Rain Catching
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Pond Progress
Happy Earth Day!
As of today, I have a very large hole in the ground with a little puddle in it!
A Vernal Pool? The major tractor work was finished by Dan Barnes (if you need mowing, disking, or any kind of tractor work, he’s the guy to call at 760-731-0985). A pump was set up in our shallow well and it started… then stopped. The water was so silty that it plugged the pump, and the refill rate isn’t very quick in the tube, either. So unfortunately the goal of having a full pond by the end of the day today was not realized.
The Pump Work will resume on Monday with a flushing of the well. Dan found a lot more bottles buried in the middle about three feet down. No Inca gold, though. Dan also moved some boulders around and disked the soil along the pathway that rainwater will take through the property.
Dragging Boulders 
Tilled watercourse Finish work with the small tractor will be done beginning next week. The good thing about the pond not being filled yet, is that my dog General, who is a cross between two waterdogs, won’t be soaking wet for Easter. He’s still enjoying being in the house while there are trucks and tractors in the yard.
Pond in the Evening with a set rock Also today more stairs were created at my request by Roger’s team of Juan and Francisco in the area leading down the hill, which was just too slippery. They squared up the hearts of some palms this time rather than just cutting off the tops. The resulting white rectangles look incredible.
Palm Stairs I’ve noticed a lot more birds and lizards in the yard, even with the workmen disturbing the peace. I really can’t wait until the project is finished and I have regained tranquility on my property. After the ponds are in there is still more planting and irrigation to be installed. Sigh. Have a wonderful Easter Sunday!
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Partial Pond
The Grading Begins Today the work finally began on the series of ponds, swales and rain catchment basins that are the heart of the permaculture project. Their object is to catch, channel and hold rainwater so that it percolates slowly down into the ever increasing loam of the forest garden, making water available longer for the plants rather than sheeting off the top of my property and eroding the embankments.
First Scoops The blue stakes delineate where the water will fill to. The edges are irregular to create more edge space for plants and animals.
Tractor Dan with Greenie Dan Barnes Tractor Work ( at 760-731-0985) has worked with Roger Boddaert in the past, and has done some work on my project already. Dan is an artist with the tractor. Although much of his work is mowing and disking, he has created ponds and swales in the past and really knows what he is doing. If you need tractor work, Dan is your man. He owns several different sized tractors, or he rents the appropriate size and does what you need in excellent time for very reasonable rates. Plus, he’s just a great guy.
Dan, Jacob and Aart Discussing Grades Here Dan, Aart de Vos and Jacob Hatch discuss the grading plan. Aart owns Aquascape Associates pond landscaping, specializing in natural ponds. Drawing from his Northern European heritage and knowledge, Aart believes in simplicity, old technology that is proven to work, small footprint and natural environments. He and his manager Jacob Hatch knew exactly what I wanted, and the work that I’ve seen of theirs looks as if man had nothing to do with forming the ponds. Not only did they know what I wanted and were already experienced at it, but their prices are very reasonable in comparison to some quotes we received for ponds that would have looked artificial and have been electricity monsters.
Canine Clay Treatment At lunch break, my dog Sophie loved the excavation and gave herself a very good roll in the clay.
Mostly Done At the end of the first day, the rough work on the lower pond is almost done. Tomorrow Dan will finish this and move on to the rough work of the next area. Jacob and his team will begin the contouring of the big pond with the small tractor and by hand.
Shiny Clay.. for once a good thing At the depth of six feet, there was a wonderful layer of clay. The ponds are not going to be lined with plastic or polymer; instead, Aart believes that the compacted natural clay should be good enough to keep the pond filled. The water source for all the ponds, besides seasonal rainwater, is a four-inch wide drill hole that was augured near where the lower pond sits. Water was found nine feet down. A small submersible pump will be lowered to pump water into the ponds. At first the pump will be run by an extension cord. Then it will be replaced by either solar or a windmill… I’m looking into the noise that windmills make because I need and desire my quiet.
Culvert Cleaned This is where all the neighbor’s runoff funnels through to my property in the upper corner. Before it would make a 90 degree turn (or attempt to) in a narrow cement culvert and be diverted all the way down my property and off into the streambed below. Except for when it really rained hard or the culvert became silted in from the neighbor’s topsoil. Then it would flood the entire property and erode everything in it’s wake. This entrance area was cleaned today by Cody, who works with Jacob. The water will still channel through here, but it will be diverted into a dry streambed and on into the swales and ponds. Then it will be held, slowly perculating into the loam and soil to be available for the deep roots of the trees and plants.
