I have utilized an rv to live in off grid similar to you guys for several years now. Last fall I put a shed roof over it for rain water and protection. Let me tell you, it was a game changer. The summer sun is soooo much cooler in the summer. Think about building one over your rv. You won’t regret it!❤️
Here in Upstate NY, digging _drainage_ is what helped my garden. SUCH different issues when you were a wetland/forest area versus desert. 😂 Good luck capturing as much rainwater as possible for your trees!
Is the area around the tree now higher than the dug out area? Water doesn't soak upwards too good. Until the tree is bigger are you watering directly around it?
What a nice surprise with that rain, your mother was saying thank you son and here is some rain to see how it works...You two are brilliant at what you're accomplishing in that hot weather. Stay Strong and looking forward to more from you both..
Here in the northern finger of the Sonoran desert, north of 49 (by about 10 klicks) this person who keeps an eye on your doings, also keeps seeds. I would be planting them around your place if only I could only fly. Desert grasses are beautiful.
Nice! I just saw that Brad Lancaster has a UA-cam channel, he has some good stuff on there. Yes, seed packets say to plant squash on hills, I plant everything in holes or trenches. We have a lot of mesquite trees, the soil under them is really rich in nitrogen and great for growing things. 🌞🏜️
Love your use of the land and elements. Great discussion, you two. Well presented and the drawings are so clear. Yes, Brad Lancaster's books & work is huge. But so is your permaculture training, work and desire. I look forward to watching this all come together. And I especially love ❤️ your love and nurture of mom's tree. 💖
So great to see this done in real life and not just in a static diagram. This technique should be perfect for the trees we want to plant for a wind break. Thanks for sharing!
I just wish they'd planted in the ditch instead of up on the berm. Not even twice daily watering nourished daikon radishes on our berms, whereas the seeds that fell into the ditch are thriving.
When I was watching a Jeff Lawton video he said basically you would plant on top of the berm if you have a too much water problem and you plant in the ditch if you have a not enough water problem. The ditch will protect it from the wind and provide a tiny bit of shade to the plants when their tiny.
This has been borne out by our hands on experience, both in the suburbs of SoCal, and out here in NE Arizona! The only things that grow on our new berms are tumbleweeds, which are alleleopathic I've heard. Either way, blessings to the Fam and best wishes
@@kurtcurtis2730 yep, my very short experience has borne that out. I planted in a narrow ditch yet still had to beef up the leeward side and armor that with rocks
The conclusion, about change, is so important. In the natural vegetable garden it’s much the same. Every year is different and the garden changes according to that. Therefore, so do I change in my effort to meet its needs. Creative design is a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what Jess is coming up with.
Hi I watch the tiny shiny home gang all the time and I'm watching their chicken Garden build. They mentioned you in their video 😍 so I wanted to come over and check it out❣ l👀ks good to me! I'll be checking you out and this one especially on water catchment Have a great day 🏜
I love how your projects are feasible for one or two people over time to do. I learn alot from you 2. I love to see how in 2 to 4 years how this particular project will look with additional trees and basins.
Towards the end of the video you showed a plant that looks like prickly pear. We have lots of prickly pear trees here in Cyprus. Thank you for your valuable content it is important to learn different methods of permaculture. God bless.
this is by far my favorite video you guys have made. I scour youtube videos for anything I can find about how effective earthworks are for vegetation in Southern Arizona. I plan to buy land out there, and I want to re-vegetate my land with earthworks, but kept wondering how effective it would be.
@@devdeuce93 I've watched all of his videos, and his work is amazing, thanks. The difference between his work though is he uses street runoff mostly. That's not much of an option outside of the city.
@@IowaKeith Check out Brad's books, his vol 2 of drylands water harvesting lays out how to implement water harvesting no matter where. He includes mathematical formulae for figuring runoff from a variety of surfaces so you can plan wisely. Above all, when you select your land, spend a year observing the natural water cycle. All our beat for your success!!!
@@1millionpumpkins542 i have watched all of his videos and read his books - Its wonderful information. What I'm looking for is real life examples of revegetating land outside of the city using groundworks. If/when I buy land out there, I won't be farming the land. I want to hydrate my land using earthworks/trees and vegetation.
@@IowaKeith Brad doesn't use street run-off except where it's available - at the street. His yard, for example, is nothing but small basins and catchments, and some crazy plumbing. Genius stuff, and not a single bit comes from the road, just the roof. Here's a good video of a project that was mid-install when a waterline burst uphill of his site and flooded the work he'd installed. ua-cam.com/video/H4eCL3ao9b8/v-deo.html The guy's certainly got a lot of energy and a positive vibe! Between this video and the one at his home, I can't see how anyone in Arizona is still paying for water from the city! 😁
Very nice to honor your mom. ❤ enjoy your tenacity in building your home! Great sense of humor! Trying to smile more. New to your channel. Thanks for sharing!
