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@@HateNeverCeasesHate Why? I've gotten several things that have worked well. And things like peat pots are super inexpensive, but are the same quality.
At 10:00 minutes you commented that it's rare to have soil, but think about it - your dirt bath tubs are already working! Once you dug them, they immediately started collecting sediment every time it rains that you can now use to help the plants. The feedback loop has started 🤯 ps: I want to come volunteer 😊
I was thinking of something similar. Use the dozer to run the native soil through some large soil screener. Put the finer soil down, place a pad on top and then cover with pebbles and smaller stones so it doesn't blow away.
Another experiment you could try is to buy a hay bale or 2 in an area you know the cattle frequent and let the cattle eat and trample them into the ground and when they've gotten it pretty well flattened fence the area out and see what kind of plants come up from the seed bank. All of that soil disturbance, urine, manure and organic material massaged into the ground could trigger the germination of some interesting plants.
You could also dig a few bathtubs in the area where you want the cattle to go, and plant sorghum in them. The sorghum doesn't have to re-seed, it can be an annual cover crop. What the cattle eat ends up on the land as manure; if any sorghum is left, it's biomass. (This is assuming you want to attract the cattle).
I would focus more on biomass retention and cow manure is one of the best kinds. Does top soil simply blow away in such conditions? Digging stuff in is obviously a challenge but maybe some kind of fence, hedge or other natural barrier would help.
@@jimwrightbe If you do it above tha dams you would be fine. Still a transportation problem and a quite high cost since you have to continue to feed the cows when they are accustomed to be fed in that area so they don't destory everything on the ground.
A salt lick for the cattle, won't cost much but as soon as they find it the next stop will be a watering hole. You make them show you the way, it's a fair trade because they need the salt. Keep up the great work!
Clever trick, until he succeds in getting permantent standing water, then it's just another buzz for the cattle and over the years might teach too many to come here. He's facing fencing the whole place someday, lets not make that any harder then it's going to be by getting more cattle used to coming here.
Okay so I found a survival crop that GROWS IN POOR COMPACTED SOIL IN FULL SUN; is native to America; grows well in Arizona; and is a prolific breeder needs little/no maintenance. Loved by health nuts who pay top dollar for it, And requires no crop rotation. I just found it and was considering it for myself but my understanding is it grows ALOT... So if you choose the plant it expected to go crazy. It's called the Jerusalem artichoke. Also known as the sunchoke. Don't let the name fool you it's not native to Jerusalem it's a native to the United States. I just learned about this one myself. This might be a good thing to incorporate into your project. Perhaps you might want to look more into it. I'm considering it in my desert garden. But in my case I'm going to need to put it in a large container so it doesn't take over the garden. You eat it's tubers like a potato. The major warning gardeners give is once you plant it it's going to go nuts and grow everywhere... And it happens to break up very compacted soil... And it's pretty too. it looks kind of like sunflowers.
Yes I agree, this is a tasty survival food. A must plant for every garden! You can buy them from local farms, call your local farmers for the best price.
Helianthus tuberosa, in the Sunflower family. Not terribly invasive, though it will spread. Hard to get all tubers dug out so it continues to come back year after year thus considered perennial even it is actually an annual, like potatos propagated by tubers. Not likely to survive in a very arid region as it is more of a prairie plant, in my opinion; but give it a try. Gets 6 to 8 feet high. Tubers are a good food as a prebiotic for gut microbiome, full of inulin, a complex starch. Low glycemic index, diabetics can eat in place of potato starch. Jerusalem is a perversion of Itialian girasole, gyro: turn and sol: sun. Where artichoke can from I don't know, has nothing to do with globe artichokes which are an unopened thistle plant flower. Most are now marketed as Sunchoke to avoid confusion. Some work was done exploring as a biofiel crop in Canada. Tubers can be harvested from after frost until early spring.
@@montarabeach okay thank you very much for making that clear... I was concerned about it's excessive growth. The day I wrote that I had just learned about Jerusalem artichokes and hadn't fully researched it yet. I thought it might foot the bill since it grows in bad soil and helps break it up. And thought it might not be an issue since its native to America....
As a Brit who is used to seeing grass fed cattle on lush green fields, I'm amazed that a beast like that can survive in what looks like a sparsely vegetated land. Darwin's evolution theory evidenced with these cows.
It's like compounding interest 1% difference overtime. I'm excited to see just the growth of small flowers in your bathtubs. In my mind that is a big difference! You are changing the landscape in a better way. Slow but steady wins the race
I was born and raised in El Paso. Although I moved to Utah way back in '91, I still take an interest in my roots, plus I am very interested in subjects like revitalizing land, permaculture, etc. so finding your channel was a joy. If I lived much closer, I would happily volunteer and get dirty with you. I'm subscribed and I hit like whenever I see new content. I hope to see it more often. Cheers!
Im quite fascinated with the 'feral' cows. Like, since when have we seen cows without owners? Wildlife excites me. It means your work is working. ☺️ Oh btw. The cow dung enhances water retention of soil by adding organic matter and improving soil structure. And cows can get their water from the plants they eat, so yeah. As long as there's vegetation, they'll thrive. I really love to see nature heal with the assistance of men. ❤
I think at 2:36 that might be mistletoe? That's NUTS that Sorghum is actually doing a little better than some of the prickly pear! I've had success just covering prickly pear with about a half inch of soil or so. They will root with higher success rate. Maybe using the bobcat or dozer you could push a pile of loose dirt close to the prickly pear beds and then cover them in a thin layer of soil using a shovel? Great work at always Shaun!!!
Keep it up Shaun. Also, you might consider burying the wood at the fork, or burning it and baurying it. Fire activates a lot of growth, and the buried wood acts as a water battery as well as allowing a lot of beneficial soil life to develop. In the rainy season, the buried logs swell up with water, and release it slowly as the surrounding soil dries up.
