Turning Forest Into Pasture
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- čas přidán 31. 07. 2021
- We are raising pigs and goats for meat this year but also using them for clearing raw land with only a chainsaw. The animals do great work of choosing brush and tilling up the land. Dominic will cut trees with his chainsaw and burn logs and brush.
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We are Jenny and Dominic and we moved from BC to Nova Scotia in Summer 2020 to learn to grow our own food. We are trying to live more sustainably and stop throwing away so much spoiled produce. We are releasing a vlog every Sunday to share what we have accomplished in the world of growing food (and a little of life in Nova Scotia).
If you want to follow along to see what it is like trying to be Canadian Homesteaders, drop a comment and introduce yourself below!
2021 Growing Season Playlist
• Growing Season 2021
The music I use in my videos is from epidemic sound. If you are interested in receiving one months free membership I have a referral link: www.epidemicsound.com/referra...
I think I am one of the animals she is talking about
Absolutely.
Just so long as you're the Alpha animal! ;o)
The animals are a big help with clearing for sure. Nice progress!
Dominic,watching you lead the goats made me think of the little goat herder song (I think it is from the movie Heidi with Shirley Temple) and of course I was also imagining some yodeling. 😂
No way 😂
The 3 little pigs are rocking your homestead!
They are doing some good work!
You guys have a beautiful spot! The goats are loud but they are so cute! I loved watching them follow Dominic across the yard. We have lots of rocks in our yard too, they can be a real pain. ~Jen
Thank you so much! They are too funny!
Great video thanks for making it! Good to see some Canadian content thanks again.
Thank you!!
I have learned that Joel salatin uses a wooden gate as the pigs learn like elephants. Once they learn the border of the fence they don't cross it. But a wooden gate they can see and rub against so they happy walk through.
Love the channel, will be moving to Nova Scotia soon.
EXACTLY the comment I was looking for. Terrified of the wire. Wooden gate for future years a strong suggestion.
Our first year homesteading. We have two mud puppies 🐖 It's amazing what their noses can dig up. Cheers from NB. Some nostalgia seeing that chip bag.
Hahaha it certainly is nostalgic! I hope you're enjoying it so far! Cheers neighbour 😁
You guys are doing awesome 🤠❤️ with your animals...
Thanks Donna!
Well as usual very well put together . You have lots of helpers. And I love the Quidi Vidi Brewery t.shirt. Kudos to the pigs.
Thank you kindly!
You guys are doing great! Keep up the good work!
Thanks! You too!
@@ODriscolls Thanks
Creating a dirt mounds kiln around the tree stumps in paddock clearing for biochar production. Gets rid of stumps, produces biochar 2b spread in garden or paddock. Increase fertility in soil.
I've been thinking about a way to do this. Hadn't heard about the dirt mound idea. I was thinking about having a metal barrel to place over the top and give it a try. I'll look into the mound idea thanks for the tip.-Dom
I think you really enjoy your life. Love it 👍👍👍👌🙏
I do! Thanks!
Hello! A fellow Nova Scotia here. I discovered your channel a few months ago and have been binging all your past videos. I am officially caught up today! I love finding local CZcamsrs. Your family is amazing... It's so cool watching you learn as you go. I bet your children are having the best hands on learning experience! I would have loved to have grown up around animals. How many more years do you think until they'll be useful help on the homestead? Then the real learning begins! Thank you for sharing such cute, fun and funny at times, educational videos. Wishing you guys a productive rest of your summer.
Thanks Colleen! I think they will let us know when they are able to really help haha. We will keep opportunities open. Thanks so much, have a great summer!
Everything is looking great,the land is really changing! The pigs look very healthy,instead of just fat.
They are pretty fast actually hahaha
Watching from NYC-very cool
Hello!!
I really like the process. I’m ab to work on clearing a 2acre future mini pasture for my goats. And I’m trying to think of a good process since I’ll be doing most it by myself and this is a great idea of the pigs tilling the ground.
Yes using the pigs is a great system imo. Perimeter fence is important so make sure the pigs stay where you want them haha. It's possible to make half decent pasture with no big equipment using goats and pigs. Plus they are covering a big part of the grocery bill for you. Good luck to you.-Dom
Hey!!
Just found your channel.
I am born & raised in Cape Breton (Isle Madame) and my hubby in Antigonish, NS. We are living in North Carolina, just bought a small farm and are getting started. Small world.
Cheers, enjoy NS. We will get back there one day.
If you are starting a homestead than you are in the right spot now! Good luck to ye. -Dom
it is very insightful video for me. Thanks from South Korea
You're most welcome! Dominic and I actually lived in Seoul for 4 years, we love South Korea very much!!
@@ODriscolls Oh my god, did you? We have been taking care of American miniature horse for about 10 years. These days, I am greatly interested in permaculture with my mini horses. We have big lands on Jeju island but it has not been used for such a long time. I am thinking about how we change it into pasture by animals. At this point, you give me insight and inspiration into how pure forest can turn into pasture. Thanks for your conment and keep in touch!
@@minihorsekorea8535 oh wow that's amazing! Jeju is beautiful! We should definitely keep in touch 😀
You should raise some of that Jeju black pork! We ate some when we visited Jeju in ~2014. -Dominic
Great use of music/animal interlood
Thanks!
As soon as you said hinge I know you were from eastern Canada, sounds like Nova Scotia Hubby sounds like he's a caper
Haha good ear! I (Jenny) am a caper (this was all filmed in Cape Breton) and my husband is a Newfoundlander
If I had a hog/pig that wanted to bite me,it would probably become MY food quickly.
