Hand Digging Ponds - In-Depth Discussion
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- Опубліковано 4 жов 2024
- www.edibleacres...
I take a more thorough look at the pond systems developing on our site. After 8 years of working on how water moves through the 6 acres of Edible Acres, we have over 20 small ponds and interconnecting water ways. They have been dug and developed entirely with hand tools and without pre-design / measurements / maps, etc. This style of water working is more in line with how the vast majority of humanity has and still works with water in productive landscapes. I'm hoping this video gets people feeling empowered to try to manage how water moves and relaxes in their land without machines and complexity.
Edible Acres is a full service permaculture nursery located in the Finger Lakes area of NY state. We grow all layers of perennial food forest systems and provide super hardy, edible, useful, medicinal, easy to propagate, perennial plants for sale locally or for shipping around the country...
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Mosquitoes... Thought I'd address it in one comment here. It's always coming up on videos I do about waterways and ponds, etc. When you have a pond, you invite frogs, and other water loving beings. They eat mosquito larvae. Ponds help reduce mosquito populations, I've found, rather than increase them. Just my personal experience, but after 8 years of working with these systems I find very little mosquito pressure happening...
EdibleAcres i was just about to ask that
Note this comment is left as expansion not as trying to educate you. Information for readers to consider when asking the mosquito questions. Bats, migratory birds, native birds, dragonfly are my biggest helpers. Plus I put up houses for purple martins , they consume their weight in mosquitoes every day, bats eat thousands of mosquitoes, "mosquito hawks" eat nothing but mosquitoes during their entire life cycle. We also have mosquitofish in all my rain barrels Also Damselflies help. If you have a complete ecosystem they balance themselves out. Not my video, but it shows how dragonfly larvae make lunch of mosquitoes. ua-cam.com/video/miFN2o3woSw/v-deo.html
Same here actually. We have a very wet property. And after the first year frogs moved in and the mosquito population went down.
We will ve digging more in the next couple of years.
EdibleAcres dragonflies too.
Just want to set the record straight... while I agree that all of these predators do a lot of good, it is worth mentioning that there is no "mosquito hawk" that eats nothing but mosquitoes. Crane flies, sometimes called mosquito hawks, don't eat mosquitoes at all, and damsel/dragon flies, which are sometimes called mosquito hawks, eat all sorts of smaller bugs, not just mosquitoes. And Purple martins consume their weight in flying insects of all sorts - not just mosquitoes. If you think about it, anything that eats NOTHING but mosquitoes would be a poor choice for control because they need a healthy mosquito population in order to thrive themselves. (note - response to the MischievousKittie comment)
You won me over completely when you said you didn't want to use a liner 💖
I love that you sharpen your shovel not a lot of people do that but it makes all the difference in the world
VERY useful!! 99% of the pond videos are about digging a hole. This shows how to work with the land, using the soil removed, integrating water into a great agricultural system. JUST what I needed!
Very glad you found it useful. I made the video in part because I looked for so long on youtube for a video where someone talked about actually digging a pond with hand tools and how to be thoughtful with all the parts and couldn't really find i!
@@edibleacres I know this is old and you can only tell your story, but what are your thoughts to do on a very flat area?
I agree! I was delighted when I found this channel, for the same reason.
I admire your ambition. Over a period of 35 years I have turned an old worn out 1880 farm into a nature paradise with forest and three ponds. I save my shoveling mostly for tree planting. Some many years ago I acquired an old D4 bulldozer that I patched back together. Yes a wheel barrel and a shovel and an ambitious man can do a lot but I highly recommend mechanical help if you can. I am in Michigan. If you were closer I would push some holes for you on an exchange basis. My biggest pond is about one and a half acres and is over twenty feet deep in part but I had professional help to root that out. I hope I can construct a few more ponds before I get to old to care about it and I'm already 73 yrs.
I hear you on the machines. The land in this video is where my folks live, and they are wonderful in letting us work with it and develop it, but have serious limitations on what we can do as far as scale...
I can only imagine what you've been able to help happen over 35 years! Wow!
Love the appreciation for a slow build and taking time to understand the water flow and levels. So many people want something done and 'finished' in a short time frame, there can be so much value in slowing things down.
Nice shovel it looks like a ground breaking invention
Wow, how did I miss this? I've been hand digging a pond as my therapy for healing my hip replacement. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and I love it. Excited to watch the video.
