Thanks for watching! You can follow and find out more about Willows Green Permaculture here: www.youtube.com/@WillowsGreenPermaculture www.willowsgreenpermaculture.com/
there is an error: youtube doesn't process the Dot at the end of the username as a part of the link(both in the video description and in the comment) Make a note for viewers to make sure that they are adding a dot manually at the end of the url
@@MarRange thank you for letting us know! We haven't seen this issue before (with the dot not being part of the link) but I've changed the link to the following and it seems to work: www.youtube.com/@WillowsGreenPermaculture./videos
@WillowsGreenPermaculture. I was joking. Nothing would even happen without your great content and passion! I can't stop looking on the garden from the bird eye view. @@WillowsGreenPermaculture
Thank you so much to Exploring Alternatives for coming to visit us and for sharing our passion, our story and our message. Being able to connect with so many people through the comments is just so wonderful! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you for the inspiration. We're starting our little homestead in a small village in South Africa and sometimes it is just so overwhelming with all that needs to be done. Fantastic achievements in such a short space of time! I think I may just also grow my beard again 😆
Searchterm "Permaculture Miencraft" yields no Results so unbeliavably but true: no one is using that as a Tool of Visualization or the Improvement and/or Marketing that would come with it
I always get so excited when I see people growing their own food, using permaculture principles, learning how to work with the land and animals and "pests". I'm very happy to hear of this family right here in Ontario growing so much of their food in their front yard. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story! There is nothing so satisfying as eating what you have grown yourself!
Searchterm "Permaculture Miencraft" yields no Results so unbeliavably but true: no one is using that as a Tool of Visualization or the Improvement and/or Marketing that would come with it @janinafisher101
It's wonderful how obvious it is that they were both teachers. From telling us exactly what they were going to do with every vegetable and herb, to how they processed them, even to a drawn representation of the farm, it's awesome! Such a beautiful video.
Oh my gosh; you are living my dream. My husband and I lived with my husband's Mother and Sister for 9 months, before we moved. My Sister In Law lives on a beautiful property with a fenced in garden area that she had never developed. So I went in and cleared out the massuve blackberry bushes and weeds, added manuer, and then tilled it. My dream was to have a pesticide free garden. The garden grew like crazy and was so productive we had enough for our 3 Daughter's and their families as well. I really need to get back to an area where we can have our own homestead and enough to share as you do. Your family is a beautiful inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing your journey!!!
This is one of the best videos I've seen for raising your own! I'm 73 and disabled, but I can still DO something, just not as much as I used to do. Thanks for the inspiration ❤
Yeah, I would take that 90% figure with a grain of salt. I grew up in a Romanian village and we were pretty self sufficient. But we were nowhere near 90%. You still have to trade or buy basics like bread and such.
I was an elementary school teacher for 25 years, 20 of them at one school. 10 of those years I was my school's Science Lab Teacher. For the last few years there, I got a grant for and installed a raised bed garden in an unused area of the grounds. We had tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, eggplant, zucchini, onions, green beans, basil, and blueberries. I also planted marigolds to act as an insect repellent for the garden. The garden was mostly for the Kindergarten and 1st Grade kids because they study plants (and animals) more than the other grades. In fact, those kids helped me plant the seedlings into the raised beds. But the garden wasn't just for them. I gave all of the teachers ideas about how they could use the garden for their students: to teach measurement (as the plants grow), to write stories about the plants and insects, to learn how farmers grow food to sell (as well as for their own families), different plant groups/families, to learn how raw fruits and vegetables become the foods they're familiar with (ketchup, salsa, pickles, green bean casserole, etc.), etc. I also arranged for a dairy cow to visit the school every other year so that Kindergarten and 1st Grade could see how cows are milked. The cow came in a trailer with a miniature milking machine. The kids were thrilled to be able to check out a real cow and ask questions about her. I did this because kids today think food comes from stores, without realizing that it originally comes from farms.
What a great idea - more elementary schools should consider these kind of initiatives. It's so good to teach kids not just the origin of the food they eat, but also to inspire a deeper connection to the environment and the climate they live in, not to mention the health benefits of gardening. There are so many benefits.
I do training conferences for teachers and school administrators so they can learn how to teach all subjects and set up stimulating interactive hands on rich learning experiences using nature as the classroom.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture That's what my Science Lab was all about: hands-on activities. It was like PE, Music, and Art. The classes (K-5) would come to my Lab about once a week for about 45 minutes for those hands-on activities. That included the garden. I learned about gardening from books, magazines (like Grit and Mother Earth News), working in my mother's garden every year, and some practice in my own container garden.
Always nice to see more people growing their own foods.. Hopefully most will go back to this. A 100 years ago this was daily life for the average family. Sure we have refrigerators, freezers, and different amenities now. But i believe this is the way God intended for us to live. Makes you appreciate more and thankful for what God has provided.