Oh this is great! Just today I was looking at buying acreage in Prince Edward Island. And I was wondering if I could turn some of the woodlands into pasture within a year or two. And your video here popped up when I searched for how to naturally turn woods into pasture. When you mentioned “maritimes” and ketchup chips I thought I bet she’s in that area of Canada I was looking at. Anyway, I’m from the Midwest in the US. And my question is: are the winters too rough up there to keep any cattle or chickens?
That's awesome! We're on Cape Breton Island, just a little east of PEI . There are lots of cattle and chickens here, no worries! The winters are quite long and snowy but not bitterly cold. PEI is beautiful!
Where I am they wouldn't be able to forage on their own over winter. We get 4-5 feet of snow piled up in the yard.
Other places are probably a lot more forgiving. And I imagine PEI would be. For example jennys parents live 90 minutes away and barely had any snow. So very dependent on where you live.
-Dom
Nice video. Yeah, one of the tricks with moving animals is to plan ahead, and have them miss a meal before you try to move them.
That has worked well for us so far! Thank you 😊
Good job. Your channel will be 50,000 subs in a year or two if you keep up the videos.
Thanks Trent! We will see!
Damn O'Driscoll s
Do the goats ever jump the fence? And, how early do they start their talk/yelling? Are they early risers that you have to feed them early or they don’t let you sleep?
They haven't jumped yet! They started yelling immediately hahaha. We are having them graze and eat the brush so we aren't feeding them really. The plan is that they will eat all that brush in the woods. They don't always yell but if they see us on the yard they will yell lol.
You may have explained it in your video but i didnt catch it. Why are you leaving the trees cut about torso height? Just wondering. Im about to use hogs for the same thing. Also what joule energizer are you using for the fence?
They are that height so that when they rot a bit they will be easier to pull out by hand. We have the Gallagher m1100 which is 11 joules I think. That one is a bit of over kill for us but because we have so much brush, we went with a much more powerful energizer. It's still overkill for sure though.
Speaking of letting the animals do the work, drill some holes into the remaining tree stumps and add a little honey. Bug's will do the rest over time.
That's a good idea!
re the fencing used for goats- I look up polywire or mobile net, not see what you have. Is there a name for that kind of fence system or did you make it from various items?
If you google portable sheep netting you might find it.
We got it from a company called fence fast in canada, as well as one at our local coop.
The brand name of the one we had was Gallagher
Please plant some keystone trees in your pasture! Some chestnuts and hickories would be great
I've planted a lot of shagbark and some red oak around the edge.
Once I start removing the bigger coniferous trees within the fence(If ever I do) I'll replace each of those with some sort of nut tree.
Neither of those is native to here, but I do leave the good maples and birch behind.
..this is just what I was looking for.
Question: .did you find it daunting to bring home your first animals to get your project started....im a few years away yet..im still cutting down trees so they don't fall and kill my future animals..
Everything is daunting if you try to think of it all at once! Just focus on one thing at a time I think. Also, give yourself a deadline 😀
Do the stumps pose a hazard to the livestock? I’m looking at clearing a few acres for cattle and am not sure if I should leave the stumps in
Dom here. I think the only problem you would have is if you remove the stump and leave a sneaky hole that a leg falls into. Stumps themselves would not likely be an issue I don't think.
Wicked! I’m loving your videos. What do you seed the pastures with?
He bought something expensive that we can't remember at first. Then he bought a giant bag of "highway mix" the second time
I can hear goats... 😂😂😂😂😂
We're starting to clear for our pigs, why did you leave some of the tree stumps 3-4ft high? Is there an advantage to that?
When they rot, you can pull them out completely! I'm so sorry this is like a year later. I hope it's going well!
@@ODriscolls it's ok. I left all mine pretty high too. I figured when they rot the pigs will rip them apart for the bugs lol
Piles of rocks from many decades ago might be grave sites.
Will you/did you process the pigs?
Tomorrow 😳😬
What's the plan for all the tree stumps?
When they rot you can pull them out
@@ODriscolls And use them for hugal beds?
Possibly! But we might just toss them in a pile. You'll have to ask Dominic!
@@xxeebbk probably heave them over the fence as a secondary barrier outside the electric. They take an age to rot so I left on the 3-4 foot section so I can lever them out in a year or two when they dry.
I heard that if you do rotate them every week or so, no need for deworming.
Yes! Greg Judy does this, I believe. They were moved quite frequently for that reason.
Your accent sounds like you're from the cape bahd
I'm from Cape Breton, Dom is a Newfoundlander
so what's the point? you guys just want more grass covered acreage? why? also why not just use a tractor to clean up the areas?
Have you or do you worry about predators with your goats and sheep?
We have an electric perimeter fence which seems to keep them at bay. I think it's mostly been luck so far.
I heard that pouring food on ground will lead to worms in deer as they will eat the dirt to get the food. I imagine it's the same in pigs.
if you move it enough your worm load is left behind. You can also plant some plants that lower the worm load over time. Give em one solid worm then start to slowly just leave the worms behind. But even in a good permaculture/silvo/moving system you always will have some worms. The difference is you are always leaving it behind and never showing back up to the worms again too early.
How do your goats not escape all of that?! Our goats will not be contained…
Our goats were much better behaved than our sheep. They liked it just fine in there haha. Minimal escape attempts, though there were a couple
Ketchup chips? 🤢🤮 Nasty!
Hey they're a canadian classic - have you tried them?
@@ODriscolls No I have never tried them. Never heard of them either. And I’m in minnesota 3 hours from the Canadian border. 🤷♀️
They don't actually taste like ketchup. They are decent enough chips once Ina while
U guys destroyed a forest.
Where do you think uncleared farmland comes from
Perfect!!!
Well duh😂
Terrible video too much word salad
This loud music is disgusting!
You are addressing civilised human beings.
I think you really enjoy your life. Love it 👍👍👍👌🙏
I do! Thanks!