I feel like I don't say this enough, as I don't always comment, but you guys are brilliant in the way you utilize resources and set up systems that have hardly any waste. I'm still learning on a new piece of land, and while it can be overwhelming at times, it is exciting that I will NEVER stop learning how to work with nature. THANK YOU for all you share. Without a doubt I always leave inspired and calmed.
I respect that everything in the system (besides the natural) has a sort of trash-sthetic to it because it implies a willingness to adapt it or rethink it without losing a lot of costly material or labor.
You’re a self watering genius. And thank you for saying what “on contour” actually means. Everybody uses the term, but no one actually say what it means.
@@edibleacres I just bought some land in MO and am moving out there in October. This is the sort of stuff I want to do with my land so it's greatly appreciated to see all the things I could do.
I love your water systems and i love how you show them raw. It has helped me view my own water management with more confidence even without it being engineering based. The intuitive approach with low dollar inputs is often so looked down on that I used to be embarrassed. Now I'm happy to show how it works :) So... barrel and basin work is next. Not sure how soon that will be possible for me (added complexity: no car or vehicle!) Thank you for sharing!
I love your point, that it is not necessary to plan every tiny bit to perfection from the beginning. Because most of us probably have a place that IS. And it is not possible to "do it over" just so it is perfectly "permacultured". I kind of think that those big overhauls are,, or at least can be very destructive or wasteful. But on your channel I can learn to tweek my place to function better and better without ripping out everything and start over!
Awesome ideas. I just ran a bunch of hoses with the Y splitter connectors all through my property. Every Y connection has a separate hose with a float valve inside my resivors, so I dont have to turn them on and forget. The source water comes from rain water into a series of 55 gallon drums on cinder blocks to gravity feed everything. Luckily my house sits at the top end of our slope, so no solar needed!
Hi Sean. I only learned of your channel this spring, but have already learned so much from you that's helpful, like this watering method. Thanks so much!
"it's ugly..." " It leaks..." "Don't buy it new..." "You walk away, get distracted and it overflows..." Your humility in showing the "Non-Insta" views and perspectives IS SUCH A BLESSING 💕
Having a pump ready just in case sounds like the best idea to me. Which is why I saved the old one that was still in working order during a reno of my basement drainage system.
Great video. I've an old ornamental non-functioning well pump at the front of my house. I thought it was just decorative, so for years, left it be. This year I dug up close to it and have uncovered part of a large round concrete cover, so it looks like I do have a well and water source (d'oh!). I haven't managed to dig it all up yet, but if I can get it re-established I will be very happy.
Absolutely love your approach because it seems to me a great mix of simple systems (like the solar pump) and manual efforts. Digging out the trench in "real time" with actual water flowing through it instead of trying to use fancy equipment is genius. Thank you for sharing your experience!
You just got yourself a subscriber. I’m in the planning phase of creating passive water storage and use systems on my tiny suburban lot. This helps me work through some ideas I already had. Thanks!
I am SO GLAD I found your channel! Let me explain... I found out about the many benefits of sea berries over winter and ordered some from a vendor I shall not name in Oregon in early March with hopes they'd arrive just in time to plant in Spring. Well we all know what happened later in March that locked down the world. I ended up not getting my Sea Berries until a week ago. They arrived with leaves falling off so I took pictures and was able to get half discount off my order. Now the reason for my excitement of finding your channel is I likely live within 30 to 80 miles from you. I live 15 miles North and East of Auburn, NY. if any of my berry plants don't make it I will buy more from you. I am already making a list of trees and shrubs I am going to buy from you next Spring. Subbed, and am eager to watch all of your videos!
Sorry you had frustrations there, it's been a tough year for so many companies so hopefully they'll get things better... We should have nice Seaberry for local folks in the fall, and you may very much want to check out www.silvertreeforest.com/ since they are a nursery in Auburn AND have been offering seaberry!!
@@edibleacres Wow thanks so much for the information! Yes, I agree with you, it's been a tough time for everyone. Ordering live things in the mail is difficult right now. I am glad I found you as I said. I'll definitely be making a trip your way if not in fall then spring. I have 7 acres of land and am looking to add many fruiting trees/shrubs to it.
