This is My Future Desert Forest, And... I'll Harvest It.
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
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In this episode, my future desert forest sees its first sprouts! On 320 acres, even a few seedlings are a big win. To build a sustainable ecosystem, I'm focusing on creating a biomass factory, using mulch gathered from a wide area to nurture a small section that will expand over time. But, this ain't the perfect solution when doing it at a large scale.
Brandon and I faced unexpected challenges with a tricky drip irrigation system. Despite professional design, we dealt with pressure issues and leaks. We troubleshoot and ensure our seeds get the water they need, and hopefully, nothing else will happen.
With guidance from Thiago Barbosa, we refine our methods, using mulch and water to accelerate growth. From irrigation fixes to experimenting with biochar and grass plugs, each step brings us closer to a thriving desert forest.
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I Wasted A LOT of Effort with Planting Cactus
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#desertforest #desertplanting #greeningthedesert
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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!
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.
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.
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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
So happy João was able to come and help, this is great!
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.
Bees will totally help you create a forest. More Pollinators more native seeds will grow.
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 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!
@@dustupstexas greeting from Indonesia you need animals for fast composter you can make free compost in a day with animals, start very small number so you don't get burdened by their food, for chicken try less than 10, for cow or goat you only need two of them just choose based on your own interest and need.
you can also grow sorgum for their food it easy to grow, grow fast, good protein source and doesnt need a lot of water.
@@Wkwkwkland904 I think chicken would be pretty dangerous to any seeds and any fresh sprouts, so maybe a bit too early for them ^^
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.
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.
This is one of my favorite shows to watch. It’s amazing watching your growth as a person with a vision.
Definitely get the bees. Plant a few flowers, overtime when you visit the ranch collect some honey for your kids
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
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" 🤷♂️🤷♀️🤷
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.
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!
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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
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.
@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.
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.
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!
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
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
As a suggestion. Put some water sources around your property. It will help animals to live.
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.
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 :-)
Very exciting, can’t wait till next time to see the growth. Nice job!
That first green sprout is honestly amazing. I remember your very first videos where you spoke about the project. It was like just a big, empty, dry field. Now you have places to stay, access to water (somewhat), a drip irrigation system, even your own heavy equipment to build things with. The community has grown so much. I think its really going to happen. Watching this all come together is pretty damn cool. Your efforts have become much more concentrated and specialized. It's really impressive stuff.
Every day just a little bit better
dude!!! the way you treated that il agave is amazing! you’ve come soooo far with your understanding and with your care!! This has been my favourite moment from you yet. ❤❤❤❤
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.
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
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.
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.
My husband, a Brisilian, has been avidly following your channel and is really rooting for you! As he puts it, "if he can pull this off, than we can do ANYTHING on our land!" 😅 In kind of the opposite scenario as you, we've been REMOVING a ton of biomas to make way for our home here in northwestern Oregon. And every time we pile up a load of slash into a burn pile, my hubby laments that we can't just send it all to you to chip up and spread out all over your land! Our dirt is so yummy you could eat it. We watch you toiling in dry sand and gravel and we feel so grateful for what we have here, but the work you're doing has farm more important implications. The desertification, rising temperatures and increasing swings of weather leading to extreme flooding and droughts means that reclaiming and regenerating such marginal land will likely make the difference in the future of human habitat on earth for our next seven generations.
We applaud and support you and what you're doing out there. Don't give up!!!
Thank you
The promo was done so well I didn't even feel the need to skip it.
And thanks for keeping it real with the rest of the video. I am embarking on a similar journey (food forest in the Karoo Desert, South Africa), so knowing your mistakes and lessons learnt is extremely valuable. Thank you
♥
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
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
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.
amazing job. irrigation lines absorb solar energy into the water then it delivers that to plants when it is used during sunshine, fellow hellscape gardener here. burying your line will increase your efficiency and water capture. Look up the good work that University of Arizona is doing for draught resistance and fortification, they know what they are doing. Have you thought of Ooya's? they could reduce the needed emitters, pressure, and may increase the time between watering. I have attempted to obtain "project-scale" ooya's, but they are apparently not made at that scale - but Southwest pottery channel on here has good videos on making them cheap. either way, I've never had such good success with my baked patch of Hell Clay as I have with ooya's.
