Syntropic Agroforestry Install. San Diego, CA.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- This Episode documents the process of installing a new subtropical Syntropic Food Forest in North County San Diego, California. Harbin Hills Food Forest/Demonstration site. This is the first in a series implementing consortium planting or "guilds" of plants and trees for a diversity of food and symbiotic relationships. Natural farming methods are utilized for bolstering soil microbiology, to help heal the soil fertility of highly disturbed soil faster.
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So glad someone is doing this here in the states!!! CA is a perfect climate for this, basically like Portugal where they do this a lot!
So glad the algorithm revealed you! I am in Valley Center and have started this process here. Just planted a bunch of agave and opuntia for future silage for the goats. (Agave needs to be fermented before feeding) Sourcing nitrogen fixers. Expanded perennial medicinals garden. The soil is good but needs alot of restoration from compaction and over liming. I think our main challenges in the next decade will be water limitations and fire hardening requirements. And gophers, always gophers!
I'm in Escondido!
Cardiff 🤙
I too need my agave fermented 🥃 😂😂😂
GOPHERS 😠! I'm in Vista. Needed this!
That’s great. I am also in VC and have about 2 acres of similar land to this gentleman. 👍🏼
As a north county gardener this is super inspiring stuff
Love this video. San Diego needs more of these systems!
Great video. I started doing traditional KNF and Jadam about 10 years ago with great results. I like Biiodynamics too. I really think there's benefits to doing things according to moon and other planet cycles. I always harvest the plant material and make my FPJ at dawn during a full moon among other things.
Excellent! Yes, the biodynamic calendar is very valuable for planning these processes. Keep
It up..
I worked for a small company that did a 2.5-acre food forest out in Fallbrook. We had a lot of problems with gophers. We had to plant the sub-tropical stuff/trees in chicken wire baskets to protect the roots. Hopefully, you won't have a problem but just thought I would share. Love the video. Thank you.
Good advice thank you! Yes, I had a huge problem with them at a food forest install I did in Clairemont area. I've seen them around but so far the granite stone surrounding the install seems to keep them at bay. I will start using mesh wire to protect the roots though in the future.
Thats awesome! What company? Are they still around?
I always plant (in Fallbrook) in hardware cloth to keep the gophers from eating everything. don't use chicken wire, i've heard gophers can chew through the wire, but at the very least it rusts faster and you lose your protection sooner.
@KarmaPollice I'm in Vista. It's going to be so expensive, but I'm going to hardware cloth massive sections and put tons of compost into it. I've lost so many complete harvests. I can't keep up with them.
@KarmaPollice how do your trees do. How big of a basket do you make?
Love that. I keep feeling like there's no permies out here in SD... And then I run across cool stuff like this and it gives me hope I'll find some community out here
Greetings from beautiful Grants Pass Oregon. Excellent work Preston! I'm watching the first half of your video before work and will check out the second half after work. Lmk if you have time to talk this month. It would be nice to hear about your adventures in San Diego!
NIce work! Funny you came to SD to do SAF and i left SD to do SAF. currently working terraces into slopes and pastures with degraded soils as well but in zone 7a with 40 acres of pecans, walnuts and hazlenuts. Subbed!
If I might ask, I'm curious why you left?
@@raymondkyruana118 in Rancho San DIego i had a small lot that the bank mostly owned now i fully own 40 acres in zone 7A with Pecans, Walnuts and Hazles / Pawpaw, elderberry, stone fruit row cropping biomass sorghum/ cowpea/ giant sunflower but i love what your doing in DeLuz
Such an awesome video. This and water harvesting is where I am going. Thanks very much. I look forward to many more videos
Stellar! Love what ya do brotha, learned sooo much from ya.
Enjoying the content. Subscribed!
Nice one Preston! I've just started looking into syntropic agroforestry. I'm in a similar climate here in Perth, Australia. Keen to see how this progresses.
Eucalyptus, ugh. They are great for drawing water out of the soil and being a fire hazard. If you want biomass, plant laurel sumach. It's native here.
