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Do the bee keeping sell the honey as merch and you can use the cash for whatever you think will expedite your process of turning this land into a beautiful forest
Cities, individuals, in the surrounding areas, in your neighborhood. Coffee grounds from coffee joints around your area. Scraps of food from grocery stores and restaurants. Haul it every time you go out. Dump truck loads from everywhere.
About the honey: I'm not sure about your area, but please look into competition between native (solitairy) bees and honey bees. Depending on your local species, honey bees are known to in some cases outcompete local solitairy species that have specialised in plant species, causing a lot of biodiversity problems (plants not being pollinated well because honey bees can't do it very efficiently etc). (For credentials: I have a MSc in Biology)
There are many species of bee. Most make no, or no harvestable, honey. However, to ecology, it is exactly the diversity of bee species that's important (and their numbers of course). In most cases where there are already many bees present, bringing in honey bees results in more bees, but much fewer species, which can even cause the collapse of an ecosystem. Especially seeing Dustups is a very fragile ecosystem, I would be VERY careful introducing honey bees to the point I'd probably advice against it unless you've researched it very carefully and have consulted a specialist familiar with the local ecosystem.
@@jimbaranski4687 Yes, but I think they are more expensive. I have them glazed in several colors. I have a navy blue one that gets much too hot. Lesson learned. You could set something in front of the pots to block the sun. Or maybe spray paint?
Make cloth pots or buy them and plant them directly in the ground when ready. Old socks actually work pretty well for this kind of thing. It allows for better aeration of the root system and you don't have this problem of baking the roots because of the aeration. As long as you use cotton or other biodegradeable fibers and it's not woven too tightly, it will basically just deteriorate away naturally. You can also cut a hole in the bottom before planting so you don't disturb root growth but it allows them to root directly into the ground from the pot. You also don't need to buy anything expensive, it can be made in house in any size, and even if you mess up making it 'look good' it will still function as a pot if you can put dirt into it.
RE: the drip irrigation. The hose you are using wont work with as low water pressure as you have there. They need at least 2Bar (30PSI) to work properly. What you need is drip TAPE. It works with pressures from 0,2 - 1,25 Bar (3-18PSI).
Shaun - anywhere you can put up a shade cloth to add a shady area for getting plants to get going? Shade will increase the time that it takes for moisture to evaporate, and lead to more plant growth. I know fencing is high on the priority list but I think that getting some work on “key line” trenching is equally high. “Key line trenching” (for those who don’t know) is like a swale but just a small narrow trench leading from a ravine out to the ridge line in a very slight decline. This directs water flow from the ravine out to the ridge line increasing the amount of water that can soak in and rehydrate the land. The seeds that are already there will start to sprout and grow. Additionally small rock dams or weirs could be built in the ravine at each “key line” trench to help slow and direct water into them. Meanders can be added to the ravines to force water to flow around them and encourage strategic erosion of the banks such that the water spends more time on the land and doesn’t run off in a straight line taking all the sediment with it.
@@dustupstexas It would be nice to see a camera setup to watch the rain over your property, one to see how it flows and fills the bathtubs, but to also just have a fun video for those of us that enjoy the days of growth after a desert rainfall. A good rainfall time lapse video would be epic. (also honey would be a MASSIVE food source for making a bioreactor to feed your soil. )
shaun i used to work bees commercially south of Tucson in conjunction with the USDA Tucson bee lab. The disposition of those bees you are filming is too hot. Their extreme defensiveness will only become noticeable once their hive is established. What you are seeing is the workers seeking a water source as surface water is too scarce at the moment. My suggestion is to audit the plants in the area and assess the times of year when a nectar flow is occurring(blooming flowers). That is how you evaluate the value of your land for honey production. Talk to a local commercial beekeeper to better understand local honey production. good luck.
Next time you transplant agaves, they should be a lot bigger! I cultivate A. americana on my farm in Northern Country, Victoria, Australia, and I have learned, by trial and error, that these kinds of tiny pups hardly ever survive! The offsets need to be at least 12 inches tall to survive and 2 to 3 feet tall to thrive and do well! Over 3 feet tall and they are a bit too big and heavy to handle, but the larger pups certainly do establish more quickly whereas the 12-inch pups will often just sit there for years before deciding to get bigger than 12 inches tall!
@@melissasueferrin3409 Agaves are actually regarded by a lot of folks here in Australia as a feral nuisance (invasive). They do great, as long as they are transplanted when over about 12 to 18 inches tall. I think they are great, they serve as mini water catchments and channel even small amounts of condensation to their roots, where it infiltrates into the soil. Even in a very dry year, there is usually some green growth at the base of each agave. I don't know why your tiny pups are doing so well. I have had some such plants survive transplantation at that size but after 5 years, they will only be about 6 inches tall, while their companions that were left to feed off the mother plant for an extra 12 to 18 months and get that 12-to-18-inch size happening before transplantation will be 3 to 4 feet tall, within the same timeframe. I hope this info helps someone out there. God Bless, I'm heading out to my farm now, to go plant some cacti!
@Wkwkwkland904 Hi there, I have a horse, sheep, chickens (13 big hens, 2 big roosters, and also 4 bantams and a bantam rooster, as well as dogs.) I also grow sorghum and although sorghum will survive (but only just) without irrigation in a semi-arid zone 9B climate, it doesn't do very well and makes very little grain, without irrigation. It would probably do well where you are, in a warm climate with abundant tropical Summer (Monsoon) rainfall but I wouldn't recommend it for an arid or semi-arid, winter rainfall climate such as my own, or what Shaun has at Dustups, at least not to begin with. I got some sorghum production this year because I installed irrigation partway through the Summer, but only a few cupfuls of grain for what was a lot of effort and expense. I will leave the roots in the ground (because our soil doesn't freeze, they are perennial here) and hopefully they will get an early start, next Spring. Shaun is on the right track with Tiago's methods. I am doing something similar here and where I have done this, I am getting green herbaceous growth surviving throughout the Summer, even in non-irrigated areas. These are weeds such as marshmallow, soursob and wild grasses such as crab grass, but it's all good. It is progress because before this, there was no Summer herbage, whatsoever! Perhaps next Summer I will plant some sorghum in these "weedy" areas, chop and drop and then plant sorghum seeds or seedlings, but we'll see. The main thing, with this sort of ecology, is to be patient. Establish cactus and succulent microclimates using tremendously hardy species such as agaves, prickly pears, yuccas, dracenea and ocotillo, move on to desert legumes such as mesquite (prosopis) and honey locust (gleditsia), and eventually, you will have your desert forest. Then, once he has some grass and herbage to feed them with, maybe Shaun could consider getting a few small livestock animals such as sheep, rabbits or chickens. But right now, he'd have nothing to feed them with and it would be disastrous! I wish you all the best, and good luck with your project in Indonesia!
To achieve a fine mulch, use a chipper/shredder. Smaller pieces of mulch have more surface area relative to their volume. This allows microbes and decomposers to access more of the material at once, accelerating the breakdown process. Finely ground mulch holds moisture better, creating a more hospitable environment for the microorganisms that aid in decomposition. Smaller pieces of mulch can settle more closely to the soil, which helps with nutrient exchange and speeds up the decomposition process.
Hey mate love you're work! You need to build fencing to keep the cows out from your seedlings. It is going to need to happen at some point. Pick your most fertile place, the most likely to have success in creating a desert forest. And fence off an acre or 2, it is very expensive but will be worth while in 5 to 10 years. Focus heavily on that 1 or 2 acres and the rest will grow. Good luck from Adelaide south Australia
I got small hoses fed by gravity running all year around. In my experience, 1:14 this small hill/berm(?) and the one below which the water needs to travel over might cause issues. Sediment and small particles will accumulate in the hose if the pressure is not strong enough to pull it over. I suggest digging small trenches for the hose through the berms and making sure the hose is as straight as possible. I'm not familiar with hose filters but perhaps installing the filter at the top of the hill rather than below the berms would remove that potential issue. Best of luck and greetings from Sweden.
This thing is a little bit of a shitshow unfortunately but nothing that can't be fixed. Removing the filter was a bad idea, even momentarily. The drip emitters use an orifice to "regulate" flow. Basically a precisely sized (and tiny) hole which for a given pressure will emit a specific quantity of water. These openings are typically less than a millimeter and obviously are very susceptible to clogging. It's not rare for them to clog with good municipal water with turbidity or high levels of dissolved solids, never-mind mystery well water. Ideally, it would be best to omit the filter, and instead place an inline filter feeding the tank since this system lacks sufficient pressurization and that even with almost static flow, might be enough to prevent the system from operating correctly. The lack of pressure is going to be a pain in the ass. It looks like he is working with a couple of meters of head at best, which is lower than the minimum operating pressure that most companies provide data for. This is low enough pressure that the inclusion of several series check valves could theoretically stop the flow of water. Going to need to do some practical tests and lots of revisions or install a hydropneumatic accumulator and booster pump to get the pressure up to something reasonable.
I'm wondering if it would help running a larger diameter hose down from the top. What's the friction loss like on this little stuff? The rule of thumb I used as a wildland firefighter is one foot of elevation can give you 1 psi of pressure but obviously fitting you add increases friction.
@@fronthole_guacamole I think the biggest problem is that the hose he is using is for high pressure drip irrigation. I run gravity feed drip irrigation on my garden, I have a 1000l cube around 1m off the ground and it goes directly into a soft foil flat type of drip tape. works like a charm. i'm sure you could fit a control valve right after the cube tank.