What you need is a small pick axe to break up that "soil" a bit for the prickly pear. My land is on the Canadian Shield with a glacial moraine on top, so I get the whole "hard pack" thing and that is what we used to dig an 18" x 2" trench about 30 feet to bury the electrical from the solar shed to the house. Took two days. It isn't just about contact with the dirt (for your prickly pear). It's that the function of the prickles is to provide shade for the plant (I know, weird, right) but that is what they do as the sun moves overhead. The prickles create shadows which give relief from the extreme heat. But that really works best if the plant is upright. But one little hit with the hand pick-axe will give a tiny groove that you can set the plants in. I doubt you'd even have to refill the little groove.
I admit you are very lucky to have this team of very dedicated volunteers. Amazing what people will do to help out when it comes to nature and the environments. Makes one positive about humanity's future.
@@mayodavid4962 exactly. A simple project to work with nature to mold the landscape, turned in to a massive enterprise, complete with bulldozers to conquer the land. He could have continued with hand tools, at the tops of the ravines and on flatter ground, but his ego or hast to see results over took him.
😮 Wow! I - literally - have "Make everyplace you inhabit a little better than you found it;" pinned to my wall. It is my slogan, too. I'm moving to Arizona to buy land and create both a retirement cottage for myself and a wildlife sanctuary. I subscribe to cheer you on - and learn something. I'm definitely learning. Keep up the good work!
Y'all are right about leaving a place better than you found it. In Texas the volunteer opportunities are easy to find and always appreciated. Thanks for reminding people to give back to society with more than money.
Thanks Shaun for another really interesting video. How wonderful to have such a variety of volunteers wanting to pitch in and help! Keep up the awesome work! (Thanks for the update on the scattered cactus paddles - was wondering if they were rooting or not).
just a suggestion here... Focus on your water situation. Get your earth works done, the rain when it comes will work for you and your small dams will begin to sink the water and the green will come when it has enough water to thrive on. Also some thing to consider would be to get solar electric fence and keep the cows out of the area you are working on so the green can grow. Other wise the cows will eat it and you may not be there to even see the plants before they're gone. Thanks for another enjoyable video :)
Good points. Lacking infinite or even much money, 90% of his value added is time, and the no 1 way to max benefit of time is water collection. As to electric fence, that has resale value. Barbed wire is the traditional answer to cattle, I assume Texas didn't out law it. Fencing the property is something he seems unaware is in the future and if he dosne't want to see every bath tub grazed out in a few days by those 4 cattle, he's faces fencing sooner than latter.
One of the rules of a successful life is "Put one foot in front of the other, no matter what." You're modeling that for all of your followers, along with reminding us that good goals are worth working for.. Thanks!
What I have learned from this channel is that hard work and good intentions are not enough to make permaculture work. I thought once you got the bulldozer, we would start to see swales running along contour lines all across the property, and check dams every 10 yards in each gully. The plants won't stay until you are trapping and retaining water underground. Once it's there, plants will find it.
I’m a brand new subscriber, just found your videos and watched every one this week! I love your video style and your passion, and am excited to follow this journey. Keep on making mistakes, getting messy, and learning!! There’s no one way or best way to do anything in this world. Godspeed!!
Good thinking. The cows might give you a tip into where there is natural water, maybe a spring on your property? I presume they have to drink from somewhere or they would move on or die. Kind of cool to see some feral cows roaming around.
Seconded, also it's not a bad thing to have a small amount of grazers around, as they will help the ecosystem too! From moving vegetation to fecal matter feeding the soil and plants, it's good that they are there!
@@dustupstexas Exactly! With the low biomassproduction you at the moment have at your land it's hard to get that balance in place. I understand why you at the moent do't want cattle to roam around
Ruminants that feed on green vegetation obtain a large part of their water from the plants themselves, a high percentage of the structure of a green plant is water. Drinking pure liquid water is not the only way to hydrate.
I would spare wood but im hoarding it for my future property ;) the prickly pear pads will only root until the right conditions, the spines might be holding the pads up from making contact with the ground, preventing rooting. Feral cows=free beef 😊.
I find with prickly pear if you cut a bathtub worth and plant it in a bathtub dig out or bottom of a swail you can cover it in other compostables with a few palms up . Do this when the palms are at their most hydrated. The buried palms will supply the growth palms for longer the less cut up they are . I’d layer the scree and rock back over it to keep the sublimation as low as possible
Problem is that at the moment the land can't really sustain them so they destroy what lillte are growing. I can see why he doesn't want them there at the moment since overgrazing probably is the reason why the land has degraded so much.
Ah the Texas is a fence-out rules. No water and cows eating your forest are going to be some of the hardest things you face. Keep up the good work. Cows compost you know. Keep up the good work.
I'm sure a lot of the wild kettle died last year when the drought happened. But fortunately, there's a lot of rain this year so hopefully it'll make its way to you. I like what you're doing. I believe in. Recovering desert areas.
When doing environmental projects, it’s a good idea to remember how much consumerism effects the environment. Buy less, or nothing. Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️
Seems like SHADE IS SO IMPORTANT in your environment. I would recommend having setting up a large artificial shaded area with some shade cloth, landscaping fabric, tarps, used sails, used billboard tarps or anything you can get your hands on that will help to create more shade. Grow food crops for yourself so you can at least have something fresh to eat along with the wild plants. I worked on 10 acre farm in Florida, mostly market gardening, they had 3 acres of shade-clothed area, everything grew better under the shade cloth area compared to in the direct sun. And you can enjoy the shade and much cooler weather with a large shaded area. Maybe 100 x 100, quarter acre. Char posts to make them last longer.
It's just an idea. An inventory could be made of all the plants growing in the area, cacti, shrubs, various smaller or larger plants, one could check how they multiply, the most efficient way to plant them, perhaps a quantity of compost would be useful, it should be checked. If they survives naturally in that hostile environment, with a little help it could become a green zone in a relatively short time.
You should try some dwarf coconut palms they grow fast dont need a lot of water but need good drainage and salt and love sun but not long tolerance to cold. They produce a sweet fast growing cocunut. Definitely would want a drip system and big burlap bages with fertilized soil to start. Others have grown them in the rio grand valley but may have to make temporary cover if a hard freeze comes.
