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Holmestead Ridge - A Regenerative Farm
เข้าร่วมเมื่อ 22 ก.พ. 2022
"Holmes" is a first-time farmer, over 50, using regenerative farming to help restore family land in KY. Follow along! IG: @HolmesteadingWithMeAndE
#regenerativefarm #farm #over50 #land #homestead #restoration #kentucky #permaculture
#regenerativefarm #farm #over50 #land #homestead #restoration #kentucky #permaculture
2024 08 22 Finding An Artifact On The Ridge
Things can end up in really strange places without any explanation. I found some broken glass in the root ball of a fallen red oak. How did it get there? All kinds of strange things happening on the Ridge.
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2024 08 22 Composting Deer Manure
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An important component of compost is manure. Unfortunately I do not have animals on the farm yet so that component is lacking. What I do have, however, are deer which frequently graze the yard and help to fertilize the grass. By collecting the deer manure I am able to add that to the compost pile and improve the quality of my compost.
2024 08 18 Can You See The Progress?
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Ten more trees have been cleared from the area. Can you tell the difference?
2024 08 18 More To Do On The 1.6 Acre Project
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Clearing trees to create silvopasture is a lot of work and the job never seems to be completely finished. Here is the next part of the 1.6 acre project which needs attention.
2024 08 15 These Ash Trees Must Go
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It's been more than a decade since the Emerald Ash Borer decimated our Ash trees. Here are some Ash tree remnants still remaining, and it is time for them to go.
2024 08 15 Its Time To Clean Up The Old Shed
มุมมอง 16วันที่ผ่านมา
I took down the old shed two and a half years ago. I salvaged some of the lumber and now it's time to clean up the rest.
2024 08 15 The Neighbors Are Logging; We Are Not
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Our neighbors back the road have allowed a logging company to come in and clear their land. We have opted to clear the land ourselves. Here's a truckload of logs headed for market.
2024 08 11 Visiting The Forest Primeval
มุมมอง 1328 วันที่ผ่านมา
See all these cedar trees? This is how the NE pasture looked just three years ago. There is a lot of work to do!
2024 08 11 F: Looks Better As The Autumn Olive Disappears
มุมมอง 16หลายเดือนก่อน
This video is taken from the center of section F, in the summer of 2024, after much work has been completed. Cedar trees have been removed but now the autumn olive bushes are taking over. Section F is in the northeast corner of the farm; the location stated in the video is incorrect. I have divided the farm into 25 sections. Most sections are about an acre in size but some are about half an acr...
2024 08 08 F: The Autumn Olive Invasion
มุมมอง 17หลายเดือนก่อน
This video is taken from the center of section F, in the summer of 2024, after much work has been completed. Cedar trees have been removed but now the autumn olive bushes are taking over. Section F is in the northeast corner of the farm; the location stated in the video is incorrect. I have divided the farm into 25 sections. Most sections are about an acre in size but some are about half an acr...
2024 08 08 Destruction Of Autumn Olive Begins
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I cleared the NE pasture a little over 16 months ago. Now the autumn olives have come back with a vengeance. Today I begin removing autumn olive and taking back the NE pasture.
2024 08 08 Removing Autumn Olive In The NE Pasture
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I cleared the NE pasture a little over 16 months ago. Now the autumn olives have come back with a vengeance. Today I begin removing autumn olive and taking back the NE pasture.
2024 08 04 The One Rock Dam Alternative
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One of the major problems I must overcome, here on the Ridge, is erosion. This one rock dam alternative is one method I am using to protect the soil.
2024 08 04 Wild Persimmon Tree On The Ridge
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2024 08 04 Wild Persimmon Tree On The Ridge
2024 08 01 Tour Of The Backyard From The Cistern
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2024 08 01 Tour Of The Backyard From The Cistern
2024 08 01 I: Center Of The 1.6 Acre Project
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2024 08 01 I: Center Of The 1.6 Acre Project
2024 07 25 Walking Through The Wash After Phase 2 Of The Cleanup
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2024 07 25 Walking Through The Wash After Phase 2 Of The Cleanup
2024 07 25 Walking Through The Wash After Phase 1 Of The Cleanup
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2024 07 25 Walking Through The Wash After Phase 1 Of The Cleanup
2024 07 25 Starting Guerrilla Silvopasture 101
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2024 07 25 Starting Guerrilla Silvopasture 101
2024 07 21 Walking Through The Wash Of The Next Clearing
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2024 07 21 Walking Through The Wash Of The Next Clearing
2024 07 14 More Honeysuckle Has Been Removed
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2024 07 14 More Honeysuckle Has Been Removed
2024 07 20 Clearing The Last Stretch Of Fence Line
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2024 07 20 Clearing The Last Stretch Of Fence Line
2024 07 20 Improving The View From The Road
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2024 07 20 Improving The View From The Road
2024 07 14 Revisiting Guerrilla Silvopasture One Year Later
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2024 07 14 Revisiting Guerrilla Silvopasture One Year Later
2024 07 14 I Collected 45 Gallons In 45 Minutes
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2024 07 14 I Collected 45 Gallons In 45 Minutes
Lookin good!!!