The basins are a great idea. You did my suggestion about the berms before I could type it. Mixing the compost into the berms will make them more stable. I do think that you should do deep basins and fill them with your stones. This will get rid of stones and provide a storage volume for water to percolate into the ground. Armoring soil with rocks is called using rip-rap. The more basins that you can do, the better your micro climate will become. Good Luck, Rick
I was wondering when you two were gonna show me some of that talent you got with saving as much water you can I admire you two very much cause I grew up in the desert but I had a river where we lived you give me an idea to go bush to the desert agin with your knowledge to help with water collecting ideas could get on quite well cause it rains like your monsoons a lot all at once then it’s gone as quickly as it came
You can also line or fill the inside of the basin with rounded 2 lb or more boulders to control soil water evaporation. Plus you got alot of them. 😎😎👍👍2 Feet deep or more recommended for this style. Kinda looks like the cake pan with the cone hole in the middle.
Tony- idk. There’s a benefit of providing an area for water condensation to occur at night when it cools off. I use rock myself but do place it on top of straw mulch Does that count as double mulching - I don’t know.
Great job and information. Didn't realize permaculture included the basins you incorporated into your design. I always thought it was only berms and swale. Stand corrected! This helps me more with my design. I could take my time. Thank you again! ☮️🙏☯️
Permaculture involves a huge range of concepts and observations, much more complex than just water capture with berms and swales. Well worth doing the research if you are establishing a new property or adapting an existing one to permaculture concepts.
@@karennewberry4694 Thank you! Since the video I've been working on myself to be more knowledgeable by buying books, literature and viewing videos on the subject. I want to do right thing for our earth. If you have any other suggested literature or videos on permaculture please let me know.☯️🙏☮️
@@offgridrooster the permaculture concept was developed in the 1970’s in Australia by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Any of their updated books, manuals and design courses are good references. I prefer the less “ in depth” books, most of them are Australian. The principles remain but approaches differ in environment ( snow vs tropics etc). “Earth user’s guide to permaculture “ Rosemary Morrow “The permaculture home garden” Linda Woodrow are my go to’s. On UA-cam check out Geoff Lawton, Stefan Sobkowiak and David the Good for a start Best of luck 🤞
Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love you guys this tree's with the stones around the stem are looking really healthy and stones keep the moisture much longer.
This is my favorite video yet. Awesome job with the infiltration basins, they are absolutely beautiful, and I agree with you that doing small hand built earthworks are the way to go. Brad Lancaster is a water harvesting god. Bravo to your adaptive approach. I am learning some of the same lessons (such as, plant in the ditch, not the berm) here in NE Arizona. It doesn't get as hot up here, but it can be extremely arid with maximum UV. Loved the rock mulch discussion as well. Have you ever read Steve Solomon "Waterwise Gardening"? It is so different from the one track mind of raised beds /square foot style that seems ingrained in people's brains. Sunken gardens are the way to go for drylands, and you guys are nailing it!
Like I told Tiny Shiny recently when they were working on their big berm and swale project - what's so cool to me about earthwork like this is that it's essentially solarpunk terraforming. Deliberately making the planet more habitable is mindboggingly cool to me. 🌎💧🌻🔆👍
I’m a big proponent of planting trees and love the idea of planting trees to celebrate special occasions or as memorials. The Chaste tree will be a beautiful memorial to your mother. However, I think you are being very optimistic about how big the tree will grow in your environment. In the Phoenix area where we tend to manipulate the growing conditions for an optimal result, I have never seen a Chaste tree taller than ten feet. I do love the idea of adding/connecting additional basins and may look at doing that in my yard. Also, I think that flattening the top of the berm is a good idea.
You gave some very important info regarding the landscape and slope of land. Just because you see it on video does not mean it will work for every situation. By monitoring the progress one can make changes for we know nature is fluid. The approach to smaller trenches is really a great technique in that each area may have different requirements. Plus it does not cost you so much time and money. Berms will require more water but I think that finding a grass that will tolerate the heat might help to mitigate the erosion for the goal is to green as much as you can to help return parts of the desert back to life. Great job!
Great job! I am glad you were able to make the time to freshen up your mother's memorial tree. You guys work amazingly together. 👏🏿 inspiration ✨️ ❤️ 🙌🏿 at its best! I am pleasedto see BOTH you adults working hard to bud your dreams and new world together. No wall flowers or lazy landlords here. #Keepupthegreatwork
I'm not sure what the air humidity where you are is like, but I recently saw a "Chaac Ha" dew/rain collector. Collects not only rain water, but precipitates dew overnight. One downside for most people is you need about 30 square feet for just over half a gallon each night, but with your land area that's not a big deal. Should be able to modify the design sufficiently to make it different shapes though, it's a simple idea of condensation collection. Just an idea you might be able to look into. You two are awesome, and I love watching these projects. They really give a good view of self-sustainability.
