Freedom Forest Life - Off Grid
Freedom Forest Life - Off Grid
Freedom Forest is 3 acres of Food Forest, Permaculture Gardens & Wildlife haven - Our expression of sustainable growing and living, which is continually evolving and improving as we re-generate new areas and hone others by observing and learning.
We are on a gentle sloping valley with around 1 acre of natural woodland, a small stream and lots of full sun growing areas for our fruit, vegetables and hardy tropicals and we are completely off grid.
Our focus is on Agroforestry, soil health and creating a balanced ecosystems to benefit all, whilst being as gentle on the planet as possible.
We make videos tours of our land, show how we are achieving at least 60% self-sufficiency and share our favourite Plant-Based Recipes and Health Tonics - plus all the things we love most about living an amazing outdoor lifestyle and being close to nature.
We can learn and grow together.
Peace & Plants ✌️ 🌿
#freedomforest #permaculture #farmstead #offgrid
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I did not know inbreeding would hurt my crop om growing my first butcher blood crop next time I will do better 👍
Brilliant - any update on how the manure turned out? Had a quick search but didn't find anything
Hi Mel - It was GREAT - we left it in the hot bed until winter, then dug it out and Mulch every single fruiting tree and shrub in the food forest with it - Everything is growing/fruiting very well this year. I think there was one or two of our vlog over winter where I was working in the food forest mulching with it - Thanks for watching Mel and for checking in re update 👍💚✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlife thanks for the update. I do already compost using humanure, but the composter is outside (pallet built) and its really not ideal. I have 2 acres that I'm also trying to turn into a food forest - was very neglected for 15 years and a lot of rubbish dumped on it - but 2 years on it's getting there - polytunnel, workshop and a fair few fruit trees in. This year I've started tree guilds - your channel is brilliant, thank you!
I don't understand why you wouldn't want crossbreeding. Seems to me like having more varied genetics will give you a chance of making a better corn.
you can eat it when it's not dry like that, and it's pretty damn tasty, in fact you should
Really important that you use non nano zinc oxide as they particles are larger and less likely to be absorbed into the body and sit on the skin to protect
Nothing beats harvesting potatoes ❤
Wonderful array of plants there. I'm struggling to think of much that i'd add to that, maybe some mini kiwi fruit bushes and some globe artichokes. My champagne rhubarb this year has been really slow to get growing - i've only harvested a couple of stems off it for the first time this morning, so something's gone wrong there. Some of the blueberries are turning colour now so won't be long there, and the hinnonmaki red gooseberry is also starting to colour up, so should be a good harvest around the end of the month. Good luck with all the apple mint. Hopefully it's the new Bitcoin!
Great tour of your food forrest. It's looking bountiful! You may be interested in an article on what and how to harvest Oregano I wrote from an Italian's point of view. lifefoodetcetera.blogspot.com/2023/05/herb-use-oregano.html Keep up the great videos and work, all the best!
Thanks for sharing the article, exciting - I will have a read 🙏 Glad you enjoyed the tour - Appreciate you watching and commenting 💚✌️🌿
Inspiring as always ❤
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Does the tour cover 3 acres or are there parts of the land untouched as yet?
Hi Peter, we normally do our tours in different ‘areas’ of the land, we have it divided up into different gardens/purposes. This one is just the food forest, which is approx 20 x 30m , we have other vids of our main garden beds and polytunnel tours etc ✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlife Ok thanks for letting me know. All very inspiring!
Thanks Peter, so glad you get inspiration from our vids - that is exactly what we hope for 🙏 thanks for watching ✌️🌿
i planted a hedge of blackcurrants and we got a few berries the very next year, but THIS year they are laden down! so having some advice on harvesting was helpful!
A blackcurrant hedge is an awesome idea - good on you 💚 Glad the video was helpful 🙏 Enjoy your harvest ✌️💚
Thank you so much for the tour. It’s always lovely to see what’s thriving. I’m always excited to see what else I can squeeze into my small space. I really want to focus on herbs and edible flowers (annuals and perennials) over the next two years.
