Nice to see your whole property...back in the 1990s we had 4 acres, about 12 miles east and south of Sierra Vista. We had a small veggie garden, some chickens, geese and a couple of turkeys. I've often wondered how you've managed the caliche situation. Your place, animals and vegetation are looking good, thankful you had a good season, even with the high temps (and the loss of a bee colony). One thing I hadn't realized is how close your neighbors are. So a "high five" and a "well done."
Tohono said, get under caliche, get rid of it. We did that, and use a very heavy mulch which makes a lot of humic acid, and once in a while, sulfur. They use gypsum, a mix of sulfur and calcium. If plants start to look pekid, it's likely cotton root rot, which demands high Ph soil. CRR is endemic all over the Southwest, and now the world. We also like zinc sulfate for viral diseases in plants. niio
Hi Duane and Lori! 106⁰ is a warm fall! We're about 100⁰ here in far West Texas. I just love your property. So pretty. I'd say "well done", but it's never ending 😅
Hey gentle folks, I realized that the beehive setup, gets afternoon sun which I would recommend you get it some shade. morning sun is great but try to let the hives get shade fall on them in the afternoon onwards. could put a couple fast growing trees which can provide the natural shade and coolness around the hives.
It may be hard to pick up in the footage, but the shade cloth drapes to the ground on the West side of the hives and the large creosote also helps to shade it in the evening. The open sides face East and North.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ok noted, based on the footage at 17:09 it seems the short side of the shed isn't enough to keep the afternoon sun of some of the hives. Still consider getting some trees between the shed and the fence so that the tree can cast shade on the hives. With trees close around I feel it might be cooler for the hives. Jamaican is different but I know for sure tree shade is very nice lol.
Dang! My husband and I struggle with getting our single acre project done. You two have really kicked some butt! We're getting ready to plant a persimmon we got from RSI today.
You can do a lot on an acre! Our last property was an acre and we had over 100 fruit trees, layers, pigs and broiler chickens. You'll have to let us know how your persimmon tree does😊
Consider setting up pigs wallow like sandponics. Cycling a large percentage of the wallow a few times through a large sand bed a few times a day will clean up the water and you could grow plants in the sand. If you got a dry Creek bed or mountain run off you need a good corse washed sand.
You do drive like crazy, few times you passed by me like you driving formula not a truck. But who doesn't drive crazy here on Grand Ave we all do. me and my family love watching your videos how everything is growing.
Uh, yeah, sorry about that! I definitely can't defend myself here, I need to slow down. I really just want to be home after that long commute down Grand! Next time you see me, honk and wave so I can say hi...as I'm zooming past!! 😂
Tucson here....we are SO OVER the heat and you all had it worse than we did (do) 97 today. Fall garden is in and under shade cloth. Hard to believe it's the first day of FALL! Come on 70 degree days! Do you have your own well there?
We're usually very similar in temp to you guys down there. A little hotter on the hottest days, but a few degrees cooler than Phoenix. We are on a private well here on the farm. Really love the clean water for the plants and trees!
Really enjoyed the drone footage and noticing all the growth and changes. You mentioned that your first pig area had woodchips. I don't see why you don't put your pigs to work once again pre prepping your woodchips mounds. You could sprinkle some corn deep into the mounds, even add some oat straw so they are encouraged to mix the lot. With the wallow mud area, spraying the edge with LAB Korean Natural Farming lacto bacillus solution helps break down the manure and reduces the smell. It certainly helps in my chicken runs. When your pigs are sacrificed, you can harvest the woodchips for your trees.
Hi neighbors! Im so happy to see the updates on your property. The drone footage is fascinating. Thanks for showing us over the years how its done! Your success is also our success.
Farm looks great! Wish I had less casualties lol. I did keep all the blueberries alive with that mister idea I tried this year! So that was a plus. You still need to get shirts and sweatshirts made to sell. I know id buy it for sure and be mobile advertising :)
Glad that mister system is working out well. Getting blueberries to survive at all is a real achievement! We haven't announced it yet, but we do have a merch shop open on the website. The company we're using is fairly priced and you can completely customize most of the items. I'll link to it here for you and you'll have to let me know what you think; www.edgeofnowherefarm.com/merch#!/
Everything looks great! Glad you didn't have too many loses this summer. July and August were insane. I am just like you, I am so done with summer at this point. However, martyr that I am, I still have to admit that this June was one of the coolest that I have had in Arizona. I have been here since '95 and I think that was the best June for me. Also, I took your advice from one of your peach videos and just picked up two of the "Reid's Big Red" peach trees. I am excited to plant those this week.
Hey Alan! You're right, June was not too shabby. The last couple of years June has not bee near as bad as it has been. No 120+ degree days! You're really going to enjoy those peach trees!
Glad you enjoyed the drone shots. The drone doesn't play well with the heat, so hopefully we can sneak a few more of those into the content here over the next several months.
