Awesome! Been working out where mine will go, and I’ve got all the pieces (knowledge-wise) now. Again, wish I had me one of them Juans; that guy’s awesome!
I tried similar with some boxes about 6 inches high, and dropped in some peach seeds. They grew but needed transplanting as the boxes were way too small. Then popped in some apricot and almond seeds. I now have 60 fruit seedlings for very little investment, a couple of bags of compost. I will be saving a lot more seed this year and doing this again, but using pallet collars which can be stacked easily for extra height.
Huge fan of your channel. You inspired me. My neighbor is horrible at maintaining his yard. I've always cut what abuts my property, and sometimes more when he really lets it go. He and I spoke a bit over the weekend. I offered to cut his grass if I could use some of his backyard for planting beds. He was more than happy to give up any yard responsibilities. I cleared a bed of grass with a broad fork and planted some tomatoes and zucchini. While mulching my planting bed, I pulled what I thought was a weed but was actually a walnut. The tap root was still in tact so I went over to Dan's yard and planted it. Thank you for the inspiration, motivation and education.
I can't thank you enough for all the wonderful lessons you've thought me over the past year .I grow. apple. orange .lemon. hazelnuts. Fig .avocado. all from seed and I'm adding to my plant collection every week .hopefully I will have a food forest here in Ireland one day and you have helped me achieve that .so not only are you helping biodiversity in America you are doing it here in Ireland and across the world . Thank you so much .Best wishes to you and your subscribers .
Fantastic information, had not thought of using this kind of setup for sunflowers. Would save me a lot of frustration with my massive local squirrel population. Thank you.
I happened upon your amaranth harvesting video yesterday and I think it's what I need for a little part of our yard that is going feral to the chagrin of the neighbors. I ordered two large packs of seeds and I'm hoping they outcompete the dandelions (we only need so much dandelion tea) and create some kind of pleasing visual that will also be edible by September. Your station is like therapy - thank you so much!
Dandelions are indicative of compacted soil, and Amaranth likes well-draining soil, so if you want fast results, it might help to manually decompact the soil first. Or wait for the dandelions to do their work
CorwynGC Ooo good note. We have very hard clay soil and since we quit True Green three years ago the clover and dandelions have been prolific. Good food for thought… It's on a southern-facing slope that has lots of old wood chips, but now I'm thinking about what else we might sprinkle on top before the seeds arrive...
I do recall reading something about them preferring well-draining soil, and I hoped the slope might be drainage enough, but they will certainly get plenty of water. Four of us neighbors in a row are sort of stair-stepped from highest on the north to lowest on the south and we can hear the water trickle through everybody's yards all the time. (We are second-highest in elevation.)
@@heather5189 If you can hear the water it isn't soaking in enough. You might consider adding swales to slow it down, and encourage it to soak in. Be sure to tell your down-slope neighbors, if you do, as it will reduce their water for a time, and then it will Increase it from below. This will reduce an droughts you might experience.
It's clear that you've been making incremental improvements with these since the first few (how many years back?). I've got seven of them up and planted now, with a range of things from seaberry and maple to a "special" Kale grex, lavendar. I'm throwing them together from sawmilling offcuts and plywood that was forms for pouring our foundation. Mine are examples of just how totally slapdash these things can be and still work fine for the plants ;) Another couple of years and I'll be copying these from you :)
I've made 8 beds with recycled pallets, pallet frames and wire mesh. Seeded them out in the fall with the dry pulp from pressing apples, pears, quince and plums. All leftover from our cider production. Will be planting them out this fall.
@@ReadBoutGarvey Worked great. Two pallet frames (40 cm) was a good size. Didn't need the wire mesh on top in the end, as we have fenced off the property. So no deer pressure. And cats are keeping the rodents away. Was easy to get the trees out intact and reassemble the bed for next year.
This is so incredible and even more inspiring! I can not wait to have the space to set up a few boxes like this (along with a chicken system that is heavily inspired by what you do)! You continue to be my favorite permaculture channel by far, and I will continue to watch and love every video you put out.
Okay, I'm 2 minutes in and this is an idea that I've had before, but I never considered the root prune part of it. This is an excellent video with excellent information! I'm so glad I found your channel! I would love to have you on my show,( comrades in farms) as a guest to discuss permaculture and farming and gardening in general if you would be interested. Either way, thank you so much for the knowledge!
Thank you for posting this. I will be gathering as much seed as possible this fall and will start some of these boxes next spring. I want to fill my new property with trees over the next 10 years or so. This will be a big help!
One suggestion: On the short edge batons, if you rip them at a slight angle (~80°), and attach them with the smaller side facing in, I find it easier to pick up. Knocking off the sharp edge with a block plane help as well. Great concept, need to make some for me. (and then find a source for hundreds of tree seeds).
Thank you. I don't currently have plans to start a nursery, but I want to grow a coppice system for firewood on 3/4 acres. This will be handy with some seed from the local oaks, ash, alder, birch, et al.
Thank you for sharing the art of the possible and a huge slice of inspirational fuel for the fire! Your work, both at home and here on TH-cam, is adding value to the world. Your videos are like seeds being planted and growing to magnificent fruition the world over. Here in the Highlands of Scotland your work is reaching out and speaking to us and so then on to friends and neighbours from there. Besides loving these air prune boxes and beautifully simple predictor protection cages we are slowly growing systems that work for us locally based on so many of these 'idea seeds' we've enjoyed from other videos! Thank you so much for your generous nature and soul to inspire and help others. P. S. We take delivery later this week of wine cap spawn to start our first fungal beds thanks to your previous excellent and inspirational videos (all of which I've been excitedly re-watching today). The local nursery was kind enough to gift us some mushrooms when we went to order and pay for our spawn today, they tasted sensational fried with onions and bacon and served up on toast! We can't wait to taste our own 'first fruits'. Keep up the amazing work, it is truly appreciated. 👍 🏴
Thank you for this. I'm looking to grow hickory and oak and have been getting some nice pots but this has inspired me to do some bare root stock. Not selling but just giving these plants away. I've already set up for a similar setup for holding seed trays for cold sowing native wild flowers but I'm gonna make some of these also since it's the same materials and design.