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes I am LOVING all the flowers right now and there is defo room for more .. Lupins are going to be one of my next additions 🌸
Looks like your mulberry would appreciate some fertilizer. That'll speed it up for sure...Pro tip for anyone: most plants if not growing fairly vigorously or are not a fairly deep green could use fertilizer! Most stunted plants will kick into gear with one or a few doses of fertilizer. If they are still not growing, mulch!
Hi Erik, it did get a really good dose of Mulch from our Hotbed, over winter, no harm in giving it some nettle fertilser or some chicken manure pallets though, so I will get onto that - Thanks for the reminder and thanks for watching ✌️🌿
What variety of bananas have you planted?
Hi Maria, Musa basjoo is the variety, we have pretty good success with, we’ve tried others and they haven’t gone so well 💚✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlife good choice 👍🏼 That one can handle pretty heavy freezes.
It just looks so gorgeous!
Thanks Maria - It really is such a beautiful space at this time of year 💚✌️🌿
I love the tours of your food forest. I always see something I want to plant in mine. I have recently planted a couple of broom (cytisus) as support species in my fruit guilds. The pollinators love them. ✌️🌿
Hey Lynne, So glad you enjoy the tours 🙏 I honestly get so excited making them, it helps me to see the beauty around us even more - im always buzzing by the time we finish 😆 defo would like to add more Support species here - I'm thinking Lupins maybe one of my next additions, I tried the edible ones 2 years in a row, they don't grow strong enough though I feel, so I will try the classic flowering ones, as I really love them too 🌸 Broom is a great idea 💚✌️🌿
Great job just wondering how far apart do you space your tomatoes
Hi Bill, we space at approx 0.5 metres, give or take a little 💚 Glad you enjoyed the vid - thanks for watching ✌️🌿
Looks so nice! I'm halfway up in Finland and we didn't get any reasonable spring before mid May, and then we suddenly got 27°C 😅. So practically nothing grew outside beginning of May. Spring is the season I most am considering moving south 😂...
Hi Eva, we have just starting learning a little about the Finnish climate, via one of our favourite youtube channels Mossy Bottom - I can see it could be a very challenging climate for gardening! I hope the rest of the season is better for you 🤞 Thanks so much for watching and commenting 🙏 We have a new tour video of our Food Forest out on Sunday, which you may enjoy too 💚✌️🌿
Yum, you are making my mouth water.
Melon season is a truly scrumpious time for sure 🍉 Can't wait for them to start again this year 💚 Thanks for watching ✌️🌿
Interesting and terrifying! Even better to grow your own, to taste them warm off the vine is wonderful
Totally agree! Can not beat a warm sun ripened strawberry - Honestly I LOVE growing my own food for sooooo many reasons ! 🍓💚✌️🌿
That is interesting about the cape gooseberry. I tried overwintering 2 cape gooseberry & a pepino plant in my greenhouse. I mulched them with straw but they did not survive, despite us having an extremley mild winter in Ireland. When I lifted the straw the ground was very wet, I wonder did I have the same issue. Do you know which variety yours are? Mine grow 2 metres+ tall & are often too big for the greenhouse.
Hi Chris, interesting! Our soil doesn't sit too wet, but a LOT of water would move down hill past them and pools just beyond, its the only thing I can think as to why this year! Not sure on specific variety, it was just labeled as 'Cape Gooseberry (Physalis Peruviana)' from Permier Seeds. Grows about 2m wide, only about a metre or so tall though - I do have to give them a lot of space. 💚✌️🌿
It’s worth persevering with the lettuce seed, I saved some four years ago “ red gem & green gem” and it’s still going strong, better germination than any I’ve bought, good luck 🤞
Thanks for the encouragement Wendy 🙏 Thats really good to know 💚✌️🌿
Oh, gosh! Glad to have found you! Everything looks fantastic 😊❤!
Hi Eva, good to have you with us! Thanks for watching/commenting ... hope you enjoy some of our other vids too ... let us know 💚✌️🌿
Thankyou for the picking tip, I always get them too late
No worries Jack! Hope this helps for future harvesting 💚🍓✌️🌿
Great tour, your Cavolo Nero Toscana looks amazing. i never thought of growing it in polytunnel. All the best!
