The bird's eye view is fascinating. In my humble opinion, I'd like to see much more. A slow narration and exploration of your project. It'd also make for a brilliant base line for you to reflect on as the years progress. Cheers and thank you.
Awesome drone footage! I got two ideas after watching the video: 1. You should definitely focus the majority of your labor time on creating smiles everywhere. These are the most effective structures in your landscape. 2. Do the biochar burning in one or multiple dedicated pits! The burning process burns the clay in your soil and makes it very hard and toigh for the water to penetrate, so better do it in one place and move the biochar to the pits! You spend so much time and resources to build the pits, so try not to make them less efficient in water penetration by burning the clay:) PS: you can create preset flightpaths for the drone to get consistent video footage. With those you can also stitch together one large picture of your whole property wich would be great for a yearly/monthly/weekly update for your future self and viewers! It would be also useful to create a map so you van create zones ! And you should be able to make a somewhat accurate topology map as well via photogrammetry..this might be insanely useful for your earthworks ! Keep up with the content and greetings from West Australia 🦘
Good to see how much green there is compared to even a year ago. Plant more grass and you'll see the landscape change dramatically. I'd fill those pits with grasses from the local area, things you're seeing grow well in the conditions, and treat them just like any other crop.
Loved the drone footage - thank-you. I don't know how you steer your way through all the advice you are being given. My thought is that, in your circumstances, something is better than nothing and that you will find things out by trying things out.
It seems that we are always waiting for the rain. I am glad you got the drone, this will help us see the improvements better and get a feel for the whole picture. After the rain you should see improvements, the more zai pits the more water you can save and the more green stuff.
That slow killing it with water is actually very important, its "activating". Its making surface area of charcoal many many times bigger, so it can absorb more things.
It is interesting to make the new soil with the biochar. It makes the video more interesting when we get an overhead view of the land. If your content is interesting like this you can make your videos longer. Good job with the drone and making innovative and interesting content ☺
1 im 100 % sure that the termites help. Especially when you take their homes and put it in holes, the cappacity. To hold water will improve 10x. 2. The part where you speak about tera petra. Every bit you do will help even when it does not show progress in early stages. The more green and browns in the ground the better. I think your plans are getting better and better. There are to many having opions when they have never did the work. But its not said they dont speak the true. I think you balance that greatly. Keep on going. We, your community are verry proud of you ❤😊
@@thefoodforestnamibiaI second what they said. Don't give the doubters too much attention. Keep experimenting on your property, you'll find the methods that work best for you.
Love the drone view! I can tell your best land is greener than elsewhere, and many small patches are ready to regenerate. You're working at a great pace with your team. Give it a few years and you can do a before/after of this first drone view. I would say mix even more manure with that biochar then take half the mix to the nearby smile swale. Or even split it 3 ways. Break up big chunks of char. A little biochar goes a long way. You have a lot of area to cover, and (it seems like) not much excess wood to burn when there's so much bare dirt to cover.
I just found out that you are in Namibia. If you build small fire at a time and stamp it down adding more wood and repeat, you would avoid the formation of ash. The stamped charcoal at the bottom won’t continue to be burnt because it is devoid of oxygen and therefore you will end up making more biochar. I hope you activate the charcoal by adding manure and compost. Thank you.
It is a spectacular view. You definitely have an artistic eye.The sun rays with the changes in light intensity makes it a beautiful shot. I'm all for using biochar. It fits perfectly. I also use water, much easier.
looks pretty green to me, be fun to do a birds eye view of the property from the same spot every month with the drone to get a real sense of how things are changing over time
The more barren the better. All testament to your skill and effort. Be proud of it. When paradise starts to take shape remember what you started with. Top notch agriculture you are practising. It's invigorating. Have not checked personally yet but appareantly there are plentiful fields here where you will not find a single worm in the ground. Isn't that funny? We will have desertland in the fertile riverdelta and fertile soil in the desert 🤷♂😀💚
Meneer Rooi die drone is nie boring nie. Dit was lekker om n better perspektief van die plaas te kry. Die land lyk droog maar hy sal ontwikkeling meet tyd en baie water. Mooi loop, ons volg jou. Love the videos. - Kaapstad engelsman
Bio char (burnt wood) adds nutrients to the soil and retain moisture in the soil. A burnt piece of wood has pores that absorb and hold water better than soil alone. The fire will kill grass below the fire, but having just broken dry ground to build the Zai pit, I doubt there are any plants or roots where you have the fire to damage. I think capturing water (harvesting rain water) in the stream bed (flowing in from others land) would be the most beneficial at this point. Enriching the soil is good, but without water nothing grows anyway. I would use the efforts to build leaky wares and similar structures to capture or slow down water passing through (beaver dam analog) with the branches, vice enriching the soil through bio-char.
