I have a little over three acres in rural Kansas. The soil is primarily clay loam, with a heavier clay layer about six inches to a foot down.
I had a second garden tilled this spring which gets runoff from the neighbor. During this last set of storms I was watching the runoff. As expected, the
water is carrying the soil with it. The top (south) side of the garden seemed to pool the most, but it's also drying out first. Maybe a higher clay content?
Eventually this will be structured so no culinary water is needed, but each person I have spoken to has said increase drainage, get the excess water off the property.
I want to use that water, sink and hold it for use during the summer. While it might solve the existing mud problem, getting rid of it would not advance me toward my goals.
The space is, I think, about 80x80? 40 paces along one edge, and it's approximately square. This spring I split it into eight wedges, the borders of which are planned as an eventual fedge. Currently the plan is to leave the center open so I can get in to mow cover crops.
I have several ideas for the water, but I'm sure there are more out there.
1) Create a
berm and
swale along the southern edge to catch the runoff from the neighbor. That's right along the property line so it might become an issue if he objects. Probably easiest to use a log berm so there's no pit to catch his mower.
2) Log berm on contour along the edge of each spoke to catch any runoff sediment. Grasses, plant debris, etc, would catch on the logs rather than running down slope.
3) Small, shallow ponds at the bottom where the water leaves the garden. Maybe a foot deep, to catch and hopefully sink the water that makes it to this point. I would have no objection :) to a running spring downslope.
Other ideas? Problems?
The arrows are the direction of water flow. Circles are the position of small ponds. Horizontal lines would be small sections of log placed on the spoke boundaries but angled to contour.