I love your garden and your gentle and kind thoughts of providing extras for the animals and other people. You are a lovely couple with kind spirits. The world needs people like you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
I loved what Magali said about creating a paradise on their own land. I have kept a vegetable garden on and off for many years. About 4 years ago we decided to Permaculture our property. We truly have created our own small Paradise here and we love it! We would never go back. To live in the middle of all this nature, while being able to grow almost all our own food is fabulous!
Hey Marisa! I'm looking to support families that care for their health through organic ingredients, the things that aren't the easiest to grow ourselves. Would you mind to share some of the things that would be great to pick up at a central location near home? For instance, not having access to oceans, we would need to have a reliable source for natural salt! I'm looking to help educate and provide these to communities throughout the world, anything you're comfortable with sharing will be valued!
Wow, they bought the property in 2019 - absolutely sitting pretty when the pandemic came! The amount of work they do is tremendous. It's also incredible to see how he looks at her - the light and love absolutely shines out from him onto her! That's true partnership, beautiful.
He has more energy than me because I'm not healthy. More money as well. But, after 8 years, my garden is starting to meet all my plant based food needs.
You'd be surprised what can be achieved on a low budget. Living guided by nature, nature guides you, you channel nature, and nature multiplies your abundance. You start with seeds, soil, sun, shade and water, knowing each plant, one at a time, what are their needs. No need for machinery and fuel - that is what is expensive. I've researched how it was done for millennia using our hands and our creativity. I've done this on a balcony, I've done it in a patio garden, on a postage stamp, in school yards. To achieve your dream, all you need is to keep focusing on your dream, keep seeing what you want to achieve. And getting community on board with you. Help other people to see your vision. Teamwork makes dreams come true, and vision, creativity, perserverence, courage, humility and a good sense of humour.
This was tremendously inspiring! It was fascinating to discover the vision of Magali, Stefan and their family. Their combination of tenacity and intelligence impressed, but it was their determination to observe their environment and seek out natural solutions that was most sympathetic. More power to them, bravo!
Congratulations for the achievement of creating a beautiful productive garden. This is such an uplifting video, and I’ve subscribed and am forwarding to friends. Thank you.
Amazing Garden and even more amazing that you are doing this in Canada! - Where the growing season can be much shorter than in more southern locales. (I'm Canadian born and raised, now in southern US.) Growing up my mom had a garden in northwestern ontario, just north of the Minnesota border, and she grew a ton of potatoes, greens, onions, raspberries, beans, but the corn was never able to grow properly. The potatoes were stored and they lasted an entire year.
Thank you! Yes, we are getting a lot of people from Canada and the northern US who come to us with questions or who follow us because they appreciate the opportunity to learn from people doing this in a cooler climate. And we are grateful to Exploring Alternatives for giving us so much of this attention!
I think it would be SO wonderful for his previous students to be able to visit his homestead as a fieldtrip to learn more from their teacher about gardening and permaculture! imagine his knowledge being passed on for future generations to keep up these skills!
You know, you are already free! You don’t need to wait until you have no bills and no mortgage to do this. You are free to start now, on any scale. Even on a balcony or patio! We actually do have a mortgage and some bills. But through our way of life, we have reduced both so that we can earn our living working only part time. You know, in the video, I say I retired from a career in education, but the better word would be I left that career - very early. We still both need to earn money, but as time goes by, the money we earn is more based on our activities here, and less on other types of employment.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture I have started planting in my backyard but I believe in the future, those who will be in more bondage to authorities are those with bills and mortgages as you will have an obligation to pay them .
I’m inspired by this, and there was one important thing I think I needed to hear. I have a “black thumb”, and hearing that the collective unconscious of my ancestors means that I can do this because my body, brain, and DNA already understand how, is a motivator!! I keep trying, with poor results in my containers. I already plan on putting herbs around my house in the spring, as a way to cull things I will use, and increase confidence.
It is for you and others like you that I focus many of my efforts. You can do it. I try to simplify as much as possible. I use nature as guide so nature does the work for you. You start by getting to know a little the plants you grow. What do they need? Do they like always damps soil, or the soil to dry out? Do they like lots of sun, or some shade, and so on. Start one plant at a time, and eventually you will know all that you need! Keep watching the videos, you will see you can do it.
The way he describes being in the garden is how I feel too. I could literally just tool around all day and be perfectly content. I cannot believe all that is on 2+ acres. Thats freaking amazing, such an inspiration for my future gardens. ❤️❤️
Thank you! And you know, our gardens, all told, only take up half an acre, if that. The main one you see in this video is one tenth of an acre, and it is where we grow most of our food.