@@kurtcurtis2730 Honestly my fascination with water harvesting and conservation comes from the Dune books (not any movie). I've been reading them on loop for years and always pick up more and more. However, whenever you distill water, you lose some of the good minerals in there for you, which of course you can compensate for by eating healthy or taking supplements or by adding minerals. This is something Dune doesn't talk about. Personally I'm a huge proponent of large, simple distilling "tents" (and passive technology in general). There is also the idea of mass amounts of small water collectors, but again you *should* distill it to remove the bad stuff. If you can't wait for passive evaporation, you can always point sun mirrors at a small source and boil that small area, being able to collect the steam. Not sure where to learn more, these are accumulated ideas since I was a child and I made my first evaporative collector with a bowl, plastic wrap, a cup, and a pebble to angle the wrap over the cup. I've been fascinated with water collection ever since.
G'day greensteaders, cowpeas, pigeon pea& comfrey are really good for your berms& swales, green living mulches, try something edible, food prices are going to get worse! Looking awesome guys 👍🇦🇺💜
That’s a beautiful ideal what you doing for that tree Jess that message been well used and it’s nice to see the young generation knows about that so thank you for sharing this beautiful video on that Your family are beautiful to watch on here and May God keep on blessing you throughout your life that way
Glad to see such an important part of your journey receiving some more love. You guys still inspire me in my journey even in a wetter climate. Did you ever give thought to trenching around the rain roof to divert rainwater from flooding your work area underneath it? Keep up the good work and thank you.
I am so glad to have found your channel. This one is timely - also recently lost my own mother. She always said you should plant a little tree under a “ mother tree” We both read The Hidden life of trees which confirmed that. Anyway I’m looking at trees right now. I planted a Nebraska Hawthorn for grandma which is doing well, but I’m not going to plant another one. Thorns. One of my favorite trees is the Hackberry, and I have a couple of those-but also recently planted Amer Maple which has also performed well in sand I can’t deny the appeal of the chaste tree and also the Lead Plant, just don’t have familiarity with the species to raise confidence in planting. I’m in high desert area - also about 8” H2O but freezing temps and radical temp swings. Jess, i had to completely do my veggies in containers due to critters. If you use really large containers they don’t dry out as fast as you might think. All root crops. They are shaded on the south side by pallets. Anyway , I definitely can try the method Jim did. Just purchased ( & still learning about Mycorrhizae Fungi Do you use this?? I have questions ... rambling comment, sorry
Thank you for that. I read a quote “ a mother is one who can take the place of many others, but no other person can take the place of”. So true. We’re experiencing bark beetles AGAIN, I managed to save a couple older piñon last time completely by accident- I dragged a wet piece of carpet under a Piñon tree to haul away later but forgot about it (hid it too well LOL). Happy accident. I wondered why those trees weren’t affected/ I guess it conserved enough moisture? So I’m repeating. I want to get the fungi to those trees- thought if I dug some skinny holes 10 inches from the trunk and put some in? I was planned to pick maybe 1/3 cup into 5 gallons of water????? I have the fungi packages stored at room temp inside. Not sure of the stability? Assume it’s dormant??? Assume it’s viable until activated by moisture?? Also presented questions to UA-cam channel “ gardening in Canada” ( hope that’s the right name) as she is soil scientist Anyway, enjoying your channel and appreciate your water conscious methods
I enjoy watching your channel. This one is Informative interesting and educational. I find keeping a open mind even at my age is helpful . You never get to old to learn something new .
