Summer has ARRIVED in Bulgaria | Off Grid Family #16
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- What's it like living off grid in Bulgaria?
This week we continue to prepare for the heat of Summer and the land begins bearing fruit.
We're Phil and Kayleigh, a husband and wife living in rural Bulgaria with our two children, Alex and Ember. It's always been our dream to live a more self-sustainable life off grid. So, we've sold all our belongings, escaped the rental rat race and bought a plot of land. Complete with a derelict house and 3 barns, we hope to create our new life mortgage free. We've faced lots of hurdles already, so hang on tight as we show you highs and lows of moving abroad and starting again.
Ние сме Фил и Кейли, съпруг и съпруга, живеещи в провинциална България с нашите две деца, Алекс и Ембър. Нашата мечта винаги е била да живеем по-самоустойчив живот извън мрежата. И така, продадохме всичките си вещи, избягахме от надпреварата с плъхове под наем и купихме парцел земя. В комплект с изоставена къща и 3 хамбара се надяваме да създадем нашия нов живот без ипотека. Вече се сблъскахме с много препятствия, така че изчакайте, докато ви показваме върховете и недостатъците на преместването в чужбина и започването отново.
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Peach leaf curl is mainly a disease of peaches and nectarines, though it may also affect almonds and apricots. It's caused by the fungus Taphrina deformans and occurs wherever peaches and nectarines are grown. If not controlled, it can seriously weaken trees.
This does seem to be the case - thank you ❤️
Glad you came and saw Plovdiv.
About green apple - think it is magic - land is happy of having you there and dying apple is now alive again.
Yes Plovdiv is a captivating place - each time we visit we uncover something new! The ruins are spectacular 😍
Peach leaf curl. Pick off the leaves affected and get rid of them. Next spring cover the tree with plastic if it is going to rain. The spores that cause the disease apparently come down with the rain. How this helps. Your tree will grown new leaves. It's fine. 😊
We've managed to start some treatment so hoping we can keep a close eye on it 🙂
Plovdiv is amazing 😍
It's beautiful there! So much to explore. We've been a few times and each time discovered something new!
Another lovely video 🥰😍
A couple of gardening thoughts..
1)
You might like to use the grass cuttings from your fire break around the bases of your fruit trees to act as a mulch..this will retain a bit of moisture and also will recycle the nutrients from the land back into the soil (Huw Richards has recently done a whole video on how to utilise grass cuttings on his orchard which you might find useful)
2) Cucumbers will need some sort of wigwam to climb up..easier to do this while the plants are smaller 😊
Its great to see the plants thriving and the joy that process brings ❤
Thank you for the comment. I love watching Huw but haven't had much chance recently so I'll check that video out. Thank you we will bare that in mind and try and make some kind of frame for them. We certainly are loving the process ❤️😀
Just a thought , put in some of those 250gal plastic tote tanks up against the rear retaining wall . And then build your pool deck over them to keep the sun of them . Install some rain gutter off the porch roof . Then use water to fill totes . This you add support for the retaining wall , stoping any water problems , and as you go into Sommer you will extra water on hand , not mention with risk of wildfires, you will have the water tp to save your place . Oh building the deck from the rear will be much cheaper anyway .
This is a really great idea! I might utilise this somewhere else on the property next time I need a retaining wall. Thank you 😁
You make us laugh ,thanks for sharing your journey really fun watching you guys,
Aw thanks so much for watching! Life's too short not to have fun 😊
For peaches and similar trees, visit your local agricultural apothecary and describe the issue, or even better, take a picture of the affected leaf. They will provide you with the appropriate antifungal treatment for your tree. For my peaches, I use "СКОР-250 ЕК". They usually indicate how many caps to use per 10 liters. The bottle costs around 9-10 лв.
!!! I will explain how I use the spray on my trees, but methods may vary with different products. Here is my methodology, as the employee's instructions at the apothecary may get lost in translation.
I spray my trees twice before the leaves flush. The first spraying is when the tree is still dormant and the leaf buds are barely visible. The second spraying is just before the leaves flush. Do not spray while the tree is blooming!
After blooming, I spray with a lighter concentration as a precaution.
If the fungal infection flairs up, the spray agent kills the fungoid in the leefs, in the process killing the leaf itself! The leaf will wither down or straight up die like in autumn!
Very important - this is basically like mold on the inside of the system of the tree! DON'T hesitate to cut of infected parts!
