Total Transformation: Bringing Life Back to Damaged Land, Barren Quarry to Abundant Prairie - Year 1
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- Опубліковано 23 вер 2024
- Within 9 months, the barren landscape began to teem with life.
In this video we take you on a captivating journey of transformation as we breathe life back into a once-ravaged landscape in the Texas Hill Country. Witness the remarkable metamorphosis from a chalky almost pure calcium bedrock quarry into a flourishing ecosystem.
Our story begins with the most devastated 3 acres, where mining had left the land barren, resembling a desolate wasteland. The soil, devoid of life and vitality, was tightly compacted with zero organic matter. Infiltrating rainwater into the soil seemed like an improbable dream. However, we refused to be daunted and we do NOT give up on restoring this land.
With meticulous planning and steadfast determination, we took on the task of aiding this land in the process of regeneration. We worked with the natural contours of the land to build a series of berms, swales and ephemeral ponds (generally referred to as earthworks) that catch and help infiltrate rainwater that was previously running off this land, causing erosion. We carefully introduced compost, biochar, basalt dust, mycelium, biodynamics, custom liquid biofertilizers and microbial inoculants, nurturing the soil's structure and fertility. We strategically planted a diverse array of native plants, each playing a vital role in the rejuvenation of the ecosystem and increasing the biodiversity.
To our astonishment, the transformation unfolded at an accelerated pace surpassing our wildest expectations. Within 9 months, the barren landscape began to teem with life. New shoots emerged from the soil, painting it in vibrant hues of green. Insects returned including bees, dragonflies and butterflies, flitting from flower to flower. Reptiles, birds and mammals found refuge in the restored habitat, adding their melodies to the symphony of nature. Now even a bottle-fed, previously-wild pig follows his caretaker, Donna, to the ponds and enjoys a dip on hot days!
This video stands as a testament to the extraordinary power of nature's resilience and the unwavering human spirit. It serves as a beacon of hope, demonstrating that even the most damaged land can be restored. With love, perseverance, and a deep understanding of collaboration with ecological systems.
Products For Land Stewards:
We mentioned a lot of different products we used in this video and some of them are easy enough to get off the shelf or from the soil yard that we can share access to them for individuals looking to steward their own land.
Humisoil: Order by email: Symbiosis@vrmbiologik.com
Biodynamic Preparations:
jpibiodynamics... & biodynamicsour...
Compost/ Biochar/ Bio-Fertilizer inoculant:
shop.symbiosis...
MEA Water Structuring Devices:
shop.symbiosis...
Native grass and wildflower seeds:
seedsource.com/
We’ll add more links as we can establish relationships that bring more of the systems and products we use to the general public with smaller scale projects.
Here are some other places you can connect with Symbiosis!
Website - www.symbiosistx.com
(Sign up for our newsletter on our homepage if you want to get monthly updates from us)
Instagram - / symbiosis.tx (Get more regular updates on our current projects with videos and descriptions)
Facebook - / symbiosistx (We're still on here)
TikTok - www.tiktok.com... (We’re new here! =)
UA-cam - / @symbiosistx (Your already here but here’s a link anyway =)
This video was produced by Dylan Bures, check him out! @DylanBures
#landrestoration #ecosystem #transformation #sustainability #nature #hope #permaculture #ecology #texas #hillcountry #water #soil #nativeplants #grass #wildflowers #compost #garden
Great video! Look at that hydro seeding truck drive right down the basin of that terrace. You don’t often see that capability in swales.
If all your fellow citizens could see this video .... what a re-newed vision for the future ...abundant, green and healthy. Thank you.
Let’s go!
Bravo boys! Very nice. I own a permaculture biz in Phoenix. We obviously mostly do urban projects so this is very inspiring to see the real deal happening over large swaths of land.
Hows the biz in az ?
Thanks! We started out more urban and slowly became more oriented to larger scale projects. Now urban jobs are a very small percentage of our overall work but they’re still fun in the right context!
Great land stewards doing great things here in the Hill Country!
Amazing work! Thank you for taking the time to chronicle this and sharing it. I really enjoy this type of content
More to come!
Great project!!
This is awesome! It's very educational and is very respectful of the land. Beautiful work and words to describe the project. Thank you!
Thank you very much!
Awesome job. I recently seen a news program about Zombie well..old abandoned oil wells and damage that were continuing to create problems. While it appears capping them is very expense I wonder if maybe better land management and containment might help since as their exposed to the elements they will continue to be problemic over time. The old mine materials I would assume to be absorbant to fluids but the biggest problems seem to be gases into the air. Just thinking about it so again great job.
Y’all are the actual best!! 👏👏👏 thank you for all of your hard work
Cool!
One of my future goals is to buy such desolate quarry (or other dead barren land) for dirt cheap and transform it into a paradise. Thx for doing trials for me, and I can't wait to see this wonderful project of yours develop in the future
Great!!!
These guys are incredibly articulate in their explanations of the various processes.
Super professional! I'm well inspired now.
Thanks!!!
Amazing job! So inspiring.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Fantastic work Adam & team ❤
Thanks for the awesome video and sharing your insights!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great stuff guys we need to get out there keep it up!
We will!
Crazy how we always get these places that are super degraded to be healed i wonder how little u would have to work in a less disturbed area
If it’s not degraded or disrupted, let nature take the wheel. That being said, pretty much all land in Texas is disrupted due to fragmentation, lack of bison, apex predators and appropriate grass fires.
@@symbiosistx In brittle climates, even less degraded lands can continue degrading with no intervention of animals or technology. I have seen this in the drylands of Brazil, where ( not very severly )degraded farmland does not recuperaate on its own.But these lands are surpringly quick to be turned around with polycultures and animals. And often the expensive application of compost etc is not necessary.