Wow are you going to turn it all into a green oasis? I hope your going to build a lake, I would love to see Jess in a tractor and Jim excited with a upgrade from spade and pic axe hehe. I am very excited to see your Plans for the site. A very beautiful tree a lovely memorial
Very nice, and I was so happy to see you filling the hole with some organic matter. Dry lands are a joy to work in, imo. Here in the Southeast, you'd have been dead a few times because you guys tend to stand still for more than five minutes while chatting. Can't do that around here or the kudzu will get you! Getting organic matter to the ground is more important than a lot of people think. While that tall grass in the background looks nice, the dead stalks standing up in the wind actually allows a lot of direct sunlight to hit the soil and that UV radiation really cooks the microbial life. That's why you see the bare patches in between the clumps of tall grass. From a distance it looks like a solid covering, but when you get up on it... there are actually bare spots everywhere. In olden days, ruminants like the Pronghorn would have moved through their either eating the grass or at least trampling it down. This not only broke up the dead stems, but created a mat over the land that trapped moisture at the ground surface and protected the soil from direct UV radiation. Today, I highly recommend going through the tall grass with a mower, weed whacker, or a scythe. Anything to get the dead/dormant material down to the ground where it can form a thatch over the bare dirt. Not only does it protect the soil from erosion, but cutting the grass down actually promotes new growth. Plus, you can always rake some of it up and use it to fill your swales. I'm all for waiting on the leaves to drop from the trees, but there's no reason we can't also kickstart the process much like you did with your mother's tree. I've stopped composting almost entirely and just dry the clippings out for a couple of days before putting the stuff wherever I need mulch. If it wants to compost, it can do it in the flower beds and the like. It's gonna turn to dirt anyway, so it might as well do it where the dirt is needed in the first place. Keep up the great work. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
Great info. Jess said exactly what I as thinking that the plants need to be lower inside the basins, especially the smaller ones with root balls above the basin's water. I think they need to be below grade before water flows into the basins. Channeling rainwater is challenging. Jess is absolutely correct that you can't fight mother nature, but she can do wonders if we work with her. My only concern about diverting grey water from the septic system is whether the septic tank and leech field needs that water flowing through it to keep it flushed out. Plants located in between the perf tube runs can still benefit from the ground moisture of the leech field, without disrupting the septic system.
reason for the drip edge is that the plants (trees) feeder roots are spread out that far and need the moisture as much if not more then the tap roots..
So interesting I’m considering doing a catchment project for my garden. My water is gravity feed from the mountain in back . I can learn here. Thank you!
We live in southern California where water restrictions abound, so I was really intrigued by the topic of constructing a rainwater harvesting infiltration basin. It was especially interesting seeing your past efforts and how you could use lessons learned and apply them to your current projects. By the by, your wonderful captures of sunsets and rainbows are so delightfully received. I like to think that it is God's way to thank you for He knows that you doing such an amazing job by proving how you can sustain yourselves by using all that He has provided for you. WELL DONE KIDDOS!!! xoxo
Love that desert willow. Beautiful tree
TREES YAY!!! 😁 More trees please!
I love y'all and your trial and error. xoxoxo
Great idea Jim❤️✝️
Lots of great information! Thank you!!
I have utilized an rv to live in off grid similar to you guys for several years now. Last fall I put a shed roof over it for rain water and protection. Let me tell you, it was a game changer. The summer sun is soooo much cooler in the summer. Think about building one over your rv. You won’t regret it!❤️
thanks for the education. I love watching the channel
Here in Upstate NY, digging _drainage_ is what helped my garden. SUCH different issues when you were a wetland/forest area versus desert. 😂 Good luck capturing as much rainwater as possible for your trees!
I’m in upstate NY too and same deal!
Is the area around the tree now higher than the dug out area? Water doesn't soak upwards too good. Until the tree is bigger are you watering directly around it?
Really great and interesting video
My mistake should have finished watching the video before asking questions🤣 that looks great. I believe the tree is going to grow tall and strong
Awesome
What a nice surprise with that rain, your mother was saying thank you son and here is some rain to see how it works...You two are brilliant at what you're accomplishing in that hot weather. Stay Strong and looking forward to more from you both..
Nice job professor Jess the brains and Jim for the brawn Winning the desert war thank you ALL stay safe
Thanks for sharing 👍😀
love yous guys
Here in the northern finger of the Sonoran desert, north of 49 (by about 10 klicks) this person who keeps an eye on your doings, also keeps seeds. I would be planting them around your place if only I could only fly. Desert grasses are beautiful.
One of the first things I did when moving here was to buy Brad Lancaster's books. Good stuff. That berm looks good!
Your a digging Mo'chine brother. That looks real good, makes sense, I learn a lot here. God Bless!
THOSE IMAGES OF POSSIBILITIES OH THANK YOU !
Nice! I just saw that Brad Lancaster has a UA-cam channel, he has some good stuff on there.
Yes, seed packets say to plant squash on hills, I plant everything in holes or trenches. We have a lot of mesquite trees, the soil under them is really rich in nitrogen and great for growing things. 🌞🏜️
🌸👍🏼🌺very nice berm you’ve made so far . They collect the water pretty well ! Thanks for sharing ! 👍🏼
You are a great couple! Now if only the “ woe is me” people would learn from you. Thank you for your shows and I enjoy them so! 😎🐾
Shirl K - Texas
Great job
Love your use of the land and elements. Great discussion, you two. Well presented and the drawings are so clear. Yes, Brad Lancaster's books & work is huge. But so is your permaculture training, work and desire. I look forward to watching this all come together.
And I especially love ❤️ your love and nurture of mom's tree. 💖
That was an awesome video thank you.
