Shawn Jadrnicek

I have more info on this topic in my book.  Drip tape or turbulent flow emitters operate on low pressure but 2psi may not be enough pressure to equally distribute water via drip tape but it still works.  Manufacturer recommends 4psi for drip tape.  They also make rain barrel soaker hoses that operate off .4psi but with soaker hoses or holes in pipe you won't get even distribution.  For automation you'll need a mechanical valve.  Toro makes a hose bib valve and some of the older gilmor's work.  Best would be a zone valve for hydronic heating (Taco zone sentry) that could be connected to irrigation control timer.

I agree with Joseph, the adjustable rear blade is better than a box scraper and a tractor is ultimately more useful farm tool than a dozer. The box scraper holds the soil and makes it difficult to evenly distribute to form the downhill berm. You'll need rippers with the rear blade or a chisel plow, disc harrow or tiller to loosen the soil first to make it more effective.

Another alternative is to use a disc harrow. Remove all the blades except for one gang facing a single direction and it will then loosen and side cast soil. Travel so the soil is thrown downhill and it will form a berm in a few passes. The disc harrow can then be reassembled and used for tillage operations so it becomes more useful if you don't need a rear blade later on. Whatever you do make all slope angles shallow and the base wide so you can use the tractor to maintain them later by mowing or cleaning out the base.

I'm in zone 8a and we have mulberries ripe now and still have prickly pear fruit on the plants from last year.

lots of good advice in this forum. I find you can do a lot online with web soil survey and county GIS for elevation data to see the landforms and soil types. First step for me is to create a base map and do a design. Here's a good fact sheet on making base maps: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ep427 Next, I write down all of my needs and things I might potentially want even if I can't build them right away. I try to figure out a size for each component then make paper cutouts of each component that are to scale. I then place the cutouts on the base map and move things around until I maximize integration. Think about things for a long time and move them on paper first as it's much easier than moving it once it's built.

Limit the amount of road you have to build and try to enter the property towards the middle so you have access to as much land as possible from a single point (don't back yourself into a corner). Place the house and garden in a good microclimate and face the house south. Keep all roads and paths on the ridges if possible. If not, slope them at a shallow angle across the landscape (0.25%) and incorporate diversion channels above or below to harvest rainwater.

Once the building site and main entrance/road is located try to find the highest point on the landscape to store rainwater and use the building and diversions above or below the roads to harvest water into the storage. From this point determine how water will flow through the property and make the path long with storage throughout. Start thinking about how animals will connect with the landscape and building site.

Next, to flush out the details I use Christopher Alexander's "A Pattern Language." I start with pattern number 95 "Building Complex" and work through them until I have the appropriate detail needed for all the design components. Finally, the design is drawn onto the base map and the project is divided into small chunks. Start with the roads, building and earthworks and finish with plants and animals.

That number came from observations of the flock on forage around my house and is anecdotal. I've talked with and read about other growers with a similar number. I'm getting ready to build another coop system so I'll have to run some comparisons once I do. Seems like someone must have done this research already. Let me know if you find anything. I've learned it's best to move based on forage height. Seems like if they stay on too long it favors the grasses at the expense of the legumes.

I go into all the details in the book but the concrete slab has about 900 feet of 3/4 inch pex pipe inside and gets around 15,000 btu's/hr when the compost is in the 150's. We've also run 1" pex through the middle of a windrow style pile and get around 4-6,000 btu's/hr from a single run down a 35 foot long 40 cubic yard pile and around 8,000 btu's/hr from two runs. Depending on flow rate of water and amount of pipes you can extract too much heat and cause compost temps to drop. Heat transfer is also dependent on moisture levels in compost pile.

Hi Jan, Lorenzo put the video in his book review post titled "The Bio-integrated farm by Shawn Jadrnicek and Stephanie Jadrnicek" it's also on the chelsea green page http://www.chelseagreen.com/the-bio-integrated-farm

One of the improved varieties is called LA85-034 and is reported to be the best. I think that's the variety edible landscaping in VA is selling. I've had some softball sized tubers from this variety.

The best part about the combo for me is that the sunchokes start looking awful towards the end of summer. Just when you want to mow them down for complete ugliness the Apios climb over the tops and envelop everything in a sea of green hiding the mess. Then, when you dig up the tubers through winter you get both.

Hi all, great to be a part of your group. I've learned so much reading through the forums. I wish I would have found this resource sooner.

Hi Ranson,

The book has some good ideas on catching, storing and using water and might help you find ways to use the water you get when it's wet during the dry times. As far as building soil in pasture I would go with keyline plowing then sowing to cover crops (and adding lime, P and K if you need it) before the rain hits in October. The rip lines will maximize water absorption and disturb the soil enough for good cover crop germination. To avoid the expense of a keyline plow I use the scarifiers on a box scraper and go about 2 inches deep. If you have a chisel plow, that would also probably work well if you only go a few inches deep.

Hi Josephine,

Beaver dams are viewed as a curse by some and as the creator of beautiful wetlands by others. It may be large enough to grow some fish for recreational activities if stocked or maybe duck hunting or raising ducks for eggs or meat. If you excluded the beavers and removed the dam the flooding probably killed a large area of trees and once drained the open area may support fruit trees or other full sun plants. It probably has a thick layer of silt or rich soil on the bottom.