The swales are looking great! I have left digging out more of my swales to level them a bit too long - much harder when grass has regrown. Do it soon if you haven't already!! Cheers Linda
Greetings from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 Great video and I'll definitely check out more of your videos. I'm a fan of Geoff Lawton and the Weedy Gardener. Good luck to you and your channel.
2022 is definitely the year in which people should become super interested in basic hydrology, permaculture-informed landscaping and long-term thinking. Thanks for the pleasant video. I loved the sound of the rain - maybe you can make a longer video with quieter narration ond passages where the camera is on a tripod and we can see you working to improve the swales. ASMR videos aren't unpopular here :) Greetings from drought-stricken Germany!
G'day mate, good to see someone posting swale systems in south western australia. I'm down near pemberton and have the problem of relatively flat land which in winter is very water logged. I've only put a shed up and 2 rain tanks but will be hiring a digger to put some drainage, swales and ponds in eventually. Good to see your work
Hello! Central Oklahoma USA Very much appreciate a video on swales on a smaller scale. Need to do mine before next spring. Looking forward to your future updates.
Hey James - I like the idea of swales. But has anyone commented or studied the possibility of the wet ground sliding en masse after absorbing tons of rainwater? I'd sure appreciate your input on this. Thanks.
Hi. One of the principles of swales is vegetation is planted on top of it. Literally the planting of trees on top of the swale supports the trees as much as it supports the swale and absorption of water. Also, as with anything, each property is different and would have to take soil type and slope into account. I wish I had that much rain here in Australia that my slope would wash away! lol. But yes, people can construct swales anywhere. The island of bali has world heritage listed system of swales build onto mountain side that has been operating for hundreds of years to provide water and nutrients for rice paddys carved into the side of otherwise unusable mountainside. I’ve been there many times. Cheers
Excellent video and very pleasing audio with the rain and birds. Added to my public playlist "Gardening & Permaculture". Does anyone know the name of those birds in the background? Part of their call sounds like a slide-whistle, it's really beautiful.
The high-pitched whistle will be the Australian Ringneck parrot. Very common bird and really the only pest bird as it eats anything growing on a food tree. The other main bird sound is the magpie - it’s warble.
I thought you did really well for your first pass at those, but I suppose there is always room to improve. Were you going to add more swale higher on the slope? I thought you had more on the higher slope from the construction video. You may not be interested in cows and chickens, but properly managed, they can really bloom your land up. Keep up the good work.
Swales and trees look good, but shouldn't those be deeper and wider to manage abundant rain fall? Do you typically get light sustained rains in your area? Looks like the swales would washout in a heavy rain event?
Hi. Thanks for watching! I guess it all depends on the local situation. Amount of rainfall + ability to drain. We get very little rain and my swales are draining quickly. These swales are for those heavy downpours when the water is running down the hill, but even then, they have easily managed it. However, I do intend to keep working on them, scraping them out a little deeper. Cheers
Did you consider going through the paddock with a Yeoman's keyline plow, and if you did, what led to your choice to do swales rather than using the keyline plow?
Luckily I do have a yeomans plow and this is something I want to do across the paddock later. I need to learn about this and get it right. Perhaps timing it with a crop or soil treatment. The idea is to remedy the surface compaction. Thanks again, Peter.
@@LuckyFigFarm Thanks. My place is 30% slope. Similar slope to Sepp Holzer's place. He made swale work at his place but he does not recommend doing it on land that steep.
It looks like you didn't put your swales on contour, but are rather digging ditches to a level depth without regard to the actual contour of the land. If I'm correct in this observation, what was your reasoning for doing your swales this way, rather than laying them out following the contour of the land?
Hi Peter, thanks for watching! Correct! The genesis of the swales was the orchard rows, which were aligned north/south, and the swale idea followed. So it was ascetics and also fitting in with what was already there. However, I do have a contour survey of the property, and the swales aren’t too far off. But, they work. It captures everything that flows that way. With anything like this, I feel it’s about modifying it to work your your situation.
@@peterellis4262 It's seems to be flat enough where contour lines would be spread to far apart. You are aware that contour lines are imaginary lines on a map. The existing ground needs to hold the orchard as a built design. Within a slope. If he started chaseing contour lines; what would you have your built design of your orchard too? Contour lines could be every half meter of elevation change or every meter, or every six inches if you want. The orchards footprint would be 30 miles long.
I welcome comments, feedback or just quick hellos. I enjoying hearing from like-minded people. Jamie.
That looks great! The sound of all the birds was incredible , thank you for that!!!
You’re welcome Dominic
Hi Jamie this was very interesting learn. Thanks for being such a great teacher
Thanks for your kind words
Very beautiful. Nice video 👏
Thank you!
Thanks for the before and after. To see them working.Brilliant
Cheers, Martin
Looks great, greetings from Queensland
Thanks! I’m sure you get a lot more rain there.
The swales are looking great! I have left digging out more of my swales to level them a bit too long - much harder when grass has regrown. Do it soon if you haven't already!! Cheers Linda
Good tip. Thanks for watching!
Greetings from Windermere, Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸
Great video and I'll definitely check out more of your videos.
I'm a fan of Geoff Lawton and the Weedy Gardener.
Good luck to you and your channel.
I follow both of those channels too. Thanks very much for watching! Jamie
Great job so far. The birdsong was simply gorgeous!
I’m blessed with the birds. If you pay attention you can readily identify their patterns and communication. Thanks for watching.
Wish I had some land , this looks like a lot of work as well as fun! 😎
Any projects at the homestead are enjoyable. Thanks for watching.
Land is allways something good to have.