You remind me of one of those sci-fi characters living out your life in solitary in some tiny self-made niche. When I was a kid living the desert, I met folks like you. Their houses and properties really did reflect the inner fibers of their souls. The attraction to this lifestyle is that it really forces the person to dump out their insides and find out who they really are - id have to say that really what this is all about. As a passer-by it gives one the ability to peek behind the veil. Thanks for sharing, I hope you find it.
I work regularly in caliche which is what they call soil in Arizona and the way to start those plants especially the cactus is make yourself a little shaker box so you can shake some of that shake your gravel and leave behind a little cup full of soil so that there's contact there is more soil there than you think but you need to shake it out and separate it from the rocks.
Hi Shaun. The video at 15:52 shows clearly a piece of how the vegetation creates a distribution pattern, which follows those evident channels (the principal two and those comming to them by crossing the nearby hills). Other point is: it will be worth it to get seeds of al these green Yuccas and green shrubs which despite de date, they contain food with high humidity. It will be nice to volunteer into yor project, maybe in the near future. Thanks for doing that. Martin Gomez (Morelia, Mexico).
I had the same thought but living in a country too far, it can't happen. these volunteers were a joy to watch. Ur project is immense, volunteering is the way for it's completion.
It occurs to me that those rare seasonal floods that flood the roads and washes are going to waste. I would be interested if you could find a way to dig some trenches or canals that would direct that water to your ranch and maybe gather it in a deep plastic- lined pond. Not surface water, because you would roof over the pond with some steel poles and keep it dark and shaded. All kinds of nice fungi could grow in the water, add some ducks for biomass. In time you could expand the tented area around it with more poles and have a greenhouse outside it. There is a show Homestead Rescue with the Raney family, and they usually pitch in to rescue a homestead. You may interest them in arranging your doghouses in a quad, and create a shaded growing plot in the middle. If you can source some lumber maybe they would help you and volunteers build a real log house around them (just add walls and roofing). It would be a hard and unique challenge for them and they might bite as they have cabin building, greenhouse, digging and construction expertise. They may even truck in some water or wastewater for you to use to make mud filling for walls.
Love it when you take the drone up. Might be worth considering making some standard waypoints that you take photos consistently over the coming seasons and years so you can compare the before and after in a future video.
Unfortunately Temu has a very bad rap (and for good reason). Hopefully you'll find a legit sponsor soon. Love your channel Shaun, and all the hard work being done.
Re your volunteers: It's always the way - people who are willing and wanting to get most off the beaten track are by far the most interesting. I have found this in traveling, cycle touring and hiking. More awesome animation by your son, Samuel. They are a lovely and comic contribution to your channel. I look forward to seeing more of your "garden" flourish as spring kicks in.
Lost of little creases in the land that could use a Beaver Dam Analog made from the rocks right on site. One tool you might look into that could possibly help... The Prong. Mark over on Self-Sufficient Me did a review of the things and they are sweet. I built my own since I had the metal in the shop to do it, and it's been very nice to have. Kind of a prybar taken to the next level. I the hard tip would allow you to at least break up the desert concrete a good bit.
Stand the prickly pear pads upright, on their edge, with a few rocks around them, then tip a pint of water on them & they should grow. Or use a pick or bar to open a crack in the ground and put the cactus pad in it. In the truck always carry a pick, 6ft bar, shovel and several pairs of gloves.
I’m totally against BetterHelp. They steal your data. I’ve never had any problems with Temu. Bought a lot of stuff off their website. What did they do?
Starbucks will give them away if you ask for them. But yes, find a local shop, buy a cup, and get their grounds. I'm sure they'd be happy to help. He could probably get a 55-gallon drum every week from 1 shop.
I told you in the beginning, you need to add dry straws and dry bamboos, like a bridge to make shade . This slows water vapor as long as flooding don’t wash it. It makes moisture retention much better. Not an unbeatable solution but open in the sun doesn’t do nothing. Also add materials in the area you planting that holds moisture.
If you asked each of your viewers to send you donations of 10 lbs of soil or 10 lbs of sticks... You'd be amazed at how fast you can reforest the desert.
@@dustupstexasI agree that dump trailers are handy. Caution as they are very heavy. If you can rent or borrow one first to avoid surprises. Load it fully (by weight), drive in similar conditions, and see how it works with your tow vehicle. You might want to consider a small dump truck? Best always.
Instead of buying a trailer, I recommend filling cardboard boxes with wood chips and each time you or volunteers go to the property, load up your truck and current trailer with as many boxes as you can fit. The boxes would be very easy to pick up and dump on your property. No shovelling necessary. You can then reuse the boxes if they are good or tear up and compost them down. I’d save your $$
I have 40 acres just off the Fabens exit behind cattleman's steakhouse. I love your channel. I'm going to retire from federal service soon and would love to give you a hand. Your a tad far but, I could use the experience to start my ranch (my friends say I'm crazy). I fully believe in living off the grid and starting a little casita out there. Ill email you and join your journey. Pat
Given the challenges of getting to your property by land, perhaps a helopad might make getting supplies in easier? Or widen a portion of the road with your dozer for bush planes?
I am thinking as a reasonable experiment Coconut coir Bricks at the base of some of your water collection/hold up points and Coconut Coir Geotextile matting could really help to give an area a basis quickly to get growth and all important shade started along with holding up/capturing huge amounts of water initially.
Don't be too disappointed in the 10% prickly pear results. The rumors are that the pads will regrow with 90+% success, but we are working to remove the prickly pear on our ranch and reseed native grasses. We see that the pads we drop only have about a 20% chance of making it, and we get average 28 inches of rain each year. Wish I could just send you all our prickly pear.