I'm so happy you enjoyed this video about Willow's Green Permaculture!! And yes it is pretty neat that they are doing all this in Ontario! Thanks for your comment :)
This life is so rewarding that it may be therapeutic to many people who have stressful city lifestyle that is full of anxiety and stress that are mainly related to depression .This is hard rewarding purposeful work that brings joy collective happiness
Amazing! I've been slowly developing a tiny backyard garden with raised beds (our land is terrible, it's all clay) and it's a LOT OF WORK. I've been learning so much from fellow gardeners on youtube and in books that have tried and true methods such as companion planting that helps naturally deter pests. It's a wonderful feeling to harvest and eat your first couple crops and notice what a difference all of your attentive care makes in the end product. Most of my most vital learning experiences has been preventing issues before they hit your garden and decimate the plants, very important.
In South Africa, we eat sorghum as a porridge... it's delicious cooked with water and milk and then when ready add a blob of butter, a swirl of honey and some cream.
Stefan and Magali have created one epic property here I am so impressed with what they can produce on their property for fruits and veggies . Id love to learn about permaculture. So happy they are here in Ontario.. Thanks for introducing us to these folks i am impressed. watching from Ontario, Canada .
This is exactly what I've been trying to build at home and encourage others to do! With this we can become a community again. Let automation do the jobs we dont like, let humans enjoy being creative, ambitious and curious, and get rid of money
Where do you find Wheat seeds? Very nice place you have. I am in zone 9 B, we have about a 1/4 acres, we have bananas, tropical peach, white mulberry, passion fruit, plantains, plus we have about 10 beds, you know, for cabbage, bok Choi, peppers, peas, beans, mangoes. We are happy and greatly grateful. We do like you share with our neighbors, friends, sometimes donations to churches. We can a lot of food for the year, jams. Bless to you both.
Wow! It sounds like you do a great deal with a 1/4 acre! We got our first wheat seeds when wheat started to grow spontaneously out of the straw bales we bought! We got enough to plant a whole bunch the following year. If we wanted to buy lots, we could go to a local feed store. I have bought and tested some from there as well, and it has worked for us.
You're absolutely right! For years I did this while in an apartment. Obviously not on this scale, but every bit counts! I also did small gardens in the city while living there. Had I known better at the time, I would have gotten rid of all of my grass!
How very GREEN is Ontario? Beautiful place, and people! I am trying to create this right now. It has been 3 years on 27 acres, and my garden looks NOTHING like this...yet! Incredible work, as well!
One of my fondest memories of school, I had a lovely lady as a teacher for second grade who taught us how to make tofu (over the years I’ve forgotten) and she also took us in nature hikes, and taught us about the local flora and fauna, with binoculars and little identification books. It was amazing.
For some reason, I just weep at your beautiful story! xo I am also trying to assist those in my own community, turning small-scale city plots into small food forests with a creative vision and some sweat equity, such a gift to all~~~ keep up the great work/mission/vision & education. Earth needs YOU xo
This video was extremely eye opening. I also live in Ontario. I cannot believe how successful this family is in providing for themselves. I hope they write some books to help people like me understand how to do something similar.
WOW this is impressive!! I am disabled & no longer able to work. And not able to do a lot. But our son made me some raised beds, so I will be able to grow somethings this coming spring. You both are a fantastic inspiration to me. My husband is still working full time. So he can only help on his days off.
Thank you! I was also able to get them to bloom and give seed! I collected it and it stayed in our unheated garage all winter. And now, I am growing it from those seeds. It just started sprouting this week in our greenhouse!
Thank you. I find gardening is a bit like painting, woodchips, compost and mulch are the paint brush and the plants are the paint! We love to integrate shapes while imitating nature at the same time.
Thank you both for all you do and have done for young people and gardening. Teachers and administrators are soo important to our youth. I’ll most definitely be watching more of your videos. Peace N Love
This would be my absolute nightmare garden - because of the back problems it would cause. This is impossible to keep as an older person. I would definitely start to build raised garden beds and plant more fruit trees.
Good advice! We have planted many fruit trees. Raised beds are great, but they have their own types of challenges. The way we garden minimizes the need to weed, and so less hard on the back.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture raised beds actually massively decrease the amount of weeds, because the weed seeds and roots have trouble getting up to the height of the raised beds. I have rarely ANY weeds in my raised garden beds. The amount is so low that I can go to the bed once a month, collect a maximum of a bucket full of weed and that's it. Depends on how windy and how high your raised garden beds are though.
@ that’s great. I do like raised beds for those reasons (easier maintenance and easier on the back). They need watering though, either by hand or with an irrigation system. So the initial effort of buying wood, surface burning your wood so it doesn’t rot, setting up a drip irrigation system if you’re lucky through gravity, otherwise with a pump, these are all things I may do. Eventually. You’ve got me thinking about it. 5 years from now, a little older and wiser, I might be thanking you.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture Honestly, I don't know anyong who bothered with burning the wood - although that may be better, I don't know. Never heard of that practice before. I just use regular Earth, a little Perlite and some chunks of hollow Seramis clay spheres for water and nutrient storage. I used regular sticks and grass cuttings from the lawn as filler for the bottom layer. A proper layering probably takes more time, but this method has worked for me for more than 3 years now. an irrigation system is a whole different level of gardening. If you actually plan to be self-sufficient, that is probably the way to go. I live in one of the rainiest if not THE rainiest city in Germany so drainage is more important than watering here. Anyway, your garden already looks gorgeous and I really enjoyed to see how you live and how you are with your garden! I wish you even more success!
