So far In The Ground we've got 1 more pear tree, 2 potato trashcans, scarlet runner beans, onions, green onions, cilantro, lettuce, spinach, arugala, kale, mustard greens, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, asparagus, peas, butternut squash, strawberries, rhubarb, purple hulless barley, wrinkled cress, curled cress, ostrich fern, nasturtium, italian sunflower, genovese basil, tutti fruity lupine, spider flower, ramps, various wild flower and ground cover plants
But Now to the Real Reason for this Update.
The Watershed
I am sorry but I think to grasp the full impact what I'm spoutin' you're going to need a little back story. My GOAL is to live Off The Grid and to feed ourselves and family while putting in less work each year for higher production, therefore you can expect that every decision about where to plant things and what land use is feasible has these ultimate goals at it's core. Our "island" garden is actually a distraction from the main goal and was undertaken initially in an effort to gain some respect for the principles and techniques that we see as sustainable over the course of our lives and for future generations. We took the Island challenge because it has traditionally been considered waste land, worthless and something to fret about. The island is way cool now, even without the plants it will soon hold but it has eaten up a lot of our time. I am currently feeling very little progress toward the ultimate goal. The "island" is not where i would have chosen to do these things if all the land was available to choose from. The house could be taken off grid but I don't think the stakeholders in the house have the stomach for that much change; so that was never a real consideration. However, unless the house is taken off grid Someone is always going to have to pay a 2-5 hundred dollar heating bill every month through every winter just to keep the pipes from freezing... A large part of my desire to live off grid is that I have no interest in having that kind of bill to pay when there is plenty of free energy in the sun, wind and water. So, it's something that people might want to start thinking about. I do think the house could be taken off grid with a sun/wind combo and an attached greenhouse. ... but that's not what I''m typing about right now.
So upon our arrival here we assessed the land in search of a section that would be A) appropriate for permaculture activities and passive solar building design, B) accessible by vehicle (bus) and C) would create the least impact on the current cattle "farming" endeavor with the most benefit to future stakeholders in this property. The only place that seams remotely feasible to me on our limited budget other than in "the lot" or in "the meadow" is location #1. This determination is largely because the interior roads have been so degraded over the years that trying to build something anywhere else seems destined to fail largely because of a truly "impossible commute" and the expense of fixing/maintaining such large tracts of road while cows and tractors destroy them each winter/spring. There were several areas that are more beautiful, more isolated and yet more suited to perpetual food foresting that we were forced to rule out due to road and fencing costs.
I should say at this point that any permaculture expert that we have studied would tell us that the best places to work around here would be in "the lot" & in "the meadow" and secondarily "the back 40" ("impossible commute"). We are taking on "strange" new agriculture practices (actually commonsense techniques that started getting traction in agricultural circles 40-50 years ago) and we are trying to apply them to the best of our ability in all the wrong places... we cannot simply "do what they did" in most cases because they would start by doing it in a different location on the property, they would also have access to and experience with bulldozers and backhoes.
So over the course of the last year I've cleared most of the sumac off Location 1 and established flood control measures in the creek that is the watershed directly behind the house. So far our creek that flowed only after hard rain last year, and dried up rather quickly, has had a consistent trickle all spring even though we've had very little rain since the winter thaw.... so for low flow it's working.
We're about to find out how it does with High Flow.
The Drought's About to End
Next week it's suppose to rain every day; some of those days it's suppose to rain A Lot.
The cattle farmer (whose lease is getting short, whose only legal responsibility to the stakeholders in this property is to maintain fences and roads) had been driving Our Tractor up to this road through a meadow this winter and driving across the road at the top end of where we would like to set up someday. The blue line in the photo below is roughly where the road is. Between there and "the lot" would make a do-able area for sustainable food foresting. Certainly not the easiest spot on the property but one with good potential, that's convenient and would require the least amount of fencing and road work. Also, I feel this area needs to be more closely managed irregardless of where we put our food and shelter because of the flash floods and road erosion issues that we're about to get into.
remember that this creek also crosses under our driveway and parallels the road outa here.
The road through Location 1 now has extremely deep ruts in some places which will be collecting all the water from about 30 steep wooded acres above it and forcing all of that down the trenches in the road to the natural pooling spots that flood into the creek while washing out the road.
I have installed 7 flood control speed bumps in this creek this year in order to mitigate the potential flood damage to our island crops and to slow the creek bed erosion from raging flood waters.
Meanwhile someone else has spent the year making the problem worse.
When I arrived here I made numerous attempts to discuss our plans with the cattleman in hopes that we could work together to improve the land or at least coordinate our efforts so that no one was getting screwed. Since he doesn't do the internet, I provided him with several dvds worth of sustainable agricultural practices in hopes that I could get the wisdom of his actual experience as opposed to the sometimes Over Glorified Fad Driven World of "permaculture" gurus. When I arrived here I insisted on trading phone numbers, in case I needed to get a hold of him, or in case there was something I could do for him to save him a trip over here.... I called him once to tell him I had dropped off the dvds he never looked at in his wife's work mailbox. Several months later I destroyed my phone and lost a lot of phone numbers. His was one of them. When I next encountered him, I told him I'd lost his phone number and we should trade again.... he ignored the direct request brushing it off as unnecessary. Yes, I should have insisted. I think I was slightly amazed by the indifference. This is the level of communication I can muster with the cattleman therefore I have largely avoided him for the last couple months. He does not talk "to" me but rather pontificates while gazing out at a meadow and occasionally glancing my direction to add emphasis. I find his manner rather disingenuous. I have considered that it might just be "the country way" but no one else I've met here communicates that way except the guy that just got out of prison.
Visual Perspective
hover over the image to pause the slideshow to read the captions, you can also click to make the photos bigger
So Here's the Current Tour
I encourage you to click the images to make them huge
so you can get a better feel for what it looks like in person.
Cattle were predominantly feed just off camera to the right. This series of photos follows the road from here to the top of the meadow on the other side of this watershed.
Water will soon be rushing down the hill and find a fast track in the down sloping road ruts.
Water that would normally flow over the road and seep into the ground on the hillside below will be staying on the road creating deeper ruts and mushier footing.
At the end here, the road takes a slight bend to the left & there is a seldom flowing run off stream that goes through there. Some of the rushing rut water will take this path down the hill.
Our hazelnut trees are just out of frame on the left.
on the left side of the pipe is a tight steep ravine. The death trap.
This is where most of the water in this watershed will pour down the hill. This spot needs a new culvert and I propose a small pond built into the creek about 40 yards uphill of this road crossing to regulate the flow through here and stabilize the road. Just gotta get a hold of bulldozer on a dry day.
But ultimately what this spot and the entire road that I'm showing you here needs...
is to not have cows on them at all and to not have vehicles on them when the ground is mush.
... after we get it fixed.
Side by Side Comparison you can click them to make them larger.
And if you step in that mud you'd better have your shoes tied tight or you won't get them back.
This is about 30 yards down the road from the death trap.
The top of the meadow the cattleman drove hay to cattle through during much of the winter.
Notice how often he turned to his left to feed his cattle on the 60 or so acres available in that direction. The unused direction has no severe road erosion and if there was erosion and flooding over there it would by-pass the house completely.
This is what the rutted out road would look like if it had very little (if any) cow or tractor traffic over the winter.
I could say a lot more about all of this if anyone wants to talk about it.
but today is suppose to be the only really nice day all week, so... I got to go put some food in the ground.