The Five Cousins, a Permaculture Plant Guild by Matt Powers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 ก.ย. 2019
- Are you growing the 3 Sisters?
Are you growing other guilds?
Please share in the comments the guilds you've developed & relied upon throughout the years.
What are your favorite companion plants?
Are you partnering with any of the 5 Cousins to build soil?
What are your summer and spring soil-building plant guilds and seed mixes?
Soil is the lynchpin to life as we know it. It’s where carbon is stored, where all life comes from and returns, and it’s also the living foundation for all life on land and sea. If we want to restore our environment, economy, and health FAST, we have to work with soil and not just in one area, but in ALL areas. We have to make SOIL a permanent part of our culture.
If you want to dig deep into permaculture soil science and solutions, please join us, back this campaign, back the book, the course, and let’s leverage the greatest lynchpin in the Regenerative Soil Revolution. Join Us! Back Permaculture Soil Science & Solutions:
www.kickstarter.com/projects/...
Grow Abundantly, Learn Daily, & Live Regeneratively,
Matt Powers - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Check out the Kickstarter PERMACULTURE SOIL SCIENCE & SOLUTIONS!!! Live Now on Kickstarter!!!
www.kickstarter.com/projects/mattpowers/permaculture-soil-science-and-solutions-book-and-course
How much is the course? Or do we buy the books
5 cousins:
1) Amaranth
2) Buckwheat
3) Cowpeas
4) Sorghum
5) Daikon radish
Thanks for saving me the agony of watching Mork from Mork and Mindy.
Should have been A,B,C,DS
Matt Powers Spring & Summer Soil Building Permaculture Chop & Drop Annual Plant Guild;
Help make your soil weed free with The Five Cousins consisting of 1. Daikon Radish, 2. Buckwheat, 3. Cowpea nitrogen fixing legume, 4. Corn, 5. Amaranth C3 & C4 carbonaceous grass, and Sorghum is mentioned.
3 Sisters Beans, Squash and Corn.
No corn ain’t a 5 cousin it’s sorghum
@@creektopfarms5217 Matt grew corn seed .Miracle corn 🌽. No one else could .. or was successful that is .
Subscribed right after the second laugh. You sir have an infectious energy. I study environmental science and we need more people with your passion.
Subscribed right after the first laugh lol.
subscribed before any laughs, because i have mental issues
That laugh makes me happy.
We all should be this happy with the things that occupy our lives and time.
Cosmic Psychotic laugher in abundance to all!!! Thank you for the information and Cheshire grins :)
Oh my gosh! I love your thoughts and your laugh makes me smile so big! What a treasure you are!
I just found your channel and am looking forward to watching! There are several perennial guilds that I've started and have been adding to since moving to our homestead a few years ago. My fruit trees have garlic, horseradish, comfrey, various herbs such as lemon balm, chamomile, parsley, etc. and this fall I will be planting blueberries, elderberries, and strawberries around most of them. I am growing small groupings of three sisters and interplant garlic, onions, and various herbs with most of my annual vegetable and fruit crops. Annnnd it looks like I'll be looking into five cousins as well! :) Thank you for the idea!!
I liked the video because of the hearty laugh. Loved it!
What was that cackle about 22seconds in the video? Hilarious. I watched the rest because of his laugh.
Lmao I just found him and I love the laugh! This guy has good vibes!!
This dude is high af
Many of us have been captured by Matt's laugh :)
@David Needler you're missing out
@David Needler you're missing out
I truly enjoyed this video. Beneficial co-planting is amazing. I will be testing this in 2021 summer at my plot. Thank you so much for sharing. I enjoy the in-depth opinions and thoughts on the subject. this has been helpful for me.
Thanks so much for all the wonderful information and smiles
OH this is awesome! Im going to try this. Thank you!
~I love you Matt. I think you’re an Amazing person. Thank you for allowing you to be this person who brings the most glorious light~
I love the way you explain what’s happening in the soil as an economy
That was awesome. Thanks
I'm just about to head out to my yard to chop and drop 25 comfrey, my field peas, buckwheat and clover. Will leave the remaining 20 comfrey for some fall compost piles
Fantastic! Thank you!
That book looks awesome!
Love your information and your passion! Could you shed some light on when you would know when to harvest the seeds for seed saving yet making sure they don't drop and grow there again the following year? Many thanks!!
This is awesome! I can hardly believe it isn't more popular already.
Thank you for showing your excitement and amazement of what are lessons to us.
