Edward Finch

First off, what I'm planning to create here are probably not true Chinampas, since the channels will not be filled with water through much of the growing season. That said, I have a seasonal creek that flows through what we could call a seasonal wetland, itself within a rather narrow valley with steep sides. The area is waterlogged through the winter and spring and remains soft during much of the summer. My plan is to dig a series of wide trenches running out from the creek toward the valley edge, using the dirt to build up planting beds in-between the trenches.

My question regards the best orientation of these channels and beds. The three options are to dig the channels perpendicular to the main creek, pointed somewhat downstream, or pointed somewhat upstream. My inclination is to cooperate with nature and angle downstream, but I don't know enough about waterflow patterns to really weigh the advantages and disadvantages. Fwiw, I also plan to put in beaver-analog check dams roughly at the level of each channel.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

When animals have problems, there is acute suffering going on; the animals are miserable, which makes being around the farm miserable, and its all bearing down on you as needing urgent attention. Plant problems, on the other hand, are just suggestions for longer-term shifts and improvements to one's permaculture strategies and methods. Solving plant problems is a fun, strategic undertaking.

First, the basics of my situation: 1) PNW, zone 8b, wet, grey winters. 2) I have minimal building experience or skill. I worked for a contractor for a year or two, so I know how to use tools, but it's not something I'm particularly good at nor is it something I particularly enjoy. 3) Everything I build will be unpermitted and on the smaller side - cabins mostly but some structures might get a bit bigger. I plan to start with a small, one-room cabin with wood heat but no plumbing or electricity and use that to develop my skills before moving onto something a bit more complex.

What I want is the best of all worlds: cheap, easy, quick, eco-friendly, aesthetically pleasing, and cozy to live in. If I had to prioritize those values I would put emphasis on ease, simplicity, and relatively easy to heat (it doesn't have to be totally passive or anything like that - I have basically free firewood, for the labor of cutting and stacking, but I don't want it to be a constant battle to stay warm).

There are a ton of building approaches discussed here, and while I will certainly do a lot of research on the method I choose, it is a bit overwhelming for me to try to research them all with enough depth to really understand their pros and cons relative to my situation, so I'm hoping to crowd source some info/opinions on that question.

Thanks all.

Just plant the nitrogen fixers and then prune them regularly. This will be the best for the soil and for your production trees in the long run.

Suggestions for soil improvement

Vegetation develops over time. First, pioneer species arrive, which prepare the soil. Pioneer species are a very diverse group of plants.
On a bare rock, pioneers like moss and lichen will be the first. But if you already have loose fine minerals like clay, sand, or gravel the story is a little different. Not only will mosses and lichens appear, but also other types of pioneers, from herbs to trees. Some species are very good at making nutrients available for others. Eucalyptus can exude acid from its roots and dissolve minerals and rocks. Legumes are able to fix nitrogen. Tilia can bring up calcium from deep in the soil and drop it with its leaves on the surface. Juglans is known to drop phosphorus with its leaves. Others like Celtis are experts in splitting rocks with a force of up to 50kg per cm2, or 500t per m2. That's why this tree is called rock splitter in Italy. There are even tropical species which are able to drill into solid rock via aggressive root exudates, resulting in fingers sized drill holes.

Often under appreciated is the role of pine trees on rocky mountain terrain, where there is not much  soil at all.  Pine trees cover the rocks with a sour (acidic) blanket of needles, which speed up the weathering process of the rock, helping form soil and prepare for other species.

The short lifetime of many pioneer species is also a key to soil formation. When the life of a tree ends, it falls over and is colonized by basidiomycetes, a class of mushrooms. These mushrooms not only grow in the wood but also in the area surrounding the wood. Similarly, logs colonized by the (oyster?) mushroom will colonize the soil in a radius 60cm around the wood. Fungi have the ability to loosen up all types of compaction and even dissolve solid rock, although this is a slow process. By doing this, fungi make the minerals available and transport it to where is needed. Fungi are also able to fix nitrogen with the help of bacteria.

