Ben Zumeta

My garden, 5/16/26. I also give tours of ancient Tolowa food forests several days a week via kayak and raft.

Welcome Nicole! I am a few hundred miles south across the California border, and a founding member of the Wild Rivers Permaculture Guild. Wishing you well in your endeavour!

The main issue seems to be that where livestock are fenced and protected from predation through lethal means, prairie dogs’ predators are reduced as well. Like many burrowers, prairie dogs are also often attracted to competitor unoccupied and predator reduced compacted land where the vegetation benefits greatly from improved aeration and water infiltration from their burrows. These burrows often look like hydroponic tubes full of root tips.

The sad effects on cattle are symptoms of a grazing system destined to fail, and I like the out of the box thinking of the OP. The best alternative seems to be groups of livestock guardian dogs being used instead or as the first alternative of artificial lethal means (poison, guns) for controlling wolf, coyote, cougar and grizzly bear predation. My first park ranger boss worked in the Wind Rivers previously and took part in a large study showing livestock leg breakages are reduced to a greater extent than predators are able to take with the careful use of LGDs causing a reduction of predation by 90-98%. This prairies dog problem is the solution for other likely current problems (compaction and sub-ideal water infiltration), and it is likely the solution to another problem (predation) is exacerbating this prairie dog problem. I doubt it will be as simple as snake poop, but I would be interested if it gets results!

Great choice on terracing with them. Dead standing trees are amongst the most beneficial habitat features, but of course can be dangerous around a house. I cannot think of a good reason longterm for paying for exporting the wood.

They also act like fountains in how their evapotranspiration (breathing out an H20 molecule along with an O2 for every sugar molecule made and CO2  consumed) cools the air and seed precipitation downwind. A large redwood evapotranspires 500gal/2000L per day. Every gram of water going through the liquid to gas phase change from leaves provides 540kcal of cooling. That is about 1billion kcal per day of cooling per big redwood. We have ten of those per acre in old growth, which we once had 2mil acres of in Northern California. 10 billion x 2million is a lot (20quadrillion kCal).

95-98% of that old growth has been logged. It takes 20yrs for a PNW conifer to become water positive, ie storing more than they use. They will then become exponentially more water positive for millennia. I wonder how much of this is calculated into climate models, but it really seems to explain a lot of heretofore novel climate phenomena.

Thanks for the links and info Brian. I was unaware of Dr. Furuno until now, but I have seen the benefits of raising Muscovy ducks and integrating them in a design:

https://permies.com/t/75626/Hugel-Chinampas-duckoponic-swales

These quacking phosphorus factories helped me produce a lot of value on our .42acre first property. I do not think we would be debt free with 25acres without our ducks’ help. The buyer of our old place even adopted them when we moved off grid to a mountainous spot less suited for ducks Up here we get even more predator pressure and their viable in ground pond sites would all be above our water source spring. We could do lined or above ground basins for muscovies, but we have watch our water use more now off grid so we raise only chickens. I miss their quirky quacking circular marching.

Hi All,

We had a great turnout and accomplished a lot at last weekend’s shaded fuel break and biochar workshop, so many thanks to the nearly 30 people who came! Our 4th and final workshop of this series is upcoming:

Be the Beaver You Wish to See in the World—Water cycle restoration with woody debris, inspired by and in homage to beavers.

May 16th — 10am-2pm

Old Growth Edible Landscapes HQ

Our NW California-SW Oregon Wild Rivers region may be the most important to restore in all of North America, as our forested coastal mountains prime the continent’s hydrological pump. We will cover how to use the larger woody debris from fire mitigating shaded fuel breaks to build beaver dam analogues and other water retention-infiltration structures. A focus will be on low risk hand-scale work that can be done by any aspiring beaver impersonator. Doing this strategically can go a surprisingly long ways to rehydrate forests, mountainsides and aquifers–feeding springs, creeks and rivers through dry summers. This work can also encourage beavers return to do their work by providing them more food, water and shelter. Our site at the Myrtle Creek headwaters is strategic inflection point for watershed health downstream and fire mitigation downwind, and we appreciate your help in stewarding it.

