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Scott, get a gardening wheelbarrow (more like a mini 2 wheeled box cart) that has 1mountain bike wheels - you could move twice the mulch with less impact on your spine. PROTECT YOUR BACK!

Cardboard boxes could be a solution to your mulch shortage. just lay non-wax coated cardboard on top of your freshly planted seeds weigh down with rocks and when seeds germinate just cut holes in cardboard for plant to grow through. Best part is u can get a whole truck load for free just by calling up a Wal-Mart and talking to a manger to arrange a pick up. I live in Arizona and this method works great for me, hope this helps.

In six or seven years, you will realize that what you've done is effective and efficient, nature, and especially the desert, moves at a different pace. It's working, just at it's own speed.

Shaun, as a long time resident of the Mohave Desert, I have tried and failed more times than I've succeeded in growing plants of any kind. But one year I stumbled on something that resulted in something wonderful. We inadvertently planted our tomato plants too close together, but by the time we realized it, it was too late to remediate it. So we rolled with it. This seems to fit in with the density planting that you are doing on the lower terrace. The real winner was that we completely buried our drip lines under a very thick layer of mulch. The ground and mulch stayed moist all the long hot summer. Combined with the fact that the dense plants were self shading, we had a bumper crop of tomatoes all summer long. We had to hunt and reach in sometimes an arms length to get them, but it was well worth it. We are more rural now & on unfenced rangeland so we are basically starting over, but once we are able to keep the cattle and burros out, we have a small plan for starting over. We will definitely be borrowing from your learning as well as our own experience. Best of luck to you and I hope this helps in some small way.

My grandpa used to grow sunflowers in Arizona to use for mulch. Apparently it grows really well in desert soil, grows very quickly, doesn’t need a lot of water, and produces a lot of bulk. Just an idea.

That black drip piping is going to have the water temperature extremely high for watering plants. Have you ever turned on a hose that has been setting in the sun? You can't touch the water it is so hot. It needs to be fully covered with mulch to keep it out of the sun and insulated where it isn't under mulch. Also keep the water barrels in the shade if possible. Any dark colored storage system will absorb heat...always use light colors in sunny hot areas to reflect the sun,

A good tip from my own experience. See if you can get some wool. Some people who raise sheep have their sheds full and don't know what to do with them. Wool around the plants and then mulch over them will really help, as the wool absorbs the water and slowly releases it again. It rots quite quickly and gives nutrients to the soil and thus to the plants. Just advertise whether you can get some sheep's wool for the project. You can definitely get some from a wool collection point, as they often have leftover belly and neck wool and have to dispose of it for a lot of money.

I was raised in a small west Texas town during the 1950s. At about 10 years old, I realized that if I raised a garden and some chickens, I could eat better. Our soil was hard, caliche clay; so, I tilled it with an old grubbing hoe and added cottonseed hulls and composted chicken manure and folded that into that horrible clay soil. Water was caught in a rain barrel and my first garden grew like a champ!

When you said you bought a chipper I was happy, then I saw what you bought...I have never seen a chipper that small, I was sad. I guess growing up around big trees and logging I thought all chippers were trailer bound and usually had a diesel or gas engine. One of those would chew up any of that mulch material in seconds. Someone link Shaun a real chipper. It is a good idea and in the long run will save tons of time. All that said, you are doing an awesome job at trying and experimenting. If it was an easy problem to fix...it would have been fixed already. Keep learning from the mistakes and showing us your thought process.

"So if you don't have the experience to build a good plan, the only alternative is to actually do" I seriously needed to hear this today. Thank you Shaun for this fantastic example of what it takes to succeed ❤️

When I saw your chipper, my heart sank, because I have the same one with the same results. Big box store sell a gas one for about $699. It works really well. The Isreali’s invented something called “tal-ya”, which translates means “dew of God”. They are trays that catch the night dew and funnel it to a plant. I purchased some for my garden and they work well. I think they actually came from Texas. Love what you’re doing.

A few things I noticed: - Get a pitchfork. They are farely light, but can carry tons of material if stacked properly - If not a wheel barrow, get a grape basket. You can put them on your back and they hold quite the volume - Cover at least the surroundings of the irrigation outlets with mulch or burry them entirely. The few drops of water are going to evaporate immediately if not covered. - Non-powered hand tools are your friend in these types of situations. The machete-saw-combo of your friend is ideal. Properly sharpened it can rival a chain saw and a weed eater.