"To see it succeed!" This is exactly why I love gardening. Watching these beautiful plants develop from a seed, what was once nearly the size of a grain of sand in my palm, is the most satisfying thing in the world to me.
Not my usual preference, but there’s something very pleasing about the design of their front food garden. A feast for the eyes as well as the belly & soul.
Thanks for watching! You can follow and find out more about Willows Green Permaculture here:
www.youtube.com/@WillowsGreenPermaculture
www.willowsgreenpermaculture.com/
there is an error: youtube doesn't process the Dot at the end of the username as a part of the link(both in the video description and in the comment) Make a note for viewers to make sure that they are adding a dot manually at the end of the url
@@MarRange thank you for letting us know! We haven't seen this issue before (with the dot not being part of the link) but I've changed the link to the following and it seems to work:
www.youtube.com/@WillowsGreenPermaculture./videos
@@ExploringAlternatives thanks to your video they grow the channel by 2k subscribers. I feel like I had a little part in it ;)
Thank you , we are very grateful indeed to Exploring Alternatives, and thank you for this observation!@@MarRange
@WillowsGreenPermaculture. I was joking. Nothing would even happen without your great content and passion! I can't stop looking on the garden from the bird eye view. @@WillowsGreenPermaculture
It's hard to believe this garden is only 3 yrs young, they have done an amazing job. 😊😊
Thank you!
Truly inspiring 😊
Thank you!@@demetrajohnson2245
this is a dream, what a lovely couple
Thank you!
Yeah he likes jungle stuff
Thank you so much to Exploring Alternatives for coming to visit us and for sharing our passion, our story and our message. Being able to connect with so many people through the comments is just so wonderful! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Thank you for the inspiration. We're starting our little homestead in a small village in South Africa and sometimes it is just so overwhelming with all that needs to be done. Fantastic achievements in such a short space of time! I think I may just also grow my beard again 😆
Thank you!@@overberghomesteading
Searchterm "Permaculture Miencraft" yields no Results so unbeliavably but true: no one is using that as a Tool of Visualization or the Improvement and/or Marketing that would come with it
This is such an amazing documentary on your wonderful project. 👏🏼👍🏼❤️
@@garrettpeters3438 merci Garrett!
I always get so excited when I see people growing their own food, using permaculture principles, learning how to work with the land and animals and "pests". I'm very happy to hear of this family right here in Ontario growing so much of their food in their front yard. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story! There is nothing so satisfying as eating what you have grown yourself!
Yes. This is my goal. Grow enough food of different types and raise animals to have my own food.
Searchterm "Permaculture Miencraft" yields no Results so unbeliavably but true: no one is using that as a Tool of Visualization or the Improvement and/or Marketing that would come with it
@janinafisher101
Thank you!
It's wonderful how obvious it is that they were both teachers. From telling us exactly what they were going to do with every vegetable and herb, to how they processed them, even to a drawn representation of the farm, it's awesome! Such a beautiful video.
Thank you! ❤
Growing their own food and sharing the excess with those in need. Very nice people.
Thank you!
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture God bless you both! We need more nature, less manufacturing
@@TheRealBina thank you! You are absolutely right! God bless you too!
I saw this video and started bursting out happy crying after not crying for years. This is my new vision for my life.
That is absolutely wonderful!
I had a similar experience. Extremely eye opening and beautiful
@@chris123chris82I am so glad that our message reaches you so profoundly!
"People can do wonders when they are on the same page"
So true! ❤❤❤
You are so right! ❤
Oh my gosh; you are living my dream. My husband and I lived with my husband's Mother and Sister for 9 months, before we moved. My Sister In Law lives on a beautiful property with a fenced in garden area that she had never developed. So I went in and cleared out the massuve blackberry bushes and weeds, added manuer, and then tilled it. My dream was to have a pesticide free garden. The garden grew like crazy and was so productive we had enough for our 3 Daughter's and their families as well. I really need to get back to an area where we can have our own homestead and enough to share as you do. Your family is a beautiful inspiration. Thank you so much for sharing your journey!!!
Thank you!
Living off the land is truly admirable and inspiring!
People can do wonders when they are on the same page. Wonderful couple 😊
Thank you!
Such an adorable couple. So very happy for them. 💜
Thank you!
This is one of the best videos I've seen for raising your own! I'm 73 and disabled, but I can still DO something, just not as much as I used to do. Thanks for the inspiration ❤
Thank you!
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture i"m now a subscriber for your channel!
