I love watching these types of videos on your channel - water flow, ponds, swales etc. are my favorite subject that you cover. I am a renter who has zero ability to do anything with my landscape so I am getting to live vicariously through you. :)
For now, we are really happy to share what we've got going on, and know we are wishing for you space to explore and tend and steward in beautiful ways if it's in the cards.
So incredible watching how you tend the land. If the earth were managed with this level of mindfulness, and thoughtful design, we would have a paradise planet.
I found a way to create temporary water bars by using gravel filled old crew socks as mini sand bags and vehicles can drive right over them and they last about a long season , very helpful when the option to dig the area affected by runoff isn’t there. I hope someone can use this method , it has worked for me for years.
I can't express how much this video means to me. Your gentle approach (and gentle voice) was exactly what I needed right now. I live in northern California it rained last night for the first time this season. My property has a small (for now) pond near the top, then a road, then a pretty steep forested slope downward to the lower road and main part of my land. I've been thinking for months about how to design swales to hold and distribute the rain water and watching this video opened my mind to a much softer way to do it. (I need to plant more groundcovers and make many more small-to-tiny swales). Seriously, thank you very much! P.S. The evolution of your water system has been beautiful.
So very very glad that this video has landed as helpful. To me, the best news here is that the idea of being able to do water moving work with hand tools based on real-time information from water moving in a landscape is that you may find it address the fullness of your needs, but if it doesn't, you have a mental tool kit to leverage the power of machines in a MUCH more thoughtful and accurate way later. Wishing you water abundance!
Coming from a land surveyors perspective I enjoy this type of content greatly. It is true we don't need the fancy equipment that I use day to day. Just need a good rain day. And willingess to be out in the rain lol. I had one here today on the north shore of Lake Superior in Thunder Bay. Always enjoy the content
Thanks kindly! Certainly the tools are amazing and quite critical if you are going to use machines. You definitely don't want to rent an excavator and have it sitting out until a rain comes! Ha! But showing how to do these things with hand tools gets it into more peoples realms :)
Sean, I do this professionally (on a much larger scale and typically for more commercial applications) and you have a far better grasp on the concepts of liquid flow than most. I'm extremely impressed both with your depth of knowledge and how you're, possibly even unknowingly, recreating some of the best practices. Your last "ditch" to slow the water before the pond is what we call a level spreader, and we use them all the time to disperse energized water back into protected wetlands without causing erosion.
Thanks for this. The driveway is my last runoff project. 50% of it is sloped back into the yard but makes a giant puddle that doesn’t serve anything, half does still go to the street where it’s probably detrimental to the infrastructure (oh i’m not by any means the worst ... my place is 95% vegetated and or roof runoff is used many ways...
I love the concepts you teach. They are necessary for hydrating a landscape and reducing erosion. I've had similar experience hydrating my landscape for over 15 years with the same concepts. However, one thing has always struck me with seeing how yours have developed over the years. As I originally started with deep, narrow channels like yours to direct the water shed. Only I found it be a tripping hazard, and an impediment for anything with wheels. So maintaining vegetation became a hassle. Solution: instead of deep and narrow - dig wide and shallow. It has the potential for the same water capture, only you've made it easier to traverse and maintain. Depending how much space you have, you can go very wide and avoid any overflow altogether. Like how you justified digging the second channel near the pond to deal with the overflow from the road. In my particular climate in Australia, our summer rains are always intense. So big downpours mean overwhelming small concept swales. The rain pattern dictated the necessity to scale up the size of my swales, but it also made it possible to run a mower over it, push wheelbarrows across it, and pull chicken tractors through it, etc. I view my swales, not only as water capture opportunities, but also my access paths. I want the least amount of resistance for the water, as well as all other traffic that will cross it. This is just something I have observed in my climate. If yours is changing, it might become a necessary adjustment too.
