Logs in Ponds! Experiments in managing excess organic matter
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
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Happy growing!
That brush trick works so much better than the wheelbarrow! When I moved brush with the wheelbarrow, I had to retrace my steps and pick up all the fallen branches not to mention the branches poking me in the eye!
Yeah, wheelbarrow is great but not ideal for moving wide and open brush
An extension to that technique...
Same strap, same layout, but ensure butt ends are aligned. Tighten strap and you can use a chainsaw to cut through the pile. Then you have the brush cut to the same length and tied. I usually put in several ties and cut so that I end up with several bundles.
Brush cut to the same length can be used for biochar, rocket stoves and/or aerobic hugelkultur.
Good idea
Sean, you know you got the strap idea from the cover of Led Zeppelin IV. 😄
Hahaha you're right! That's exactly what that looks like
I had to look that up, very funny!
What's a led Zeppelin Iv?
@@austintrees I'll tell you all about it when the levee breaks.
These videos of unusual ideas and experiments are my favorites !! 😊 Thank you !! 😊
Right? I love this channel, learned so much here over the years.
my land floods in the spring and I've dug mini ponds and back filled with hand sawed european buckthorn. It definitely helped some toads and the mice as well, mushrooms everywhere
Very cool! European buckthorn seems like it has a ton of density and life feeding potential in a slow and steady way
Looking forward to seeing how the space evolves!
Thanks, we do too!
I’m a trucker and often just tie ratchet straps too, for my loads, those clamping devices can be irritating at times too, more trouble than they’re worth…😂. Really interesting technique with the logs, reminds me of ancient Mexico City hugel culture mounds, probably how they did them. You’d of course fill in your pond, but if that was the intention then it be could fantastic. Just occurred to me, maybe they piled organic matter 5-8 feet above the waterline and it “falls” into soil…. Good ideas you stared.🎉
logs in the landscape is always a plus! I just planted a fruiting hedgerow at my parents house and the first thing we did was half burry some logs beside it.
What a great way to utilize the fallen logs.
A new building video! That would be amazing. I really like your building videos. All your videos are great tho. ❤
We'll see what we can do!
Happy and proud to be part of the subset! Great info as always!
So glad to share with you!
Now everyone in a wet climate will want 'semi watery hugelies'... You need to copyright that term! 😁 On a side note, I have a friend here in Yorkshire UK who does a lot with willow, and has had a number of commissions to fortify eroding river banks with metre thick woven willow structures; they collect silt from the water, becoming a growing space for trees and shrubs which themselves protect the bank. This is far cheaper than craning in concrete blocks, as well as being far preferable for the habitat.
Love it, basketry ideas have such a wide range of potential application :)
Cool👌🔥
i'm sure the salamanders and all sorts of little woodland critters are going to love those sodden logs as well!
I would really hope so
Great work and effort. I hope to learn more about Flood Plain food security. These tricks and experiments are helping , Thanks for being a mentor to many
Cool show for re-purposing organic matter
I have a handful of swale/mounds around the property that I've been filling with rotted logs, branches, and any brush that needs a home. So far it's worked great. There seems to be a lot more beneficial critters in them now whereas before (without the brush), in the summer months, it was primarily mosquitoes! Also, running directly along the swales are mounds with a dense planting of woody perennials. Everything in the mounds seem to thrive and benefit from the swales and brush. I always thought of them as a sort of variant on huglekultur!
That was much deeper than it seemed. All the logs !
Definitely absorbed a few log bigs!
We do a lot of chipping with our brush. Spread it on our raised beds along with all our maple leaves. Goes on our herbal beds and anywhere we want to slow the weeds. The chips also make great trail beds too. We live in the timber so lots of chips available. Haven’t burned brush for 40 years. We have a spot on the property where we pile all the excess material. Critters love it and it is constantly rotting into compost that we can use. 😊
I did something similar last year. I covered the logs with soil and planted carrots in the spring. I top watered them until they germinated and mulched with chopped fava bean stalks. After that, no water or work until harvest. Please note there's a terrific amount of settling using this method! If you intend to grow on top, best to double the amount of soil you'd normally use for any particular crop.
Thank you.
You are welcome
Awesome tip for the ratchet straps
Thanks brother 😊
I do this sort of thing for holes and depressions. My property has more slope so keeping water is more work.
You always have great ideas 💡 🌝👍
great idea, i moved to VA 4 years ago and there is a crack the runs through part of my field that flows with water when it rains, I've been putting wood chips and hemp bedding from my chickens in there to help build soil. I will try to add some logs and then soil and plant lots of wi inter squash in it next year
Hope it works!
Awesome idea❤️
Hi Sean. I recently.read that deer 5:27 detest the smell of to rosemary. Might be worth planting some cuttings.
🦃🍗Grateful for you, family, and friends.🦃🍗For all you share and your amazing living-with-nature patterned ways. 🦃🍗 May good fortune smile on you always. 🦃🍗Happy Turkey Day🦃🍗
Great idea with the strap, especially with what looks to be Autumn Olive. They certainly aren't the most forgiving to haul with their crooked branching and quasi-thorns haha. Not nearly as friendly as Elders!
We have not done much of anything with ponds - yet ;) I have used loads and loads, hundreds of linear feet, of fallen logs, standing deadwood that I've taken down clearing some spaces - basically anything in the 'log' size category that's no good for any kind of construction - and used it for framing raised beds and along swale berms to make nurse logs.
That makes a ton of sense
Any concern of water overflow? Looks like a neat idea!