Shaun, I am doing the same in the Arctic. My solution is a used wood chipper, then adding fish meal, any dirt, to retain moisture, add water, and I planted kudzu finger cuts from roots I bought online, then soaked the kudzu for 2 days, planted them. The roots grow 3-4 feet after it draws nutrition from sand soil and fishmeal, the leaves generate nitrogen pearls that turn the sand to soil. After the roots are deep, the foliage will grow up to 2 feet per day and can grow 7-10 feet per week creating soil and biomass by the tons. My project is turning mountains to deep green purple foliage so I can plant forests where there was only granite gravel.
Re the water strategy. Trying to tow tons of water it to the top of a hill which isn’t high enough to provide enough pressure for the solenoid and drippers anyway is daft. All you need is a small pump - low flow, high pressure. Like an RV water pump, a shurflo or similar, with built in pressure switch. Run it off a solar and battery system, I know you have those already. Good progress though, great to see those seedlings!
Hey Shaun. You should do a colab with Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't. He would be very knowledgeable about local plants/trees that would do well for you. He resides in Texas now.
Bees... Okay, building and maintaining hives is work for another time perhaps, but PLEASE do everything possible to support the bees that visit your property. They would not be there if they weren't pollenating plants, and every living plant in that area is a treasure. A little sugar-water once in a while would be a great treat for them.
@@JosiahK555 Let's be serious. Bees are not out there just to be sucking up sugar water. They are pollinating plants and providing them with a little extra nourishment isn't going to turn an insect that will only survive for a week or two into a junkie. The bees will enjoy the drink, and the plants will appreciate their pollinators being happy.
No, he needs to continue doing what he's doing by establishing moisture capture and a variety of native plants. The bees he pointed out are the European honey bee, which is an invasive species in North America.
Just a thought- a vapor barrier would help retain moisture in that mulch. Poly VBL was a game changer for my composting efforts here in AK. The magic combo is a VBL on top of the pile, the EPS foam on top of that with a layer of compost on top of that to hold it all down. It runs at 150F all summer long with ambient temps in the 60's. You don't need the insulation, but the VBL traps the moisture and reduces evaporative heat loss. It's amazing even here. So throw some twigs in one of those pits, cover it with plastic and then weigh down the edges with gravel/sand. See if any water condenses in the morning... There is moisture everywhere, we just need to control it. You are on the right track with the biomass factory Syntropic.. Great to watch your progress, keep going!
Next step is to make dig a pit with berms, then lay mulch in the bottom shaped like a funnel, cover with plastic, cut a hole in the middle, plant something in the hole, cover with more mulch or gravel to weigh down the plastic. This will funnel rainfall into the mulch and condense any evaporating water vapor and it will drain back to the center, providing water to the plant.
No idea how the algorithms brought me to this channel but I'm enjoying it. I also live in a very dry place and have used plenty of small irrigation systems. Just a few tips... Dripping "buttons" come in various flow rates and pressure for optimal watering, they are "autocompensating" meaning that once at max. flow rate they leave the water for the rest. Garden water timers are cheap, work for a long time on a small battery and offer a good range of programmes. It looks as if the drop from the icb to the plants is more than enough 5m(16ft)should do it, equivalent to 0.5 kg/cm2. I always carry a roll of electrical tape, it will fix any hole just winding it from an inch each side. Hope some of this is useful. Keep well.
Shredded paper waste, especially cardboard, is an excellent soil amendment in a desert soil environment, and seriously helps retain moisture as well. I used to use it on our two acres in south east New Mexico, a climate and soil similar to yours. I gathered my own scrap cardboard from behind the strip mall. You can however usually purchase bales of this cardboard from a recycler if you have one near you. Its best to shred the cardboard at your site as you need it. Probably one of the cheapest ways to amend your soil with partially digested plant fiber (cardboard). I commend your efforts. Water well servicing companies have equipment to clean up the silt and increase your well capacity. You can actually do this yourself with hydro lance and a refuse pump to remove the muck as the lance chews trough it and loosens it up. Personally, I would hire it done by someone that knew what they were doing. You should be able to put in a DC submersible water pump that runs off solar and batteries as well. Hauling water for your little patch is ok however it will get old quick. Good luck and keep the great content coming.... Joe
Collect leaf litter from your community and surrounding area's. People might look at you weird but most likely you'll find a few volunteers, and you might not want bee's but try to entice the cows to come back to your ranch but border off area's you don't want them to graze.
Add the cow manure into the biochar liquid mix, leave it for 24 hours, let the nutrients and water get soaked into the porous biochar, and then add it into each hole. Plant the agaves in these holes. Good to see you adding the local sand into the mix, it allows native microbes and fungi to find a home in the biochar.
Another thing you could do to add pressure on your tank, is to get it as air tight as possible, put a Schrader air valve on it, and pump air into the tank. A simple 12 volt tire pump for a car tire would work great to add a couple PSI to the tank and help get your water to the emitters
@@Insert_Screename_Here if that tank is 1m sq that will be about 1550 inch sq 1psi is about the same as 700 kg on the tank its why square presure vessels dont work
Lessons learned the hard way: buy the highest quality poly you can since in the end it will last and last (most of our farm has 40 year old poly that is still working great. Poly is based on pressure rating and amount of carbon black in it, which gives it the UV resistance. Second NEVER BUY poly with a white or blue line on it, it has a weak point built in on that line which means it has less carbon black at that point. It will always crack along that line. Third always have a few packs of goof plugs extra. Good job, your learning the hard way.
On mulch, here's an unpopular suggestion... Cheatgrass. It will grow fast with one winter rain and the seed can persist until that rain. Then it will create a fine layer of biomass over the area. Seed is cheap, and can produce far more mulch than you can truck in.
If you get hit by Beryl, it would have paid to make a few ground level rain roofs and collect as much water as you can. You're about to get a couple years worth of water in 1 day - classic permaculture style!
@@ahowl7mx I don't disagree with you. Just saying that that is how he seems to respond when people mention it. I've repeatedly said he should be catching rain off of the oilfield doghouses he has on site (they've been there for like a year maybe?). That is ~500 sq ft roof catchment that he could be using to harvest some rain water. His response was something like "I have other more important things to worry about" 🤷♂️🤷♀️🤷
You most likely already know this.. for water pressure you need elevation or "head pressure". Head pressure is about .433-.437 psi for every foot in elevation of your water source. A very rough way to estimate is ½ psi for every 1'; for example if you have a water tank which is 10' tall and is on a 30' mound above the discharge you would have roughly 20 psi with a full tank. As the water level drops, so does the psi. I would love to see an old Aeromotor windmill pump your water!
What about getting some unpitted dates, sprouting the pits, and planting a ton of date palms? You could do this or desert fan palms. Definitely beneficial for soil and shade.
I would like to do this one day. But I tell you I have learned so many things from starting a garden/ potted orchard in my backyard that I see you struggle with. However you are learning but at a slower pace as you don’t live on site. There will come a time when you will start to make massive progress so keep at it. I do recommend you start a garden where you live with the intent to replicate on your land this way you learn faster. Best of luck man.
I have a little experience in irrigation. Those drippers are probably going to need somewhat over 10 psi to do their job. A pressure gauge at the the beginning and end of the run would tell you a lot. Covering that run with plastic until you get germination would save you a ton of water too.
Always had the worst problems when i didn't bury my black water lines. At least once a month I'd have to hunt down a leak, usually caused by some animal biting into it.
We actually just bought 40 acres out near where you are planting and would love to help out if we can in some way. Also, are working on bringing vegetation to area. Yeah we may only have 40 acres now, but I think could be a great resource to the area for fruits, veggies and hopefully honey as well. Always open to suggestions and guidance.
I'm 100% sure that ONE of the issues with the pressure is that the water tank is nearly empty. The height of the TOP of the water is what creates the pressure. It's like when you have a water cooler, it comes out fast at first, but comes out slower as it gets lower.
The hose he is using for this application is wrong. He need drip tape not a drip hose for the irrigation part of the system. Hose need at least 2 Bar of pressure to work, tape need 0,2 bar to work. I water my garden that way and my source is a 1000l box tank thats a meter off the ground. Works like a charm. Just my 2 cents
As someone that has been using drip irrigation in my terrain using gravity for 10 years, I have to say this is my most capricious and expensive mistress
I think the length of the irrigation run may be too long. There is not enough head pressure to push the water laterally (and out the drips) once it gets down the hill. You could split the system into several smaller systems with multiple reservoirs. You might also consider eliminating the 90 degree turns and instead gently curve the pipe into the culvert. Stakes and zip ties.
The hose he is using for this application is wrong. He need drip tape not a drip hose for the irrigation part of the system. Hose need at least 2 Bar of pressure to work, tape need 0,2 bar to work. I water my garden that way and my source is a 1000l box tank thats a meter off the ground. Works like a charm.
@ChrisWijtmans Calculate the pressure loss through the line of pipe. Gravity will move water through a 3/4" pipe at approximately 600GPH. The pressure loss at 200ft (24.5psi) is greater than the hydrolic head. As you mention, lack of pressure will also result in air lock. So it's not the hydrolic head itself - it's the hydrolic head combined with pressure loss through the line. Google: Pipeline Pressure Loss Calculator
Great job! I live in the high desert and run off a spring, with the storage tank (2K gal) I've used the regular 1/2 drip feed line for years. It worked well for years until salts finally killed all the emitters as it clogged them all up. This year I switched to Toro 1/2" emitter tape it comes with drip every 6", 8" or 10" drip spacing. This stuff is lite and easy to use, it has been working great for the last 6mos. No more in emitters to fool with Plus place the Drip tape with the holes pointer to the ground. Big plus the tape can be buried after you test and proof your system is functioning properly. My ranch runs on gravity with 10psi at the feed level. If I need more pressure I have a 12v shurflo pump with a bypass for the few times I need more flow, it's rarely used as the tape works well at this level. I limit the flow to 150' of drip tape per leg and battery operated Orbit valves. Amazon -- Toro Aqua-Traxx - 5/8" Drip Tape, 8 mil, 8", 0.34 GPM/100', 2, 000' for $160. A bag of ends and a bag of front end connectors then attach to the standard 1/2" feed line your using to supply the water from the tank. No more kinks and if buried fewer critter damage as the need to dig it up to chew in it. Keep up the good work!