That's fantastic! Welcome to Willows Green Permaculture. Don't hesitate to ask questions in the comments! @@SpecialSP
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture I will ask, indeed! How else do I learn?
It's amazing to see people producing such a large percentage of their food without being in an area where year-round gardening is possible!
Yeah, I would take that 90% figure with a grain of salt. I grew up in a Romanian village and we were pretty self sufficient. But we were nowhere near 90%. You still have to trade or buy basics like bread and such.
@@Wordsalad69420 They are vegan and vegans are amazing gardeners~!
You can also use microclimate science to extend the growing season! Isn't that neat?
This is all around beautfiul....but omg what a gorgeous couple!!! 🥰
Thank you! ❤
I LOVE THIS FAMILY! They even plant food for the wildlife 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🙏🏽
Thank you!
I was an elementary school teacher for 25 years, 20 of them at one school. 10 of those years I was my school's Science Lab Teacher.
For the last few years there, I got a grant for and installed a raised bed garden in an unused area of the grounds. We had tomatoes, bell peppers, squash, eggplant, zucchini, onions, green beans, basil, and blueberries. I also planted marigolds to act as an insect repellent for the garden.
The garden was mostly for the Kindergarten and 1st Grade kids because they study plants (and animals) more than the other grades. In fact, those kids helped me plant the seedlings into the raised beds. But the garden wasn't just for them.
I gave all of the teachers ideas about how they could use the garden for their students: to teach measurement (as the plants grow), to write stories about the plants and insects, to learn how farmers grow food to sell (as well as for their own families), different plant groups/families, to learn how raw fruits and vegetables become the foods they're familiar with (ketchup, salsa, pickles, green bean casserole, etc.), etc.
I also arranged for a dairy cow to visit the school every other year so that Kindergarten and 1st Grade could see how cows are milked. The cow came in a trailer with a miniature milking machine. The kids were thrilled to be able to check out a real cow and ask questions about her.
I did this because kids today think food comes from stores, without realizing that it originally comes from farms.
What a great idea - more elementary schools should consider these kind of initiatives. It's so good to teach kids not just the origin of the food they eat, but also to inspire a deeper connection to the environment and the climate they live in, not to mention the health benefits of gardening. There are so many benefits.
I do training conferences for teachers and school administrators so they can learn how to teach all subjects and set up stimulating interactive hands on rich learning experiences using nature as the classroom.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture
That's what my Science Lab was all about: hands-on activities.
It was like PE, Music, and Art. The classes (K-5) would come to my Lab about once a week for about 45 minutes for those hands-on activities. That included the garden.
I learned about gardening from books, magazines (like Grit and Mother Earth News), working in my mother's garden every year, and some practice in my own container garden.
Always nice to see more people growing their own foods.. Hopefully most will go back to this. A 100 years ago this was daily life for the average family. Sure we have refrigerators, freezers, and different amenities now. But i believe this is the way God intended for us to live. Makes you appreciate more and thankful for what God has provided.
Thank you!
What a beautiful place- kudos with just a slight tinge of envy
I love your garden and your gentle and kind thoughts of providing extras for the animals and other people. You are a lovely couple with kind spirits. The world needs people like you. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
Thank you!
I loved what Magali said about creating a paradise on their own land. I have kept a vegetable garden on and off for many years. About 4 years ago we decided to Permaculture our property. We truly have created our own small Paradise here and we love it! We would never go back. To live in the middle of all this nature, while being able to grow almost all our own food is fabulous!
Hey Marisa! I'm looking to support families that care for their health through organic ingredients, the things that aren't the easiest to grow ourselves. Would you mind to share some of the things that would be great to pick up at a central location near home? For instance, not having access to oceans, we would need to have a reliable source for natural salt! I'm looking to help educate and provide these to communities throughout the world, anything you're comfortable with sharing will be valued!
@@camerondavis2565 I am keen to hear more about this. Looking to do this in Kenya
This Video isn't just about gardening, but also about life
Thank you! This means very much to us! ❤
I love this!! Beautiful and incredibly productive!
Thank you!
Beautiful couple on a beautiful homestead doing beautiful things.
Thank you!
Wow, they bought the property in 2019 - absolutely sitting pretty when the pandemic came! The amount of work they do is tremendous. It's also incredible to see how he looks at her - the light and love absolutely shines out from him onto her! That's true partnership, beautiful.
Thank you!
Amazing what they have done in 3.5 years!!!
That's why I like living in area surrounded by nature where you can grow your own food. It's peaceful and good for mental health.
This is highly impressive. A true labor of love. I cannot believe how much they have done in three short years.
Thank you!
we're at about 25% of our food but I want this! thank you for posting this!
Stefan and Magali are totally INSPIRATIONAL! Thank you, Exploring Alternatives for sharing their story, 👍and greetings from central Mexico.