Fungi are the transport system of the soil. They build a network across species. The fungal network wants to maximize photosynthesis in an area. To achieve this, it transports nutrients, but also carbohydrates, directly from one tree species to a other. Suzanne Simard describes this in her book:  "Finding the Mother Tree," how mycorrhizal fungi transport carbohydrates from Douglas Fir to Paperbark Birch in spring and the opposite direction during summer.

If a forest becomes stagnant and weak, fungi like armelaria melea take more extreme measures.  This mushroom is able to kill weak trees within weeks. It presses the reset button, sometimes killing whole forests and making the trees available for soil building organisms. In a healthy forest its presence is hard to detect as it does no harm, but when a soil is lacking in organic matter and woody material it can become problematic. This often happens in city parks or private gardens.
Tree pruning is a rare event in nature, mostly due to storm damage or fire. The woody material resulting from such an event are of great benefit for the forest over the long run, as it will build up soil via fungi. When trees are topped by a storm, the fungal network will help to regrow the trees as fast as possible. But not only will large trees regrow fast after a storm event, but also the small trees in the shade will awaken from their sleep and start growing fast. A storm or topping event induces a growth impulse in the whole plant community, so that photosynthesis is maximized. Also trees start fruiting more heavily as this provides the optimal conditions to establish their seeds.

Understory plants like Yew often wait for centuries for such an event to occur. Storm damage or tree topping brings new live to a forest and lets it produce a bounty of fruits. Ernst Götsch observed this in his cacao plantation in Costa Rica. The plantation was a forest garden with many different tree species and cacao as understory plant. After a cyclone topped all tree in a 60m wide strip, the trees started regrowing quickly, but also the cacao responded very well  to the storm event. The yield went up by 100% for this season.

As the storm showed Ernst Götsch the benefits of topping trees, he does it now annually. The decaying woody material helps to build up soil very quickly, and the growth impulse given by the topped trees helps all plants near by. Rich topsoil is built at a rate of 1 to 3cm a year. Usually you can find topsoil increase by only 0.5 to 1mm a year according to scientific literature.

You can use this knowledge to improve your soil and make it sutble for demanding tree species. In nature, pioneers species are followed later by other species. But it's possible to plant stages of succession at once. Even climax species can be planted right from the beginning. The species will start flourishing as soon the soil conditions are improved to match their needs. Fast growing species will produce large amount of biomass early on. The topping of this pioneer species makes the woody biomass available early on for the basidiomycets fungi. This will speed up a process which in nature takes centuries down to only a decade or two.
Fungi will build up soil rapidly. Often exotic tree species can greatly accelerate the process: Eucalyptus, Robinia (Black Locust), or Ailanthus (Tree of Heaven) will produce lots of biomass very quickly,  but also Alder, Elm, Birch, and Poplar perform this function well.

Lets do a example for Central Switzerland, with deep but biologically inactive soil and about 600mm or more rainfall. The intended production species for this scenario are Cherry, Plum, Peach, Apple, Walnut, Oak, and Chestnut. To start with you plant the named species. But also, next to it, plant Silver Willow, Alder, Elm, Ash, Maple, Birch, and Lime (Linden). Maybe Poplar but it makes root suckers. Also exotics like Hippophae Salicifolia (Willow-leaved Sea Buckthorn), Paulownia, Gleditsia Triacanthos Inermis (Thornless Honey Locust), Toona Sinensis (Toon Tree, Garlic and Onions Tree), Xanthoceras Sorbifolium (Yellowhorn), Sophora Japonica (Styphnolobium japonicum, Japanese Pagoda Tree), or Morus (Mulberry) to name a few. They are planted at high density, about 10 plants per m2 (~10 square feet). From the first year onward, you top the pioneer species and drop the pruning material. This will maximize growth right from the beggining. With time you will take out more and more of the trees. Some you let grow tall and top them at a a height of 5m (~16.5 ft). If you do this with Maple, Fraxinus (Ash), Gleditsia (Honey Locust), Cherry, Walnut, Chestnut, or maybe Morus you can produce high quality timber along side.