Entrance to the Bee Garden Also worked on today by Roger’s team was this arbor to the entrance to the Bee Garden for honeysuckle and other vines to grow over. I’m sprouting luffa gourd seeds; perhaps some can grow up these and hang down over the entrance.
When me and my chilren moved here twelve years ago, we hoped to find buried treasure on the property. What we found in the areas most suseptable to erosion was piles of palm fronds, auto tires, and a buried toilet (which is still there). At the end of the day today Dan called out to me that he’d found the buried treasure.
Treasure One of the bottles was capped and was half full of liquid. I sniffed it…. only muddy water. Shucks.
More tomorrow!
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Permaculture Garden Update
Entrance Lots of hard work is being done on the property, and the garden is taking on character. Bits of the palms that were cut down are being used in so many ways. The upright trunks that were left have been stripped, and metal poles were tied between them. I didn’t care for the look of the poles, so Roger immediately came up with the idea of wrapping them with palm fronds… and it looks great. The above photo is of the future ‘formal entranceway’ to the garden. Francisco and Juan were working from the tops of ladders in full sunlight on this unseasonably hot day… it must have been over 90 degrees out there. Summer weather too early! I’m glad that it is going to cool down a little starting tomorrow.
Arbor They also covered metal poles that they criss-crossed the trunks in the palm walkway. Up all of the trunks are a variety of flowering vines, and also climbing heirloom roses. I ordered the roses from Heirloom Garden Roses (http://www.heirloomroses.com/), and the plants are small but healthy and virorgous. I made little cages out of leftover chicken wire from the chicken tractor to set over them; otherwise, the bunnies would nibble the young rose leaves down to nothing. Beneath the palms, many plants that will create the plant guilds are in the ground and mulched with chipped palmsand surrounded with rocks. Rocks have also been placed around the property to add character and interest. The palm sheaths that were skinned from the trunks will be used on top of the mulch as a secondary layer; its interesting to look at, is textured and therefore makes interesting hidey-holes for lizards, salamanders and all sorts of creatures. Most planting will now cease until the important decisions about installing the rainfall retention ponds, dry creek beds, swales and the permanent (swimming?) pond are made. We met with more people this week about the pond installation and are awaiting bids and ideas. I’m looking for the most sustainable, least impact and easiest way of installing them, and we may have found a company that understands this. More about the ponds when decisions have been made.
Other work has concentrated on the embankment and the erosion areas there. This is the area below the fence; the embankment with the streambed is on the right, and the main property is beyond the upper left corner of the photo. This area had been leveled, firmed, mulched, and old broken pipes and wires that had been a junky retaining wall was replaced with old chainlink fencing and aluminum from the sheds. Then palm logs were used to line the cut-out area around the left to help hold the soil. Palm fronds were installed all along the top of the chainlink on the right…
Erosion area and also on the next level which is in the process of being firmed, repaired and made available for bird watching, including a very
- Lower level
handy bench. This area had been greatly eroded, especially by the December deluge. An enormous toyon has tipped over and its roots are exposed on the embankment. From this vantage point out over the embankment my daughter and I could watch a lot of birds flying between the canopy of the streambed trees. You can see from this photo also how the palm fronds have been used to block the lower side of the fence. In the bottom left corner is some of the old corrugated aluminum that had been there from the previous owner, and which is still holding up. It will be blocked by fronds as well. Past this point and around the corner is a big erosion area which ends the pathway. It is being worked on. With the ponds, streams, mulch and swales in place, as well as these bulwarks of wire and aluminum, the chance of such heavy erosion happening again even in the worst rainstorms is almost nil. The property will be augmented to deal with excessive waterflow as well as insufficient amounts.
I am still tossing around ideas about buildings to replace the sheds. I need a tool/mower storage shed, a small ‘bee house’ where we can store our bee equipment and work on honey extraction without the bees bothering us (we’ve extracted honey in our kitchen), and I’d like a small greenhouse or growing house for seedlings. I also would like small building or trailer that could be used as a guest house, as well as an area for groups of people to gather for teaching purposes. I’m getting prices and ideas on how to do all this cost-effectively. I’ve looked into Quality Sheds in Menifee, asked the carpenter who did my other projects to give me a bid, and have researched trailers, yurts, geodesic domes, straw bale… everything. So many decisions! But how fun it all is. That’s all for tonight, and thanks for reading.
