Grow rabbits 🐇 they help with organic matter.

Fascinating project. Looking forward to watching your progress.

Skipping around, and thankfully you abandoned L shaped swales. anytime you get 'overflow' you risk erosion, by concentrating it all in one place, as the GC said, SURE to erode everything away. As happened to you 'gabion', each side cut right down to stream bed. If you look at reclaiming land with swales to hold water it is VITAL VITAL VITAL to get top of swale EVEN LEVEL so overflow will sheet over top w least possible volume, weight, speed and thus min. erosion. You bathtubs are a great response to your issues, learning, slopes, minimizing 'risk' ie erosion, wasted effort, and of course helps that they work brilliantly. Again though, if the run off concentrates at one corner you risk erosion move than if it sheets over whole face of bathtub, but, from an episode, so far, not enough rain to do that. Your loose rock check dams work as they will slowly fill with eroded soil and water 'leaking through' will so more evenly along the whole face, though when the basin is all full you'll end up with a waterfall or rapid that will erode stream bed at base of check dam. The solution to that is another now empty check dam a few feet away, and let that silt up, then another, then another layer atop the first check dams. Look up 'sand dam'. Probably not useful to you but the theory will still apply in small scale to the check dams. Sand dams need... sand, you have gravel with some fine particles? Still, if you think long term, and layers upon layer of low check dams, you will eventually fill in the gully creating a deep mass of wet material if you dig down a few feet, albeit, it will also over the course of time migrate down slope to feed into the stream down there. Drug smugglers want unoccupied land to walk on, to the extent it's easy enough to go around you, they will. Maybe figure out their paths, and locate OFF their paths. Then add some yes stealable solar power and batteries - not so stealable, use lead acid, they weigh a ton. Do not get lithium, they can overheat in sun and heat. So, add game cams mounted atop your storage units. Have entrances to units facing each other. Put another game cam over ea door pointed across to other and down towards ground, with a flash. If they see some animal or leaf set that off they will probably stear clear. Finally, a 'warning light' so they have a landmark they know to steer clear of, a blinking night light, or maybe just a red LED on all night. Might even stick a note on a unit door with a light over 'Dear .... I don't mind people walking around and as long as nothjing is touched, don't care, If you are out of water there is a strean xxxx miles a xxxx walk this a way, and draw an arrow. Hanging on the door are water bottles with pills in them to make the water safe to drink, you can take ONE, fill with stream water, shake until pill dissoves...... etc. If you need emergency help there is a raod 2000 feet this a way, turn right there's a town 20 miles away. In English, Spanish, Homduran, Guatamalean, whatever. Maybe the gesture will keep people from looting. You're a fascinating story. As it goes on think about doing a 30 min talk with pics etc and see if any schools might be interested in you for sciences classes, etc..

Fascinating project, look forward to following your progress. Maybe some of the texas billionaires can fund a much bigger version of your project later and turn tens of thousands of acres into desert forest?

Great Video Very accessible learning experience I've seen some later ones when I think you bought a small dozer? I've a lousy memory. You spend a lot of time fixing it, but, from all sorts of videos, at least on the 'bottom end' used equip DIY'rs can get, that's exactly what you have to do. On the plus side, 3 hrs fixing a fitting beats 8 hrs digging in the sun. Remember, it's not just the work of digging but the wear and tear on the body. You're going to live 2 or 3 x as long as the ancients who tackled the land, even this land, with hand tools. You don't want 1/2 of that as a cripple. The ONE TOOL YOU NEED - Easy to fold up and move tent to shade you while working on equipment, or doing detailed work that takes a few hours anywhere. You are correct that your time is your greatest resource and while i would have had to go with the mini excavator, due to physical limiations on what I could fix even, the dozer will work best in the end. and your neighbor that helped you out for $700 Box of steaks. You'll still have gotten off for nothing.

Great idea, I've only done swales, damns and check dams thus far. These bathtubs will force the water to soak in. I've got more digging to do in our heat. lol

Just my 2 cents worth here. You have a source of water , and an obvious water flow during the rainy season. You might want to think about putting in some swales on the property to capture the water and retain it on your land or at least slow the flow to the river. A catchment pond will also help retain water. Planting some drought tolerant grasses would help stabilize the land as well as add biomass. Sorghum Sudan grass and Egyptian wheat both fall into that category. Any of the millets also fall into that as well. Common sunflower seeds available at wall mart as bird foo also do well in low water conditions. All can be seeded with a broadcast seeder.

I'm curious as to why you planted prickly pear. What is the ultimate use or benefit for it?

Adding beavers to a desert just adds dead beavers.

20yr old equipment should function well. Very bad care and maintenance on previous owners.

