A Self Reliance oasis for like minded souls seeking credible knowledge, insight and authenticity, welcome home :)
SkillCult is not a survival, homesteading, prepping, or primitive skills channel, but it kind of is. It is motivated, less by fear of a disastrous future, (however valid) and more by wonder at the world of ideas, knowledge, resources and possibilities we walk through daily, but which is unnoticed by most. It’s about a hunger to point ourselves in a direction where we grow to become more self reliant, more self contained, and as a result, less like helpless adult babies suckling at the toxic teat of industrial society. In short, it is about free thinking and empowerment through knowledge and skill, and the true confidence and power that those bring to our lives, ongoing, however and wherever we live.
I strive to make this a life raft of insight in a sea of mediocre information. Hop in this raft by subscribing & Hit the Bell icon for notifications of new content.
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Wonderful video! Thank you so very much!
Great tour of the homestead. A speedy recovery from your surgery. Looks to me as if it all coming along nicely. 46:56
If you reach 100k subscribers I think youtube would send you an award.
thanks for the headsup on those drag hoes, a pair from france with free delivery to UK for £7 on ebay, almost felt guilty buying them! I use 'dufus' traps for moles over here, bit like your can but with loops at both ends kinda double set things
Interesting ❤
Boooooooooooooooo000000o0o0o0o000
for the apples that don't pollinate well; do you know if you are maybe using some triploids? they have weak pollen. oh and there is a loquat seedling close to where i live that has small round, flattened fruit that has very soft skin (and not fuzzy) so no need to peel. and it tastes better than any store bought loquat i've eaten so far. too bad most of the time the flowers/fruitless don't survive winter.
I only have a few triploids. I've not looked at how well they did this year, but typically, they seem to pollinate stuff fine actually. I've always ignored the admontions not to use triploid pollen and so far so good. This year I even tried pollinated triploids with other triploids! Just to see how it works out. Most of my failures probably have to do with things like timing, incompatibility or old pollen. I often have to use pollen from the previous year because none is ready yet, or the desired pollen parent is not blooming in any given year.
Wow, that bed of '23 seedlings is inspiring! The previous two years I lost close to 50% of my seedlings to damping off. Last year I tried better drained soil and bottom watering, but still no good. This year I decided to pasteurize my soil, so I got some deep old chafing pans full of water, brought to a boil and dumped my soil mix in. Smelled like wet dog, manure and mushroom soup! So far so good though - zero damping off. I also planted them late this year so it was warmer. Ive read temps over 70 help inhibit damping off pathogens. You do a lot of work to provide apple seeds of some really exciting crosses, so glad more of your work will survive to fruition this year. Wishing you good health and success in all your projects!
An easy way to sanitize soil is baking it. I always make sure it is wet and cover with a lid or tinfoil. This year I added some charcoal to a good potting mix, amended with a little bit of other stuff and left the pots outside. I didn't see a single one damp off. They just seemed very healthy and happy for the most part. I'm not sure I saw any mildew either, maybe one now that they are in the ground. Bottom watering is probably not necessary if you are not overwatering and have good air circulation. Glad to hear cooking the soil seems to have helped.
Dude, if it's melanoma, I hope you got tested if it spread. 9 months without symptoms suggests so, but don't underestimate it. I lost a family member like that, he was dead within 6 months.
I'm making an appointment this week to see a GP. They seemed confident they got it all and didn't recommend any other follow up, but I'm doing it anyway, just to see if I should screen with blood tests or something.
for the alliums, thats how I always plant mine. deep is okay, never had them too deep.
Hope you get better.
Good to see you glad you're back healthy. I just wanted to let you know i bought lots of stuff at the beginning of spring all the grafts took all the grape cuttings rooted and all the seeds germinated. Thanks so much for all you do! I plan to buy more from you soon this was a wonderful video.
Good to hear. I hope some of that stuff does well for you. It is a totally different environment down there. I might have my new tree collard available soon.
@@SkillCult i can't wait
Great to see you back on YT. The seeds I bought from you this season are doing great. I got pretty close to 100% germination, so I have 70+ trees to plant out this fall. Thanks for your work, I can't wait until I start getting fruit
Well you're just going to have to wait ha ha. It is certainly an exercise in patience. It is good to have something to look forward to and be excited about though. Whatever you planted, you should get some great stuff out of that many seedlings. From my experience and talking to some others. Maybe 10 to 15% or thereabouts end up being very good to excellent the majority are so-so or just pedestrian and another 15% or so pretty bad. At least for eating quality.
So sorry you don't feel well. Do you have Lime Disease?
Thanks for all you do !
Glad you mentioned that missing tree... I had grafted an apple tree last year, planted it out in the field in autumn and by spring it was gone. The wood chips around it were completely untouched, so it was not torn out and I couldn't find any remains by digging, so it was not bitten off. Some people told me I was crazy to assume it has gone underground xD
That does happen to very small trees!
