Abraham Palma

Neat idea.
Potential problems : the water doesn't go the way you want.
It can go too deep or not deep enough, it can go sideways, it may have a side that requires more water than the other because of plants, winds or isolation.

How do you see a spiral infiltration ditch?

Oh, yes, the misterious patterns.

I remember I tried to put a pattern into work early in my design. For the beds, I was looking at forming a grid for maximizing the use of the surface. I went for equilateral triangles. On the paper it looked like it could really work, less area lost in transitions. However, building equiliateral triangled beds was a real challenge. What I have now is more or less a grid too, but it is made of long rectangles which are easier to build.

For the paths, I kept in mind the 'brach' pattern. A main path with branches is the most efficient way to move stuff between the entrance and the whole garden. Also the path for the wheelbarrow has to be flat, for reducing resistance.

The wave pattern is great for making energy flow, without really moving. The practical application is following cycles. We go to the garden roughly at the same hour the same days of the week, forming a wave. This helps us to create a habit of going to the garden at the appointed time. Also, pruning in winter, sowing in spring, harvesting in summer, this is, going with the seasons, is another wave.

For my wind protection I use two patterns. One is rough surfaces, or lobes, which help to slow down any fluid, wind in this case. The other is the semisphere, meant for making cool air to stay inside the hedges (hot air moves upwards, cool air goes downwards, and if has nowhere to go, it stays in the bed). This helps lowering the temperature of the beds during the night, reducing evaporation.

For watering new sapplings, I dig a bowl around the plant (another semisphere), this is the fastest way to pour 30 litres of water in seconds to the plant, and be sure that it will go to the roots.


Surely there must be other examples.

Hugo Morvan wrote:I did a tour this winter (feb/march) in Spain and people were very happy with all the rain. I am wondering if it's still as bad as last year by now. Did it have a lasting effect? Maybe not so for plants that root close to the surface, but are the trees with deep roots profitting?
Insect hotels attract a lot of insects, but also concentrate the egglaying in one place, it's easy for predators of the mason bees for instance then to lay eggs. When nature was wilder,with lots of stalks and plant debris left in place it was a better environment for insects. Here in France an organisation emerged contracting farmers not to cut the trees they plant in their hedges, 90 different species they offer, miles of insects refuges bringing down insect pressure on crops because they harbor predator insects as well...

Hi, Hugo.
Dams have recharged a little. So for farmers who use dam water it's still fine.

I got a few crops surviving on the spring rains: lettuce, mustard, favas, but starting June most things have withered. Fruit trees are doing well, as expected, and the same is true for the climbing grapes. The hardy ornamentals weren't so hardy for the most part. Lavender, lentisk, and some brooms are doing well, the others not so much.

At least I could get some mustard grains for trying the sauce recipe...

Hi, Joseph.

I'm trying to get a few gardener friends interested to this practice, but it's always received with mistrust.

The most common objection is lack of space, since my friends have urban gardens with not so much space. It's hard to justify growing ten different gourds when you barely have space for two. The second most common objection is the fear of losing the already adapted heirloom variety they are already using. They don't want to mix it with foreign varieties and spoil it. Do you know how rural people is afraid of change? The same can be applied to most growers.
And this is from urban gardeners that grow from seed, because most of the gardeners I know, just buy the seedlings. They don't have proper nurseries or space in their appartments for growing from seed. I know how difficult it is without a proper space because I try to grow from seed in my (excessively exposed) terrace and, man, it's really hard.

In my personal case, I have no objection at all, but I simply can't irrigate crops. This is a big issue in a semi-arid warm mediterranean climate which feels like a desert from May to September. Seeds that claim to be apt for dryland farming in southern France, just can't make it in this heat. If I get no survivors, I can't make any selection.

I guess what I'd like to see in this book is a clear reference to:
1. What good I am getting by adopting Adaptation Gardening in my garden.
2. What is the bare minimum that I need for making it happen.
3. What I am giving up when I choose this technique instead of others.