I think instead of digging a hole for the prickly pear if you place it vertically between two small rocks they will send out roots and they won’t get sunburned on one side. I planted 8 spineless prickly pear in pots last fall with some Arizona Cyprus sprigs 6 are growing and will be rooted out by fall. 80% of the Cyprus in little cells died. I will be rooting out more as these trees can survive on 10 inches of rain annually.
Hey Bro. I'm from South Africa in the Karoo. It is a semi-dessert area. We have prickly pears there to. As kids for fun, we used to plant them. We would take two leaves, cut the one in the middle, and force the other in it, creating an upside-down T. My friends said it works so maybe you can try that.
Love to see updates! we have so much water & tree mulch here in Michigan! I want to load train cars to Texas lol. Since you can't dig, maybe lean the prickly pear pads against each other like a house of cards? That way both sides will get some light and neither side will burn as badly. They'll be standing up a lot better than they are lying on the ground.
Heck yeah! Those logs and more are going to make a huge difference for organic matter over time to fix the desert concrete problem. I mentioned this to an effect in the last video so awesome to see the start in this episode. Still def definitely worth burying them though so they can break down better in the ground. You're on the way to terra preta! 🎉😁
These plickly's only grow roots after they dry out a good bit, we have them over here also, and you can just trow them anywhere and they will sprout, unless the get wet or not enough sun, then the will just rot
yes the base has to scab over before they root, the base looked already scabbed but i dont know if their contact with the ground is good enough to root, the conditions might be too severe. There needs to be some soil/sand an shade from wood or bigger rocks, even in the small trenches there simply is not enough yet. You can see how sparse the plants are becuase of the severe conditions.
have you had any rain to see how everything flows? looking forward to seeing how heavy rains puddle up with everything youve done! keep on keepin on man i love your journey
Could you bookend the prickly pears with rocks on two sides and then stand them up? I know that would be a lot of tedious work...maybe bookend a long row so the pieces stand each other up, and then after they get a good root base going they can be moved, or a dirt bathtub with rows of prickly pears standing upright in it?
Have you thought about doing the U or crescent shapes to catch or slow down the rain. They are doing this in Africa and India to catch rain water and grow grasses and trees.
If you're trying to start some trees using fabric pots, use heavy duty saucers to hold some water on the bottom. You want to train the roots to go deep. If there's water on the bottom the roots will go straight down instead of around the edge. Makes it easier to transfer too. Fabric pots don't transfer too well unless you destroy them.
Ye, getting Temu as a sponsor means one of two things: He either didn't care to research his sponsor or he did and went on with them anyway. Both things are just no-gos.
@@Ascaron1337 your the second person to say that they are not great but neither have said anything about why not even a hint if you are going to sling shit own it and people might not dismiss the dribble
Download Temu app using temu.to/m/uynh3xjdp4s to get $100 coupon bundle for free (for all users), Or search my code: dks2227 in Temu search bar to claim, plus FREE shipping +FREE returns for up to 90 days
Absolutely pathetic. This is where our journey ends. I hope it works out.
I feel conflicted about the Temu partnership
@@pyroman7196 Agree. I buy my cheap Chinese crap from Walmart like God intended,
@@HateNeverCeasesHate Why? I've gotten several things that have worked well. And things like peat pots are super inexpensive, but are the same quality.
@@pyroman7196What's the problem with Temu, genuinely curious since I'm not an American.
At 10:00 minutes you commented that it's rare to have soil, but think about it - your dirt bath tubs are already working! Once you dug them, they immediately started collecting sediment every time it rains that you can now use to help the plants. The feedback loop has started 🤯
ps: I want to come volunteer 😊
Thank you. And come on out!
Place rocks over the cactus pads… it’ll help keep pads in place while roots take hold and also helps them retain moisture longer.
I was thinking of something similar. Use the dozer to run the native soil through some large soil screener. Put the finer soil down, place a pad on top and then cover with pebbles and smaller stones so it doesn't blow away.
Another experiment you could try is to buy a hay bale or 2 in an area you know the cattle frequent and let the cattle eat and trample them into the ground and when they've gotten it pretty well flattened fence the area out and see what kind of plants come up from the seed bank. All of that soil disturbance, urine, manure and organic material massaged into the ground could trigger the germination of some interesting plants.
If he can solve the transportatin this is a really good idea. I had a similar with wet silage.
You could also dig a few bathtubs in the area where you want the cattle to go, and plant sorghum in them. The sorghum doesn't have to re-seed, it can be an annual cover crop. What the cattle eat ends up on the land as manure; if any sorghum is left, it's biomass. (This is assuming you want to attract the cattle).
I would focus more on biomass retention and cow manure is one of the best kinds. Does top soil simply blow away in such conditions? Digging stuff in is obviously a challenge but maybe some kind of fence, hedge or other natural barrier would help.
...or maybe it washes away
@@jimwrightbe If you do it above tha dams you would be fine. Still a transportation problem and a quite high cost since you have to continue to feed the cows when they are accustomed to be fed in that area so they don't destory everything on the ground.
A salt lick for the cattle, won't cost much but as soon as they find it the next stop will be a watering hole. You make them show you the way, it's a fair trade because they need the salt. Keep up the great work!
Free beef!
Clever trick, until he succeds in getting permantent standing water, then it's just another buzz for the cattle and over the years might teach too many to come here. He's facing fencing the whole place someday, lets not make that any harder then it's going to be by getting more cattle used to coming here.
Blessed is he who plants trees under whose shade he will never sit.
True words
He will live long enough to sit under the trees... He's not that old lol
Lucky is he who plants prickly pears and never trips onto them
@@Jackman77100 it's just an old saying about doing things for unselfish reasons.
Okay so I found a survival crop that GROWS IN POOR COMPACTED SOIL IN FULL SUN; is native to America; grows well in Arizona; and is a prolific breeder needs little/no maintenance. Loved by health nuts who pay top dollar for it, And requires no crop rotation. I just found it and was considering it for myself but my understanding is it grows ALOT... So if you choose the plant it expected to go crazy. It's called the Jerusalem artichoke. Also known as the sunchoke. Don't let the name fool you it's not native to Jerusalem it's a native to the United States.