Danou, your number one priority is soaking rain water into your land. In my opinion, I wouldn't be concerned about making biochar now. My number one priority would be building BDA's in all of the erosion gullies that I now see on the land: in the video and from the drone. Every BDA in an erosion gully is insurance that the big BDA in the river will hold. once every erosion gully has a BDA every 10-15 meters, I would go back to the river and build a BDA every 20-25 meters. When the entire property has BDA coverage, only then would I move on to the second priority which in my opinion is "growing shade". I would do that by mulching every tree you hope to grow into a shade trees beneath the entire canopy. only when "growing shade" is completed would I consider making biochar - but it would probably be time to refresh all of the BDA's first. 7:27 It would be very helpful to have a long handled pitchfork for moving the tangled brush pile in the video. A better use of this brush tangle that I think is more valuable is packing it in one of the nearby erosion gullies as a BDA. Push it into the gully, step it down and build it up over time. Drive a Y post down through the center to hold it in place. Add more brush to the top as it becomes available until the BDA is taller than the banks. The BDA will become a sand dam which will retain water for long periods. Simple Terra preta [Amazonian dark earth] originated with the native peoples of the Amazonian rainforests. In the rainforest, trees grow faster than your irrigated weeds. I will suggest the thoughts from your followers who suggest making terra preta from the wood that grows on your farm and is simply not practical. Your worm casting have 95 percent of the same benefits as bichar. Castings are a naturally and constantly produced by your worm farm. Grow more worms. Rey on worm castings for soil fertility and water infiltration/retention.
OTOH, biochar serves as like a "water battery," abosorbing water when it comes and releasing it slowly. It's a good fit with the goal of soaking in and retaining water.
@@jenniferpolk962 Building a BDA or making biochar - it's a binary decision because there isn't enough woody material to do both. This is a desert, not the Amazon rainforest. What would you prefer? 100 liters of water in biochar or 1,000,000 liters spread out and soaking into all of your arable land? I know what I'd choose. ✅
That is good advice Steve, I agree building mini dam structures in the river and mini rivers (erosion holes) will be hugely beneficial in capturing rain into the land.
Not an expert here, but from what I've read/seen, that's WAY more biochar than you need/want for a single zai pit. You probably need at most a quarter of what you've got there, maybe less, for that pit. The good news is - you can take most of the biochar and use it to improve the soil in other places.
A really good idea for all your tools....paint the handles a bright color like neon orange that way less likely to get lost in the bush (easier to find) or mistaken for someone else's tool....also try to always have secaturs on you so you can cut dead branches easily through out the day
That's the problem isn't it - never enough mulch for everything. Certainly the area around the established trees would benefit from leaving the mulch in place, but you are desperate for mulch elsewhere ...... you can only do what you can do and hopefully strike a balance.
It would probably be wise to show yourself doing labor alongside your employees, sometimes. The cheap way to make biochar is to dig a conical hole to burn it in, that restricts air intake.
Just another couple of random thiughts. I have just googled your idea of an fire pit and it says"fire in a pit can damage the soil, primarily by causing heat stress which can kill grass and other plants directly under the pit, and by altering the soil structure due to intense heat, making it less capable of supporting healthy plant growth". Take from that what you will..... Also perhaps you can start an Amazon wishlist that you can give your viewers access to, just in case people think of something that you may want? Sorry, another War and Peace novel for you. 😅
Great upload! I found you on overhead imagery. The water course really shows up well, and it managed to tie in nicely with some of your other uploads. no expert at all, and I am sure you have looked into a "barrel biochar" maker, may I ask why you went open burn rather than something more self-contained that would have less fuel wastage
I have an idea for the kids and their little buddies.... you could mark out the african smile pits all over the land & offer the kids a set amount for each pit they dig ......maybe few quid each per pit but you could show them something really cool they could buy after digging X amount of pits ?😊 would be a good life / work lesson as well as good pocket money & good for the land ? just a thought 👍 😊
When money is the primary motivator, it can stifle passion. By inspiring the kids to pursue their dreams, they'll become permaculture masters, driven by a love for sustainable living rather than just a paycheck.
