Kimi Iszikala

I like the linked description of Zone 5 as possibly a 4 returning to 5 with a little management to repair past damage.
With that view, we have 135+ acres of Zone 5 that we plant to "help" with some minor erosion control structures.

We have Zones 1-4 in our heads, mostly as we are in early stages (after 6 years... sigh...). But we do have a plan, and Zone 2 is so far our most fleshed out area!

I would love to hear an update on this amazing project?

Thank you for your reply, John!

The small area is for the first year of the grant. In our grant application we will put it into the context of our longer term goals -- water retention and infiltration on ~25 acres of the similar lowland rolling area, and on ~16 acres on the top of the mesa. The state is very supportive of small-scale operators looking to help the soils (even in city yards); it is a huge need. We were awarded this same grant for $8000 3 years ago for similar work.

Our issue is that we had to turn down that grant, partly because we realized the labor we had signed on to was unrealistic (doing pretty much everything by hand).

My most pressing questions are which machines are a good compromise to fit our work… alleviate a lot of the labor of doing it all by hand, while still being a bit gentler on the land than renting heavy machinery (photos of terrain below; all hilly, open woodland, criscrossed by dry arroyos).

Has anyone used a MechMaxx Loader Dumper? Does it seem like a good fit for our work?

Is a MechMaxx 5" Chipper a good type to get for moving around for chipping on-site on hilly ground?

Will a push compost spreader like this one or this work over rough terrain like ours and make that job easier? Will we even be able to distribute fine wood chips in that way in addition to compost? (They seem most marketed for use on lawns, so not sure if they would work for our application.)

Do hand-pushed seeders work for no-till seeding over open rolling ground? It seems like it would save on (the expensive native) seed over broadcasting, and save on labor over hand planting. Are there other similar seeders you would recommend?

What have others done for irrigating new plantings until they get established, over a large area far from infrastructure? I am mainly concerned about planted shrub seedlings, since native seeds will come up whenever they are ready. Would tree bags work for that? I was imagining our pickup with an IBC tote on the road, loading the 20 gallon rolling water cart to roll out to individual shrubs and filling up the water bags…??

Are there other options for those jobs that we haven’t thought of?

Thanks again!

Yes. And then I sprout it, and sometimes ferment it. I just got a dehydrator so that I can do big batches of sprouted rice (and other grains) to have it on hand, since it’s a bother to have to anticipate 3 days ahead to have rice.

I do it for the nutrition.

Actually I took a second look (I only noticed the first page last night, and I was in a hurry to give you the link info in case others had a hard time finding).

This has so much more than I realized. The water info is so detailed. I wonder if that would work in a place like ours, which has trickles, gullies, and arroyos on almost every square foot, but water running in the main arroyos only 0-8 days per year? The water info would probably be the most interesting to us, although the slope aspect is also so useful. And if I gave it a half-hour peruse instead of 10 minutes, I would probably find more.

Cool work!

The link you posted didn't work. I was able to get to this page which might be what you meant? https://www.forestshepherd.farm/basemaps

I do love maps and think this is cool, but I would probably not pay $150 for a map because it's fun enough to dig around the freely available tools and I like doing that. I could imagine there might be people who want the info and don't enjoy nerding out themselves to find what they need.

hair stick to hold my hair up in a bun

to reset my oven outlet... I have an annoying oven that trips its AF/CF breaker a lot so I have to push in the reset button but it's just out of reach behind the oven and a chopstick is perfect to reach that

Kyle, any progress on your decision?

We are now ***so-o-o-o-o close*** to getting our occupancy permit. We have been mostly plumbed since April. We had our lowest rain year ever (9" ... our highest ever was the previous year at 14"), yet our 8000 gallon water tanks are full. We use 100% water capture. The telling number will be how much we have in our tanks come next monsoon. 8000 now is misleading since we only just started using the water 8 months ago. We also don't have our shower built yet, so we will likely use more water when we shower more than once a month when lucky, and at home instead of at a truck stop! We do have a dishwasher and washing machine in use. The dishwasher saves so much water, we wouldn't do without it, and we beefed up our solar system to enable that kind of use.

I would not dig a well in NM. At least not where we are. We can water-haul as backup, but that water will not be as good as our rainwater.

We are applying for an NMDA Healthy Soils grant, to start assisting our land so that it can be productive for us (and also recover from our disturbances of the past 5 years of infrastructure building). So far we have mainly just been building our house, but this year we are finally ready to put more of our time into land restoration and growing. We had to turn down our first approved grant 3 years ago, because we realized we had bit off way more work than we could chew, at least until the house was built. We don't want to make that mistake again!

We are ignorant land managers and don’t even know what tools make the most sense, although we have started to make up a list just based on googling as best we can, guessing at our needs. We need to make sure that these tools will make the job doable for two (game) retirees working mostly alone. I am so sorry about the ugly URLs but I couldn't get the URL button to work properly and then lost the whole message and had to start over, so it is what it is...