Hi, we are so pleased with how the Cavolo Nero has bouced back to life - completely blown away infact - we will be doing more Brassica's in the tunnel this winter for sure. Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the tour 💚✌️🌿
Another great video, isnt it just the best time....despite the weather here in the UK , everything wants to grow! Our polytunnel is pretty full now, which is so exciting. Outdoors is slow , due to the weather. But fingers crossed itll soon pick up. We have just lost a batch of young broccoli, after they bolted, which is a bit gutting after nuturing for so long. We did caulis in the polytunnel early this year,and they did amazing much better than the outdoor ones, they are almost done now,so theyll be out soon .May i ask where you source your woodchippings that you use in the polytunnel? we cannot find any good stuff down here. Happy growing x
Hi Christina, Thats really interesting to hear about your early Brassicas - thanks for sharing - We are defo gonna play around with growing more in the tunnels over winter/early. We are very fortunate to have a local green waste site where they let us fill as many bag as we can fit in our van. Normally its mainly deliveries they'll do. Have you tried ringing local tree surgeons, often they are happy to drop off, if they can just tip somewhere with good access ... Thats why we have to load our own here, no access/turning for bigger vans. 💚✌️🌿
Have my 1st polytunnel. Lot's of brilliant tips and ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Glad the tour was helpful - have fun experimenting and growing in your tunnel Mike 💚✌️🌿
Your polytunnels are working really well. My crops are grown outside and all of them apart from the tomatoes (already got large marble sized fruit on the early Latah and most of the other varieties, including the Purple Cherokee, already have one or two flowers), are well behind yours.
Thats amazing that you have fruit on your outdoor tomatoes already Tony!!! WOW, they must be getting some serious love 💚
Thank you for the tour. The transformation in a month would be spectacular!
Thanks Nneka, we will defo keep you updated on how it all evolves 💚
24:43: the smaller stripey ones looks like kajari melon (?)
Hi, Its an heirloom variety called Rich Sweetness, I couldnt remember the exact name on the spot! 🤣 We grew them a few years ago and they we very good, nice and early ripening too due to size - can be mistaken for 'Queen Annes' also, which apparently don't have very good flavour. The Kajari looks interesting too - I am going to read more on them 💚 Thanks for watching and commenting ✌️🌿
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What a lovely video, it is amazing how much knowledge you have accrued! ♥♥♥In California where I live, we have squirrel they literally sit on the wall and eat my tangerine or avocado!
Thank you 🙏 We have Squirrels here too - they slowly pluck fruit from our food forest also ... Usually a particular tree or 2 will get targeted each year! I don't think there is really much we can do to control squirrels, so just have to try and grow a bit more! Any tips from California very much appreciated 😃 ✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlifeone of our friend uses squirts water on them that may work on backyard but may not work on a big food forest!
If you are in the UK and you are looking at investing in a polytunnel, we use Premier Polytunnels. This is not a sponsored video, we have just found them to be lovely to deal with and offer a great product at a very competitive price 👉 www.premierpolytunnels.co.uk/ 💚✌🌿
I’d like to think I’m the first watching this video 😊
YAY Nneka - I think you are - its barely been out a minute 💚
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155 like 0.8 :51 🍀🍾🥂🎆🎇🎆🎉🎊🎉 02.06.2024 My Nanny Mary, spoil me ,with ,what you are doing, in the video I have .no idea if the translator translated correctly
The feeling of eating strawberries in the garden is really enjoyable
So true - it really is the best - Suriously satisfying and rewarding 🍓 Thanks for watching & commenting 💚✌️🌿
All you gotta do is replant the rounds and next year you will have regular bulbs ❤️❤️❤️
Yeah great advice - I did a trial on this one year, as I read if you planted the rounds youd get a MASSIVE bulb the following year - how have you found them size wise? ... They did form up good for me, but they weren't as big as I hoped 😆 you can see it in this video here if you'd like 👉 kzread.info/dash/bejne/o2amsrKLpK2Yhto.html Thanks for watching and for sharing your knowledge - always great to hear other people's experience too 💚✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlife I watch a lot of gardening videos and those little round ones take a few years I learned in KZread only way I know ❤️❤️❤️
The best potato video I have ever seen! Love how the video shows from beginning to the end! 🙏
Wow, thank you! That really means a lot - So pleased you enjoyed it 🙏💚✌️🌿
you can keep the birds out with netting. I also keep the deer out of my garden with netting .