(pss, pss, and maybe have it translated into spanish!)

Sounds interesting!

Before you embark in such a huge project, I would recommend to check another impactful organisation that is already doing wonders in Andalousia. It's called Asociacion Alvelal, they do many things, education, regenerative practices, help with bounds, and have developed a local network that connects local producers with local restaurants.
In short, they have created value for the local products increasing tourism, these products have been created following regenerative practices, and the association conducts periodically research that is published in major journals of agriculture. The researchers get their papers, the farmers get their local clients and education, and the restaurants get more tourists too, win-win-win. They also promote their activity by granting prizes.

Even if your project differ in its methods and objectives, it could be informative to talk with them. This is their webpage: https://alvelal.es/

Jennie Little wrote:I had, my estimation, 100,000 books. No that is NOT a typo. I was a used/antiquarian book dealer. I know how to sell valuable books. I know how to sell collectible books, etc. That is a LOT of what slows the process down, namely researching things. It doesn't take a long time, but actually looking up every book, even if it's < 2 minutes, is a lot.

I'm not keeping books my appraisal comes back as worth $10 or less. One bookstore that's selling my stuff does comics, illustrated books, and pulps, mostly on Ebay. The other is a high-end antiquarian book dealer. The fellow I"m giving books to is a used/antiquarian dealer as well.

I've been scouting books (finding them), buying and selling them professionally and not since around 1978, when I started working in my first book store.

My last store was at the end of an alley. And the low point of the street, ajacent parking lot and the alley. No drainage. I ended up standing in ankle deep water one day and I didn't dare open the door, there was more outside!

What I wanted from this thread? Hm acknowledgement of how hard it was I suppose. Getting rid of the addictive thing is hard, even if you're not using any more... A place I could be a bit whiney I guess too? I have been giving and selling books, fabric, beads, craft supplies, food stuffs, garden equipment, clothing, and kitchen stuff away for years and still have too much. A long time ago I realized I had 2 major hurdles: too much stuff and bad habits.

The habits aren't just "fix it" things, because being consistent and repetitve with it pushes on the PTSD, and I have panic attacks.

People who've known me a long time say there's noticeably fewer books here. I'm sure there is. I used to have a "goat trail" thru the stacked 8 high tomato boxes, full of books instead of the living room. That's not true now.

We have 1 storage unit, but the books aren't stored there, unless they're going to the bookstore the next time we go. There's probably say 20 or less books there, if there's any at all. The storage is because we were having the house painted/new windows last summer and we expected to get our downstairs wood floor sanded/varnished, etc. House painting/upstairs windows were finally finished in November, but we'd moved furniture, flea market merch (long gone), etc. to make room so people could get at the walls upstairs.

Other people see the difference. I know there is one. But all I really see is how much is still here... and the fact that the books i want to keep are still far too many to fit into the bookshelves, although I keep culling.

Have you tried finding someone who is interested in doing this work? Maybe someone younger who could benefit of this knowledge for making a life. That way you will only need to teach him/her, which surely is less demanding than the current work. Share the benefits with your pupil so he/she has an additional interest.

I know it's hard to ask for help, I don't want to ask for help because it makes me look weak. But getting help in exchange for something else? That's a deal!

Hi,
can you explain what is a "hub for regenerative agriculture"? You say it's in North-east of Spain, do you have a land in property or in sight, or do you just like the climate there? A find it weird that your website isn't translated into Spanish, do you want to attract only foreign farmers?

Have you considered founding a cooperative? It's a very common figure here for the kind of commercial activity you seem to seek.

Hi, Klaus.
Ernst has an unorthodox set of beliefs, which doesn't necessarily need to be valid or true, but it also happens that that set of beliefs is what has made him develop his farming system, which works well for him, and looks like it's working for more people. In my city there are people teaching the method, because they think it works.

Maybe we can watch the real man talking about it:



I believe it was Parkinsonia the backbone of everything else.

Oh, I should have specified... cactus is a succulent too!