Brad Lancaster would be a great person to consult on your project as well. He lives in the Sonoran desert and is an expert in both cultivating water in desert regions, but also growing desert plants in an area of limited resources.
I was just in that desert for the first time last week (July). Damn, it's hot there. But surprisingly lush for such a hot desert. 2 rainy seasons helps.
@@cacogenicist it is surprisingly lush! The Mayor here in Tucson started an initiative to plant more trees along the roadsides to combat the heat created by the asphault and concrete. In the more lush neighborhoods, you can expect a 10-20 degree temperature difference due to the increased foliage. I was surprised that this guy isn’t using mesquite and palo verde trees, they grow so well in arid conditions and would provide lots of shade for his project. Where did you visit? It’s been a wet monsoon this year, we are grateful for all the rain this year. We hit a few high temps this summer, but only a few here and there days did we reach over 112f. Last year we had up to two week consecutive days of above 110f. This summer is a breeze compared to last year!
You're using the cheapest shit available; what do you expect. There's places to save money and places to spend money: your actual water lines should not be able to be chewed through by bugs, and that auto valve is the cheapest piece of shit I've ever seen. That's what a hundred bucks of "engineering" gets you.
Completely cover that irrigation tubing or you will burn the young roots with scalding hot water. Plus you really want every drop to count. Watch Brad Lancaster Videos. It will save you from waisting time and energy. You are going to need those if you happen to succeed.
You can dramatically increase your pressure by having a much larger feed pipe from your water storage on the hill to your regulator. Having like a 3-4 inch pvc running down the hill will will hold a lot more water and the added weight will bring the pressure up. It may also be worth burying it in the ground to protect it from the elements.
why aren't you digging more berms and swales for drainage and water storage? i feel like you're moving quite slow even with all this effort. you are about to enter the rainy season and have nothing ready for water collection and storage.
@@jameschristophercirujano6650I think the rock dams all pretty much washed out because, like everything else on this channel, they were built improperly and without the basic understanding necessary to make them work. Also, building two large earthen dams is hardly a drop in the bucket over 320 acres. We still haven't seen if the dams will even work. Erosion and failure are a risk, especially is they weren't built/located properly, which I think is likely given the pattern around here
@@b4k4survivor I don't think they get enough rain to get them all washed, what would likely happen is that backfill from the sediment would create terraces, which was the ultimate goal of the project. The gabion dam, if the area had enough substantial rain, it probably got wrecked again though. The topography of his land iirc doesn't really need a ton of dams, but I think he probably can make another one near the central wash, or maybe just a hole near the central wash, that he can get some of the water flowing through there. Then again, he's not exactly swimming in money... yet? Maybe once he gets big enough, UA-cam money can finally let him do insane projects, lol. I do think however; that enough time has passed that we need to see what has happened to the rock dams, and an update of all the projects that we've seen in the past.
@@jameschristophercirujano6650 it's a common mistake that people love to build big structures because it is showy and feels like a heroic effort. Instead, it's way more effective to install hundreds of small rock dams at various points throughout the ranch, particularly at straight and less sloped areas of the washes. No more than one rock high, several rocks wide, the most downstream course is literally dug into and set into grade, the other rocks above are laid into a pattern that locks them into that lower course. They will naturally trap sediment, moisture, and grasses will grow in the cracks and lock the structure together. Once that happens, you literally build another course on top of it just one rock high, again locked into the grade. I will provide links when I'm at my computer because every time I say this, people insist one rock isn't high enough and want to build giant dams that ultimately fail and erode the site even worse
@@b4k4survivor Only really said it coz he has equipment now, whereas he would spend a boatload of time making small rock dams, when he can just make a big one.
Bees are under threat world wide at the moment, bee keeping is a must to keep the population alive, especially honey needs. It is like gardening, why grow plants you can't eat?
@@biker_dan every plant has a purpose, for instance strong scented plants like Lavender, keep bee's happy AND pests away. Woody plants like trees, grow HUGE amounts of biomass, thought it takes ages for it to break down, something like bamboo, can be turned into useful biomass faster and with a MUCH more human lifetime centered time frame, but still, the point stands, every single part of the ecosystem has a useful role, when used synergistically. Growing Bamboo, would be an ideal source of woody biomass for fungi and the like, in a desert biome especially in the initial phases once you can handle its needs, to increase moisture retention in the soil. (assuming large scale forestation attempts in a desert, and not just hobby level.)
@Shaun Overton. Thanks for the shout-out. It's been a blast. Hopefully, I will be back sooner rather than later. I will still be reading all your emails and watching the videos from NC.
Typical drip irrigation needs about 25 psi. There are low-pressure emitters that only need 5 or 8 psi. They are typically used with rain barrels. I'm enjoying your journey... missteps and all, and am impressed with your perseverance.
You are amazing, sir. :-) Big tip: you can ferment green material into powerful fertilizer. ANY green material. And its tailor made for the desert. Get 50+ gallon drums with screw top heads. Put a pinhole vent in the lid, and tape over it with vinyl tape ( pressure release ). Now, put water into it 1/4 of the volume. Then, start packing in the green material. Fill it to 90%, making sure to keep everything submerged. Then seal it, and wait. Make sure its in shade, btw. Or, you can 3/4 bury them and shade them to get better results. David the Good calls it "swamp water". Its full of N2 and nutrients! Literally any green material will do. Its the green side of your carbon heavy, brown method. I would just add it to the irrigation water after straining. You can use it after 30 days, but longer is better. If it stinks BAD, its ready :-)
I had the same problems with my gravity feed system. The problems I had were as follows 1. The emitters require a head of pressure to work, solution was to ensure the bottom of the tank was at the minimum emitters working pressure height plus 1 metre. 2. The timers you are using need to be gravity friendly, that is they must have a ball valve full flow, if you can not see through the valve when open it is not suitable.
Trinity Vandenacre just dropped a new video today about myths we're taught about nature. in it he discusses the benefits of cattle on the land and how they help rebuild the soil. you're already ahead simply using the cow manure. keep at it. in fact you might be better off in some respects. Granted, Trinity is in Montana, but most people don't know that Montana also has a lot of deserts. another channel i highly recommend is David the Good. he's the reason i mentioned mulch in my last comment on your video. made me laugh about carefully positioning sticks..... that's something i have been doing for about six years on my barren field. and it was extra relevant because in Trinity's last video they ALSO talk about the cons of efficiency. For example, using a sprinkler system seems efficient, except most of the water is evaporated before it hits the soil. and the water that does hit the soil doesn't have time to seep into it for more than an inch..maybe less depending on the organic material. again, you're already ahead in that area. i'm just trying to say... i have spent a LOOOOOOT of time raking twigs, repositioning logs, and hauling cow manure, horse manure, sheep, rabbit (i have it all...) into areas that need it. all in an effort to slow down the washouts we get during our own monsoon seasons. It's not so bad if there is grass! but if there isn't.... that rain will create a three foot ditch in no time. i have destroyed two wheelbarrows in this endeavor. and i will likely destroy another one (right now i have to resort to buckets until i get a little extra money for a new one.) BUT my cows are helpful in that too. i started rotational grazing (like Greg Judy teaches) wherever the cows hang out the most there is a nice new layer of perfectly beautiful organic matter by the time i move them. but... i have a different environment than you. June was pretty dry, all the grass turned crispy and brown and stopped growing. but once the rain came back the grass is super charged and growing at sonic speed. my local farm friends laugh at me because i also catch and release dung beetles onto my farm. i'm fanatical about those little guys to the point that i check my water troubles every morning to save any that flew into them overnight. but when you see how well they spread that manure it's like having extra helpers. i would also like to encourage you to avoid bees for the time being. they drink a lot... a LOT. i know this because i also keep bees. but water is no issue for me since 17 acres of my land is swamp. I saw someone mention native bees. i dont know about the ones in texas but native bees where i'm from have a specific season and specific requirements. like 70% burrow into the ground. the rest will live in bee houses. it may be a seasonal thing where you are as well. BUT i do know the more mulchy organic material and wild brushy spots you have the better for the local bees. That's another thing i'm fanatical about. i love my honey bees but i also love my native bees. My fences and buildings are covered in Virginia Creeper, which they love. Maybe get a few rabbits instead................in the future!! not right now. their manure isn't hot like horse or cow. you can use it immediately. it won't burn the plants. or maybe find some local people with rabbits who won't mind donating it. sheep and goat is the same... won't burn the plants. Compost tea is another awesome thing to add. smells terrible but the plants love it. any organic matter will work. maybe start a comfrey patch at home. it's super charged mulch material and grows pretty fast. sorry about the long comment. i know you have thousands of people throwing information at you. you're doing a great thing, i wish others would start working on their own property as well.
Well done and I'm shocked you paid for a DIY irrigation plan, most suppliers should offer that for free. Part of the plan should have included techniques of handling the poly pipe, sun makes it soft and use a cutter/hand pruning scissors instead of a knife to cut the pipe. Gravity supply jobs should have an over-sized supply pipe and only go downhill no uphill sections, can cause siphon lock and increases friction dramatically..
Sigh, you are so jumpijng the gun on this. Why don't you try and maintain an area of land about 10' wide and 250' long by keeping it's moisture content stable at about 40% for a month first? Hell, you're getting more shrubs randomly growing out in the areas you haven't even touched than you are in the areas you're working on. You should be implementing those plans you made to retain as much water as you can. "rainy season" is about to start.
