my husband buys at our local food market.
Happy Easter to you and your family. May God keep you all safe and well.
I love your channel… so instructive and gazillion of good info. Keep on going we need folks like you and hopefully in a few years I'll start my own homestead. It's a big dream for me and the wife. Thanks again for what you are doing and sharing your success and less success experience.
Thanks Seb and Caro.
Good video! Something that I was thinking about when watching your other videos related to the food part specifically, is that mimicking nature even more could help you, and a way that you could do that is through fungi. Using a mycorrhizal fungi (a fungus that forms symbolic relationships with almost all plants, though mustard plants are an exception) such as king Stropharia, an edible mushroom, could help the production of your crops while also providing another food source. In one study, they found that the addition of a mycorrhizal fungi to a tomato plants environment increased fruit yield 25%. And all of the wood, woodchips and hay mulch that you use would be prime food for the fungus, which would then in turn feed your plants. Just a suggestion though. If you try it, I hope it works! (King stropharia is also really good with corn, but can probably colonize most plants in your garden. I’m not an expert though, so definitely do your research first)
I just adore your channel! So glad I found it!
One thing about that mission statement is that it’s using the assumption that the impact of a human is bad, just because currently humans are having such a massive negative impact on the environment doesn’t mean that is our only capacity as beings. For example, the gardening methods you guys use and teach are methods that heal a broken ecosystem. For these reasons I personally do not use the frame work or mission of “sustaining the natural world” I choose to use the mission of improving it in a wholistic natural way which at this points means rectifying the damage that humans have created. Not trying to say your doing anything wrong I just feel like the language we use is so important 🙂
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as I reeled in close to the top the ning sun light refleced on it not being able to tell what it was yet .I got a little worried somebody had drown still I slowly reeled then finely I seen it was a Plastic Bag. Evey Video Helps.
Although you have reasonable arguments for reasons why we should grow our own food don't forget that many people depend on the food factories to make a living. If these factories close many people will be out of work and won't be able to afford buying seeds & plants they need to create their own sustainable gardens. In some states agriculture is the main source of work. I don't think anyone can truly be able to raise everything they need in their own yard & many don't even have the yard to do it. I don't think you can ever make your own nails, tractors, oil etc…you will still need other manufacturers for many of the things you need to live on this earth.
Were the bar graphs shown based on any specific data or was it more of an estimate for demonstration purposes?
Just wondering, because if you had a source that quantified that data, it would help me in making buying decisions
The production quality of this channel is immense! And the content is incredible as well. What a gem of a channel, thank you for creating and sharing your lifestyle in such an accessible manner.
We just discovered your videos and really are enjoying them! Appreciate your nuanced thoughts on sustainability and applaud your work, both in the garden and in producing your very interesting and educational videos. I wonder, however, if the term "regenerative" agriculture is not better in terms of describing the ultimate goal(?) Sustainability seems to imply keeping things as they are but "regenerative" focuses on restoring and building soil. So much soil has been degraded by modern industrial agriculture, including much of the farm land in Ontario where we also live, that the need is to restore it, not just sustain it in its degraded state. The building of soil involves the sequestration of large amounts of carbon (organic matter) below ground, which not only helps with the climate change problem but also increases the nutrient density of the food and, by increasing the water holding capacity, also mitigates the effect of both flood and drought. I think that your methods are building your soil, not just sustaining it in the state in which you found it. Anyhow, thank you for your work!!
Brother would you mind telling what program do you use for animation? After effect ?
Great work as always guys
not to mention prison labor grows a ton of our food :^(
This video reminded of the scoring system in the show The Good Place. Good show if you haven't seen it. https://youtu.be/hY-Rzou38k4
Great explaination! Makes a lot of sense.
This is a very good example of why I appreciate your videos; your perception of the limitations of other people.
I absolutely love your channel! Thank you for sharing! Becoming more sustainable is a huge goal of ours too!
Just discovered your channel, great content! But after watching this video I was left with a thought "I can never grown crops myself with the same efficiency as huge farmers do". You touched upon this thought slightly in the video but as far as I'm concerned it is of major importance. I live in the Netherlands, and the Netherlands is the most dense populated country of Europe (excluding one-city-countries), if everyone here stared growing their own crops/food well, there will simply not be enough space to do so. It is also widely known that Dutch farmers are one of the most efficient farmers of the world (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2017/09/holland-agriculture-sustainable-farming/). So to me it doesn't make any sense to start growing my own crops/food, I will never be as efficient as the big farmers, I will be wasting land and resources. Also land is just way too expensive. So are big farmers and the "food industry" really that bad? For context: I do grown some stuff in my own garden, mostly spices, but since my garden is just 5×6 meters I'm quite limited (especially if you also want some space to just sit). What do you think of these modern highly efficient "sustainable" farms?
Any way, great video's, awesome content! Keep going!
Awsome video as ever, I just must say one thing… With tomato grown in industrial glasshouse you use much more water, Fuels, and other stuff. One only diference is that the land slope should be shorter… Because you produce more fruits on less land.
…I just whanted to say that Its not that black and white.
Sustainability has to do with your ego
Like wanting to legacy farm the land needlessly when you should be grouping into mega cities and utilizing verticle farming, and circular waste management systems like plasma gasification waste management..
This is more about sensationalism, and what people WANT to do.
Wealth first world people who for some reason won the birth lottery, and feel entitled to exploiting the land instead of leaving it to cover crop.
Our egos tell us that we deserve to spread out an live on the land..
But sustainability says otherwise..
You ignored talking about the fact that almost all homesteaders domesticate animals.. and how that would cause more damage, and that there's no way millions and millions of people are going to be able to do that….
So obviously there are two camps of people.. ones who think sustainability is about their personal ambitions want, and those that know sustainability is about the needs of a species..
You leave it ambiguous because it will make you look extreme..
So many comments about domesticating animals..
When it comes to sustainability, talking about veganism is always on the table
BLESSINGS ..I just spent several hours of videos an just thought of forgetting to commit..so YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING BEST MADE VIDEOS ON UTUBE
Man, just stumble on your channel, and it is awesome. Love the calm sounding voice, relaxing pace, great graphics, fun wits and more importantly, inspiration. I have 4 more years to work and live in China before going back to dear home country France. Once back, i intend to trade my electronic manufacturing background, doing useless little gadgets, into a nice little vineyard and polyculture farm. When this happen, and if you are still around, one of my first case of biodynamic wine is for you 🙂
Not sure how good your french will be, but these guys who are renovating an old mansion in North France have couple of videos about making soap, washing machine cleaning agents and so on…https://youtu.be/JIdXIz7pTBQ
Thought it might be of some interest to you.
How goes the reduce home chemicals?
Excellent explanation
I started using shampoo bar s and making my own dishwasher and laundry detergent to reduce plastic. Snacks for kids is an uphill climb, but I feel good if I’m making progress.
Compliments