@@hotbit7327 Absolutely agree. Children should be encouraged to find their passion. Doing manual labor for peanuts confuses young minds. Then they wind up like me - 70+ and never really finding my passion. I raised my daughter under the "your job is to immerse yourself in a well rounded education" including sports -model. You don't have to flip hamburgers for pocket money. She is a successful PhD now. Best "investment" I ever made. ✅
Just a thought on those prickly pear you were considering planting or feeding to the pigs. Were you aware that putting 3-4 under every tree then with a thin layer of dirt to stop them regrowing is very good to help plants in drought. Some say it’s the ultimate drought fighter. A lot of people in passed generations used them in this way.
@ No. When you plant your fruit tree originally, dig the hole a bit deeper and drop 3-4 prickly pear in the hole. Then put an inch of soil over the prickly pear and then plant your tree as normal. Helps majorly with drought issues apparently. A lot of old timers did this in dry climates.
I do not know if you have a fireplace in the winter to heat your house, but I burn the dead branches from the garden and then save the ashes and use it as fertilizer on my patches.
Not sure if that process will give you any real charcoal. Rather a combination of pure ashes and unburned wood. For charcoal you can never have such flames. It would need cover with earth or moist leaves or wet cardboard.
The termites need to maintain a certain humidity, they dig down to the water table and bring wet clay back to the surface to build their nest, the termitaria is beneficial for surrounding grasses and trees because the tunnels pull moisture up in the ground where it can be absorbed by the plants, They take cellulose back to their nest eat it then farm fungus on their frass, the fungus eventually grows the giant mushrooms. There is a symbiotic process in which everything benefits from their presence, apparently fruit trees planted around the base of the termitaria do well because of the constant moisture in the soil. Burning in the pits is good at deterring the termites as the ash is alkaline and burns them also Loving the drone footage, won’t take long and you’ll have it mastered
Thank you for sharing this video. Great to see how this cactus can be used, when managed well. Some places where it grows, if the growth is not well managed, this type of cactus has become an unwanted plant, because it tends to take over the land. So great to see a video, showing how good management of this quickly growing plant can be very useful.
Are those holes around the tree really caused by termites? We in our humid European climate have tiny holes in the ground too! Through them water evaporation takes place. That is why we hoe the earth after the rain or watering to destroy the evaporation channels.
Love the drone view, I think it can really help with showing what areas need work. Also, I have been diving into Biochar, and ideally you charge it using biomass for 2-3 months before mixing it with soil. Also, one needs to add loads and loads of fluid (urine, or mulch drainage), otherwise it will suck up all the moisture and not leave anything for the plants. Perhaps you and your staff can oblige with that 😂 I read somewhere that an inch of biochar can take up as much moisture as almost 1/2 an acre of soil. But seriously, it would be a shame if the biochar would suck up all the moisture for decades before your plants start to grow.
Heya 😊 love the new African smiles. Hey those erosion holes look like mini rivers that feed the big one? Have you considered building rock dams or check dams in them? It’s amazing to see how much greener it is around the river compared to elsewhere. Thank you for sharing.
The green band that follows the river is because it was completely submerged about 4 weeks ago [the floodplain]. That's the aim for all of the arable land - spread the water out and let it soak deep into the earth. ✅
I am an African myself and grew up in similar arid environment. I came across your page about a week ago and am curious about your work. I love permaculture principles and believe that African farmers/herders can benefit from it. Where are you located in Africa? This is something I felt I should do to empower and equip farmers in my homeland (Ethiopia), but the instability made it impossible for me. I do have PDC training and doing a little bit of practice in my backyard. I would love to know what your plans are. Thank you for what you’re doing.
It wil definitely have a small negative impact on soil life for a short time but with the watering and new nutrients it wil jump right back and be better. We should turn the soil in the bottom, good idea.
@@thefoodforestnamibia No mate, I'm in Australia . I see you follow Geoff Lawton he's from northern river Australia, he's from the next town over hill from me nimbin , good on you learning his way, he's doing good work around the world teaching the right way to regen land ,
regarding bio char do you plan to produce a lot of them? if so - maybe you can make a barel or something to produce even more charcoal out of your dry wood which is relatively scarce resource also charcoal in the barrel can be activated with water and mature before adding it into the soil also to increase efficiency of adding bio char and not just char that will be activated. but to be honest, idk if it make sense to do all of this extra work on your scale and if it worth the efforts, maybe your simple attroach is much more work and cost efficient. also regarding priorities - ive seen comments below to focus on BDA to make sure water will stay as long as possible also it might be that in order to produce nice and new content every day you might switch your team work from projects to projects loosing focus and looking for new impressive actions. in this way youtube and obligation to create content can give not only support but also less focus. so everithing have its own cost. anyway, you are doing great job and im looking daily your videos they are not long and very interesting with you great ourcomes in the long run
Consider packing those washes with thorny branches to make a type of leaky weir or BDA. If the water still goes there it will drop silt and eventually fill that area back in. For charcoal you want to build a mound around the fuel, it should be a lot smokier than a normal fire. The ground will still appreciate ash, but I'd recomend a little more research before going for charcoal again, I think you are wasting more than you are making.
