Where I'm from friend, the only drinking water is in bottles. And I would not shit in that. Most often the way it seems is not what it is.
Jason Silberschneider wrote:It seems to me like you want to shit in your drinking water... and then almost immediately you want to efficiently and conveniently get the shit out of your drinking water.
This is quite a dilemma.
Part of the problem solving process in permaculture involves rephrasing the question in such a way that the answer presents itself right before your eyes.
Is it possible to have a water toilet and be able to treat the water maybe by separating the solids and water. Composting the solids and treating the water in a Reed bed. Is there an efficient way of doing this?
Yes I also noticed the trees below the water channel.I actually took a hike along the channel to go see it.
It was planted about 15 years ago. It's donated land in honour of a teacher who died of cancer. I saw evidence of old drip irrigation lines which are all long gone. Mainly pine trees and some eucalyptus trees. They look like they are doing OK on their own. Which is good.
Yes I also want to collect the water in the North but not sure about the shape of it or how to excavate it exactly.
I want to use 265 on both sides as a spillway. I'm thinking of diverting extra flow of water in to ponds on each side and the off the land via exit in South along 265.
To achieve the dam storage I want to excavate and dig down to make my dam deep and narrow to minimise evaporation. This is how I will solve the small difference in height between the water entrance and dam depth.
Not entirely sure how I will divert the water into the dam/pond completely yet. Any ideas on the best way to do this.
Back flooding swales is critical as soil is a vertisol. It is important to keep moisture levels optimal in soil as it is prone to deep cracking which would damage tree roots.
Our aim is to turn this over grazed over worked barren land into an abundant system.
I don't believe the depression was created by machines. A local fellow said the villagers used to wash their clothes in the water on the land right by the concrete structure. No sign of that water now. Although it does look like water has come through here at some point. You can clearly see its path.
Also looked at Old satellite pictures through Google earth. Lots of evidence of water flow. I have personally been observing the land since September 2015
There is the same concrete structure on the south side of the property where the water exits. Heres a picture
Here's a picture of the North side. Theres a concrete structure where the land ends in the north I can only imagine it was built for erosion control. Right above the concrete structure is the road. This is where the water runs into the site. No culvert. Hasn't been any water running into the site from here this year as it's been a drought year. Heres a picture.
İ want about 9000 cubic meters of water storage. I'm thinking of building 2 ponds and 1 dam also back folded swales around every 13 meters.
I have to build them because we only get about 300 mm rain per year (mostly flash floods) and I want to grow food crops and fruit trees in a forest garden. There is no other water source. Also I would like to create a habitat for birds frogs etc..
What are your ideas? Any advise will be apprecitated.
I failed to mention that the flood water enters the property at the top in the North. And I want to passively irrigate my crops and flood my swales via the dam . So here is how I would roughly do this. http://imgur.com/dOSUVXr
I believe when you have more than 8 C degrees difference between your night and day temperature then building with thermal mass makes more sense than insulating.
Also read somewhere that it takes 12 hours for the heat outside to travel inside for every 30 cm thickness.
We have very mild winters so I'm mostly worried about the heat.
I originally wanted to build an Adobe house but wasn't allowed planning permission.
So my next option is stone. Which I have heard many goods things about.
However, my main concern is how thick the walls should be. I live in a hot arid climate. I live in Cyprus. I'm worried that the house will be cold in winter and hot in summer. How thick do I have to make the walls to avoid this?
Yes I'm thinking trees also posibly grape vines if I can find a way to suspend them over the dam.
Actually the hills are the border of the property. But you are right I am thinking of building contour swales at the bottom of these hills and have them flow into the dam.
The dam will be located just in front of the concrete structure. That is the path of a major waterway coming from the mountains. Not sure how much water flows from there. I'm guessing quite a bit when it rains. I'm hoping to capture most of that water.
Does any one know if you have to seal the dam or will it just seal itself in time?