Nice one. Built my first proper air pruning box today into an existing structure. Built a 4 foot x 20 foot x 3 foot high bed ages ago for composting poultry bedding & have converted it to half a firewood store & half air pruning beds. I have some downy birch to start off with but, will be sowing hazel in there this autumn. Great to see your setups & how you've been doing it. 👍 PS. We're lucky, no squirrels or chipmunks. Just voles & mice & roe deer so, going to forgo the top cages. Will mesh the tops until the hazel germinates & let rip!
WoW! I'm more of a generalist. I find seeds to trees I like and stick them in the ground that has good environment for it and walk away, kinda like a 🐿 squirrel or Johnny Appleseed. Used to be festival in his honor in Ohio, one of the places I learned love of trees and planting. // Your approach above has served you well and you have improved it with this iteration majestically! // I found the box the last shipment came in with Sasha's hand, heart, and artful address label!❤Does my heart good. And I feared the Senna wasn't going to come back, but I went out this morning, and it seems to have shot up overnight! HooRay! Thank You! 🙏
Nice job! I've been doing similar things in my yard to protect stuff from my chickens and the squirrels. This great design will pay off for years to come!
Literally working on something like this now and wasn’t even looking for this video but I’m glad it popped up. Having field mice issues here in the NE Arizona Mountains(new home). Will be doing this same mesh as a garden bed cover but maybe even as small as the 1/4 inch. Still configuring lids for them to access the veggies but I’m glad there are others thinking along the same line. Best!
This is beautiful, look at them numbers, your view of things on multi- levels is just so awesome, very informative and love the video as always. Helpful pest deterrent ideas and beautiful garden ideas, such a vision!!! Thanks for sharing, much appreciated!
Fascinating! Thank you for showing the build. It looks like one year's production from one box potentially pays for the production of 10 boxes even if you don't get a great deal on lumber and considering time and energy of the build plus attention throughout the year.
Amazing! So when these plants get to a few feet tall, you can just pull them from the soil to repot them, and that degree of disturbance wont kill them?
Great video thanks a lot ! I was wondering what are your thoughts on cold stratification of seeds directly in the air pruning bed during winter? We are in Québec (4a) and we tried that last fall, mostly for walnuts and oaks. We cover them with lots of mulch and so are starting to wake up to this date. Hope to have your insights on that technique!
What were your findings on if you needed the top layer of mesh to keep the critters out? We'll be building our lids for the DSA eco group in the next 2 months
Asking a question about my environment bouncing around in my head as I watch, Is there a sacrifice of drought tolerance in the long term for trees grown this way? Mesquite, moringa, palo verde, etc etc. I love this idea from the benefits of temporary movable and modular, and wonder if that tap root will continue to grow at later stages in the trees life (seeking the deeper moisture table).
It seems to be a net positive all the way around in this system... That said, if you have a chance to plant directly where you want the trees to grow and never move them that would be definitely the very very best...
Those boxes are cool. I feel sorry for you having to work with all that hardware cloth! That stuff is such a pain to cut and bend like that. Great work!
What a wonderfully efficient use of space! I'd be leery of putting almost anything directly under power/phone lines and especially right around the pole, though. Utility companies can get real persnickety about that if ever they need to do maintenance or address an emergency like a blown transformer or downed line. There's likely a legal right-of-way agreement in the deed giving them full access to that space, and if they have to back a truck up to it or something, they may not be very friendly about it. By which I mean, they might just smash the hell out of your boxes to get at the pole. The last time a utility worker was on my property he bragged about how much he enjoyed driving plumb through locked gates and knocking stuff down, because there's really nothing the landowner can do about it. That's just one rare person with a bad attitude, but legally... he was right. Check with the local utility company and they should let you know how much space they require for access.
Hello, Can you explain your sources of how these air prune trees have done longer term? What sources point to "air pruning is better than potting" (with circular root pattern)? It seems like it would be better intuitively, but I know of plenty counter-intuitive instances. It obviously seems that planting seed in its forever home is best, but there are obvious benefits with keeping the tree mobile for the first year or 2. Keep up the awesome videos!
I'm not sure about explaining sources... But I can say after 6 or more years of growing seedling trees for their first year in this context that it is amazing how good of a root development you can get. I haven't tried them 2 years in the same box, so who knows, but taprooted and nut trees in particular do VERY well in this context and are worth exploring a bit
I envy your setup and I mean the whole thing not just the air pruned boxes. Here in France, nurseries are heavily controlled and it's almost impossible to legitimately set up as a small human-scale operation. Is it as controlled and difficult in the States? Did you have to have horticultural or nurseryman qualifications in order to set up your business?
Same here in Germany, in the EU all sold plants need passports now. This is supposed to be security for the buyer regarding illnesses, but really I think it is about discouraging small scale growers and their diversity. I’m hopeful that someday in the future it will be easier for us to start such a small nursery, too.
I lived in Texas for 16 years and there were no requirements or restrictions to sell plants, as far as I could tell. The only regulation I can even think of is that certain species can’t be imported because they're invasive.
It can be difficult to enter the commercial market without proper licensing and department of agriculture inspections. Staying private will allow you to get around these things but don’t expect to be supplying nurseries or landscaping companies or construction projects.
If you have access and are allowed too, scrap yards (it’s like being a kid in a toy store) are great around where I live to buy unwanted wire fence, screen, metals poles, rods, you name it, only dollars for unlimited amounts
There is no Universal answer I can offer you around seed density but on average a 2 ft by 4 ft air prune box may have as few as 100 seedlings and as many as 300 depending on species
Oh wow I’d love to have walnut seeds and hickory seeds to grow like this! Do you have suggestion as to where I can get? Also I love using soil blocks for the air pruning advantages so this is right up my alley! Thank you!