Hey Shaun, great work man, I want to do stuff like this here in Arizona. One thing I’ve learned is that native grasses (blue grama grass for example) have deeeeep roots. These roots help de-compact the soil and allow water to infiltrate much better than what is currently happening. These native grasses also can produce large amounts of biomass for future use. Have a good day

I live in the Eastern Oregon desert, with soil as bad as yours - different, but equally poor - and I've been waging the same battle for almost eight years. This year, in honor of you and your ranch, I've started a small mulch production area. Utilizing a rototiller and about 1000 square feet of land, I'm producing the mulch to improve my soil.

Shaun I would recommend widening your mulch all the way out to the sides of your trench. The dry soil on the edges will constantly leech moisture

Hey Shaun, you probably know this but i want to mention it, just in case. I stumbled on this video "The ULTIMATE GUIDE to Hyperadobe Earthbags: Pros, Cons, & Cost Savings" here on YT and since you mentioned, you have issues building in an area so far from everything, this might be something for future. The idea is to use the building materials (sand, clay, rock, water) in earthbags to form walls / buildings. And from the looks of it, you got a massive amount of that ;) Since i don't know how far your plans for buildings or protective walls is developed, i just wanted to mention it. I hope this is a bit helpful :)

There's much more green in this video than in the videos before... :-)

A man who does achieves alot more than a man who talks. I love what you're doing, and this series is awsome. Thank you

Please be careful using horse manure for mulch. Horses require high quality hay, to get that, most farmers use a product called "Grazon" which is a strong herbicide that does not breakdown over time in the soil. Many gardeners have used it in their gardens only to find out some plants will no longer grow where horse manure was used.

So looking forward to the rain to come.

Tiago is great you can really see his wealth of experience.

Hey Shaun, you should definitely plant mesquite trees. The ranch had cows for way to long they eat everything. That might be a reason why there isn’t that many mesquites. If plant them and take care of them at the beginning they will do great. After a while they won’t even need to be taken care of. They have very long roots.

Shaun, it would be more efficient to establish vegetation if you choose a low spot in the land. Because the lower the spot the more moisture is available from the earth and cooler temperatures and moisture tends to collect in lower spots. Dig a square pit 10ftx15ft use the dirt from the pit to build a berm/swale like structure around the pit to catch water and dirt from filling the pit .Fill the pit with a truck load of good sandy loam dirt and a truck load of mulch/weeds. With the pit front wall 8-10ft from the dirt surface and the opposite end at a 45ish degree angle for easy access .Build the side walls facing summer sun rise and sunset to give lots of shade and prevent as much evaporation as possible. This will help to start to establish a seed bank and organic matter the fastest. Its kind of like the bath pits idea but with out the full sun exposure. In addition the pits could be gated from the cows because it will only have a 10ft access point. That strip of vegetation you are building may eventually turn into a cow buffet if they get to it. Check dams on the low spots and swales on top of the hills will prevent pits and lower spots from flooding and keep them well hydrated. best spots for pits will be on the hill sides with the most vegetation already establish. Wish you the best of luck keep up the persistence you got this.

Shaun, the work you’re doing is amazing. Don’t be hard on yourself, you’re paving a new path.

When it rains in Oxford canyon the whole world is happy, waiting for the forest 💓💓💓💓💓

So many ways to get free mulch. Our local brewery leaves out huge barrels of mash, coffee shops will save grounds for you, locals will save yard clippings and branches if you ask on FB.

@Shaun: In another video you more or less rejected the idea of bringing materials from your other property because it was too far away. You should be aware that compost and/or biochar has probably 10% of the volume and weight of the material it was made from, and is absolutely magical in its effects. If it was my project, I'd set up a camp on the other site, start more compost piles than are even sane, and augment the piles with biochar from a "tinman" retort made from a couple of metal drums. Composting takes time, but it yields the best soil amendment there is, because you are just accelerating the natural process of decomposition. A cheap flea-market lawnmower will be pretty effective for reducing your particle size, and a riddle made from hardware cloth fastened to a wooden frame will separate the "finished" product from the larger pieces when you turn the piles. (Compost is never really finished, it just gets better with age.) Also, who's cows are grazing on your land?