Great video! Super inspiring!
These videos get me so hype and inspired!!!! Feel like I could run through a brick wall right now lmao proud of yall dudes ! Look forward to helping out on these larger watershed healing projects 😍
LFG!!!!
@@symbiosistx 💪💪💪💪
This was so inspiring to the re-greening project I have in the high mountain desert. You guys are doing gods work!!!
Thanks!
Yasssss!!!!! This is amazing!! You guys are the coolest.
Thanks!!!
Amazing, love these videos! It is so nice to see videos showing these techniques applied the Texas Hill Country landscape. It is crazy how fast these the land responds
Glad you enjoyed it!
love ittttttt. great work!
Thank you!!
Great work you guys! That’s coming along very well.
Thanks! 👍
You might suggest to them that adding trees and eventually beaver will help a lot for further improvement, adding trees at the top of the watershed will help them spread down and the beaver may dam further down
Yes! Planning to plant thousands of trees in Spring. Can’t just drop beaver into this area… yet. We can dream of the day though 😄
Such great info… just subbed and looking forward to going back over your videos. We’re working on converting a 1/2 acre field of Bermuda grass and weeds into a garden, agritourism, and educational space. 😀
Welcome aboard!
Same the fungi!😍🔥 such a beautiful soul. Miss you brotha!
The best!
So much excellent scientific knowledge in this video. The parts about soil, nutrient, and fungal interactions, and the electromagnetic properties of the basalt are impeccable classroom biology lessons that definitely weren't in the books 20 years ago. Shaun Overton at Dustups Ranch is trying to activate his desert land with biochar & mulch, but he didn't add basalt or fungal amendments other than what was in his compost tea. He is so remote and his bulldozer keeps breaking down; he needs a team like you guys have to help him jump-start a few of his 320 acres. Cheers!
Thanks!!!
when they talked about micro rhizomes, all i could think was "theyre nutrient brokers?" hahaha
I know right? Mycelium, wheeling and dealing in the underbelly of life as we know it.
Nicely done gents. So often these types of videos can get a bit too groovy. So refreshing to see such passionate reality based explanations
Once those two young men hit their stride, the explanations became rather captivating. Both speaking with confidence, after a what seemed to be a timid start, then eventually beaming. Thanks for the video Symbiosis, it appears that you've assembled a bit of a dream team for land management.
As well, the transformation in the moonscape was phenomenal.
Much appreciated!
Hello
What was used to fill the quary?
Growing flower over compost and manure i can do on a balcony.
I expect next years to be less impressive as manure wont be here anymore and roots would not have time to go deep.
How many did truckload did you put? That is impressing !
They want to have a pasture, i hope they will implement a system that will not ruin your efforts.
About the flowers coming back more weakly next year, that shouldn’t necessarily be true, it will depend on their seed mix. Here in Europe, very differ conditions I know, but gardeners are told if they want to grow a wild flower meadow they have to first reduce the fertility of their soils and weaken the grass. This is done by planting flower seed that weakens grass roots and reduces nitrogen in the soil. Also as the grass/weeds/wild flowers rots down and decays that will add fertility to the soil. So long as they don’t cut and remove the grass it will have a self feeding effect. There is a lot more research being done done now on understanding how ‘weeds’ help repair the landscape.
Maaan i wish i woulda found yall before i moved to louisiana! Wouldve loved to work for yall!
There’s folks in Louisiana doing similar stuff I’m sure!
@@symbiosistx im doing some dune, swampland, and oyster bed rehabilitation down here for now!
What precipitation rate can this handle?
Moving target but so far so good and will improve each year. Spillways are adequate to prevent any blowouts so no big deal if we can’t catch every drop in some rain events.
I’m wondering about the expense of the project. Fortunate..but a great thing !
It was an investment for sure. I would be willing to bet that it still cost less than most people building out a lot in this area would usual spend on landscaping and general land work that is less functional and in most cases probably detrimental to the greater ecosystem.
Great video 👍
Ominous music 👎
Interesting that it felt ominous! Noted.
@@symbiosistx That was a quibble that I had too. For me it became quite the distraction and I was about to stop watching. Thankfully your young colleagues hit their stride and I carried on.
Don't you think it would be better to spread the bio-char and rip the hardpacked desert soil at the same time?
Otherwise, you're almost just spreading fertile soil on top of pure gypsum. I would expect most tree roots to bounce off the bottom and stay in the fertile zone, at least for longer than they need to.
I'm usually against tilling the soil because it destroys the root and mycelial systems. But in this case, there's nothing to destroy.
Actually we completely agree and when we can we put down most of the amendments first then do our berms/ terraces and fold the amendments into the soils as we work.
You sound like Greg Judy
I’ll take that as a compliment!
The application of the principles in terrible situations. But we need to know what it cost. After all this is only three acres..What is the yearly rainfall? It is a one-off investment, so maybe it was worth the investment.But it seems more of an exercise to see what can be done on totally destroyed landscapes, to prove what is possible.
Every context is unique. In this case the clients wanted to see results quickly and were able to afford a “no holds barred” approach so that’s what we did. We will study this system, and many others, over time to see what treatments produce what results in each context and start to get more defined understanding of cost benefit in certain contexts. Everything is expensive when you’re prototyping/ relearning and synergistically applying new and old wisdom. We all have to do what we can, where we are, with what we have.
Hi I am from India, how can I work with you?
Hi! You can follow us on our digital platforms and help spread the word by sharing our content. Other than that, I recommend you seek out some organizations or individuals in your local area to work with. India has some really great projects that regenerating whole watersheds. Very exciting!
Martinez Elizabeth Smith William Wilson Nancy
Thanks for tagging your friends and spreading the word!!!
0:50 Two thumbs up
Thanks!