¡Muchísimas gracias! ¡Saludos de Ontario! ¡Viví en Oaxaca mucho tiempo!
He has more energy than me because I'm not healthy. More money as well.
But, after 8 years, my garden is starting to meet all my plant based food needs.
You'd be surprised what can be achieved on a low budget. Living guided by nature, nature guides you, you channel nature, and nature multiplies your abundance. You start with seeds, soil, sun, shade and water, knowing each plant, one at a time, what are their needs. No need for machinery and fuel - that is what is expensive. I've researched how it was done for millennia using our hands and our creativity. I've done this on a balcony, I've done it in a patio garden, on a postage stamp, in school yards. To achieve your dream, all you need is to keep focusing on your dream, keep seeing what you want to achieve. And getting community on board with you. Help other people to see your vision. Teamwork makes dreams come true, and vision, creativity, perserverence, courage, humility and a good sense of humour.
Completely in love with her accent.
This would be my long term goal is achieving a high percentage of self produced food
Beautiful garden. 😊
Thank you!
This was tremendously inspiring! It was fascinating to discover the vision of Magali, Stefan and their family. Their combination of tenacity and intelligence impressed, but it was their determination to observe their environment and seek out natural solutions that was most sympathetic. More power to them, bravo!
Thank you!
Congratulations for the achievement of creating a beautiful productive garden. This is such an uplifting video, and I’ve subscribed and am forwarding to friends.
Thank you.
We are so happy you enjoyed the video! Thank you for subscribing and sharing it with your friends :)
Amazing Garden and even more amazing that you are doing this in Canada! - Where the growing season can be much shorter than in more southern locales. (I'm Canadian born and raised, now in southern US.) Growing up my mom had a garden in northwestern ontario, just north of the Minnesota border, and she grew a ton of potatoes, greens, onions, raspberries, beans, but the corn was never able to grow properly. The potatoes were stored and they lasted an entire year.
Thank you! Yes, we are getting a lot of people from Canada and the northern US who come to us with questions or who follow us because they appreciate the opportunity to learn from people doing this in a cooler climate. And we are grateful to Exploring Alternatives for giving us so much of this attention!
This is absolutely amazing! Thank you all so much for bringing it to us.
Thanks you, we were so happy to share their homesteading story :)
90% self sufficiency is amazing. congratulations on all your hard work
Thank you!
Living the dream, amazing work.
Thank you for the insight.
You're very welcome! Thanks for your comment, happy you enjoyed checking out this amazing homestead :)
Not only it’s genius, it’s beautifully laid out and you made gardening enjoyable
Thank you! ❤
I think it would be SO wonderful for his previous students to be able to visit his homestead as a fieldtrip to learn more from their teacher about gardening and permaculture! imagine his knowledge being passed on for future generations to keep up these skills!
Those visits would be welcome, and we have sent out invitations. Definitely something in the works.
What a beautiful family and a marvellous homestead! You can really see the passion oozing out of each word, wish them much success!
Thank you!
Wonderful! It's amazing how much food we can grow in a modest-sized garden. 👍😎🇨🇦🕊🌎 Thanks for this video.
The meals you make from your gardens must be incredible 🙂
Yes! 😊
This is true freedom...no bills, no mortgage, food security...Lord help me and my husband is acquire these blessings as soon as well
You know, you are already free! You don’t need to wait until you have no bills and no mortgage to do this. You are free to start now, on any scale. Even on a balcony or patio!
We actually do have a mortgage and some bills. But through our way of life, we have reduced both so that we can earn our living working only part time. You know, in the video, I say I retired from a career in education, but the better word would be I left that career - very early. We still both need to earn money, but as time goes by, the money we earn is more based on our activities here, and less on other types of employment.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture I have started planting in my backyard but I believe in the future, those who will be in more bondage to authorities are those with bills and mortgages as you will have an obligation to pay them .
@@shevonking1737 Yes, I certainly won't argue with you there. We want to have done with ours as soon as possible!
they don’t pay bills? why do you say that?
I’m inspired by this, and there was one important thing I think I needed to hear. I have a “black thumb”, and hearing that the collective unconscious of my ancestors means that I can do this because my body, brain, and DNA already understand how, is a motivator!! I keep trying, with poor results in my containers. I already plan on putting herbs around my house in the spring, as a way to cull things I will use, and increase confidence.
It is for you and others like you that I focus many of my efforts. You can do it. I try to simplify as much as possible. I use nature as guide so nature does the work for you. You start by getting to know a little the plants you grow. What do they need? Do they like always damps soil, or the soil to dry out? Do they like lots of sun, or some shade, and so on. Start one plant at a time, and eventually you will know all that you need! Keep watching the videos, you will see you can do it.
The way he describes being in the garden is how I feel too. I could literally just tool around all day and be perfectly content. I cannot believe all that is on 2+ acres. Thats freaking amazing, such an inspiration for my future gardens. ❤️❤️
Thank you! And you know, our gardens, all told, only take up half an acre, if that. The main one you see in this video is one tenth of an acre, and it is where we grow most of our food.