First thing you learn to be a garder is how to make compost. Looks like you have no experiance at all. Maybe that's also the charm of this channel. Just build a garden. You just have a soil type that is not common, that's all. I also need to protect my plants from wind and the sun and all other things. That's just things you learn being a gardner, Nothing special.
I'd be more concerned about the quality of your materials than the plan you paid for being the problem. I've run drip irrigation for years and never had tubing spring a bunch of random holes like that even when dragging them through thorny brush. Hose kinks usually will work out after sitting in the sun for awhile if you just squeeze them with pliers the opposite way of the kink.
Also in a desert wouldn't it be smarter to bury the drip pipes slightly under the soil. You wouldn't have as many animals trying to bite at it and you would lose a lot less water to precipitation
@@dustupstexashow well will your unclogged emitters work if the supply lines are leaking from holes bit in them by local fauna???? That's right. They won't work at all but you just dismiss practical real world advice because in your head, emitters are sure to get clogged... Just so many embedded assumptions lead you to wrong conclusions every time! Normally, people will bury the main supply trunk and then the emitters attach to that truck and daylight out of the ground right where they are meant to drip. There is so much about the things you say that shows you don't understand even the most basic aspects of all of this. Dude, sit and watch some freaking DIY drip irrigation videos and learn something. You might think muddling around is great for engagement, but people are going to get tired of watching you plunge head first into stuff without looking where you intend to leap. Some people like watching you struggle and learn the hard way. I sure don't
It’s good to see that you’ve come to the point where you’ve realized you wasted a lot of time. You should’ve started smaller; creating berns & swales close to where your house is/will be or where you plan on doing your agriculture. Tiny Shiny Home did a perfect video for this - ua-cam.com/video/Z_pZSMs8vjs/v-deo.htmlsi=SI2uFxEm99Q-BB13
3:21 learn from the masters that invented the dripping process, Netafim. Yes, the water should be filtered or at least decanted. The filtration is easily done by layering sedimentary rocks, medium and small gravel, it only cost your arm energy to pile it and let gravity do the job. The real trick is the differential diameter of the tubes and the drippers. You want the initial diameter to be as large as possible in order to have a good column pressure. Again, check out Netafim, there are LOTS of information online.
Here in Costa Rica it’s common using this type of systems connected to rain recovery… and most of the times you’ll see the pipes have leaks fixed with rubber strips from bike tires, you just cut a piece and tie it around
@dustupstexas using a chain to pull a truck is incredibly dangerous, if it snaps then it will sling back and kill you. please consider using straps and also pulling with the side of the dozer with a metal cage. just want you to live brother!
Also please remember that HONEY BEES are NOT native to America. if you wanna help any bees, try helping the native bees. Native bees are gonna help you build a desert forest, not Honey bees. Native bees are required for pollinating native plants (native plants are gonna be your best friend in rewilding your land
I don't think he is doing anything with the bees one way or another. He is just offering to let someone beekeep if they want, but I don't think that applies to native bees.
There needs to be significant daily fog for fog nets to be even remotely useful. I think the consensus from other commenters and from looking at other projects is that he most needs windbreaks (that could also provide shade), fencing (to prevent the nearby cattle from eating seedlings), and sand dams in the arroyos (to collect groundwater and build up silt--Shaun has mentioned this repeatedly but hasn't pulled the trigger yet).
You don't need to start bee keeping there's already plenty of bees. What you should do is just pop in tank of water, doesn't have to be huge but with an open top. Fill it with wine corks or other floating balls etc. to limit evaporation and also give the bees somewhere to stand and not drown. Bees will always go to the closest reliable water source. They will make great pollinators for your plants, plus this might keep them off your work area as they have a more reliable water source.
I keep bees and having someone keep bees on the ranch is a better idea than doing it yourself. the time involved plus the cash outlay can be pretty hefty. I have a feeling that needing to visit hives atleast once a week during production times and especially at swarming time is going to be a problem on Dustups because you are so far out of the way. That said commercial bees are also going to place quite a heavy drain of resources on the environment too. Honestly I wouldnt want to put more bees out there to compete with the wild populations. It could be disastrous for them. I am glad you got the drip irrigation working thats a really positive step and greenery is awesome well done. Thanks for sharing, I follow with interest.
19:12 whatchoo talkin bout willis? theres no impetus to watch this channel at all if you dont document your success failures precipitation etc ... hurricanes for example would drive engagement, but surely you dont think youtube viewers are interested in what amounts to a paywall
@dustupstexas A random, but maybe useful information for you: As far as i understand it, your goal is to keep as much water from evaporating. Just about 2 months ago science discovered a new, very groundbreaking mechanism "why liquids evaporate". For our needs we do not need to understand the mechanism exactly. MIT discovered that LIGHT has 5 x more impact than HEAT on evaporation (!) Everyone knows: "In the dessert water will evaporate fast." But it is mostly because of light, not because of heat. Which means: Water will evaporate faster in a cold but bright area, than a hot but dark area. You can't cool down the dessert. But you can provide shade. Maybe focus more on providing shade than before. More information: ua-cam.com/video/17Y82tJDk2o/v-deo.html
Shaun, your irrigation wont work effectively the way you have it set up. You need to run very thick pipes directly from your container down the hill and where your levels are where you want your drip to work is where you use the thinner pipe. The weight of the water in the thick pipe will deliver alot more volumn of water to the lower thinner pipes. I hope you read this cause it will solve your issue. Ive been in irrigation for over 30 years and unfortunately, the way you have it wont work very well. Good luck my man.
Anyone else get the hereby-jeeby’s watching him tow the truck up the hill with a chain and no arrestor or snap safety? That thing can take your head off.
@@HPDrifter2if they do, run a very narrow pick ditch with a cheap plastic liner, fill with rock, poke holes every 12", and flood from the ICB instead.
I kid you not, I thought you were talking about human traffickers... 😂 As they're called "Coyotes" as well in Mexico. And I was like "Why would a Coyote go out of his path just to break an irrigation system? Do they hate agriculture?" Didn't realize you were referring to wild life Coyotes.
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Your editor has gotten pretty darn good
Do the bee keeping sell the honey as merch and you can use the cash for whatever you think will expedite your process of turning this land into a beautiful forest
i would buy your dustups honey
Get all manner of biological material that you can as close as you can. And pile it up all over that place.
Cities, individuals, in the surrounding areas, in your neighborhood. Coffee grounds from coffee joints around your area. Scraps of food from grocery stores and restaurants. Haul it every time you go out. Dump truck loads from everywhere.
About the honey: I'm not sure about your area, but please look into competition between native (solitairy) bees and honey bees. Depending on your local species, honey bees are known to in some cases outcompete local solitairy species that have specialised in plant species, causing a lot of biodiversity problems (plants not being pollinated well because honey bees can't do it very efficiently etc). (For credentials: I have a MSc in Biology)
upvote if true^
It is true.
Honey should not be a priority the more Honey the bee's have the more bee's you will have
There are many species of bee. Most make no, or no harvestable, honey. However, to ecology, it is exactly the diversity of bee species that's important (and their numbers of course). In most cases where there are already many bees present, bringing in honey bees results in more bees, but much fewer species, which can even cause the collapse of an ecosystem. Especially seeing Dustups is a very fragile ecosystem, I would be VERY careful introducing honey bees to the point I'd probably advice against it unless you've researched it very carefully and have consulted a specialist familiar with the local ecosystem.
I’m glad you established credibility. I wholeheartedly agree with your statement. Please consider the native species!
Your pots are black, even with water the roots can bake. Give them shade from the afternoon sun and your transplants will have better success.
We put the pots in an area where they will only get morning and late evening sun to prevent that.
Can you get white pots?
@@jimbaranski4687, paint them if you need to.
@@jimbaranski4687 Yes, but I think they are more expensive. I have them glazed in several colors. I have a navy blue one that gets much too hot. Lesson learned. You could set something in front of the pots to block the sun. Or maybe spray paint?
Make cloth pots or buy them and plant them directly in the ground when ready. Old socks actually work pretty well for this kind of thing. It allows for better aeration of the root system and you don't have this problem of baking the roots because of the aeration. As long as you use cotton or other biodegradeable fibers and it's not woven too tightly, it will basically just deteriorate away naturally. You can also cut a hole in the bottom before planting so you don't disturb root growth but it allows them to root directly into the ground from the pot. You also don't need to buy anything expensive, it can be made in house in any size, and even if you mess up making it 'look good' it will still function as a pot if you can put dirt into it.
Why not just keep a small plate for bees? Giving water is charity. Just give them water and they will always be nearby for future.
RE: the drip irrigation.
The hose you are using wont work with as low water pressure as you have there. They need at least 2Bar (30PSI) to work properly. What you need is drip TAPE. It works with pressures from 0,2 - 1,25 Bar (3-18PSI).
To get 30 psi at the lowest point in the drip system the water tote needs to be 70 feet higher. Drip tape is what is necessary.
Just a suggestion. Every trip to the ranch could include 4 square bales in that pickup to be used as mulch. Neat project 🍿
We pick up mulch on most trips to El Paso
100%
@@dustupstexas first a layer of mulch than a layer of hay will greatly reduce the ground temperature.
Shaun - anywhere you can put up a shade cloth to add a shady area for getting plants to get going? Shade will increase the time that it takes for moisture to evaporate, and lead to more plant growth.
I know fencing is high on the priority list but I think that getting some work on “key line” trenching is equally high.
“Key line trenching” (for those who don’t know) is like a swale but just a small narrow trench leading from a ravine out to the ridge line in a very slight decline. This directs water flow from the ravine out to the ridge line increasing the amount of water that can soak in and rehydrate the land.