I just learned about this one myself. This might be a good thing to incorporate into your project. Perhaps you might want to look more into it. I'm considering it in my desert garden. But in my case I'm going to need to put it in a large container so it doesn't take over the garden. You eat it's tubers like a potato.
The major warning gardeners give is once you plant it it's going to go nuts and grow everywhere... And it happens to break up very compacted soil... And it's pretty too. it looks kind of like sunflowers.
Yes I agree, this is a tasty survival food. A must plant for every garden! You can buy them from local farms, call your local farmers for the best price.
So, delicious and nutrious, but highly invasive and an ecological nightmare
Helianthus tuberosa, in the Sunflower family. Not terribly invasive, though it will spread. Hard to get all tubers dug out so it continues to come back year after year thus considered perennial even it is actually an annual, like potatos propagated by tubers. Not likely to survive in a very arid region as it is more of a prairie plant, in my opinion; but give it a try. Gets 6 to 8 feet high. Tubers are a good food as a prebiotic for gut microbiome, full of inulin, a complex starch. Low glycemic index, diabetics can eat in place of potato starch. Jerusalem is a perversion of Itialian girasole, gyro: turn and sol: sun. Where artichoke can from I don't know, has nothing to do with globe artichokes which are an unopened thistle plant flower. Most are now marketed as Sunchoke to avoid confusion. Some work was done exploring as a biofiel crop in Canada. Tubers can be harvested from after frost until early spring.
@@montarabeach okay thank you very much for making that clear... I was concerned about it's excessive growth. The day I wrote that I had just learned about Jerusalem artichokes and hadn't fully researched it yet. I thought it might foot the bill since it grows in bad soil and helps break it up. And thought it might not be an issue since its native to America....
@@Starsphire all of these things are good. Just because someone says 'invasive' doesn't mean its bad. Invasives are doing their job.
As a Brit who is used to seeing grass fed cattle on lush green fields, I'm amazed that a beast like that can survive in what looks like a sparsely vegetated land. Darwin's evolution theory evidenced with these cows.
Even 10% of the prickly pear from that huge load you brought in is substantial, dozens and dozens of plants that weren't there before.
It's like compounding interest 1% difference overtime. I'm excited to see just the growth of small flowers in your bathtubs. In my mind that is a big difference! You are changing the landscape in a better way. Slow but steady wins the race
I was born and raised in El Paso. Although I moved to Utah way back in '91, I still take an interest in my roots, plus I am very interested in subjects like revitalizing land, permaculture, etc. so finding your channel was a joy. If I lived much closer, I would happily volunteer and get dirty with you. I'm subscribed and I hit like whenever I see new content. I hope to see it more often. Cheers!
Thank you
Im quite fascinated with the 'feral' cows. Like, since when have we seen cows without owners? Wildlife excites me. It means your work is working. ☺️
Oh btw. The cow dung enhances water retention of soil by adding organic matter and improving soil structure. And cows can get their water from the plants they eat, so yeah. As long as there's vegetation, they'll thrive.
I really love to see nature heal with the assistance of men. ❤
I think at 2:36 that might be mistletoe? That's NUTS that Sorghum is actually doing a little better than some of the prickly pear! I've had success just covering prickly pear with about a half inch of soil or so. They will root with higher success rate. Maybe using the bobcat or dozer you could push a pile of loose dirt close to the prickly pear beds and then cover them in a thin layer of soil using a shovel? Great work at always Shaun!!!
Keep it up Shaun. Also, you might consider burying the wood at the fork, or burning it and baurying it. Fire activates a lot of growth, and the buried wood acts as a water battery as well as allowing a lot of beneficial soil life to develop. In the rainy season, the buried logs swell up with water, and release it slowly as the surrounding soil dries up.
I bought 4 yards of Biochar. One day I'll make it, but I'm already up to my eyeballs in projects
What you need is a small pick axe to break up that "soil" a bit for the prickly pear. My land is on the Canadian Shield with a glacial moraine on top, so I get the whole "hard pack" thing and that is what we used to dig an 18" x 2" trench about 30 feet to bury the electrical from the solar shed to the house. Took two days. It isn't just about contact with the dirt (for your prickly pear). It's that the function of the prickles is to provide shade for the plant (I know, weird, right) but that is what they do as the sun moves overhead. The prickles create shadows which give relief from the extreme heat. But that really works best if the plant is upright. But one little hit with the hand pick-axe will give a tiny groove that you can set the plants in. I doubt you'd even have to refill the little groove.
I admit you are very lucky to have this team of very dedicated volunteers. Amazing what people will do to help out when it comes to nature and the environments. Makes one positive about humanity's future.
“First something is a great idea, then it becomes a cause, then it becomes a business and finally it becomes a racket.”
I really liked the older videos on this channel. now they are still interesting but it now smells too strong of a money making professional.
@@mayodavid4962 exactly. A simple project to work with nature to mold the landscape, turned in to a massive enterprise, complete with bulldozers to conquer the land. He could have continued with hand tools, at the tops of the ravines and on flatter ground, but his ego or hast to see results over took him.
Samuel's animation was fantastic!
Bury wood like crazy! Hugelkulture... I'm convinced that's the solution to restoring depleted soil.
It’s likely the mosquit tree would root best if it was laid down length wise and half buried. Score the bark on the downside
😮 Wow! I - literally - have "Make everyplace you inhabit a little better than you found it;" pinned to my wall. It is my slogan, too. I'm moving to Arizona to buy land and create both a retirement cottage for myself and a wildlife sanctuary. I subscribe to cheer you on - and learn something. I'm definitely learning. Keep up the good work!
Y'all are right about leaving a place better than you found it. In Texas the volunteer opportunities are easy to find and always appreciated. Thanks for reminding people to give back to society with more than money.
Thanks Shaun for another really interesting video. How wonderful to have such a variety of volunteers wanting to pitch in and help! Keep up the awesome work!