If not what's the best way to naturally seal it?
Yes I understand. I plan on building contour swales and possibly Gabions to store water under the soil. But I also need surface water to use for shallow rooted trees in their first few years. This is my dilemma.
To me it looks like a silty clay soil. Right? Pretty fertile soil but can get waterlogged as far as I know.
Seems like water has been colecting on parts of the land in rainy times. It looks like in places that the tractor has had a hard time tilling the soil in places.
Do you think it's best to build a dam in these spots? How easy would that be?
Im thinking of buying this land to start my permaculture project. Its about 4 acres. There are two what I believe are check dams on the top side of the property and bottom.
The soil in the middle of the land has deep cracks in it. Can you please help me identify this soil type and advise me on what its good for and what it isnt.
Right so there's this old riverbed. It's dried out now. I would like to convert into a food forest. Only it's invaded by
acacia saligna.
These trees are really something. They took over the area and are growing so fast. There is considerable mulch under most of them. So they have been there for a while. And there are alot of new trees growing in the river bed. Alot of the old ones are on the bank of the old river bed.
My question is where to start and how to go about it. It's a Mediterranean climate here so I'm thinking of planting carobs, olives, citrus trees, almonds, pomegranate, guava, fig, papaya, maybe some bananas and avacado also some date palms maybe. Irrigation would be very difficult so that needs to be kept to a minimum.
And what should I do with the acacia trees? They are densely packed. There is hardly anything else growing under them or even in between them. Shall I cut some down and plant the fruit trees inbetween? What is best?
I made a map of the swales. Ive placed them about 23 m apart on contour. My longest one is about 255 m. Am I going over the top here? Not sure about pond placement or size? Its about 50 wide and 40 meters accross.
I want to do a permaculture homestead with animals. Mostly self sufficient. With some animals. Like Chicken, sheep or goat, ducks or geese, rabbits maybe. Also maybe a horse or two
Mainly want grow green leaf veg like spinach , kale etc.. Maybe some cucumbers and squash.
The land has some pine trees spaced out and on the left side of the land there is a bit of terracing facing north. The soil is quite stony. Meaning there are alot of stones. Also the land has been abused in the past by illegal cultivating so someone has tilled the land with a tractor for several years without giving anything back so the topsoil is almost dusty sand like.
My question is about house placement and swales also maybe a small dam and pond with some fish in the future hopefully. So I need some help with the placement of things. Where to locate the animals, house, swales, dam, pond etc.. I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me some ideas. I would prefer to locate the house behind the water well.
Our land is in Kyrenia in Cyprus. Our rainfall is the most around December and January about 90 mm per month. About 400 mm a year.
There is the five finger mountain range south of our land. And the Mediterranean sea is in the North. The sea is about 1.5 KM away.
I want to do a permaculture homestead with animals. Mostly self sufficient. With some animals. Like Chicken, sheep or goat, ducks or geese, rabbits maybe. Also maybe a horse or two Mainly want grow green leaf veg like spinach , kale etc.. Maybe some cucumbers and squash.
The land has some pine trees spaced out and on the left side of the land there is a bit of terracing facing north. The soil is quite stony. Meaning there are alot of stones. Also the land has been abused in the past by illegal cultivating so someone has tilled the land with a tractor for several years without giving anything back so the topsoil is almost dusty sand like.
My question is about house placement and swales also maybe a small dam and pond with some fish in the future hopefully. So I need some help with the placement of things. Where to locate the animals, house, swales, dam, pond etc.. I would greatly appreciate it if you could give me some ideas. I would prefer to locate the house behind the water well.
Our land is in Kyrenia in Cyprus. Our rainfall is the most around December and January about 90 mm per month. About 400 mm a year.
There is the five finger mountain range south of our land. And the Mediterranean sea is in the North. The sea is about 1.5 KM away.
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so someone has tilled the land with a tractor for several years without giving anything back so the topsoil is almost dusty sand like.