I would also recommend a cement mixer to assist with your soil mixing... it saved my back and when you have to start with foundational soil... its nice.
lol! Sorry for having so much to say today: Gypsum loosens soil. Soil Sulfur increases its ability to retain moisture. Sand decreases ability to retain moisture. Nitrogen-Fixing is your friend, so the Fabaceae family, Especially Silk Tree - it is tough as nails.
Be sure to add a valve at your lowest point. Open it to flush sediment from the lines!
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.
Get rid of the sediment in the water by setting up some baffles in your water tanks, much like the baffles in a septic tank trap the fecal matter and leave only effluent water leaving the tank. You can place a trash pump or septic grinder/macerator pump in the bottom of the first chamber before the first baffle and set up the pump to periodically remove the sediment at the bottom, like when you pump a septic tank. You can eliminate much of the sediment by having a well screen placed at the bottom of your well pipe. Usually when a new well, or refurbished well, starts pumping water, it takes about a day of straight water pumping before a lot of the sediment disappears. Go to a few board meetings of the local soil and water conservation district and talk to the board members and local ranchers for ideas.
If you're really interested in the bee, you can bring some personal potted plant that sun and drought tolerant that is already flowering (which can be used as decoration and a way to help the temperature) and some bee house. But at this step, I suggest, better not to do that. Instead, if you are worried about the bee, you can try to give it water. They look really thirsty. They usually can search for a place with shade by themselves.
Shaun these are the best videos. Look forward to every upload.
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
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.
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.
You should utilize those half-moon digs they use out in Africa to convert desert back into grasslands/forest. They catch water as it rains and keeps it from just flowing away. These little holes/pools allow this water to seep into the ground. Plants start growing around them, which breaks up soil further, and the water goes further and further underground turning the area greener and greener.
You need 4”x4” wire fencing tied to those posts. The dam needs to be 4’ high an 1-2 feet wide. Then as you pile rocks up you can layer in the organic material. Doesn’t matter, it is so dry that stuff will fossilize before it degrades. Get a 40’ trailer and truck to pull it and get mulch material from tree trimmings, grass clippings, anything. Eagle Scouts used to need projects, get them to help organize donations of organic material. Other clubs could help. And your big dam needs to be much higher and much thicker. Get your bull dozer going.
If you start with a larger diameter water conduit then reduce every 100 feet you will gain pressure for your water lines
Also, if you put one of the tanks on the back of the truck, it will have a LOT more traction, possible enough to pull the remaining tank on the trailer up the hill
He truck can't handle more than the weight of half of an IBC
You learned the hard way with irrigation. You will work out how best to deal with dirty water irrigation
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.
I hope your work makes an impact. I am so excited to see how it develops 👍👍👍
Hi Shaun, great video. Now that you got water and getting mulch. A cement mixer would speed things up to mix them all together. Plus you could experiment on the mixture balance till you get the right mixture you need. Plus bigger pots to make it faster to put more grass or other plants in to get them going. Plus a small rotovator once you start planting the grass. Make it a lot easier then lots of small holes.
I would suggest to use (before planting the seeds) to add a kind of florist sponge: It helps to keep the water into the ground for weeks.
Natural Wood chips and water are the keys. I'm doing the same on 2 acres in tonopah AZ. My chip drop had native mesquite palms and Palo verdes. I have 70 plus mesquite and spread out chicken grain feed that caused the growth of sorghum rye and sunflowers everywhere. I'm 3-4 inches deep on woodchips in some parts but the ceramic pots I buried have created small oasiss all over. That might prevent rodents/pests from biting ur pipes.
Often low-power valves like that require a few metres of pressure in order to open (they are pilot operated), and also drip irrigators often require a fair bit of pressure too.
For the valve there are direct-acting types that open without any pressure, but they need a little more power.
Once the roots have even a little depth you should bury the irrigation, surface evaporation will be an extreme loss factor where you are.
Also be careful using water to get plants established here, some plants might not put down enough deep roots and you will have to phase it out very slowly.
All things that could be learned if he just watched a few good videos about installing drip irrigation. Instead, he tried to pay $100 for somebody else to do the thinking for him.
@@b4k4survivor Mmm, yeah. I kinda liked watching him screw up and learn how to do it, but it seems he's just trying to get cheap labour from viewers to do a lot of it now. Kinda obvious he's gotten into that influencer grindset nonsense too, so his soul is on it's way out, or already gone.