(Thanks for the update on the scattered cactus paddles - was wondering if they were rooting or not).
just a suggestion here... Focus on your water situation. Get your earth works done, the rain when it comes will work for you and your small dams will begin to sink the water and the green will come when it has enough water to thrive on. Also some thing to consider would be to get solar electric fence and keep the cows out of the area you are working on so the green can grow. Other wise the cows will eat it and you may not be there to even see the plants before they're gone. Thanks for another enjoyable video :)
That's what I was thinking too. Building tons of swales seem like it would be most beneficial
@@Jackman77100 I've seen some amazing greening of deserts once they got earth works done to retain water first the rest seemed to just fallow.
Electric fence is the cheapest and easiest solution to keep cattle out of sensitive areas.
Good points. Lacking infinite or even much money, 90% of his value added is time, and the no 1 way to max benefit of time is water collection. As to electric fence, that has resale value. Barbed wire is the traditional answer to cattle, I assume Texas didn't out law it. Fencing the property is something he seems unaware is in the future and if he dosne't want to see every bath tub grazed out in a few days by those 4 cattle, he's faces fencing sooner than latter.
respect for all your work on the way to a better planet, tnxs fot all the volunteers !! greetz from the netherlands,
europe.
One of the rules of a successful life is "Put one foot in front of the other, no matter what." You're modeling that for all of your followers, along with reminding us that good goals are worth working for.. Thanks!
What I have learned from this channel is that hard work and good intentions are not enough to make permaculture work. I thought once you got the bulldozer, we would start to see swales running along contour lines all across the property, and check dams every 10 yards in each gully. The plants won't stay until you are trapping and retaining water underground. Once it's there, plants will find it.
Any comments I make on how Shaun does things...are made from my couch. He's a legend! Haha
I’m a brand new subscriber, just found your videos and watched every one this week! I love your video style and your passion, and am excited to follow this journey. Keep on making mistakes, getting messy, and learning!! There’s no one way or best way to do anything in this world. Godspeed!!
Amazing! The flowers will definitely help to break up the "concrete" and pioneer the soil.
You are charming and informative! I enjoy watching you express your passion!
Good thinking. The cows might give you a tip into where there is natural water, maybe a spring on your property? I presume they have to drink from somewhere or they would move on or die.
Kind of cool to see some feral cows roaming around.
Seconded, also it's not a bad thing to have a small amount of grazers around, as they will help the ecosystem too! From moving vegetation to fecal matter feeding the soil and plants, it's good that they are there!
So long as they don't eat everything in site. Balance is key
@@dustupstexas Exactly! With the low biomassproduction you at the moment have at your land it's hard to get that balance in place. I understand why you at the moent do't want cattle to roam around
Ruminants that feed on green vegetation obtain a large part of their water from the plants themselves, a high percentage of the structure of a green plant is water. Drinking pure liquid water is not the only way to hydrate.
Thanks!
Likewise!
I would spare wood but im hoarding it for my future property ;) the prickly pear pads will only root until the right conditions, the spines might be holding the pads up from making contact with the ground, preventing rooting. Feral cows=free beef 😊.
I find with prickly pear if you cut a bathtub worth and plant it in a bathtub dig out or bottom of a swail you can cover it in other compostables with a few palms up . Do this when the palms are at their most hydrated. The buried palms will supply the growth palms for longer the less cut up they are . I’d layer the scree and rock back over it to keep the sublimation as low as possible
Dude those cows are the best thing you have had on your property yet!!!!! Those cows will do more for fertility than anything you can do!!!
Exactly, I was kinda mad when he proposed to get rid of those cows!
Problem is that at the moment the land can't really sustain them so they destroy what lillte are growing. I can see why he doesn't want them there at the moment since overgrazing probably is the reason why the land has degraded so much.
Yep. Lucky day when god brings you cows. Poop is good!
Hey Shaun, for the Prickly Pear just spread the seeds, its easier and effective in your type of soil. Good luck !
wow they just brought a ton of deadwood! awesome.
Ah the Texas is a fence-out rules. No water and cows eating your forest are going to be some of the hardest things you face. Keep up the good work.
Cows compost you know. Keep up the good work.
I'm sure a lot of the wild kettle died last year when the drought happened. But fortunately, there's a lot of rain this year so hopefully it'll make its way to you. I like what you're doing. I believe in. Recovering desert areas.
When doing environmental projects, it’s a good idea to remember how much consumerism effects the environment. Buy less, or nothing. Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️
Consumerism hurts people every bit as much as it hurts the environment. Especially since 99% of things are made of, or with, some plastic.
Seems like SHADE IS SO IMPORTANT in your environment. I would recommend having setting up a large artificial shaded area with some shade cloth, landscaping fabric, tarps, used sails, used billboard tarps or anything you can get your hands on that will help to create more shade. Grow food crops for yourself so you can at least have something fresh to eat along with the wild plants. I worked on 10 acre farm in Florida, mostly market gardening, they had 3 acres of shade-clothed area, everything grew better under the shade cloth area compared to in the direct sun. And you can enjoy the shade and much cooler weather with a large shaded area. Maybe 100 x 100, quarter acre. Char posts to make them last longer.
Hi Shaun, Great stuff! There's a lady in Mexico who is re-greening the Baja Desert. Check out what she has planted. Good Luck. Chris
It's just an idea. An inventory could be made of all the plants growing in the area, cacti, shrubs, various smaller or larger plants, one could check how they multiply, the most efficient way to plant them, perhaps a quantity of compost would be useful, it should be checked. If they survives naturally in that hostile environment, with a little help it could become a green zone in a relatively short time.
You should try some dwarf coconut palms they grow fast dont need a lot of water but need good drainage and salt and love sun but not long tolerance to cold. They produce a sweet fast growing cocunut. Definitely would want a drip system and big burlap bages with fertilized soil to start. Others have grown them in the rio grand valley but may have to make temporary cover if a hard freeze comes.
I want to support this project a litttle bit ♥
Thank you!!!