Nice. 'Iterative system' and using the inevitable 'disaster' (I live in a semi arid location) as a resource, while using the water to direct microswale operations, are really useful ideas to me.
My advice would be to switch the AC cable for DC cable. Those are made with only one ticker wire and have less resistance when used with DC current. Your pump should run a bit faster this way...
@@edibleacres I wouldn't bother switching out the cable - its only 700mA, and your AC cable probably rated for considerably more. You probably just need a 12V 1A Buck Boost converter. Wired solar panel into the input, pump from the output. This should give you a steady 12V dc for the pump (unless the solar panel limits the power available). To get around this, you'd need a small sealed lead acid battery, and adjust the converter's output wiring to go to the battery, and take pump feed from battery.
Thank you for the time and energy you put into your videos. The rich information and proof of concepts are exactly what I need to keep moving towards this reality myself. And as a bonus, your voice is so calming that I always feel good while I'm watching your videos. Best wishes for you and yours.
Mike Reynolds, Earthship Biotecture Innovator, calls it "dealing with the Un-arguables", working with physical properties in real-time, reiterative, apply what you learn and distill out the excess. It's a process of refining how you interact with physics to get a result. Love your research, experimenting, and sharing. Blessings Abound
I really like your overflow system! I have several open tubs that I fill from water collected in rain barrels and all too often I get distracted only to return to late to discover water spilling over the rims of the tubs. One of the things I've noticed is an abundance of dragonflies in the neighbourhood since I set up these open tubs. Besides using the tubs for extra water storage, I also grow water lilies in them. Food for thought. Thanks for sharing your design with us. Now off to drill some holes and connect overflow hoses.
I just put some azolla and duckweed in one of my waterbarrels because I heard somewhere, that they reproduce like crazy. I'd love to have them in all my barrels and tubs to shade the water and use the water as a place to grow more plants zu mulch the beds with.
I've been working for the past year to find a cost effective way to use the slope on my property to passively water our garden, which is terraced. Problem is it's all uphill from the only place we can collect rainwater. We've been using ollas and watering cans but needed something with broader range. This video gave me some keys I was looking for. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
A little off topic, but I was eating a delicious local peach this morning and thinking that I wish I had a peach tree. My inner Sean said “Well, you’re holding a seed right now,” so I went out in the garden and shoved the pit down in a likely spot. Thanks for all of your videos!
Thank you for sharing your system. I too collect rain 🌧 water 💦 and like your setup. The water tote works with our system and like how you somehow have the water from it to transfer somehow to the galvanized tub. I would love 💕 to have that set up. We do have a solar water pump. The open battery part is the part where we need to work on. I purchased gardening tubes to move the water from the galvanized tub to the garden house. Great ideas
Galvanized tanks are a little expensive but I think worth it for the sturdy and long lasting of them... 55 gallon plastic drums are low cost and can be cut, modified easily, and you could even have plastic garbage cans or metal garbage cans as lower cost ways to hold 30+ gallons of water where you plan to use the water...
EdibleAcres agreed already have four galvanized 2x2x4 in my position cost little over $500 with taxes totally get it. I do have plastic also. The plan is to fill the bottoms with wood then layer with dirt then plant seedlings from our plastic containers. Your video gave ideas 💡. Thanks again
Great job, love your creativity and hard work ethic to lazy watering. The gardens look really happy. We’re so over run with bunnies this year. We switched to raised. Containers and Hugel bed gardening to keep them out.
There's another guy watch a lot of and he makes ram pumps been around since the early 1930s even earlier than that natural affect suction of air trapped in it and it pushes the Piston up and down to draw water up naturally on its own you can use the same setup for that I haven't personally tried it though but from videos I've seen it does work now the thing you're doing with the pumps like that I have done just some stuff I did when I lived out in the country in a swampy area and I was pumping water in my garden..
