Thanks for watching folks - You can see more tours of our Food Forest in this playlist here 👉 kzread.info/head/PLOidPRQofoMO0DE7TSR7WXi14EsPi8Fd_ 💚✌🌿

28:34: I live in Ireland, about Manchester latitude and I have a brown turkey fig in my garden. It fruits every year, it is now 7 years old, has survived draught, torrential rains, sub zero temperatures for 2 weeks 2 years ago including some -10C nights. Its biggest enemy is wind, that can cause a lot of windburn / damage to the fruits, it happens pretty much every year coz I'm on a hill top and very exposed site, but it still gives me so many fruits every year. I only eat fig fresh, I dont like it dried or jam, and it fruits so prolifically, I can even share it with the chickens and they go crazy for it. 😂 Given you guys are much more to the south than I am, I'm sure it will be a very successful plant for you in a short few years. 👍

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Wow, this is good to know. Weather wise and health wise they seem happy enough, they are growing quite slowly though - I wonder if this is because we have the roots restricted, in very large open bottom type pots we made when planting as I think we had researched somewhere thats what they needed to fruit also.... Dan's nearly replaced them a few times as he hasn't been sure they will fruit, so we will defo wait until past the 7 year mark before making any harsh decissions! One fruited at my parents house last year too, which is nearby from a tree which I think would be just a couple years older than others. We intend to grow one or two figs under cover in time also, when we finally get to planting up / transforming our dug out polytunnel - that will be fun to compare 💚 Thanks for watching/commenting 🙏✌️🌿

@revvend

2 ай бұрын

​@@freedomforestlife It will fruit regardless whether you restrict the roots or not, it's a fruit bush, fruiting is its job. If you restrict the roots it will just grow smaller and start fruiting earlier. If you let it grow as big as it wants to grow without restrictions, it will grow much bigger, and though in the first few years it is possible that it will put more energy into growing rather than fruiting, but once it has reached its final size, it will start fruiting anyway, and then you will have a much bigger bush to bear a lot more fruits. So the dilemma is wether you want to have less fruits but earlier or a lot more fruits but a few years later. It may be slightly different with more ornamental varieties that were developed to look big and pretty at the cost of fruiting, but brown turkey IS an absolute monster when it comes to fruiting, once it gets the hang of it, nothing will stop it. 👍

@patriciawaterman7280

2 ай бұрын

@@freedomforestlife I don't restrict the roots either, if you restrict the roots, you restrict the amount of nutrients the plant can take up and sooner or later that will affect the fruiting too. If you start fertilising to counter it, then there's no point restricting the roots in the first place, you can just let the plant grow naturally the way it wants to. The bigger root it has the more nutrients it can absorb, the better it is both for the plant and for the quality of the fruits too.

Love to see more of Murphy in your videos, I enjoyed Dan's video sharing all the background to how he came to purchase the land.

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi Christine - Aww, yes we get Murphy on film whenever we can, this was one of his finest camera moments we think 🤣 He was really working it for the camera that morning ... other times he just sends it flying!!! 🤣 Glad you enjoyed the Buying a woodland video, we do plan to make more like that over time - Thanks for watching/commenting 💚✌️🌿

Isnt it just the best time of year...just watching all the new life really take off. Your gardens look amazing, youve been working hard 😁

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

HI Christine 🙏 There is certainly an energy to Spring ... even when the weather hasn't been that great!!! The birds still sing louder, the plants grow faster, the green is greener ... you can really feel it 💚🌸🌳 Thanks for watching/commenting 💚✌️🌿

@sjoerdmhh

2 ай бұрын

Yes, I really love this time too, something new to see every week, plants waking up one by one!

Loved watching and listening to you and seeing what you're up to and planning ☺ So much has changed since the last time I watched a tour. Wonderful to see you have introduced some roses 🌹It warms my heart so much to see you implementing your dreams, I imagine you inspire many people (inc. me!). Sending love to you both 🤗🤗 P.S. Do you get a lot of snails? 🐌

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi Ocean, Stoked you enjoyed the tour 💚 LOTS of learning and evolving over time for sure... I think that has got to be one of the best things about gardening actually (next to the fresh produce of course) it is a real hands learning expereince 🙏 Defo more snails/slugs than previous years after the onslaught of rain! Still very managable here though thankfully... No where near as many as the city gardens we work in, thankfully for us 🙏 Sending love from us both xxx

Great to see everything waking up, I love your content, fills me with inspiration, keep up the fantastic work, and thank you for sharing ❤

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Thanks for your lovely message Sally & thanks for watching too 💚✌️🌿

I am really loving my sculpit. The shoots are crunchy and great in a salad. The more you pick, the bushier it gets. I have Borreal beauty and Borreal blizzard honey berries. They fruited last year. Hope you get a good crop this year!

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi Ann, I'd better get picking more of mine then!! 🙌 Pretty sure at least one of the new ones we added is 'Borreal' something, Dan chose the varieties. Not sure if they flowered at the same time as our established plant this year though, where not long in the ground, optomistic for future harvests though now 💚

Your food forest is looking amazing, fingers crossed for a great summer (?) ahead. Id never heard of honey berries until i saw this video. I told my daughter about them, and she bought me a couple of small plants. How exciting. When they arrived, there was a couple of damaged branches, however i popped them in rooting powder and popped them into soil, and these too seem to be taking off!. Thankyou for your video. Im now off to watch your newest video about flowering garlic. My onions are all starting to flower too.

