Ginger and turmeric are your key species for heavy shade and asian like crops, they love it and they thrive in shade, very easy to propagate and I'm sure you will love those crops.
This is a fantastic video mate, I'm just growing about half dozen banana plants Guava pawpaw watermelon potatoes and tomatoes, but your video has me thinking of doing the same on my acreage in Brisbane, what you've done on your property is nothing short of amazing one of the best videos I've watched and thoroughly enjoyed, thanks heaps mate lots to look forward too
This is really interesting. Geoff Lawnton would say that in the sub-tropics, chop and drop should happen throughout the spring and summer months, during the humid season. This is because it will regrow several times during the sunny, wet season, providing plenty of biomass, and in the winter, which is traditionally very dry, the canopy provides shade to prevent evaporation.
Hi, yes he well well be right, one of the commenters here posted that in Brasil they prune in November and let the heavy rains and heat boost the growth pulse, and all this rain will assist the mulch breakdown, I think he is right. And when there is a ton of re-growth then prune again early winter to assist sun coming into the forest floor when sun is low in the sky. Its all an experiment.
Thank you SO MUCH for the wonderful tour of your absolutely beautiful food forest! It’s so lush, and green and healthy looking. Welcome back also, your content is so valuable and it’s so generous of you to share it with us 💚💚💚
Welcome back! Can’t grow a lot of that in the U.K. but I love seeing how life can explode when you treat it right. Working on a pommie version as we speak…
Love this update! I'm in central Florida and we plant in sand, as well we have sudden large temperature changes and a freeze danger in winter. Like you, our rain is during the summer. I've watched all your videos, many twice, and really appreciate your content. I haven't seen you mention whether you have winter freezes, would love to know that, thanks!
I have a food forest as well. I also tend to chop/drop in Winter to let light in. However I always wondered if it was the right time of year. Geoff Lawton suggests chopping when there’s high rainfall and keeping the canopy shading the ground in times of drought to conserve water. His logic suggests it would be better to cut in Summer rains and that’s always confused me.
@@farmerjones2766I have recently finished my PDC with Geoff Lawton and have heard the same advice from him. Another reason for pruning at the start of the rain season is that the pulse generated by the intervention will require a lot of water to enable the regrowth.
Mmm I see his logic so presume he means shading during our dry winters? But the sun is low. And how do we predict a drought? But yes it seems sensible to prune down in anticipation of heavy summer rains. That's December to feb up here in Qld. So I guess we're talking about pruning in November / December? I'm open minded
@farmerjones2766 Yes. His logic is based around evaporation. Heavy pruning should occur when precipitation is higher than evaporation. But this is a general rule. If you need understorey light to grow other crops, it may be relevant for you to do your major intervention at the end of the rain season. At the end of the day, it all should be adapted to your context. Also, Geoff frequently mention chopping some plants several times a year. My take on this is that light pruning can be done whenever, but preferably around a big rain event.
Perhaps two prunes a year? One before the heavy rains and one say April to cope with the massive regrowth and let the sun back in. It depends on your low strata. I have allot of dragon fruit stems, sweet potato, and down smaller citrus growing that need more sun. I think that's what I'll do, thanks for your feed back Xavier.
Cassava dont really like shade, they can still grow in partial shade but not full. Abacaxi, Nirá, Poejo, Araruta, taro, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, Arracacia xanthorrhiza, Moranguinho, Yam all of this are fast chas crops that love shade, anyway contact with CEPEAS they will really boost your system, you are only starting hahaha, congrats again!!
So happy to see your update... lovely jungle 😂. Btw, what i am wondering since a while: can you make a living from your land and if not do you think it is getting there? thanks so much for your effort of posting these videos
Hi Marc. There are allot of variables here when you say making a living. You may be able to if you include vegetable production along side your trees, as these bring in more steady income (3-4 picks a year). A lot of fruit is seasonal so you have to think about the gaps. Those gaps in production can be filled in with veg. In our case we gave gone over to a lot of broccoli as it fetches a high price here in our organic markets. So a targeted commercial approach to making a living is key, rather than waste energy on low price produce. Make numbers based decisions when planting. It heavily depends on your context, your markets and the prices your getting. So in theory over the 5-10 year projection yes its possible to make a living. Especially when your fruit trees come into full production @ 5yrs.