You two are really remarkable in what you have accomplished. It’s been a hot hot summer in Benson AZ too. I’m past ready for Fall to arrive. All in all you did fantastic for the weather you were dealing with. I so enjoyed your video too♥️♥️
If you don't like bermuda grass maybe you'd consider planting peanut grass. They're hardy, low maintenance nitrogen fixers that spread fast. They're great for planting under trees to help with growth and fruiting, they're awesome weed suppressors and are excellent at keeping moisture in the ground (good for drought areas) PLUS chickens love eating their flowers.
Thankyou Duane, thankyou Lori for the Farm Tour. I've been watching your videos for, how many years is it now..., it is a while and I am still always impressed with the diversity and success of it all, especially the turkey pasture. It is the first time that I have a conclusive wrap up in orientation and was surprised that you are so close to the main road and neighbours. I have the feeling that you need that farm on your right with all the trees to add to yours. That would make your bounderies straight. (I wonder what trees they are?) - Octoberfest has begun here with a record sunny day start and just one complete day of rain yesterday. Maybe if I talk about the weather here it might rub off a bit on yours over there. - sort of a rain-dance with a difference. All the best. Cheers.
You are always so encouraging to us, thank you! The trees you see to the East of the farm are part of the largest wash in Wittmann. Most of the trees are mesquite and palo verde trees that do well there because of the occasional flooding that happens during our Monsoon season.
We have passive catchment installed on all of our buildings that is directed into swales in our growing areas. No catchment in the open areas yet, but it's on our future plans. At this point the farm is self-sufficient from an income standpoint, so it has to fund all of those activities. I (Duane) am not an engineer and large open areas like what we have on the back of the property can be dangerous if not handled properly from a water flow standpoint. Eventually we'll have to hire a consultant to ensure our earthworks don't cause more damage than benefit.
LOVE LOVE LOVE! I live vicariously through you two. In several videos you talk about a grass that you are growing and it's funny that the translator never gets it right. In one video it translates it as vver. Unfortunately, I'm unable to make it out, too. Would you be so kind to actually spell that word out? Also, how would I go about planning a tour?
I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying the content. The grass we're planting is called vetiver. So far it's performing really well and hopefully we'll be able to propagate it easily for transplanting around the farm. Tours are usually scheduled 2-3 times a year with one coming up in November. We announce all of those through our customer email list which you can join through our website here; www.edgeofnowherefarm.com/
What an oasis! Looks like you might not have a partridge in a pear tree for Christmas, but you'll certainly have a quail in a kumquat! Are any of your grapes good for using the leaves for dolmas? I have a little wine grape that has excellent leaves for dolmas.
I can't say for sure which of the vines would be good for that dish. I would think the flame or Thompson might be best though as they are slightly larger and usually not quite as dark as the wine grapes.
The farm looks great guys! Wow, how it has filled in and so full of green! Love the update and hope to see that regularly :) Take care and maybe we will drop by when coming back from Wickenburg (moving my in-laws up there from Scottsdale).
Thank you for all the drone shots, especially the quick trip around the fenceline at the end. Now I can orient myself better when you are out working on the blackberries or out in the back acreage. Your farm looks great and is a reflection of all the hard work you two put in. I've got a question. Why are you avoiding Bermuda grass. I will be doing a tiny amount of gardening/farming in the Southwest starting next summer and I want to know if it's something I should avoid.
I'm glad those shots gave you an idea of the scope of the property. We're not a fan of Bermuda only because of it's invasiveness. Once it's planted you will not be able to go back and if it goes to seed (which it does readily) the wind will blow it everywhere. Other than that, it's a great grass option for us in the Summer.
Everything looks so well organized and clean! Hey is the chicken pasture your septic field? We are trying to figure out what to grow on our septic field...
Bingo, you have it correct. That is our septic field, so grasses are ideal for that area as we can't grow trees and other heavily rooting plants over it!
Glad you're enjoying the content! The aquifer we're on is protected (there are restrictions on the amount of water any one parcel can take) so as to limit the amount of water being drawn. It's one of the strongest in the state with a current estimated draw of about half the recharge rate. Now, that can always change as more people move into the area, but that restriction is set in stone for anyone moving into the area moving forward.
g8 vid i suggest to plant acasia trees and lucaenia for both honey and fodder to animal in north orchard they are fast growng i tried it in saudia arabia with good result gud luck
Great video! You will note a new name for me as I sold my IMSC business, this is Pam in Apache Junction. I lost my Anna apple this year, but everything else made it. I have already bought another Anna apple, two loquat seedlings, an Amla tree, and a starfruit. Everything is going into the ground in October per your suggestions. I am still struggling to master my watering though. Can you tell me how much and how long you water when you do it once a week and twice a week?
Hey there Pam! Thanks for the heads up on the change in handle name. I would have eventually figured it out, but this helps! This past summer we were watering 2x/week with the severe heat and lack of rain. We're back down to 1x/week with 60 gallons per tree.
Love your farm and videos! I never knew quite what Wittman looks like. You need one of our big, beautiful Kangal pups. We had a puppy go up there last month if you're interested in meeting her, let me know. We have one puppy left available. We're in Casa Grande area. Blessings ❤🎉
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yes! Dad is about 175 now and mom's 135, they eat about 5 cups a day and incredibly gentle and lovable with all farm animals forming incredible bonds with their families. They effectively guard against owls, hawks, bobcats, falcons, coyotes, even mountain lions and bear. They're so loyal and incredibly smart. No training, just lots of love and gentle guidance until about 8 months old.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm livestock guardians are big, strong and powerful easily warding off any threats to farm or flock yet incredibly gentle towards their family and children and babies even if they've never been around a child, they instinctively know to protect it.