Water will certainly overflow, but the design for flowing in and flowing out is already in place here so it should work fine (I think!)
@ looking forward to seeing the end result!
I will incorporate this idea into my ponds...I think it will create more diverse habitats for larvae of insects and amphibians.
Turtles love basking on partially submerged logs at our local river. Do you have turtles in your neck of the woods?
We may... Hopefully they come if they aren't around already!
I did use small branches for building check-dam on a seasonal creek, if done before leaves fall, they can catch the leaves then the silt deposit.
Trying with logs this year. Now mushrooms are growing on the branches, which I think inoculated-log might be a good idea.
Will the wood float, and is that a problem?
Thanks for the video
It's probably better if it does float a bit. They'll hardly breakdown at all without exposure to air, especially larch. I think that's one of the submerged trees Venice, Italy was built on.
Nope. Once it becomes waterlogged it starts to ferment and loses carbon and sinks like in a swamp. Maybe initially a bit, but stops quickly…🌲
The wood is already have broken down so I think it will be fine. If it floats a little it should be ok too I think!
What are some water loving woody perennials? I have several failed ponds that only have water in spring.
River Locust, Alder, Elderberry, Currants, Honeyberry.... These are a few that pop into mind
The strap reminded me of the existence of the travois. Seems like a small one would be nice for dragging brush around with the strap, be able to carry even more. I will experiment :)
Could you use this hugel/pond in a grey water system?
You could certainly experiment with the idea. Adding charcoal and woodchips (inoculated with mushrooms?!) could add a bunch more filtration power too
Hy,
A question: do you have any suggestions on how to rapidly degrade/"compost" honeylocust thorny young trimmings? (Except making biochar)
That is tough. I would wonder if a brush wall somewhere nearby that is meant to be a safe haven for birds and such would be a nice place to simply pile it up out of the way!
@edibleacres now i definitely know that there are no (other) options. 😄 if you don't know, no one knows. Thank you for your prompt reply. The thing is i already raised a pile of such trimmings and don't like the looks. The birds already have their living hedges for chit chatting.
Those ponds don't look nearly as deep without a Sean for scale. Also, I've been using the brush bundle trick since you first showed us a few years ago. I tie the tail to keep the bundle tight, making a slip knot so I can have the long loop in one hand, then the free end in my other.
So glad the bundle trick works for you!
I've been doing the same thing in my woods with log debris, cutting into pieces and filling all the low spots. when i own heavy equipment one day I'll fill over the logs with soil and it should make it really nice and walkable for humans
I mean, we usually watch you dig in the dirt and move plants around, so this is very much in theme! 😅
❤
trunky bits lol 😆
I have several places in my garden where old wood is stacked. Some of it is in the ground, some above. It just serves as a hot spot for beetles and insects. In Germany it is called a beetle castle.
The formal term would be ´Totholzhaufen´- dead wood pile.
They get even more useful for critters when you cover parts with wood boards or stone slabs to keep them moist but not soaking wet when raining.
Sunny spot preferable.
I'll be interested in the results of this experiment. Wood under water doesn't necessarily break down readily. Submerged anaerobic wood has survived for centuries. I suspect, but am uncertain, that your results would be better if you set the logs as a sort of conical liner with the top ends at the pond shore above the water line. You may recall that Mollison recommended putting a bag of compost material into ponds to feed the microbiome of the pond. Very interested in the results ;)
I think the idea of it being under water for a while and then not under water later summers generally will push and pull moisture and help them break down a bunch.
If all you have is cordage/rope, and not a strap with an eye of some sort, a running bowline knot is the way to 👍
I think you might suffer an anoxic smelly mess if you have organic matter decomp in stagnant water for weeks or months at a time. You might achieve many of the same benefits, but without risking the anoxia, if you charcoal those rounds first then chuck the charcoal in the pit. The charcoal can hoover up any soluble nutrients (or contaminants I guess...) from the elevated water table. Leave the charcoal there, or pull it out for use later. I'm assuming the pit has no flow outlet. You'll lose the charcoal - and maybe the rounds - if there's exit flow. In that case I'd just cover the charcoal in soil there, and call it good.
Hugel-aqua-kultur?
It comes from the German gardening method and translates to hill culture.
I miss your man bun. I'm an old hippy chick wannabe and have always loved long hair.
I'm an old hippie, and miss having hair.😂
I thought it suited him better than the short hairt too. I usually think short hair looks better on men, but not him.
I imagine grabbing one of those logs after a year or two and using it to make instant mini hugel containers already charged with water and fertility.
You should inoculate the logs with mushrooms 🍄
They seem to be a bit too decomposed already to establish fresh spores. Plus I'm not sure if Larch is a good species for that. But I am definitely not a mushroom expert so maybe I'm wrong!
@@FolkRockFarm I know nothing about mushrooms, I just know it's nature's way of breaking them down 👍
@@chilliing Oh yeah, for sure. There are likely some wild ones already at work in there, I thought you were saying to inoculate with edible mushrooms. That is typically done with fresh cut logs. I want to learn more about doing that, haven't tried yet but the whole biology of fungus is so captivating! Cheers man, have a good day!
I somehow got unsubscribed. Welcome back to me
nutrient bogs ;)
Watery huggelies= wuggelies.
Just going to point out that one of the best sources of prehistoric archeology is bogs.
Including finds made from eminently compostable material.
These logs are still going to be logs when you are long gone, if they are going to be submerged for much of the year.