Permaculture Swales - How to Build

[@LuckyFigFarm]

I welcome comments, feedback or just quick hellos. I enjoying hearing from like-minded people. Jamie.

[@realstatistician]

Looks like you’ve got some really cool projects going on here. I have a much smaller property, but I still want to slow the water as much as possible for conservation. My area averages only 6 inches of precipitation per year, but there are still many trees that can survive with only some supplemental water in the driest months: July and august (northern hemisphere). Thanks for all the info!

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thanks! We want to retain all the rain we can in these areas. We’re about a month away from the start of the winter rain here. Last winter was terribly dry. The swales never filled once.

[@lornaj3310]

When you said "30 inches" I damn near choked on my tea. Last year we almost got 6 (not a typo).

[@maxpalmer514]

"ONLY 30inches" smh that should be more than enough

[@7seasons31]

30 inches is still relatively little compared to a lot of places where farming is done. He was accurate in his word usage.

[@realstatistician]

It’s really the length of the drought periods that make more of a difference than the quantity of rain.

[@kezzatries]

We get 240mm

[@chantalnielsen2471]

We are sitting at less than 3 inches this year.

[@OurNewLand]

Great video, Jamie! Aside from the helpful info, your calming delivery really relaxes me.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thanks for taking the time. Cheers. So excited about these bees!

[@sophiareygrace6656]

Loveee this type of videos!! Please make more videos about swaless!!

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thanks, Sophia

[@alancummings5098]

Great informative video. Thank you!

[@LuckyFigFarm]

You’re welcome, Alan

[@brendamaloney7392]

Thank you Jamie for posting this very informative video. I’m just about to start my first swale on my 2 ha property at Killarney Qld. I’ve been looking for a youtube channel that can explain the process and show in detail how they can be achieved. I have purchased a mini excavator which will be arriving in a couple of weeks. I’m in my late 60’s so the digger is a necessity. Love your channel keep up the great work.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thanks very much, Brenda. Good luck.

[@permaculturelover8248]

Thank you for this wonderful video!

[@LuckyFigFarm]

You’re welcome 8-)

[@JFDutra]

Great work man! And beautiful place

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thank you, Juan. Appreciate that.

[@davej7458]

Locate where you want to create a swail. Then, consider renting, borrowing, or purchasing a used rototiller to break the ground up before you go after it with the shovel. Then, when it does start to rain, make adjustments as needed.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Great tip

[@erwinbrubacker7488]

Use a mold board plow.

[@justinmorrow2932]

new subscriber, we have a few acres as well, bush block on the east coast, keep up the good work and thank you for taking the time to share it

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thanks very much for watching and commenting. There’s a lot of joy in a bush block. I enjoy having my approx acre of forested area away from the home.

[@joemc111]

New to your channel. Watching swale videos today.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Cheers. Thank you.

[@ss-kz9ee]

Wish we had a tractor. But thanks for showing all you need is a shovel. We are gradually getting there. And we are adding mini ponds. It helps when it rains, make it easier to dig.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Everything is a long work in progress

[@johnna-l7t]

Thanks for the video. And don't forget support plants/trees for the fruit trees.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

I plan to. Thanks.

[@nohamalife]

Thank you for such an informative video. Well explained.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

I really appreciate your comment and I’m glad it helped.

[@johnhoye-j6y]

Nice CCTs Continuous Contour Trenches. Everyone likes acronyms.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Cheers

[@AchimDrescher]

In my experience the most important step is to workout what the contour line is. My property is not as nice and even and getting it level is a challenge. I use an A frame which is ingenius and used for thousands of years. You can of course use a laser or a water level. There is nothing more frustrating then a swale that is going downhill.

[@danielleryan6116]

very informative, thank you

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Last winter was the first one the swales never filled up at all. Such little rain. But the benefit is if we have a massive summer storm they will fill and keep a lot of the rain on the property.

[@davidhassall8399]

Great video 👍 subscribed

[@JacobsHonda48]

Very cool

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Thanks!

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

Good morning, Jamie, from Windermere Florida zone 9b USA 🇺🇸 Amazing to see how much work you've done in your 7 year history with the land. Is your plan to sell your fruit at local markets or to have a subscription group?

