A Duck Farmer's Permaculture Orchard

Today I am offering up a tour of our duck farm's permaculture orchard. Consisting of roughly 600 trees and shrubs, our permaculture orchard features swales, berms and interplanted rows. We have chestnuts, elderberry, black locust, apple, mulberry and butternut on our farm in Vermont.

About Gold Shaw Farm: Gold Shaw Farm is more of a farm-in-progress than an honest-to-goodness farm. Our dream is that someday we are able to transform our 150+ acre parcel of land into a regenerative and productive homestead and farm.

Send us mail:
Gold Shaw Farm
PO Box 225
Peacham, VT 05862

[FarmAlarm]

You're better off saving that old sign for nostalgia and memories before it gets too far gone. It has good patina as it sets.

[CluelessHomesteaders]

Definitely interested in another video of getting those chestnut trees going

[kerrywatson]

For protection of the trees. 4’ welded wire fence with a t-post or rebar or bamboo for support. I have found this works well for protecting against anyone who wants to rub or gnaw on young trees at the same time allowing better air flow for the trunks. This eliminates that bark blanching that can happen with the plastic tree wrap systems. For direct seedlings I will set the fence with 3 posts until the sampling is established then, move to just one post to keep the fence off the tree and with an optional second post to help train the tree straight. Love your channel. Keep up the good work.

[maryannlammersen]

"There's a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza..." I had to chuckle at that reference. I hadn't heard that in a long time and I wonder how many people out there remember that song about trying to fix first one thing only to discover that now there is another thing to consider! Endlessly! And the song eventually after many verses comes back to the original problem of the hole in the bucket! Great reference and fun memory! I have been gardening with ducks and find it very fun and helpful to being rid of slugs and pillbugs, etc. Ducks are so funny and good-natured.

[kathleenschaefer]

Black locust BOO!! Endemic here in Missouri. They sprout up everywhere, the thorns are huge (1-5"), the cattle won't eat them because of the thorns if the cattle step on them they're lamed. They can put your eye out. Even if they die, they take years to decay, especially the thorns. If you brush-hog them off they come back bushier the same year. Not to mention the thorns are shredded in all directions.
Get the thornless locusts!! Honey locust.

[batpherlangkharkrang]

Gold Shaw Farm, thank you for sharing your video homestead 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 bye 👋 👋 🎥👍👍👍

[rodisham]

I’m just watching this video for the first time based on your recommendation from today’s video. You said something I found a little troubling. You said the world would be a better place if we just planted a lot more chestnut trees. You mean nothing but good things when you say that. I grew up on a dairy farm on Vermont. My dad as a young farmer in the 60’s and 70’s was encouraged to use more commercial fertilizer, make the farm bigger, push the cows to do more. A lot of those high ideas implemented by multitudes of farmers across the country resulted in some good things, eventually. But it also gave rise to a more industrial style of dairy farming and many hundreds of farmers had to go out of business when more community based farming operations were told they couldn’t compete globally. I’m not saying you are doing anything wrong. In fact I find your work inspiring. I would encourage you to constantly look for perspective, always be honing your vision and take feedback along your journey.

[suzannegregory]

Yes to the chestnut seeding. Also are you thinking if doing a working vacay for people who want to work a farm for fun? Also please reconsider burning your materials, we have enough imagination to reuse those materials into something useful for your farm.

[kirstenwhitworth]

About swales and berms: it you make them with wider and gentler slopes, they are _much easier_ to mow.
I was a founding member of a Permablitz group that still builds a food forest every month in Texas. (I moved to the PNW in 2014, or I'd still be a member) Our swales were typically 6'-10' wide and 12'-24" deep; the berms mirrored the size and depth of the swales. We usually planted on the berms rather than on the bare slopes.
We typically filled the swales with wood chips - at least when they were available. That sets up a slow compost factory in the swales, which could be used as mulch in the fall. The wood chips tend to swell up with water, making them decompose faster, but also retaining water in the swales much longer.

[mshap]

Love the instrumental in the background! Thanks for the music and opening your home to the world.

[DJ-ukmm]

6:18. The apples that you don’t like can be used as root stock and you can graft the good ones on to the stock 😊

[MsJavaWolf]

I am rewatching some of those older videos. Even though it has only been 2 years it makes me kind of nostalgic, lol.

[funnywolffarm]

Patience is a great thing. Stick with it and continue holding the dream you have. Best!

[johniac]

If I lived closer, I would be there to help with that barn. I love that stuff.

[donaldmiller]

One of the very first things to do on a homestead is plant some producing trees such as fruit and nut trees. For one thing, the nut trees are going to take quite a long time before they produce nuts . You know that you can make Elderberry wine, right ?
Don't forget pear and plum trees.
To begin the preservation of your barn, you can paint it barn red.

[willgaukler]

... was glad to see your hand grown baby chestnuts ...

[robynsnest]

Sorry for blowing up comments> Excellent use of the sand and bucket to germinate the chestnuts! We do the same thing for our ginseng.

[Suburp]

Sand bist that old sign, will look. Cool. I do lots of old wood renovations with very! Careful blasting.

[leslieMClass]

Such a beautiful piece of property you and Alison have. Thank you for sharing it, it really warms my heart. Looking forward to seeing all you both will do and the restoration of the barn. It is a gem!

[Cozmicsuga]

Looking forward to a new tour this coming May 💜