Another great video man. I just watched some of the Guild series, have you thought about adding to that Playlist again? Your camera gear is better now and I'd love to see some of your food forests again now with all the changes that have happened.
I'd love to see videos on what you guys eat, I know Sasha has done some recipes and concepts but if you're ever stuck on ideas thats something I'd be interested to see as I have my own issues breaking free of the way I was brought up on cooking and eating
What are those fuscia flowers inside the high tunnel when you first enter? I had those, yet, did not know what they were...and now they are gone......I love them!!! I love your channel & all that you share! Such a wonderful escape from my "new normal" and I trying to create a similar yard...I have even let my chickens help me with my compost. Thank you for all you do!
Just a quick thought Sean. For the areas that are uphill from your tanks that you would like to irrigate now and then. Ever come across discarded drip irrigation hose? Then a bottom discharge port from your tank might have enough gravity pressure for you to water your garden area that needs a drink. Anyways just a thought. As always enjoy you thought provoking videos. Stay safe .
I fill a ~150=200 gallon goldfish pond from my rain tanks. Then I fill my water cans from the pond to water my green house. I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten to turn the water off. My overflow is not as elegant as yours but it does go into the yard.
It's nice of your neighbour to share resources like that. But perhaps you're bartering plants and knowledge in permaculture design, while he allows the excess of his natural abundance to flow into your more mature system. If that is the case, what a wonderful partnership based on fair share.
You can salvage 12 v windshield washer pumps at the wrecking yard . I don't think they are submersible , but you can just hook some tubing to them . And I find that old toilet floats are a good way to regulate on/ off situations
Do you ever water the chicken compost run? Had mine go dry (maybe wasn't deep enough) and it stopped composting. Built a retainer to increase depth and watered it this weekend.
We've had dry spells where it definitely felt like it stalled out, but then once things pick up with rain again it wakes up. Never watered it because in dry times we need all the water for the garden!
Thank you for this look into passive watering, I’d like to avoid copious, hard-wired plastic irrigation. What do you do about mosquitoes with your many open water batteries?
They haven't been an issue, I think with bats feeling comfortable around here and frogs in the bodies of water that are natural/open to eat larvae it seems to regulate itself well...
Sean and Sasha, are there water-loving, or even water-living plants that can be added to these batteries? Not to make things too complicated, but just curious if that’s doable, or would require too much ecology or needless complexity. 🙏🏻
That is a layer of complexity that we should be open to exploring. Would need to be contained in a way and not take up a lot of space so there is easy room to get buckets in to scoop water. Something to explore. Perhaps water celery?
I have Tarro and water lilies , and water lettuce( I don’t recommend the lettuce it multiplies too quickly) bacopa works well, I have a pot of irises and mint semi submerged at the edge, and bluegills ( they can handle the fluctuating temp of tanks), the fish add nitrogen to the water and eat insects and larva, I don’t filter I use aeration balls ( which we intend to switch to solar). I have found that making the tanks into ponds that I fill with rainwater, as well as water from makes a difference in the health and vitality of my plants, and supports the wildlife in my gardens.
You mentioned winter cracking of a fitting on the IBC tote. Could you elaborate on winter prep/care of this irrigation element? We're in 5a/b also. I would like to add this element, and can already hear my husband the engineer throwing out his hypothetical questions.
Not best practice most likely, but what I've done for years is leave things as they are, but set a hose to one of the valves that is fully open and drains away from the structure... Tends to take care of most/all precipitation in the winter and be fine in the spring. I think the fitting cracked because I didn't set it up early enough and it got exposed to a really cold night while holding a lot of water.
How to prevent mosquitoes in this case? I guess you have to be more careful about keeping the water moving. If I leave a tank with still water for a few days during spring-fall, there will be an absolute swarm of mosquitoes for a few days, I live in Portugal though.
I know this off topic but I’m desperate for the information. Is it okay to have a plum, peach, pear and apple tree all together in a small yard or will it cause disease?
If they are incredibly close and the soils are in poor condition I could imagine issues coming up... If you focus on soil fertility and give a little air/room for them to breathe they should do well... Know that plum needs at least 2, near one another, for any luck on pollination... Good luck!