Looks amazing! What eucalyptus species are you using, I am a bit wory of the aleopathic chemicals in leaves and roots... Seems to work well in your context! Right now I am just using grivellia robusta for emergent but would want to add some variety
Hi Nicha. best ones so far are eucalyptus grandis, sydney blue gum and yes grevillea robusta. Accacia mangium has proved the fasted grower and best bio mass. The trick is never to let them get to the point they develop seeds, as they will drop oil to discourage competition. You would be pollarding the tree before it gets to that point.
Are you frost free where you are? It's a balancing act for me at Beaudesert to retain enough cover for frost microclimate and dripping biomass. I suggest considering certainly controlling :dropping the inter row silk sorghum and some of the banana leaf/ stem thinning but leave enough for frost protection if needed. Then heavily prune coming out of winter.? If frost free I'd go harder which will let light in and preserve some soil moisture. 👌
So awesome! Thank you for sharing. This is so inspiring!!! Any chance you have a solution for thinning banana tree clumps? I cut down unfruiting ones and it just grows straight back!
I have a question. That row is now 4 years old and you started 12 years ago with very bad ground. The eight years between did you prepared the ground? Greetings from the Netherlands.
Each banana is 4 meters then a fruit tree is in the middle of those. Then the remaining spaces are divided by a eucalypt, I then often divide the remains spaces again with papaya / paw paw
Does the eucalyptus steel water in winter from your banana? Does the eucalyptus leaves and oil affect the health of your cover crop when they drop I am curious about bark shedding of the eucalyptus and the leaf fall hindering the growth of other plants around it Great vid Sound was low Very interesting on how it goes
Hi, yes that is a common fear when using eucalypts, but so far I've only seen that effect with older trees. These young eucalypts won't be permitted to grow over 10 meters. Most of the leaves will be chopped and dropped annually. So I think it should be ok.
Yep, cassava chips are amazing. My Cuban wife makes them. We can only find frozen cassava in Sydney. Also can't find plantain. All the south Americans here are looking for it.
HI, i really recommend you to contact with CEPEAS they are in brazil but help all subtropical and tropical syntropic growers all over the world, they have a lot a lot of experience and experimentation, definitely they will help you. Most common its 2 big disturbances in the system The first at the start of the rainy season so the whole system propulse and the second at the end of the rainy season or at the start of the winter in your case, congrats and I was perplexed by the absolute jungle you have there, so abundant.
@@farmerjones2766 No, mainly they speak portuguese but they are working with people in Texas, Arizona, Senegal, South Africa and very much every subtropical and tropical country, also I forgot that in Australia there are some guys doing Syntropy too, search 'syntropia scott hall' and I'm sure that fantastic guy will help you, and you will help him.
Maybe do a comparison of a couple of strategies... And see which works best for your objective for this patch. I like the market potential for the plantain, cassava, passionfruit. Would be good to see some nitrogen fixers in the system. (Perhaps I missed this?) Soil seems high fertility now.
I have a question. That row is now 4 years old and you started 12 years ago with very bad ground. The eight years between did you prepared the ground? Greetings from the Netherlands.
![Hippy Commune Food Forest Tour (Coromandel, NZ) [Syntropic Agroforestry / 2023]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/V6v87r8C9d0/mqdefault.jpg)
Best syntropic video on TH-cam. Legend thanks mate.
Wow, thanks!
Ginger and turmeric are your key species for heavy shade and asian like crops, they love it and they thrive in shade, very easy to propagate and I'm sure you will love those crops.
Yes we sell them all.
This is a fantastic video mate, I'm just growing about half dozen banana plants Guava pawpaw watermelon potatoes and tomatoes, but your video has me thinking of doing the same on my acreage in Brisbane, what you've done on your property is nothing short of amazing one of the best videos I've watched and thoroughly enjoyed, thanks heaps mate lots to look forward too
This is really interesting. Geoff Lawnton would say that in the sub-tropics, chop and drop should happen throughout the spring and summer months, during the humid season. This is because it will regrow several times during the sunny, wet season, providing plenty of biomass, and in the winter, which is traditionally very dry, the canopy provides shade to prevent evaporation.
Hi, yes he well well be right, one of the commenters here posted that in Brasil they prune in November and let the heavy rains and heat boost the growth pulse, and all this rain will assist the mulch breakdown, I think he is right. And when there is a ton of re-growth then prune again early winter to assist sun coming into the forest floor when sun is low in the sky. Its all an experiment.
Thank you SO MUCH for the wonderful tour of your absolutely beautiful food forest! It’s so lush, and green and healthy looking. Welcome back also, your content is so valuable and it’s so generous of you to share it with us 💚💚💚
Thanks for the video, your work is incredible.
