beneficial weeds in a young food forest - polyculture!

http://www.permies.com

Michael Pilarski ("Skeeter") takes us on a tour of his three year old food forest, complete with many species of beneficial weeds. As he mentions each species, I try to include some comments, such as their purpose in the video.

Skeeter is well known as a wildcrafter. This is a 0.85 acre patch he manages where he grows edibles and medicinals for sale. He also grows soil building plants to suppor the other plants he is growing. He does a lot of "chop and drop" to build organic matter in the soil.

Species mentioned include: motherwort, sweet clover (white), spruce tree, elecampane, yucca, blue elderberry, amur cork tree, sand cherry, alder tree, silver buffaloberry, gooseberry, mugwort, siberian pea shrub, parsnip, catnip, dandelion, sow thistle, alfalfa, currant, mustard, hawthorn, mulberry, peppermint, arnica, meadowsweet, black cohosh, culvers root, beans, squash, beets, lambs quarters, clover and arugula.

Relevant threads at permies:
http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/4323_0/permaculture/do-weeds-have-...
http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/9260_0/permaculture/to-weed-or-not...
http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/7243_0/permaculture/polyculture-vs...
http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/8064_0/permaculture/creating-a-dyn...
http://www.permies.com/permaculture-forums/6978_0/permaculture/permaculture-s...

music by Jimmy Pardo

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• food forest
• polyculture
• eco
• green
• permaculture
• organic
• sustainability

[tomcampbell77]

@paulwheaton12 i am very interested in the kama skeeter is using. is there any way to find out where he got his from? is it one of the 5 dollar ones you can buy from amazon? any of the more expensive (and almost certainly higher quality) ones I can find are of a different style/configuration, with the blade and handle at more of an angle and less of a swoop to each other. but if he's using a 5 dollar one, then it's probably good enough for me!

[paulwheaton12]

@tomcampbell77 we have a huge thread about that in the forums at permies.

[AcidProblemChild]

Does anyone know of a person like this living in europe?

I would love to learn on the ground from someone with this level of knowledge and application. I've been thinking about asking to wwoof at Sepp Holzers farm, but I've heard he doesn't allow wwoofers. I don't learn from books at all, but I can imagine myself working through a field like this and within weeks I'd see the functions of all the plants. Call it muscle memory...

*holds up a sign*

"Will work for knowledge! ^_^"

[paulwheaton12]

@AcidProblemChild we have heaps of forums at permies for making sure you get connected. Did you check there?

[S1lv3rblad3]

Did anyone see something white move past on the left side of the screen at 13:58-14:02 ??

[wyrdjoy]

i think skeeter needs his own dvd.

[WhichDoctor1]

Self seeded parsnip always seem to grow better than carefully sowed ones in my experience.

[OccupyPsyche]

@AcidProblemChild You'll find your spot!!..i've heard about a seed bank that is in danger in Russia..that sounds like a great place to check out..I sure would maybe you can help them save that place!

[odin422]

I do wish i had some land to work.

[4daysdead]

Thanks for the subtitles!

[creosotegirl]

Plants need friends too!

[FullBellyFruit]

Great video! I enjoy hearing your voice at the end, it is surprisingly comforting (I didn't realize until now)