Thank you so much for your help! One more question while I have you? What’s the fastest growing edible privacy plant I can use to block out my neighbors?
If you run a pump in dry conditions its OK for a very short amount of time. Walk away and leave it for a duration (minutes to hours) and you can easily burn it out
I love the concept but man I could not do this on such a small scale. Those little trenches everywhere would be rolled ankles for me every other day. =P
Won't you just put a dimmer switch out there in a box going to just the voltage that way are voltage regulator you know just being cheap in that way it's the best way to do it I think the dimmer switch cuz I do that when I make hydrogen so I can control the voltage so I get the most out of the DC current.... Harbor Freights. Those things you can use like you used for Hotwire you can use those but you might have to control that voltage like I said it's got a battery already in it and it is a little battery.but te charging itself time again... just thought I'd add to that... because I watch your valued videos......
I wouldn't run a pump on a dimmer switch. I suspect that the pump will adjust fine to the PV panel, I used to run my solar hot water system straight off a PV panel, with the only protection being that it was switched off when the solar collectors (water) were colder than the tank. Went over to a 12V DC source only because the solar PV didn't match the heat well enough and I was losing afternoon heat.
Do you worry about water quality after it sits exposed? I'm thinking about detrimental algae, coliforms from birds, etc. I'm still struggling to find a system that doesn't give me concerns for e. Coli, etc.
I don't worry about it. There are many things I could worry about but it doesn't seem super helpful to do so, and so far I haven't seen any issues at all.
I feel like I don't say this enough, as I don't always comment, but you guys are brilliant in the way you utilize resources and set up systems that have hardly any waste. I'm still learning on a new piece of land, and while it can be overwhelming at times, it is exciting that I will NEVER stop learning how to work with nature. THANK YOU for all you share. Without a doubt I always leave inspired and calmed.
you're very frugal, really shows you can have a super good supply of food without spending all your money on equipment. Thanks Sean!
I respect that everything in the system (besides the natural) has a sort of trash-sthetic to it because it implies a willingness to adapt it or rethink it without losing a lot of costly material or labor.
Whenever we can source materials 2nd hand we do.
Thanks, Sean. I deeply appreciate your message that systems aren't perfect, but iterative.
You’re a self watering genius. And thank you for saying what “on contour” actually means. Everybody uses the term, but no one actually say what it means.
A lot of terms can be confusing, I'm glad sharing more detail was helpful to you...
@@edibleacres I just bought some land in MO and am moving out there in October. This is the sort of stuff I want to do with my land so it's greatly appreciated to see all the things I could do.
I love your water systems and i love how you show them raw. It has helped me view my own water management with more confidence even without it being engineering based. The intuitive approach with low dollar inputs is often so looked down on that I used to be embarrassed. Now I'm happy to show how it works :) So... barrel and basin work is next. Not sure how soon that will be possible for me (added complexity: no car or vehicle!) Thank you for sharing!
Love your ponds and waterways. Your natural approach to watering is eye opening and inspirational. Thank you 🤗👍
I love your point, that it is not necessary to plan every tiny bit to perfection from the beginning. Because most of us probably have a place that IS. And it is not possible to "do it over" just so it is perfectly "permacultured". I kind of think that those big overhauls are,, or at least can be very destructive or wasteful. But on your channel I can learn to tweek my place to function better and better without ripping out everything and start over!
Awesome ideas. I just ran a bunch of hoses with the Y splitter connectors all through my property. Every Y connection has a separate hose with a float valve inside my resivors, so I dont have to turn them on and forget. The source water comes from rain water into a series of 55 gallon drums on cinder blocks to gravity feed everything. Luckily my house sits at the top end of our slope, so no solar needed!
Sounds like a great system!
Hi Sean. I only learned of your channel this spring, but have already learned so much from you that's helpful, like this watering method. Thanks so much!
We're so very happy to have you with us Karen!
@@edibleacres Happy to be here, Sean. Say "hi" to Sasha.