People nowadays often think you are crazy for digging structures by hand in a garden.
While it is cheap, gives a nice activity and is much better for working in harmony with the environment
Thanks for sharing. Good to know that there are others out there alone with but shovels to lean upon and observe.
I'm so glad I found your channel!! I discovered a lake uphill on my land, next to an old well of my 1755 farmhouse. I'm so excited to make good compost and create a sustainable systems on the farm.
Yes I very much enjoy playing around with these concepts! I love your respect for the land, and your approach to moving the water around - it is what I want to do with my own land.
Wishing you great luck in that pursuit!
You are an artist and your use of language is rare. New sub here.
That's a ton more work than using equipment like I have, but I think your method is much better. Far less damage to the area around your digging and all that goes with it. Excellent!
I am so glad you did this video to explain the reasons behind not moving water from point A to point B as if it were a nuisance. It is a banked (pardon the pun) resource, maintaining what you receive with future needs in a balanced account. I can only assume your spring and summer watering is reduced dramatically by the use of this retention of resources. I can only imagine how happy and prolific your elderberries will be. Cheers to you!
Thanks, yeah, in a lot of ways I consider permaculture a system of working with currency. Current of energy, current of water flow, human energy, time, even money. It facilitates taking the current or currency and slowing it, spreading it, and sinking it deeper into the medium through which it flows. Water is the main example shown and worked with, but the concept can be applied in way wider ways, so it is a good description to consider it more of a savings account or investment account for water!
Probably the best video I've found on creating hand dug ponds. I've been observing the water on our property for a while and now I'm ready to start digging - small and slow like you suggest.
I love the videos you create - keep on doing it, you are sharing some very important information.
So glad this video resonates with you. All the best in your water workin!
Love this long term planning!!💝
One of the things I look forward to most in the week is watching your videos. You channel is currently my favorite UA-cam channel.
Wow, thats a lovely sentiment. Thanks!
Fascinating.. I'm reclaiming a duck pond, hand dug outta my marsh on my property for also, a reflection pond area to sit & enjoy the shimmer of the pond
This is fantastic! Congratulations on slowly developing such a fantastic landscape and skill level at reading and modifying landscapes and waterflows. My chickens just uncovered a spring I couldn't locate, so I think it's time for me to get out there and start playing with that waterflow.
Loved it....you have great articulation! And I thought I was crazy! I bought this property with three ditches turning into rivers every rain event....one ditch up front I hand dug and dammed to make a big curving pond which is ever fascinating....I'm going to enlarge it....enormous labor but I enjoy it...sometimes after major storm the entire d breast becomes a waterfall....and with grass it usually holds....I'll probably dam the other dutches for more ponds! Digging deeper and bigger scenic holes which fill with rainwater is great fun....and good exercise!
Sounds like a super rad project, wow!
I also love how the ponds help to keep the land cool
this is very helpful, thank you! I appreciate the low-tech, high-attention approach.
low-tech, high-attention... I really like that way of describing it.
Right???
Applause
Cool results. I'm glad that worked for you back yard. I'd have a hard time in my back yard. Super rocky.
I've been doing this same thing except with one pond that I've hand dug over the past number of years (which continues to evolve). You describe my experience perfectly: the water has a dialogue with the digger and reveals its nature through the iterative digging. Observation and patience are as important as the labor. Thanks for your video.
your property is truly a model on which we can all benefit. Have a marvellous day
Not sure if your aware but most kitty litter is bentonite clay and I've found it to be a cheap way to seal small pond bottoms or dams, it works really well if you mix it with some clay soil and spread it after you take the loamy stuff out. Great channel.
Thanks for the kind words, and nice idea there. I guess you'd want to find a kitty litter that doesn't have fragrance or other nasty crap in it. Do you have a brand that you use that you feel is safe / non-toxic / etc? Thanks!
I'd look for anything unscented, the box usually has the ingredients written on the side. Just as long as that tiger of yours didn't use it first. haha
How do you take the loamy stuff out? I live in Oklahoma, where clay soil is plentiful. I want more than anything to have ducks on my homestead, and cringe when I hear people say, "You can keep ducks without a pond." As hot and dry as our summers are, moreso every year, I know I'll likely end up with swales and I'd love to put a pond on the end of at least one of them.