Beautiful ❤
Thank you!
Thank you for posting this, its great to see fellow Canadians ( in Ontario) making this lifestyle work.
I'm so happy you enjoyed this video about Willow's Green Permaculture!! And yes it is pretty neat that they are doing all this in Ontario! Thanks for your comment :)
Thank you!
I love it, so proud of you guy's 🇨🇦🙏☮️🌄
Thank you!
This life is so rewarding that it may be therapeutic to many people who have stressful city lifestyle that is full of anxiety and stress that are mainly related to depression .This is hard rewarding purposeful work that brings joy collective happiness
Thank you. You are very right.
This is my absolute strongest desire. Love this so much!
What a wonderful garden!
Thank you!
Thank you so much for sharing!
This couple and their shared vision are SO INSPIRING! Teachers and permaculturalists. I would love to have neighbours like you. All in 3 years!
Thank you!
It's the kind of work that I desire to do. It's wonderful.
Their advice on planting and plant care is specific and highly reliable
Thank you!
Amazing! I've been slowly developing a tiny backyard garden with raised beds (our land is terrible, it's all clay) and it's a LOT OF WORK. I've been learning so much from fellow gardeners on youtube and in books that have tried and true methods such as companion planting that helps naturally deter pests. It's a wonderful feeling to harvest and eat your first couple crops and notice what a difference all of your attentive care makes in the end product. Most of my most vital learning experiences has been preventing issues before they hit your garden and decimate the plants, very important.
That's fantastic!
Thank you for showing us that we can do this..
Thanks for checking out the video! We were also very impressed with what they accomplished on their property and we're so happy to share their work :)
Thank you!
Stefan, im so.gpad you passed this precious knowledge to the younger greenstone before you retired!
Thank you!
Amazing! Farming truly connects us to nature and where our food comes from. 13:01 thanks for sharing 🎉
Thank you!
In South Africa, we eat sorghum as a porridge... it's delicious cooked with water and milk and then when ready add a blob of butter, a swirl of honey and some cream.
Do you make it from the whole grain, or the flour?
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture from the flour
@@tracyleearmbruster4170 thank you!
@@tracyleearmbruster4170 I have several videos about the sorghum we grow here. I don’t recall talking about it in this video. 😊
It’s beautiful, I pray to have a garden like this so I can source my own food.
Stefan and Magali have created one epic property here I am so impressed with what they can produce on their property for fruits and veggies . Id love to learn about permaculture. So happy they are here in Ontario.. Thanks for introducing us to these folks i am impressed. watching from Ontario, Canada .
Thank you!
"When you grow your own garden, it grows you." ~T.F. Hodge
Love that! So true!
Im so glad they are offering knowledge for us on how to do this!!!! Thank you for highlighting them. 💚💚💚
You are so welcome! Thanks for checking out the video :)
Thanks for inspiring our lives
You’re welcome
Such an inspiration for gardeners and food security.
Thank you!
This is exactly what I've been trying to build at home and encourage others to do! With this we can become a community again. Let automation do the jobs we dont like, let humans enjoy being creative, ambitious and curious, and get rid of money
Just great detailed work, working on the same in Birmingham Alabama
You guys are living our dream! It is our goal to live like you guys! Will surely subscribe to your channel.
Thank you!
This was excellent. Our goal for our new 5 acres. Hello fellow Ontarians. 🌱💚 Incredible work you have done and are doing.
Thank you!
Nice work, obviously highly motivated and hard working people!
Thank you!
Where do you find Wheat seeds? Very nice place you have. I am in zone 9 B, we have about a 1/4 acres, we have bananas, tropical peach, white mulberry, passion fruit, plantains, plus we have about 10 beds, you know, for cabbage, bok Choi, peppers, peas, beans, mangoes. We are happy and greatly grateful. We do like you share with our neighbors, friends, sometimes donations to churches. We can a lot of food for the year, jams. Bless to you both.
Wow! It sounds like you do a great deal with a 1/4 acre! We got our first wheat seeds when wheat started to grow spontaneously out of the straw bales we bought! We got enough to plant a whole bunch the following year. If we wanted to buy lots, we could go to a local feed store. I have bought and tested some from there as well, and it has worked for us.
It’s amazing to see what is possible. We can all do something like this even in our cities
You're absolutely right! For years I did this while in an apartment. Obviously not on this scale, but every bit counts! I also did small gardens in the city while living there. Had I known better at the time, I would have gotten rid of all of my grass!
How very GREEN is Ontario? Beautiful place, and people! I am trying to create this right now. It has been 3 years on 27 acres, and my garden looks NOTHING like this...yet! Incredible work, as well!
Thank you!