"it's ugly..." " It leaks..." "Don't buy it new..." "You walk away, get distracted and it overflows..." Your humility in showing the "Non-Insta" views and perspectives IS SUCH A BLESSING 💕
You call it "not perfect" but encouraged all of us to try gardening for the first time. Thank you, Sean.
My pleasure.
Having a pump ready just in case sounds like the best idea to me. Which is why I saved the old one that was still in working order during a reno of my basement drainage system.
Great video. I've an old ornamental non-functioning well pump at the front of my house. I thought it was just decorative, so for years, left it be. This year I dug up close to it and have uncovered part of a large round concrete cover, so it looks like I do have a well and water source (d'oh!). I haven't managed to dig it all up yet, but if I can get it re-established I will be very happy.
Absolutely love your approach because it seems to me a great mix of simple systems (like the solar pump) and manual efforts. Digging out the trench in "real time" with actual water flowing through it instead of trying to use fancy equipment is genius. Thank you for sharing your experience!
You just got yourself a subscriber. I’m in the planning phase of creating passive water storage and use systems on my tiny suburban lot. This helps me work through some ideas I already had. Thanks!
Awesome! Thank you! We're excited to have you with us
I am SO GLAD I found your channel! Let me explain... I found out about the many benefits of sea berries over winter and ordered some from a vendor I shall not name in Oregon in early March with hopes they'd arrive just in time to plant in Spring. Well we all know what happened later in March that locked down the world. I ended up not getting my Sea Berries until a week ago. They arrived with leaves falling off so I took pictures and was able to get half discount off my order. Now the reason for my excitement of finding your channel is I likely live within 30 to 80 miles from you. I live 15 miles North and East of Auburn, NY. if any of my berry plants don't make it I will buy more from you. I am already making a list of trees and shrubs I am going to buy from you next Spring. Subbed, and am eager to watch all of your videos!
Sorry you had frustrations there, it's been a tough year for so many companies so hopefully they'll get things better... We should have nice Seaberry for local folks in the fall, and you may very much want to check out www.silvertreeforest.com/ since they are a nursery in Auburn AND have been offering seaberry!!
@@edibleacres Wow thanks so much for the information! Yes, I agree with you, it's been a tough time for everyone. Ordering live things in the mail is difficult right now. I am glad I found you as I said. I'll definitely be making a trip your way if not in fall then spring. I have 7 acres of land and am looking to add many fruiting trees/shrubs to it.
My way of gardening, perfect in the imperfect, giving it character and personality.
Nice. 'Iterative system' and using the inevitable 'disaster' (I live in a semi arid location) as a resource, while using the water to direct microswale operations, are really useful ideas to me.
My advice would be to switch the AC cable for DC cable. Those are made with only one ticker wire and have less resistance when used with DC current. Your pump should run a bit faster this way...
Thanks, I'll look into that. Definitely much more for me to learn about all that.
@@edibleacres I wouldn't bother switching out the cable - its only 700mA, and your AC cable probably rated for considerably more. You probably just need a 12V 1A Buck Boost converter. Wired solar panel into the input, pump from the output. This should give you a steady 12V dc for the pump (unless the solar panel limits the power available). To get around this, you'd need a small sealed lead acid battery, and adjust the converter's output wiring to go to the battery, and take pump feed from battery.
love yall. over the past 2 years I've watched so many of your videos. you have a wonderful spirit
Thank you for the time and energy you put into your videos. The rich information and proof of concepts are exactly what I need to keep moving towards this reality myself. And as a bonus, your voice is so calming that I always feel good while I'm watching your videos. Best wishes for you and yours.
Mike Reynolds, Earthship Biotecture Innovator, calls it "dealing with the Un-arguables", working with physical properties in real-time, reiterative, apply what you learn and distill out the excess. It's a process of refining how you interact with physics to get a result. Love your research, experimenting, and sharing. Blessings Abound
I really like your overflow system! I have several open tubs that I fill from water collected in rain barrels and all too often I get distracted only to return to late to discover water spilling over the rims of the tubs. One of the things I've noticed is an abundance of dragonflies in the neighbourhood since I set up these open tubs. Besides using the tubs for extra water storage, I also grow water lilies in them. Food for thought. Thanks for sharing your design with us. Now off to drill some holes and connect overflow hoses.