We collect from trees in our area. Super abundant in the fall. I bet there are trees of various types you could collect from where you are in the fall?
In our case we collect from local trees, but there are places like Burnt Ridge Nursery that has tree seeds as well as Sheffields Seeds and many other options out there online...
A few days ago you asked us members what we would like to see in a Q&A going forward, and I think I'm not the only one who would love one dedicated to Air prune boxes! I think it would be invaluable for a lot of people. And having tried to build one, and failing miserably lol, I know for certain there are mistakes. Btw, I only criticize myself here - I was lazy and a cheap skate (albeit with very little funds). Maybe such a Q&A could revolve around a few themes. One theme might be what you should NOT be cheap/lazy about (and vice versa). I tried to use chicken netting and that was hell on earth :D. So that's one thing - get the right kind. What are pros/cons of big boxes vs small ones, who needs the bigger ones and when are they needed? Do they need to be 2 feet etc. About the caps: Do they need to be 100% tight? How often do critters try and get inside through the mesh? Are there ways to deter them if the caps aren't "perfect"? Can we use smells? Maybe blood meal? In these tough times, I think a huge issue is cost - so what are possible shortcuts that produce good ENOUGH boxes. I found one that might work - an old hamster cage. The cage is already there and now it's just about drilling holes in the bottom. However, it's just 1 foot high so... yeah, there is no shortage of questions on this topic :). Again: This is not criticism aimed at you, the directions you provide are very clear!
I think this makes a lot of sense and will definitely be something I plan to do this winter. Lots of great questions here and a lot to cover. Good suggestion and keep an eye out for when I schedule that...
howdy, one idea that came to mind, to save money, is of course re-use. it occurs that places like older farmers, or well the apts i work at, we end up with spare wire cloth. maybe put an ad on craigslist asking for free mesh material, you might be surprised. when we built a studio apt, we gave away almost all the 'junk'... from chunks of concrete to garage doors...
Have you grown any creeping thyme in your herb garden area by chance? If so, can we get a video of how that is doing for you? Creeping Thyme in particular is an herb but sure looks nice as a ground cover as well...
You can certainly just start selling and see what comes of it. We got a NYS nursery license, it is $50 a year but I don't see a reason why you have to formalize that before you begin trying :)
Hey man, quick question for you....have you ever planted sprouted chestnuts and hazelnuts in an air prune bed, then got a freeze shortly afterwards?? And if so, how did they end up sprouting afterwards? We're about to get a night down to 22 degrees and I've already planted sprouted seed in mine, no stems yet, just the radicle. Thanks as always for your feedback!
We are experiencing that scenario right now and will be documenting how it all works. Should be pretty reasonable to not worry a lot. Hedge your bets and Bank some mulch like hey around the boxes to reduce air getting under the boxes. You could wrap one or two boxes in scrap plastic if you were really concerned to make a micro greenhouse. But both hazelnut and Chestnut are pretty darn strong. just make sure they are thoroughly mulched in the seat bed so the cold doesn't penetrate down. Good luck!
Yeah I've been thinking about doing all of that, but it's good to hear it from a trusted source! Thanks for the info. Also I suppose I could have just waited a few hours to ask since I just saw your new video where you discuss this exact issue! Good luck with yours as well @@edibleacres
at around ~9:20 in the video you showed Leo putting the box in the truckbed and there was tool that looked like scissors. Can you drop a link to that tool because I would like to get one.
Question: over ripe wild berries I pick to eat can be put in these boxes to sprout & grow out through the summer? I'm interest in the cane & bush varieties that I'll take cuttings from (at appropriate time).
Hey Sean, what is your soil mix ratio you recommend now for your air prune boxes? You have the muck, then perlite and two versions of compost. Equal parts mixed?
We are learning we prefer ideally as good a soil as we can for the whole thing! Aged wood chips at the bottom to keep it in and provide moisture retention and then rich balanced soil all through is best it seems with perlite as needed..
Air prune boxes complete I will IM you on Facebook the photos not as tidy as yours but should last long enough for me to fill my property with beautiful trees. Thank you
Great video! Could you put chestnuts and pawpaws in air pruning boxes in the fall? I see you put them in a tote in the ground until spring,, I live in zone 7b thanks
I think your winter is most likely mild enough to say yes to that idea. Chestnut for sure, paw paw is reasonable. Perhaps saving some seed in reserve stored cool and moist in a root cellar or similar is prudent
Yep... We co-plant with our garlic crop in an open field, I've talked about it in some past videos... Here's one: th-cam.com/video/KIh6c_ezuCY/w-d-xo.html Fall planting of tree seeds when intercropped with garlic seems like quite a promising approach to consider. This is not in an air prune context, by the way...
@@edibleacres understood. I was considering planting air prune beds to overwinter with pine shavings for mulch and surrounding the bed with bags of shavings for insulation and then covering everything with white plastic over the cages, but I chickened out for fear of loosing too many chestnuts. I live in zone 5a so it gets cold here.
i noticed that some of your walnuts looked like they hadn't started germinating, as in they didn't show evidence of a taproot emerging. Will they germinate in the warm weather after winter stratification or are you rolling the dice to see what will happen? Does this work with all nut or fruit species or are there exceptions? i have many walnut, butternut and hazelnut in refrigeration and only some of the chestnuts are showing sure signs of producing their roots so far. cheers!
We try to prioritize planting seeds JUST as they are showing that they are waking up, but sometimes we have a window to get a lot more planted so we do. The walnuts take a while to wake up so we hedged our bets and planted before seeing a root, I think we had maybe 50-80 percent pop from that...
I understand that it probably varies per species and variety, but roughly how long can tree seedlings live in a system like this? Can they live (healthily) in air pruning boxes longer than a year? thanks
It definitely depends on the species, but I think a good universal idea is to plan to grow trees for a single year in this context. You would plan to harvest them in the fall and plant them out or sell them, or heel them in for the winter. Extremely hearty plants like hazelnuts as an example can grow a second year in an air prune box, but I wouldn't push it for most species.