We're still trying to figure out how to fully utilize the Jujube. The moringa is a bit easier as the pods taste great and the leaves are good greens for smoothies. Both are "cash crops" for us, so eventually they will help to support the farm.
Moringa tree. wonderful. I want to try the tree. Not sure it would live here in the upper AZ desert. Oh would love to try cane sugar. Not sure if it would survive here.
Thanks for the drone tour, everything looks great ! Do you have issues with alkalinity in your irrigation water ? What is/was the PH of the dirt before you start turning it into soil ?
We did have our soil tested when we first moved onto the property and it was 8.4, so very alkaline. The root stocks we use are designed to thrive in alkaline soil and the woodchips breaking down along with manure based fertilizers are helping to balance that a bit as well. Still very alkaline though as the well water is alkaline as well.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm. Thanks for the info, my folks lived in Lake Havasu for years and their city water was very alkaline as well but dad still managed to grow citrus trees. His pink grapefruit were outstanding, we always tried to take home a couple 5 gallon buckets full.
Watching this a little late. People underestimate just how large 6 acres is, I think. As you've shown, you can do an incredible amount of things with acreage that 'small'. The August heat clobbered a couple of my trees, though I can't figure out the pattern. I may end up chopping down the white grapefruit, it got destroyed so bad, while the red grapefruit next to it fared much better. The kumquat got hammered, but its rapidly recovering now. The tangelo got hammered, but I think its recovering. The pomegranate excelled to the point where I'm going to have to cut it back with a hedge trimmer, and the pear tree was unscathed, though it didn't produce a lot of fruit.
It sounds like you have a few challenges there with that citrus. They can be finnicky, especially the kumquats. They seem to be hit or miss for us some years as well. Glad to hear that pear is doing well. Those can be challenging also. Pomegranates are beasts!
Wow, hello in the UK! We're not big fans of dates and we try to grow what we'll eat along with what we can sell. That being said, they are ideal for our climate, so they may work their way onto the farm some day.
We only do passive catchment here. Essentially all of the buildings have gutters on them that drain into an underground pipe that transports the water into designated areas where fruit trees and/or vines are growing. A full water catchment system would be very expensive and still not give us enough water for what we're trying to accomplish. I'll link to a video we did on our water and the reasons why we went this route; th-cam.com/video/mD-ucHVNseE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you! We are southeast valley area and just bought an acre. We were wanting to do rainwater collection, but we're newbies to everything! Any help is so appreciated!
Im not sure what your doing but there is a lot of wasted space. Grown blueberry under trees. Shade bees more no direct sun. Need to do more greening the desert trees follow jeff Lawson. Very good drown driving. Nice and steady Also animals need trees in pen for shade. No water trees lots out there. need more shade Seriously need swales to recharge ground water table. Trees spaced too far apart dont shade ground enough to reduce evaporation. Closer
@EdgeofNowhereFarm the almost IA 4 years old. The leaves are falling off. Plus no fruit this year. We had a freeze and it killed the flowers. Thank you. Oh oh I have year old horse poo. Can I use the horse poo?
@@lisad4054 we had some struggles this year with late frosts as well, so that could be part of the problem. We have not used horse manure before, but have been told it does need to age quite a bit before using it. If I was to use it, I would probably compost it a bit first and then apply it into mulch. This way it will have less of a chance to negatively impact your tree.
Thank you very much. I did use some horse poo to grow corn and it came out good. What do you think I should use as a feritlizer for the almond for winter. I dont have the 10 10 10 though. Thank you @@EdgeofNowhereFarm
Hmm, we have not grown that. I will say, our summer apples do very well here, taste great and produce abundantly without any need for protection. If you're in 9A they would do well for you. In fact, you can probably get away with a few of the other low chill varieties in 9A. Gala and Golden Delicious
There are several reasons, but the primary one was needing the farm to produce a positive cash flow as quickly as possible to allow for future growth. Fruit trees take a few years to produce and we've had several other projects after their install to get that cash flow going. We do plan to incorporate more permaculture techniques as we continue to expand further onto the property but a full on Food Forest (over/understory) in those primary orchards is not on the immediate plans.
The main reason is the heat of summer and very cold winter temps we have out here. We would have to baby it quite a bit to get a small harvest and we simply don't have the time. That being said, Lori really wants one, so maybe some day. 😉
Tell me your turkey pasture wouldn't look stunning with some Panicum virgatum "Cloud Nine" growing on the western side? th-cam.com/video/_c_i5ro_jDY/w-d-xo.html I particularly liked this video because it shows a wide range of Switch Grass cultivars (Panicum virgatum) in a real setting, with a person for scale, so you can see what they really look like. That Panicum "North Wind" is gorgeous and the upright habit will provide a lot of forage and shade for your Turkeys. Truly, though, I'd plant the "Cloud Nine" down with your backdrop mulberry trees so you could watch it waving in the breeze from your back porch. You don't get a much more beautiful scene than that, imo! I would also note that the Native Prairie grasses are warm-season grasses that do their growing during the heat of the summer and would be available to the turkeys. It's really fantastic to see just how much you've grown over the relatively short amount of time you've been on the site.