This video may be to old to get a reply on, but here goes. I have a home in southern virginia with some pretty rough clay soil that that had a huge field of goldenrod on the back east facing slope. I knocked down the old dead goldenrod from last year, will i have any luck with the “throw and sow” method with the 5 cousins? Should i cleqr the old tubes of goldenrod, or just throw a lot of seed in among the knocked down golden rod? Thanks for any help
😃🎉 Excellent
I subscribed to your channel 🙏
Thank you!!
@@ThePermacultureStudent You're very welcome 😁
Fantastic garden companion plants! Have had wonderful results growing peppers plants with cucumbers here in Missouri ♡
Great information Matt! Very cool technique!
Thank you! So joyful :) And so easy to find back when i need to because of the name you gave the guild. Three sisters we all know, the five cousins too now! Every part serves multiple functions and purposes, even the names. All the best from a community in Vlaardingen.
Thanks abundantly, Matt!👍👍👍
Hi Matt, Thank you so much for this video! I just moved and sarted a new garden where my first focus is to improve the (aready thick, rich clay) soil. My climate (the Netherlands) doesn support your recommended type bean as well, so i was wondering if I could replace it by any other type of pea or bean. Also, I was wondering if could use instade of rettich another type of brassica like fodder rape (of which I already have a lot of seeds). Thank so much for your answer and all of your videos!
You should be able to replace it with any legume unless Buckwheat has a special relationship with Cowpeas that allows it to steal nitrogen from its root nodules. Look to the clovers if you have to
This guy is adorable! And that laugh, lol never stop laughing. It is truly infectious. I am definitely going to try this
Thank you for sharing your tricks to making plants all happy. I LOVE the sound of harmonious roots making music to my soul- it's heaven here on Earth.
Thanks for sharing, I'm going to try your little trick and do the 5 cousins. Lol, you have a funny laugh by the way. It made me giggle hearing your humor towards the amazing symbiotic relationship of plants.
Thank you for being here Thia :) :) :)
@@ThePermacultureStudent Lol... No no no no, thank you.
And giggling while visualizing our over polite souls giving leeway to each other. Kindred Spirits are always the most pleasant day to wake up to 😉.
Is there a 7 Extended Family group?
There is the 3 sisters, 5 cousins...
Hey now here's a great channel. Good work!
All that is missing is calling them happy.
I miss Bob Ross. Keep up the work my friend.
How would you layout the beds? Do you just broadcast all the seeds at once or is there a pattern or order to it? Thanks so much!
I do it all at once - they grow alongside each other superbly well!
I need to rebuild clear cut land. These should work well! Thank
Loved the video, and love your energy. And can I just say...holy cheekbones! Very nice to look at :)
What is a good food crop I could use in place of buckwheat?
You are such a contagious energy! Thank you for inspiring me to keep my bubbly self in my own content! Amazing video! Thank you so much
Thank you for being here!! :)
I'm new to this but want to try it in my raised beds, but will these plants spread into other parts of my garden and lawn? I don't want to plant them then have them go crazy all over.
That's the magic of these: they are incredibly easy to control during the season and between seasons: they leave a blank slate :)
Learning from Matt makes me Happy haha haha.
:) :) :) THANK YOU!! THAT MAKES ME HAPPY!!!!!!
Wow you are magnificent. A ton of magnetism New sub!
Thanks!! :) :) :)
I’m going to try this gulf with my runner beans next summer. Any thoughts or advice? I love the idea and hope it makes everything more productive
I like your energy! Thanks for sharing 💜
So if i grow them all and wanna chop and drop it it all i should remove all the seed heads first if i wanna have a blank slate when i wanna plant something else?
Yes you can chop the tops off early on if you like too to make it easy ;)
Awesome thanks Matt 😁
Hey do you have a planting guide for this method? Would i sow all the seeds at the same time in the same area in Spring??
I eyeball the amounts and "see" them as larger plants as I sow. It really depends on the goals for the area and the soil type and condition. I'd sow this once the soil has warmed up and the winter cover crops has been incorporated from the early spring chop and drop.
Great video! We just aquired 6 acres. And I have been researching different combos. I also want to be able to use some as chicken feed, so bonus for this combo.
I don't have cowpea seed, but I do have soybean. Would that be a suitable substitute? I'd like to use what I have onhand if so.
Can't wait to
check out more of your videos!
This is great, but how can I use this design pattern while planting tomatoes or potatoes for example?
I must be following the 3 red headed Step-sisters guild, cause my plot is a long way from bountiful thats for damn sure. I wont give up though, moles and voles be damned! Great video and information thank you!!
😂
So when we grow sorghum, the leaves let out some sort of sap and it attracts tons of yellowjackets. Any suggestions here?