Question for Sean or the community: The maple trees in our hedgerow have produced a bumper crop of seedlings, many of which have seeded in the farmers field who will till later this week and dump pesticides. There are thousands of seedlings taken root. My app identifier is calling them "black maples" which I assume could be hybridized black and sugar. Question being, is it worth my time to save as many as I can, put them in air pruned beds and try to market them? I don't know if there is a market for black maple/sugar maple trees... Thank you!
We have really only done it in the early spring the last many years and it has worked well for us. If I were in a much more mild climate than zone 5B central NY I would be interested in planting in the fall as well...
That could work if you had extra air prune boxes not in use... For me it is much easier to plant them out in nursery beds and let them grow a season that way.
If you get round to looking at comments on an older video - a question occurred to me about propagating trees from seed like this: do you think, other than for reasons of scale and efficiency, there is any reason not to stratify seeds (chestnuts, hazelnuts, pawpaw seeds etc.) for a shorter period of maybe 3-4 months, which might just be in the fridge for some people like me working at a smaller scale (also the fridge means you can get stratifying in late summer and the period September-mid-winter ought to be plenty of time for stratification). Then you would plant them in a warm environment inside in, say, January, in a root-pruned system of some kind, or pots or whatever. Would they benefit from a longer first growing season and achieve greater growth, since they would potentially have 10-11 months without frost? Or would they tend to suffer stress and might actually prefer a limited first-year growing period? You know, I might try this, I have some seeds stratifying already, I may do a split-test and see what happens, whether the "longer-season" trees do better or worse.
Experiment would be my response... Also, I can share that in the past I got tempted to start a bunch of chestnuts early in containers indoors. They got 1' tall under lights by April, then absolutely suffered in transitioning outside, most got knocked back by light stress, then a frost, etc. At the end of the season I had half the number of trees alive and most about the size of the ones I planted directly in mid-spring. You'd be amazed how much trees can grow in 90 frost free days in good soil, full sun, etc. With good spacing you can see 2-3' trees easily with many less steps. Experiment is still the response, but there is my one experience from a very informal experiment a little like what you described... I bet you'd do a better job than I did though, I tend to be pretty loose on details :)
@@edibleacres Thanks for your thoughts, I can probably afford to experiment with a couple of paw-paws at least. I wouldn't plant them out the first year, for sure, they'd stay in pots or something for a year or two. But what you are saying I think confirms my suspicions that there isn't too much point in fighting nature or pushing its limits and trees will likely be happier with a first growing season of normal length, with a nice sleep at the end of it.
I'm lucky to have my own sawmill so I let my slabs (the offcuts from my first cuts) come out a little thicker than usual, and I made 12-15 foot long 3 foot wide air prune beds. Today I'm sawing the framework so I can put the hardware cloth up, because I'm starting to see a lot trees sprouting up. I'm thinking I'll give the trees 18 inches of head room, hope that's enough until the squirrels are no longer a threat. Does anybody have any experience doing extra deep multi-season air prune beds for when they want to grow bigger trees?
Awesome! Been working out where mine will go, and I’ve got all the pieces (knowledge-wise) now. Again, wish I had me one of them Juans; that guy’s awesome!
I tried similar with some boxes about 6 inches high, and dropped in some peach seeds. They grew but needed transplanting as the boxes were way too small. Then popped in some apricot and almond seeds. I now have 60 fruit seedlings for very little investment, a couple of bags of compost. I will be saving a lot more seed this year and doing this again, but using pallet collars which can be stacked easily for extra height.
Huge fan of your channel. You inspired me. My neighbor is horrible at maintaining his yard. I've always cut what abuts my property, and sometimes more when he really lets it go. He and I spoke a bit over the weekend. I offered to cut his grass if I could use some of his backyard for planting beds. He was more than happy to give up any yard responsibilities. I cleared a bed of grass with a broad fork and planted some tomatoes and zucchini. While mulching my planting bed, I pulled what I thought was a weed but was actually a walnut. The tap root was still in tact so I went over to Dan's yard and planted it. Thank you for the inspiration, motivation and education.
Wow, great idea! Some people really aren't cut out for yard work and being able to turn that into a benefit was a real smart move on your part
I can't thank you enough for all the wonderful lessons you've thought me over the past year .I grow. apple. orange .lemon. hazelnuts. Fig .avocado. all from seed and I'm adding to my plant collection every week .hopefully I will have a food forest here in Ireland one day and you have helped me achieve that .so not only are you helping biodiversity in America you are doing it here in Ireland and across the world . Thank you so much .Best wishes to you and your subscribers .
Fantastic information, had not thought of using this kind of setup for sunflowers. Would save me a lot of frustration with my massive local squirrel population. Thank you.
I happened upon your amaranth harvesting video yesterday and I think it's what I need for a little part of our yard that is going feral to the chagrin of the neighbors. I ordered two large packs of seeds and I'm hoping they outcompete the dandelions (we only need so much dandelion tea) and create some kind of pleasing visual that will also be edible by September. Your station is like therapy - thank you so much!
Dandelions are indicative of compacted soil, and Amaranth likes well-draining soil, so if you want fast results, it might help to manually decompact the soil first. Or wait for the dandelions to do their work
CorwynGC Ooo good note. We have very hard clay soil and since we quit True Green three years ago the clover and dandelions have been prolific. Good food for thought… It's on a southern-facing slope that has lots of old wood chips, but now I'm thinking about what else we might sprinkle on top before the seeds arrive...
I do recall reading something about them preferring well-draining soil, and I hoped the slope might be drainage enough, but they will certainly get plenty of water. Four of us neighbors in a row are sort of stair-stepped from highest on the north to lowest on the south and we can hear the water trickle through everybody's yards all the time. (We are second-highest in elevation.)