Key advice that is easy to keep in focus is do everything you can to prevent sunlight from hitting soil. Solarized soil is sterile soil, quickly reduced to lifeless mineral.

The chipper you bought is just a leaf shredder. You really need something with a flail or chopping discs, not thin blades like that. Proper tools for the needed application...

My brothers and i just bought 40 acres near elko. You where a major inspiration and im excited to start restoring our land. Thanks. To anyone else who want to work hard and see a land be productive theres lots of cheap land. You just gotta be willing to work. After the loan and everything ill pay 42k for 40 acres, 15k well, 5k for septic. 20g for large motorhome and 5g for solar. Thats 87,000 to be able to live offgrid while building a large house for my growing family. Greenhouses dug 3ft down for geothermal heating in winter, selling fruits and veggies all year to sustain build, and expand. The average house price in UT where i live is over 400,000 for a less than or at 1/4acre.😢 ill have a horse ranch for that 😅😊

Shaun, the best method is to work before 9 am and after 6 pm. Please do not work in the hot sun. Please. You’ll get heatstroke. Please take care of yourself.

Love what you are doing. Very admirable and at times, painful to see how little progress takes place. I might recommend you consider contacting a local rancher to see if he has any old moldy round bales he can't feed his cattle. Set it at the top of your terrace and unroll it down the grade over your seeds. You might get a 100 or so feet of hay mat mulch per bale. I only started hay mulching on my homestead this year and it's shocking what it can do. Keep on keeping on!👏🌿🌵

We haven’t got a plan so nothing can go wrong! - Spike Milligan

Shaun, I'm just so impressed with the patience you have. I would've been going crazy by now with all the frustrations you've encountered. But it's inspiring also. You're helping so many of us learn, but you're generating ideas/advice/experiences from people around the world to help others, like yourself. Thanks for everything you're doing!

Everyone who has learned more from successes than from failures raise your hands.

Thanks for posting what you do, and yeah, take it easy on yourself. You're here to have fun, work hard, learn, and have an adventure. You don't have to be mean to yourself to do all those things.

I am so happy to see the mulch coming atop the green cover.

Man, when you unboxed that chipper I knew what was going to happen. Either get a really beefy one, maybe second hand or just don't.

Don't feel bad about the chipper, I spent $550 on one that only started twice and jammed up the second time I ran it. The worst part was I couldn't return it because it was way past the date by the time we even got around to trying it out. A big outdoor paperweight at this point. Something else you might consider is burying the larger compost materials in areas that you plan to plant trees (like the bathtubs, perhaps?). Not only will it help loosen the soil as it decomposes, it can also create pockets of moisture and nutrients for the roots to find and use during the dry seasons. Just a thought.

I think you’re in a very exciting stage right now. You have learned so much over the past months, that now you start to really know what you’re doing, you’re in the exponential part of your learning curve. You might not realize that yet yourself, but I see a real transformation there.I think this project is gonna be a great success. It’s always hard at the beginning, as long as we can learn, we will succeed.

It might be worthwhile to erect a fence of shadecloth around the planting to provide an instant windbreaker. It might also be worthwhile to put electric fencing around it to protect it from the cattle.

Please get a decent gas powered chipper. It will give you a better consistency and speed up break down. Also chipped mulch easier to handle with a shovel. Way cheaper than buying wood chips.

We moved to a house with our first garden. We learned so much already and that is part of the process great to see people around the world get the same kinds of experiences

I’m in New Mexico and we share the same Monsoons as you. This year is definitely better rain wise. Last year was a unusually low rain wise and so far this year we’re already had twice the amount of rain than last year

I would plant around the dog houses on the summer shaded side maybe make it a nursery for trans plants. You can easily scatter mesquite seeds and pods in the mulch. They may volunteer. Fence your terraces in to keep the cattle out.

I love what you are doing. I’m in Florida, which has desert like properties with its well draining sand and dry seasons. Gardening here requires adding organic matter to hold moisture and life in the sand, to make the lush soil the region had before colonization and bad agricultural practices. I regularly drive my neighborhood to pick up debris and “yard waste” to add to the fertility of my property, and the branches help keep my chickens from digging up all the gardens. Keep up the good work, show people how to live with nature!