Beautiful notes here and well conveyed. Thank you for sharing and yes, makes perfect sense. The channels demonstrated are pretty rough sketches at this point and have a ways to go to get to a place of better integration and quality. Iterative steps!
Well done , I’m going to share this with a homestead that has a pond that could use this very important information. You have a wonderful way of explaining everything!
I love it whenever you say minari. I'd like to grow it in water some day too. For now I have some in a pot and water it every day. It's nice to see your swales and pond in practice. I hope to do something similar but I rarely see any water running on the ground on my property even when it rains for weeks. I guess being on such a rocky and sandy mountain is the reason. But I'll keep my eyes open this winter to find and water passages.
At the end there you talk about being able to do this work during or shortly after a rain storm. But there is a much more pleasant way: You run a pump or even just a garden hose and chase the water during the summer! The conditions are much more likely in need of a good watering event anyway and it makes for really enjoyable work!
Awesome thoughtful water education,,your neighbor is sooo fortunate that he chose to join you in the beautiful journey of making a very ordinary property extraordinary . Applaud you both for an example of healing community in world of hostility.
The pond is so nice. And useful in many ways. Impressed by your low impact, low cost approach to everything. Always simple solutions. I have been thinking of adding a rainwater collector to my propery instead of using groundwater, inspired by your setup. I am also considering adding a grey water system to the house. Thank you for tour content!
Jeez guy, I really love your detailed observations and way of explaining them for us. You must be really proud of that pond. Over time it has become totally exquisite with life, and all thanks to your vision and design. I have just started on the journey of designing and building our family a natural pool, but the costs are daunting and the learning curve is steep. Seeing how beautiful this swimming pond is, among its other uses, has shown me that this could be a much easier, and more enriching approach to getting into fresh water every day.
Maybe making one or two very small ponds first, perhaps with hand tools, could be an entry way into learning more and coming up with a nice plan for your natural pool. We only dug this after I had made a bunch of variously good/bad/inbetween quality hand dug ponds, and I'm glad I slowly eased up to this!
I enjoy viewing your property. You have a gift or talent for sculpting the land. Making use of the resources available rather than plowing everything down and planting a mono crop. Please keep making these videos they are informative and relaxing to watch.
I remember when y'all dug that pond. It sure has grown in beautifully. When I was 18 I moved from Ohio to Wyoming. That's where I learned about water bars. A really underappretiated simple technology.
A good reminder that I need to go and dig some of these water bars on our drive as we live on a similar slope. Granted we have no way to store it at the moment it would be better than running through our property and causing problems further down the line. We really need some micro ponds about the place to pump from but our soil is so sandy it would need a source of clay or lining somehow. Thanks.
You certainly don't need a formalized pond to have huge huge value in sending water across a landscape. Slowing it down, spreading it across contour and letting it percolate into the groundwater, if that is 'all' you do, is immensely beneficial for the long term health of the land! Ponds can come later :)
Hi Sean, I love your videos! First finding your channel while researching chicken compost systems. Now I love your pond videos too. I appreciate all of the permaculture strategies, using ponds for a water source, planting beneficial/edible plants within/around the ponds, but what about the wildlife? I know that the emergence of a pond within a landscape will attract birds and other earthlings. Do you add life, aside from plants, to your ponds? I'd love to see a video about how animal life has benefitted from your ponds! Maybe some waterfowl have built a nest or a sneaky turtle has snuck in. Just a thought! Keep on making videos, they're great! And congrats to you and Sasha on your little one!
We don't add any creatures into the mix. Maybe we're missing something here but it just hasn't been what we do. Feels like they just show up when it's time, but I suspect better facilitation could be helpful.
Another great one! Really enjoy you water collection videos so many inspiring ideas. I am curious…. I know you and Sasha are close to having you little one but are you still offering consulting services? I would love to get your opinion on our location and some of our site’s challenges. Been here 8 years and a new challenge that emerged this year has us wondering if we should just pack up the kids and start a new homestead on more land somewhere
So kind, that sounds pretty fun! I don't travel much at all, BUT you can reach out some time via email and maybe we can connect through a video chat and drink a beer together and help you out with your project...