Good advice - can defo work well for a smaller patch too - I do find nets can be a bit of a pain to keep taking on and over over this size bed when i am harvesting daily on my own, we did have great success netting some of our Blue Berries last year though 💚 Thanks for watching and sharing your advice too, always nice to hear other peoples ideas too 🙏✌️🌿
My yard is almost all Garlic now.
How lovely - sounds like a great use of space to me ... I LOVE Garlic - getting excited for this years harvest already 🙌 🧄💚 Thanks for watching ✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlife When I moved here I didn't even know they were there because the yard was mowed before we got here. Thanks for watching... Bobby
Congrats!
Hi, I am a new subscriber to your channel! Love watching yours excitement! Just one observation, sometimes your background music is louder and hard to hear your words, or suddenly gets loud between your talk! Wish you much success!
Hi, great to have you with us and thank you for the feed back - This is someything that has been mentioned a couple of times to us actually, I think it depends weather I am editing with headphones or thorugh speakers for how it turns out 😆 In our newer vids I have actively been trying to keep the music volume lower overall to hopefully fix this. Please let us know how you find it on any newer vids that you watch. Appreciate you taking the time to comment and thanks for watching 🙏✌️🌿
Gardening is such an spiritual experience for me, I would love to hear birds and winds and rain melodies, but I totally understand if you are having background noises like traffic or neighbor's lawnmower you may need music to cover that! Love from California! @@freedomforestlife
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May seem like an ignorant question but are you able to grow all year round? Also in the wintter? I’m from a warm climate and we can can grow year round so wondered how it works over there
Hi, this is a great a question if you are not familiar with a temperate climate. Here in the south of England we get some of the most favourable weather conditions the UK can offer, our main growing season is between March to October, with our main harvest times being from some time in June to November. We can grow some crops outside through winter, like Garlic and some hardier greens and with the protection of our polytunnels we can grow salad, certain herbs, spring onions and things like that through winter, although growth is much slower! Hence we grow a lot of crops that we can store and use through winter when fresh food is less. Hope that gives you a better idea - Where abouts in the world you gardening? Thanks for watching and for your interest 🙏✌️🌿
@@freedomforestlife try Hank yh for the detailed answer and it really gives me a great idea 😊 I am from South Africa and I used to live inland (which you can grow all year) and moved down to the coast where it’s also possible to grow all year. We really have god weather year round and I would say only have very cold spell perhaps 2-3 weeks of the year in Mid July to end of July. We like to joke that we only have two season Summer and Winter. Because Autumn still feel like summer and Spring feels like Summer.
Hi Folks, If you enjoyed this recipe - check out this playlist here, for more EASY Homemade Healthy Tonics, Ferments and Home Brew Recipes 👉 kzread.info/head/PLOidPRQofoMNuQH_b9hC7G2YD3YQ7DV8T Thanks for watching 💚✌🌿
Thanks for watching folks - if you enjoyed this video and would like to see more tours of our Permaculture inspired gardens - check out this playlist here: 👉 kzread.info/head/PLOidPRQofoMPNWq9QrkWmf5JP4Dr0AKCO 💚✌🌿
Thanks for watching folks - if you enjoyed this video and would like to see more tours of our Permaculture inspired gardens - check out this playlist here: 👉kzread.info/head/PLOidPRQofoMPNWq9QrkWmf5JP4Dr0AKCO 💚✌🌿
Thanks for watching folks - You can see more tours of our Food Forest in this playlist here 👉 kzread.info/head/PLOidPRQofoMO0DE7TSR7WXi14EsPi8Fd_ 💚✌🌿
Hi Folks, If you enjoyed this video check out more of our monthly vlogs here 👉 kzread.info/head/PLOidPRQofoMPCpQQfdr-fxOmU4bLh3ltD and let us know with a thumbs up or a comment 🌟Thanks for watching 💚✌🌿