I'm most interested when you explain tree growth stuff. You show in this video that you can tell with a quick look at the tip of a branch if it's still actively growing out. Is it because of the kind of buds you find there, or how exactly do you know? (I actually hoping that you already have it in a video?)
In an active growing tip, there will be immature succulent light green leaves in various sizes, and the tip will be a small leaf basically. In one that has termimated, the leaves will be maturing off without new leaves and the tip will be barely visible or a more like a small dormant bump.
@@SkillCult you are the king of actionable advice! Thanks, this is very useful! ♥
I'd love to get me one of those golfer traps... They keep running on my land and are leaving these terrible white round droppings...
That cultivator attachment you mentioned that slides under the top layer of soil is called a Dutch hoe
Thanks. I'm a big fan of that concept. Haven't used it on that cultivator yet
Lots of nice work to do. Maybe you could have a helper party and those close enough could pitch in for a day one weekend.
I tried that once, but it was at the beginning of COVID, which I didn't really know anything about at the time lol.
I'm intensely jealous of all those lovely beds in comparison to the sand pit that is my garden but I know you worked your ass off to make them that good because I watched you do it. Always great to have a video from you. Best wishes with everything
Yeah, those were a lot of work. I had help with a couple from friends. I'm lucky to have very nicely textured soil here. It is not abundantly fertile, but it is not bad and an almost ideal textural base. One of my criteria for new land is definitely good fertile, but also reasonably textured soil. I've had to work in clay a lot and I'm over it.
Спасибi за новi сорти...яблук та iншого..❤
You are welcome. Thanks for your appreciation :)
Glad to hear you are well and being 10 years older than you I always question starting anything new. I want to move as well, but I have to know I'm leaving a new garden or orchard to someone who will continue it. Q: I have to move a few apple trees I started from seed 2 & 3 seasons ago. When should I root prune them, Now while they are in the ground or when I dig them in the fall? Thanks for all you do.
You might look into English root pruning methods, but at that age, I think you are good just digging them up, but maybe try to go 18 inches from the trunk on all sides. The main thing is pruning the tops back enough. Like I said when transplanting lettuce, it's about balancing tops and roots so the tops can't outpace the roots ability to provide water and nutrients. You can also take off some buds or pinch some stuff out in the first year of regrowth to slow their roll a bit and guide growth to the most inmportant places to regain a form you want.
@@SkillCult Thanks, so if possible when transplanting dormant, leave as much root as possible. or... try the English root pruning method. Many thanks for the advice, I unfortunately put ly seedlings in a place last year that they cannot stay indefinitely. Lesson Learned.
@@GoneBattyBats With good timing, they will probably move well. Just don't hold back too much in trimming the existing structure back to reduce the amount of vegetative growth the first year. It will grow back.
I've been binge-watching / rewatching your content. Thanks to your motivation, I have grafted over 25 apple varieties (I'm in 🇯🇲). I saw a video where you recommended Waltana, I'm supposed to get some scions by weekend.👍
Waltana is a good performer and very large. I wouldn't say it is a very exciting apple, but it is popular with small growers around here because it is big and pretty and reliable. I've made some crosses with it.
Thanks for taking the time to vlog the homestead activities.
Always excited for the apple breeding updates. So many new varieties coming in the future. Can’t wait for the team wachuma seedlings also. Continue to persevere, your work is a huge inspiration for many.
I haven't released cactus seedlings due to being busy and also anticipating all the work shipping which I have to cut out a big block of time for. It should be soon, but I keep saying that lol.
And seriously, the varieties that will come out of this seedlot are going to be amazing. I feel like the crosses get a little bit more interesting every year.
Deer wouldn’t be a disaster; just fill the freezer with venison.
But I wouldn't have to use my garden as bait ;)
David the Good got me listening to portis head and drinking spiced rum.
ha ha. He's hilarious.
hi Stephen, that apple with the hard to pollinate parts, why don't you use the male pollen off that and pollinate the female of a tree that doesn't have the flower so far in.
I do that, but I like crosses in that direction for some reason. I have this idea that the seed parent may contribute more physical characteristics like size and shape. I'm not sure it is true, but I suspect so. A cross I like to make with sunrise is Wickson, but what I really want is an apple just like Sunrise that tastes somewhat like the savory flavor of wickson. I suspect that if I make the cross this way, I will end up with more large apples and if I make it the other way, I'll end up with more small apples. It actually seems to pollinate well, it is just a pain to do. Also there is more risk of cross contamination because the brush necessarily gets covered in the seed parent pollen and has to be cleaned off or replaced between dips into the pollen pouch.
@@SkillCult yeah, you don't want cross contamination. my favourite apple is golden harvey.
@@Shane_O.5158 I have got golden harvey but it seems to do very poorly here. I was all excited about it. I even did a blog post on it where I posted a bunch of research.
@@SkillCult yes, it is a weak apple, it needs breeding for hardiness.
Sorry to hear that, glad they got it all!👍🏻
Off-topic, but an old wood saw can be transformed into a panel hacksaw that people once used in the Cold War. You'll need a carbide bit though. Yes, they can also be sold for Japanese waterstones.