@@heather5189 If you can hear the water it isn't soaking in enough. You might consider adding swales to slow it down, and encourage it to soak in. Be sure to tell your down-slope neighbors, if you do, as it will reduce their water for a time, and then it will Increase it from below. This will reduce an droughts you might experience.
CorwynGC I think I can try that and I don't think anyone else will mind. Their sump pumps run constantly from all the water. Ha! Will check though
It's clear that you've been making incremental improvements with these since the first few (how many years back?). I've got seven of them up and planted now, with a range of things from seaberry and maple to a "special" Kale grex, lavendar. I'm throwing them together from sawmilling offcuts and plywood that was forms for pouring our foundation. Mine are examples of just how totally slapdash these things can be and still work fine for the plants ;) Another couple of years and I'll be copying these from you :)
How are you starting seaberry, seed or cutting?
@@littletreefarmns I have seeds going right now. Looks like maybe one percent germination, but I pretty much did everything wrong :(
I've made 8 beds with recycled pallets, pallet frames and wire mesh. Seeded them out in the fall with the dry pulp from pressing apples, pears, quince and plums. All leftover from our cider production. Will be planting them out this fall.
beautiful re-use...
How's this project gone? Considering building my own and haven't seen many other reports.
@@ReadBoutGarvey Worked great. Two pallet frames (40 cm) was a good size. Didn't need the wire mesh on top in the end, as we have fenced off the property. So no deer pressure. And cats are keeping the rodents away. Was easy to get the trees out intact and reassemble the bed for next year.
I always underestimate the work you guys put into all of this, you are awesome :D
This is so incredible and even more inspiring! I can not wait to have the space to set up a few boxes like this (along with a chicken system that is heavily inspired by what you do)!
You continue to be my favorite permaculture channel by far, and I will continue to watch and love every video you put out.
Great video, I grow my pawpaw in air pruning bags and they do so well. I will build a few of these boxes for myself. Thanks
And I can’t get over how chilled you guys look; it was 95° here yesterday. 🥵
Thank you for doing this video, I will be building some this week.
Thank you for posting this. Your explanation is very well demonstrated and articulated. I will be building one.
Okay, I'm 2 minutes in and this is an idea that I've had before, but I never considered the root prune part of it. This is an excellent video with excellent information! I'm so glad I found your channel! I would love to have you on my show,( comrades in farms) as a guest to discuss permaculture and farming and gardening in general if you would be interested. Either way, thank you so much for the knowledge!
Glad these ideas resonate with you! May not be able to schedule something on a show since life just feels so full but glad to have you with us here!
Thanks so much for showing this! I really like the size of the boxes as it seems very manageable .
I really appreciate the ideas for alternate sources of materials you show as text overlay. Pallet wood I can get! LOL
Thank you for posting this. I will be gathering as much seed as possible this fall and will start some of these boxes next spring. I want to fill my new property with trees over the next 10 years or so. This will be a big help!
Great video showing the steps to make the bed. Thank you.
One suggestion: On the short edge batons, if you rip them at a slight angle (~80°), and attach them with the smaller side facing in, I find it easier to pick up. Knocking off the sharp edge with a block plane help as well.
Great concept, need to make some for me. (and then find a source for hundreds of tree seeds).
So you fingers go into a groove or something? nice.
Thank you. I don't currently have plans to start a nursery, but I want to grow a coppice system for firewood on 3/4 acres. This will be handy with some seed from the local oaks, ash, alder, birch, et al.
I was interested to see the sizing and depth changes. I'm glad those aspects remained standard.
Thank you for sharing the art of the possible and a huge slice of inspirational fuel for the fire! Your work, both at home and here on TH-cam, is adding value to the world. Your videos are like seeds being planted and growing to magnificent fruition the world over. Here in the Highlands of Scotland your work is reaching out and speaking to us and so then on to friends and neighbours from there. Besides loving these air prune boxes and beautifully simple predictor protection cages we are slowly growing systems that work for us locally based on so many of these 'idea seeds' we've enjoyed from other videos! Thank you so much for your generous nature and soul to inspire and help others.
P. S. We take delivery later this week of wine cap spawn to start our first fungal beds thanks to your previous excellent and inspirational videos (all of which I've been excitedly re-watching today). The local nursery was kind enough to gift us some mushrooms when we went to order and pay for our spawn today, they tasted sensational fried with onions and bacon and served up on toast! We can't wait to taste our own 'first fruits'. Keep up the amazing work, it is truly appreciated. 👍 🏴
I started growing wine caps this year. I'm in SW Scotland. 🤗
Thank you for this. I'm looking to grow hickory and oak and have been getting some nice pots but this has inspired me to do some bare root stock. Not selling but just giving these plants away. I've already set up for a similar setup for holding seed trays for cold sowing native wild flowers but I'm gonna make some of these also since it's the same materials and design.
Nice one. Built my first proper air pruning box today into an existing structure. Built a 4 foot x 20 foot x 3 foot high bed ages ago for composting poultry bedding & have converted it to half a firewood store & half air pruning beds. I have some downy birch to start off with but, will be sowing hazel in there this autumn. Great to see your setups & how you've been doing it. 👍 PS. We're lucky, no squirrels or chipmunks. Just voles & mice & roe deer so, going to forgo the top cages. Will mesh the tops until the hazel germinates & let rip!
How's this project gone? Considering building my own and haven't seen many other reports.
@@breaker-one-nine Amazing, thanks for the response!
Thank you, wonderful work brother!!!
Much appreciated
A lot of great ideas there, as always, thanx so much for sharing....
Very cool. I've got about an acre of land available here. The idea of a small scale nursery sounds so good.
WoW! I'm more of a generalist. I find seeds to trees I like and stick them in the ground that has good environment for it and walk away, kinda like a 🐿 squirrel or Johnny Appleseed. Used to be festival in his honor in Ohio, one of the places I learned love of trees and planting. // Your approach above has served you well and you have improved it with this iteration majestically! // I found the box the last shipment came in with Sasha's hand, heart, and artful address label!❤Does my heart good. And I feared the Senna wasn't going to come back, but I went out this morning, and it seems to have shot up overnight! HooRay! Thank You! 🙏
Thank you. I'll share this.