My first year having the trees I hesitated and subsequently lost a tree and literally half of the crowns of the other ones. Literally had to cut half the branches, and sometimes the whole branch. It sounds sad, but its better safe than losing the tree. Also, watch videos on proper pruning techniques to help the tree as much as possible.
Additionally, remember that this is not a one-time treatment. It's like managing diabetes: you don't cure it, you control it! Prevention is necessary. When using the spray agent, ask if the recommended dose is the minimum effective rate of dilution or the maximum. For example, the apothecary employee may suggest 1 cap per 10 liters for larger gardens to get the best value. However, you can use 1.2 caps per 10 liters for faster fungal eradication, and 0.8 caps per 10 liters for maintenance.
Finally, don't hesitate to spray even if it's raining. Rain exacerbates fungal issues. In such situations, waiting will do more harm. If necessary, spray twice on a rainy day.
Some of my experience, when I lost control of the infection:
When pruning before a spray - see where the leefs are infected and red and curled and at which knuckle the leafs are still green, and cut one bellow the red-curly one. Remember, infected leafs will not be cured, they will be killed by the agent! Everything that's red and curly either dies from the spray or the fungus, no way around it. Its better when its from the spray :D.
If it happens that the infection is left out of control, when the fungus is killed by the spray agent, it can kill the entirety of smaller branches, less than 1 cm thick, as they are closer to the structure of a leaf, than a branch at this point (when they are flexible and still kinda green).
Also a good indicator that the spray agent killed the "baby branch" is that its no longer flexible and is stiff like a proper stick. You will see that sometimes half of the branch is okay, and the other half is dead. In that case, cut right on the closest alive knuckle.
Also if all the leafs are fallen from a branch, but its still flexible and fresh looking, look around and if there are dead sticks on it from the last spray, don't cut the flexible one yet. If there are "sticks" from the last spray, and this one is still not, the spray took effect, but the flexible branch had infected leafs, but the structure of the branch was not critically infected. Observe for "stickification" after that. If it hardens on the tip - cut immidiately. Usually when looking closer you will see new leafs budding out mid-season from knuckles of the past-tence leafs.
Hope that helps!
PS: Well, I didn't know I was a tree nerd until now... well... I suppose there are worse thing you can be :D
Well I'm very thankful you have discovered your inner tree nerd 😁 thank you so much for taking the time to respond to our plee for information. We've started treatment so really hoping we've caught it in time.
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Some peach and nectarine trees can be more tolerant to leaf curl than others but most get it . The regions which have a big day and night temperature fluctuations cause wet leaves in the morning even without rain like semi mountainous regions and this creates the fungi for leaf curl . Open windy regions like sliven are for peaches. If you really want peach trees it's a lot of spraying and I gave up on them . Cherry and plum are a lot easier I find . Less aphid outbreaks and less susceptible to fungal disease . That's my experience . I stay in a mountainous area . If you have a woodchipper mulch around your fruit trees with the chips . Lay them on top don't mix with the earth . Thicker layer the better
Yes we did think we might struggle with some of them. It will be interesting to see which fruit trees stand the test of time ☺️
I’m ready for the stone journey!!!
So are we.. just not in this heat! 🫣
Good to see the banana tree is still going strong. Don't envy the wall journey, but no doubt you will do your research well and will get to the finish line.
Thank you. It is incredibly slow going! The finish line seems a very long way away! 🤦♂️
I watched you on my lunch break today and then went to the mall for a cheeky burger. Then I saw you there IRL guys. I couldn't believe it. The world's so small. :))
Ah you should have come and said hello 🤗 Thanks so much for watching 😊
13:03 Hello im Bulgarian so ill use a bit of knowledge and a google translate to describe you a situation.
It is important to note that in warm and hot weather, curling no longer damages the leaves. Most often, young trees and those severely weakened due to abundant fruiting are affected.
To prevent fungal infection do this:
-removal and burning of diseased branches;
-weeding and digging the soil around the tree trunks;
-treating the trees with a suitable fungicide and after 1-2 days feeding with a complex fertilizer;
-reduce watering;
-after two weeks, all measures are repeated again.
In case of weak leaf development (2-3 cm), spray with Skor 250 SC.
The fruits are sprayed abundantly to thoroughly wet the branches and buds on which the infection overwinters.
Надявам се дано съм помогнал с нещо. Hope i help a bit try to save the tree/peach and other around if are infected. Have a great days , all best!