❤❤❤Samuel rocks!!@❤❤❤

Beaver dams? Here's a pitch. Pick up a shovel and start digging, because so far you haven't paid attention to how the UN is helping green Africa, without beavers.

The competence of those biologists is really questionable. If their goal is not preparing the landscape to reintroduce the beavers they have a flawed way of thinking - you definitely want them back and you definitely want them to completely change the landscape. When they are present, a lot more water trickles down to the shed and the maintenance is a lot more efficient and cheaper than when only analogs are in place

The Rocks can be used to create more shade on the land. If they are stacked to walls along the high ridges they will give shade, living space, and catch the wind and dew.

Cacti are insane lmao. Dig a shallow hole and cover half of it with dust and rock "yeah she's good to go" 😂

Maybe a sign in the place where u have the camera? This way to beacon and border control, that way Sierra Bianca

I had a coworker do similar in Heber, AZ. I built his pump station and plumbed the septic system to the trailer. His plan was to line a low area with clay and create a man-made lake for irrigation before buying 1,000 seedlings. The locals stole all his equipment during the week when he went back home. The Sheriff told him it was probably the very neighbor he asked to keep an eye on his stuff. But without any evidence, he couldn't ask the neighbor to search the property. He eventually gave up after they stole his excavation machine (bobcat). So I wish you luck.

Could someone explain why the prickly pear were panted so close together? That stuff grows pretty fast and thick. How will they even collect the fruit when the cacti will form a wall of thick cacti many feet wide, with no space to walk around? I’ve lived in the desert my entire life, in the countryside, and most of these projects seem like an exercise in futility. This trend of city slickers moving to the countryside seems like fodder for subscribers though. Just wish they wouldn’t plant things that’ll mess up miles of native landscape.

How to get beavers: Start your own mini burning man.

Coming back periodically to see that - unsurprisingly - the desert is still a desert, and to hear sentences like „it was immensely helpful to go through the process but these are solutions to the wrong problems“. Brother, if there was enough water, your piece of desert would be green. You didn’t buy a piece of land that has the necessary precipitation but was turned into a lunar landscape by modern industrial farming. That may be fixable with a lot of love and effort. But in this region, there isn‘t enough water, that’s why as far as the eye can see, there is desert. You can maybe identify a few pockets on your land that hold water a bit better if and when it rains, and carefully try to expand on those with an outsized investment into water catchment and irrigation systems that will cover a large part of the land (hint: there will be some hardy shrub fighting for its life there already…). But without artificially adding water from the outside, this is a lost cause. We thank you for the entertainment value though, please keep it up.

plot twist: i came here to watch ideas on how to turn desert into a forest. I'm watching illegal immigrants die. hmm... its sad to see borders were put up and countries named ... for 1000's of years from the beginning of human civilizations, birds, animals there have been migrations in search of better life style or survival .. there were no borders people travel offer their trade or skill or culture and return back or travel to a new destination. when borders are enforced it restricts the wealth from redistribution... life cycle is paused.

I'm from Maine and have been relocating nuisance beaver my whole live and would love to see this work as I also would reconstruct some beaver dams in order to preserve my favorite fishing spots.

18:31 lol looks like the black dude woke up in year 1800 he didnt know there was 1864 civil war to abolish slavery and a Black man became a president of USA, plenty of black people have become Billionaires and fast forward now some are almost woke and trans with each step.

If you're not covered in diesel by the end of the day, you're doing it wrong. The ladies just love a man who smells like diesel. Note: whenever driving trucks , you gotta live in your mirrors. Those objects getting smaller in your rear view may adversley affect your mental health. Yes, I'm an idiot.

What brand is you blue hoodie?

I would like to suggest two actions on the new property. First, remove the fences to allow the flow of wildlife. This may allow TOO much movement of cattle, but I think the coyotes will thank you, and hopefully you have more mid-size residents than you realize. Second, it would be interesting to dam that river (R.I.P. Layne Staley) akin to your episode on Beavers. That should increase the the available groundwater and improve the mycorrhyzome. Mossy Earth does some great videos on this. Of course, I don't know your property, but I thought I'd add my thoughts.

This is more feasible than The line in Saudi. 😎

Can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate this channel. Not only do I learn a lot, but seeing the reality of the process makes me feel a lot less crazy as I go through my own mini desert to forest project, also as a novice. The process definitely looks like chaos to onlookers from the outside…

Hello again Shaun. I have 20 acres about 30 miles due east of you on the other side of Eagle Mountain. Yes, I can see that ugly-ass white dome on top of Eagle Mountain. Anyway, I have the same problem with cattle and what I am doing to keep them out is using the plethora of thorn bushes and trees and stacking them around about 5 acres where my little cabin is. As you know the cows overgraze and bring a "shit"load of flies with them. I am nonsequentially catching up with your work to the west of me. I live in Van Horn. I am amazed what the Chinese did with their former desert. No surprise as they essentially built our railroads.