And getting better all the time! Can't wait for you all to see it!
You may want to start a garden. By growing your own food you know what your eating.🫛🥬🫑🥒🥦🌽🧅🍅
I did start a garden this year. The deer knew exactly what they were eating. Next year there will be an electric fence around said garden. Next year I will know what I am eating.
Where has the summer gone! You got a lot done this season at least. I do appreciate these short easy videos.
Thanks! Since mid-April I have managed to clear about 1.75 acres of silvopasture. I hope to clear one more acre by the end of the year. I try to keep my videos short. I see no reason why the vast majority of videos can't tell the story in less than 5 minutes.
My dad may his soul Rest In Peace used to say while driving when we passed a dead possum in the road “Well there’s another persimmon tree vacant !”😂
Thank you for your comment! So far mine has remained vacant. I guess I should check the nearby road.
Their idea of sustainability is planting new saplings on the roots of great grandfather oaks.
Looking forward to seeing how this progresses.
Yep, I will watch it and post updates later.
you need to wait till the first frost to eat a persimmon than they will sweeten up.
Thank you for your comment! You are absolutely right. Eating persimmons before the first frost can be "dangerous" to your "health."
Imagine if everyone had at least 1 fruit tree it would be so nice to trade fruits with the neighbors because its impossible to eat them all yourself
Thank you for your comment! I also plan on having apples, pears, grapes, and blueberries. I will have plenty for trading!
It’s amazing all the food that goes to waste because it, like persimmons, is not very shelf stable. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for your comment! Food preservation is important. When I was growing up my Mom would can hundreds of quarts of beans and tomatoes and freeze many pints of corn. Most people have lost the skill and, frankly, just don't want to bother.
And all the food that people ate hundreds of years ago that we have all but forgotten because it is not profitable to produce it so now it just doesn’t count as food!
And the stuff we call "food" is laden with chemicals and processed junk. No wonder everybody is sick.
❤❤
Thank you! I hope you like seeing the videos as much as I like making them.
if you live someplace like the northeast, yeah, it might have been from previous settelers!
We are in Kentucky and my family has owned the land since 1882.
Good video, Holmes.
Thanks. Not sure how good the video is, but the subject matter is pretty cool.
that glass is old. They don't make that color which I believe is Tourmaline anymore. Probably some target practice one day when that tree was just a little sapling.
Thank you for that input. I have never seen that color of glass either. Any idea when it stopped being produced?
@@holmesteadridge I guess it must be at least 50 - 60 yrs.
Thanks!
A process called Inosculation, so when the lignin of the bark erodes away from rubbing against itself and the layers of cambium are touching, they will self graft/ grow together.
That's amazing. It is the strangest thing to find when working in the woods.
We’re looking forward to seeing it in person someday Mr. Holmes.
Me too! Ricky, who lives across the road, has a John Deere Gator. I'll make sure you get the the grand tour.
Have you ever found our dog Tony’s remains? He went off one day and never returned.
Tiny? No, I have never found anything.
Honeysuckle’s are very hardy and bees love them
They are very hardy, and very difficult to remove.
Looking good!!!
Thanks!
I got you beat. My does bring their fawns around to meet me. I will be hand feeding them very soon. My does have been bringing me their young to meet for over 10 years now. Hint: They love Safeway brand 5-seed bread.
That does have me beat. They are always hanging around but there is no way I can get that close.
Woke up this morning with my mind stayed on permaculture
I live in the forest too, and it’s so beautiful seeing all the beautiful animals come around😊
Thank you for your comment! Yes, I love the wildlife. I see something new everyday.
Beautifull
Merci! It is a beautiful place.
You’ve been busy!!! Lookin good!!!
I stay out of trouble that way. It will really look amazing when it is all finished.
At that perfect time of evening that you have caught in your video., As the sun is setting, and the tops of the trees are still illuminated….:. Is often my favorite part of the day
The wind settles, the sounds quiet, and the heat of the day begins to lift. I agree, my favorite part, too
Are you leaving the plants in the pots or will you transplant them?