благодарим ви, че отделихте време да ни преведете и да ни помогнете. вече сме обработили дървото. надяваме се това да помогне ❤️
Plovdiv is super super nice town!
We love it there - so much to see and do! Great creative atmosphere too.
I'm so relieved to see it's not just at mine where small ideas turn into major engineering projects....
It's neverending.. 🫣🤣 but it keeps us on our toes!
Lol a dumper, run boy run...
Stone wall is not that easy, you may want to watch videos and make a small test dry wall first.
There are a few ways to do it as well. It varies by country :)
Yeah we are in for a big learning curve and as you say, everyone seems to have a different approach. We'll do our best and see what happens - something is better than nothing at this point 🫣 ... If we can pull it off it would look so beautiful though!
@@OffGridWithTheUdens it may sound a bit odd, but I'm sure you have looked it up.
Go through the stone and find the edges (the flat side) you may want to lay some out before you start so you can get through it quicker.
You need to grade, so you have flat ones which will interlock. As it's a retainer you will want to link the front with the back unless you gap the wall and then fill. You'll be fine with the rebar as you have done it, as that is the back end of the stone. You'll just have to make sure there you have your big stones to spread the holding strength.
If you make the wall hollow you can fill it with concrete and the bits of stone you've not used.
You'll want the hammer with the point on one side to break the stones... And some safety Google's so you don't get chips in your eyes, puts a downer on the day..
But cracking rocks can mean hulling them at each other and seeing what you get. They can have bits come off like bullets.
When I have done the retainers I put a out crop on the back so that the dirt as it pushes down pulls back the wall, rather than an upright wall which you would face both sides.
Keeping straight is fun..
And avoid lining joints vertically up the wall.
Frost proof the cement, aka a bit of washing up liquid in the mix.. cheaper option:)
One last thing, water...
If that's a run off, you may want to set a drain hole in the wall.
Looks too hot! Keep cool
Even hotter now! Lots of cold water and dips in the pool🏊
Love watching your blogs your a lovely family and I see very genuine.Nice you will use the stone granite etc it will save u much needed money for other projects important things .😄
Thank you very much 😊 Yes, we've gone this route because we cannot afford the alternative options.. we just hope we can make it work!
From this green wallnuts,my grandfather make liqour,for medicine,1 spoon every morning,learh how to do it,is verry healty for kids especialy
Ooo interesting - do you know what it is called or where I could find more information?
Wow what a beautiful country! You've showed how nice Plovdiv is I'll definitely be taking a trip soon
Highly recommend a trip to Plovdiv but spend more than just a day!
Need to find someone that brings their goats out to take care of the field.🐐🐐
Hahaha. Goats don't eat grass.
@@M25Republic Everything I've read, goats will eat pasture grass, orchard grass but prefer things like weeds, and alfalfa.
I'm still working on Phil letting me have two Donkeys 😊
@@wesbutler8289 Goats would never eat grass mate. Sheeps do, but not goats.
Are you composting your grass cutting, scrap food off cuts etc for next years compost?
We did start composting, however we are rearranging the layout of the solar panels and vegetable area so need to rethink where to put the new compost area 😊
Great video as always. Have a word with Lee from Our Derelict Dream he used those blocks to build raised beds at their second property.
Oooo we are due a catch up with them so will definitely ask them! Thanks 👍
You can create easy roofing drainage using plumbing pipes. Cut a line through a long plastic pipe and attach and secure on edge of roof
Yes - they use metal gutters here and the fixings are different to what we are used to. So we need to look into a way of fixing to our decking roof 👍
wallnuts sell for a good price. or can be traded for something else in the village
Thank you - I'm very excited as we have never had walnuts on the tree since we bought the property over two years ago.
@@OffGridWithTheUdens not sure what stage the wallnuts are in now. they make a reaally nice jam out of unripe wallnuts. think they are picked around this time for this purpose. but best look into it if it sounds interesting! All the best Udens! :)
@@fl0rinescu oh wow! I never even knew you could make walnut jam!
Fantastic vid! Lovely to see Plovdiv (we are still yet to explore!) and well done on starting the necessary fire break, you guys are on it!! Sending love xx
It's so lovely - SO much history you can touch and learn about. We stayed for Phil's birthday a few years back and had a great long weekend away. Highly recommend ❤️
Lots of work, I love stone wall building
Yes definitely a lot more work and with the high temperatures already hitting it's going to make it a lot harder I think🫣
Those cherry plums are practically a National Fruit here in Azerbaijan. Weirdly, they pick them and eat them now, with salt on. They're horribly sour and everyone loves them. I think they're awful! They're nice ripe though.
