Not a Jail Break, a Swale Break

To learn more about permaculture watch the Permaculture Masterclass, a 4-part documentary-style film, here: www.discoverpermaculture.com/....
After a long drought, massive influxes of water have caused two significant swale breaks for the first time at Zaytuna Farm.
Geoff had turned up swivel pipes to relieve pressure from newer swales below and ease some of the erosion from around the pipe outlets. However, the continual addition of water eventually led to the water going over the top of swale berms and eating through them. It appears the level sills were a little choked with vegetations and not letting the water off quickly enough. It’s all repairable, but lots of material has moved down the landscape and there is some flooding.
In the upcoming earthworks course at Zaytuna, Geoff will explain how to fix this, as well as how to better shore up the berms to prevent it from repeating in the future.
To learn more about Permaculture Earthworks, Geoff has three face-to-face courses coming up in 2020:
Permaculture Earthworks & Design Workshop 22nd - 26th Of June 2020 in Loomis, Washington USA: zaytunafarm.com/product/perma...
Permaculture Earthworks & Design Workshop 4th - 6th of July 2020 in McMinnville, Tennessee, USA: zaytunafarm.com/product/geoff...
Earthworks & Water Harvesting Course 24th of August to the 4th September 2020 at Zaytuna Farm, Australia: zaytunafarm.com/product/earth...
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About Geoff:
Geoff is a world-renowned permaculture consultant, designer, and teacher. He has established permaculture demonstration sites that function as education centers in all the world’s extreme climates - information on the success of these systems is networked through the Permaculture Research Institute and the www.permaculturenews.org website.
About Permaculture:
Permaculture integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies - imitating the no waste, closed-loop systems seen in diverse natural systems. Permaculture applies holistic solutions that are applicable in rural and urban contexts and at any scale. It is a multidisciplinary toolbox including agriculture, water harvesting and hydrology, energy, natural building, forestry, waste management, animal systems, aquaculture, appropriate technology, economics, and community development.
#permaculture #swale #swalefail

[@howtowithhank4791]

I've never seen a happier human being than geoff in a downpour :)

[@BobbyDeanBmx]

It's great to be able to see what can go wrong. Thanks for taking the extra time to document your personal adventures!

[@pedroleondebritobarrosodec2043]

Hi Geoff! To prevent a huge damage from a swsale breack, it's cool to divide it using many earth walls every 10 or more meters from each other. When it breaks only the volume between the walls will pour out, not the whole volume within.

[@joeblincoe3122]

One of the most humble geniuses in the world right here, thank you Geoff for sharing your learning experiences with us. Amazing volume of water right there, very difficult to comprehend the energy stored within those swales

[@allisondalton8715]

I absolutely love that you posted this video of the swale break, and that you were completely positive that it was fixable, and that this issue was teachable! Such a wonderful video and you were such a great leader in Permaculture.

[@fredericsangiorgi9507]

If that’s the all the damage after the storms, i think you’re in good shape.

[@bbob288]

This just makes me love permaculture and Geoff even more. Cant wait for the lesson

[@vibrantnaturalliving1911]

I love it how you embrace the mistake ...we learn the most from mistakes and experiences !!❤️🐛🦋

[@gardeningeasttexasstyle5689]

Can't wait for the repair video.

[@briannacooper2628]

I am sorry to hear about the damage but I do really appreciate seeing the complications of a design and how to fix them!

[@africanhomestead]

I’m at the beginning of developing a permaculture model farm and training center here in Liberia. My home and training center are located on a hilltop with the land sloping down on three sides (gentle to moderate slopes). My plan is to develop a type of silvopasture food forest on contour with swales. Due to our location in the rainy tropics, my biggest concern is what you just experienced! I’ll be following along to see your “lessons learned” and the fix. Thanks for sharing!

[@aenorist2431]

Look at Keyline Design. Not having swales parralel, but gently sloping might well do the same in sinking water, but leave it a better way out in times of flood.

[@storm3772]

Wish you all the best.

[@5pecular]

Swales are needed in dry conditions, they may not be necessary if it is always rainy in your climate

[@africanhomestead]

5pecular - Swales can serve multiple purposes. They also reduce erosion and hold nutrients. In my case, in spite of living in the wet tropics and receiving a large annual rainfall, we also have a six month long dry season with temperatures in the 90’s. Consequently, shallow-rooted trees and vegetation are stressed and can lose their leaves. In addition, grass can stop growing, which negatively affect grazers. Swales would help in these areas too.