Shaun I’ll watch this for 15 years if that’s what it takes to see it pan out, please stay strong, I’m genuinely invested

Consider purchasing a Chinese mini excavator or skid loader. It will make it easier to do everything without killing you and make it so that you can work much longer without heat exhaustion. They're very cheap around 5k. I bought one for my own personal use and they are absolutely fantastic and easy to work on.

China is currently building a desert forest outside Beijing. They’re drilling (I believe) 1-meter deep X 3” diameter holes, inserting saplings, then watering. They leave the holes unfilled and allow watering-water to backfill the holes. The undisturbed soil absorbs less water, leaving more water for the saplings. They claim the return rate is upwards of 90%. I hope this is helpful, you might want to research their project.

Shaun, I think I mentioned that my horse LOVES nopal pads, and the glochids and spines don't seem to bother her, one little bit! Horses originated from South and Central America and because of this, horses and prickly pears are ancient friends! They eat the fruit as well and spread the seed in their dung, so although it might seem like they're being brutal on the opuntias, they'll never, ever wipe them out! In the wild, the horses, usually move on once the nopalitos are gone (although they will eat bigger pads as well) and an established opuntia will be back to its original size (from a chewed down stump) in just a year or two. The chewing actually stimulates the cactus to make more nopalitos and this can be simulated by cutting a section off the top of the pad. That's how nopalito farmers in Mexico make their cacti produce pads, out of season, so if you cut a bit off the top of each rooted pad, it will speed up their establishment considerably! I hope this information helps you. Your place is looking great and I can see that, in time, you will succeed! God Bless and Keep the Videos Coming!

Hey I don't put this on the internet often But you are doing a great job for what you are trying to do Good Luck from Australia Mate

I really love how lucid you are with your explanation. It’s really refreshing. God help me.

Shaun, Whats the plan for keeping the cows from eating all this greenery you are working so hard to grow? You are an inspiration and I would hate to see all that hard work eaten

Shaun consider getting a heavy duty poly dump wagon to carry your supplies, mulch, plants. It would be a lot easier that carrying those buckets/ barrels. If you don't have enough space to use in the rows on the terrace, at least you could carry the barrels in the wagon to the edge of the row then carry them down the row. Save your back all you can. Work smarter not harder.

Love the work your doing! Wish I could give you some of the abundance of water we have in upstate ny

Get a Propper wood chipper/mulcher, a big one with a gas engine! The electric ones, like the one you bought are only good for braches. Your mulch would be way better, keep more water, easier to transport and easier to put down and break down faster.

Chippers are great for dealing with vegetation and making mulch . 2 key points i worked out when i researched and purchaced one for my large block of land is . Bigger is better, as it allows you to feed in larger material quicker . Petrol is better power is better , as its more powerful and durable Love the video series,,keep it up . Matt from Australia

I'd recommend calling Chip Drop and get wood chips dropped at your house and haul them out to the ranch in your trailer. Using 5/8" plywood (or OSB board) and 2x4's make the sides, front and back 8 foot high. Load them into your trailer in one foot lifts. Soak them, then add another one foot of wood chips, and so on till it full. If you have a grass lawn throw in the grass clippings too. If you have cardboard boxes, flatten them out and throw them in with the wood chips. Leaves? Throw them in too. Cover the top with a tarp to keep the chips in and contain the moisture. When you off load them they will be pre moisten. Add 4"-6" of wood chips on top of what you have, being careful to not cover your plants. Make a 3' x 8' sift with a 2x4 frame and 1/2" hardware cloth backed on the bottom with cattle panel to support the hardware cloth. Put 2x4 legs under each corner to hold it up off the ground one foot. After laying down the wood chips set the sift over the row and shovel dirt/sand onto the sift and add 2"-3" of dirt on top. Dump the rocks off to the side, nothing grows in rocks and the rocks will only absorb heat and cause moisture evaporation. The soil on top will help to keep the moisture in the wood chips and the larger mulch below and help it to break down into richer soil. Now you have a Hugelkutur system that will serve you well.