The seeds that are already there will start to sprout and grow.
Additionally small rock dams or weirs could be built in the ravine at each “key line” trench to help slow and direct water into them.
Meanders can be added to the ravines to force water to flow around them and encourage strategic erosion of the banks such that the water spends more time on the land and doesn’t run off in a straight line taking all the sediment with it.
A milestone for me would be seeing an video with actual rainfall.
I wish I could make it rain, but it's a desert for a reason
@@dustupstexas I love your answer! 🙂Greetings from Germany!
That will be soon!
@@dustupstexas It would be nice to see a camera setup to watch the rain over your property, one to see how it flows and fills the bathtubs, but to also just have a fun video for those of us that enjoy the days of growth after a desert rainfall.
A good rainfall time lapse video would be epic.
(also honey would be a MASSIVE food source for making a bioreactor to feed your soil. )
The more plants the more rain. Plants can seed the air
shaun i used to work bees commercially south of Tucson in conjunction with the USDA Tucson bee lab. The disposition of those bees you are filming is too hot. Their extreme defensiveness will only become noticeable once their hive is established. What you are seeing is the workers seeking a water source as surface water is too scarce at the moment. My suggestion is to audit the plants in the area and assess the times of year when a nectar flow is occurring(blooming flowers). That is how you evaluate the value of your land for honey production. Talk to a local commercial beekeeper to better understand local honey production. good luck.
Next time you transplant agaves, they should be a lot bigger! I cultivate A. americana on my farm in Northern Country, Victoria, Australia, and I have learned, by trial and error, that these kinds of tiny pups hardly ever survive! The offsets need to be at least 12 inches tall to survive and 2 to 3 feet tall to thrive and do well! Over 3 feet tall and they are a bit too big and heavy to handle, but the larger pups certainly do establish more quickly whereas the 12-inch pups will often just sit there for years before deciding to get bigger than 12 inches tall!
We raise agaves in Mexico, we transplant at about 5 cm size! They do fine. Maybe you have more difficulty as they are not native to Australia.
I hope this thread gets more active
@@melissasueferrin3409 Agaves are actually regarded by a lot of folks here in Australia as a feral nuisance (invasive). They do great, as long as they are transplanted when over about 12 to 18 inches tall. I think they are great, they serve as mini water catchments and channel even small amounts of condensation to their roots, where it infiltrates into the soil. Even in a very dry year, there is usually some green growth at the base of each agave.
I don't know why your tiny pups are doing so well. I have had some such plants survive transplantation at that size but after 5 years, they will only be about 6 inches tall, while their companions that were left to feed off the mother plant for an extra 12 to 18 months and get that 12-to-18-inch size happening before transplantation will be 3 to 4 feet tall, within the same timeframe.
I hope this info helps someone out there. God Bless, I'm heading out to my farm now, to go plant some cacti!
@Wkwkwkland904 I think chicken would be pretty dangerous to any seeds and any fresh sprouts, so maybe a bit too early for them ^^
@Wkwkwkland904 Hi there, I have a horse, sheep, chickens (13 big hens, 2 big roosters, and also 4 bantams and a bantam rooster, as well as dogs.)
I also grow sorghum and although sorghum will survive (but only just) without irrigation in a semi-arid zone 9B climate, it doesn't do very well and makes very little grain, without irrigation. It would probably do well where you are, in a warm climate with abundant tropical Summer (Monsoon) rainfall but I wouldn't recommend it for an arid or semi-arid, winter rainfall climate such as my own, or what Shaun has at Dustups, at least not to begin with. I got some sorghum production this year because I installed irrigation partway through the Summer, but only a few cupfuls of grain for what was a lot of effort and expense. I will leave the roots in the ground (because our soil doesn't freeze, they are perennial here) and hopefully they will get an early start, next Spring.
Shaun is on the right track with Tiago's methods. I am doing something similar here and where I have done this, I am getting green herbaceous growth surviving throughout the Summer, even in non-irrigated areas. These are weeds such as marshmallow, soursob and wild grasses such as crab grass, but it's all good. It is progress because before this, there was no Summer herbage, whatsoever!
Perhaps next Summer I will plant some sorghum in these "weedy" areas, chop and drop and then plant sorghum seeds or seedlings, but we'll see.
The main thing, with this sort of ecology, is to be patient. Establish cactus and succulent microclimates using tremendously hardy species such as agaves, prickly pears, yuccas, dracenea and ocotillo, move on to desert legumes such as mesquite (prosopis) and honey locust (gleditsia), and eventually, you will have your desert forest.
Then, once he has some grass and herbage to feed them with, maybe Shaun could consider getting a few small livestock animals such as sheep, rabbits or chickens. But right now, he'd have nothing to feed them with and it would be disastrous!
I wish you all the best, and good luck with your project in Indonesia!
To achieve a fine mulch, use a chipper/shredder.
Smaller pieces of mulch have more surface area relative to their volume. This allows microbes and decomposers to access more of the material at once, accelerating the breakdown process.
Finely ground mulch holds moisture better, creating a more hospitable environment for the microorganisms that aid in decomposition.
Smaller pieces of mulch can settle more closely to the soil, which helps with nutrient exchange and speeds up the decomposition process.
and throw some local dirt into the mix to provide nutrients and bacteria into the process. Just an idea.
I think in a previous video they explained that larger course mulch is a safer option in deserts because of seasonal flooding and winds.
So happy João was able to come and help, this is great!
Hey mate love you're work! You need to build fencing to keep the cows out from your seedlings. It is going to need to happen at some point. Pick your most fertile place, the most likely to have success in creating a desert forest. And fence off an acre or 2, it is very expensive but will be worth while in 5 to 10 years. Focus heavily on that 1 or 2 acres and the rest will grow. Good luck from Adelaide south Australia
Fencing is next
It's not too crazy expensive if you do the work yourself. Buy a gas powered T-post driver and start pounding.
Greetings from Scotland where rainwater is never a shortage! lol 🏴 Love following your journey!
I'm in Michigan. Rained like the devil a week ago, weirdest thunder I've ever heard.
I got small hoses fed by gravity running all year around. In my experience, 1:14 this small hill/berm(?) and the one below which the water needs to travel over might cause issues. Sediment and small particles will accumulate in the hose if the pressure is not strong enough to pull it over. I suggest digging small trenches for the hose through the berms and making sure the hose is as straight as possible.
I'm not familiar with hose filters but perhaps installing the filter at the top of the hill rather than below the berms would remove that potential issue.
Best of luck and greetings from Sweden.
This thing is a little bit of a shitshow unfortunately but nothing that can't be fixed.
Removing the filter was a bad idea, even momentarily. The drip emitters use an orifice to "regulate" flow. Basically a precisely sized (and tiny) hole which for a given pressure will emit a specific quantity of water. These openings are typically less than a millimeter and obviously are very susceptible to clogging. It's not rare for them to clog with good municipal water with turbidity or high levels of dissolved solids, never-mind mystery well water. Ideally, it would be best to omit the filter, and instead place an inline filter feeding the tank since this system lacks sufficient pressurization and that even with almost static flow, might be enough to prevent the system from operating correctly.
The lack of pressure is going to be a pain in the ass. It looks like he is working with a couple of meters of head at best, which is lower than the minimum operating pressure that most companies provide data for. This is low enough pressure that the inclusion of several series check valves could theoretically stop the flow of water. Going to need to do some practical tests and lots of revisions or install a hydropneumatic accumulator and booster pump to get the pressure up to something reasonable.
I'm wondering if it would help running a larger diameter hose down from the top. What's the friction loss like on this little stuff? The rule of thumb I used as a wildland firefighter is one foot of elevation can give you 1 psi of pressure but obviously fitting you add increases friction.
@@fronthole_guacamole and I agree with your first sentence.
@@fronthole_guacamole I think the biggest problem is that the hose he is using is for high pressure drip irrigation. I run gravity feed drip irrigation on my garden, I have a 1000l cube around 1m off the ground and it goes directly into a soft foil flat type of drip tape. works like a charm. i'm sure you could fit a control valve right after the cube tank.
Shaun, I am doing the same in the Arctic. My solution is a used wood chipper, then adding fish meal, any dirt, to retain moisture, add water, and I planted kudzu finger cuts from roots I bought online, then soaked the kudzu for 2 days, planted them. The roots grow 3-4 feet after it draws nutrition from sand soil and fishmeal, the leaves generate nitrogen pearls that turn the sand to soil. After the roots are deep, the foliage will grow up to 2 feet per day and can grow 7-10 feet per week creating soil and biomass by the tons. My project is turning mountains to deep green purple foliage so I can plant forests where there was only granite gravel.
Re the water strategy. Trying to tow tons of water it to the top of a hill which isn’t high enough to provide enough pressure for the solenoid and drippers anyway is daft. All you need is a small pump - low flow, high pressure. Like an RV water pump, a shurflo or similar, with built in pressure switch. Run it off a solar and battery system, I know you have those already.
Good progress though, great to see those seedlings!
Hey Shaun. You should do a colab with Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't. He would be very knowledgeable about local plants/trees that would do well for you. He resides in Texas now.
Would love to see that
CPBBD has already expressed his opinion on Dustups a few times...don't think he'd be interested
@@nickjohnson2367 What did he say?
@@seangray5897if you’ve ever seen his videos you’d know
Bees will totally help you create a forest. More Pollinators more native seeds will grow.
Bees... Okay, building and maintaining hives is work for another time perhaps, but PLEASE do everything possible to support the bees that visit your property. They would not be there if they weren't pollenating plants, and every living plant in that area is a treasure. A little sugar-water once in a while would be a great treat for them.