Being in a desert situation, you will have all kinds of desert wildlife chewing on your waterlines to get a drink.
Only had it happen here in Michigan one time, but the squirrels do chew on my maple syrup, sap line, that are strung through the woods
you do need a several tons of aged cow manure and you need to compost in spring and summer. doing dams with dozer could really help and would be fairly easy. you should diy and get more solar - you will work out the bugs and start making more progress - think about some misting around abode to cool things off. think about going bigger, think about getting a wood chipper, think about some raised beds, think about doing more a/b tests, think about rock walls to bring some shade. you have all kinds of options - make a list and then order all the ideas from best to worst and keep plugging - the overall idea may well be impossible so keep expectations low and you won't be crushed when they don't work, on the other hand you may be occasionally surprised
Without charging the biochar, you're creating a huge nutrient drag while that charcoal / uncharged BioChar fills up.
Just drop hay bails ... it will have seed, nutrients, and hold moisture.
Half bury is fine.. above ground great. Used as dams fine too
10:30 Please send a sample of that water of testing.
I think you should have bee houses. Not to harvest honey - but to enable the bees to pollinate all the plants you're working to grow. Keep the bees close to all the stuff you have planted. When the rains come, the life cycle has to happen quick. flower, reproduce, hunker down for next rain.
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.
LET THE BEES GUIDE YOU!!! 🐝🐝🐝 Why are they there? What do they want more of? What will they germinate the most of? What would not be possible without them? Lean into their natural feedback loops.
So satisfying. You got this
I started a beekeeping project because of your videos. I wanted to have some activities outside of a big city.
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.
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.
*For your irrigation, u should start from the tanks with 2" and then reduce goin down the hill, should increase head pressure.
*Have u considered bio-gas?? 2 benefits; lpg and liquid fertilizer.
*Mist /fog catcher for and added passive sauce of water.
consistently following your videos to see a great change in a small piece of The Mother Earth, Great going💖
Public mulch is going to have a lot of weed seeds I recommend a growers mix 80/20 blend or such
There is a tree species called button wood - (Conocarpus erectus) and its native of Florida. It grows well in really harsh conditions without much requirement of orderly irrigation. If you can get some seedlings you can grow them. They shed a lot of leaves and every week you have a ton of leaves. W had 5 trees in desert in UAE Dubai where it DOES NOT rain at all with just once a year. It grows like weed. if you have a irrigation system twice or thrice a week Plus you can grow the baby trees with a cutting too. The more heat there is the faster it grows. Plus it can also take water from saline soil.
Please give it a thought. It does not produce viable seeds and grows mainly from cuttings. So once you have a mini ecosystem you can get rid of those trees once native trees have taken hold.
The wood is hardwood.
On a different subject, I have at some point watched watched videos about how people put up screens in the desert, I think it was the Sahara, which entrap the moisture from dew and produce a water supply. I can´t remember the specifics like size, orientation and materials, but the point is they are able to harvest the moisture from the air.
Their conditions must be similar to yours in that respect. It may get a lot colder at night. I am not sure. Food for thought.
You need fog for that, which I don't have
The great bee die off caused a huge problem with crops here (California) a few years ago. We had carpenter bees and bumble bees left, so I'm not sure exactly which ones can do a better job with our tree crops - not the carpenter bees for sure. I love the European honey bees (love their honey) and I always save the bees that happen to be drowning in our Koi pond. I think you do well to just keep the status quo in the desert if pollination is the key to success. Let nature take its course, is a good thing. Love your channel. 🍯🦫
When using biochar as a soil amendment, you really should pre-charge that biochar with nutrients in the water. Things like manure, compost, urine are preferred - and yes, human urine works just fine.
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
I’m glad to see your little sprout. Hopefully in the next few weeks you can get one of your rare and precious monsoon rains and see what happens with the bathtubs, the dam you built when leveling the road, and the latest seeds.
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.
I got idea about almost free - cost mulch: a tank with water and algaes, maybe some nutrients. They grow very quick and tank could be as close the new plants as possibile. Only cost and effort is water. I know its also takes time and money to bring the water to refill the tanks. U can search type od algaes : fresh or Salt water.
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.