Great video GDP! Very informative ♻️
I like how you showed the differences and showed water absorption.
Wonderful program, guys. Can't believe I have to watch two folks in the dessert to see what rain looks like again.
No rain no funny. Hope you get some soon
Love it
So great to see this done in real life and not just in a static diagram. This technique should be perfect for the trees we want to plant for a wind break. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, seeing real application much better. Thanks
I just wish they'd planted in the ditch instead of up on the berm. Not even twice daily watering nourished daikon radishes on our berms, whereas the seeds that fell into the ditch are thriving.
When I was watching a Jeff Lawton video he said basically you would plant on top of the berm if you have a too much water problem and you plant in the ditch if you have a not enough water problem. The ditch will protect it from the wind and provide a tiny bit of shade to the plants when their tiny.
This has been borne out by our hands on experience, both in the suburbs of SoCal, and out here in NE Arizona!
The only things that grow on our new berms are tumbleweeds, which are alleleopathic I've heard. Either way, blessings to the Fam and best wishes
I was thinking it also provided some protection from the drying wind
@@kurtcurtis2730 yep, my very short experience has borne that out. I planted in a narrow ditch yet still had to beef up the leeward side and armor that with rocks
The conclusion, about change, is so important. In the natural vegetable garden it’s much the same. Every year is different and the garden changes according to that. Therefore, so do I change in my effort to meet its needs.
Creative design is a lot of fun. I’m looking forward to seeing what Jess is coming up with.
Hi I watch the tiny shiny home gang all the time and I'm watching their chicken Garden build. They mentioned you in their video 😍 so I wanted to come over and check it out❣ l👀ks good to me! I'll be checking you out and this one especially on water catchment
Have a great day 🏜
I like it.
It was great to see the star of this production appear on-set... Give a round of applause to Crew the super-star!
Crew wasn't in this one. Lluve was.
oops sorry, crew did make a cameo.
I love how your projects are feasible for one or two people over time to do.
I learn alot from you 2.
I love to see how in 2 to 4 years how this particular project will look with additional trees and basins.
amazing work guys, keep it up and best luck.
Love it, nice 👍
Thanks for the information. Nice job done! Stay safe and have a great weekend!
Thanks CB! Have a great weekend as well.
Towards the end of the video you showed a plant that looks like prickly pear. We have lots of prickly pear trees here in Cyprus. Thank you for your valuable content it is important to learn different methods of permaculture. God bless.
this is by far my favorite video you guys have made. I scour youtube videos for anything I can find about how effective earthworks are for vegetation in Southern Arizona. I plan to buy land out there, and I want to re-vegetate my land with earthworks, but kept wondering how effective it would be.
look up Brad Landcaster and the work he's done in his Arizona neighborhood
@@devdeuce93 I've watched all of his videos, and his work is amazing, thanks. The difference between his work though is he uses street runoff mostly. That's not much of an option outside of the city.
@@IowaKeith Check out Brad's books, his vol 2 of drylands water harvesting lays out how to implement water harvesting no matter where. He includes mathematical formulae for figuring runoff from a variety of surfaces so you can plan wisely. Above all, when you select your land, spend a year observing the natural water cycle. All our beat for your success!!!
@@1millionpumpkins542 i have watched all of his videos and read his books - Its wonderful information. What I'm looking for is real life examples of revegetating land outside of the city using groundworks. If/when I buy land out there, I won't be farming the land. I want to hydrate my land using earthworks/trees and vegetation.
@@IowaKeith Brad doesn't use street run-off except where it's available - at the street. His yard, for example, is nothing but small basins and catchments, and some crazy plumbing. Genius stuff, and not a single bit comes from the road, just the roof. Here's a good video of a project that was mid-install when a waterline burst uphill of his site and flooded the work he'd installed. ua-cam.com/video/H4eCL3ao9b8/v-deo.html The guy's certainly got a lot of energy and a positive vibe! Between this video and the one at his home, I can't see how anyone in Arizona is still paying for water from the city! 😁
Very nice to honor your mom. ❤ enjoy your tenacity in building your home! Great sense of humor! Trying to smile more. New to your channel. Thanks for sharing!
Love you both, thanks for all the work you do to show people how to live right
The basins are a great idea. You did my suggestion about the berms before I could type it. Mixing the compost into the berms will make them more stable. I do think that you should do deep basins and fill them with your stones. This will get rid of stones and provide a storage volume for water to percolate into the ground. Armoring soil with rocks is called using rip-rap. The more basins that you can do, the better your micro climate will become. Good Luck, Rick
I was wondering when you two were gonna show me some of that talent you got with saving as much water you can I admire you two very much cause I grew up in the desert but I had a river where we lived you give me an idea to go bush to the desert agin with your knowledge to help with water collecting ideas could get on quite well cause it rains like your monsoons a lot all at once then it’s gone as quickly as it came
You can also line or fill the inside of the basin with rounded 2 lb or more boulders to control soil water evaporation. Plus you got alot of them. 😎😎👍👍2 Feet deep or more recommended for this style. Kinda looks like the cake pan with the cone hole in the middle.