They will stay in the pots. If I put them in the ground the deer will eat them.
Cool video! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for watching and commenting! Please continue watching the channel. I try to upload something every day.
Good short vidéo
Thank you! I hope it was informative.
Great idea for a fast, natural and effective way to slow the water and save your silt! Being temporary, though, I see 2 options moving forward: - As leaves and silt built up in your check dams, start adding seed and plants to those spots so the roots can take over before all the wood breaks down, thus keeping the effect you want. - Or go back one day and make stone check dams and let the leaves and sticks fall in on their own, letting nature take the work over for you.
Thank you for your comment! There are so many trees in this area I will have plenty of material to add to these check dams for years. I also plan to add spent hay in the future which will provide both a method to slow the water and add the seed you suggest. Great suggestions! Thank you!
When I first started composting years ago, I made the same key mistake you're making here: moisture!!! As small as this pile is, you either need to water it twice a week or cover it with a tarp. If the pile was at least 2 times bigger, the shear volume helps retain water in the center, thus perpetuating the thermal process. Tips on easy, super-dense nitrogen: your own urine, animal dung, acorns (ground up), Japanese beatles (other captured pests). The example with acorns, if you run them thru a leave shredder, a SINGLE cubic foot of this goes thermal on its own within 1 hour!!! No additives, no water, not even close to the cubic yard they suggest for thermal. It has so much fat and water in acorns that they go thermal in your wheelbarrow lol. Do your research, locate rich sources of free material in your local area that's available with each season.
Wow! Great info! Thank you! The compost pile you see is less than 20 feet from a Red Oak which produces multiple cubic feet of acorns. I am literally surrounded by oak trees. I have never heard anyone mention them as an ingredient for compost, before. I will use your expertise and make a video in the future. May I mention your TH-cam handle in it?
Compost pile update. Good lord I'll watch anything.
Thanks. Keep watching. New stuff happens all the time.
I’ve a whole mess of stuff on my channel……..
I have watched a couple of your videos on the three sisters and will be back for more.
I am happy to hear that. My last video, I “lost” a subscriber. Can’t please all the people all the time I guess, but if you stop back let me know how I can make a simple garden experiment more interesting!
Yeah, they do drop off from time-to-time. I will absolutely make suggestions if I think something can be done better.
👍
Thank you!
I was under the impression that water was necessary to keep it going. I have made a couple large worm bins to handle my compost . Instructions by “captain Matt” about the flow through worm bin. At the end of last season, I was so excited to see the black soil that I dumped out of the cans…. It might not be for you but it was easy and the worms reproduce in the can so when I add it to my garden I’m adding thousands of worms
I have thought about vermiculture but it requires a little more effort than I care to put forth at this time. Composting, as I do it, is a much more hands off process and, generally speaking, produces more compost. I add water to the pile when necessary but by adding additional green material (kitchen scraps) there is usually not much need for water.
@@holmesteadridge you must live in a rainy climate. There's still green stuff growing. Where I am, everything is brown and dead, unless it is being watered, as we have 0 rainfall from March or April until October or November. Compost piles that aren't watered will sit for years.
Vermiculture is the next natural step for the full compost process. 1 to 2 weeks after your pile finishes it's last thermal cycle, you will have fungi moving to continue the process. It's this fungus and it's byproduct that worms eat directly. Most biomass needs to go thru the worm/insect process to be bio-available to plant roots.
Thank you for your comment! Where are you located? In our area of Kentucky we receive about 42 inches per year. Our dry months are July-Aug-Sept. We have had an inch or so in the past 36 hours, so that has been a blessing.
Thanks for the comment. I am very interested in vermiculture. I hope to add that piece of the puzzle in the future.
Yeah, it’s definitely weird for healthy branches to just calm down like that without a storm. I think I mentioned in your last video same thing happened at my place. Since then I came across one other limb that looked healthy down and one of my customers properties. I think maybe there’s just been a lot of new growth and they collapse under their own weight?
I really am without a logical explanation. The tree seems healthy. There was no obvious problem with the branch, itself. We had adequate rain during the spring. We had a dry June, but I don't think that would have any effect. Just a weird situation.
Every time I hear that “first time homesteading over fifty” my attention is peaked and I’m glad to be back. My tree shed a huge limb, almost hit my neighbors. Her description of the sound and experience was very similar to yours. I think that all the new growth and rain actually weighs down these old trees a bit to much. I agreed to remove my 300 year old tree after my neighbor’s experience and it doesn’t feel wonderful. City life is much different and not better.