We should be looking into growing aquatic plants in these containers...
I just put some azolla and duckweed in one of my waterbarrels because I heard somewhere, that they reproduce like crazy. I'd love to have them in all my barrels and tubs to shade the water and use the water as a place to grow more plants zu mulch the beds with.
Great video Sean, by far my favourite permaculture educational channel.
Wow, thanks
I've been working for the past year to find a cost effective way to use the slope on my property to passively water our garden, which is terraced. Problem is it's all uphill from the only place we can collect rainwater. We've been using ollas and watering cans but needed something with broader range. This video gave me some keys I was looking for. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
So very glad this video offered you value
We just started catching rain. Thank you for the ideas.
Thanks for this video Sean, always appreciate the water management updates, really helps a lot for a dryland horticulturalist like me
Amazing low-tech solutions! Thanks for sharing and for your peaceful energy. Cheers!
Very lovely and accommodating
Thanks!
A little off topic, but I was eating a delicious local peach this morning and thinking that I wish I had a peach tree. My inner Sean said “Well, you’re holding a seed right now,” so I went out in the garden and shoved the pit down in a likely spot. Thanks for all of your videos!
ua-cam.com/video/ygweNxWXJww/v-deo.html - Ha, great minds think alike :)
Thank you for sharing your system. I too collect rain 🌧 water 💦 and like your setup. The water tote works with our system and like how you somehow have the water from it to transfer somehow to the galvanized tub. I would love 💕 to have that set up. We do have a solar water pump. The open battery part is the part where we need to work on. I purchased gardening tubes to move the water from the galvanized tub to the garden house. Great ideas
Galvanized tanks are a little expensive but I think worth it for the sturdy and long lasting of them... 55 gallon plastic drums are low cost and can be cut, modified easily, and you could even have plastic garbage cans or metal garbage cans as lower cost ways to hold 30+ gallons of water where you plan to use the water...
EdibleAcres agreed already have four galvanized 2x2x4 in my position cost little over $500 with taxes totally get it. I do have plastic also. The plan is to fill the bottoms with wood then layer with dirt then plant seedlings from our plastic containers. Your video gave ideas 💡. Thanks again
Great job, love your creativity and hard work ethic to lazy watering. The gardens look really happy. We’re so over run with bunnies this year. We switched to raised. Containers and Hugel bed gardening to keep them out.
We have a lot of bunny influence for sure. We need to figure that one out :)
Awesome set up
All the plants very lush and greenest...love your video...
Thank you so much 😊
@@edibleacres you're welcome
Excellent low tech way to use resources . And it keeps things out of the dump
Thank you for more ideas!!!
There's another guy watch a lot of and he makes ram pumps been around since the early 1930s even earlier than that natural affect suction of air trapped in it and it pushes the Piston up and down to draw water up naturally on its own you can use the same setup for that I haven't personally tried it though but from videos I've seen it does work now the thing you're doing with the pumps like that I have done just some stuff I did when I lived out in the country in a swampy area and I was pumping water in my garden..
Ram pumps require head, that is a difference in height of water. Wouldn't work on Edible acres relatively flat land.
Thanks so much for the information. Beautiful garden and chickens!
Another great video man. I just watched some of the Guild series, have you thought about adding to that Playlist again? Your camera gear is better now and I'd love to see some of your food forests again now with all the changes that have happened.
Thanks for the nudge on that. I should make some more guild tours since they are a key part of what I love doing in the garden!
I take a immersion pump with my hise it works so well
Awesome system, thank you for sharing.
You bet
I'd love to see videos on what you guys eat, I know Sasha has done some recipes and concepts but if you're ever stuck on ideas thats something I'd be interested to see as I have my own issues breaking free of the way I was brought up on cooking and eating
Thanks for your input here. We're trying to make more videos about cooking, preserving, etc.