That's sugar :) you can cut the heads off before they fully form their seeds and have them bulk up on the syrup sugars and then juice them for a sugarcane alternative.
@@ThePermacultureStudent Hey Matt! Thanks for responding! You just made my day! Haha. As for the sorghum, Oh okay gotcha! We do harvest the canes to make syrup but I didn't realize they were releasing the sugars on their leaves too! Thanks!
Do you mix it equal parts? Or some other ratio? And how much would you use for 2000 square foot plot?
The mix would depend on the soil needs but I've been leaning towards more buckwheat and daikon since they are reducers and lower soil Eh (bringing more energy into the soil profile). If the soil is very bad, I'd over seed and chop and drop it aggressively but if the soil was in better condition I'd give more spacing to allow the plants to get bigger so they can do more work and I'd wait longer before chopping and dropping. I don't usually think in terms of that size or metric for casting seed. I usually save up or buy 5 - 25 lbs of a seed to use in mixes and then just make as needed. Not having large amounts of seed on hand makes me nervous, so I have never thought about minimum amounts and spaces for seeds. Hope this still helps!
I love the way you laugh. Hugs
Could I use any other non nitrogen fixing plant to replace buckwheat in this grouping? Seeing as buckwheat's role is stealing the nitrogen, couldnt I just use some tomatoes or peppers or instead of buckwheat? ... or maybe beets, dont they love nitrogen?
beets are non-mycorrhizal and will push you away from the ideal zone. Buckwheat is semi problematic but balanced out. The pH/Eh has to be considered! All in my new book: www.thepermaculturestudent.com/shop/regenerative-soil-science-amp-solutions-manual-pre-order
Do you plant them all together at a specific spot to prepare the soil for next year?
Do you harvest from this system or strictly chop and drop?
Initially for this area next to a driveway: chop and drop :)
So interesting!
So, I plant this in the spring and chop it down in the fall. Do I let it just sit there all winter? In the spring, what needs do be done before planting there? Do I push any residue aside in order to plant? Thanks, Oh and do I ask for cow peas or something else? Also can this be planted in the PNW in the fall?
I'd do a fall/winter mix instead like fava beans, snow peas, daikon, & vetch
Yes you chop and drop it in the fall - the residues should be mostly broken down by then and you can plant among them or pull it aside and plant.
I subscribed the minute you laughed. That's a depression cure!!❤❤❤
I wonder how this would be modified for growing in the tropics.
Interesting concept...what method of seeding and what recommended rate?
I love the idea of tillage radish, I can't wait until I can finish moving so I can plant a cover crop with all that stuff so I can walk through a sea of all without any rows to spoil it on our new farm. We had a family farm that we leased out to local farmers for decades but it was a conventional farm so the soil was saturated with chemicals. It would have taken years of soil reclamation before it could pass inspection for organic certification so we sold it and bought land that had never been used for anything.
It is in the mountains but part of it is flat like a prairie, I know we will have to be very careful not to cause any erosion while we try to build fertility, I would hate for a snow melt to push my garden into a gully LOL.
Many blessings on your new home!! If you focus on fungi and no-till it will hold as you build :)
That's smart af....
Is the buckwheat grown as a companion plant with peas? I am a bit confused if the cousins are just planted when other plants dormant /not being planted?
Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So does Amaranth have BOTH C3 and C4 pathways? I thought it was only C4. But I do not know a lot about this.
Apparently even corn can exhibit both: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00388748 SO FASCINATING!!
Great, Great, 👍
When would you sow them to chop & drop In February or March?
Where are you located? This is a spring/summer mix if that is your time period for warm growth. Some areas have their growing season in the winter - their summers are either too wet or too hot.
I’m in Zone 8b.
@@3bouldersurban653 I'd use a winter mix for sure :)
Coooool !!!
Back to eden 😊
Great and much needed addition to the soil building mindset Matt! Where did you source your seeds to blend? I know you've used JohnneySeeds and Baker Creek before. Any newer one-stop-shopping tips ;-) Thank you! P.S. looking forward to your Kickstart on soil!
Originally those are the folks I got the seeds from but then I just seed saved them each year :)
So this is meant as a fall/ overwintering method to prepare the soil for spring? Will this work in an already very humid zone 8?
This one is for Spring and Summer I think. A good winter mix to sow around three weeks before first frost is: Austrian Field Pea, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Triticale, Canola, Daikon Radish, Hairy Vetch, Crimson Clover, Medium Red Clover, Yellow Mustard, Alfalfa, and if you're feeling brave, Winter Rye
Where do you recommend buying these seeds?