Some species like Willow continually regrow from the stump. You can cover it with plastic to prevent  that or plant them in a margin so that you can mow them. Also cattle and sheep will love to eat the new shoots and after a while it will give up. Brambles also help to improve the soil quality. You can cut them at the beginning. When the soil becomes loose over time and they have fulfilled their duty, they will be easy to pull.

Benefits of regular pruning

When you prune or cute trees/herbs/grasses, the plants send a growth impulse into the soil that encourages the growth of all plants in the area. The cut material is then clipped or chipped so that it makes soil contact. Lignin rich material is food for beneficial fungi from the group of basidiomycetes. This fungi produces molecules such as vitamins and antibiotics which are beneficial to the immune system of plants, so plants are protected from disease. Also their fruit and leaves have higher mineral, protein, and vitamin content, which makes them a lot less attractive to insects and slugs.

The role of many insects is to clean up plants and fruit that not fit for human/animal consumption.
The growth impulse consists of codified information root exudates such as carbohydrates, protein, and growth hormones. It tells the mycorrhizae and the soil food web to prepare the nutrients required for rapid new growth.

Plants store lots of carbohydrates in their tissues. Pruning makes the plant release this stored energy into the soil food web and mycorrhizae. The mixture of root exudates is fine tuned to encourage only the growth of beneficial microbes and fungi. Mycorrhizae are able to break down stones and extract nutrition from it. The exudates are kind of like the fuel in a mining operation. Just a more complex and elegant way of mining. That's why pruning cutting has a more beneficial effect than just mulching with organic material.

If you have lots of woody material in all stages of decay on the ground, there will be a diverse community of fungi in the ground, like early and late stages of succession in decomposition. This makes it very hard for Pacific fungi such as honey mushrooms armilaria to gain a foothold. It's important to feed the soil with woody material regularly.

You have this effect only when you top the trees. Then the regrowth will be strongest. But you should not go over the capacity of the tree. The tree has to be able to regrow its volume with in a vegetation period. Otherwise it is better to cut on the ground and start from a stump. If a tree is pruned too heavily it is not able to support its root system with enough assimilates. This will result in the root system dying back. You have the same problem when you cut herbs and grasses to often or to deep. Herbs and grasses are ready to cute when first seeds start maturing. A clean cut is necessary for good wound healing and fast recovery.

Irregular pruning or heavy topping can severely stress a tree ore even kill it. If you work with old senescent trees, start slowly. For example, Fagus, Acer, and Fraxinus take while to activate sleeping buds and form adventive buds, but once they do, they can handle a lot of pruning. The leaving area should be able to recover within a vegetation period.  Fagus can grow 80cm/year, Acer up to 2.5m/year.

You can encourage formation of adventive bud by doing a cut about 1cm in the wood. This will create pressure below the cut and stop growth, inhibiting hormones from above. The result is the formation of new shoots. In a year or two, you can use these shoots to create a new crown. This is a useful trick when you are dealing with old cheery trees, as often they loose all shoots in the crown due to shading and you have nowhere to prune back to.

Heavy pruning in late June (July?) and August can force the tree into a second growth. This second growth is not able to mature before winter, which can result in heavy frost damage or even the death of the tree. Do heavy pruning from late September to late July, but is best when tree starts growing in the spring.
Light pruning, removal of up to 1/3 of the leaf matter, can be done year around. So cherry can be pruned while harvesting as often done traditionally. If you harvest leaves for fodder or food, do this in late spring or early summer. At this time, the leaves have less fiber and are more digestible. In late summer many leaves are infected/covered with fungi. Such leaves are not fit for fodder.

