Plant Solutions to People Problems - Part One

I am sorry your neighbor took such extreme measures. You and Juan are showing wonderful grace.

Just wanting to put out a deep heartfelt thank you to all you kind folks sharing with us on this video. SO many experiences of boundary issues, complexities with folks using chemicals or land abusive approaches, our experience isn't unique or particularly bad in the grand scheme for sure. We feel heard and supported and really fundamentally part of a big community here of thoughtful and kind people, so thank you all for being part of all this!

RIP Serviceberry :( Kudos to you for not letting that event prevent you from growing!

Requiem For The Serviceberry. May condolences from friends ease the hearts of the grieving. Respect & Love

I like the idea of combating destruction with a wall of life. 😀 BTW: You got a nice shout out today from Ben at the "Hollar Homestead" channel. They are happy customers of your bare root sales.

Our neighbor dug a new leech field on our property a few feet and uphill from our attached garage. When I contacted the county, he lied and told them we had approved the infringement. Property lines are human constructs. Keep your gentle heart, which is the enduring and a gift to your beautiful wife & daughter. I will plant a tree on my property tomorrow for the one you lost. ❤ Clarification: we already had a survey and staked line markers when we purchased the property. The survey was registered with the County when we submitted the building permit. Because they had the paperwork from a certified engineer, the County made him relocate the field, restore our land and reseed with native grasses. We added a sturdy fence. Then we sold the house. Sorry I wasnt clear that we had resolved the issue. I agree with all of you. Know your property lines: stake, flag and fence.

A friend of ours recently said "there's often a detour called extra work on the road between disturbance and opportunity, but you get there by moving forward". I hope all of those new individuals flourish from the work you all and the previous inhabitants of the space have put in.

I’m so glad you have Juan to help mitigate what must have been incredibly disheartening when it happened. We need to be like ants I guess and just keep persevering when things get destroyed. Such a senseless act but such a beautiful response to it💜

Those people have so little knowledge of what they’re doing, it’s just absolutely bonkers. What’s reaffirming to me is knowing you are there helping life to repair the wound, and that everyone else is here to witness and support and learn from it. Imagine if for every destructive act there was a creative process ready to step in - for every schlump with a bulldozer there was some thoughtful person with a wheelbarrow full of cuttings. ❤

bro I'm sorry about your berry loss. RIP old friend, knowing you I bet you have it's children everywhere!

I admire your ability to make this video. I dealt with a similar situation in which my neighbors, after a wildfire, not only mechanically harvested most of the remaining timber, but they also bulldozed a portion of our very small corner of unburned forest floor with a mesmerizing fungal and plant diversity.

Thank you for leading by example. We need more Peaceful Warriors in the world. In time, the landscape will heal, and the energy you are putting into making the transition a positive and beneficial process will result in a wonderful outcome. I can't wait to see what it all looks like next year and beyond.

Second comment; I had to pause while Juan spoke about the serviceberry. I had not initially learned about and thought about using it, but I had a state forester walk my land with me to talk about native choices to succeed or replace invasives--or to avoid invasive altogether in favor of natives. So, he talked about including serviceberry rather than bradford pears (often used as estate trees in the suburban environment). I ordered a dozen and got those planted in the upper meadow yesterday. I'm looking forward to seeing those grow at the opening into the upper meadow. I will be so happy to have flowers for my kids to enjoy.

Sorry to hear that you have a lowest common denominator next door. Lilac is a wonderful beast for hedgerow. Takes it all, keeps growing, and does not care if the neighbour likes to plow the borders.

My heart goes out to your major loss. You guys are amazing in your resilience to keep on growing. Just like the plants do.

You are a kinder and gentler soul than I. My neighbors were offended that I had a survey done and marked out, accused us of trying to take land from them - nonsense, of course, the survey shows who owns what and doesn't take anything. But it did reveal where they were using part of our property for part of their 4 wheeler track. So yeah, they were taking our land. After the survey was done, they took a brush hog and cut a four wheeler track right along the line on their side, so they can roar past as close as possible to where we sleep. I will be getting fencing installed along that line, in part because they've told us who they are. More importantly, our zone 1 food forest is being built up as a visual and sound barrier between them and us.

Such a loss, my heart mourns. Some people are just cruel and we can only try to grow from wounds they inflict. I love the way you are dealing with this tragedy, such a positive and thoughtful response to a terrible action! I learn so much more from Edible Acres than just growing trees and watching chicken TV. Thanks for the video, I hope to see an update with vigorous growth soon!

You could plant some native plums and get a nice thicket going

You have set such an incredible example in how you have handled this, avoiding the default human response of retaliatory destructive responses and making positive steps instead. It is a shame I assume he doesn't realise the benefits he is reaping in areas such as pollination due to what you are doing, but you are right not to waste time with him and put your energy into what matters. Looking forward to seeing updates of thr recovery!

wait to carry yourself in an upright way after such a lame move. great example. i know many people including myself that would of thrown a fit. awesome attitude & remediation brotha