An absolutely beautiful system. All your love, care and hard work has paid off.
Welcome back! Can’t grow a lot of that in the U.K. but I love seeing how life can explode when you treat it right. Working on a pommie version as we speak…
The system is amazing, well done.
Your videos make my heart happy. Keep up the good work! So inspiring and love all the tips and tricks you drop in conversation.
Great to see you back. Really enjoy your vlogs, very interesting to see the progress. Keep up the great work. 👍🏻
The banana bell flowers sell well at our local markets for cooking Asian dishes, you could be selling them too
bloody fantastic mate
Love this update! I'm in central Florida and we plant in sand, as well we have sudden large temperature changes and a freeze danger in winter. Like you, our rain is during the summer. I've watched all your videos, many twice, and really appreciate your content. I haven't seen you mention whether you have winter freezes, would love to know that, thanks!
Hi Charlotte. we used to get several frosts a year but they seem to have disappeared. Only one light frost last year, not enough to kill anything.
Now that the system is in another level and with much more shade for the alley rows Mombasa grass its the best, they love shade and good soil.
Awesome Adam, great video. looks amazing.
- Kai
I have a food forest as well. I also tend to chop/drop in Winter to let light in. However I always wondered if it was the right time of year. Geoff Lawton suggests chopping when there’s high rainfall and keeping the canopy shading the ground in times of drought to conserve water. His logic suggests it would be better to cut in Summer rains and that’s always confused me.
Mmm that's interesting. I'll give it some thought.
Thanks for sharing
@@farmerjones2766I have recently finished my PDC with Geoff Lawton and have heard the same advice from him. Another reason for pruning at the start of the rain season is that the pulse generated by the intervention will require a lot of water to enable the regrowth.
Mmm I see his logic so presume he means shading during our dry winters? But the sun is low. And how do we predict a drought? But yes it seems sensible to prune down in anticipation of heavy summer rains. That's December to feb up here in Qld. So I guess we're talking about pruning in November / December? I'm open minded
@farmerjones2766 Yes. His logic is based around evaporation. Heavy pruning should occur when precipitation is higher than evaporation. But this is a general rule. If you need understorey light to grow other crops, it may be relevant for you to do your major intervention at the end of the rain season. At the end of the day, it all should be adapted to your context. Also, Geoff frequently mention chopping some plants several times a year. My take on this is that light pruning can be done whenever, but preferably around a big rain event.
Perhaps two prunes a year? One before the heavy rains and one say April to cope with the massive regrowth and let the sun back in. It depends on your low strata. I have allot of dragon fruit stems, sweet potato, and down smaller citrus growing that need more sun. I think that's what I'll do, thanks for your feed back Xavier.
Just found this channel, keep it up mate! Lots of good info here.
Very inspiring man. Looks so good!
Cassava dont really like shade, they can still grow in partial shade but not full. Abacaxi, Nirá, Poejo, Araruta, taro, Xanthosoma sagittifolium, Arracacia xanthorrhiza, Moranguinho, Yam all of this are fast chas crops that love shade, anyway contact with CEPEAS they will really boost your system, you are only starting hahaha, congrats again!!
Hey mate. Great video and great results. I'm setting up a similar farm near Gin Gin. Any chance I can drop in and say hi at your place one day?
Looks awesome farmer Jones, might need some vollies in athere just give us a shout
Do you have issues with buds or other insects that are impacting the fruit trees or fruits including the bananas?..
Not really. We get a bit if Californian spot on some citrus but that's it
So happy to see your update... lovely jungle 😂. Btw, what i am wondering since a while: can you make a living from your land and if not do you think it is getting there? thanks so much for your effort of posting these videos
Hi Marc. There are allot of variables here when you say making a living. You may be able to if you include vegetable production along side your trees, as these bring in more steady income (3-4 picks a year). A lot of fruit is seasonal so you have to think about the gaps. Those gaps in production can be filled in with veg. In our case we gave gone over to a lot of broccoli as it fetches a high price here in our organic markets. So a targeted commercial approach to making a living is key, rather than waste energy on low price produce. Make numbers based decisions when planting. It heavily depends on your context, your markets and the prices your getting. So in theory over the 5-10 year projection yes its possible to make a living. Especially when your fruit trees come into full production @ 5yrs.
Awesome mate cheers, inspiring what ours may look like in a few years..