Think they make soil acidic, so could be helpful actually
@@Taylorthegood so do the leaves of native live oaks. buy the oaks have a large guild of animals they support, Eucalypts out of their native Australia don't
Actually the eucalyptus makes perfect sense to utilize because the majority of eucalyptus are cut after 5 to 10 years which is whenever your emerging species are coming out and it even is thought to have things put off in the soil that don’t allow other things to grow which if you’re thinking about the succession of soil and you’re thinking about synstropic meaning you work with the plants biological systems and your going from first and second strata grasses then it’s a no brainer. To combat your comment about water water is not a problem in agroforestry because 1% organic matter added to 1 acre is equated to an extra 20,000 gallons of water holding capacity. Fertilization no longer becomes an issue and agroforestry because you’re working with plants that are returning to nature through their root systems through hormones in the air and through Chop and drop systems working in “syntropics” meaning to work with the plants hormones. But this guy also uses KNF Who is able to speed up the succession of soil miraculously fast and bring back figure and vitality extraordinarily quick. Even whenever it comes to restoring completely barren land you can do that utilizing super labs you can allow for a much softer planting location by utilizing something from JADAM JMS or KNF your can use LIMO Liquid IMO. There’s always more to the picture is what I’m trying to get out. A lot of these plants don’t make sense to use for a lot of people because they haven’t sat down and really thought about what plant to use and why you should use it.
18:45 He covers KNF/JADAM Mulch here
@@Dust2LivingSoil Well I don't know all those terms, but it is good to work with nature, instead of against. That is why in this Mediterranean climate I use Mediterranean and native California food crops that have adapted to this type of climate and soil regime for millennium. I get mulch for the piles and piles of green trimmings in the various recycling yards in San Diego county already inoculated and fairly cheap.
It has been 3 months since this video ran and has been quite hot and dry since an above average rainy season. I have to water like hell to keep anything tropical growing in my yard in interior San Diego County this time of year. And then there are the gophers. Anything that is watered, they like to eat it. Anyway, I am interested in a follow up on how this tropical food forest is doing after a long dry season. Always willing to learn something new.
wow good going love it you ROCK!
Awesome. I'm in OC and keep threatening to find some property in your area to do the exact same thing. Looking forward to following the progress.
Much love from the Inland Empire!
Amazing! Can't wait for the updates.
Amazing video, keep going Presto 💪 can't wait for more content and updates.
I think I know one thing or two about Taro Roots.
Will text you 👍
Planting fruit and vegetables that's the way to go 👍
Love the kitty cameo 🐈⬛
I made some gms before my garden love it brought my corn back to life 🇳🇿❤️
I'm so inspirational!!!🤗🤗🤗
We've got some fruit trees, and I wanna remove the gravel. "Decor" because I want a Forest!!!❤️❤️❤️
Love what you doing and your explanations. Looking forward to more videos. I’m in East county trying to set up a community garden and will have lots of Moringa trees. I think your location will be too cold for Moringa. Keep up your good work.
I'm doing the same out here in Tonopah,AZ 9B. Luckily I got a few trailer fulls of chip drop. It's been a year now and I have over 70+ mesquites 10+ palms, a Palo Verde and so much more from volunteer seeds in the woodchips also planted moringa tons of sunflowers, castor bean and many more. In a year or 2 I will be using the mesquite for biomass and to create a microclimate in the summer.
Nice video, I myself have a young food forest going in Eastern San Diego. Definitely rattlesnake season out here and not loving it since I’m outside so much haha. Excited to see more of what you do, thanks!
@@XoTayAndersen cheers.. Following and enjoying your content. Stay cool and hydrated out there and watch out for those rattlers.
The view at 10:49 is absolutely freaking amazing!!!!! I really want to live in a place like that! We just don't have anything like that on the East coast SMH. Is it truly as hard to afford things out on the West coast like they say?
Sadly, yes. Property is so expensive. The only reason I'm here is because I'm in the house I was raised in. Almost no mortgage. Unfortunately, it's only 1/2 acre.
what a picturesque moment at 20.40 itch
Very inspirational, I'm currently building a similar system but in a more densely populated hyper urban area (Zone 10A).
Excellent, urban places need this the most. I did an installation closer to downtown last year if you want to check it out. It’s called “Food forest installation” in my videos.