I would counter that buy saying do not let the bees become dependent on artificial inputs, rather promote the natural habits and plants in the area.
@@JosiahK555 Let's be serious. Bees are not out there just to be sucking up sugar water. They are pollinating plants and providing them with a little extra nourishment isn't going to turn an insect that will only survive for a week or two into a junkie. The bees will enjoy the drink, and the plants will appreciate their pollinators being happy.
A couple of Bee hotels may bee helpful and cause them to stay in the place.
No, he needs to continue doing what he's doing by establishing moisture capture and a variety of native plants. The bees he pointed out are the European honey bee, which is an invasive species in North America.
They seem to be fine as it is already.
Just a thought- a vapor barrier would help retain moisture in that mulch. Poly VBL was a game changer for my composting efforts here in AK. The magic combo is a VBL on top of the pile, the EPS foam on top of that with a layer of compost on top of that to hold it all down. It runs at 150F all summer long with ambient temps in the 60's. You don't need the insulation, but the VBL traps the moisture and reduces evaporative heat loss. It's amazing even here. So throw some twigs in one of those pits, cover it with plastic and then weigh down the edges with gravel/sand. See if any water condenses in the morning... There is moisture everywhere, we just need to control it. You are on the right track with the biomass factory Syntropic.. Great to watch your progress, keep going!
This is one of my favorite shows to watch. It’s amazing watching your growth as a person with a vision.
As a suggestion. Put some water sources around your property. It will help animals to live.
Next step is to make dig a pit with berms, then lay mulch in the bottom shaped like a funnel, cover with plastic, cut a hole in the middle, plant something in the hole, cover with more mulch or gravel to weigh down the plastic. This will funnel rainfall into the mulch and condense any evaporating water vapor and it will drain back to the center, providing water to the plant.
No idea how the algorithms brought me to this channel but I'm enjoying it.
I also live in a very dry place and have used plenty of small irrigation systems.
Just a few tips...
Dripping "buttons" come in various flow rates and pressure for optimal watering, they are "autocompensating" meaning that once at max. flow rate they leave the water for the rest.
Garden water timers are cheap, work for a long time on a small battery and offer a good range of programmes.
It looks as if the drop from the icb to the plants is more than enough 5m(16ft)should do it, equivalent to 0.5 kg/cm2.
I always carry a roll of electrical tape, it will fix any hole just winding it from an inch each side.
Hope some of this is useful.
Keep well.
Shredded paper waste, especially cardboard, is an excellent soil amendment in a desert soil environment, and seriously helps retain moisture as well. I used to use it on our two acres in south east New Mexico, a climate and soil similar to yours. I gathered my own scrap cardboard from behind the strip mall. You can however usually purchase bales of this cardboard from a recycler if you have one near you. Its best to shred the cardboard at your site as you need it. Probably one of the cheapest ways to amend your soil with partially digested plant fiber (cardboard). I commend your efforts. Water well servicing companies have equipment to clean up the silt and increase your well capacity. You can actually do this yourself with hydro lance and a refuse pump to remove the muck as the lance chews trough it and loosens it up. Personally, I would hire it done by someone that knew what they were doing. You should be able to put in a DC submersible water pump that runs off solar and batteries as well. Hauling water for your little patch is ok however it will get old quick. Good luck and keep the great content coming.... Joe
how do you shred cardboard?
Collect leaf litter from your community and surrounding area's. People might look at you weird but most likely you'll find a few volunteers, and you might not want bee's but try to entice the cows to come back to your ranch but border off area's you don't want them to graze.
The surrounding area doesn't have leaf litter, that's why he's trying to grow a factory biomass. That's the whole point
Definitely get the bees. Plant a few flowers, overtime when you visit the ranch collect some honey for your kids
Add the cow manure into the biochar liquid mix, leave it for 24 hours, let the nutrients and water get soaked into the porous biochar, and then add it into each hole. Plant the agaves in these holes. Good to see you adding the local sand into the mix, it allows native microbes and fungi to find a home in the biochar.
This. Precharging your biochar is critical. Manure, compost, urine - stuff like that.
you could cover up the IBC to reduce evaporation - I don´t know if algea would be a problem too - dark fabric for an ibc cover should do it
Another thing you could do to add pressure on your tank, is to get it as air tight as possible, put a Schrader air valve on it, and pump air into the tank. A simple 12 volt tire pump for a car tire would work great to add a couple PSI to the tank and help get your water to the emitters
those tanks don't hold much pressure at all
@@kensurratt3045 literally 2-4 PSI would be more than enough to charge that whole line
@@Insert_Screename_Here if that tank is 1m sq that will be about 1550 inch sq 1psi is about the same as 700 kg on the tank its why square presure vessels dont work
Very exciting, can’t wait till next time to see the growth. Nice job!
If you have coiled wire or tubing you need to turn it once per coil when you uncoil it. It's a topology thing.
cringe at all those kinks in their rollout /shudder
Lessons learned the hard way: buy the highest quality poly you can since in the end it will last and last (most of our farm has 40 year old poly that is still working great. Poly is based on pressure rating and amount of carbon black in it, which gives it the UV resistance. Second NEVER BUY poly with a white or blue line on it, it has a weak point built in on that line which means it has less carbon black at that point. It will always crack along that line. Third always have a few packs of goof plugs extra. Good job, your learning the hard way.
On mulch, here's an unpopular suggestion... Cheatgrass. It will grow fast with one winter rain and the seed can persist until that rain. Then it will create a fine layer of biomass over the area. Seed is cheap, and can produce far more mulch than you can truck in.
If you get hit by Beryl, it would have paid to make a few ground level rain roofs and collect as much water as you can. You're about to get a couple years worth of water in 1 day - classic permaculture style!
Common response when mentioning rainwater harvesting like what you're talking about is that he has other, more important priorities
@@b4k4survivor 95% of the assignment is capturing and using water.
@@ahowl7mx I don't disagree with you. Just saying that that is how he seems to respond when people mention it. I've repeatedly said he should be catching rain off of the oilfield doghouses he has on site (they've been there for like a year maybe?). That is ~500 sq ft roof catchment that he could be using to harvest some rain water. His response was something like "I have other more important things to worry about" 🤷♂️🤷♀️🤷
You most likely already know this.. for water pressure you need elevation or "head pressure". Head pressure is about .433-.437 psi for every foot in elevation of your water source. A very rough way to estimate is ½ psi for every 1'; for example if you have a water tank which is 10' tall and is on a 30' mound above the discharge you would have roughly 20 psi with a full tank. As the water level drops, so does the psi. I would love to see an old Aeromotor windmill pump your water!
What about getting some unpitted dates, sprouting the pits, and planting a ton of date palms? You could do this or desert fan palms. Definitely beneficial for soil and shade.
I would like to do this one day. But I tell you I have learned so many things from starting a garden/ potted orchard in my backyard that I see you struggle with. However you are learning but at a slower pace as you don’t live on site. There will come a time when you will start to make massive progress so keep at it. I do recommend you start a garden where you live with the intent to replicate on your land this way you learn faster. Best of luck man.
I have a little experience in irrigation. Those drippers are probably going to need somewhat over 10 psi to do their job. A pressure gauge at the the beginning and end of the run would tell you a lot. Covering that run with plastic until you get germination would save you a ton of water too.
Always had the worst problems when i didn't bury my black water lines. At least once a month I'd have to hunt down a leak, usually caused by some animal biting into it.
We actually just bought 40 acres out near where you are planting and would love to help out if we can in some way. Also, are working on bringing vegetation to area. Yeah we may only have 40 acres now, but I think could be a great resource to the area for fruits, veggies and hopefully honey as well. Always open to suggestions and guidance.
I'm 100% sure that ONE of the issues with the pressure is that the water tank is nearly empty. The height of the TOP of the water is what creates the pressure. It's like when you have a water cooler, it comes out fast at first, but comes out slower as it gets lower.
The hose he is using for this application is wrong. He need drip tape not a drip hose for the irrigation part of the system. Hose need at least 2 Bar of pressure to work, tape need 0,2 bar to work. I water my garden that way and my source is a 1000l box tank thats a meter off the ground. Works like a charm. Just my 2 cents
As someone that has been using drip irrigation in my terrain using gravity for 10 years, I have to say this is my most capricious and expensive mistress
I’m loving the use of capricious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in the wild before.
I think the length of the irrigation run may be too long. There is not enough head pressure to push the water laterally (and out the drips) once it gets down the hill.
You could split the system into several smaller systems with multiple reservoirs.
You might also consider eliminating the 90 degree turns and instead gently curve the pipe into the culvert. Stakes and zip ties.
no there is plenty of head pressure, the problem is that it is wavy which introduces air locks and back pressure.
The hose he is using for this application is wrong. He need drip tape not a drip hose for the irrigation part of the system. Hose need at least 2 Bar of pressure to work, tape need 0,2 bar to work. I water my garden that way and my source is a 1000l box tank thats a meter off the ground. Works like a charm.
@ChrisWijtmans Calculate the pressure loss through the line of pipe. Gravity will move water through a 3/4" pipe at approximately 600GPH. The pressure loss at 200ft (24.5psi) is greater than the hydrolic head. As you mention, lack of pressure will also result in air lock.
So it's not the hydrolic head itself - it's the hydrolic head combined with pressure loss through the line.
