Liam Furman

Davina Cuneo wrote:
It has been a great experience for us, so challenging. We have worked hard and regenerated the land. We have kept goats, chickens, bees. We have built swales, ponds… and enjoyed very much living in our tiny yurt.

Hi Davina, it sounds like you were living the dream :) I'd love to do something similar but I'm concerned about Spanish regulations. From my research so far, it seems just erecting a yurt and living in that may not always be  totally legal. I'm also wondering if authorities will have issues with major earthworks like swales and ponds. Did you have any issues with permits and regulations? If not, any tips?

Hi Jurriaan,

I'd love to do something similar (build a small house, create a personal permaculture paradise, camping/renting out huts for extra income) so I'm busy researching the topic. A concern is that permits and regulations in Spain are complicated, and will prevent me from doing most of what I'd like to do. So I was wondering how is progress on your project? Have you gained any knowledge on the subject that could be useful to share with others planning to do the same?

Thanks for the advice everyone! To summarise:

1) Rinse soil sample and re-test pH to see if it drops. If so, pH will eventually drop and all good we're done   Otherwise,...
2) Dig out as much of the building sand as possible. Instead of disposing, reuse in another project.
3) Add acidic soil amendments (e.g. peat moss, coffee grounds, citrus waste, pine, sulfur)
4) Add organic matter/compost to build and acidify the soil, and buffer the high pH.

Does that sound about right?

Henry Jabel wrote:What is the soil composition not in the sandy area?

Thanks for the advice!

In the area that wasn't paved, it's sandy loam, so similar proportions sand and silt but not much clay. Does that change your recommendation?

Hi,

I'm planning to plant two fruit tree guilds in my garden in the Netherlands this spring. I've been preparing by removing paving stones where I intend to plant. Unfortunately, I discovered that underneath the paving there is building sand mixed in with the soil in various proportions: Some areas are almost pure building sand with a pH of 8.8, some have barely any with a pH of 7.1 and some have a mix with a pH of 8. I tried removing the building sand with a shovel but I quickly realised it's not scalable as I'd end up having to remove around 5 cubic meters of soil,  plus it's expensive to dispose of soil in the Netherlands.  I've considered some other options:

* choose alkaline loving plants - the issue here is that very few fruit trees tolerate pH above 8. Options would be very limited.

* add sulfur to the soil. This could be promising but it's difficult because the alkaline building sand is very localised. For example, I tested a piece of soil with 7.3 pH that was 30 centimeters away from another patch with 8.8 pH. Could I apply sulfur to such specific areas? Also, this isn't a permanent solution and would require regular maintenance.

* I'm sheet mulching the area before I plant everything. Would this be enough to buffer the plants from the high pH? What about the trees as they'd be planted directly into the soil rather than the sheet mulch.

I've attached picture of the garden with labels showing the situation.

Thanks in advance for any help!