I love your gentle approach to everything you are doing...such understanding and respect...I love your channel...thank you...greetings from Australia
Yeah, talk about living sustainability!
thanks for all the info. we have a kind of boggy property and have started to dig a pond at the higher end just like you did, planning to connect it to small waterways further down. we just moved here a year ago, so we are only at the beginning of our adventure. i find your videos to be very inspirational!
I'm glad. It's my pleasure to share. Best of luck with your project, I'm sure it'll evolve in great ways.
Just what i was looking for! The way you read the land is so inspiring. Just started hand digging today! Glad for this perspective
So happy to share, happy digging to you!
I am doing this on my flood plain. My high ground doesn't hold water so it percolates down to the flood plain clay. Previous residents on the farm tried to dig north south ditches to drain low spots which did not work. As I have been doing my permaculture observations and raking the muck to the edges of the ponds I discovered there was a natural zigzag to the south west and back to the southeast corner. So now I have only a few sections of ditches to connect culverts for my field paths where I can drive in the summer. The soil only freezes down about 3 inches here about three times a year but it is cool to see a mole hill setting on top of a 6 inch high column of ice. Instead of beavers I have moles for irrigation engineers, They work their way to the pond as the water level drops during our 3 month dry period theu the water flows back and deeply hydrates the field during the winter.
I have been researching ponds for a long time. I had an acre pond at my last house and since I have moved, I long for another but I don't like the look of the way pond builders make theirs. (Rocks everywhere.) I grew up in Syracuse, NY, went to college in Rochester and lived, played and worked in the finger lakes for over a decade! Horseheads, Corning, Elmira, Ithaca, Watkins Glen! So cool that I can find hope from this video and it's from a kindred NY soul.
@Jon In SLO I have just now! Thanks for the info.
A swale is a pond dug into a slope of a hill by digging out the high soil and placing it lower on the hill to format the swale pond. There are often trenches dug around the slope to dirrect water into the swale. Just some stuff I learnded in the skuells
Except ponds normally are sealed in some way, whereas a swale trench is often made to be more absorbent with ripping the soil, forming or mulching.
thanks, nice to see it all, cant wait to have some property to develop for those decades you talk about
Very interesting video. Thank you.
I'm inspired to try this.
He knows and explains well.
Beautiful knowledge indeed thanks for sharing your journey . We got a over flow lot in Florida and we want to work with it to make it a place where we can develop a permaculture sistem to help nature be nature and man be man ! Thanks so much . I will continuing watching your other videos to enrich my self , I’m here taking notes . Appreciate it very much keep sharing valuable knowledge and love .
Hey there, Cardwell farm here. I very much enjoyed this video. Thank you for sharing it with the world. This could help all kinds of people including people in desserts. They could use this method to improve their lands and possibly recreate their ecosystem. I in Texas would love to use this to improve our property for future generations.
Love your videos, thank you for doing them! Will be cool to see you jump into your hand dug pond. 😎👍
I have been in the process of draining a unused wet area for 8 years now using a tool called a mattock.
A mattock is like a hoe shaped instrument on the front used for pulling towards you or for digging directly below to the depth of the 4 foot handle.
On top of the hoe part in the opposite direction is a axe like bit of steel sharpened in such away that can be used to cut unwanted roots or wood found in your trench that you are digging or to help break or pull rocks, the total weight of the mattock depending on the user can be 8kg for the ladies version up to 15 kgs with a added metal handle as mine has.
My trenches first started out like yours using gravity to help drain the area and to help shrink the soils the more water that was extracted.
Today I now have a trench from the source running right along the highest point of the high ground angling down to the lowest point and exit out into the main creek.
Leading away at right angles or which ever the lowest point runs but not attached to the main creek I have what I call intermediet trenches, these take care of the wet areas draining from the centre outwards.
Some parts of the detch is deeper than others this allows me to dam that part of the drain up in summer which after 24 hours fresh water flows out onto my dryer areas where my melons or other produce are growing to self water the beds before releasing all back down that same drain, this is done every other week it saves time and let's me do other things while nature looks after my food crops.
I like your ideas with the self dug ponds, but will still carry on using my detches which in a way still works about the same.
Your channel is very interesting. Keep up the good work.
I love this. I've done a fair bit of hand- digging swales and ponds myself. I'm on steep rocky slope, so it's hard digging and doesn't seal very well but nevertheless I'm keeping the water table happy. Hoping the winter creek will flow longer each year as I slow water down
Really enjoyed this prog.