Funny you should mention grasses. We filmed a vlog this weekend and show how we're prepping an area for some additional bunch grasses. We're hopeful we still have a solid month or so to get some growth out of them before they start going dormant.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Ooh, now I'm gonna be on the edge of my seat, waiting with bated breath to see what grass you decided on? Adroogon? Panicum? Sorghastrum nutans? Stipa? Can't wait for the reveal!
I appreciate the fact that you are not on the world is coming to an end "climate change" band wagon - weather just happens - sometimes hot - sometimes not!
Yeah, the climate always changes. It's funny, because we get record temps from time to time that broke a record over 100 years old, so why was it so hot in 1930?
We don't have any cuttings, at least not this year. We're rooting out starts for the Spring, but that's a heck of a trip for you all the way from Eloy!
I had NO idea your pigs were so far removed from the main house. It's no wonder. Based on experience, I can tell you...pigs stink! Pig poop doesn't smell like cow poop. It's SO much worse.
Bingo, that's why we've been slowly moving them away from the farmhouse over the last couple of rounds. For the most part we can't smell them now that they're on the "back 40"!
They wind up taking over the areas where they grow and once they're planted it's nearly impossible to get rid of them and more importantly keep it contained (we wouldn't want it growing outside of the primary chicken pasture). It also makes it difficult to grow alfalfa for the chickens which is a higher quality forage for them.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. I like the water efficiency of Burmuda for covering bare ground, but different strokes for different folks.
Love all the drone shots. They really give us a view of what all you have going and looks great.
Glad you enjoyed that. We haven't taken it out as often this year, but will try to get more of them going into Fall and Winter.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm The M30T was recently given a huge price drop. It can fly in the rain & see predators or lost livestock in the dark.
@@SlackerU whew, that is definitely in the price range of capital expenses!
The tour was wonderful. How about a follow up on the harvest. The number of poultry, the wine production, the general harvest!
We definitely need to get some harvest videos here soon!
Nice to see your whole property...back in the 1990s we had 4 acres, about 12 miles east and south of Sierra Vista. We had a small veggie garden, some chickens, geese and a couple of turkeys. I've often wondered how you've managed the caliche situation. Your place, animals and vegetation are looking good, thankful you had a good season, even with the high temps (and the loss of a bee colony). One thing I hadn't realized is how close your neighbors are. So a "high five" and a "well done."
4 acres is a solid amount of space. We're really only using about 3 here so far and it's enough to kick our butts during the peak seasons!
Tohono said, get under caliche, get rid of it. We did that, and use a very heavy mulch which makes a lot of humic acid, and once in a while, sulfur. They use gypsum, a mix of sulfur and calcium. If plants start to look pekid, it's likely cotton root rot, which demands high Ph soil. CRR is endemic all over the Southwest, and now the world. We also like zinc sulfate for viral diseases in plants. niio
Hi Duane and Lori! 106⁰ is a warm fall! We're about 100⁰ here in far West Texas. I just love your property. So pretty. I'd say "well done", but it's never ending 😅
It was definitely a little warmer than we'd like, but it's starting to feel like Fall here this weekend!
You guys are an inspiration to us desert dwellers. 😊
Woohoo!! Glad to hear it.
Hey gentle folks, I realized that the beehive setup, gets afternoon sun which I would recommend you get it some shade. morning sun is great but try to let the hives get shade fall on them in the afternoon onwards. could put a couple fast growing trees which can provide the natural shade and coolness around the hives.
It may be hard to pick up in the footage, but the shade cloth drapes to the ground on the West side of the hives and the large creosote also helps to shade it in the evening. The open sides face East and North.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm ok noted, based on the footage at 17:09 it seems the short side of the shed isn't enough to keep the afternoon sun of some of the hives. Still consider getting some trees between the shed and the fence so that the tree can cast shade on the hives. With trees close around I feel it might be cooler for the hives. Jamaican is different but I know for sure tree shade is very nice lol.
Dang! My husband and I struggle with getting our single acre project done. You two have really kicked some butt! We're getting ready to plant a persimmon we got from RSI today.
You can do a lot on an acre! Our last property was an acre and we had over 100 fruit trees, layers, pigs and broiler chickens. You'll have to let us know how your persimmon tree does😊
Excellent video of Full Farm Aerial Tour Record Heat in AZ . Most of the tree survived in summer due to you and Ms.Lori Management skilled
Thank you Abid, glad you enjoyed this one!
Consider setting up pigs wallow like sandponics. Cycling a large percentage of the wallow a few times through a large sand bed a few times a day will clean up the water and you could grow plants in the sand. If you got a dry Creek bed or mountain run off you need a good corse washed sand.
Hmm, now that is not something we considered. Thank you for the suggestion!