@freedomforestlife

Ай бұрын

Thats great you are trying honey berries AND that you got extra plants rooting on too 💚 So glad you are enjoying and following our vids 🙏 the food forest here is COVERED in potential fruit right now, it could be a bumper year, given the mild winter! 🤞 We will do another update tour in a couple of weeks. ✌️🌿

I'm on Essex clay at my allotment. I always put a mix of coarse grit and potting compost in the planting hole of rosemary and woody herbs. They always thrive after that. ✌️🌿

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Great tip Lynne - thank you 🙏✌️🌿

Great update. Rosemary thrives in sandy soil so hopefully your amendment will work. And for the feijoa, whilst most varieties are self pollinating, they all benefit from having another plant in close proximity to boost the harvest, so hopefully yours are well situated.

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi Tony, 🤞 for the Rosemary - I only get a year or 2 normally before the plants give up - where as in previous locations it becomes a massive bush and takes over normally! I thinking I could have been more generous with the sand, hopefully what I added will be enough though ... Our soil is naturally more acid here, enhanced possibly by the woodchips ... wondering if they also prefer more alkaline or neutral 🤔 I should look that up 💚 Our 2 Feijoa's are pretty close, I remember Dan taking about this also - Thanks for sharing that tip. 💚✌️🌿

@tonyr7393

2 ай бұрын

@@freedomforestlife i think the drainage is more critcal than the ph level, but if you feel you need it more alkaline then a bit of lime might help a little. My friend gardens on sandy soil and his rosemary plants are the size of dustbins and covered in flowers and bees. Mine are from the same plant originally and are growing on unsuitable clay soil and they are only about the size of my hand. I need to arrange a soil swap with him!

Great! Beautiful! Tnank you.

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

🙏 Thanks for watching 💚✌️🌿

Lovely! video! I also have alot of Aronia in my garden. They are lovely to dry and add to your cereals, porridge, granola and sweet baked goods. They are also super nice to turn in to a marmalade and/or a sturdy jelly for your sunday roasts :-D

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi Jake, great to know, I will defo try some dried this year for sure. Thanks for watching & sharing your ideas too 🙏💚✌️🌿

Loved the food forest tour. I’m feeling positive for your fig tree - tougher than you think once you get them established. Great transformation in only 5 years. 🤩

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi, Thanks - this is good to hear. Weather wise and health wise they seem happy enough, they are growing quite slowly though - I wonder if this is because we have the roots restricted, in very large open bottom type pots we made when planting as I think we had researched somewhere thats what they needed to fruit also.... Thanks for watching/commenting 🙏✌️🌿

We are at the same stage with wild garlic… had almost given up on it but noticed lots of “children” popping up like yours! Can’t wait to see what it does in a few more years!

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

I can not wait until the time when I have enough to be making Wild Garlic Soup and Pesto 😋 Exciting - So pleased to have spotted it again, I was worried it may have been trampled out with all the adjustments we've been making over winter 🙏 Thanks for watching 💚✌️🌿

Wonderful tour! I didn’t realise Silene vulgaris was edible. I’ve sowed some seeds of it to grow just as a wildflower. I’ll have to try it once it gets big enough 😊

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi James, Its a beautiful delicate flower isn't it ... I forgot to mention that part! You can eat the flowers too apparently and the leave taste different depending on the light levels and soil conditions I recall from when I looked into it. Its used widely in cooking in some mediterranean countries - Italy and maybe turkey ... I don't think mine have much taste at the mo, probably because they are older over wintered leaves mainly, but its nice to have to add more diversity to salads and no doubt has some different nutritional properties (haven't looked into that yet)✌️🌿

Wow its fabulous 👌 👏

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Thank you Val 🙏 Glad you enjoyed the tour 💚✌️🌿

You have a great variety of edible plants and trees 👍 The bees 🐝 🐝🐝 will be happy in your food forest.

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

I do hope they are - we are blessed with LOTS of bees, I love spotting them flying in and out of the blossom and flowers. Thanks for watching/commenting 💚✌️🌿

Thank you! Really nice to see! It's funny that I have a clay soil too, live in the same zone and for me yarrow and sorrel are much harder to keep and the rosemary and elderberry grow like weeds. Rosemary also grows all over town here in massive bushes, on clay soil at sea level in the Netherlands. What could it be? Differences in pH, soil nutrients? We get a lot of wind here, perhaps it likes that as well :).

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

Hi, Yes thats really interesting! I had thought maybe PH, our soil here is naturally a little acid and woodchip can sometimes increase acid too... in my previous gardens we were on chalk, then flint and Rosemary grew AMAZINGLY in both of those gardens! Thanks for watching & sharing your thoughts 🙏💚✌️🌿

@sjoerdmhh

2 ай бұрын

@@freedomforestlife It might be worth it throwing in a hand of lime, just for the rosemary. I don't really use a lot of supplements, but our clay is also supposed to be a bit acidic and a used some lime pallets for my mixed "low hedge" of lavenders, thyme, sage, rosemary, and other Mediterranean plants. I have quite a few similar plants to yours, but not al lot of trees (it's an allotment and the neighbour doesn't like the shade). It's a dream to once make a real food forest like yours!

& 🪴🪴

@freedomforestlife

2 ай бұрын

🙏