Nobody has to work on weekends and definitely nobody has to work on holidays. They get paid even if they stay away and if they show up they get paid double cash for that day. . I have one person that has not worked one weekend or one public holiday in 4 years. Every year he takes he's month of, never laughs or jokes or chats. Shows up everyday does a great job never complains and go home at exactly 4pm never borrowed money.. . But yes it is all their own choice.
Let me try again. I made a comment and it never went through, it was while I watched your video. I watched an interesting video. How to make any tree drought resistant -(Ficchi d'India/Paddle Cactus/Prickly Pear) The Natural Farmer. John Kaisner. He dug a deep hole and threw in some Prickly Pear into the hole. Chopped it up. Planted a tree into the hole. Maybe you could use the invasive Cactus leaves. I thought it was worth sharing with you. 🌿💚🌿
th-cam.com/video/kg1vBtO_6kU/w-d-xo.html Its so cool that I made a similar video to him three days ago but he obviously explains it much better than me. He is a fantastic teacher.
@thefoodforestnamibia Oh that fantastic, it's great that we have these people who share techniques to help us. Yes I did watch that video you made. So it's the same principle. Did you find it worked? I would like to try that with planting trees. Thank You for your video's. You are making a difference with the great strides you have made. 🙌👍
I just watched: How to make any tree drought resistant - (Ficchi d'India/Paddle Cactus/Prickly Pear) John Kaisner on u tube. It might be applicable to your project. Best of luck and thanks for the updates.
th-cam.com/video/z2kqhpCkIMw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=n0J8MqhIyDf4QCpG This is a GREAT video on how to use cactus .....so informative !!! Hope it helps Best wishes, Portia :)
The bird's eye view is fascinating.
In my humble opinion, I'd like to see much more. A slow narration and exploration of your project.
It'd also make for a brilliant base line for you to reflect on as the years progress.
Cheers and thank you.
Me too. Practice your drone skills on us. I for one don't mind.
Awesome drone footage!
I got two ideas after watching the video:
1. You should definitely focus the majority of your labor time on creating smiles everywhere. These are the most effective structures in your landscape.
2. Do the biochar burning in one or multiple dedicated pits! The burning process burns the clay in your soil and makes it very hard and toigh for the water to penetrate, so better do it in one place and move the biochar to the pits! You spend so much time and resources to build the pits, so try not to make them less efficient in water penetration by burning the clay:)
PS: you can create preset flightpaths for the drone to get consistent video footage. With those you can also stitch together one large picture of your whole property wich would be great for a yearly/monthly/weekly update for your future self and viewers! It would be also useful to create a map so you van create zones !
And you should be able to make a somewhat accurate topology map as well via photogrammetry..this might be insanely useful for your earthworks !
Keep up with the content and greetings from West Australia 🦘
Good to see how much green there is compared to even a year ago. Plant more grass and you'll see the landscape change dramatically. I'd fill those pits with grasses from the local area, things you're seeing grow well in the conditions, and treat them just like any other crop.
... and rain is coming soon... Yeah !!!
Loved the drone footage - thank-you. I don't know how you steer your way through all the advice you are being given. My thought is that, in your circumstances, something is better than nothing and that you will find things out by trying things out.
It seems that we are always waiting for the rain. I am glad you got the drone, this will help us see the improvements better and get a feel for the whole picture. After the rain you should see improvements, the more zai pits the more water you can save and the more green stuff.
Coconut husk erosion control blankets im told are the best
That slow killing it with water is actually very important, its "activating". Its making surface area of charcoal many many times bigger, so it can absorb more things.
Yes. The benefits will bring amazing results. Looking forward to see what happens.