The shade from the existing trees is undervalued i hope that those eucalyptus pay dividends for you once you fill the surrounding space. Fingers crossed you dont run into further snake issues she was a big one
Love it
I'm glad you didn't bash on invasive plants like eucalyptus, they create tons of biomass. IMO all plants serve a purpose, even invasive plants can help
Great adventures with your great work and sharing. So inspiring.
For my sake, you can abort all background music for any future sharing.
Epic! More natives please
Amazing dude !! I’m also based out of SD and I love what you’re doing. Seems like this is a great trial of what syntropic philosophy has to offer. Do you get frost where youre at? Excited for what is to come
Excellent, I agree! We have frosts very seldom in the winter months.
Taro is delicious. I like it in poi, but I LOVE it as a chip (instead of potato chips). I've yet to see them over here on the mainland, but they're big on the islands.
Some people make boggy conditions to grow their taro, others plant them like they would their ginger. Both work from what I've seen. :)
Taro is done in Florida, for sure.
Great informative video
😁
I’m also from San Diego near Lake Hodges to be exact. I have always been interested in growing tropical plants and tropical fruits and vegetables. I’m growing some longan, galangal the same family as ginger but very difficult to grow. I also have jackfruit plants and plenty of lemon grass and sour sops. I believe if you could build a berms around that hill will bring back aqua pour so that it help in retaining rain water as well.
@@SirFoodie1904 excellent to hear your growing subtropical’s near by.. I was wondering about jack fruit and propagated a bunch of seeds to experiment with. Berms and swales to catch water and deep mulching is the plan for sure. Need to conserve every drop of water possible in this desert climate.
@@rogueregenerativeagriculture
I’m in the Bonsall area. Have you been to Exotica Nursery? Love that place. Good spot to get plants to start while waiting to be able to propagate on my own.
Love it! I'm planning a syntropic system in Tucson area. Do know of any syntropic groups or resources here?
My roommate was just at a conference in AZ. There is definitely a network of Agro- foresters there.
great video.
I've read Ernst Gotsch and absolutely agree 100% with everything he's doing and teaching. Same with Dan Kittridge's work. Now, with restoring the species back to what the strata order they were before, this brings another question that I haven't heard may consider while planning truly self sustainable soil life. What are the projected long term natural geological changes that may occur in these growing locations? The nature induced mineral profile changes that may occur in 1,000s of year, from a volcano or flood, for example. If humans are responsible for 40% of desertification, then would we aim for completely transforming all landscapes into the most food abundant areas that aren't desert type areas producing desert type foods areas any longer at all?
Castor bean is a great grower in this region. You can easily scavenge seeds to plant as an emergent support species
Thank you for the confirmation!
I’ve been researching castor lately as a biomass plant, it grows all along the roads and freeways here. Most info
on it only speaks to how toxic and invasive it is lol.
What are some of the benefits of castor bean? I've been treating it like a weed.
@@nickmartin123456 Oil extracted from the seeds have amazing benefits for external use on the skin. In the context of Agro Forestry specifically, It can be used as a biomass plant for chop a drop because it grows so vigorously in poor soils.
My late old school farmer grandpa told me that you can crush up castor bean seeds and sow them into your fields to keep gophers out. I've yet to have a reason to try it nor a reason not to believe him. Maybe give it a try on a small space!
Aloha Preston from Tutu at Aloha food forest in Vista! So happy you’re here🕊🌏
Preston is also my beloved 85 yo brother’s name 😊
Your installation is beautiful and amazing and your video is beautiful and amazing!
I grow pigeon peas, and if you’d like some seeds, I can send you some.
9:36 i’m not meaning to toot my own horn as we’re all learning together, I have just spent the last year prepping the soil prepping support species and support trees for next year. As I learned from my mistakes not doing that the first time trying because we are trying to work with succession and time and the quality of the ecosystem in order to be able to support these things. I think that’s the biggest hurdle to try to learn is not so much what food can we potentially bring here but how can we bring back the fertility and have the support plants and support species thriving in situ with the rest of the line. I’ve seen several videos where they have full systems in place and they try to work with these specific plants you’re utilizing and they have no success because the succession in time and placement so on and so forth it’s just not there so creating the environment for the next systems to thrive is best. Potentially bringing in material and getting that ground covered and starting with your placenta one and placenta two. Like I said I am by no means an expert I’m learning just like everybody else but I have been doing this for a year now with just prepping the location I have not introduced anything of high value whatsoever. In some cases you don’t have to do this the soil and material is there to get started however in my case I had to bring in a lot of material and do a lot of natural farming preparation’s in order to get the soil ready. I’m confident that after our winter months season will be ready to flourish.