Google: Pipeline Pressure Loss Calculator
Great job! I live in the high desert and run off a spring, with the storage tank (2K gal) I've used the regular 1/2 drip feed line for years. It worked well for years until salts finally killed all the emitters
as it clogged them all up. This year I switched to Toro 1/2" emitter tape it comes with drip every 6", 8" or 10" drip spacing. This stuff is lite and easy to use, it has been working great for the last 6mos. No more in emitters to fool with Plus place the Drip tape with the holes pointer to the ground. Big plus the tape can be buried after you test and proof your system is functioning properly. My ranch runs on gravity with 10psi at the feed level. If I need more pressure I have a 12v shurflo pump with a bypass for the few times I need more flow, it's rarely used as the tape works well at this level. I limit the flow to 150' of drip tape per leg and battery operated Orbit valves. Amazon -- Toro Aqua-Traxx - 5/8" Drip Tape, 8 mil, 8", 0.34 GPM/100', 2, 000' for $160. A bag of ends and a bag of front end connectors then attach to the standard 1/2" feed line your using to supply the water from the tank. No more kinks and if buried fewer critter damage as the need to dig it up to chew in it. Keep up the good work!
I just tie two knots on the end of my drip tape, holds water and its free :D
Brad Lancaster would be a great person to consult on your project as well. He lives in the Sonoran desert and is an expert in both cultivating water in desert regions, but also growing desert plants in an area of limited resources.
I was just in that desert for the first time last week (July). Damn, it's hot there. But surprisingly lush for such a hot desert. 2 rainy seasons helps.
@@cacogenicist it is surprisingly lush! The Mayor here in Tucson started an initiative to plant more trees along the roadsides to combat the heat created by the asphault and concrete. In the more lush neighborhoods, you can expect a 10-20 degree temperature difference due to the increased foliage. I was surprised that this guy isn’t using mesquite and palo verde trees, they grow so well in arid conditions and would provide lots of shade for his project. Where did you visit? It’s been a wet monsoon this year, we are grateful for all the rain this year. We hit a few high temps this summer, but only a few here and there days did we reach over 112f. Last year we had up to two week consecutive days of above 110f. This summer is a breeze compared to last year!
You're using the cheapest shit available; what do you expect.
There's places to save money and places to spend money: your actual water lines should not be able to be chewed through by bugs, and that auto valve is the cheapest piece of shit I've ever seen.
That's what a hundred bucks of "engineering" gets you.
Completely cover that irrigation tubing or you will burn the young roots with scalding hot water. Plus you really want every drop to count. Watch Brad Lancaster Videos. It will save you from waisting time and energy. You are going to need those if you happen to succeed.
With Biochar you damaged the terrain forever.
U realize that there is no way for the land to filter that right ?
AMERICANS.
You got scammed out of $100 for that. For real.
Shaun these are the best videos. Look forward to every upload.
You can dramatically increase your pressure by having a much larger feed pipe from your water storage on the hill to your regulator.
Having like a 3-4 inch pvc running down the hill will will hold a lot more water and the added weight will bring the pressure up.
It may also be worth burying it in the ground to protect it from the elements.
How serious is the reforestation plan when y'all are fancy Fiji water drinkers? 😂
You better protect those juicy green seedlings from whatever is going to eat them...
The massive amount of friction loss inside the narrow poly pipe it what’s killing you.
I have used flag emitters with success. They are easy to clean out when they clog. The are more free flowing than the standard emitter.
I've done many systems and I noticed that you didn't unroll the pipe. It's no fun, but must be done.
Spent grains from breweries would be a great addition to your soil or a future composting section. Cheers
Good suggestion although too hard to get to the site. It takes hours to drive from the nearest town.
10:30 Please send a sample of that water of testing.
why aren't you digging more berms and swales for drainage and water storage? i feel like you're moving quite slow even with all this effort. you are about to enter the rainy season and have nothing ready for water collection and storage.
Didn't he make a massive dam, and small rock dams already though?
@@jameschristophercirujano6650I think the rock dams all pretty much washed out because, like everything else on this channel, they were built improperly and without the basic understanding necessary to make them work.
Also, building two large earthen dams is hardly a drop in the bucket over 320 acres. We still haven't seen if the dams will even work. Erosion and failure are a risk, especially is they weren't built/located properly, which I think is likely given the pattern around here
@@b4k4survivor I don't think they get enough rain to get them all washed, what would likely happen is that backfill from the sediment would create terraces, which was the ultimate goal of the project. The gabion dam, if the area had enough substantial rain, it probably got wrecked again though. The topography of his land iirc doesn't really need a ton of dams, but I think he probably can make another one near the central wash, or maybe just a hole near the central wash, that he can get some of the water flowing through there. Then again, he's not exactly swimming in money... yet? Maybe once he gets big enough, UA-cam money can finally let him do insane projects, lol.
I do think however; that enough time has passed that we need to see what has happened to the rock dams, and an update of all the projects that we've seen in the past.
@@jameschristophercirujano6650 it's a common mistake that people love to build big structures because it is showy and feels like a heroic effort. Instead, it's way more effective to install hundreds of small rock dams at various points throughout the ranch, particularly at straight and less sloped areas of the washes.
No more than one rock high, several rocks wide, the most downstream course is literally dug into and set into grade, the other rocks above are laid into a pattern that locks them into that lower course. They will naturally trap sediment, moisture, and grasses will grow in the cracks and lock the structure together.
Once that happens, you literally build another course on top of it just one rock high, again locked into the grade.
I will provide links when I'm at my computer because every time I say this, people insist one rock isn't high enough and want to build giant dams that ultimately fail and erode the site even worse
@@b4k4survivor Only really said it coz he has equipment now, whereas he would spend a boatload of time making small rock dams, when he can just make a big one.
Just wonder if you have been thinking about using a Groasis Waterboxx?
Bees are critical in the way Beavers are important.
Bees make honey. West Texas ecology thrived just fine prior to european honey bees.
Bee != Bee
Well, yes, bees are critical, but not necessarily honey bees. There are many species of bee, and most make no, or not harvestable, honey.
Bees are under threat world wide at the moment, bee keeping is a must to keep the population alive, especially honey needs. It is like gardening, why grow plants you can't eat?
@@biker_dan every plant has a purpose, for instance strong scented plants like Lavender, keep bee's happy AND pests away.
Woody plants like trees, grow HUGE amounts of biomass, thought it takes ages for it to break down, something like bamboo, can be turned into useful biomass faster and with a MUCH more human lifetime centered time frame, but still, the point stands, every single part of the ecosystem has a useful role, when used synergistically.
Growing Bamboo, would be an ideal source of woody biomass for fungi and the like, in a desert biome especially in the initial phases once you can handle its needs, to increase moisture retention in the soil. (assuming large scale forestation attempts in a desert, and not just hobby level.)
@Shaun Overton. Thanks for the shout-out. It's been a blast. Hopefully, I will be back sooner rather than later.
I will still be reading all your emails and watching the videos from NC.
Typical drip irrigation needs about 25 psi. There are low-pressure emitters that only need 5 or 8 psi. They are typically used with rain barrels. I'm enjoying your journey... missteps and all, and am impressed with your perseverance.
You are amazing, sir. :-)
Big tip: you can ferment green material into powerful fertilizer. ANY green material. And its tailor made for the desert.
Get 50+ gallon drums with screw top heads. Put a pinhole vent in the lid, and tape over it with vinyl tape ( pressure release ). Now, put water into it 1/4 of the volume. Then, start packing in the green material.
Fill it to 90%, making sure to keep everything submerged. Then seal it, and wait. Make sure its in shade, btw. Or, you can 3/4 bury them and shade them to get better results.
David the Good calls it "swamp water". Its full of N2 and nutrients! Literally any green material will do. Its the green side of your carbon heavy, brown method.
I would just add it to the irrigation water after straining. You can use it after 30 days, but longer is better. If it stinks BAD, its ready :-)
I had the same problems with my gravity feed system. The problems I had were as follows
1. The emitters require a head of pressure to work, solution was to ensure the bottom of the tank was at the minimum emitters working pressure height plus 1 metre.
2. The timers you are using need to be gravity friendly, that is they must have a ball valve full flow, if you can not see through the valve when open it is not suitable.
Trinity Vandenacre just dropped a new video today about myths we're taught about nature. in it he discusses the benefits of cattle on the land and how they help rebuild the soil. you're already ahead simply using the cow manure. keep at it. in fact you might be better off in some respects. Granted, Trinity is in Montana, but most people don't know that Montana also has a lot of deserts.
another channel i highly recommend is David the Good. he's the reason i mentioned mulch in my last comment on your video.
made me laugh about carefully positioning sticks..... that's something i have been doing for about six years on my barren field. and it was extra relevant because in Trinity's last video they ALSO talk about the cons of efficiency. For example, using a sprinkler system seems efficient, except most of the water is evaporated before it hits the soil. and the water that does hit the soil doesn't have time to seep into it for more than an inch..maybe less depending on the organic material.
again, you're already ahead in that area. i'm just trying to say... i have spent a LOOOOOOT of time raking twigs, repositioning logs, and hauling cow manure, horse manure, sheep, rabbit (i have it all...) into areas that need it. all in an effort to slow down the washouts we get during our own monsoon seasons. It's not so bad if there is grass! but if there isn't.... that rain will create a three foot ditch in no time.
i have destroyed two wheelbarrows in this endeavor. and i will likely destroy another one (right now i have to resort to buckets until i get a little extra money for a new one.) BUT my cows are helpful in that too. i started rotational grazing (like Greg Judy teaches) wherever the cows hang out the most there is a nice new layer of perfectly beautiful organic matter by the time i move them.
but... i have a different environment than you. June was pretty dry, all the grass turned crispy and brown and stopped growing. but once the rain came back the grass is super charged and growing at sonic speed.
my local farm friends laugh at me because i also catch and release dung beetles onto my farm. i'm fanatical about those little guys to the point that i check my water troubles every morning to save any that flew into them overnight. but when you see how well they spread that manure it's like having extra helpers.
i would also like to encourage you to avoid bees for the time being. they drink a lot... a LOT. i know this because i also keep bees. but water is no issue for me since 17 acres of my land is swamp. I saw someone mention native bees. i dont know about the ones in texas but native bees where i'm from have a specific season and specific requirements. like 70% burrow into the ground. the rest will live in bee houses. it may be a seasonal thing where you are as well. BUT i do know the more mulchy organic material and wild brushy spots you have the better for the local bees. That's another thing i'm fanatical about. i love my honey bees but i also love my native bees. My fences and buildings are covered in Virginia Creeper, which they love.