You do drive like crazy, few times you passed by me like you driving formula not a truck. But who doesn't drive crazy here on Grand Ave we all do. me and my family love watching your videos how everything is growing.
Uh, yeah, sorry about that! I definitely can't defend myself here, I need to slow down. I really just want to be home after that long commute down Grand! Next time you see me, honk and wave so I can say hi...as I'm zooming past!! 😂
I love seeing green in that arid place 😊
We're fans of it as well. It's in stark contrast to everything around us!
While I always enjoy your vlogs, this one was special since it put everything into perspective. Great drone driving!
Glad to hear this. We were hoping to give everyone an idea of the scope of the farm as it looks today!
Tucson here....we are SO OVER the heat and you all had it worse than we did (do) 97 today. Fall garden is in and under shade cloth. Hard to believe it's the first day of FALL! Come on 70 degree days! Do you have your own well there?
We're usually very similar in temp to you guys down there. A little hotter on the hottest days, but a few degrees cooler than Phoenix. We are on a private well here on the farm. Really love the clean water for the plants and trees!
run a very fine mist of water above your bee shed during hot weather
We have a partner in this venture that is taking care of all of the infrastructure and upkeep, so I'll pass that advice along!
Really enjoyed the drone footage and noticing all the growth and changes. You mentioned that your first pig area had woodchips. I don't see why you don't put your pigs to work once again pre prepping your woodchips mounds. You could sprinkle some corn deep into the mounds, even add some oat straw so they are encouraged to mix the lot. With the wallow mud area, spraying the edge with LAB Korean Natural Farming lacto bacillus solution helps break down the manure and reduces the smell. It certainly helps in my chicken runs. When your pigs are sacrificed, you can harvest the woodchips for your trees.
Those are all great suggestions. At some point we may give that a shot. I know it works well for Joel Salatin.
Hi neighbors! Im so happy to see the updates on your property. The drone footage is fascinating. Thanks for showing us over the years how its done! Your success is also our success.
It's all grown up a bit since you saw it last!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm indeed! I'll have to give you my schedule so we can stop by for your next in person tour! Lol
Farm looks great! Wish I had less casualties lol. I did keep all the blueberries alive with that mister idea I tried this year! So that was a plus. You still need to get shirts and sweatshirts made to sell. I know id buy it for sure and be mobile advertising :)
Glad that mister system is working out well. Getting blueberries to survive at all is a real achievement!
We haven't announced it yet, but we do have a merch shop open on the website. The company we're using is fairly priced and you can completely customize most of the items. I'll link to it here for you and you'll have to let me know what you think;
www.edgeofnowherefarm.com/merch#!/
Since you like permaculture, how about having a retention pond? You certainly have the space for it and I bet the ducks would love it
We do have plans for that on the back of the property. Just haven't quite gotten back there yet.
That's looking amazing! Glad you made it through the heat.
It was a doozy, so we're sure glad to be past it!
Everything looks great! Glad you didn't have too many loses this summer. July and August were insane. I am just like you, I am so done with summer at this point. However, martyr that I am, I still have to admit that this June was one of the coolest that I have had in Arizona. I have been here since '95 and I think that was the best June for me. Also, I took your advice from one of your peach videos and just picked up two of the "Reid's Big Red" peach trees. I am excited to plant those this week.
Hey Alan! You're right, June was not too shabby. The last couple of years June has not bee near as bad as it has been. No 120+ degree days! You're really going to enjoy those peach trees!
Great work! I was curious how you did with the heat. Love the drone shots!
Glad you enjoyed the drone shots. The drone doesn't play well with the heat, so hopefully we can sneak a few more of those into the content here over the next several months.
Eline emeğine sağlık bu güzel vlog ve video için kolay gelsin hayırlı işler 👍👍👍👍
Mesut'a teşekkür ederim. Umarım Türkiye'de her şey yolundadır.
You two are really remarkable in what you have accomplished. It’s been a hot hot summer in Benson AZ too. I’m past ready for Fall to arrive. All in all you did fantastic for the weather you were dealing with. I so enjoyed your video too♥️♥️
You're a little cooler than we are down in Benson, but it was all around hot for everyone this year in AZ!
Well done on your progress and resilience on your farm over the past year. It is inspiring. Thanks for sharing the journey.
Thank you so much!
Congrats guys. The farm is looking great.
It's definitely starting to take shape!
If you don't like bermuda grass maybe you'd consider planting peanut grass. They're hardy, low maintenance nitrogen fixers that spread fast. They're great for planting under trees to help with growth and fruiting, they're awesome weed suppressors and are excellent at keeping moisture in the ground (good for drought areas) PLUS chickens love eating their flowers.
Ok, that is a new one on me. I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the suggestion!
good video 😊
Glad you enjoyed this one!
Ya, sheesh, but we hadly saw it as high as 110, and that's unusual. Need rain! A Lot of rain!
I have to admit, we didn't have any super high temps (above 120) this year, so you have to be thankful for that.
Looking great!
It's definitely coming along pretty well. Really pleased that we didn't have more losses this Summer. That was a solid test!