Only problem with rocks is you def don’t need the heat retention in the desert
@@tonygrowsfood788 Yup agree! Could paint or coat the top ones white.
Tony- idk. There’s a benefit of providing an area for water condensation to occur at night when it cools off. I use rock myself but do place it on top of straw mulch Does that count as double mulching - I don’t know.
Great job and information. Didn't realize permaculture included the basins you incorporated into your design. I always thought it was only berms and swale. Stand corrected! This helps me more with my design. I could take my time. Thank you again! ☮️🙏☯️
Permaculture involves a huge range of concepts and observations, much more complex than just water capture with berms and swales. Well worth doing the research if you are establishing a new property or adapting an existing one to permaculture concepts.
@@karennewberry4694 Thank you! Since the video I've been working on myself to be more knowledgeable by buying books, literature and viewing videos on the subject. I want to do right thing for our earth. If you have any other suggested literature or videos on permaculture please let me know.☯️🙏☮️
@@offgridrooster the permaculture concept was developed in the 1970’s in Australia by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. Any of their updated books, manuals and design courses are good references. I prefer the less “ in depth” books, most of them are Australian. The principles remain but approaches differ in environment ( snow vs tropics etc).
“Earth user’s guide to permaculture “ Rosemary Morrow
“The permaculture home garden” Linda Woodrow are my go to’s.
On UA-cam check out Geoff Lawton, Stefan Sobkowiak and David the Good for a start
Best of luck 🤞
@@karennewberry4694 thank you so much
@@offgridrooster you’re welcome 🙂
Wow you both are incredible….
That is the coolest T shirt 🤣🙌 O G Homestead Homie
Love seeing all the progress THAT'S what it's about!
And yea she is bomdiggity
Ha! You know im an OG.😆 Honestly, that's one of my favorite shirts. Very comfortable.
Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love you guys this tree's with the stones around the stem are looking really healthy and stones keep the moisture much longer.
Very informative. TFS
This is my favorite video yet. Awesome job with the infiltration basins, they are absolutely beautiful, and I agree with you that doing small hand built earthworks are the way to go. Brad Lancaster is a water harvesting god. Bravo to your adaptive approach. I am learning some of the same lessons (such as, plant in the ditch, not the berm) here in NE Arizona. It doesn't get as hot up here, but it can be extremely arid with maximum UV. Loved the rock mulch discussion as well. Have you ever read Steve Solomon "Waterwise Gardening"? It is so different from the one track mind of raised beds /square foot style that seems ingrained in people's brains. Sunken gardens are the way to go for drylands, and you guys are nailing it!
Agree
@@kurtcurtis2730 Thanks for that! Are you a desert or Arizona gardener? We just moved out to the NE area of the state this winter.
I’m in NM. High desert
Also Lancaster fan. Water is #1 factor
Like I told Tiny Shiny recently when they were working on their big berm and swale project - what's so cool to me about earthwork like this is that it's essentially solarpunk terraforming. Deliberately making the planet more habitable is mindboggingly cool to me. 🌎💧🌻🔆👍
Great demonstration performance!! Great info and lessons learned! Thank you!!!!
I’m a big proponent of planting trees and love the idea of planting trees to celebrate special occasions or as memorials. The Chaste tree will be a beautiful memorial to your mother. However, I think you are being very optimistic about how big the tree will grow in your environment. In the Phoenix area where we tend to manipulate the growing conditions for an optimal result, I have never seen a Chaste tree taller than ten feet.
I do love the idea of adding/connecting additional basins and may look at doing that in my yard. Also, I think that flattening the top of the berm is a good idea.
I love that book. We have it. I need to study it more. The desert willow is really growing. Sweet rainbow 🌈
You gave some very important info regarding the landscape and slope of land. Just because you see it on video does not mean it will work for every situation. By monitoring the progress one can make changes for we know nature is fluid. The approach to smaller trenches is really a great technique in that each area may have different requirements. Plus it does not cost you so much time and money.
Berms will require more water but I think that finding a grass that will tolerate the heat might help to mitigate the erosion for the goal is to green as much as you can to help return parts of the desert back to life. Great job!