This is such a simple and elegant way of implementing swales. Do you think one could water just with those directed tiny "trenches"?
Probably not, if there was a prolonged drought, but developing them means each good rain can be thoughtfully spread.
Great video! Thanks for sharing 💜
What are those fuscia flowers inside the high tunnel when you first enter? I had those, yet, did not know what they were...and now they are gone......I love them!!! I love your channel & all that you share! Such a wonderful escape from my "new normal" and I trying to create a similar yard...I have even let my chickens help me with my compost. Thank you for all you do!
It looks like carnations.
I believe you were seeing Rose Campion there.
Awesome setup!! Pantyhose stretched over the top opening is a great filter and keeps bugs out!
Good idea, thank you!
Just a quick thought Sean. For the areas that are uphill from your tanks that you would like to irrigate now and then. Ever come across discarded drip irrigation hose? Then a bottom discharge port from your tank might have enough gravity pressure for you to water your garden area that needs a drink. Anyways just a thought. As always enjoy you thought provoking videos. Stay safe .
Could be a nice solution, especially for nursery beds or where we're raising seedlings for transplant. The super tender stuff.
absolutely beautiful! thanku for posting :)
Such a wealth of information! Thank you so much!!!!
You are so welcome!
I fill a ~150=200 gallon goldfish pond from my rain tanks. Then I fill my water cans from the pond to water my green house. I can't tell you how many times I have forgotten to turn the water off. My overflow is not as elegant as yours but it does go into the yard.
great!!! and inspiring... thanks
Love it!
It's nice of your neighbour to share resources like that. But perhaps you're bartering plants and knowledge in permaculture design, while he allows the excess of his natural abundance to flow into your more mature system. If that is the case, what a wonderful partnership based on fair share.
You can salvage 12 v windshield washer pumps at the wrecking yard . I don't think they are submersible , but you can just hook some tubing to them . And I find that old toilet floats are a good way to regulate on/ off situations
That is a neat idea to explore. Thanks.
Do you ever water the chicken compost run? Had mine go dry (maybe wasn't deep enough) and it stopped composting. Built a retainer to increase depth and watered it this weekend.
We've had dry spells where it definitely felt like it stalled out, but then once things pick up with rain again it wakes up. Never watered it because in dry times we need all the water for the garden!
LOVE THIS‼️👌
Awesome insights into reality :) Some great concepts I'll surely be implementing ! Thanks
Thank you for this look into passive watering, I’d like to avoid copious, hard-wired plastic irrigation. What do you do about mosquitoes with your many open water batteries?
They haven't been an issue, I think with bats feeling comfortable around here and frogs in the bodies of water that are natural/open to eat larvae it seems to regulate itself well...
I noticed you have a board in each holding tank. Is that for insects and frogs to climb out? I love your setup.
Insects, frogs, birds, whoever may come in hoping for a nice dip and need something other than a perfectly vertical metal wall to get out!
Sean and Sasha, are there water-loving, or even water-living plants that can be added to these batteries? Not to make things too complicated, but just curious if that’s doable, or would require too much ecology or needless complexity. 🙏🏻
That is a layer of complexity that we should be open to exploring. Would need to be contained in a way and not take up a lot of space so there is easy room to get buckets in to scoop water. Something to explore. Perhaps water celery?
EdibleAcres will you and Sasha offer any water appropriate plants this fall?
I have Tarro and water lilies , and water lettuce( I don’t recommend the lettuce it multiplies too quickly) bacopa works well, I have a pot of irises and mint semi submerged at the edge, and bluegills ( they can handle the fluctuating temp of tanks), the fish add nitrogen to the water and eat insects and larva, I don’t filter I use aeration balls ( which we intend to switch to solar). I have found that making the tanks into ponds that I fill with rainwater, as well as water from makes a difference in the health and vitality of my plants, and supports the wildlife in my gardens.