Thankyou Duane, thankyou Lori for the Farm Tour. I've been watching your videos for, how many years is it now..., it is a while and I am still always impressed with the diversity and success of it all, especially the turkey pasture. It is the first time that I have a conclusive wrap up in orientation and was surprised that you are so close to the main road and neighbours. I have the feeling that you need that farm on your right with all the trees to add to yours. That would make your bounderies straight. (I wonder what trees they are?) - Octoberfest has begun here with a record sunny day start and just one complete day of rain yesterday. Maybe if I talk about the weather here it might rub off a bit on yours over there. - sort of a rain-dance with a difference. All the best. Cheers.
You are always so encouraging to us, thank you! The trees you see to the East of the farm are part of the largest wash in Wittmann. Most of the trees are mesquite and palo verde trees that do well there because of the occasional flooding that happens during our Monsoon season.
I haven't noticed any ponds or water catchment areas. To replace ground water etc.
We have passive catchment installed on all of our buildings that is directed into swales in our growing areas. No catchment in the open areas yet, but it's on our future plans. At this point the farm is self-sufficient from an income standpoint, so it has to fund all of those activities. I (Duane) am not an engineer and large open areas like what we have on the back of the property can be dangerous if not handled properly from a water flow standpoint. Eventually we'll have to hire a consultant to ensure our earthworks don't cause more damage than benefit.
LOVE LOVE LOVE! I live vicariously through you two. In several videos you talk about a grass that you are growing and it's funny that the translator never gets it right. In one video it translates it as vver. Unfortunately, I'm unable to make it out, too. Would you be so kind to actually spell that word out? Also, how would I go about planning a tour?
I'm really glad to hear you're enjoying the content. The grass we're planting is called vetiver. So far it's performing really well and hopefully we'll be able to propagate it easily for transplanting around the farm. Tours are usually scheduled 2-3 times a year with one coming up in November. We announce all of those through our customer email list which you can join through our website here;
www.edgeofnowherefarm.com/
love to see the growth you two together are doing!
This year had a few challenges with the late frosts and intense heat, but the farm muscled through it pretty good.
What an oasis! Looks like you might not have a partridge in a pear tree for Christmas, but you'll certainly have a quail in a kumquat! Are any of your grapes good for using the leaves for dolmas? I have a little wine grape that has excellent leaves for dolmas.
I can't say for sure which of the vines would be good for that dish. I would think the flame or Thompson might be best though as they are slightly larger and usually not quite as dark as the wine grapes.
The farm looks great guys! Wow, how it has filled in and so full of green! Love the update and hope to see that regularly :) Take care and maybe we will drop by when coming back from Wickenburg (moving my in-laws up there from Scottsdale).
One of these days you'll have to stop by.
Thank you for all the drone shots, especially the quick trip around the fenceline at the end. Now I can orient myself better when you are out working on the blackberries or out in the back acreage. Your farm looks great and is a reflection of all the hard work you two put in.
I've got a question. Why are you avoiding Bermuda grass. I will be doing a tiny amount of gardening/farming in the Southwest starting next summer and I want to know if it's something I should avoid.
I'm glad those shots gave you an idea of the scope of the property.
We're not a fan of Bermuda only because of it's invasiveness. Once it's planted you will not be able to go back and if it goes to seed (which it does readily) the wind will blow it everywhere. Other than that, it's a great grass option for us in the Summer.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you for that explanation and warning. I won't plant it.
Everything looks so well organized and clean! Hey is the chicken pasture your septic field? We are trying to figure out what to grow on our septic field...
Bingo, you have it correct. That is our septic field, so grasses are ideal for that area as we can't grow trees and other heavily rooting plants over it!
Love your farm! Question with the cluster of people next to you have there how long do you think the well will last?
Glad you're enjoying the content! The aquifer we're on is protected (there are restrictions on the amount of water any one parcel can take) so as to limit the amount of water being drawn. It's one of the strongest in the state with a current estimated draw of about half the recharge rate. Now, that can always change as more people move into the area, but that restriction is set in stone for anyone moving into the area moving forward.
Your hives need some of that IR-paint. IDK much about it but it keeps surface temperatures up to 10f lower than the hot-outside air.
Thank you for the suggestion, I'll have to look that up!
A "Bayleaf tree?" Is that the kind of bayleaf tree we use for our cooking?
You got it. One and the same!
g8 vid
i suggest to plant acasia trees and lucaenia for both honey and fodder to animal in north orchard
they are fast growng
i tried it in saudia arabia with good result
gud luck
Thank you for those suggestions. We do need to find additional fodder trees!
Thanks for this video, really enjoyed seeing an overview of the trees and property. Was the fence line flyover all 6 acres?
Thanks Daryl! Yes, the fence line was the 6 acres.
Great video! You will note a new name for me as I sold my IMSC business, this is Pam in Apache Junction. I lost my Anna apple this year, but everything else made it. I have already bought another Anna apple, two loquat seedlings, an Amla tree, and a starfruit. Everything is going into the ground in October per your suggestions. I am still struggling to master my watering though. Can you tell me how much and how long you water when you do it once a week and twice a week?
Hey there Pam! Thanks for the heads up on the change in handle name. I would have eventually figured it out, but this helps!