Ha! It's funny because I have maybe 4 rain gauges but I always forget to set them up, but I never forget to leave wheelbarrows out in the rain :) This season we may have a full barrow already, it's been a rainy one! In this video it shows two heavy rains worth in the barrow, I would venture a guess 1.5" of actual rain. Would be good to know the real translation so we can really use them as rain gauges!
People should watch this, regardeless of permaculture, just to learn the true meaning of observation. Good job.🖖
Thank you
I love watching these types of videos on your channel - water flow, ponds, swales etc. are my favorite subject that you cover. I am a renter who has zero ability to do anything with my landscape so I am getting to live vicariously through you. :)
exactly the same here. I yearn for a pond of my own
For now, we are really happy to share what we've got going on, and know we are wishing for you space to explore and tend and steward in beautiful ways if it's in the cards.
So incredible watching how you tend the land. If the earth were managed with this level of mindfulness, and thoughtful design, we would have a paradise planet.
Really kind words here, thank you
I found a way to create temporary water bars by using gravel filled old crew socks as mini sand bags and vehicles can drive right over them and they last about a long season , very helpful when the option to dig the area affected by runoff isn’t there. I hope someone can use this method , it has worked for me for years.
genius!
Very cool idea, thank you for sharing!
Excellent idea. Thank you.
Awesome..we needed this just this past week ourselves. Blessings
Happy water harvesting!
I can't express how much this video means to me. Your gentle approach (and gentle voice) was exactly what I needed right now. I live in northern California it rained last night for the first time this season. My property has a small (for now) pond near the top, then a road, then a pretty steep forested slope downward to the lower road and main part of my land. I've been thinking for months about how to design swales to hold and distribute the rain water and watching this video opened my mind to a much softer way to do it. (I need to plant more groundcovers and make many more small-to-tiny swales). Seriously, thank you very much!
P.S. The evolution of your water system has been beautiful.
So very very glad that this video has landed as helpful. To me, the best news here is that the idea of being able to do water moving work with hand tools based on real-time information from water moving in a landscape is that you may find it address the fullness of your needs, but if it doesn't, you have a mental tool kit to leverage the power of machines in a MUCH more thoughtful and accurate way later. Wishing you water abundance!
Coming from a land surveyors perspective I enjoy this type of content greatly. It is true we don't need the fancy equipment that I use day to day. Just need a good rain day. And willingess to be out in the rain lol. I had one here today on the north shore of Lake Superior in Thunder Bay.
Always enjoy the content
Thanks kindly! Certainly the tools are amazing and quite critical if you are going to use machines. You definitely don't want to rent an excavator and have it sitting out until a rain comes! Ha! But showing how to do these things with hand tools gets it into more peoples realms :)
Sean, I do this professionally (on a much larger scale and typically for more commercial applications) and you have a far better grasp on the concepts of liquid flow than most. I'm extremely impressed both with your depth of knowledge and how you're, possibly even unknowingly, recreating some of the best practices. Your last "ditch" to slow the water before the pond is what we call a level spreader, and we use them all the time to disperse energized water back into protected wetlands without causing erosion.
I have an unrelenting desire to see permaculture water systems for some reason and this was highly impressive and inspiring.
Thanks for this. The driveway is my last runoff project. 50% of it is sloped back into the yard but makes a giant puddle that doesn’t serve anything, half does still go to the street where it’s probably detrimental to the infrastructure (oh i’m not by any means the worst ... my place is 95% vegetated and or roof runoff is used many ways...
Hoping for wonderful runnoff capture :)
Nice cattails!!!
They have been super happy here
Very inspiring!
So glad!