It is interesting to make the new soil with the biochar. It makes the video more interesting when we get an overhead view of the land. If your content is interesting like this you can make your videos longer. Good job with the drone and making innovative and interesting content ☺
1 im 100 % sure that the termites help. Especially when you take their homes and put it in holes, the cappacity. To hold water will improve 10x. 2. The part where you speak about tera petra. Every bit you do will help even when it does not show progress in early stages. The more green and browns in the ground the better. I think your plans are getting better and better. There are to many having opions when they have never did the work. But its not said they dont speak the true. I think you balance that greatly. Keep on going. We, your community are verry proud of you ❤😊
This comment makes my day! Thank you
@@thefoodforestnamibiaI second what they said. Don't give the doubters too much attention. Keep experimenting on your property, you'll find the methods that work best for you.
🙏 drone view !
Drone footage is never boring, right? Slowly fly it around and narrate. We will watch!
Relax, Danou. ✅
Thank you! I could watch and study such drone views for hours - well several minutes at least haha. No worries about it being boring :)
Love the drone view! I can tell your best land is greener than elsewhere, and many small patches are ready to regenerate. You're working at a great pace with your team. Give it a few years and you can do a before/after of this first drone view. I would say mix even more manure with that biochar then take half the mix to the nearby smile swale. Or even split it 3 ways. Break up big chunks of char. A little biochar goes a long way. You have a lot of area to cover, and (it seems like) not much excess wood to burn when there's so much bare dirt to cover.
I just found out that you are in Namibia.
If you build small fire at a time and stamp it down adding more wood and repeat, you would avoid the formation of ash. The stamped charcoal at the bottom won’t continue to be burnt because it is devoid of oxygen and therefore you will end up making more biochar.
I hope you activate the charcoal by adding manure and compost. Thank you.
Are you also in Namibia?
Informative. I'm learning so much here.
more pits and planting the better,fantastic❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Yes!!!🎉
It is a spectacular view. You definitely have an artistic eye.The sun rays with the changes in light intensity makes it a beautiful shot. I'm all for using biochar. It fits perfectly. I also use water, much easier.
Such progress is encouraging. How many hectares is the entire project?
That soil looks good already. The only major issue is lack of water in the form of rain on a consistent basis. Good going.
hacer fuego y liberar ese carbono es estupido toda esa materia organica tarde o temprano se descompone en el pozo cuando tenga humedad. de la lluvia
The fire might kep the termites away.
looks pretty green to me, be fun to do a birds eye view of the property from the same spot every month with the drone to get a real sense of how things are changing over time
That's a great idea. And then put that in a sequence video.
@@permissiontoshine good idea. A visual progression thru time 😊
Loved the aerial view of your property, so much greenery you and the team can be proud of 😀
100%
Same here.
The more barren the better. All testament to your skill and effort. Be proud of it. When paradise starts to take shape remember what you started with. Top notch agriculture you are practising. It's invigorating. Have not checked personally yet but appareantly there are plentiful fields here where you will not find a single worm in the ground. Isn't that funny? We will have desertland in the fertile riverdelta and fertile soil in the desert 🤷♂😀💚
They will be able to look back at all the videos to watch the progress. So much hope afloat on this channel.
nice to see drone video and voice over is great!111
please make a video with drone overview of all your food forest.
Starting to get good with the drone now, Danou, pilot wings and a cap for you soon!
😂😂😂
Meneer Rooi die drone is nie boring nie. Dit was lekker om n better perspektief van die plaas te kry. Die land lyk droog maar hy sal ontwikkeling meet tyd en baie water. Mooi loop, ons volg jou.
Love the videos. - Kaapstad engelsman
Dankie man!! Groete vir julle in SA
Bio char (burnt wood) adds nutrients to the soil and retain moisture in the soil. A burnt piece of wood has pores that absorb and hold water better than soil alone.
The fire will kill grass below the fire, but having just broken dry ground to build the Zai pit, I doubt there are any plants or roots where you have the fire to damage.
I think capturing water (harvesting rain water) in the stream bed (flowing in from others land) would be the most beneficial at this point. Enriching the soil is good, but without water nothing grows anyway. I would use the efforts to build leaky wares and similar structures to capture or slow down water passing through (beaver dam analog) with the branches, vice enriching the soil through bio-char.
I completely agree. ✅
Danou, your number one priority is soaking rain water into your land. In my opinion, I wouldn't be concerned about making biochar now. My number one priority would be building BDA's in all of the erosion gullies that I now see on the land: in the video and from the drone. Every BDA in an erosion gully is insurance that the big BDA in the river will hold. once every erosion gully has a BDA every 10-15 meters, I would go back to the river and build a BDA every 20-25 meters.