QUESTION:
Here is the list of equipment we are most unsure of, and where we most need your help! (Each item must be <$5000). Where I included links, do those items make sense? Where I did or didn’t include links, do you have suggestions?

Small dumper loader for moving wood, biochar, compost, mulch reasonable distances over hilly ground MechMaxx 1100 lb dumper loader tracked gas with bucket https://mechmaxx.com/products/500kg-loading-tracked-mini-dumper-transporter-with-high-lift

Wood chipper MechMaxx 5-inch wood chipper https://mechmaxx.com/products/5-inch-e-start-kohler-408cc-gasoline-engine-powered-wood-chipper-model-gs1500

Building bags to catch and transport wood chips https://www.homedepot.com/p/DURASACK-200-Gal-Heavy-Duty-Builder-s-Bulk-Bag-White-Outdoor-Polypropylene-Construction-Trash-Bag-BB-40CTN/315038578

Temporary irrigation for establishing critical area plantings ??

Tree bags ?? 2.5 gallons https://www.amleo.com/leonard-mini-arborrainhydration-system/p/AR02

Water wagon ?? Smart watering cart https://www.amleo.com/smart-water-cart-flat-free-wheels/p/SWCFF

Gravity fed irrigation from 55 gallon water tanks?? What do you recommend?

Hand-pushed compost spreader this bigger Compost spreader https://www.mkrittenhouse.com/us/mini-topper-top-dresser?utm_source=google_shopping&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17191347485&gbraid=0AAAAAD_raT3Rcq3gQQDpyLlbDa6bvF8Ab&gclid=Cj0KCQiAvOjKBhC9ARIsAFvz5lh5oEXENd8xTVBg7zwGzFgL_IImQrHZra0DsiRYjYxXtF7J0pnThxkaAnN9EALw_wcB#prod_id=28383

or this smaller Compost spreader https://landzie.com/product/landzie-36-tow-behind-spreader/

Hand-pushed no-till seeder https://www.johnnyseeds.com/tools-supplies/seeders/six-row/six-row-seeder-second-edition-6758.html?_gl=1*1ts2b6z*_up*MQ..*_gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiA3-3KBhBiEiwA2x7FdKoR4O6IvwMT4_m6omrT6wb7mrpUBhZ-odqR5b0AOeJhcPFI3zQE9xoCJHcQAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAAD_WiV0i9yyfW_RNdvgfWeMXCsZNf

Cloches/fencing to protect critical area seedlings

Biodegradable erosion control cloth to protect critical area seeds on steep slopes

Chicken tractor https://farmandyard.com/products/chicken-tractor-mobile-chicken-coop?variant=42566463258804&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping¤cy=USD&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20973291795&gbraid=0AAAAACk_o2Yoc6R3D3lMIDig6Jpkuwn5f&gclid=CjwKCAiA95fLBhBPEiwATXUsxJf8Xvqu5jlm53U95liEr7DdVeZjJYIpZR3WOlTFVLAVSAW0G2gWERoCLXgQAvD_BwE

FYI here is a list of the other supplies we plan to request, but are more familiar with, or they aren’t “gear” so I am not asking here.

Ring of Fire biochar kiln Ring of Fire kiln

IBC tote or 55 gallon drums for temporary gravity-fed irrigation away from infrastructure

Materials for Johnson-Su composter

Purchased compost for first year (since JS won't be ready)

Gutters for outbuildings

Water tanks for rainwater storage

Native seeds for critical planting areas (repair our disturbances in natural areas)

Cheaper erosion control seeds for temporary use on steep disturbed slopes that will be disturbed again

Cover crop seeds for growing beds

Native seedlings for moderate slopes

Pollinator seeds for new septic trench drainfield

Hedgerow plantings for above and below the septic trench to protect it

We have chainsaws, garden carts, 4x8 trailer with sides, wheelbarrows, rakes, shovels, etc

Below is background for those who want all the deets:

BACKGROUND
Our land: NW New Mexico (Colorado Plateau). Rolling land at the base of a mesa, going up big ridges and cliffs and onto the mesa top. 10-14” of rain per year, USDA zone 6. Rolling to vertical – no 10x10 level flat area except on mesa top which is mostly inaccessible. Lower land is sandy loam crisscrossed by intermittent arroyos. Lots of sheet erosion everywhere, and gully erosion especially in disturbed areas. The undisturbed arroyos are quite healthy meanders, but there is potential for sedimentation within the channels as well beyond the scope of this grant. Open pinon/juniper woodland with native shrubs and sparse grasses/forbs. Waves of piñon die-off have been through this area; about 50-60% of our piñons are dead.