One of my fondest memories of school, I had a lovely lady as a teacher for second grade who taught us how to make tofu (over the years I’ve forgotten) and she also took us in nature hikes, and taught us about the local flora and fauna, with binoculars and little identification books. It was amazing.
Wonderful!
Beautiful property, very inspiring.
It really is! Thanks for your comment :)
WOW!!! What an amazing lifestyle and homestead!! Thank you for sharing. So inspiring.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for checking out the homestead :)
Wow! I love what this family has done, and that they are using all the food preservation methods, not just one or two.
Thank you!
For some reason, I just weep at your beautiful story! xo I am also trying to assist those in my own community, turning small-scale city plots into small food forests with a creative vision and some sweat equity, such a gift to all~~~ keep up the great work/mission/vision & education. Earth needs YOU xo
Thank you!
This video was extremely eye opening. I also live in Ontario. I cannot believe how successful this family is in providing for themselves. I hope they write some books to help people like me understand how to do something similar.
WOW this is impressive!!
I am disabled & no longer able to work. And not able to do a lot. But our son made me some raised beds, so I will be able to grow somethings this coming spring.
You both are a fantastic inspiration to me. My husband is still working full time. So he can only help on his days off.
For decades, while I worked full time, the garden was a real stress reliever and soul healer.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture I believe that. It has helped me so much.
Nature regenerates us in so many ways@@georgeingridirwin6180
Beautiful!
I was so surprised to see malabar spinach. I didn’t think they’d survive temperate climates.
Thank you! I was also able to get them to bloom and give seed! I collected it and it stayed in our unheated garage all winter. And now, I am growing it from those seeds. It just started sprouting this week in our greenhouse!
Beautiful and inspirational. Think I'll go work in the garden.
lovely couple and a lovely lifestyle!
I love the set up the circular pattern really makes me happy. 👍🏻
Thank you. I find gardening is a bit like painting, woodchips, compost and mulch are the paint brush and the plants are the paint! We love to integrate shapes while imitating nature at the same time.
This is what we want to achieve one day soon!!
That’s great. You can start anytime, on any scale!
Thank you both for all you do and have done for young people and gardening. Teachers and administrators are soo important to our youth.
I’ll most definitely be watching more of your videos.
Peace N Love
Thank you!
Wonderful job and lifestyle together. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful homestead with all of us.
Thank you!
Truly amazing. Lovely people.
Thank you!
Beautiful. ❤
90%? That's awesome.
Thanks for sharing.
It's beautiful
Thank you!
This would be my absolute nightmare garden - because of the back problems it would cause. This is impossible to keep as an older person. I would definitely start to build raised garden beds and plant more fruit trees.
Good advice! We have planted many fruit trees. Raised beds are great, but they have their own types of challenges. The way we garden minimizes the need to weed, and so less hard on the back.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture raised beds actually massively decrease the amount of weeds, because the weed seeds and roots have trouble getting up to the height of the raised beds. I have rarely ANY weeds in my raised garden beds. The amount is so low that I can go to the bed once a month, collect a maximum of a bucket full of weed and that's it. Depends on how windy and how high your raised garden beds are though.
@ that’s great. I do like raised beds for those reasons (easier maintenance and easier on the back). They need watering though, either by hand or with an irrigation system. So the initial effort of buying wood, surface burning your wood so it doesn’t rot, setting up a drip irrigation system if you’re lucky through gravity, otherwise with a pump, these are all things I may do. Eventually. You’ve got me thinking about it. 5 years from now, a little older and wiser, I might be thanking you.
@@WillowsGreenPermaculture Honestly, I don't know anyong who bothered with burning the wood - although that may be better, I don't know. Never heard of that practice before. I just use regular Earth, a little Perlite and some chunks of hollow Seramis clay spheres for water and nutrient storage. I used regular sticks and grass cuttings from the lawn as filler for the bottom layer. A proper layering probably takes more time, but this method has worked for me for more than 3 years now.
an irrigation system is a whole different level of gardening. If you actually plan to be self-sufficient, that is probably the way to go. I live in one of the rainiest if not THE rainiest city in Germany so drainage is more important than watering here.
Anyway, your garden already looks gorgeous and I really enjoyed to see how you live and how you are with your garden! I wish you even more success!
@@Carbonclusterthank you very much!
Great job working with the land and growing as much food as possible for the family organically!🌿
Thank you!
"To see it succeed!" This is exactly why I love gardening. Watching these beautiful plants develop from a seed, what was once nearly the size of a grain of sand in my palm, is the most satisfying thing in the world to me.
8:13
Thank you!
That was inspiring. I am slowly working towards that. I grow a lot of our food but hope someday to grow a lot more if possible.
Thanks my garden is cared for with the same objectives, its almost spring so I’m ready for level up the permaculture in my garden :).
That’s fantastic!
Not my usual preference, but there’s something very pleasing about the design of their front food garden. A feast for the eyes as well as the belly & soul.
Thank you!