When the entire property has BDA coverage, only then would I move on to the second priority which in my opinion is "growing shade". I would do that by mulching every tree you hope to grow into a shade trees beneath the entire canopy. only when "growing shade" is completed would I consider making biochar - but it would probably be time to refresh all of the BDA's first.
7:27 It would be very helpful to have a long handled pitchfork for moving the tangled brush pile in the video. A better use of this brush tangle that I think is more valuable is packing it in one of the nearby erosion gullies as a BDA. Push it into the gully, step it down and build it up over time. Drive a Y post down through the center to hold it in place. Add more brush to the top as it becomes available until the BDA is taller than the banks. The BDA will become a sand dam which will retain water for long periods. Simple
Terra preta [Amazonian dark earth] originated with the native peoples of the Amazonian rainforests. In the rainforest, trees grow faster than your irrigated weeds. I will suggest the thoughts from your followers who suggest making terra preta from the wood that grows on your farm and is simply not practical. Your worm casting have 95 percent of the same benefits as bichar. Castings are a naturally and constantly produced by your worm farm. Grow more worms. Rey on worm castings for soil fertility and water infiltration/retention.
OTOH, biochar serves as like a "water battery," abosorbing water when it comes and releasing it slowly. It's a good fit with the goal of soaking in and retaining water.
@@jenniferpolk962 Building a BDA or making biochar - it's a binary decision because there isn't enough woody material to do both. This is a desert, not the Amazon rainforest.
What would you prefer? 100 liters of water in biochar or 1,000,000 liters spread out and soaking into all of your arable land? I know what I'd choose. ✅
That is good advice Steve, I agree building mini dam structures in the river and mini rivers (erosion holes) will be hugely beneficial in capturing rain into the land.
@@DJG19870 Thank you friend. Your reply means alot to me. I aim to offer the best suggestions that I can. ✅
Not an expert here, but from what I've read/seen, that's WAY more biochar than you need/want for a single zai pit. You probably need at most a quarter of what you've got there, maybe less, for that pit. The good news is - you can take most of the biochar and use it to improve the soil in other places.
Mhm, these small twigs turn quickly to ash. Have you tried an airtight barrel for making bio-char? It might be more efficient.
you do so good work to get every thing forward, have you seen the videos of Andrew Millison? it is so interesting....
Interesting and very inspiring!
A really good idea for all your tools....paint the handles a bright color like neon orange that way less likely to get lost in the bush (easier to find) or mistaken for someone else's tool....also try to always have secaturs on you so you can cut dead branches easily through out the day
Great idea!
Your videos are NOT too long!!
Indeed, i would watch a 24/7 live stream of this 😅
✌️I like to see you guys make changes in everything ❤
if there is a brewry near you,they usually throw out used hops,which would build wordl wide web❤❤❤❤❤❤💘LONDON ENGLAND
There isn't one but it would have been great!
That's the problem isn't it - never enough mulch for everything. Certainly the area around the established trees would benefit from leaving the mulch in place, but you are desperate for mulch elsewhere ...... you can only do what you can do and hopefully strike a balance.
Love the drone footage, gives great context 👍
I would add manure and a bit of water then some scrap sticks or woodchips
Thank you! Great idea! Done!
It would probably be wise to show yourself doing labor alongside your employees, sometimes. The cheap way to make biochar is to dig a conical hole to burn it in, that restricts air intake.
Just another couple of random thiughts.
I have just googled your idea of an fire pit and it says"fire in a pit can damage the soil, primarily by causing heat stress which can kill grass and other plants directly under the pit, and by altering the soil structure due to intense heat, making it less capable of supporting healthy plant growth". Take from that what you will.....
Also perhaps you can start an Amazon wishlist that you can give your viewers access to, just in case people think of something that you may want?
Sorry, another War and Peace novel for you. 😅
Great upload! I found you on overhead imagery. The water course really shows up well, and it managed to tie in nicely with some of your other uploads.
no expert at all, and I am sure you have looked into a "barrel biochar" maker, may I ask why you went open burn rather than something more self-contained that would have less fuel wastage
Maybe I should do that in the morning
I have an idea for the kids and their little buddies.... you could mark out the african smile pits all over the land & offer the kids a set amount for each pit they dig ......maybe few quid each per pit but you could show them something really cool they could buy after digging X amount of pits ?😊 would be a good life / work lesson as well as good pocket money & good for the land ? just a thought 👍 😊
When money is the primary motivator, it can stifle passion. By inspiring the kids to pursue their dreams, they'll become permaculture masters, driven by a love for sustainable living rather than just a paycheck.