[@LuckyFigFarm]

My plan is to retire and never have to set foot of my homestead ever again … living off my own produce.

[@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920]

@@LuckyFigFarm may your dreams come true 👍 💚👍

[@LuckyFigFarm]

@@peggyhelblingsgardenwhatyo7920 thanks, Peggy. And they generally do

[@Rymorin4]

Gonna put some swales in but definitely hiring excavator even for small job.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Yeah, I don’t recommend the shovel technique!

[@Rymorin4]

@@LuckyFigFarm I have a sandy fast draining mountain soil. Do you know if swales would still be useful without adding clay or geotextile? I was thinking of putting a bunch of rotting wood and brush in them to break down.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

@@Rymorin4 Sorry for the delay. My notifications didn't pick this up. ... It depends on the purpose of the swale. However, it sounds like you have the perfect soil (sand) for what swales are generally for - for catching water and draining it away fast into your ground. This is for people with the issue of having too much rain and not wanting to use the captured water. Adding organic matter onto the swales - like wood, branches, sticks, leaves and mulch to break down over the long term - is always the best additive for the health of soil. It will improve moisture retention and the important life systems in the top soil. So if you want to catch the water and redirect it into vegetation growing on top of the swale, making the soil organic is the way to go. I believe people generally have to improve the soil in order to increase the drainage because of clay soils.

[@alishaberrey4479]

You have yours next to a hedge, but in theory, coudl a gardener build a network of swales around their raised beds to manage/catch water that runs of a slope adjacent?

[@LuckyFigFarm]

I’m picturing you could have 1 x swale on the high side of a veggie/garden bed. The swales need to be able to catch water running into it and also be level so the water spreads evenly over the swale and stays in the swale.

[@blackstacktube]

That is pretty compacted soil alright.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Yes, 100 years of farm machinery and livestock trampling it.

[@fkofoed]

what about a video during rain so we can see the system in work???

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Following video. Cheers

[@rajeshrawal1681]

what to do if pond or lake is not holding water and all water gets seeped in aquifer underground?

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Hello. The idea behind swales is the captured rain water is meant to soak into the ground. The water is being directed to where we want it in the ground / garden as opposed to running off the property. Holding water in a pond or lake would be another principle. Good luck.

[@rajeshrawal1681]

@@LuckyFigFarmmany thanks I know the video is about swale and not pond but in my farm I have created farm pond connected to swale it gets filled up 2-3 times during monsoon but all the water percolates down whereas I was thinking to have surface water in those ponds for ducks so needed some advice to stop percolation.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

@@rajeshrawal1681 ideally a pond or dam would be dug into a clay soil as that is the least draining soil. Depending on how large it is perhaps the pond could be lined with a heavy plastic sheet. I’m sure there’s ideas elsewhere on the internet. Cheers

[@rajeshrawal1681]

@@LuckyFigFarm thank you I like your videos and will take inspiration from you as I convert my farm to permaculture natural farm

[@LuckyFigFarm]

@@rajeshrawal1681 thanks. You’re welcome.

[@2468bidw]

You’re actually remedying the damage Aboriginal fire practices did to the biome. They absolutely interrupted nature, almost killing soil in Australia

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Cheers for watching

[@2468bidw]

We’re all colonisers at some point. Who is Mungo Man related to btw? Not aboriginal Australians. Mankind in all cases screw things up in many ways. Indigenous Australians are part of mankind.

[@patyhamilton]

Where is your property. We are 20km south of mudgee

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Chittering, Western Australia

[@mw7145]

Great job mentioning your annual precipitation and general conditions. So many videos leave that out and make the information much less useful.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Cheers

[@Sarrett.Studios]

If you put mulch on your berm your trees will explode

[@LuckyFigFarm]

I’ll get there

[@JamesG1126]

I'm not carving up my property with swales. Swales aren't a natural part of the landscape and obstruct access. If you want to retain water, plant trees, restore the pasture using regenerative ag principles.

[@LuckyFigFarm]

Fortunately, there are many options for how we restore the land.

[@TeaBagginsMcGee]

Ironically rivers look just like swales

[@Artemisgrier]

Macchu picchu isn’t natural either, but genius agriculture.

[@littlefurrow2437]

Agriculture isn't natural.

[@Yupitsmeagain2]

Cool James. Noone asked you lol