So when should you plant this guild? Spring, Summer or Fall? Prairie lands native to my are, Midwest usa
Spring/Summer
@@ThePermacultureStudent Thanks for info and reply. I am in process of finding these seeds in organic form. Should any of these seeds be inoculated? Do you sell these or recommend a supplier? BTW, cool that you play music. Don't play out anymore, but enjoy recording and experimenting!
Thanks for the great information! Do you generally let the plants reseed themselves after chopping and dropping, or do you collect all the seeds first?
It depends on the goals for the area and its condition. In this area, I'll let it reseed, but if I was to plant it as a main garden area next, I'd remove the seeds or chop and drop before the seeds finish.
When using the Five Cousins as prep for a garden spot, does one mix the seed and broadcast it into the space, or sow the seed in plant groups? Thank you for the info and passionate presentation.
I soak the cowpeas separately and mix the rest and then broadcast it (i.e. throw sow them). :) :) :) Thank you for living regeneratively!!!!
Matt, I'm SO excited you replied. Until I saw this video, I thought I was all set to build trellises and go vertical. I'm hoping you can give me some guidance on a few questions: First, for my "Best Garden," should I employ the 5 Cousins before planting veggies? And second, would your course be right for me:
Background: Zone 9b, Visalia CA., upscale neighborhood with no place to compost, but I can buy it from the folks who compost Visalia's green waste. One area at a time, I'm turning our front Bermuda lawns into gardens. Much to my husband's chagrin, I killed the Bermuda in the first area, 37'x11', overlaying with it carpet for a year, continuing to water to save the biologicals. Success--worms galore--dead Bermuda, plus a layer of organic compost.
@@leelasannyasin7647 Yes! I think you'll LOVE the many alternative solutions we have for smaller spaces, neighborhood, etc. :) My course would absolutely be perfect for you! I cover all climates but I'm in exactly your growing zone but a bit up the foothills a bit for many of my videos and lessons, and I also answer questions and can help with feedback on your design ;) If you join APSO for only $49 a month, you also get access to a 700 member global community that has a LOT of Californians in it ;) That's here: matt-powers.mykajabi.com/the-advanced-permaculture-student-online-signup-page It's my top course and ideal for folks who are serious about making change happen :)
Matt Powers you radiate high positive energy. how many many runner beens should you let run per corn? min , max ? t
Mine are dandelions, nettles, milk thistle, plantains, sorrel
I will try this in Bohol Philippines with a little tweaking. I have a Brown Palapye Cowpea and Black Gram that thrive in my never ending rainy season. My Amaranth and Sorghum grows great but Buckwheat has issues.
3 out of 5 are summer crop whereas buckwheat and raddish are winter crops so how they will work togethor ??
Very new to permaculture so please excuse if the question is, well... Amaranth, Sorgo and cow peas are bringing to the soil and attracting birds and pollinator.. Are they attracting rats also? If they are, How do you address such problem?
If you have rats, that's another issue separate from having a garden. You can address that issue with a cat, terrier, or traps. If you have rats, they'd get into whatever's there: your barn or your garden or your house, etc.
Matt Powers - The Permaculture Student + How much of each seed (in weight) would you recommend seeding a 10'x20' plot? Thanks again for all that you do, and the passion that comes from you!
I mix them and then throw them by hand to a concentration of square inch spacing between seeds - SO CLOSE!! I KNOW!! But you'll lose seed, and competition will reveal the winners you'll be saving seed from :)
@@ThePermacultureStudent So should Amaranth be included with Sorghum of just one or the other? Would that make 6 cousins?
Any substitutions for buckwheat? Allergic to it
This is great! It actually mirrors the Brazilian research by Dr. Calegari.
This is great! I was already working with cowpeas and buckwheat, and I love adding these 3 other “cousins” for my hot weather cover crop mix. My chickens, geese, and ducks are going to LOVE this quintet, I think. 👍🏻 (Also, I think I just happened to recognize your face when scrolling YT from a Baker Creek vid on corn!)
Hey Matt, thanks for this video. I know you’ve changed your mind on amaranth, so what would you suggest replacing it with? Or just stick with 4 cousins? 😆😆. We raised pigs where we want our food forest and are ready to cover crop. P.S. Welcome to Texas!
I think if it's balanced out, it's okay to have in the mix. It likely provides good "tension" in some manner at the proper ratios since differentials are how we power and exchange everything in the microscopic world so it stands to reason it could be really good.
BUT until I can prove that I am using amaranth and all non-mycorrhizals sparingly.
@@ThePermacultureStudent thank you!! We will just throw a few amaranth seeds in there for now then. We look forward to seeing how the science develops on this. Thank you for your work!