Thank you
Nice job! I've been doing similar things in my yard to protect stuff from my chickens and the squirrels. This great design will pay off for years to come!
WOW, incredible! What an amazing method 😀
Literally working on something like this now and wasn’t even looking for this video but I’m glad it popped up. Having field mice issues here in the NE Arizona Mountains(new home). Will be doing this same mesh as a garden bed cover but maybe even as small as the 1/4 inch. Still configuring lids for them to access the veggies but I’m glad there are others thinking along the same line. Best!
Wow what a great system, can't wait to start this for myself! Very inspiring!
That is an awesome idea thanks for sharing and I love how you made those boxed protected from different animals getting in.
This is beautiful, look at them numbers, your view of things on multi- levels is just so awesome, very informative and love the video as always. Helpful pest deterrent ideas and beautiful garden ideas, such a vision!!! Thanks for sharing, much appreciated!
This seems very compelling. I need to figure out how to do it in the high deserts of Southeast Arizona. Thanks for doing this 👍
Fascinating! Thank you for showing the build. It looks like one year's production from one box potentially pays for the production of 10 boxes even if you don't get a great deal on lumber and considering time and energy of the build plus attention throughout the year.
Cool system! Thanks for sharing. Also, thanks for propagating these great food forest plants.
Thank you so much for this video!!
Amazing! So when these plants get to a few feet tall, you can just pull them from the soil to repot them, and that degree of disturbance wont kill them?
is there a convenient way to store the tops?
Great video thanks a lot ! I was wondering what are your thoughts on cold stratification of seeds directly in the air pruning bed during winter? We are in Québec (4a) and we tried that last fall, mostly for walnuts and oaks. We cover them with lots of mulch and so are starting to wake up to this date. Hope to have your insights on that technique!
These look great! I’m likely going to build one because I start chestnuts and it’s critical to protect them.
Great job! So interesting to me
Great instructions!
What were your findings on if you needed the top layer of mesh to keep the critters out? We'll be building our lids for the DSA eco group in the next 2 months
😆If you've got ANY chipmunks or squirrels, don't risk losing everything, put the lid on! They can climb and jump like monkeys to get nuts and seeds!
Great information.
Asking a question about my environment bouncing around in my head as I watch, Is there a sacrifice of drought tolerance in the long term for trees grown this way? Mesquite, moringa, palo verde, etc etc. I love this idea from the benefits of temporary movable and modular, and wonder if that tap root will continue to grow at later stages in the trees life (seeking the deeper moisture table).
It seems to be a net positive all the way around in this system... That said, if you have a chance to plant directly where you want the trees to grow and never move them that would be definitely the very very best...
I guess I have a building project for the fall. To ge tthese ready for next spring.
and I need to source lots of seeds to plant as well...
Can you show an example of the root structure from this pot system
Jealous of your rain! It's hot & dry here in E TN
Thanks for the video
Love your videos, such great information.
Those boxes are cool. I feel sorry for you having to work with all that hardware cloth! That stuff is such a pain to cut and bend like that. Great work!
Definitely annoying to work with that material at first, but then it's done and lasts a long time :)
Do the roots not get tangled together being so close to each other?
looks great 👍
What a wonderfully efficient use of space!
I'd be leery of putting almost anything directly under power/phone lines and especially right around the pole, though. Utility companies can get real persnickety about that if ever they need to do maintenance or address an emergency like a blown transformer or downed line. There's likely a legal right-of-way agreement in the deed giving them full access to that space, and if they have to back a truck up to it or something, they may not be very friendly about it.
By which I mean, they might just smash the hell out of your boxes to get at the pole. The last time a utility worker was on my property he bragged about how much he enjoyed driving plumb through locked gates and knocking stuff down, because there's really nothing the landowner can do about it. That's just one rare person with a bad attitude, but legally... he was right.
Check with the local utility company and they should let you know how much space they require for access.
Hello, Can you explain your sources of how these air prune trees have done longer term? What sources point to "air pruning is better than potting" (with circular root pattern)? It seems like it would be better intuitively, but I know of plenty counter-intuitive instances. It obviously seems that planting seed in its forever home is best, but there are obvious benefits with keeping the tree mobile for the first year or 2. Keep up the awesome videos!
I'm not sure about explaining sources... But I can say after 6 or more years of growing seedling trees for their first year in this context that it is amazing how good of a root development you can get. I haven't tried them 2 years in the same box, so who knows, but taprooted and nut trees in particular do VERY well in this context and are worth exploring a bit
It can be funny hearing of the different garden pests around the world. Chipmunks! Never seen one. I have to keep the kangaroos and parrots away.
Awesome work, you know your stuff!!
I envy your setup and I mean the whole thing not just the air pruned boxes. Here in France, nurseries are heavily controlled and it's almost impossible to legitimately set up as a small human-scale operation. Is it as controlled and difficult in the States? Did you have to have horticultural or nurseryman qualifications in order to set up your business?
Same here in Germany, in the EU all sold plants need passports now. This is supposed to be
security for the buyer regarding illnesses, but really I think it is about discouraging small scale growers and their diversity.
I’m hopeful that someday in the future it will be easier for us to start such a small nursery, too.
I lived in Texas for 16 years and there were no requirements or restrictions to sell plants, as far as I could tell. The only regulation I can even think of is that certain species can’t be imported because they're invasive.
@@Thorinusingen I agree with you it's about control and giving power to the large industrial operations.
It can be difficult to enter the commercial market without proper licensing and department of agriculture inspections. Staying private will allow you to get around these things but don’t expect to be supplying nurseries or landscaping companies or construction projects.