New subscriber. My wife and I love your channel. This video is really great. Thank you for the information and inspiration.
this man is so wholesome
Thanks for this vid. Very interesting.
Glad you enjoyed it!
According to Geoff Lawton duck poop is a great pond sealer although someone else said that not all duck poop is created equal.
Do you know where he said that? I love these quotes. It's similar to when he said when your armpit smells you can just put good compost soil in it and it wont smell anymore
He said if you bathe in compost tea, not rub compost :) Animals are an old-timey pond sealing method, not a permaculture innovation, the manure and the compaction...
For a small pond, the obvious thing to do is find some sticky clay and line it with that. You do that at the end of the dry season.
@@tim1tim2tim3tim4 It was several years ago on his farm and I did look for it but no luck. Sorry.
Thank you for this video. What you refer to as Hugel mounds i think need to be called Holzer mounds as Holzer was the one who advocated the method. Hugelkultur is about digging pits and loading them while the Holder method is about creating mounds. Please do check.
I'm so happy to know you're not using plastic. I've resisted it myself. Thanks again and all the best to you!
Thanks and thanks for sharing your input here.
Interesting strategy. Things seem to be working well.
Loved this thanks
Awesome information here. Really great to see what you've done by hand. I will hopefully be making a small pond for our own garden next year so I'll be watching all your related videos when I can. Thanks!
This video is great thank you for explaining how you do it. I am glad to hear you just used a shovel. When I watch the people with A-Frames and Levels and drawing contour maps it starts to get confusing. I can handle a shovel sharpened with a file and digging high on the landscape.
You can always start there and refine later
@EdibleAcres agreed. Digging some small swale ponds this summer/fall.
Very smart approach.
Thanks!
THATS GREAT.i like to have a shovel blade ,very sharp on both ends of the handle…that way if i stumble or fall .the grand kids get to work for a change.it would do them good…god bless them!
Lovely ideas!
I realize this is a 2yo video but it is currently very relevant (and super helpful) to us! Thanks for taking the time to share your property and wisdom.
We are currently figuring how to best manage the very wet/soggy ground in our new property and digging small ponds and new water pathways seems to be a very sensible way to go.
In your experience, how deep did you need to dig the pathways before you saw meaningful results on the surrounding surface? And do you have any general sense of quickly you saw the impacts of those new pathways?
I’ve dug a bit already where I felt the land really needed it but I’m hesitant to do too much before I see the results of my current test. I’m just trying to figure out if it needs a week, a season or a year (or longer) to show how the new pathway will change the saturation of the surrounding area.
Thanks for the great video.
I have been devising my own clay bed matting. It’s made of sheep fleece it is woven into 1 inch matting and Inc with clay. The idea would be you dig your pond out lay the matting over the pond Ever water or wait for it to rain it will then set. Completely organic but the pricing at the moment is very expensive. It would work out cheaper for me to make it if I was to use synthetic nylon but I do not want to do that because that is too much of a compromise. It’s going to be difficult to market due to the cost it’s around £140 a square metre To manufacture at the moment Plus I would have to make at least 40% profit so would not be accessible at the moment to the average user. Thanks nice video.
Glad you are thinking through these ideas. I hope the evolve into something magnificent!
Fantastic! I will utilise these ideas. This is of great value to learn from. Shared :) Blessings :)
This is great! I found clay at the bottom of a hole our dog dug and the customers at the local small-town market want bread... so I'm building a cob oven and I was beginning to wonder if I could combine that project with creating a pond on a low corner of our property. Looks like I can! You also challenged me to try again to think outside of my straight, tidy beds (4'x100+') and to think in terms of increasing the topographical diversity instead of decreasing it (i.e. making mounds and holes instead of leveling)... Although I need to keep some level-ish land bc. I'm not ready to give up my salatin-style broiler pens. I was thinking about moving the top soil and sand from the pond excavation 350' away, uphill to fill some depressions, but I should probably leave it close by, eh? and use the raised beds/huggels to plant stuff that would be good food for ducks and chickens? I'd like to hear more about how you envision the sunlight reflecting off of the water onto neighboring beds... Are these beds on the north side of the water, or does it work anywhere around the pond? Would this allow me to grow more in partial shade? what about tree roots when digging? I grew up in Ohio and now live in East Texas, so I feel like the sun is hunting me down to roast me alive on the unshaded parts of our property. I want to plant more shade trees on the east side of the house (west side is very nicely shaded), but I don't want to cut down on the space where I can grow useful stuff. Also... I'm a little concerned about the increased frog/toad population from a pond attracting snakes. I know they have a legitimate function in the eco system and all, but there are many poisonous ones here, and I have a daughter to protect...