Hey I am from Wichita Falls ! I love seeing some of my local peeps helping you out with this project.
I’m so happy,and encouraged by humans coming out of their schedule to support your desert vision, love it❤
You remind me of one of those sci-fi characters living out your life in solitary in some tiny self-made niche. When I was a kid living the desert, I met folks like you. Their houses and properties really did reflect the inner fibers of their souls. The attraction to this lifestyle is that it really forces the person to dump out their insides and find out who they really are - id have to say that really what this is all about. As a passer-by it gives one the ability to peek behind the veil. Thanks for sharing, I hope you find it.
I work regularly in caliche which is what they call soil in Arizona and the way to start those plants especially the cactus is make yourself a little shaker box so you can shake some of that shake your gravel and leave behind a little cup full of soil so that there's contact there is more soil there than you think but you need to shake it out and separate it from the rocks.
🥲The part in the beginning about all the volunteers tested me up. People coming together to help a small portion of the earth is real life and love💚✅
Stoked the wood is coming out ✌️ with volunteers
Congrats on the 10% success for the cacti! That's more than last year and the lessons learned this year can help you with additional growth next year!
This is my favorite so far. I can really appreciate how the volunteers help out. I wish you the best of luck in this endeavor.
It's real simple. I see a Dustups video, I like the dang video. Good stuff Shaun!
Hi Shaun. The video at 15:52 shows clearly a piece of how the vegetation creates a distribution pattern, which follows those evident channels (the principal two and those comming to them by crossing the nearby hills). Other point is: it will be worth it to get seeds of al these green Yuccas and green shrubs which despite de date, they contain food with high humidity.
It will be nice to volunteer into yor project, maybe in the near future. Thanks for doing that. Martin Gomez (Morelia, Mexico).
I had the same thought but living in a country too far, it can't happen. these volunteers were a joy to watch. Ur project is immense, volunteering is the way for it's completion.
It occurs to me that those rare seasonal floods that flood the roads and washes are going to waste. I would be interested if you could find a way to dig some trenches or canals that would direct that water to your ranch and maybe gather it in a deep plastic- lined pond. Not surface water, because you would roof over the pond with some steel poles and keep it dark and shaded. All kinds of nice fungi could grow in the water, add some ducks for biomass. In time you could expand the tented area around it with more poles and have a greenhouse outside it. There is a show Homestead Rescue with the Raney family, and they usually pitch in to rescue a homestead. You may interest them in arranging your doghouses in a quad, and create a shaded growing plot in the middle. If you can source some lumber maybe they would help you and volunteers build a real log house around them (just add walls and roofing). It would be a hard and unique challenge for them and they might bite as they have cabin building, greenhouse, digging and construction expertise. They may even truck in some water or wastewater for you to use to make mud filling for walls.
Love it when you take the drone up. Might be worth considering making some standard waypoints that you take photos consistently over the coming seasons and years so you can compare the before and after in a future video.
Unfortunately Temu has a very bad rap (and for good reason). Hopefully you'll find a legit sponsor soon. Love your channel Shaun, and all the hard work being done.
Re your volunteers: It's always the way - people who are willing and wanting to get most off the beaten track are by far the most interesting. I have found this in traveling, cycle touring and hiking.
More awesome animation by your son, Samuel. They are a lovely and comic contribution to your channel.
I look forward to seeing more of your "garden" flourish as spring kicks in.
If you can get a source of manure maybe it can help get the bio cycle going on your property, you could even make your own biochar
I used to own a property in Florida that had a big pond full of water hyacinth. I bet that would break done nice in your soil.
❤ Aloha from Germany. Your project is amazing. You got it! One step more... to reach the "impossible"! I believe it´s possible! 😍🙏
Lost of little creases in the land that could use a Beaver Dam Analog made from the rocks right on site. One tool you might look into that could possibly help... The Prong. Mark over on Self-Sufficient Me did a review of the things and they are sweet. I built my own since I had the metal in the shop to do it, and it's been very nice to have. Kind of a prybar taken to the next level. I the hard tip would allow you to at least break up the desert concrete a good bit.
Stand the prickly pear pads upright, on their edge, with a few rocks around them, then tip a pint of water on them & they should grow. Or use a pick or bar to open a crack in the ground and put the cactus pad in it. In the truck always carry a pick, 6ft bar, shovel and several pairs of gloves.
As I've commented to other TH-cam content creators, STRONGLY recommend NOT taking TEMU sponsorships. Very corrupt company.
I'd rather see temu then all the dang gambling ads
@@epiles2 Sign, agreed, or the weed adds.
I’m totally against BetterHelp. They steal your data. I’ve never had any problems with Temu. Bought a lot of stuff off their website. What did they do?
@@epiles2
The problem isn’t their ads. Could be dicey giving them your info.
TH-cam ads are personalised. You might see gambling ads, others see cleaning products, local events etc.
Have you tried asking local coffe shops for their grounds? You shoud be able to get bags of it for free Good nitrogen and organic matter!
Starbucks will give them away if you ask for them. But yes, find a local shop, buy a cup, and get their grounds. I'm sure they'd be happy to help. He could probably get a 55-gallon drum every week from 1 shop.
I don't think there are any local shops in the middle of nowhere.
@@BamBamGT1 local to his home
how many spoonfuls to fertilise a desert? :D idiots...
Worms love coffee. I wonder if a worm farm there is possible
3. Try to create shaded areas. For example, you can build roofs from solar panels and grow plants under them.
I told you in the beginning, you need to add dry straws and dry bamboos, like a bridge to make shade . This slows water vapor as long as flooding don’t wash it. It makes moisture retention much better. Not an unbeatable solution but open in the sun doesn’t do nothing. Also add materials in the area you planting that holds moisture.
Most straw is contaminated with a herbicide called grazon and when composted broadleaf plants won’t grow
Hopefully he sees this
If you asked each of your viewers to send you donations of 10 lbs of soil or 10 lbs of sticks... You'd be amazed at how fast you can reforest the desert.