Suggestion; you might consider making a custom seed/mulch mat. You can create the mat in comfort populated for the season and location and include organic matter and water bearing compost. Then dig a simple furrow by machine (motorized plow, walk behind) and roll out the mat covering as you go. Then measure the efficiency improvement.

Very interesting. I doubt the drug mules would be interested in anything you have at your site other than water or food. What they are carrying is a lot more valuable than your stuff plus their loads are heavy enough. Illegal migrants would be a different story. Also, silver has been mined historically in Hudspeth County, not any gold that I have heard of. Ha. Ha.

Hope migra has their satellite on your various setups!

Great work!!! Thanks for sharing

What moment? The more I watch this channel the more I realize this is a tremendous waste of energy and resources.

WHY DON'T YOU JUST BUILD AN UNDERGROUND HOUSE OR MOVE INTO A ALREADY EXISTING MINE DAVID ADAM GRENIS MAPLETON AVENUE BOULDER COLORADO USA

Hiking there it looks like a contact sport like it was in Arizona lol

I remember speaking colorful words to equipment into the late hours of the night. Especially when you have someone walk a Komotsu Hoe off into the bottomless mud hole.

I'm sorry "BDA" just like something you don't want to run into at a S&M party. 😂😂😂

This is the river? Wow. My first thought was leave it scrubby, so as not to attract visitors. Now, after watching Joao's latest video, I'm seeing things differently. It looks possible to restore the water quality and create a healthy riparian zone that generates biomass for Dustups. A Ford electric pickup would probably make it up the hill to Dustups with a wood chipper, some brush, or containers of water. Have the volunteers stay up at Dustups to focus on more labor-intensive activities like cultivation, rock structures. Solar/EV setup, even a golf cart with canopy, could help volunteers get around, haul smaller loads like biomass, some rocks, or a tote of water.

Youre living my dream. Would love to do something like this in areas of alberta or BC

I love this project!

Very, very cool… I’m watching! First day of retirement. At 61, maybe I’ve got a new adventure in front of me. Hope for the future… need more of it!

I did this on a small scale unintentionally. I've always wanted to expand my idea from that little camp, but could not afford a backhoe. A Ford Backhoe would be of great help and they can be picked up fairly reasonable and they can be worked on fairly easy. I like what you're doing Shaun!!

what I see at dustups is a natural ecosystem functioning as intended. At the riverfront I see degraded land that can be restored and productive. divert way more energy to riverfront, less to the dry land

go buy some beavers, and make the forest at the riverfront

Could you put the whole house underground?

I told myself I wouldn't leave any comments until I had watched all of your videos. However, this one jumped up in front of me, and it's your latest video... California's water project, along with the draining of Lake Powell - turning it back into Glen Canyon - and the June 26th date of zero water in Mexico, mean calculating in how to utilize timing to help provide our neighbors with what "We the People" decide... I'm skipping my own personal decision not to comment and commenting here since this is your latest video. People without water, and their best - and only known - system of distribution&organization being aristocracy, it is my hope that this post is seen, heard, and acted upon for 127 million people will be impacted (according to population numbers - a critical&influential group of words in this day and age.) I've been studying aquaponics since January 2022 and following Rob Bob's Aquaponic Garden & Backyard Farming channel (out of Australia). During a Zoom meeting May 5th, I asked him what he would suggest as a way to grow things out of dessert soil. He gave me a youtube link to a video that covered ways to do just that, based in Australia's real landscape, it included ways to read the top layer of ground cover and understand what lies beneath. Unfortunately, my phone is all I have technology wise. I can't find the link. Meaning I can't suggest it through comments. I will not give up though, seeing as this is the only mention of Mexico's water plight I know of for Dustups (and the average viewers) knowledge.

DON'T LISTEN to me or any other clicker opions; we all mean well but..... JUST KEEP GOING ... You have excellent vision... GOD/ALLAH Bless you!

PLEASE THERMAL COMPANIES SPONSOR THIS CHRISTIAN BROTHER; BROTHER IN HUMANITY; HE HAS EXCELLENT CAUSE ! MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU!

so something i was just seeing being done in africa which might be useful for you is that they were reforesting by digging half moon shaped dugouts to catch rain water and host plants in it and on the ridge of the hole. the digging up of that dirt helped tremendously with freeing the soul to accept water and plants. Worth looking into. They're calling it the green wall.