It must really help to have a permeable substrate - which can be achieved in most cases I guess (given time and permaculture processes)
You mentioned winter cracking of a fitting on the IBC tote. Could you elaborate on winter prep/care of this irrigation element? We're in 5a/b also. I would like to add this element, and can already hear my husband the engineer throwing out his hypothetical questions.
Not best practice most likely, but what I've done for years is leave things as they are, but set a hose to one of the valves that is fully open and drains away from the structure... Tends to take care of most/all precipitation in the winter and be fine in the spring. I think the fitting cracked because I didn't set it up early enough and it got exposed to a really cold night while holding a lot of water.
I simply layer compost and a lot of mulch that holds insane amounts of water through rain. The rest of my water is stored in tanks for home use
Sounds like a great system you have setup!
awesome
How to prevent mosquitoes in this case? I guess you have to be more careful about keeping the water moving. If I leave a tank with still water for a few days during spring-fall, there will be an absolute swarm of mosquitoes for a few days, I live in Portugal though.
Can you share information about solar panel and motor setup?
ua-cam.com/video/1KC0iWALT_s/v-deo.html - one video we put out a ways back. You can search 'solar' on our video page and see other info.
If you put the first water container higher (on pallet wood for instance) you can irrigate the whole garden with it. :-)
We may explore getting that tub up higher.
Use a step dawn converter for your solar pomp it's cheap around 3 to 5 dollar
I know this off topic but I’m desperate for the information. Is it okay to have a plum, peach, pear and apple tree all together in a small yard or will it cause disease?
If they are incredibly close and the soils are in poor condition I could imagine issues coming up... If you focus on soil fertility and give a little air/room for them to breathe they should do well... Know that plum needs at least 2, near one another, for any luck on pollination... Good luck!
Thank you so much for your help! One more question while I have you? What’s the fastest growing edible privacy plant I can use to block out my neighbors?
What would happen to the pump if / when the pond empties?
If you run a pump in dry conditions its OK for a very short amount of time. Walk away and leave it for a duration (minutes to hours) and you can easily burn it out
What are the silver cisterns/containers called? Have not seen them in germany.
They are galvanized stock tanks that are available at local agricultural places. They may be out your way too
I like! 👍🏼❤️
Great!
I love the concept but man I could not do this on such a small scale. Those little trenches everywhere would be rolled ankles for me every other day. =P
They could be filled with coarse wood chip to level them but still allow water to move slowly through them, just as an idea.
Won't you just put a dimmer switch out there in a box going to just the voltage that way are voltage regulator you know just being cheap in that way it's the best way to do it I think the dimmer switch cuz I do that when I make hydrogen so I can control the voltage so I get the most out of the DC current.... Harbor Freights. Those things you can use like you used for Hotwire you can use those but you might have to control that voltage like I said it's got a battery already in it and it is a little battery.but te charging itself time again... just thought I'd add to that... because I watch your valued videos......
I wouldn't run a pump on a dimmer switch.
I suspect that the pump will adjust fine to the PV panel, I used to run my solar hot water system straight off a PV panel, with the only protection being that it was switched off when the solar collectors (water) were colder than the tank. Went over to a 12V DC source only because the solar PV didn't match the heat well enough and I was losing afternoon heat.
Do you worry about water quality after it sits exposed? I'm thinking about detrimental algae, coliforms from birds, etc. I'm still struggling to find a system that doesn't give me concerns for e. Coli, etc.
Wash your hands after working in the garden. Those same birds are pooping on the ground, your plants, everything.
I don't worry about it. There are many things I could worry about but it doesn't seem super helpful to do so, and so far I haven't seen any issues at all.
Can you do a video on keeping deer out of gardens
search for 'deer' in our video list and we have a few options that may have a little value...
Maybe throwing some feeder goldfish into those tubs will help with bugs and add a little bit of fertilizer.
what is th ename of the pink flowers? i had soem and they died. Would like to get mre of them but dont know the name
Maybe that was Anise Hyssop?
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Where is your store site?
We're at edibleacres.org
Are there mulberry that aren’t cold tolerant?
There are definitely mulberry for warmer places.
Aztec kind of irrigation problem...