Wshew! Too many questions!
I try to be helpful and answer and respond to anyone who asks questions, but maybe there are too many here!
Ponds are amazing, I've really enjoyed developing them and thinking about how both sun and air move over them, and how to design gardens that relate directly to the ponds, etc., and would be happy to help you think it all through, but probably not in a comment on youtube! I do offer consultation if that feels helpful, you can reach out through edibleacres.org and let me know and I would be happy to spend an hour with you on the phone to talk through some of your ideas and support you in moving it all forward...
I wish you the best with your project, sounds like lots of exciting things going on!
Haha! Fair enough. I got overly excited about this.
First time viewing your videos, I loved it, thanks. Subscribed.
Good stuff.
Looks fantastic 😊😊😊
I've some success with stopping leaks in my ponds by laying cardboard in the bottom and eadges of the ponds...
Denis
You can also throw some clay in the water and throw in a few bubblers to mix it and keep it suspended for a while. Then remove the bubblers and let the clay settle out.
That is an interesting idea. Have you tried this and found it to be of use or is this a concept you have?
Before we build a larger pond, we started with a small pond (which we later extended and extended again to create the larger pond). When we made the first pond it lost water so I added some clay that we dug from a high quality clay lens that we had on another part of the property. I “extrude” it through a grate then pelletize it and use it for seeds. Anyway, I thought that the pelletized clay would be ideal for sealing the leaks in our pond but since we didn’t know exactly where they were, we needed to first dissolve and then suspend the clay before we let it settle out in order to obtain 100% coverage of the pond. As luck would have it our neighbor was draining his fish pond and I asked him if we could use his bubbler to suspend the clay. He agreed. Bottom line is that it worked. No more leaks! When we dug the extensions to the pond I made sure that we didn’t breach the clay lens. So no additional leaks. Our initial pond was pretty small and roughly circular, only a few 1000 gallons, Also our soil is silty loam with clay lenses not sand. so I can’t guarantee that this strategy would work on a larger, more elongated pond or sand bottomed pond. Hope that helps.
I have this amazing bubbling spring, something about working a shovel instead of hiring a backhoe js
How much Betonite Clay is needed to seal a pond? Let's say a 10 x 10 pond. Is it like 20 lbs or 100 lbs or a 1000 lbs. I am wondering if it is a thin or thick layer. Or do you mix it and spread like a thin layer of cement? Thanks! LOVE every video you and your wife put out. So wise and peaceful.
I haven't had great success with it, not sure I understand why. That said, you could start with 1 or 2 bags of 50# sacks and see if it improves things...
you should try japanese millet or wild rice, or water chestnuts; especially in anything that gets stagnant. Lotus are cool too. I like that you have realistic time frames on hugels. People don't get that they take lots of time to develop properly.
We need to evolve the water systems for sure. Many more layers to go!
This is a very interesting video about pond building. Could you address a flat acreage and how you might approach a flatish property?
If I do another video on these I'd be happy to
Found your video by searching hand dug. And yes, I wasn't searching for machine dug..lol
I can’t remember where I heard this, but just by having ducks. it will seal your pond. I think their manure will form a film that waterproofs your pond.
A good number of folks have mentioned this. Something for us to consider some day.
Thank you.
If your pond is silted up, you can clean it with help. motor pumps for dirty water and the suction nozzle Bagermaster. You can remove bottom sediments and excess vegetation without chemicals
Your knowledge is obviously vast. I am not trying to troll you, maybe if you tried to film on days it is less windy your videos would be of a much higher quality. There are multiple times in the video that the wind drowns out what you are saying, the loud bursts of wind are quite painful tbh. Thanx for the information regarding ponds.
I don't sense you trolling in any way. I read what you are putting down here as genuine and helpful feedback, so thanks! I need to up my game on recording on days with windiness, get a mic sock or something!
Great video! - I suggest you put some thought into the quality of the audio. They make wind screens for microphones.
I hear you. I invested in a wireless mic that has the fuzz on it. I plan to use that more as it seems to really help. I recorded a video with a sock over the end of the phone recently and that help, too! :)
Nice video I love this
So glad you found it enjoyable.