I love seeing water harvesting during rain events!
It’s such a joy!
Looks amazing.
Thanks, Rob!
2022 is definitely the year in which people should become super interested in basic hydrology, permaculture-informed landscaping and long-term thinking.
Thanks for the pleasant video. I loved the sound of the rain - maybe you can make a longer video with quieter narration ond passages where the camera is on a tripod and we can see you working to improve the swales. ASMR videos aren't unpopular here :)
Greetings from drought-stricken Germany!
That’s a nice idea. Thanks. I appreciate you watching and commenting.
Loving the swales, incredible things happen when collecting water the right way, you seem to be on your way. Hope to see some productive trees going
Thanks for commenting, Andy.
G'day mate, good to see someone posting swale systems in south western australia. I'm down near pemberton and have the problem of relatively flat land which in winter is very water logged. I've only put a shed up and 2 rain tanks but will be hiring a digger to put some drainage, swales and ponds in eventually. Good to see your work
Good luck. It’s all a work in progress and trial and error.
Hello! Central Oklahoma USA Very much appreciate a video on swales on a smaller scale. Need to do mine before next spring. Looking forward to your future updates.
Thanks. It’s becoming quiet popular in Australia for acreage landholders, especially as rain is either scarce or unpredictable now.
Looks like a great system!
I’ve since added one more to it - finally convinced my dear wife lol
Looks good. Keep it up.
Thanks for watching! I appreciate it.
Hey James - I like the idea of swales. But has anyone commented or studied the possibility of the wet ground sliding en masse after absorbing tons of rainwater? I'd sure appreciate your input on this. Thanks.
Hi.
One of the principles of swales is vegetation is planted on top of it. Literally the planting of trees on top of the swale supports the trees as much as it supports the swale and absorption of water.
Also, as with anything, each property is different and would have to take soil type and slope into account. I wish I had that much rain here in Australia that my slope would wash away! lol.
But yes, people can construct swales anywhere. The island of bali has world heritage listed system of swales build onto mountain side that has been operating for hundreds of years to provide water and nutrients for rice paddys carved into the side of otherwise unusable mountainside. I’ve been there many times.
Cheers
Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. And thanks for sharing your work there and how it's done.@@LuckyFigFarm
Excellent video and very pleasing audio with the rain and birds. Added to my public playlist "Gardening & Permaculture".
Does anyone know the name of those birds in the background? Part of their call sounds like a slide-whistle, it's really beautiful.
The high-pitched whistle will be the Australian Ringneck parrot. Very common bird and really the only pest bird as it eats anything growing on a food tree.
The other main bird sound is the magpie - it’s warble.
I thought you did really well for your first pass at those, but I suppose there is always room to improve. Were you going to add more swale higher on the slope? I thought you had more on the higher slope from the construction video. You may not be interested in cows and chickens, but properly managed, they can really bloom your land up.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks. They will be an ongoing work in progress. I don’t get a lot of rain here, and these swales catch everything.
Swales and trees look good, but shouldn't those be deeper and wider to manage abundant rain fall? Do you typically get light sustained rains in your area? Looks like the swales would washout in a heavy rain event?
Hi. Thanks for watching!
I guess it all depends on the local situation. Amount of rainfall + ability to drain. We get very little rain and my swales are draining quickly.
These swales are for those heavy downpours when the water is running down the hill, but even then, they have easily managed it.
However, I do intend to keep working on them, scraping them out a little deeper.
Cheers
@@LuckyFigFarm Love it, hard work but rewarding.
Did you consider going through the paddock with a Yeoman's keyline plow, and if you did, what led to your choice to do swales rather than using the keyline plow?
Luckily I do have a yeomans plow and this is something I want to do across the paddock later. I need to learn about this and get it right. Perhaps timing it with a crop or soil treatment. The idea is to remedy the surface compaction. Thanks again, Peter.
What is the percentage slope of the steepest part of the field?
Roughly 15%. I haven’t calculated it properly.
@@LuckyFigFarm Thanks. My place is 30% slope. Similar slope to Sepp Holzer's place. He made swale work at his place but he does not recommend doing it on land that steep.
Бүл қайда ағайын?
Hi. Thanks for commenting. However, I can’t translate this. 8-)
It looks like you didn't put your swales on contour, but are rather digging ditches to a level depth without regard to the actual contour of the land. If I'm correct in this observation, what was your reasoning for doing your swales this way, rather than laying them out following the contour of the land?
I think because it is flat land.
Hi Peter, thanks for watching! Correct! The genesis of the swales was the orchard rows, which were aligned north/south, and the swale idea followed. So it was ascetics and also fitting in with what was already there. However, I do have a contour survey of the property, and the swales aren’t too far off.
But, they work. It captures everything that flows that way. With anything like this, I feel it’s about modifying it to work your your situation.
@@Nelson_Nicholson Considering the description of water sheeting over the surface and leaving the area by the creek, it's clearly not flat land.
@@LuckyFigFarm The trees were installed running north/south? Do you get so much sun that you wanted to arrange the trees to shade one another?
@@peterellis4262 It's seems to be flat enough where contour lines would be spread to far apart. You are aware that contour lines are imaginary lines on a map. The existing ground needs to hold the orchard as a built design. Within a slope. If he started chaseing contour lines; what would you have your built design of your orchard too? Contour lines could be every half meter of elevation change or every meter, or every six inches if you want. The orchards footprint would be 30 miles long.
20-20 hindsight - if the farming had been done following the couture of the land, this situation would never have happened.
Thanks for watching. It’s promising to know that we now have the term ‘sustainable agriculture’