Is it possible to use any other plant instead of Amarynth? Like pearl millet or quinoa?
Yess absolutely!!
You sir, are a nut job but a very knowledgeable one🤣
Thanks so much for information.
That's really cool that you use that to expand gardens, make borders, start new areas etc. I like chop n drop a lot, but one question I have is that Elaine Ingham said roller crimping a field will result in anaerobic activity on the topsoil that will hinder you. Now I think she did say that you could spray some KNF materials or compost tea on it to counter that.... but what would happen if instead of chop n drop you had chickens or something come in to mow it down? We are entirely plant based as our diet, but I'm not opposed to having animals around to help and live with us on the farm.
Maintaining edges naturally, creating new areas, maintaining old ones, refreshing soil... all topics I want to learn more about. That and learning all the tricks of the trade for annual plants like this. I live in north Texas and annual gardening beds are so difficult ! We are about to move and I'll have more space.
Looking forward to taking your courses one day and reading the books
I'd spray it after crimping or the chickens visit with EM, LAB, and/or Compost tea to avoid anaerobes :)
@@ThePermacultureStudent That's cool, so chickens AFTER knocking it down/dropping it? I thought if you let them loose somewhere you can let them forage the material and poop it out and work in the rest? Always wondered exactly how that works... chop n drop then chickens vs chickens eating it for you instead of chop n drop. So crimp, chickens, and EM LAB
I look forward to learning about these annual means of soil building and clearing vs a perennial nitrogen fixing cover crop situation
@@TheVigilantStewards Chickens need things down at their level so chopping and dropping is important for that regard. It helps.
@@ThePermacultureStudent Ok, so they don't just eat and mow down these tall grasses then... I guess you'd need goats for that! Thanks
Indigenous. Dig the respect!
Do you have any other guilds that you’ve experimented that have/haven’t worked?
💫🌶🍄
sounds good :) my only concern is that all these species thrive in hot climates.. any ideas for cold climate substitutes? our summers are generally around 60-75f here in finland.. well the daikon would work.. as well the buckwheat.. cowpeas no way, but that could be replaces with fieldpea or favabean.. what about sorghum and amaranth? anyone has some ideas?
I think the peas can be replaced since they both are nittogen fixing, sorghum and amaranth i honestly do not know, greeting from your scandinavian cousin to the southwest cheers
Austrian Field Pea, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Triticale, Canola, Faba Bean, Alfalfa, Hairy Vetch, Crimson Clover, Frosty Berseem Clover, Medium Red Clover, Yellow Mustard, Winter Rye. I don't know of anything that can replace the biomass production of Amaranth or Sorghum except an increase in plant diversity itself, which causes a linear increase in biomass production
@@ScanianDude thanx and greetings 😄😎
@@timkinrade9533 nice, i ll save the list and lets see how things will go.. thanx 🤗😁
The fava bean SuperAquadulce is supposed to be the most cold hardy :) so much that us in warmer climate (usda zone 7 and warmer) are even supposed to be able to sow seeds before the winter, most peas are also very cold hardy from what i read
🎯 Key points for quick navigation:
00:40 *Soil-building permaculture guild called the Five Cousins includes amaranth, buckwheat, cow peas, sorghum, and daikon radish.*
01:49 *The Five Cousins guild helps in setting up gardens, building soil fertility, and preparing for new planting seasons by chopping and dropping biomass.*
04:18 *Amaranth in the Five Cousins guild is beneficial for its carbon absorption, which enriches soil and can be used to make syrups.*
05:09 *Sorghum in the guild is noted for its multiple seed heads, high biomass, and nitrogen content, aiding rapid breakdown of organic matter.*
06:17 *The Five Cousins guild supports diverse canopy layers, increases soil humidity, and provides habitat for beneficial soil life and pollinators.*
Made with HARPA AI
5 cousins: amaranth, buckwheat, cowpeas, sorghum, and daikion radish
I loved your humorous demeanor straight away!
interesting
6:16 Your Welcome.
It turns out that 3 sisters is an oversimplification of something called "Milpa" gardening that can contain many different plants but yes corn is king.
I need to release the Milpa farming documentary... we wanted to translate it but I think we'll just release it.
Saving HUMAN KIND ONE microbe ata time 🦠🫀🧠🫒
Look mate - I mean no offence but a mixed green manure is old. It's been happening for a few centuries now. And I don't let my green manure set seed or flower before I lay them.
The mammal is a crowd is a crowd is of fraction crowd a they time price
Just your laugh made me laugh.
I am so wasted right now.
I want what this guy is smoking to have the same laugh