You people are amzing
If you could hold a tiny bit more water you can setup some aquaponics (pondponics)
i practice in the wilderness and spread local perennial grasses and pioneer trees
I would like to ask you about two comments that you made in which you suggest ways of sealing ponds [1] was to run pigs in the pond and the other [2] was to use Bentenite clay. As I am about to start digging on my land and install a pond, could you point me in the direction of how to use pigs or benternite clay to seal a pond. GREAT content chow
I've tried adding Bentonite Clay to some of the hand dug ponds but have since observed that it doesn't seem to improve the holding of the ponds I've dug. I'm not sure what I've done wrong there...
The pigs idea is from other documentation I've seen from folks. Seems like a solution that has worked really well for people.
This has been a favorite channel of mine for years, I love going back through old videos. What books did you read for working with water?
So glad the old videos still feel valuable.. I didnt find any books that were particularly helpful for me, so I just explore as I go.
I want to do this on my property as well. I don't want to use a liner either. I have sugar sand on my property, which really sucks.
I would think that type of soil would be super hard to have hold water... The thing is, you can always dig and see, and if it truly doesn't work in a natural way, you can refine it and add a liner if and when it proves necessary.
@@edibleacres at the back of my property which is the lowest area on my land has a water hole/small pond that is shallow (8-10 feet deep) and holds water very well however I beleive its all muck holding it in and where I want the pond that I wish to install is at the highest point of my property as it gets the most sun for the food forest I wish to install. I'm in the state national forest so big oaks and pine trees cover the landscape and choke the sun out alomst completely in most areas of my property and its not feasable to put the food forest anywhere else. I was thinking about possibly using bentonite clay however that is not something readily available where I am at. I guess a pond liner may be in my future as much as I wish to not use one. I'll never know If I don't give it a shot, so ill take your advise and I appreciate you very much
Have you thought about adding ducks? They trample their own poop at the waters edge, gleying it. The water comes up and they gley the edge some more. The water comes up even more... and so on. In that way, ducks actually seal and thereby create their own ponds!
I've heard this idea before, as well as pigs on larger scale pond systems. I think that if/when we live on this property in a full time way I'd very much like to work with this idea. I love it!
Here’s G. Lawton’s vid on the use of ducks to seal ponds. Sounds reasonable. Like I said, our pond only leaked at the beginning and we fixed it with the clay before we had many ducks on the pond. Can’t say if the ducks manure prevented the extensions to our pond from leaking as they have never leaked. ua-cam.com/video/NNv1bFEzIyQ/v-deo.html
Very cool
Could you please talk more about how the pond "seals"?
I wish I could say I knew! Still having a hard time getting it to lock for a long time, but getting a compressed/smeared layer of clay and organic matter helps close the pores of the soil to hold in more water. Not sure fire, and prolonged drought will undo it quite easily.
omg solar gain from the pond surface!? so cool, the amount of utility you stacked is insane
Thanks Julia. It seems like the additional layers and detail present themselves as possible as the work happens. It almost designs itself if that makes any sense.
LOL! "hand dug." I get the same things when I've searched for "clearing land by hand." Videos using heavier equipment.
You truly have a gift my friend. Thank you for sharing it with the world. How did you acquired
all of this knowledge if you dont mind me asking?
And relayed so eloquently!
Trying and working with things. Nothing fancy. Just lots of work and enjoying the process. To some extent, youtube has been helpful in seeing examples of things I want to learn which is in part why I make the videos I do, to share back from where I learned ideas. But no formal training or things like that, I'm just a regular guy figuring it out as I go along.
EdibleAcres That is an extremely inspiring statement for me and I'm sure a lot of others who see that what you have got going on and have created is a beautiful thing. Thank you for making these videos and paying it forward. I'll make sure to do the same one day. In the meanwhile, I'm excited to see more! thank you
Inspiring for me too! I'd like to farm (i.e. have lots of excess to sell) and not just "homestead" but I don't have the opportunity to go train somewhere or the resources to get a second education... so I'm going to the school of trial and error and sometimes it's discouraging.