[@africanhomestead]

Ae Norist - I’m studying keyline design too. Mark Shepard recently released a new book, Water for Any Farm, that details how he expanded keyline to make it more versatile and applicable on every type of terrain and environment. Unfortunately it’s not available in an ebook format and I live in a developing country! 😩

[@lindaellin559]

My swale blew out in a big rain event too - I definitely need a repair video - thanks Geoff!!

[@AbundantbyNature]

Thanks for sharing the reality of it. It is essential to share mistakes as well. So everybody can move forward faster.

[@dingchat555]

Even watching you muck your way through the aftermath of a messy mishap is somehow entrancing. I have no property of my own to practice this type of permaculture myself, but am learning in the hopes of being able to apply the knowledge some day. I'm glad you share some failures as well - those are perhaps the best for learning, and it's unlikely that anything will go completely smoothly all the time, anyway!

[@TheVigilantStewards]

ditto

[@leafdesi5967]

You are still doing loads better than the rest of the world during flood season. Plenty of you productive plants still producing. Permiculture baby! The way to go! Lol

[@93VIDEO]

La gestion de l'eau est primordiale pour l'agriculteur ... La moindre goutte d'eau qui tombe du ciel doit rester sur la terre, sur sa parcelle ... Comme pour les déserts, conserver l'eau de pluie sur sa parcelle à reverdir ...

[@Calichickengirl]

Great video Geoff! Nothing like a lesson from Mother Nature! Just when we think we know her game she changes it up on us. It makes us better for it in the end. I look forward to that fix-it video.

[@aigulaigul1765]

Thank you soooo much,Allah bless you🤲,happy to find you on youtube🥰

[@suzyq6767]

Even the greats botch things now and again. I killed a mango tree just last month--bummer. I've learned so much from you. Because of circumstances beyond my control, I don't have ten acres with a tiny house like I dreamed. I have a large golf course lot with strict HOA policies and retired HOA informants with too much time on their hands. I've learned to use permaculture ideas in a more HOA friendly way because it has to look good. I use chop and drop, living mulch, compost in place, deep mulch, nutrient accumulators, pollinator attractors, swales and berms, espalier, hedged citrus, and plant all manner of veggies under and around my 30+ backyard fruit trees. With good luck, this year my main food crops will be beans and sweet potatoes in addition to fruit and the aforementioned veg. It's a tiny little backyard food forest that feeds me every day--not 100%--yet. Give this vegan girl's urban food forest a few more years, and I likely won't have to buy any food. By that time, I hope to be independent of city water my the forest, too. Thanks for teaching me.

[@oabuseer]

I hope you achieve your dreams one day 😊☀

[@oliverpage7538]

What is HOA?

[@samkinpommers4558]

Oliver Page “Home Owners Association”

[@jonathanblyman]

Thank you Geoff!!! 😭💚

[@3G_king]

This also happened to my swale. And I learned alot from it.

[@jamesalanstephensmith7930]

Well laid plans... despite our best wishes, Nature does as she likes! Your videos are great!

[@audreycermak]

Great video!

[@didarling9347]

so good too see so much water. I got less on mid nth coast but new growth is amazing

[@abrevas]

Thank you for your videos.

[@braidenforest-weaver4274]

What looks like lots of healthy mugwort growing on the edges of the swales. Beautiful plant, great in tea!

[@olafalafel]

oh bugger! thanks for the update

[@gm2407]

Water pressure is unforgiving on soil. It is always a risk when the volumes become too much. The extra mass of water was stored energy that was released when the soil berm failed and that is why the next one fell. I hope that your repair can widen the berm for extra stability. Thank you for showing the risks of errors with swales as well as the rewards. I look forward to the repair video.

[@MoneyEducator]

Thanks

[@rochrich1223]

Good video, it happens to all. It does have most elements of the most common type of catrastroph. Expert gets more confident, safeties (overflow prevention devices) are taken off or fail maintenance. Unusual circumstances etc. It will be interesting to see how you mistake-proof the system after the recovery.

[@appleandoranges1]

Oooh, bugger! One thing about our Northern Rivers; when it rains, it really rains.....