14:46 ah I see you getting the support in now ❤
@@Dust2LivingSoil I couldn’t agree more, there is a second part to this installation that is all about mulching, chop and drop, and establishing support species. That has been the theme this year and I’m still establishing the placenta, bringing in lots of mulch from outside the system while planting support species that will provide the biomass in years to come. In a perfect situation you would start with a blank canvas and seeds all planted at once to create those connections from the very inception. My situation and context leasing this land and having a nursery of 2-3 year old trees was my starting point, allowing the support species to catch up. Every station is unique with its context and approach. I also missed the few months of rain we get here so cover crop is largely dormant until we see more rain here in a few months. Your point is well taken. I will have parts 3 and a year conclusion video to add to the first two installments to share context and what has and hasn’t worked at this site. A lot learned this year all ready. Thanks for your feedback.
@@rogueregenerativeagriculture absolutely after watching the video fully I can see that you have a plan in affect. That’s definitely the ideal way is to just get that organic matter on a fresh plot of land drop that mulch and run all your seeds at the same time because yeah keeps it in this connective cycle where the whole thing is connected and it all works together I get what you mean where you start off with a row and once established and then everything is ready you just do a reset a full system reset and allow all the things to catch up allow everything to be more consistent and it really steps it up we just did our first complete reset this year and it makes a huge difference in the succession of soil and how quickly things are starting to accumulate and come up again. I found that it’s pretty easy to call landscaping companies and be a drop off site for them in the beginning.
I live literally a few miles from there, and I closed my permaculture farm in 2018. I can't imagine the gophers won't waste all of your new production crop row. Also, your sequestering of allelopathic plants for your biomass compost is counter intuitive. You use salt in your microbiome culture soup??? WHAT? High pith molasses maybe, but salt??? This whole area used to be under the ocean and many avocado groves still exhibit salt leaching from chlorinated water sources. You might endeavor to sequester some seaweed to extend the heat-tolerance of your compost/mulch (yes, wash well before composting application). Banana peels or composted banana plant works similarly but not quite as well. I had hugulkultur under my entire farm, and the mycelium ate through both the hardware cloth or chicken wire 'tacos' in each bed: put there to prevent gopher/squirrel thefts,,, but the metal disappeared in 12-14 months from the mycelium. The sugar cane, you'll never get rid of, and will keep your hill grade intact. SMART! Arundo Donax is another great root-earth fixer/gopher confuser. If you are unaware, there is a strain of gopher snake which bred with a rattler (nobody knows how since rattlers have live birth and gopher snakes don't) East of the 15 freeway. I have seen them in Oak Grove where I built another Permaculture farm, and their heads are not angled like a rattler but they have a rattle. They are VERY aggressive, and one of them put a neighbor in the hospital for 3 days (~$60,000 later to keep him alive and he can't bend his finger/hand where he was bitten). You might seek to compost that rattler with Bokashi enzymes before placing it in your banana pit because the bacteria could present in fruits (and onions absorb all bacteria in the soil so keep dead critters away from alliums). Views from my hood are found here: odysee.com/@feedbackart:2
Thanks for your input- Sea salt diluted into water at the appropriate rate breaks the ion bonds into an available trace mineral complex, it’s also a food source for microorganisms, salt residue is not an issue, lack of organic matter and available nutrients is the problem here. I hear this argument w/ allelopathic trees from a lot of folks yet there are living examples of Eucalyptus as a pioneer support species used in agroforestry all over the world. We already have eucalyptus well established so I have to work with it here. This living example will show that this narrative w/ eucalyptus simply doesn’t hold up. Gofers are definitely an issue, I’m using chicken wire around root systems and planting more deterrent plants in the mix like Castor. This season is a test run to see what’s working and what’s not, and I’ll make adjustments as needed. Cheers.
What is that thing you drop in the barrel at 39:55.. I guess we can use a similar system here in India.. will greatly help in our watering solutions.. Please let me know.. Thank you..
It's a 1/2 horsepower sump pump.