If you have access and are allowed too, scrap yards (it’s like being a kid in a toy store) are great around where I live to buy unwanted wire fence, screen, metals poles, rods, you name it, only dollars for unlimited amounts
When I look up scrap yards in my area it directs me to scrap metal yards… dumb question but is that the same thing? Thanks
Why do you not recommend pressure treated wood? Is it just because it won't last as long or does it harm the baby plants?
Thanks for inspiring me. I need to reforest my back yard after all ash trees died. How many seedlings per sqf are you seeding?
There is no Universal answer I can offer you around seed density but on average a 2 ft by 4 ft air prune box may have as few as 100 seedlings and as many as 300 depending on species
Another great job well done
I enjoy all your video's. Do you mulch on top of the seed bed over winter? Thank you!
Love the info. Thanks!
Genius! Do these go for good money?
What about newer copper based pressure treated???
Oh wow I’d love to have walnut seeds and hickory seeds to grow like this! Do you have suggestion as to where I can get? Also I love using soil blocks for the air pruning advantages so this is right up my alley! Thank you!
We collect from trees in our area. Super abundant in the fall. I bet there are trees of various types you could collect from where you are in the fall?
@@edibleacres no walnuts or chestnuts here that I’m aware of
How is the tree removed when its ready for planting?
We open the boxes by hand and pull them out! Search 'air prune' in our video list and you'll find a bunch more ideas
I really love your channel and sharing those amazing ideas! Where would you initially buy the nuts/chestnuts for the seeds?
In our case we collect from local trees, but there are places like Burnt Ridge Nursery that has tree seeds as well as Sheffields Seeds and many other options out there online...
@@edibleacres thank you for the recommendations!
A few days ago you asked us members what we would like to see in a Q&A going forward, and I think I'm not the only one who would love one dedicated to Air prune boxes! I think it would be invaluable for a lot of people. And having tried to build one, and failing miserably lol, I know for certain there are mistakes. Btw, I only criticize myself here - I was lazy and a cheap skate (albeit with very little funds). Maybe such a Q&A could revolve around a few themes. One theme might be what you should NOT be cheap/lazy about (and vice versa). I tried to use chicken netting and that was hell on earth :D. So that's one thing - get the right kind. What are pros/cons of big boxes vs small ones, who needs the bigger ones and when are they needed? Do they need to be 2 feet etc. About the caps: Do they need to be 100% tight? How often do critters try and get inside through the mesh? Are there ways to deter them if the caps aren't "perfect"? Can we use smells? Maybe blood meal?
In these tough times, I think a huge issue is cost - so what are possible shortcuts that produce good ENOUGH boxes. I found one that might work - an old hamster cage. The cage is already there and now it's just about drilling holes in the bottom. However, it's just 1 foot high so... yeah, there is no shortage of questions on this topic :). Again: This is not criticism aimed at you, the directions you provide are very clear!
I think this makes a lot of sense and will definitely be something I plan to do this winter. Lots of great questions here and a lot to cover.
Good suggestion and keep an eye out for when I schedule that...
howdy, one idea that came to mind, to save money, is of course re-use. it occurs that places like older farmers, or well the apts i work at, we end up with spare wire cloth. maybe put an ad on craigslist asking for free mesh material, you might be surprised. when we built a studio apt, we gave away almost all the 'junk'... from chunks of concrete to garage doors...
Do you float any of the nuts to see what's good or just put a bunch in and hope for the best?
Where are you getting your seed nuts?
I think I'm in the same area as you are, do you mind sharing what lumber mill you went to, and/or how you found them to begin with?
Locust Lumber, Newfield. Tell Jodi we said hello!
Have you grown any creeping thyme in your herb garden area by chance? If so, can we get a video of how that is doing for you? Creeping Thyme in particular is an herb but sure looks nice as a ground cover as well...
I don't believe we have that plant growing at the moment.
That is outstanding! I have very few nut trees around me. Is there a commercial source to purchase nut seeds?
24k niceeeeee! what permits did you need to get to sell trees?
You can certainly just start selling and see what comes of it. We got a NYS nursery license, it is $50 a year but I don't see a reason why you have to formalize that before you begin trying :)
Hey man, quick question for you....have you ever planted sprouted chestnuts and hazelnuts in an air prune bed, then got a freeze shortly afterwards?? And if so, how did they end up sprouting afterwards? We're about to get a night down to 22 degrees and I've already planted sprouted seed in mine, no stems yet, just the radicle. Thanks as always for your feedback!
We are experiencing that scenario right now and will be documenting how it all works. Should be pretty reasonable to not worry a lot. Hedge your bets and Bank some mulch like hey around the boxes to reduce air getting under the boxes. You could wrap one or two boxes in scrap plastic if you were really concerned to make a micro greenhouse. But both hazelnut and Chestnut are pretty darn strong. just make sure they are thoroughly mulched in the seat bed so the cold doesn't penetrate down. Good luck!
Yeah I've been thinking about doing all of that, but it's good to hear it from a trusted source! Thanks for the info. Also I suppose I could have just waited a few hours to ask since I just saw your new video where you discuss this exact issue! Good luck with yours as well
@@edibleacres
at around ~9:20 in the video you showed Leo putting the box in the truckbed and there was tool that looked like scissors. Can you drop a link to that tool because I would like to get one.
Question: over ripe wild berries I pick to eat can be put in these boxes to sprout & grow out through the summer? I'm interest in the cane & bush varieties that I'll take cuttings from (at appropriate time).
Hey Sean, what is your soil mix ratio you recommend now for your air prune boxes?
You have the muck, then perlite and two versions of compost. Equal parts mixed?
We are learning we prefer ideally as good a soil as we can for the whole thing! Aged wood chips at the bottom to keep it in and provide moisture retention and then rich balanced soil all through is best it seems with perlite as needed..
@@edibleacresgreat thank you!
Saving the world
At least putting boxes filled with little trees all over the world, ha :)
Air prune boxes complete I will IM you on Facebook the photos not as tidy as yours but should last long enough for me to fill my property with beautiful trees. Thank you
So wonderful! Happy growing :)
Do you think these can be applied to tree starting in a wet tropical environment, like the Caribbean?
