Floating forages are one of the most misunderstood feed tools on small farms. I spent four months testing five different floating and aquatic forages side-by-side using the same animals, same water, and same containers to find out what actually works — and what’s overhyped.

In this video, I break down the real production numbers, protein content, animal acceptance, and container requirements for azolla, duckweed, spirodela, water spinach, and watercress. One forage tripled my production per square foot, one replaced $340 per month in feed costs, and one my pigs refused to eat entirely.

This is not theory or extension recommendations...

In the scorched highlands of Northern Ethiopia, where the earth had baked into something closer to concrete than soil, thousands of villagers showed up for work. They didn't carry saplings. They carried pickaxes, shovels, and crowbars. And for months, under the skeptical gaze of government officials and the open laughter of neighboring villages, these workers did something that looked completely insane. They dug holes. Millions of them. They excavated over twenty thousand deep trenches. They stacked thirty-eight thousand earthen walls. They assembled four hundred and thirty-nine kilometers of stone barriers—roughly the distance from London to Paris—all by hand. To anyone...

The difference between an okay harvest and one that has you begging neighbors to take apples off your hands comes down to three cuts that most people skip completely. Every pruning guide out there will tell you to remove dead wood, thin out crossing branches, and keep the center open. And that's all true. But here's what forty years of growing fruit trees has taught me: those basics will get you a healthy tree. They won't get you a heavy producer.

In 1994, archaeobotanist John Letts was sitting at a desk inside the Oxford University Museum of Natural History when someone handed him a shoebox. Inside was a pile of smoke-blackened straw pulled from the bottom layer of a medieval thatched roof in southern England. He opened the lid and found twenty different types of wheat. Every ear was different. Different heights, different shapes, different colors. All grown together in the same field, harvested together and bundled into the roof of a building sometime around the year 1400. That thatch had been sitting untouched for over 600 years, layer after layer...

Fennel with its latter name “Foeniculum vulgare” belongs to the “apiaceae” family. The name is derived as a diminutive of the latin word “foenom” meaning “hay” which certainly has to do with the grass-like feathery appearance of the leaves. The numerous health benefits of fennel characterise it as an all-around medicinal plant in oil. It is still an indispensable household remedy for many to have at hand at any time. Fennel oil's major virtues are antiseptic and antispasmodic. Fennel unfolds strong relaxing healing powers on nerves muscles and the respiratory tract and also through the spasmodic attacks in case of...

How do you reforest millions of hectares of African desert without planting a single tree? Find out from Tony Rinaudo, the missionary agronomist who did it.

For thousands of years, one tiny desert seed kept entire civilizations alive. It thrived where corn withered, produced more protein than beef, and restored soil without fertilizers. Then history forgot it. Today—thanks to elders, gardeners, and everyday people—it’s finally returning. In this powerful EverGreen Seniors episode, we explore the unbelievable story of the Desert Resilience Bean, an ancient survival seed (Phaseolus acutifolius) built by nature to endure extreme heat, drought, and poor soil. This seed isn’t just history—it’s a solution for modern gardeners, especially seniors who want low-maintenance, high-nutrition crops that thrive with almost no water. You’ll discover how this...

Permaculture Instructor Andrew millison explains how trees are connected to water in the atmosphere as well as water flowing through the landscape. This video articulates the amazing role that trees play to ecosystem and climate health, and how their removal causes the drought-flood cycle. There may be some questions about the scientific validity of the concept that forests attract rain. Here are a number of peer reviewed scientific articles to support the hypothesis which suggests that forest cover plays a much greater role in determining rainfall than previously recognized. They explain how forested regions generate large-scale flows in atmospheric water...

• With this technique, we transform water into water with high levels of oxygen, nutrients, and hormones so that the branches root faster.
• It's normal for some of the branches to flower, because the water will produce nutrients that will nourish the branch, while the roots remain well-oxygenated to prevent rot. 
• We will cultivate three main microorganisms from the soil we collect at home: bacteria, algae, and cyanobacteria. 
• It's important that once we activate the system with the water, we leave the jars/cups in a warm, well-lit place, but never in direct sunlight.