I'm really excited about your progress, Shaun. I feel that this is going to vigorously pop when the rain comes.

learning this project from zero is going to be an ocean of tears. Just normal farming is a science passed down for centuries, this is a new planet. I do wish you well but you need to love learning and be a glutton for punishment. Have done similar last century. So hard on a limited budget and by hand, but hey, pioneer... we all learn from you and you learn as well. keeps brain and body active and develops the spirit.

Listen to your body. If you’re tired, rest! Siesta happens mid-day for a reason, to get out of the worst of the sun. Use a pop-up tent.Take a day an unplanned day off, it’s good for you. And make a track on top that berm for that dumping hand cart.

I love what you are trying to do, improving land and helping to reverse desertification.

Those are Criollo cattle. It's one of the toughest, and most desert hardy breeds of cattle. And yes, they will eat anything, including cactus full of thorns.

Be careful using horse manure. If herbicides have been sprayed on the feed, it remains in the manure, even if its been composted. It can cause gardeners to have to empty beds entirely. You can test it by planting beans in it. Let it grow for a couple weeks.

You're doing a great job! Progress is not linear. :) that's my personal mantra. Just repeat it to yourself as a reminder. Ok? You try things and collect tools for projects, and some things work and some things don't. That's ok, that's all part of the process!

It's a chipper, not a shredder. chippers work on wood branches. Maybe try a paper shredder. I shred all my junk mail (removing plastic) plus any paper that comes my way and bury it to build soil. Paper is made of wood pulp and fibers, and shredders are cheap, so maybe try that with dried fibrous leaves and even if it doesn't work, bring those junk mail, extra paper bags, old documents you've shredded at home and use as mulch. Maybe philosophically you want to use only on site materials, but a bit of cheating at the beginning to jump start things should be allowed... and less landfill!

2 more years / 24 more months. you ll start SEEING the labor of consistently working/ nursing it!❤

So excited to see this latest video! Thanks Shaun!!

Ironically, I just bought a SunJoe wood chipper. It arrived yesterday. I live in an urban environment, so quite different from you. I just wanted a way to make good use of all the sticks that fall from my trees, and all the trimmings. I'm doing chop and drop, but I figured I'd give nature a head start and chip what I can. In the 24 hours since getting it, I already made two wheelbarrows full of mulch and cleaned up all the sticks from around the yard. It does much better with dry sticks than green branches I just cut. But I'm glad with my purchase. But you so much more sq footage to cover than me. You would do much better with a higher capacity machine.

I'm glad to see that you are making progress and learning as you go. Best wishes!

hopefully the storm passes above the ranch!

Here's a suggestion from someone who's experiencing with soil building for a couple years now: - Have as much compost piles as possible going on at the same time, it's mostly passive work once it's piled. (Find a way to make your version of this with what you can get your hands on : kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y7hdYNl6uaeccpc.htmlsi=HsVz73G1RJ4Fgu4e) - Put 4-6" of compost at the bottom of your dirt baths, then plant the same thing that you have (where the drip irrigation is) in the compost of the dirt bath. - Put 6-8" of mulch on top of that, then water abondantly. - Keep mulching and adjust as needed with time, so that the soil is always well covered and doesn't dry out. You can also put a few branches on top of the mulch to keep the cows out and hold the mulch in place. I think if you do that you won't have to water and will have growth. Of course if you can water regularly it's better, especially in the early morning and evening. If you can get a reliable source of water, you could water the dirt baths every day if you have someone on the ranch while he's also flipping the compost piles. Good luck 🍀

shaun. get a heavy duty chipper that is quick, efficient, and will hold up. you're going to be using it a lot.

if only people there had lawns, you could offer free lawn-mowing just to get the clippings. Love your story and all us nuts trying to think of good ideas to help you. Keep rockin' that good work.

I bought that same chipper last year Broke it by the end of the season

You should get a wood chipper So you can really break down your mulch so it will be closer together when it’s laid and will shade better and stay better. It will incorporate into the soil faster as well. Probably get one for less than $300 and will be invaluable.

Hi I live in very dry area in Middle East I buy large lands in cheap price I planted it with pine, cypress, and oak trees, and in the middle I planted olives tree , grape, and fig trees. I did not imagine that the project would be successful, but it was successful, and I have a forest and cultivated land in the middle of the desert.