If it weren't for the shipping costs, I'd ship half a forest to Shaun.
I'm buying a dump trailer. It makes the logistics much more feasible
@@dustupstexasI agree that dump trailers are handy. Caution as they are very heavy. If you can rent or borrow one first to avoid surprises. Load it fully (by weight), drive in similar conditions, and see how it works with your tow vehicle. You might want to consider a small dump truck? Best always.
Ever thought of getting school kids out to help as part of a project ?
This
Instead of buying a trailer, I recommend filling cardboard boxes with wood chips and each time you or volunteers go to the property, load up your truck and current trailer with as many boxes as you can fit. The boxes would be very easy to pick up and dump on your property. No shovelling necessary. You can then reuse the boxes if they are good or tear up and compost them down. I’d save your $$
I have 40 acres just off the Fabens exit behind cattleman's steakhouse. I love your channel. I'm going to retire from federal service soon and would love to give you a hand. Your a tad far but, I could use the experience to start my ranch (my friends say I'm crazy). I fully believe in living off the grid and starting a little casita out there. Ill email you and join your journey. Pat
In India we believe that by growing trees or by nurturing the nature one quickly gets rid of all the Karma and starts enjoying abundance.
That looks like progress to me. Thanks for sharing Shaun.
Flowers are good for bees and bee's are good for trees ✌️
Given the challenges of getting to your property by land, perhaps a helopad might make getting supplies in easier? Or widen a portion of the road with your dozer for bush planes?
I am thinking as a reasonable experiment Coconut coir Bricks at the base of some of your water collection/hold up points and Coconut Coir Geotextile matting could really help to give an area a basis quickly to get growth and all important shade started along with holding up/capturing huge amounts of water initially.
Don't be too disappointed in the 10% prickly pear results. The rumors are that the pads will regrow with 90+% success, but we are working to remove the prickly pear on our ranch and reseed native grasses. We see that the pads we drop only have about a 20% chance of making it, and we get average 28 inches of rain each year. Wish I could just send you all our prickly pear.
Me, too
I think instead of digging a hole for the prickly pear if you place it vertically between two small rocks they will send out roots and they won’t get sunburned on one side. I planted 8 spineless prickly pear in pots last fall with some Arizona Cyprus sprigs 6 are growing and will be rooted out by fall. 80% of the Cyprus in little cells died. I will be rooting out more as these trees can survive on 10 inches of rain annually.
Yay! I love it!!! more Sam animation! Keep up the good work, Sam and Shaun!
Hey Bro. I'm from South Africa in the Karoo. It is a semi-dessert area. We have prickly pears there to. As kids for fun, we used to plant them. We would take two leaves, cut the one in the middle, and force the other in it, creating an upside-down T. My friends said it works so maybe you can try that.
Wow moskite!!! How lucky can it get? That's a great gift for sure.
would love to come sometime, making an oasis in a desert has been a childhood dream of mine I still want to realize
you can also use paper egg cartons to start your seeding. recycle paper/junk mail, lay under those twigs as mulch and fertilizer
Love to see updates! we have so much water & tree mulch here in Michigan! I want to load train cars to Texas lol. Since you can't dig, maybe lean the prickly pear pads against each other like a house of cards? That way both sides will get some light and neither side will burn as badly. They'll be standing up a lot better than they are lying on the ground.
Heck yeah! Those logs and more are going to make a huge difference for organic matter over time to fix the desert concrete problem. I mentioned this to an effect in the last video so awesome to see the start in this episode. Still def definitely worth burying them though so they can break down better in the ground. You're on the way to terra preta! 🎉😁
Sam's automation was fantastic!
What a fantastic project. Best wishes.
These plickly's only grow roots after they dry out a good bit, we have them over here also, and you can just trow them anywhere and they will sprout, unless the get wet or not enough sun, then the will just rot
yes the base has to scab over before they root, the base looked already scabbed but i dont know if their contact with the ground is good enough to root, the conditions might be too severe. There needs to be some soil/sand an shade from wood or bigger rocks, even in the small trenches there simply is not enough yet. You can see how sparse the plants are becuase of the severe conditions.
Keep going Shaun! I like to follow the progress.
have you had any rain to see how everything flows? looking forward to seeing how heavy rains puddle up with everything youve done! keep on keepin on man i love your journey
Rain won't come until May at the earliest, but probably July-August
Always fun to watch your adventure!
You could trap them on water with a few panels
That cow manure would be very useful for the plants!
following each and every step from pakistan
Could you bookend the prickly pears with rocks on two sides and then stand them up? I know that would be a lot of tedious work...maybe bookend a long row so the pieces stand each other up, and then after they get a good root base going they can be moved, or a dirt bathtub with rows of prickly pears standing upright in it?
You need the cows! You need their patties etc. They will fertilize the land. It is a fantastic method to help regen the land.
Have you thought about doing the U or crescent shapes to catch or slow down the rain. They are doing this in Africa and India to catch rain water and grow grasses and trees.
The bathtubs are what he’s using.
Hats off to you all.
If you're trying to start some trees using fabric pots, use heavy duty saucers to hold some water on the bottom. You want to train the roots to go deep. If there's water on the bottom the roots will go straight down instead of around the edge. Makes it easier to transfer too. Fabric pots don't transfer too well unless you destroy them.
Hello, I just wanted to suggest you look further into your sponsor, they really are not the best actors. Love seeing what you are trying to do.
Ye, getting Temu as a sponsor means one of two things:
He either didn't care to research his sponsor or he did and went on with them anyway. Both things are just no-gos.
@@Ascaron1337 your the second person to say that they are not great but neither have said anything about why not even a hint if you are going to sling shit own it and people might not dismiss the dribble
If they are so bad actors why don't you give him the money 🤔
The guy needs money. This stuff isn't free.
I'm sure he would prefer someone that shares all his values.
..... you should sponsor him . Buy the space
I agree with his this message. I'm the future, when this channel gains more traction, he can choose his sponsors