I find some things don’t like JMS on the 🍃 leaves . Some things don’t like lab foliar either 🤷♂️. I like to flood areas the best I can so microbe enriched solution gets deeper through gravity and capillary
I'm curious where Harbin Hills is.
I moved to Oceanside from LA into the house my sister (who died in September 2023) and I inherited from our parents.
I have a bit of land that I'd love to make into a food forest but it's on a steep slope. I suppose it will have to be terraced.
Harbin Hills is not on any map, it is self named. We are in Valley Center, CA. I do consultations if your interested and have worked on very steep land.
Okay, you're directly east of me. I thought it would be east of the 15 by how it looks, not many homes around. When I'm ready to work on our slope, or the next time I have a bee problem, I'll contact you.
It might be a while. I'm still reeling after 3 deaths in our family, just me and my son are left.
I just discovered you on TH-cam and I'm enjoying your videos.
Thanks!
~Charell
So eucalyprus is not alleopathic? I have always heard you cant grow anything around it.
Before I comment, please understand this feedback comes from over a decade of Syntropic experience with a lot of guys that have worked and still work with Ernst Götsch (Creator of Syntropics). Don't want this to come across as negative or anything like that, but to shed some perspective.
This is an example of agroforestry, yes, but not specifically Syntropic Agroforestry. It certainly incorporates some principles, some more accurate than others, but that still does not make it Syntropic.
Very simply put, 5 basic principles of Syntropic Agriculture are the following:
1. Ground Cover - both living and mulch
2. Natural Succession - A successional timeline of plants that rebuild soil from the point it is at.
3. Stratification - Providing ideal conditions for chosen species to thrive
4. Maximise photosynthesis - Combination of 2 & 3 to ensure that at each point in time that all sunlight is being utilised.
5. Management - Timing of pruning and harvesting
This is obviously a very VERY basic overview, but when analysed, this system does not follow them. Many gaps could be filled both physically and in regards to timeline especially.
Would definitely encourage eucalyptus to be planted every 1m (3ft) as it is clear they are already thriving in the area. Using other species that you showed doing well in the area (shrubs, trees, etc.) and incorporating them into the system would be very beneficial.
Otherwise what is likely to happen is you will create what is known as a "forever hungry system", which is a system that cannot truly support the plants that you are aiming to have as the target crops. External inputs will always be needed in systems lacking these things.
I hope this clarifies some things mentioned in this video and comes across as helpful/informative.
Still a great system nonetheless, but important to know what it is, and what it isn't.
To his defense, syntropy is technically illegal in these neck of the high fire threat woods (and if the regulators don't get you, the insurers will via a strict liability and forced plan insurance schemes).
When I invited the FDA and the EPA and the USDA over to my property, they told me that produce from multiple fruit trees would be unable to touch each other due to cross-contamination. They told me that if a single coyote excrement it anywhere within the production area that all of that produce had to go to waste.
I applaud all of you guys, but I'm not really sure how any of you actually incorporate permaculture, "LEGALLY!"
@@1rstjames That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard haha. The things the FDA and all those organisations approve and disapprove is absurd.
However, there are plenty of ways to design Syntropy rows or sections into targeting single crops. So you could have multiple rows targeting Avocado production, and be using all the other species as "support". Syntropic practices aren't solely targeting designed for food production either, they are also used for ecosystem restoration, timber production, and much more. So I'm sure with the correct education and planning there would be easy ways around these ridiculous "rules".
@@SpibsTVyou have to just do what you want to do and hope it doesn't catch up with you. You can do everything by the books but it would take significantly longer. After studying with Geoff Lawton and Dr Elaine Ingram and several other pioneers many many years ago, I had to learn the hard way that things aren't always what they appear.
The key word here is production of food for human consumption. Once you get into that territory, and actually try to generate revenue and pay taxes off of that system, that is when you start to see that things are really odd.
Again, I'm only speaking from my personal experience here in North County San diego. It got really bad for me to the point where I actually started attending law school, and did two semesters in law school before realizing the answers do not lay there.
@@1rstjames That is unfortunate.
Thank goodness I'm not in the U.S.