I love the concepts you teach. They are necessary for hydrating a landscape and reducing erosion. I've had similar experience hydrating my landscape for over 15 years with the same concepts. However, one thing has always struck me with seeing how yours have developed over the years. As I originally started with deep, narrow channels like yours to direct the water shed. Only I found it be a tripping hazard, and an impediment for anything with wheels. So maintaining vegetation became a hassle.
Solution: instead of deep and narrow - dig wide and shallow. It has the potential for the same water capture, only you've made it easier to traverse and maintain. Depending how much space you have, you can go very wide and avoid any overflow altogether. Like how you justified digging the second channel near the pond to deal with the overflow from the road.
In my particular climate in Australia, our summer rains are always intense. So big downpours mean overwhelming small concept swales. The rain pattern dictated the necessity to scale up the size of my swales, but it also made it possible to run a mower over it, push wheelbarrows across it, and pull chicken tractors through it, etc. I view my swales, not only as water capture opportunities, but also my access paths. I want the least amount of resistance for the water, as well as all other traffic that will cross it. This is just something I have observed in my climate. If yours is changing, it might become a necessary adjustment too.
Beautiful notes here and well conveyed. Thank you for sharing and yes, makes perfect sense. The channels demonstrated are pretty rough sketches at this point and have a ways to go to get to a place of better integration and quality. Iterative steps!
Well done , I’m going to share this with a homestead that has a pond that could use this very important information. You have a wonderful way of explaining everything!
I love it whenever you say minari. I'd like to grow it in water some day too. For now I have some in a pot and water it every day.
It's nice to see your swales and pond in practice. I hope to do something similar but I rarely see any water running on the ground on my property even when it rains for weeks. I guess being on such a rocky and sandy mountain is the reason. But I'll keep my eyes open this winter to find and water passages.
You may just have such good drainage that this sort of application doesn't apply...
At the end there you talk about being able to do this work during or shortly after a rain storm. But there is a much more pleasant way: You run a pump or even just a garden hose and chase the water during the summer!
The conditions are much more likely in need of a good watering event anyway and it makes for really enjoyable work!
Great point, thank you!
So poetic. Wonderful!
:)
Awesome thoughtful water education,,your neighbor is sooo fortunate that he chose to join you in the beautiful journey of making a very ordinary property extraordinary . Applaud you both for an example of healing community in world of hostility.
Thank you for the very kind and affirming words. It's been a great deepening of connection to be sure
The pond is so nice. And useful in many ways. Impressed by your low impact, low cost approach to everything. Always simple solutions.
I have been thinking of adding a rainwater collector to my propery instead of using groundwater, inspired by your setup. I am also considering adding a grey water system to the house.
Thank you for tour content!
You can definitely make it happen! Wishing you abundance and great luck!
Thank you. Very interesting video 🙏🙏🙏
You're so thoughtful with your water management. It's inspiring! Thank you!
You are so welcome!
Jeez guy, I really love your detailed observations and way of explaining them for us. You must be really proud of that pond. Over time it has become totally exquisite with life, and all thanks to your vision and design. I have just started on the journey of designing and building our family a natural pool, but the costs are daunting and the learning curve is steep. Seeing how beautiful this swimming pond is, among its other uses, has shown me that this could be a much easier, and more enriching approach to getting into fresh water every day.
Maybe making one or two very small ponds first, perhaps with hand tools, could be an entry way into learning more and coming up with a nice plan for your natural pool. We only dug this after I had made a bunch of variously good/bad/inbetween quality hand dug ponds, and I'm glad I slowly eased up to this!
This is a fantastic video! You have amazing skills, and the ability to explain so simply your water management processes.
So great!
I'm so thrilled that it feels like you're getting a lot of value from our old catalog of videos. It's great to have you with us!
I enjoy viewing your property. You have a gift or talent for sculpting the land. Making use of the resources available rather than plowing everything down and planting a mono crop. Please keep making these videos they are informative and relaxing to watch.
So glad they resonate and thanks for the kind words
Nice job! I love the water plants in your pond.
I remember when y'all dug that pond. It sure has grown in beautifully.