Some tree species, such as willow, you can harvest twice every second year. But if you leave the new shoots over winter they will flower in early spring. Flowering buds are easy located as they are many times as big as leaf buds.

Here is a document on how different tree species react to pruning:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14aF4IVWcaRNSF2qJSJwfo8S9pGfVOauI/view?usp=sharing

Wow, Patrick, that's some great info. I've generally been skeptical of the Syntropic brand, as it largely seems to be an attempt to rebrand pretty standard permaculture food forestry techniques without adding a lot. But maybe that is just because I wasn't finding the good stuff. What you have shared here is some of the most fascinating info I've come across in a while, and will definitely be influencing how I approach my project.

At the same time, it was pretty hard for me to parse, so in the interest of making it more accessible to others, I've done some editing. I hope you don't mind me reposting your notes with corrected spelling and grammar. (To be clear, what follows is Patrick's notes from above, just cleaned up a bit to be more readable).

Condensing water from the atmosphere

You can use plants to condense water  from the atmosphere.  When plants are vigorous they can cool themselves below the condensation point at night.  This means water vapor starts condensing on their leaves. Dew droplets form and run down the leafs, where they collected by the root system or just accumulate in the soil. It is helpful to take your flashlight and go outside in the night. I did this and found a Künigskerze, the silvery fluffy leaf of the plant was covered  in dew droplets like pearls. Certainly this process would make an amazing time-lapse. You will soon learn which plants (and in which growth states) are exceptional water harvesters. Teasel (Dipsacus fullonum) holds water in its cup-like leafs. Leaves grow opposite each other. On the lower part of the stem they  are fused and form a cup around the stem. Same is true for Silphium Perfoliatum (Cup Plant). Kale is also an exceptional water collector. But this plant guides the water directly to it's root system and stores it there. Its enough water to survive a droughts. When you plant kale next to your tree sapling, it will help establish your trees and help them through drought.

Vegetation can be shaped and pruned to encourage the condensation process.  When moist air starts cooling and condensing, its volume decreases.  A downward spiral of cooling air is created. Further air is drawn towards the plant further water can condense on the plant.

Multi story plantings are helpful for this process.  Young vegetation is especially effective. Old senescent vegetation does not have the ability to cool itself effectively, so it does not condense as much water. Some plants are extremely  effective  in condensing water such as Kale. You can plant a cabbage next to your young tree to water it.

I wonder if you will find water flow in the smooth bark of fagus sylvatica (European Beech). At least when it rains, this tree channels raindrops down its stem, so during rain you will often find a little creek flowing down its stem. Maybe dew will also be sufficient to induce waterflow.

To harvest water  from the atmosphere two things are key: First, vegetation needs to be in the growth state so it can cool itself below the condensation point during night. This is achieved by regular pruning /topping. Grasses and herbs need to be cut before seeds start ripening or during flowering. This can also be achieved with rotational grazing. In both cases, sufficient recovery time is key. When it comes to grazing you should graze only for one day at the same spot then the animals have to move on. After only three days grasses and herbs will start regrowing. If animals are still present they will seek out new growth and cripple the plants ability to regrow.  Even a few animals on a large area are sufficient to hinder plants regrowth. This is called overgrazing and is very common on extensive plots. Biomass production will plummet.

When a plot is over grazed, plants like stinging Nettle, Hawkweed, Buttercup, and other poisonous or thorny species will appear. If you into the topic of grazing and its positive and negative effects on the ecosystem, I recommend the books of Allen Savory and Gabe Brown.

When you cut grass, a clean cut is key to enable fast recovery. Brush cutter with strings (string trimmer?) should be avoided because they induce very bad squash(?) wounds on the plant, which drastically decrease the plant's ability  to regrow. If you use a lawn mower, make sure you don't  mow to deep. When grass is already laying on the ground, it can be difficult to make a clean cut. Also when you prune trees and hedges a clean cut is key for fast recovery.