How interesting! It's fascinating to learn of the different ways the fruit is used.
The stone wall will look great! ☺️
Yes we hope so! The stones we have on the property will look really good - we just hope we're up to the task 🫣
In Bulgaria it is accepted when you mow the grass and you have nothing to do with it, ask the neighbors who have animals to come collect it.
We are in an area where there are many fields and sadly not of use to anybody that we've spoken to. A great idea though ❤️
Great job family, we are waiting for the stone journey. If you need further help with translation to not have misunderstanding situation you can always count on us😊
Thank you very much - very kind of you. We are getting there with the language slowly 😊
Peach Leaf Curl is caused is by a fungus called taphrina deformans. Love the video👍🏻
This does seem to be the case 🫣 Thank you x
The retain wall, your litterly doing now what i already said in the previous video, land filled with stone, make a retain wall out of it might not cost alot but needs work yes, and gutters on your roofing to lead the water where u want it to go wouldnt be a bad idea either, im dutch mate i know how to handle water and walls not wannabee another youtube comment thinking he knows it all, but i know alot trough many other vids/culture.. its why i watch i try to help achieve your dreams aswel, even iff i cant myself reach it currently, and for your driveway water problems i could have solutions aswel iff i know exactly how it flows etc.. hope you dont hate me but i try help as far i can even iff its just trough some comments ;) and the fungus part, cut the leaves off... use Garlic cooked water to spray and hope they manage themself for the rest. but need cut off every fungus leave .. and for your tomato they go well indeed.. the moment u get fruits cut of the extra growing branches as they cost energy for the fruits, walnut tree cut off the death branches that have no leaves no nothing ;) and rest the tree will manage easy.And alex np for the comments enjoy you nice bike make many miles on it :) see ya next time
We appreciate your opinions and comments - it's great that you're enjoying following our journey. 👍🙂
@@OffGridWithTheUdens for me its a small effort, i apreciate you taking your time to respond. Hope i can be of help commentary wise... wished i could come over and help but financial sadly its not really possible currently prices are rising so high i cant do anyting :(
@@Firebreath1988 yes it seems the story is the same everywhere - prices have risen here since we have moved too. So pleased you enjoy the videos 👍
When you put your pool down have you thought about building your own pool filter?
Where did you buy the shower please? 👌
Lidl middle aisle - we do mention it in the video 😄
Google peach leaf curl ….regarding you fruit trees
Thanks very much! We've started the treatment ☺️
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Thanks for watching 👍
It’s Peach Leaf Curl. Google will answer all yiour questions
Thanks very much - we've bought some treatment for it so fingers crossed 🤞
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Where did you get the solar water heater? And what size is it? 💦😁
The outdoor shower is a solar heated shower from Lidl 👍
I watched the video again and you did say Lidl... Lol. Thanks!
Yell if you need anything?
* million things come to mind *
“A Dumper”
Well you did ask😂
🫣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I was lucky it was only a dumper he requested..
Not much fun working in the heat
No not at all - we've started to get up in the early hours and work late into the evenings to beat the heat 👍
i love you videos i am from the UK i am 99% shore i want to make the move my worry is not getting my residence i will be moving with £70000 after buying the house my problem is if i commit to buying a house and then not get my residence 44 years old x army ret n e info will help thank you Jim😃
Hey Jim, have I seen you on expat groups on Facebook? Have you got the right requirements for residency - pension, business to employ Bulgarians etc? If not I'm afraid you'll find it very difficult. The lovely Udens got theirs before Brexit and unfortunately Bulgaria is really tough about keeping to the rules. We've got a house there but can't live there yet - been looking into it for over two years
If I'm allowed to comment Jim I see you will have no problem with 70000 plus I know loads who have 10000 gbp in bank and get approved I think ex forces stand a better chance as u have income etc coming in
@michaelbbb2271 hi, sorry to butt back in....do you happen to know an immigration lawyer who will deal with visa on that premise? Because I have over 10k a year coming in working remotely and plenty saved and I've been told no, it has to be a pension. I'd love to find someone who can help us.
White people are born rule followers. The boat people and immigrants don't stop because of rules. EU is obviously going to legalise all immigrants soon!
Wishing you all the best with your move. I would absolutely recommend getting legal advice before purchasing property if you are not sure you will be able to gain residency 👍