Looks amazing! What eucalyptus species are you using, I am a bit wory of the aleopathic chemicals in leaves and roots... Seems to work well in your context! Right now I am just using grivellia robusta for emergent but would want to add some variety
Hi Nicha. best ones so far are eucalyptus grandis, sydney blue gum and yes grevillea robusta. Accacia mangium has proved the fasted grower and best bio mass. The trick is never to let them get to the point they develop seeds, as they will drop oil to discourage competition. You would be pollarding the tree before it gets to that point.
Looks fantastic 😊😊😊
Are you frost free where you are? It's a balancing act for me at Beaudesert to retain enough cover for frost microclimate and dripping biomass. I suggest considering certainly controlling :dropping the inter row silk sorghum and some of the banana leaf/ stem thinning but leave enough for frost protection if needed. Then heavily prune coming out of winter.? If frost free I'd go harder which will let light in and preserve some soil moisture. 👌
I Love Cassava. I want to plant it at my backyard in Sydney, but it is hard to find.
Cheers 💚
Beautiful video. Thanks!
So awesome! Thank you for sharing. This is so inspiring!!! Any chance you have a solution for thinning banana tree clumps? I cut down unfruiting ones and it just grows straight back!
Bowl out the cut so the growing heart is removed, then it won’t grow back.
I have a question. That row is now 4 years old and you started 12 years ago with very bad ground. The eight years between did you prepared the ground? Greetings from the Netherlands.
we did have small crops in there over several years prior to panting. But the soil was always dried out and dusty
Please, what is the name of that picking tool? The one you use to trim the banana leaves
Its called a pick a pole, and used in the fruit picking industry
Could i ask about the distances between the bananas and the position of the eucalyptus in your agroecosystem?
Each banana is 4 meters then a fruit tree is in the middle of those. Then the remaining spaces are divided by a eucalypt, I then often divide the remains spaces again with papaya / paw paw
Does the eucalyptus steel water in winter from your banana?
Does the eucalyptus leaves and oil affect the health of your cover crop when they drop
I am curious about bark shedding of the eucalyptus and the leaf fall hindering the growth of other plants around it
Great vid
Sound was low
Very interesting on how it goes
Hi, yes that is a common fear when using eucalypts, but so far I've only seen that effect with older trees. These young eucalypts won't be permitted to grow over 10 meters. Most of the leaves will be chopped and dropped annually. So I think it should be ok.
Funny I just planted a whole row of Cassava down one of our food forest rows here in Agnes Water.
You built a beautiful paradise
You can start an accommodation business
Where do I purchase that pocket please?
The picking tool? Fernlands agencies Yandina or any horticultural supplier
If people have tried cassava chips they wont go back to regular spuds. You definitely have a market for it if more people get onto it.
Yep, cassava chips are amazing. My Cuban wife makes them. We can only find frozen cassava in Sydney. Also can't find plantain. All the south Americans here are looking for it.
@@FarmPro_Peter they should have fresh plantain or even frozen ones at Cabramatta, although Sydney is huge.
thanks - will check it out! @@AussiePharmer
Love it.
HI, i really recommend you to contact with CEPEAS they are in brazil but help all subtropical and tropical syntropic growers all over the world, they have a lot a lot of experience and experimentation, definitely they will help you. Most common its 2 big disturbances in the system The first at the start of the rainy season so the whole system propulse and the second at the end of the rainy season or at the start of the winter in your case, congrats and I was perplexed by the absolute jungle you have there, so abundant.
Thanks for advice. I've heard of CEPEAS but do they only speak Portuguese ?
I will consider pruning before summer rains it makes sense. Thanks
@@farmerjones2766 No, mainly they speak portuguese but they are working with people in Texas, Arizona, Senegal, South Africa and very much every subtropical and tropical country, also I forgot that in Australia there are some guys doing Syntropy too, search 'syntropia scott hall' and I'm sure that fantastic guy will help you, and you will help him.
Maybe do a comparison of a couple of strategies... And see which works best for your objective for this patch. I like the market potential for the plantain, cassava, passionfruit.
Would be good to see some nitrogen fixers in the system. (Perhaps I missed this?) Soil seems high fertility now.
Hi agree on nitrogen fixers. Since that plot we have planted ice-cream bean, leucania, pidgeon pea and Moringa in our new rows@@FarmPro_Peter
I have a question. That row is now 4 years old and you started 12 years ago with very bad ground. The eight years between did you prepared the ground? Greetings from the Netherlands.