I started using "over fifty" as a way to set myself apart from all the "kids" in their 30's and 40's who are doing this. Hopefully it will inspire others who are not-so young to give it a try. The video I show tomorrow is after I cut the branch up and get a look at the break, a "post mortem" of sorts. In a few days I will post another video of an ash tree, which has been dead for years, which finally fell. I heard it fall also. Not sure what the tipping point is for these trees but there have been a bunch of them over the past few years on Holmestead Ridge. Thanks for watching!
Happy anniversary
Merci!
Happy Anniversary to the 5 acres from 1974. I remember when Mom and Dad bought that land.
Yep. I was 7. It was an exciting time. I wish I had worked at keeping it clear back then. Well, maybe starting in the '80s. it would have made my life, now, much easier.
So much work! Don’t over do it buddy, keep the updates coming!
Thank you for your comment! I have about 24 acres to turn into silvopasture. I have years of work ahead of me. I pace myself and I will definitely continue the updates. Thanks for watching!
What is a silviopasture?
Thank you for the question. Silvopasture is pasture which includes trees. The trees provide shade so the livestock are not in full sun all day and allows them to graze instead of all of them clustering under one tree for most of the day, or worse, having no shade at all. With silvopasture there is enough sunlight getting through to grow grass and enough shade so the animals can graze in comfort. My job on Holmestead Ridge is to clear enough trees so we have the correct balance. It's a big job!
Awesome! That’s amazing. Do you achieve this by only felling whole trees or do you prune them also? Sounds like there might be a certain element of danger to your plan
The Place look's like Giant Born Site ...with mother and father of course. Strong burning to you
I don’t remember that Rockwell being built. Who built it? I guess I was working my job and going to classes and didn’t pay any attention to it.
Chuck built it in the mid-to-late 70's. You probably didn't go down there at that time.
I was hoping for something a bit more scientific.
Thank you for your comment. I am not a scientist, just a farmer trying to do things right.
@@holmesteadridge I was thinking take a sample of water that's been stored for a long while.
Gotcha. I am using it for watering plants and not watering animals so it really did not cross my mind to have it tested.
@@holmesteadridge I'm running some through a sand/gravel filter to aerate it a bit.
Do you include charcoal?
A small silver coin in your water will keep alge and bacteria from growing also. It's a trick they used during the age of sail to keep water from going rancid during long ocean voyages... Could be a pre-1965 dime or a pure silver Tenth ounce coin or any silver coin larger.
Thank you for your comment. I have never heard that before. I appreciate the tip!
I’ve given up on thinking I can pull together a decent amount of compost unless I’ve been adding to it over the course of a whole year. Even after collecting all of last year, I didn’t have enough to cover my 600 square feet. No matter how much you think you have when it hasn’t decomposed, it will shrink down to barely anything when it’s time to use it!
It does not go far. Maybe focus on what you can make and use it in a VERY small area to improve that soil. That small area should require less compost the next year and you can expand your area. OR maybe just go with composting in place. Put the stuff you would normally compost directly on top of the soil around the plants.
Those trees with 'issues' look pretty healthy. I have seen many trees with bigger 'issues; doing just fine for a very long time. Established trees can have damage at the base and this does not mean the tree is ready to come down especially if the tree is not nearby a structure.
Thank you for your comment. Other than gaping holes at the base of the trunk the trees do appear healthy. My goal is to create silvopasture so many trees must still be removed. Those with the issues I described will be the ones I will remove rather than the larger, healthier trees.
I'm glad the greens worked. Slimy anaerobic decomposition is no good
It worked well and I think I will turn it again this week. Still has way too much brown stuff.
I am not looking forward to the day when the deer find my garden. The rabbits have been bad enough for me. Please follow along with my garden video I would love your opinion good or bad. Halfway through the Three Sisters Garden Experiment th-cam.com/video/mocSAyGd-rc/w-d-xo.html
Sorry for the late reply. I have rabbits but don't see many in this area. I think the deer beat them to it. I will watch your video again.
Looks good Holmes
Merci!
Oh no!!!!!
Yep. Next year I will fence it in.
Now I’m looking forward to your torch video.
I think Christmas night might be a good time for that.
An entirely different ecosystem. Looking back at the old videos, it's a whole different place. There's room for the deer to run, without all that honeysuckle
It really is a different place and it will only get better with time.
A father's day well spent. Hope y'all had a nice time in the heat
We accomplished a lot. The heat was not too bad. Working in silvopasture keeps things cooler.
💞Wow💛💛💛🤍💛
Thank you for your comment!