When I was 18 I moved from Ohio to Wyoming. That's where I learned about water bars. A really underappretiated simple technology.
The pond ecosystem really has developed in wonderful ways. Yes, water bars, wow, what simple but profoundly impactful tools to implement.
A good reminder that I need to go and dig some of these water bars on our drive as we live on a similar slope. Granted we have no way to store it at the moment it would be better than running through our property and causing problems further down the line. We really need some micro ponds about the place to pump from but our soil is so sandy it would need a source of clay or lining somehow. Thanks.
You certainly don't need a formalized pond to have huge huge value in sending water across a landscape. Slowing it down, spreading it across contour and letting it percolate into the groundwater, if that is 'all' you do, is immensely beneficial for the long term health of the land! Ponds can come later :)
Thank you sooooo much for this video!!! Your explanation with actual examples is so easy to understand!
You're very welcome!
All ur videos are awsome but I love the water ones
A bunch of folks fee that way it seems. Great to know
Hi Sean, I love your videos! First finding your channel while researching chicken compost systems. Now I love your pond videos too. I appreciate all of the permaculture strategies, using ponds for a water source, planting beneficial/edible plants within/around the ponds, but what about the wildlife? I know that the emergence of a pond within a landscape will attract birds and other earthlings. Do you add life, aside from plants, to your ponds? I'd love to see a video about how animal life has benefitted from your ponds! Maybe some waterfowl have built a nest or a sneaky turtle has snuck in. Just a thought! Keep on making videos, they're great! And congrats to you and Sasha on your little one!
We don't add any creatures into the mix. Maybe we're missing something here but it just hasn't been what we do. Feels like they just show up when it's time, but I suspect better facilitation could be helpful.
Only ten percent of the viewers right now press the 👍 button. Why? It will help this channel.
Hey thanks for that much appreciated :)
Wow good stuff 😊😊😊
Do you and your neighbor have to re-dig the depressions in the driveway after winter plowing?
Almost certainly we will... Or at least observe and adjust. Probably not a fundamental re-do but a refinement
Looks great! This pond was completely built by yourself?
Our neighbor and I rented a 15ton excavator and did it ourselves
Is this Eric Dubay?
The most low effort tomato trellis. Just a stick long enough into the ground, a string tied to one end. Curl string around tomato vine.
Sounds very simple!
"I see no cloudiness "
*reflections of clouds abound**
😂😂
You know what I mean :)
@@edibleacres haha yes I know... but it was just too irresistible to run with lol
Another great one! Really enjoy you water collection videos so many inspiring ideas. I am curious…. I know you and Sasha are close to having you little one but are you still offering consulting services? I would love to get your opinion on our location and some of our site’s challenges. Been here 8 years and a new challenge that emerged this year has us wondering if we should just pack up the kids and start a new homestead on more land somewhere
I'm open to being helpful, you can email me at sean @ edibleacres.org and we can think through a good time to connect!
Any good plants I can pair with chickens?
Our chicken playlist has lots of ideas
I can only imagine how many snakes you have in that habitat 😂
There are some. I see a few here or there. But it isn't a ton. What we don't have any more are any mice or voles!
If you ever end up on the mid coast of Maine and want to hang out for an afternoon, drink a beer and get paid for a consultation...
So kind, that sounds pretty fun! I don't travel much at all, BUT you can reach out some time via email and maybe we can connect through a video chat and drink a beer together and help you out with your project...
How many wheelbarrows of rain do you usually get in one year?
Ha!
It's funny because I have maybe 4 rain gauges but I always forget to set them up, but I never forget to leave wheelbarrows out in the rain :)
This season we may have a full barrow already, it's been a rainy one! In this video it shows two heavy rains worth in the barrow, I would venture a guess 1.5" of actual rain. Would be good to know the real translation so we can really use them as rain gauges!
Where are these permaculture thots you speak of? Sounds intriguing....
Tabarnac...nothing knowledge