Maybe get a few rabbits instead................in the future!! not right now. their manure isn't hot like horse or cow. you can use it immediately. it won't burn the plants. or maybe find some local people with rabbits who won't mind donating it. sheep and goat is the same... won't burn the plants.
Compost tea is another awesome thing to add. smells terrible but the plants love it. any organic matter will work. maybe start a comfrey patch at home. it's super charged mulch material and grows pretty fast.
sorry about the long comment. i know you have thousands of people throwing information at you. you're doing a great thing, i wish others would start working on their own property as well.
Just some safety advice.Buy a heavy duty tow rope if that chain snaps it could cause injury or death. Love the channel.
Check out Yankum ropes, several off road recovery channels use them heavily, safer than chains
Every time I drop into these videos it seems to be a comedy of errors.
So satisfying. You got this
All bees aren't the same..... honey bees aren't particularly the best option. Figure out your native pollinators.
Well done and I'm shocked you paid for a DIY irrigation plan, most suppliers should offer that for free. Part of the plan should have included techniques of handling the poly pipe, sun makes it soft and use a cutter/hand pruning scissors instead of a knife to cut the pipe. Gravity supply jobs should have an over-sized supply pipe and only go downhill no uphill sections, can cause siphon lock and increases friction dramatically..
Sigh, you are so jumpijng the gun on this.
Why don't you try and maintain an area of land about 10' wide and 250' long by keeping it's moisture content stable at about 40% for a month first? Hell, you're getting more shrubs randomly growing out in the areas you haven't even touched than you are in the areas you're working on. You should be implementing those plans you made to retain as much water as you can. "rainy season" is about to start.
First thing you learn to be a garder is how to make compost.
Looks like you have no experiance at all. Maybe that's also the charm of this channel.
Just build a garden. You just have a soil type that is not common, that's all.
I also need to protect my plants from wind and the sun and all other things. That's just things you learn being a gardner, Nothing special.
I'd be more concerned about the quality of your materials than the plan you paid for being the problem. I've run drip irrigation for years and never had tubing spring a bunch of random holes like that even when dragging them through thorny brush. Hose kinks usually will work out after sitting in the sun for awhile if you just squeeze them with pliers the opposite way of the kink.
Also in a desert wouldn't it be smarter to bury the drip pipes slightly under the soil. You wouldn't have as many animals trying to bite at it and you would lose a lot less water to precipitation
I don't want clogged emitters
Evaporation*
@@dustupstexasthey clog from the inside not the outside
@@dustupstexashow well will your unclogged emitters work if the supply lines are leaking from holes bit in them by local fauna????
That's right. They won't work at all but you just dismiss practical real world advice because in your head, emitters are sure to get clogged... Just so many embedded assumptions lead you to wrong conclusions every time!
Normally, people will bury the main supply trunk and then the emitters attach to that truck and daylight out of the ground right where they are meant to drip.
There is so much about the things you say that shows you don't understand even the most basic aspects of all of this.
Dude, sit and watch some freaking DIY drip irrigation videos and learn something.
You might think muddling around is great for engagement, but people are going to get tired of watching you plunge head first into stuff without looking where you intend to leap. Some people like watching you struggle and learn the hard way. I sure don't
It’s good to see that you’ve come to the point where you’ve realized you wasted a lot of time. You should’ve started smaller; creating berns & swales close to where your house is/will be or where you plan on doing your agriculture. Tiny Shiny Home did a perfect video for this - ua-cam.com/video/Z_pZSMs8vjs/v-deo.htmlsi=SI2uFxEm99Q-BB13
3:21 learn from the masters that invented the dripping process, Netafim.
Yes, the water should be filtered or at least decanted. The filtration is easily done by layering sedimentary rocks, medium and small gravel, it only cost your arm energy to pile it and let gravity do the job.
The real trick is the differential diameter of the tubes and the drippers. You want the initial diameter to be as large as possible in order to have a good column pressure.
Again, check out Netafim, there are LOTS of information online.
Here in Costa Rica it’s common using this type of systems connected to rain recovery… and most of the times you’ll see the pipes have leaks fixed with rubber strips from bike tires, you just cut a piece and tie it around
You need to read the signs better!! If a free swarm lives on your land, you re a bee keeper now!!!
Do with what you have is permaculture 101.
@dustupstexas using a chain to pull a truck is incredibly dangerous, if it snaps then it will sling back and kill you. please consider using straps and also pulling with the side of the dozer with a metal cage.
just want you to live brother!
On honey bees, honey can be used in place of molasses for your bio-tea. It can also be used in place of rooting hormon.
Also please remember that HONEY BEES are NOT native to America. if you wanna help any bees, try helping the native bees. Native bees are gonna help you build a desert forest, not Honey bees. Native bees are required for pollinating native plants (native plants are gonna be your best friend in rewilding your land
I don't think he is doing anything with the bees one way or another. He is just offering to let someone beekeep if they want, but I don't think that applies to native bees.
I wonder if a fog net would work out there in the early morning.
There is no humidity
There needs to be significant daily fog for fog nets to be even remotely useful. I think the consensus from other commenters and from looking at other projects is that he most needs windbreaks (that could also provide shade), fencing (to prevent the nearby cattle from eating seedlings), and sand dams in the arroyos (to collect groundwater and build up silt--Shaun has mentioned this repeatedly but hasn't pulled the trigger yet).
You don't need to start bee keeping there's already plenty of bees. What you should do is just pop in tank of water, doesn't have to be huge but with an open top. Fill it with wine corks or other floating balls etc. to limit evaporation and also give the bees somewhere to stand and not drown. Bees will always go to the closest reliable water source.
They will make great pollinators for your plants, plus this might keep them off your work area as they have a more reliable water source.
I keep bees and having someone keep bees on the ranch is a better idea than doing it yourself. the time involved plus the cash outlay can be pretty hefty. I have a feeling that needing to visit hives atleast once a week during production times and especially at swarming time is going to be a problem on Dustups because you are so far out of the way.
That said commercial bees are also going to place quite a heavy drain of resources on the environment too. Honestly I wouldnt want to put more bees out there to compete with the wild populations. It could be disastrous for them.
I am glad you got the drip irrigation working thats a really positive step and greenery is awesome well done.
Thanks for sharing, I follow with interest.
19:12 whatchoo talkin bout willis? theres no impetus to watch this channel at all if you dont document your success failures precipitation etc ... hurricanes for example would drive engagement, but surely you dont think youtube viewers are interested in what amounts to a paywall
@dustupstexas
A random, but maybe useful information for you:
As far as i understand it, your goal is to keep as much water from evaporating.
Just about 2 months ago science discovered a new, very groundbreaking mechanism "why liquids evaporate".
For our needs we do not need to understand the mechanism exactly. MIT discovered that LIGHT has 5 x more impact than HEAT on evaporation (!)
Everyone knows: "In the dessert water will evaporate fast."
But it is mostly because of light, not because of heat.
Which means: Water will evaporate faster in a cold but bright area, than a hot but dark area.
You can't cool down the dessert. But you can provide shade. Maybe focus more on providing shade than before.
More information: ua-cam.com/video/17Y82tJDk2o/v-deo.html
Love your work Shaun! Have you thought about a simple sand biochar water filter?
Shaun, your irrigation wont work effectively the way you have it set up. You need to run very thick pipes directly from your container down the hill and where your levels are where you want your drip to work is where you use the thinner pipe. The weight of the water in the thick pipe will deliver alot more volumn of water to the lower thinner pipes. I hope you read this cause it will solve your issue. Ive been in irrigation for over 30 years and unfortunately, the way you have it wont work very well. Good luck my man.
I hope your work makes an impact. I am so excited to see how it develops 👍👍👍
Have you thought about getting a large bail of hay to give initial mulch to an area?
Where? All of our hay is alfalfa or sorghum sudangrass $$$$
@@dustupstexas oh ok. Didn’t realise the cost. Does the local/state waste department have green waste for sale cheap or free? Could that be an option?
Seedlings, meet rabbits. Adding water will also bring every animal within miles. This is an exercise in total futility.
Anyone else get the hereby-jeeby’s watching him tow the truck up the hill with a chain and no arrestor or snap safety? That thing can take your head off.
A solenoid valve usually needs a good amount of pressure to operate. I think you'd be better off with a motorized ball valve and separate timer.
consistently following your videos to see a great change in a small piece of The Mother Earth, Great going💖
Coyotes are going to break your irrigation repeatedly if they find it... and they will.
Next is fencing
Nothing is safe from coyotes.
@@HPDrifter2if they do, run a very narrow pick ditch with a cheap plastic liner, fill with rock, poke holes every 12", and flood from the ICB instead.
I kid you not, I thought you were talking about human traffickers... 😂 As they're called "Coyotes" as well in Mexico. And I was like "Why would a Coyote go out of his path just to break an irrigation system? Do they hate agriculture?" Didn't realize you were referring to wild life Coyotes.
The coyotes will chew the lines to get to the water?
Make sure you’re planting native plants to help the native bees and other insects that need the plants. They are the solution to your problems
Bees are great pollinators, which you'll need if you're going for a food forest.
Native bees to his area are the ones he wants to pander too.
Natives bees will prove to be far better pollinators that European bees.