Great job! I am glad you were able to make the time to freshen up your mother's memorial tree. You guys work amazingly together. 👏🏿 inspiration ✨️ ❤️ 🙌🏿 at its best! I am pleasedto see BOTH you adults working hard to bud your dreams and new world together. No wall flowers or lazy landlords here. #Keepupthegreatwork
Great idea to do those basins,...especially in the desert region where we live
Great project, and a great tribute to your mother!!! Good job 👏 👍 👌
I'm not sure what the air humidity where you are is like, but I recently saw a "Chaac Ha" dew/rain collector. Collects not only rain water, but precipitates dew overnight. One downside for most people is you need about 30 square feet for just over half a gallon each night, but with your land area that's not a big deal. Should be able to modify the design sufficiently to make it different shapes though, it's a simple idea of condensation collection.
Just an idea you might be able to look into. You two are awesome, and I love watching these projects. They really give a good view of self-sustainability.
You’ve peaked my interest- any suggestions to learn more?
@@kurtcurtis2730 Honestly my fascination with water harvesting and conservation comes from the Dune books (not any movie). I've been reading them on loop for years and always pick up more and more.
However, whenever you distill water, you lose some of the good minerals in there for you, which of course you can compensate for by eating healthy or taking supplements or by adding minerals. This is something Dune doesn't talk about.
Personally I'm a huge proponent of large, simple distilling "tents" (and passive technology in general). There is also the idea of mass amounts of small water collectors, but again you *should* distill it to remove the bad stuff.
If you can't wait for passive evaporation, you can always point sun mirrors at a small source and boil that small area, being able to collect the steam.
Not sure where to learn more, these are accumulated ideas since I was a child and I made my first evaporative collector with a bowl, plastic wrap, a cup, and a pebble to angle the wrap over the cup. I've been fascinated with water collection ever since.
It's all about the basins.
I like big berms and I cannot lie...
🤣
Awesome job team, great to see the rain flowing in, 👏 👍🏻 😀 👌
G'day greensteaders, cowpeas, pigeon pea& comfrey are really good for your berms& swales, green living mulches, try something edible, food prices are going to get worse! Looking awesome guys 👍🇦🇺💜
I 2nd that on the comfrey. Nitrogen fixer. Not too fussy bees love it. Takes over!
Great information......appreciate it. With all the changing weather patterns these are excellent techniques to rememer.
That’s a beautiful ideal what you doing for that tree Jess that message been well used and it’s nice to see the young generation knows about that so thank you for sharing this beautiful video on that
Your family are beautiful to watch on here and May God keep on blessing you throughout your life that way
This is the most informative video. (For me) Thanks.
Yall need something like this around the homestead - Nature's Seed Southwest Desert Poultry Pasture Blend.
thank you so much , GOD BLESS YOU BOTH !!!
Cool
Thanks for the information on the infiltration basins; it seems to be in step with what Brad Lancaster is doing.
Glad to see such an important part of your journey receiving some more love. You guys still inspire me in my journey even in a wetter climate. Did you ever give thought to trenching around the rain roof to divert rainwater from flooding your work area underneath it? Keep up the good work and thank you.
Sorry to hear about your mother. I like the idea of a memorial tree dedicated to her.
I am so glad to have found your channel. This one is timely - also recently lost my own mother. She always said you should plant a little tree under a “ mother tree” We both read The Hidden life of trees which confirmed that. Anyway I’m looking at trees right now. I planted a Nebraska Hawthorn for grandma which is doing well, but I’m not going to plant another one. Thorns. One of my favorite trees is the Hackberry, and I have a couple of those-but also recently planted Amer Maple which has also performed well in sand I can’t deny the appeal of the chaste tree and also the Lead Plant, just don’t have familiarity with the species to raise confidence in planting. I’m in high desert area - also about 8” H2O but freezing temps and radical temp swings. Jess, i had to completely do my veggies in containers due to critters. If you use really large containers they don’t dry out as fast as you might think. All root crops. They are shaded on the south side by pallets. Anyway , I definitely can try the method Jim did. Just purchased ( & still learning about Mycorrhizae Fungi Do you use this?? I have questions ... rambling comment, sorry
Your mom would be so proud of such a practical healing commemorative in her honor. Sorry for your loss
Sorry about the loss of your Mother. It's never easy.
We have used mycorrhizal fungi before, but not this time.
Thank you for that. I read a quote “ a mother is one who can take the place of many others, but no other person can take the place of”. So true. We’re experiencing bark beetles AGAIN, I managed to save a couple older piñon last time completely by accident- I dragged a wet piece of carpet under a Piñon tree to haul away later but forgot about it (hid it too well LOL). Happy accident. I wondered why those trees weren’t affected/ I guess it conserved enough moisture? So I’m repeating. I want to get the fungi to those trees- thought if I dug some skinny holes 10 inches from the trunk and put some in? I was planned to pick maybe 1/3 cup into 5 gallons of water????? I have the fungi packages stored at room temp inside. Not sure of the stability? Assume it’s dormant??? Assume it’s viable until activated by moisture?? Also presented questions to UA-cam channel “ gardening in Canada” ( hope that’s the right name) as she is soil scientist Anyway, enjoying your channel and appreciate your water conscious methods
It's a good day 🤗👍❤
I enjoy watching your channel. This one is Informative interesting and educational. I find keeping a open mind even at my age is helpful . You never get to old to learn something new .