This past summer we were watering 2x/week with the severe heat and lack of rain. We're back down to 1x/week with 60 gallons per tree.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm , I deleted the other one, I am not sure how that happened, I did not type it twice. Thanks for the information.
Love your farm and videos! I never knew quite what Wittman looks like. You need one of our big, beautiful Kangal pups. We had a puppy go up there last month if you're interested in meeting her, let me know. We have one puppy left available. We're in Casa Grande area. Blessings ❤🎉
I had to look up that breed and it looks like they can get pretty darn big!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm yes! Dad is about 175 now and mom's 135, they eat about 5 cups a day and incredibly gentle and lovable with all farm animals forming incredible bonds with their families. They effectively guard against owls, hawks, bobcats, falcons, coyotes, even mountain lions and bear. They're so loyal and incredibly smart. No training, just lots of love and gentle guidance until about 8 months old.
@@Iesha466 wow, those are just massive!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm livestock guardians are big, strong and powerful easily warding off any threats to farm or flock yet incredibly gentle towards their family and children and babies even if they've never been around a child, they instinctively know to protect it.
I can't relate to the "moringa tree" or the "Jujube tree." These are not trees we grew up with. I'm not sure what I would do with them.
We're still trying to figure out how to fully utilize the Jujube. The moringa is a bit easier as the pods taste great and the leaves are good greens for smoothies. Both are "cash crops" for us, so eventually they will help to support the farm.
Moringa tree. wonderful. I want to try the tree. Not sure it would live here in the upper AZ desert. Oh would love to try cane sugar. Not sure if it would survive here.
In Northern AZ you'd probably need to grow Moringa as an annual tree as it would not survive your Winters. Sugarcane would be a challenge also.
@EdgeofNowhereFarm what I have done with my myerrs lemon tree, wrapped the old clear x mas lights around it to keep it warm. SO far its working. Thax
Thanks for the drone tour, everything looks great ! Do you have issues with alkalinity in your irrigation water ? What is/was the PH of the dirt before you start turning it into soil ?
We did have our soil tested when we first moved onto the property and it was 8.4, so very alkaline. The root stocks we use are designed to thrive in alkaline soil and the woodchips breaking down along with manure based fertilizers are helping to balance that a bit as well. Still very alkaline though as the well water is alkaline as well.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm. Thanks for the info, my folks lived in Lake Havasu for years and their city water was very alkaline as well but dad still managed to grow citrus trees. His pink grapefruit were outstanding, we always tried to take home a couple 5 gallon buckets full.
Watching this a little late. People underestimate just how large 6 acres is, I think. As you've shown, you can do an incredible amount of things with acreage that 'small'.
The August heat clobbered a couple of my trees, though I can't figure out the pattern. I may end up chopping down the white grapefruit, it got destroyed so bad, while the red grapefruit next to it fared much better. The kumquat got hammered, but its rapidly recovering now. The tangelo got hammered, but I think its recovering. The pomegranate excelled to the point where I'm going to have to cut it back with a hedge trimmer, and the pear tree was unscathed, though it didn't produce a lot of fruit.
It sounds like you have a few challenges there with that citrus. They can be finnicky, especially the kumquats. They seem to be hit or miss for us some years as well. Glad to hear that pear is doing well. Those can be challenging also.
Pomegranates are beasts!
How did the "Flow Hive" hold up with the heat?
That hive is still alive, but they struggled a bit over the summer. We'll have to see if we get a harvest from it in the Spring.
Love your show guys keep up with the good work , have you thought of planting Palm trees like Date palms etc. great show ❤ from the UK
Wow, hello in the UK! We're not big fans of dates and we try to grow what we'll eat along with what we can sell. That being said, they are ideal for our climate, so they may work their way onto the farm some day.
Do you guys do rain water harvesting? If so could you show us that system?
We only do passive catchment here. Essentially all of the buildings have gutters on them that drain into an underground pipe that transports the water into designated areas where fruit trees and/or vines are growing. A full water catchment system would be very expensive and still not give us enough water for what we're trying to accomplish. I'll link to a video we did on our water and the reasons why we went this route;
th-cam.com/video/mD-ucHVNseE/w-d-xo.html
Thank you! We are southeast valley area and just bought an acre. We were wanting to do rainwater collection, but we're newbies to everything! Any help is so appreciated!
Im not sure what your doing but there is a lot of wasted space. Grown blueberry under trees. Shade bees more no direct sun.
Need to do more greening the desert trees follow jeff Lawson.
Very good drown driving. Nice and steady
Also animals need trees in pen for shade. No water trees lots out there. need more shade
Seriously need swales to recharge ground water table.
Trees spaced too far apart dont shade ground enough to reduce evaporation. Closer
Great suggestions and we're working towards that. There are only 2 of us (and only 1 full time) working this property, so it will take time.
My almond tree didnt do very good this year in Southern AZ. Im near tombstone.
They do grow a lot more slowly than other stone fruit. How old is your tree?
@EdgeofNowhereFarm the almost IA 4 years old. The leaves are falling off. Plus no fruit this year. We had a freeze and it killed the flowers. Thank you. Oh oh I have year old horse poo. Can I use the horse poo?