What to Bring:
- Closed-toed shoes comfortable for walking uneven ground.  Shoes you don’t mind getting wet help working around water.
- Weather appropriate clothing (weather looks good, but long sleeves and pants are a good idea.
- Gloves and safety glasses (we will have some to share but bringing your own would help)
- extra hand saws and loppers if you have them. We will focus on work not requiring chainsaws.
- Water bottle
- An open mind, positivity, and your ideas.
- We will provide snacks and lunch at the end.  

Emailing me at oldgrowthediblelandscapes@gmail.com to let us know you are coming will help us make an appropriate amount of food. Please bring something you can eat if you have special dietary requirements.

Thanks for your participation, collaboration, and help spreading the word.

Be the Beaver You Wish to See in the World!

I have Italian large bulbed fennel, and a smaller amount of bronze fennel, all over our garden and food forest. It self seeds prolifically, which I am ok with because it is a great biomass producer on our difficult serpentine bedrock based soils, it’s foliage makes pesto on par with basil, and the flowers support dozens of pollinator and pest predator insect species. I have not notices it being allelopathic beyond being prolific. I have even seen benefits to seedlings and transplanted starts with its dappled shade, especially when chopped and dropped strategically. It also seems to be a snail shelter plant, making it a place to harvest chicken treats. That snails seem to live in it without eating it was said by Bill Mollison to be an indicator of a fire resistant plant. I think fennel is one of the most under-appreciated volunteers (my preferred nomenclature for “weeds”).

A Clallam man taught us at my 5th grade outdoor school in the Olympic rainforest that eating slugs would keep us alive more efficiently if lost (as unskilled kids) than catching rabbits etc. Of course that is not compared to domesticated animals, but still brings a problem is the solution to mind. Most gardeners know how to propagate slugs and snails. I feed them to my chickens currently, and prefer that way of obtaining their fat to direct consumption;).

Would you like to take a permaculture themed tour on the largest undammed river in the continental US, and through the grandest forest Earth? Undammed rivers, old growth forests, and the cultures that have stewarded them for millennia can demonstrate permaculture principles and the patterns of nature in uniquely powerful ways. I am very fortunate to get to guide such trips through my good friend Adam’s company, Redwood Rides. I would love to share this amazing area of NW California with fellow permies, and Adam is open to offering these permaculture themed trips at a discount. Ask for Ben Zumeta and a permaculture paddle, cycling tour, or
a combined “multi-sport” trip when booking at:

https://www.redwoodrides.com/

Redwood rides can rent out all the gear you need for kayaking and cycling based trips, which are my specialties. The “Redwood Run” is an 8-mi stretch with class 1-2 rapids (doable for beginners and fun for all) that starts in the diverse and dramatic Siskiyou serpentine ecosystem, then runs through the world’s highest biomass forest in the old growth redwoods. This run can also be broken into two 4mi half day trips (upper and lower). I can also row a raft through this section if that is preferred.

One of my favorite kind of days to lead are “multi-sport”. On multi-sport trips we cycle through the old growth forest on an old stage coach road surrounded by an old growth redwood forest with 18 of the 30 tallest trees on Earth in the morning. We then eat a nice lunch by the river before setting out on the upper Redwood Run by boat. I rarely feel more fortunate than when sharing these amazing places from a bike and a boat in the same day.

For those looking for a more challenging paddle, I also lead trips on the Middle Fork of the Smith with class 3 rapids amidst where the diverse Siskiyou serpentine and redwood ecosystems converge. This is a beautiful run with epic swimming holes and unbelievably clear water.

Redwood Rides also provides gear and guides for big water rafting, which gets up to class 5 on upper stretches of the Smith. We have other guides who are world class big water river runners, and excellent naturalists in their own right. I can generally hang in up to class 4, but only like to guide class 3 and below. We also offer coastal trail rides (which I also lead), and shuttling for self guided trips. I hope to get to share this beautiful place with you sometime!