Great video! Could you put chestnuts and pawpaws in air pruning boxes in the fall? I see you put them in a tote in the ground until spring,, I live in zone 7b thanks
I think your winter is most likely mild enough to say yes to that idea. Chestnut for sure, paw paw is reasonable. Perhaps saving some seed in reserve stored cool and moist in a root cellar or similar is prudent
@@edibleacres thanks,and thanks for replying back so quickly, I really like your videos
Have you ever tried to find a method to plant seeds from chestnut or hazelnuts in the fall?
Yep... We co-plant with our garlic crop in an open field, I've talked about it in some past videos... Here's one: th-cam.com/video/KIh6c_ezuCY/w-d-xo.html
Fall planting of tree seeds when intercropped with garlic seems like quite a promising approach to consider. This is not in an air prune context, by the way...
@@edibleacres understood. I was considering planting air prune beds to overwinter with pine shavings for mulch and surrounding the bed with bags of shavings for insulation and then covering everything with white plastic over the cages, but I chickened out for fear of loosing too many chestnuts. I live in zone 5a so it gets cold here.
i noticed that some of your walnuts looked like they hadn't started germinating, as in they didn't show evidence of a taproot emerging. Will they germinate in the warm weather after winter stratification or are you rolling the dice to see what will happen? Does this work with all nut or fruit species or are there exceptions? i have many walnut, butternut and hazelnut in refrigeration and only some of the chestnuts are showing sure signs of producing their roots so far. cheers!
We try to prioritize planting seeds JUST as they are showing that they are waking up, but sometimes we have a window to get a lot more planted so we do. The walnuts take a while to wake up so we hedged our bets and planted before seeing a root, I think we had maybe 50-80 percent pop from that...
Would burning the ends or the whole plank help with longevity? I have white oak and was thinking of burning as I make bio char
I understand that it probably varies per species and variety, but roughly how long can tree seedlings live in a system like this? Can they live (healthily) in air pruning boxes longer than a year? thanks
It definitely depends on the species, but I think a good universal idea is to plan to grow trees for a single year in this context. You would plan to harvest them in the fall and plant them out or sell them, or heel them in for the winter. Extremely hearty plants like hazelnuts as an example can grow a second year in an air prune box, but I wouldn't push it for most species.
Question for Sean or the community: The maple trees in our hedgerow have produced a bumper crop of seedlings, many of which have seeded in the farmers field who will till later this week and dump pesticides. There are thousands of seedlings taken root. My app identifier is calling them "black maples" which I assume could be hybridized black and sugar. Question being, is it worth my time to save as many as I can, put them in air pruned beds and try to market them? I don't know if there is a market for black maple/sugar maple trees... Thank you!
When is the best time of year to plant in these boxes?
We have really only done it in the early spring the last many years and it has worked well for us. If I were in a much more mild climate than zone 5B central NY I would be interested in planting in the fall as well...
Would a 2 x2 be a start for elderberry, Gogi berry, Haskap and yellow rasberry cuttings? Is it a 2 inch air gap?
You can pack a lot in a small air prune box, give it a try! You only need a little bit of air space, 2" is fine, you can go less...
About what percentage of your nursery sales are online and shipped?
Sean, what do you think of growing something like wild senna in one of these boxes? Are they best planted in situ?
That could work if you had extra air prune boxes not in use... For me it is much easier to plant them out in nursery beds and let them grow a season that way.
If you get round to looking at comments on an older video - a question occurred to me about propagating trees from seed like this: do you think, other than for reasons of scale and efficiency, there is any reason not to stratify seeds (chestnuts, hazelnuts, pawpaw seeds etc.) for a shorter period of maybe 3-4 months, which might just be in the fridge for some people like me working at a smaller scale (also the fridge means you can get stratifying in late summer and the period September-mid-winter ought to be plenty of time for stratification). Then you would plant them in a warm environment inside in, say, January, in a root-pruned system of some kind, or pots or whatever. Would they benefit from a longer first growing season and achieve greater growth, since they would potentially have 10-11 months without frost? Or would they tend to suffer stress and might actually prefer a limited first-year growing period? You know, I might try this, I have some seeds stratifying already, I may do a split-test and see what happens, whether the "longer-season" trees do better or worse.
Experiment would be my response... Also, I can share that in the past I got tempted to start a bunch of chestnuts early in containers indoors. They got 1' tall under lights by April, then absolutely suffered in transitioning outside, most got knocked back by light stress, then a frost, etc. At the end of the season I had half the number of trees alive and most about the size of the ones I planted directly in mid-spring. You'd be amazed how much trees can grow in 90 frost free days in good soil, full sun, etc. With good spacing you can see 2-3' trees easily with many less steps.
Experiment is still the response, but there is my one experience from a very informal experiment a little like what you described... I bet you'd do a better job than I did though, I tend to be pretty loose on details :)
@@edibleacres Thanks for your thoughts, I can probably afford to experiment with a couple of paw-paws at least. I wouldn't plant them out the first year, for sure, they'd stay in pots or something for a year or two. But what you are saying I think confirms my suspicions that there isn't too much point in fighting nature or pushing its limits and trees will likely be happier with a first growing season of normal length, with a nice sleep at the end of it.
would the air prune boxes work for things like bignonia, echinacea, iron weed, goldenrod, and feverfew
I would think so but that may be more work and investment to grow crops that don't actually develop tap roots...
I'm lucky to have my own sawmill so I let my slabs (the offcuts from my first cuts) come out a little thicker than usual, and I made 12-15 foot long 3 foot wide air prune beds. Today I'm sawing the framework so I can put the hardware cloth up, because I'm starting to see a lot trees sprouting up. I'm thinking I'll give the trees 18 inches of head room, hope that's enough until the squirrels are no longer a threat. Does anybody have any experience doing extra deep multi-season air prune beds for when they want to grow bigger trees?