@@hotbit7327 Absolutely agree. Children should be encouraged to find their passion. Doing manual labor for peanuts confuses young minds. Then they wind up like me - 70+ and never really finding my passion. I raised my daughter under the "your job is to immerse yourself in a well rounded education" including sports -model. You don't have to flip hamburgers for pocket money. She is a successful PhD now. Best "investment" I ever made. ✅
Just a thought on those prickly pear you were considering planting or feeding to the pigs. Were you aware that putting 3-4 under every tree then with a thin layer of dirt to stop them regrowing is very good to help plants in drought. Some say it’s the ultimate drought fighter. A lot of people in passed generations used them in this way.
You are saying use them as a mulch, just under the soil? ✅
@
No. When you plant your fruit tree originally, dig the hole a bit deeper and drop 3-4 prickly pear in the hole. Then put an inch of soil over the prickly pear and then plant your tree as normal. Helps majorly with drought issues apparently. A lot of old timers did this in dry climates.
@@chessman483 To clarify then - 3-4 pads, not a wheelbarrow full? ✅
@ correct 3-4 pads
@@chessman483 Any reason why they would not work as a mulch?
I do not know if you have a fireplace in the winter to heat your house, but I burn the dead branches from the garden and then save the ashes and use it as fertilizer on my patches.
Not sure if that process will give you any real charcoal. Rather a combination of pure ashes and unburned wood. For charcoal you can never have such flames. It would need cover with earth or moist leaves or wet cardboard.
hello ive been watch you from space lol new technology , im from Australia you have 9 sola panel's on ya roof
Cool! Hope you wil see big changes in the coming months.
The termites need to maintain a certain humidity, they dig down to the water table and bring wet clay back to the surface to build their nest, the termitaria is beneficial for surrounding grasses and trees because the tunnels pull moisture up in the ground where it can be absorbed by the plants,
They take cellulose back to their nest eat it then farm fungus on their frass, the fungus eventually grows the giant mushrooms.
There is a symbiotic process in which everything benefits from their presence, apparently fruit trees planted around the base of the termitaria do well because of the constant moisture in the soil.
Burning in the pits is good at deterring the termites as the ash is alkaline and burns them also Loving the drone footage, won’t take long and you’ll have it mastered
Danou - New uses for prickly pear; "Why China Grows Cactus Now" th-cam.com/users/shortsO7aHw_J8LNU ✅
Thank you for sharing this video.
Great to see how this cactus can be used, when managed well.
Some places where it grows, if the growth is not well managed,
this type of cactus has become an unwanted plant, because it tends to take over the land.
So great to see a video, showing how good management of this quickly growing plant can be very useful.
@@MrAlvinDude Most welcome. ✅
Lekker man.
Are those holes around the tree really caused by termites? We in our humid European climate have tiny holes in the ground too! Through them water evaporation takes place. That is why we hoe the earth after the rain or watering to destroy the evaporation channels.
Yes those are termite burrows. I saw I video once where the guy from growbox did furrow the land to stop evaporatio.. Very interesting indeed
Love the drone view, I think it can really help with showing what areas need work.
Also, I have been diving into Biochar, and ideally you charge it using biomass for 2-3 months before mixing it with soil.
Also, one needs to add loads and loads of fluid (urine, or mulch drainage), otherwise it will suck up all the moisture and not leave anything for the plants. Perhaps you and your staff can oblige with that 😂
I read somewhere that an inch of biochar can take up as much moisture as almost 1/2 an acre of soil.
But seriously, it would be a shame if the biochar would suck up all the moisture for decades before your plants start to grow.
You might be able to implement some KNF into your ideas. Great channel!
Korean Natural Farming? - KNF?
Yes, some things can be very helpfull and affordable
Heya 😊 love the new African smiles. Hey those erosion holes look like mini rivers that feed the big one? Have you considered building rock dams or check dams in them?
It’s amazing to see how much greener it is around the river compared to elsewhere. Thank you for sharing.
In tonight's video 😁
The green band that follows the river is because it was completely submerged about 4 weeks ago [the floodplain]. That's the aim for all of the arable land - spread the water out and let it soak deep into the earth. ✅
I am an African myself and grew up in similar arid environment. I came across your page about a week ago and am curious about your work. I love permaculture principles and believe that African farmers/herders can benefit from it.