[@Mari-hh6it]

I love the videos about the swales, but please be careful not to fall =)

[@Knight8365]

Unfortunate to have this happen but a great learning/teaching moment as you say. Would it be possible to form small compartments along the swale, with perpendicular compacted mounds slightly lower than the main swale mound, to reduce the impact of a potential swale break, possibly reduce the domino effect by making each top over smaller? Like box shapes along the swale. Thanks for braving the weather to show this and all the other great videos.

[@TheVigilantStewards]

That's cool to be able to see. Funny you said hey that's just an Earthworks course in the making lol!!! Question: Are those swales with so much grass because they're new and you haven't chosen what to put on them? Or is there a reason you are wanting grass there? That would be AWESOME if you could include that in the video you are doing about the repair, because I wonder why these are swamped with grass even down into the water etc. Not sure if those are some deep rooting , soil holding grasses that you have, or if it's just what came up , or both etc etc etc. Would love to hear all about it

[@peterburris4665]

The grass grows quickly to stabilize the soil. The damage would have been much worse without the grass roots trying to hold it together.

[@TheVigilantStewards]

@@peterburris4665 Exactly, but was the grass chosen by Geoff or naturally grew on the swale when nothing else was chosen. 'You choose or nature chooses, but something will grow there' I would be curious if it's intentional and what is the aim. To me it looks like it was just earthworks and then left alone... I'm amazed how the grass takes over even the water

[@otherworldorg]

Something I have wondered about with swales...do you worry about saturating the ground too much and building up for a massive landslide? Decades ago a whole hillside came down up one of our canyons. It wasn't an issue with swales or terraces specifically. But the ground still just became super saturated and the entire hillside came down. It blocked off a river, which backed up and ultimately destroyed a town. The type of slide is called and Earthflow. And while it often happens in areas with low vegetation, one wonders if there is risk in building swales and having something similar happen before, or even after vegetation takes root.

[@przybyla420]

Yes it is possible. Make sure you’re not in an area that has “unstable” clay and don’t attempt to infiltrate a bunch of water upslope from a steep hillside. Professional advice should probably be sought for all major earthworks period, and probably even minor dams if they are upslope and near a steep hill.

[@oabuseer]

That's a very good point!

[@TheVigilantStewards]

He has another video about that exact thing. He was saying that's why you don't put them on too steep of a slope and why you don't do them without building tremendous root structure because of that very reason. I think it's like how not to build a swale from 2-3 years ago .. maybe 1-2 years ago

[@RichardFalkner]

@@TheVigilantStewards I'd love to see that... Can't find it though!

[@TheVigilantStewards]

@@RichardFalkner It's probably not titled as I recall then and would be difficult to find. It pops up on my recommended from time to time, I can remember the thumbnail in my head

[@botanicajames]

Hello Geoff, Do you use collars on your Pipes? Often these become weak points, but not sure if thats the case in this situation. These are indeed huge swales, almost like contour dams, perhaps a designed spillway at the end into some cut earth around the bund would save the reliance on swivel pipes? Your thoughts? Keep up the great work, love your vids!!

[@harlankraft578]

You will need to install a much larger overflow structure similar to a spillway to handle the volume of the water in the future. Imho great job just learn and modify huh?

[@Ruby-K]

Dear Geoff, Will there be a repair of these swales video as stated here? Perhaps you could put in gabions as so much water force?

[@abumehdilotfi2901]

Hi everyone Is there a training center for permaculture somewhere in central Florida

[@PeytonWind]

Swale Break? Now I have Thin Lizzy in my head.

[@misst1586]

Good song. I had AC/DC Jailbreak.

[@LeticiaMooneyAuthor]

@@misst1586 +1!

[@elylioney6390]

It sounded deep enough to kayak in

[@amyjones2490]

It could happen to any of us. We must learn from mistakes and move on.

[@user-ot9qg7ir6o]

Перевести бы по русский

[@xyzsame4081]

3:24 March 7, 2020: Earthwork course is coming up soon, we will repair this ..... _SARS-CoV-19: "I'll like to have a word with you."_ (After mutating in Jan/Feb. 2020 into a more contagious form and going global).

[@TOMMYSURIA]

It all sounds good; but with out graphics and all that vegetation , I can't tell what's going on.😒