VOTO: B - Chickens noises are: B - Cute, relaxing and super funny! Oh, yes, never forget, delicious too 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰
Netflix should give this guy a series
I'll pass,but thanks for the vote of confidence.
Ganhou mais um inscrito. Muito obrigado por postar. Esse foi primeiro vídeo seu que vejo. Estou ansioso para ver os outros.
Never imagined how much work is required for transforming a skin to leather . And lot of time as well Very impressive 👍
Incredibly helpful. Restoring a Kelly True Temper Flint Edge axe. Just got a nice edge on it. Handle is sun bleached and dry as a chicken bone. It's been a cool transformation process. Thanks!
I wonder how well tape holds up if its wrapped near the head of an axe. Could duct tape or some kind of rubber tape reinforce or ease the stress that travels through the handle at all in the long term? I always thought it was aesthetic or for better grip, never really looked into any properties that dampen any of the recoil or shock that travels through it.
Tape can help a lot in holding the wood together so that it doesn't fail under stress. That can be especially useful below the eye where stress is high and the wood fibers are often damaged by overstrikes. If I use anything, I prefer to use thin rawhide. But tape works.
Thank you!
Thank you for all of these videos on grafting, last winter when I bought some stone fruit Scion, they were thin and were also budding, one was starting to flower! I think we just had an season here last year. The St Julian rootstocks I bought for them, 9/10 never woke up anyway, so wasn’t a great year!
I couldn't disagree with you more. Don't be careful for fear of injuring your leg. Or as I like to say giving yourself a pirate swagger, a manly scar, and a party story about how you could have gone pro if it weren't for that freakish lumberjacking axe injury! So go for it, fortune favors the bold and I will take an axe wound over a chainsaw mishap or my name's not "Lucky Oops Lefty"
❤❤❤Thank sir for good video 👍👍👍✨
In. Nz they used to slow hardwood drying by burying it in sawdust
Can you propagate from cuttings, I have 2 pineapple guavas, I would like more just for personal use, I live in West Central Florida, thanks
I don't know anyone that does it. There may very well be a way. I would try air layering before just taking cuttings and sticking them. Usually they are grafted.
can you just graft on a whip to an established apple tree? mine are just from seed so as a root stock they are doing great but want to graft on some varieties. trees are not fruiting now as not big yet, about 1" diameter at base with various smaller branches. your opinion would be appreciated. TY
Yes, for sure. that is a good stage to establish each main scaffold branch as its own variety. I have lot of videos on grafting, including a big 11 part series.
@@SkillCult Thanks SkillCult!
Thank you for this video!
Hi and thanks for sharing, appreciated. Lots of things happen when splitting wood. And when someone splitting is skilled and in the zone, the hand is quicker than the eye and to the inexperienced it can look more dangerous than it is. A skilled kindling axe user, when warmed up and in their grove can be very focused and aware of exactly what will work best for each bit of wood as it presents itself and acting accordingly. In the last couple of months I've split 70 kindling bags, didn't hit a finger once. Years ago I occasionally glanced a finger but I never got cut. Back then I set up with a waist high splitting block, wore gloves and tried to never allow a situation where the axe can meet a finger backed by a solid surface. So I aim to never put a finger or thumb on top of a piece to be split, but to hold gently on the side as a core method, but lots and lots of other knowledgeable skills and techniques are useful for varying wood and situations. Today I have a wood splitting bench with a semi circle end into which a splitting block fits. Kindling usually splits onto the bench top so bending is mostly eliminated. I've found it worth while to have a high splitting block for doing kindling. I used to position a wheelbarrow to catch most splits. This worked well for moving them to where they were to be stored or for then putting into bags. With my current set up it's often from complete round to bagged kindling at the wood splitting bench. When I have learned some more I would like to move to processing kindling mechanically. Thanks again for sharing Cheers sincerely d
hi, just saw your video and have a quick question. when using a rootstock of Morus alba and grafting it with Morus nigra. If the Morus alba is without roots could it still accept the graft and root.
maybe, but I would not bet on it. If all is dormant and you can keep it that way until you can get roots on the cutting, I don't see why it would not work, but it seems dicey.
Imagine if apples didnt take so long to fruit from seed. You'd probably have apples the size of your head that taste like raspberry jam by now
Yeah right!?
My go to mix for preserving wood. Use it on pine picnic table and weather exposed plywood on my camper. Lasts a number of years and soaks in well. Turpentine 1 qt Boiled Linseed Oil 1 qt Pine Tar 1/2 pt Japan Drier 1/2 pt
Have you considered getting a piece of pvc pipe and putting a glued cap on one end then stick a handle inside the pipe and pour in oil and let it soak for days.
That has been on my to do list for years lol. I think the way to go is black ABS. You could put it in the sun to heat up. It would take a lot of oil, but I think you could probably get away with using some cheap veg oils like canola and corn oil. They are fairly far onto the drying side of the scale. I'm not sure how much better ABS would be for resisting UV light, but it is probably best to paint it whatever is used.