Liked and subscribed! One question for discussion pertains to my property. My one acre lot is in a creek bottom. A creek runs a couple of hundred feet from the lot but not through it. The soil is very good and drains surprisingly well unless heavily compacted. The property just north of mine has a pond on it (1/4 to1/3 acre) which is almost always dry. Enough background. My question is: What techniques can I use to slow the absorption of my soil? I would like to have ponds and "swales" but worry that with such good percolation to the soil the effort might be wasted.
I think slowing it down is always helpful, regardless of percolation. There will always be some heavy heavy rainstorms that woudl run off the property unless you provide some switch backs and swales. If they absorb it quickly thats still fine, its getting down into the water table where you want it.
Thank you for the video...how do you deal with the accumulating water while you're digging?
Normally we do the deeper digging projects during the seasons when there is less/no water.
Look into sealing ponds with ducks
You mention potentially using pigs for sealing your ponds, have you considered ducks, instead? I've heard Geoff Lawton talk about that and I'm actually considering it myself. Great videos. Thanks.
Ducks could be a great fit. I haven't used either, but both seem possible and promising. I'd love to hear how they work for you if you go that route.
I'll be in touch as I get to work on this within the next couple of months or so. Currently focusing on a perennial garden and a large production garden we are running a CSA out of. The ducks are ready to go, though. Blessings
If you ever want to follow up on the idea of pigs I hope you'll check out American Guinea Hogs. They are a small good tempered breed.
there is a Geoff Lawton video of using ducks to fix leaky ponds on youtube. ua-cam.com/video/NNv1bFEzIyQ/v-deo.html
I love you so much!
Are ponds only successful in clay soil? I’d love a pond but I’m not sure my soil structure would hold onto water this way??
A LOT of labor. I’ve been digging and messing around with a spring in my yard for a few years and it’s fun but hard. The only problem I have is tons of silt accumulation on the bottom. I have a stream running into the pond, is there any way to prevent lots of silt? I also love the idea of growing a garden around it but there are so many animals around mine that would just eat it. Cool vid bro
If silt is running in, you may want to watch our two part series...
One is: ua-cam.com/video/cRyrZ-FPzDk/v-deo.html
Follow up is: ua-cam.com/video/1pASPuHOKCw/v-deo.html
Really cool! Nice job! Been looking for something like this but can only find excavator ones. Dont have cash for that. So thank you.
Thank you
Is there an X pounds of moving soil where you think it may be better to employ a mini excavator? It seems at a cost of ~$5k (purchase value-sale value+ maintenance costs) for ~5years and ~1million pounds.. it may be worth it?
I really like the idea of harvesting the edges for garden beds as the pond expands. I wonder if this is possible in heavy compact clay environments(where I'm looking to develop) a 20ftx1ftx ~1ft deep small "pond" will drain in late summer? It seems like getting to max depth the first year would be best.
100% worth it to use an excavator if that is the calculation... BUT, it's more complex here... to get in a machine we would have had to cut down a bunch of trees, then moving the soil to production garden areas would have been a complex and strange move. Chipping away little by little let us generate a huge number of garden beds and keep the forest...
But in a basic way the question is super valid and worth posing to be sure.
@@edibleacres I didn't realize there was an access issue to the trenches, that makes much more sense now. I suspected it was more of a anti-machine sentiment and a less peaceful working environment.
In regards to moving to production areas, I wonder why it would be complex? I would think lifting at the site and dumping into a wheelbarrow would be easy enough(assuming there is a rough design element to accommodate). In my experience, its efficient with 1 person on the excavator and 1-3 people on wheelbarrows(distance dependent). Although, it would be overkill if it was a 1-person project.
It's been very useful to stumble upon your channel. I really like your teaching style. I'm a new steward on 16 acres of very wet land on a less gentle north/west slope (7a, but functions like 5a-5b). So, you can see how your videos have been useful! Thanks for all the great info. I will continue to spend hours learning. I do wish that you had information on Muscovy ducks..
Is there any organic method to hold water in ponds?.... My ponds doesn't hold water during dry season
You may look up 'Gley' as a concept and explore that. I also had decent success with a pile of newspapers that I would dredge sheet by sheet through a clay slurry to make like a paper mache for the walls. Also Sodium Bentonite is something to look into.
Me and you do thing's exactly the same. WOW.
A decent quality old shovel is too hard of steel for a file to cut. My advice with hand tools is to buy old ones whenever possible. You have to buy very top of the line new tools to compete with old ones (which were nothing special in their day).
Old tools are great! We have someone in our area who refurbishes them and I try to buy them when I can.