@@lisad4054 we had some struggles this year with late frosts as well, so that could be part of the problem. We have not used horse manure before, but have been told it does need to age quite a bit before using it. If I was to use it, I would probably compost it a bit first and then apply it into mulch. This way it will have less of a chance to negatively impact your tree.
Thank you very much. I did use some horse poo to grow corn and it came out good. What do you think I should use as a feritlizer for the almond for winter. I dont have the 10 10 10 though. Thank you
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm
@@lisad4054 any good fruit tree fertilizer would work just fine for almonds. They are actually small peaches!
Have you ever grown the Hawaii Apple? I'm in FL 9a and can't find much information.
Hmm, we have not grown that. I will say, our summer apples do very well here, taste great and produce abundantly without any need for protection. If you're in 9A they would do well for you. In fact, you can probably get away with a few of the other low chill varieties in 9A. Gala and Golden Delicious
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for the info. I saw a vid on TH-cam where they said it tastes like a pineapple, and is crisp! It peaked my interest!
@@CraftEccentricity a crispy pineapple would be pretty interesting!
Wait! Hold on! Is Duane actually exhibiting good product placement by wearing an "Edge of Nowhere Farm" T-shirt???
Every once a while I have to rep the goods!
I'm just curious. Why didn't you go with a more permaculture/ food forest style of orchard?
There are several reasons, but the primary one was needing the farm to produce a positive cash flow as quickly as possible to allow for future growth. Fruit trees take a few years to produce and we've had several other projects after their install to get that cash flow going. We do plan to incorporate more permaculture techniques as we continue to expand further onto the property but a full on Food Forest (over/understory) in those primary orchards is not on the immediate plans.
No cat updates?
Not in this one, but they'll be in our next vlog for sure. They are really doing good and just had their first day out in their enclosure yesterday!
Ever thought about planting mangoes.
The main reason is the heat of summer and very cold winter temps we have out here. We would have to baby it quite a bit to get a small harvest and we simply don't have the time. That being said, Lori really wants one, so maybe some day. 😉
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm oh,didn’t take that into account,that’s why you guys are good 👍
Tell me your turkey pasture wouldn't look stunning with some Panicum virgatum "Cloud Nine" growing on the western side? th-cam.com/video/_c_i5ro_jDY/w-d-xo.html I particularly liked this video because it shows a wide range of Switch Grass cultivars (Panicum virgatum) in a real setting, with a person for scale, so you can see what they really look like. That Panicum "North Wind" is gorgeous and the upright habit will provide a lot of forage and shade for your Turkeys. Truly, though, I'd plant the "Cloud Nine" down with your backdrop mulberry trees so you could watch it waving in the breeze from your back porch. You don't get a much more beautiful scene than that, imo!
I would also note that the Native Prairie grasses are warm-season grasses that do their growing during the heat of the summer and would be available to the turkeys.
It's really fantastic to see just how much you've grown over the relatively short amount of time you've been on the site.
Funny you should mention grasses. We filmed a vlog this weekend and show how we're prepping an area for some additional bunch grasses. We're hopeful we still have a solid month or so to get some growth out of them before they start going dormant.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Ooh, now I'm gonna be on the edge of my seat, waiting with bated breath to see what grass you decided on? Adroogon? Panicum? Sorghastrum nutans? Stipa? Can't wait for the reveal!
I appreciate the fact that you are not on the world is coming to an end "climate change" band wagon - weather just happens - sometimes hot - sometimes not!
Agreed, adapt and survive. The climate has been changing since the ice age.
Yeah, the climate always changes. It's funny, because we get record temps from time to time that broke a record over 100 years old, so why was it so hot in 1930?
Do sell any sugar canes cuttings just got started with figs and looking for some sugar cane here on a two acre ranchette here in eloy thanks skip
We don't have any cuttings, at least not this year. We're rooting out starts for the Spring, but that's a heck of a trip for you all the way from Eloy!
I had NO idea your pigs were so far removed from the main house. It's no wonder. Based on experience, I can tell you...pigs stink! Pig poop doesn't smell like cow poop. It's SO much worse.
Bingo, that's why we've been slowly moving them away from the farmhouse over the last couple of rounds. For the most part we can't smell them now that they're on the "back 40"!
Pigs do not stink. You must have neglected their care.
@@uncledick9445, first...I never raised pigs...second...I've been on 2 pig ranches and they stunk to high heaven. Cow poop doesn't stink like that.
Why no Bermuda?
They wind up taking over the areas where they grow and once they're planted it's nearly impossible to get rid of them and more importantly keep it contained (we wouldn't want it growing outside of the primary chicken pasture). It also makes it difficult to grow alfalfa for the chickens which is a higher quality forage for them.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thanks for the reply! That makes sense. I like the water efficiency of Burmuda for covering bare ground, but different strokes for different folks.
Conheçam o sistema sintrópico. ❤
Obrigada pelo conselho.
Did tou know drip irrigstion was invented and used in israel. They have rhe greenest area in the middle east.
Yes and we were blessed to visit several farms (kibbutz) when we were in Israel several years ago and the agriculture was AMAZING!