A Secret Gardening Tip that may just change your whole perspective on Weeds! When most gardeners think of weeds typically nothing good comes to mind, but with a few a different outlook you can learn to work with nature rather then against it. The food forest is a perfect example of working with nature, rather then waging war against it.
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LAWN TO HIGH PRODUCTION FOOD FOREST: https://youtu.be/7ByAh_0CIW8
CUCUMBERS, Everything You Need To Know! https://youtu.be/2dq2OQsFCjM
5 TIPS FOR BUILDING HEALTHY SOIL: https://youtu.be/7-Tyz7fGeZo
Very nice video, James. Thank you for sharing your passion. I love my weeds. Right now I am harvesting fall crop of purslane, chickweed, plantain and dandelion.
Weeds can also tell you what kind of soil you have – if you know what kind of soil a weed likes to grow in, you'll know if your vegetables/flowers can grow there, or if the soil need some amending.
Also, weeds, once chopped up, can act as a mulch.
I did something similar. I moved to a new house this year, and I let most of my weeds grow up in my flower beds. I came in a month ago with a bunch of grass clippings from the local dump (free) to smother them, then I applied a thick layer of wood mulch on top of the clippings. So, all weeds will turn to compost over time, and I didn't have to do any weeding.
i miss the old style of video, this new style seems forced and is harder to watch
Fabulous presentations James.
First time I saw one of your vids, I couldn't beleive the tranquility I felt. STM, you're quite the Zen gardener.
Due to some of my personal experiences in the Garden State, I used to refer to it as the
Vegetative State . Thanks to you, I have a new respect for N.J.
My positive weed utilization is……….just planted some raised Hugel beds. Mounds slope up ,
perhaps 50 degrees. Weed roots provide stability from strong Florida rains. My little helpers.
Another amazing video!
Love what you do! You've become not only a matser gardener, bit a master educator!
In my zone 9b, central California, gophers are a significant force to do battle with.
One of the ways I use weeds to my advantage is as a Gopher fodder. My gophers seem to prefer seasonal forage from radishes, oxalis, dandilion and other weeds if I allow the weeds to stick around to maturity, but before going to seed..
In turn, they aerate my clay soil, throw soil on my hugel beds, and give me plenty of loose potting soil that I never have to buy.
As Sepp Holzer says, "If you don't have pigs, you need to do the work of pigs."
So I put the furry pests to work and give them something else to eat.
Keep up the amazing work!
I love your consise no nonsense information. U get right to the point. You made every word count. Bravo. Very pleasant voice. Thank you.
Hi James,
1. I like the weeds you allow in the garden, but do you worry about uncomposted chicken poop in the forest?
2. Are you still going to show how you build raised beds in the forest? Looking forward to that one.
Hi James, I am a new permaculture student. It is my first year in planting my rented garden according to my new info,too. As I have very little comfrey, I use dandelion leaves as green manure. There was a lot of ivy invasion in big patches and after cleaning them, I have sown buckwheat and mustard..well they are not all weed but I also put dandelion leaves where it is bare soil…Looks like altogether they help the pollinators and birds…
Those jumping chickens are Too cute! I love weeds, I think they are beautiful. Forty years ago, I moved out to the country to a place pretty much surrounded by cow pastures so there were not a lot of trees outside of my fence row. I paid a neighbor's kid to cut my grass and I told him not to cut 8 feet out from the ancient barbed wire fence surrounding my property because I wanted the weeds to grow there. His father came over to apologize for his son not cutting the grass well and offered to "finish" cutting it. LOL!
I had to explain to him that I wanted those weeds there as a natural fence, a bee and butterfly habitat, a windbreak, a wild blackberry patch, forage for wildlife and so that I could cut, dry and arrange some of those weeds in dried flower arrangements.
How can you identify the weeds? I cut them down and put in the bottom of my containers to take ups space, add nutrition and act as a way off allowing water to escape through the holes in the bottom. I welcome your critique of this idea.
super cool reminder that the weeds are collecting solar energy!
Great perspective, James!
I love the way chickens are like little garden helpers, eating the weeds and the seeds! Great video, thank you.
Great tricks, great quotes – thank you.
I also use my weedy plants to make liquid fertilizer, for example when stinging nettles are already going to seed, cut them and put them in a tub, fill with water and let it sit some days (or weeks). Dilute and use on your veggie plants as fertilizer – works wonders. Keep up your work, I like watching your vids from the northwest of germany. 🙂
Great idea, Thank you so much!
Beautiful chickens!
I use weeds for nitrogen fixing, like vetch, and wild bean type like i don't know. i'm not sure to use grass and grass seeds, when they are seeding.
i have also found out that wild sunflower sprouts are quite uniquely delicious, and i didn't have to do anything. and some of my real sunflower seeds that i feed the squirrels landed in my bed and came up volumterily, which is nice. Now that i've learned from the squirels, that i can plant bunches of them in 1 hole, like the squirels, and in a shaded cloth bed under lots of folliage and w moisture, and the sprout will grow tall, and healthy. now that i know this, i can now transplant my not doing so well kale under shade cloth, to a sunny place and grow sunflower seeds, whether wild or store bought, or from the stash of squirrels seeds. squirels also burried my bird seeds in my growing bed shaded w cloth. as as i found out, it was grass among my spinach, and i took it out, and planted coffee ground to deter those vermines. I found out it is easy to plant bird seeds any where for the birds. squirels, but i don't have land.
Those chickens.. <3
But what about weeds that are poisonous, invasive and prickly so they hurt you when you brush against them?
Oooo those striped cucumber beetles were all over our garden this year. Good idea to distract them! Had plenty of squash bugs as well. Maybe next year well control them better.
those chicken are so awesome
I always eat dandelions and lambsquartes. Mostly in green smoothies
HI, I'm learning so much from your videos! Thanks so much!!!
I bought a house and lacked on landscaping while I worked on the house. Finally I got the ditch weed wacked. Unfortunately I got an ear ache two weeks later so I researched the organic cure. Mullen was the answer and mine was no more. I am hoping to harvest some this year for my home remedies.
Thumbs up for the extra chicken footage lol I love it!
Holy hoppin' hen house, Batman! 😀
In my Caribbean home we use the young amaranth plant (ie before it starts to flower) as a cooked spinach, we even refer to it as spinach.
I believe in Jamaica they call it calaloo and they also sell it tinned.
What is your experience with Tree-of-heaven? Have you managed them before or successfully removed or prevented them from spreading? What about uses?
Thanks!