@@SpibsTV I had tried to bring in tagasaste several years ago to create fodder and it was seized... Apparently something that can feed livestock easily and is drought resistant is deemed a weed in this County. But again I'm not trying to be Debbie downer, I applaud everyone simply doing something.
Did you plant that taro upside down at 32:32
No lol, I thought the same thing but it is growing upright..
Where in north county SD are you?
@@GoodDogXanto valley center
Plant agave
Is there a good way to get in contact with you? I work at a nonprofit in North County working to increase access to fresh and healthy food for students and families who are nutritionally-insecure. We love working with local farmers to meet our needs. Thanks!
@@gregmcguire8071 Sounds like noble work you’re doing… Yes you can email me here. Preston@roguenaturalfarming.com
Have you run across Matt Powers info? Doing great stuff with soil science.
@@Spiriturequiem Yes,I’m familiar with his work, Permaculture based. I’m also a soil food web affiliate through Elaine Ingham.
@@rogueregenerativeagriculture That's awesome! Found Elaine and she led me to Matt. I want to get a scope but it's a bit much for the wallet atm. If I get deeper in to this i'm going to get one and take Matt's microscopy course, and if I get further and want to consult I'll tackle the sfw cert.
New to all this still but I'm nursing along a baby food forest, and took a PDC up in valley center with Josh.
Jadam, and compost extracts only so far and the dude who came to help me learn pruning said the soil was real nice already, so this stuff works for sure!
What was he saying? Taconia stakes? (Mexican sunflower)?
@@jmc0369 yes Mexican sunflower is a true miracle plant for the garden.. tithonia diversifolia.
What is your water source/solution? Well? Public?
@@lamesadave I’m doing some catchment tanks off the home structure and garage. Supplementing w/ municipal and heavy heavy mulching to retain moisture. My goal is to be completely off of city water in the coming years.
I sse you've got a snake problem. Lead deficiency there, but it looks like you might have addressed the problem. ;P
(Pew pew joke. Sorry, had to say it because I've heard it elsewhere and it still makes me chuckle.)
Don't You have problems with Moles & Gophers ?
@@michaelbeltsov3597 rabbits more so, they are around for sure, but the granite shelf I’m on has helped keep them at bay.
Would love to see some natives mixed in! Am i missing something here, even your chop and drop herbs youre choosing asian natives?
Love to see biodiversity, but why not any local biodiversity? Seems like the whole point of this project is for this to kind of run away and expand yes? Why plant like we live in hawaii? Lol
Genuinely not trying to be a hater i want to understand. You are also the first gardener/whatever in socal ive heard like eucalyptus lol. I curse at those damn trees every chance i get
@@bapos23 this is a production market grow and I am incorporating more natives, like succulents- List some natives that are selling at the markets? We have to be practical here. Mexican sunflower is my main chop and drop. I have left the local laurel sumac, canyon live oak, and native buckwheat in the mix intentionally not disturbing it. There are no “Asian” Chop and drop herbs” only comfrey. What is selling at markets drives what is being produced. If Consumers want choke cherries and acorn’s then I’ll start growing some.
@@bapos23 you missed the point entirely.. It’s to show what can be grow in this climate using Syntopic methods and creating microclimates. Eucalyptus are all ready here established and they are a primary coppice tree used in Syntropic agroforestry worldwide! I understand they have a bad wrap (especially in Cali) I hear about it all the time but yes they also have some benefits if you get past all the labels and prejudice. I’m looking to grow crops that have been overlooked in a mono-crop centric industrial Ag landscape. This is one consortium out of many I’m planting- part two is Citrus/ Berries, Coffee/Avocado. Do your thing and I’ll do mine.
see a lot of incline, no sight of a rainwater plan ...
it does rain there, and when it does, it pours, flash floods
w/ billions of gallons
very dry, no carbon sandy soil, unnecessary digging the soil instead of building
a humus layers .... lots of tree/shrub cutting, but
no sign of a good size compost pile, like 10 or 12 bays ...no syntropy here, move along ...
Those trees should be 20 ft apart
Biomass is an overused ambiguous term used by hipsters trying to sound smart. Are you trying to say wood Mulch?
Lol, I’d say wood mulch is even more ambiguous? Ramial chips or what type of wood mulch? The term in this context is for chop and drop green matter “biomass” for building soil agroforestry style.
Biomass