Our grant focus area: 5 acres at the bottom, in our main farmstead area. We have a house, greenhouse, outhouse, two chicken coops, tipi, pit dug for 2nd outhouse.

Growing areas within the grant focus area & timeframe: 90’x15’ greenhouse (not part of grant), two 90’x8’ backfilled berms along each side of the greenhouse, 30’x30’ separate planting area.

Critical planting areas within the grant focus area: <1 acre total but scattered around the 5-acre focus area. Some backfill steep areas around the house and the slope down from greenhouse. Disturbed areas around farmstead and camp areas exacerbating sheet erosion and gullies. Septic drainfield.

Grant focus & requirements: NMDA Healthy Soils Grant. No earthworks (we will seek funding for earthworks through NRCS/USDA separately). Durable good maximum $5000 per line item. Total grant maximum $25,000. Grant runs 14 months from July through following August.

Our proposed grant activities:

Cut dead pinon for fire mitigation. Cut green branches below 3’ near structures for fire mitigation.

Use deadwood for brush berms on contour to slow sheet erosion, brush structures in small new gullies to slow gully erosion, biochar, and mulch for planting areas.

Build a Johnson-Su Bioreactor (compost won’t be available until 2nd season of grant).

Plant native seed & seedlings, edible hedgerow plants, pollinator plants in critical areas as described in above list.

Plant edible milpa-style cover crop on growing areas.

Use chicken tractor to spread the wealth.

Treat planting areas with compost, inoculated biochar before planting.

Use green branches and/or woodchip mulch for brush mats over newly seeded areas on gentle slopes.

Capture rain from all outbuildings and store in tanks for irrigation.

YES I am interested, since 2017. Thought we would be building one in 2020/2021.
Here are some things holding us back:

. Status of our house build. It has taken years longer than anticipated.

. Not sure whether we will need it for heating our house more than a couple times a year, and if that is the case we would rather invest the time and money to build an outdoor RMH instead of one for our house. We are building an earthship-inspired tire bale home, and other folks who have similar houses have said that they only use their wood stove a couple times a year. Our house currently does get cold enough to need heat, but we will be enclosing the “porch” (like the greenhouse part of an earthship) and that will be our main winter heater, and we won’t really know what we are dealing with for temperature control until that is in.

. Building on permit — we want to get our occupancy permit as soon as possible (after living in a tiny pop up camper for 6 years), so we will be getting occupancy before glazing the porch//greenhouse. We also don’t want to battle for permitting the stove, and plan to put it in after having occupancy.

. Like many others, we are unsure about how to do it. I am just starting up my deep dig into RMH after 3-4 years of focusing elsewhere. One advantage we have over others with this hesitation is that over the last 6 years we have done so much other stuff that we had no idea how to do. My hub and I are both pretty handy with conventional building but little about our house is conventional. Through the years of this build, I find that we fret about the next mysterious unknown part of the build while executing the current tasks. It has caused a decent amount of our delay in getting this house done, because even though we are pretty confident by nature, we mull each new thing around and plan it one way, then another way, learn everything we can from others’ experiences, try to find someone local with experience to help, usually fail and have to do it ourselves, then find that once we get into it it really isn’t that bad. I am guessing this will be the case with RMH.

. Our delays have helped us in many ways. There are several parts of the house that I can look back on with relief that we didn’t do it the way we first thought of. If our house hadn’t been so delayed, we would have conventional septic. Our delays in building gave me the time to go round & round with the regulators until, by the time we were ready to plumb our septic, we had an approved permit for vermiculture septic, perhaps the first permit in the country. I think this delay has also helped us with RMH thinking. In 2017-2020 I was planning on a J-tube and bench between our sleeping and living areas. My hub was resistant because he loves fire and wants to see the fire. Now I think a batch box & bell would work so much better for our situation and location, and I hadn’t stumbled upon any of that info last time I was looking into it. I think we can make a wide tall bell that can make up much of the wall between those areas, and we can build the rest of the wall around it. And we can have our beautiful viewable fire.

So now we are in the mode of finishing up to get our occupancy permit (main hurdle: building the waterproof sloped shower floor on top of our road base underfloor to finalize our plumbing permit — the next thing that we have no experience in). We are probably at least a year and maybe more like 2 from building our RMH (if we decide we need one in our home), which is the perfect time to start diving in to research and planning for real, and the mulling-around phase of RMH thinking.

Right now we heat our construction space with a 30,000 btu propane unvented heater with controls 1-5, usually set at 1-2.5. That is with the house insulated and closed up, but without our greenhouse “furnace”. I think if we do build an RMH a 6” will suffice, even though using the calcs I found on one of the guru websites (don’t remember which at the moment) say we need a 9” based on external minimum temps. Our house performs really well with 6’ thick walls, and we are in NM with huge diurnal temp swings, so even though it can get down to 0F at the coldest, it isn’t often below freezing for a high.