Hey brother, I've got a couple of suggestions to make. Firstly, I currently run the Cairns Botanic Gardens Horticulturalists team on projects within The Gardens and I've been watching you since day one. My background is Science (Ecology and Conservation Biology) but with about 8 years of commercial & ecological landscaping, organic farming, defending from brush turkeys and revegetation. You're doing an awesome job Cap'n! I've been learning from our mistakes on 250ac without machinery (though about 6 days of bulldozing went into firebreaks and pad leveling) our dream on 250 acres of Dry Eucalypt Woodland 1300km (750mi) south (I've been away for 4 months) running out of money with a baby girl on the way. Some advice I have for you! Strong suggestions if you will... 1) Build or acquire yourself a wheel cart. You can put pvc pipes on it at the end for rake, shovel and tools. The sides could have outlined and secured: secateurs, saw, trowel, dibber, knife, grafting/marcotting tools. You could get creative and build a pot holder on a corner. Tilting capacity on the wheel cart. Mid frame/mid axle or tilting off rear axle of two for stability. Rigid framed, 100kg load rated. The bed can carry manure/compost/mulch/chickens/a goat/fertiloser/amendments/plants (or all the above). Also useful for those family wagon pulls! Did someone say rails for two levels (maybe seedling tray determined ;)) 2) ensure all access points are accessible by said wheelcart and then some. I'd do the berm side of your swale. Make it wide enough as a path but as high as necessary for maximum water retention (have you determined how high your freeboard is throughout the swale?) 3) Move your black poly Dripper lines to the top of your mulch about 10cm in from the edge. The mulch will stay wetter (with minimum of cm depth of mulch saturated, more with wicking); your plant's roots will be kept happy with the consistent, cool moisture; it will promote root exploration, development and microbiology relationships as you can add molasses to your IBC (I'd do 1:10 Molasses to water) with a soluble seaweed solution and/or worm castings.) You'll be keeping the mulch permanently moist while inoculating it from above and below and feeding it basic, natural sugars for bacterial and fungal growth. God bless you mate and I look forward to seeing your iteration of either! I'm currently working on #1 and I'll see if I can get the Engineering/Fabrication teams to design and implement one for use in the gardens - though I'll finally have a laptop again (being without for 2 years) and then Rhino for design. Cheers Shaun. I look forward to your consideration of these items in future! I'm going to keep watching the video now 😂!

Another day of progress.

Suggestion for super fast biomass production: use the land you have by the river and that nasty stagnant water to grow bamboo there. It will clear up the water some, grow tons of biomass very quickly, and can be easily run thru a small chipper for mulch. For additional ware retention in the soil, use the clay in your valley to make balls that you fire and turn into terracotta. Place them in the bottom of every planting hole and it becomes a water sponge for the roots. Bonus: get some cheap epsom salt and add small amounts to your water. Same with a dash of ash. The magnesium sulfate with a little potassium/calcium from potash, tends to super charge root growth. That chipper is not really a chipper, it's a classic leaf shredder. Besides leaves, the only thing I found it really good for is grinding up acorns into a super rich additive to compost. I would assume most other small nuts would work too. Kind of useless in a desert though lol

A very inspiring channel. I have signed up for newsletters and am really excited to watch your progress. So refreshing to see someone go out and do, rather than just talk about doing. I feel like we're close to neighbours just turning up and donating mulch and helping out for free now, the value of this project is clear to see.

Hi my old mate! Consider hiring a industial shedder that the contractors use when clearing large areas of folage. Or may I suggest a scrub rake for your dozer and rake up the folage into big piles and run over it with the dozer to brake it up into smaller bits and transport the mulch into a "PITt'S" hole you have made. Dig a large number of Mulch holes "PITT'S "3 ft deep 10-15 ft across and line the hole with plasic black film and throw all the crap folage into the "Pitt" composter and let nature do the work with and cover it with black film with rocks to hold the film into place. Read up on hi- speed composting out of crap plants , make your self some indistrial composter's- use what is avalable to you . If done right you will have tonage of compost in 6 months. Get an old tip truck to transport your crushed folage/ mulch to the "PIT'S" for speeding up the system ,as you can use it to travel to the 4 corner's of your ranch quickly. Learn to use the little grey cells and not your muscles. Cheers and beers 👷

that chipper was designed and built to take up space in a land fill.