The second key factor  is the structure of the vegetation. A multi-story forest/ forest garden allows air circulation. When condensation starts at night, this will form a vortex sucking in fresh moist air from above. This downward spiraling of moist air is sufficient to condense and harvest water on the vegetation.
If a forest only is made up of one layer, the vertical downward air circulation is greatly hindered. A closed canopy layer without other layers of smaller trees and shrubs can encourage horizontal winds blowing through under the canopy and driving moisture out of the area. This is the case in plantain forests. It also will increase the risk of wildfires.

On the other hand, hilltops can be utilized for dew harvesting. A multi-story forest on the top of a hill will be very effective at collecting dew. This is why our ancestors built dew ponds on the top of hills. This ponds were laid out with straw, then sealed with  a layer of clay. The straw works as a capillary brake and stops the water from infiltrating. It also keeps the clay in place. Dew ponds are known from Ireland, and even after centuries they still work. With topping/pruning the trees their effective can be increased.

An Air Well (condenser) is an ancient method to harvest dew. It's basically a large stone structure built in such a way that air can circulate and condense.
Yakhchāl are an other kind of stone structure. This one is used to generate ice in the deserts by utilizing the space cooling effect. It's made up of a shallow pond which is shaded by a stone wall. This stops it from heating up durring the day. During the clear desert night, it radiates out so much heat that it cools below freezing. The ice is harvest and stored in underground domes, where its used to keep food fresh.

A Waterbox is a dew harvesting  device I use to establish tree seedlings. It collects rainwater and dew and releases it via a wick directly to the roots of the seedling. I left one of these waterboxes standing for a few years on a dry hillside. After a while Juncus started growing.  This plant indicates waterlogged soils.
But the most efficient means of water collecting are still multi-story forest and agricultural systems like Syntropic agriculture which mimic it. How this works on a continental scale is explained well on the YouTube video "rivers in the sky" by be smart
https://youtu.be/VGurBZ0b6nI?si=6dHhBtRrx8jncAID

Ernst Götsch says drought exists only in the mind. He gave the a example of harvesting water in an arid climate. For this, he made a demonstration plot. The area was divided into 4m x 4m plots. On half of it, he planted a multi-story succulent planting made up of Mandacaru Cactus as the emergent layer, Prickly Pear as the crown layer and Sisal-Agave as the ground layer. This planting was sufficient to harvest water not only for itself but also for the mixed crop in the other 4m x 4m plots.

When it comes to tree row plantings, Ernst recommends the planting of Wormwood (Artemisia  Absinthium). This plant is topped multiple times a year and kept in the vegetative state. When trees become of adequate size, it is shaded out and disappears by itself.

Echoing some of what Ben and Abe said, the number one thing I wish I would have done differently is more planting seed directly into its permanent location. For nuts, which is my big focus, I would germinate the nuts in a controlled environment over the winter and then as soon as those are germinated, plant them out. Planting nuts out over the winter would result in almost total loss to the critters. If you want grafted varieties, I would topwork onto roots grow in place.

... and possibly being hired to build. If this sounds like you, please get in touch. I'm not looking for anything fancy, but I have some unusual needs and limitations in my house that add some challenges to implementing a RMH. I imagine that there are a number of creative solutions possible, but I don't have the skill set to imagine and assess them.

There is a narrow field on my property in which I was planning on planting chestnut, hazelnut, and apple. I was aware of a pipe running through the field, and was planning on giving it lots of room, but I recently discovered that there is a second pipe, parallel to the first, about 25' apart. If I were to give both of these pipes as much space as I would like, most of the field would be ruled out. So now I'm trying to figure out how much space I really need to give these pipes from each of the three species I mentioned. The pipes are PVC and buried about 18" deep. They are both major arteries for the whole property, coming straight from the well, so I'd rather be safe than sorry, but I also don't want to have to leave this whole field empty. Does anyone here know enough about this to advise me on how far the from pipes I should plant to be able to sleep easy?

Thanks.