Where are you located in Africa? This is something I felt I should do to empower and equip farmers in my homeland (Ethiopia), but the instability made it impossible for me. I do have PDC training and doing a little bit of practice in my backyard.
I would love to know what your plans are. Thank you for what you’re doing.
He is located near Otjiwarongo, Namibia
Are you burning away the health of the soil? Will you be turning over the soil in the bottom of the new pit to break up any fired clay?
It wil definitely have a small negative impact on soil life for a short time but with the watering and new nutrients it wil jump right back and be better. We should turn the soil in the bottom, good idea.
@thefoodforestnamibia hug
please tell us story behind names of your forests i guees again, most likely you already tolsd this but for newcommers might be interesting
you're so lucky to have trees on your property from the creek , how often the dam flood at goedehoop school
The dam does not fill up often only once in the last four years.
Are you in otjiwarongo?
@@thefoodforestnamibia No mate, I'm in Australia . I see you follow Geoff Lawton he's from northern river Australia, he's from the next town over hill from me nimbin , good on you learning his way, he's doing good work around the world teaching the right way to regen land ,
regarding bio char do you plan to produce a lot of them?
if so - maybe you can make a barel or something to produce even more charcoal out of your dry wood which is relatively scarce resource
also charcoal in the barrel can be activated with water and mature before adding it into the soil also to increase efficiency of adding bio char and not just char that will be activated.
but to be honest, idk if it make sense to do all of this extra work on your scale and if it worth the efforts, maybe your simple attroach is much more work and cost efficient.
also regarding priorities - ive seen comments below to focus on BDA to make sure water will stay as long as possible
also it might be that in order to produce nice and new content every day you might switch your team work from projects to projects loosing focus and looking for new impressive actions. in this way youtube and obligation to create content can give not only support but also less focus. so everithing have its own cost.
anyway, you are doing great job and im looking daily your videos
they are not long and very interesting
with you great ourcomes in the long run
th-cam.com/video/d-M5DEQWraU/w-d-xo.html
Consider packing those washes with thorny branches to make a type of leaky weir or BDA. If the water still goes there it will drop silt and eventually fill that area back in.
For charcoal you want to build a mound around the fuel, it should be a lot smokier than a normal fire. The ground will still appreciate ash, but I'd recomend a little more research before going for charcoal again, I think you are wasting more than you are making.
Agree completely! ✅
In tonight's video 👍
Any reason you don't make a slope down into the entrance of the half moon?
Not really it is just how the guys do it..
Did you see the comment I left after I asked you the meaning of the word zai? I researched it. explanation is under your response. Have a great day.
Went to find it now! Soo cool thank you!
Don't the guys get a holiday too?😢
Nobody has to work on weekends and definitely nobody has to work on holidays. They get paid even if they stay away and if they show up they get paid double cash for that day. . I have one person that has not worked one weekend or one public holiday in 4 years. Every year he takes he's month of, never laughs or jokes or chats. Shows up everyday does a great job never complains and go home at exactly 4pm never borrowed money.. . But yes it is all their own choice.
Let me try again.
I made a comment and it never went through, it was while I watched your video.
I watched an interesting video.
How to make any tree drought resistant -(Ficchi d'India/Paddle Cactus/Prickly Pear)
The Natural Farmer. John Kaisner.
He dug a deep hole and threw in some Prickly Pear into the hole. Chopped it up. Planted a tree into the hole.
Maybe you could use the invasive Cactus leaves.
I thought it was worth sharing with you.
🌿💚🌿
th-cam.com/video/kg1vBtO_6kU/w-d-xo.html
Its so cool that I made a similar video to him three days ago but he obviously explains it much better than me. He is a fantastic teacher.
@thefoodforestnamibia
Oh that fantastic, it's great that we have these people who share techniques to help us.
Yes I did watch that video you made. So it's the same principle. Did you find it worked?
I would like to try that with planting trees.
Thank You for your video's.
You are making a difference with the great strides you have made. 🙌👍
@pampotgieter7611 I wil only see in a couple of months but I am sure it wil work great
I just watched:
How to make any tree drought resistant - (Ficchi d'India/Paddle Cactus/Prickly Pear) John Kaisner on u tube.
It might be applicable to your project. Best of luck and thanks for the updates.
th-cam.com/video/z2kqhpCkIMw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=n0J8MqhIyDf4QCpG
This is a GREAT video on how to use cactus .....so informative !!! Hope it helps
Best wishes,
Portia
:)
Such progress is encouraging. How many hectares is the entire project?
We have 6.5 hectares. But obviously we have not touched it all yet.