Cover your water pipes with mulch. It keeps the water cooler.

Good stuff man! Please do not let the comments get you overthinking things. You know this is a multi-year recovery effort, so pace yourself brother 👊🏻🌻👊🏻

Woodchips are no joke. I've been experimenting with them and WOW. Moisture retention is awesome with chips, I've found that 3 inches is the minimum to keep things wetter during the 100 degree plus days and hot sun. More has been better up to the 8 inches I've tested to so far.

😂 you doing something crazy! That’s awesome some advise that helped me in the dry South of Botswana. Dig small holes that are 50 cm wide and about a meter deep fill them with your mulch material then plant around them and mulch the space between plants the hole is tue battery in the heat of the day water will be pulled up by evaporation and at night and t will drop backdown. Also lay random rocks in the middle of your mulched row big rocks or medium rocks preferably next your drip emitter. It will provide protection for life bugs are always under rocks plus it helps regulate temp for life. Lastly put up lots of random protected bird baths or water sources for birds and small animals. You can plant seeds and trees all you want but the best plants actually come from wild animals that bring the seeds in their poop or deliberately burry them for their winter store. If there is a reliable water source ( doesn’t have to be big they will travel their and leave behind seeds the power of the seeds success as to do with the biology from the poop or animal spit.

Could you plant those cactus cuttings into small pots with better soil and better irrigation on site until they reach a size to transplant?

Have you looked into organic water absorbing polymers at all? Interesting idea to explore considering your certain lack of rainfall.

Nice to see you having some progress and looking forward to the rain

Agreed with some viewers - you MUST get a garden cart (NOT a wheelbarrow). And yes, the chipper/shredder is gonna be a game changer for you. Yay for the solar powered generator powering the chipper/shredder!!

Beryl it's on his way

This looks better and better and better. Outstanding job Shaun, I admire your determination.

Shaun, regarding fencing I would suggest making your own posts out of concrete. I think it would be cost effective, enduring and give you the flexibility to design what you need. You would need a concrete mixer, fence post moulds , templates , reinforcement mesh or rebar. You can make your box end straining assembly out of concrete too and have them bolt together once post holes are dug. To eventually go round 320 acres you’ll need 1200 posts or more but this can be done little by little over time. If you have gravel and sand on your ranch, you would only need cement bags to make some posts. Just a thought. Like what you are doing. Keep up the good work!

Shaun my freind! Have you ever heard of sorghum sudangrass? It may be worth it to research that. Without a little irrigation you probably won't keep it alive til maturity BUT... it is very drought resistant, it grows very fast, it does well in poor, low nitrogen soils, and it will give you a lot of good mulch material to work with. If you plant it right before monsoon season and give it a few supplemental watering to get it up, you might get a good 2 or 3 feet out of it before it dies. If it does get water you can grow it 6 feet tall in 6 weeks from what I hear. We grew it in southern utah way back when and it grew over 10 feet tall only getting water once a week. That could be a very cheap, lower hassle way of increasing organic matter than trying to track it down and shred it, although I'd probably just throw some seeds down and see how they do, and continue with what you're doing.

Love your vids! Most of your critics are sitting on their butts playing video games all day long. You're probably catching a lot of jealous flak from the lazy folks that won't do this themselves. Maybe you'll catch some extra rain spill off from the hurricane in the gulf right now...

Awesome work. Really nice to see the 'mulch factory' getting more and more substance. More fooling around and finding out.

Great video Shaun! Don't mind what people might say of it . yes you are moving slow now but believe me you have put the succession in a high gear and you will most definitely reap your success in a real sustainable way! And i speak out of experience

I would suggest that you spend the money on a real chipper. What you bought is a toy. The time you are wasting preparing your mulch is going to kill your project. It's easy to criticize from an armchair, but it is clear that you should spend $1000 - $2000 on a quality chipper. Maybe a gas model will be cheaper and more powerful. You can buy larger chippers that you tow used, and those will chip branches of trees up to two or three inches in diameter.