Thank you for sharing all your knowledge of I'm working with the desert it's hard sometimes to plan what you plant
I love learning about your dry climate!
Although I'm in Houston with subtropical climate (35-50 in of rain), we're currently in a drought.
Beautiful ❤️ Blessings 💗
Wow are you going to turn it all into a green oasis? I hope your going to build a lake, I would love to see Jess in a tractor and Jim excited with a upgrade from spade and pic axe hehe. I am very excited to see your Plans for the site. A very beautiful tree a lovely memorial
Very nice, and I was so happy to see you filling the hole with some organic matter. Dry lands are a joy to work in, imo. Here in the Southeast, you'd have been dead a few times because you guys tend to stand still for more than five minutes while chatting. Can't do that around here or the kudzu will get you!
Getting organic matter to the ground is more important than a lot of people think. While that tall grass in the background looks nice, the dead stalks standing up in the wind actually allows a lot of direct sunlight to hit the soil and that UV radiation really cooks the microbial life. That's why you see the bare patches in between the clumps of tall grass. From a distance it looks like a solid covering, but when you get up on it... there are actually bare spots everywhere.
In olden days, ruminants like the Pronghorn would have moved through their either eating the grass or at least trampling it down. This not only broke up the dead stems, but created a mat over the land that trapped moisture at the ground surface and protected the soil from direct UV radiation.
Today, I highly recommend going through the tall grass with a mower, weed whacker, or a scythe. Anything to get the dead/dormant material down to the ground where it can form a thatch over the bare dirt. Not only does it protect the soil from erosion, but cutting the grass down actually promotes new growth.
Plus, you can always rake some of it up and use it to fill your swales. I'm all for waiting on the leaves to drop from the trees, but there's no reason we can't also kickstart the process much like you did with your mother's tree. I've stopped composting almost entirely and just dry the clippings out for a couple of days before putting the stuff wherever I need mulch. If it wants to compost, it can do it in the flower beds and the like. It's gonna turn to dirt anyway, so it might as well do it where the dirt is needed in the first place.
Keep up the great work. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with next!
Great info. Jess said exactly what I as thinking that the plants need to be lower inside the basins, especially the smaller ones with root balls above the basin's water. I think they need to be below grade before water flows into the basins.
Channeling rainwater is challenging. Jess is absolutely correct that you can't fight mother nature, but she can do wonders if we work with her.
My only concern about diverting grey water from the septic system is whether the septic tank and leech field needs that water flowing through it to keep it flushed out.
Plants located in between the perf tube runs can still benefit from the ground moisture of the leech field, without disrupting the septic system.
I grew up in Newark Ohio where the Indians built their earthworks! It’s a great idea!
I did rubber mulch on some trees since where I work its a tire recycle plant and the trees are doing really well
reason for the drip edge is that the plants (trees) feeder roots are spread out that far and need the moisture as much if not more then the tap roots..
So interesting
I’m considering doing a catchment project for my garden.
My water is gravity feed from the mountain in back . I can learn here.
Thank you!
Great tips!! So helpful! ⚘️
All the work 🙌 💪 yall doing will mostly rewarded but please very careful in the heat
LOTSA good info again...
love observations
We live in southern California where water restrictions abound, so I was really intrigued by the topic of constructing a rainwater harvesting infiltration basin. It was especially interesting seeing your past efforts and how you could use lessons learned and apply them to your current projects.
By the by, your wonderful captures of sunsets and rainbows are so delightfully received. I like to think that it is God's way to thank you for He knows that you doing such an amazing job by proving how you can sustain yourselves by using all that He has provided for you. WELL DONE KIDDOS!!! xoxo
Good work Jim, now do it 200 more times :)
Land might look flat, but you’d be surprised if you run a level over it. Swales are good for slowing and collecting water and growing trees 🌲👍😎
We never said the land was flat.
I knew you would do this eventually. You two have good research skills.
Excellent video. we are waiting 3D sewershed Model
Learned something new…Thank you! Awesome job!
👌💝💝💝💝God bless.you
Oh, Jim, you can tell Jess is embarrassed with your overtly affectionate displays on camera. Keep it up! 😂
i plant bird seeds as well where there isnt anything growing great idea!
Ich drücke euch feste die Daumen Gott hilft euch