Rainwater Only Mediterranean Permaculture

[@Sam-xm2cs]

Don't apologies for your accomplishment. It is something to be proud of.

[@davidwolter4263]

My wife and I have been living off rain water for 2 years. We drink it we bath in it and water our gardens with it. Our neighbors think we're awesome/crazy for doing it. LOL we do filter the water for drinking and cooking

[@noahriding5780]

Does it feel healthier to drink since the processed water might have forever chemicals in it? (I would think rainwater would be free of chemicals and forever chemicals wouldn't it?)

[@VitorMadeira]

Here in the Algarve (south Portugal) we are facing a serious dry... It's such a shame looking at the industrial farms with loads of avocado trees or orange trees and GOLF COURSES! They suck all the undergroud water and us small farmers are left with very few bits of water...

[@annashealthylifeeverything8583]

stop blaming other. it's not avocado trees that are a problem. avocados are very good crop and give a lot of good nutritional food! it's growing methods (industrial agriculture/monoculture etc) and abuse of ground water etc. This blame game is not helpful at all

[@VitorMadeira]

@@annashealthylifeeverything8583 No point against the food you decide to eat! But please, the Algarve is a regions that lacks LOADS of water and 2023 is being quite a dry year. If you suck all the water that those plants need to succeed, then it will be people's water that will be in danger! Keep eating you lovely avocados but please help us have our much needed human consumption water in the first place!

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Hi Vitor. It's a valid concern. The only solution I have control over is what I choose or choose not to do on our own land. The rest is decided by local government, etc, which I have no personal control over. But I do have control over how I design my land, and that's what this video is about. All the best to you and yours...

[@hermes3883]

Also live in Mediterranean and Very few vids on Mediterranean permaculture/farming . Thanks for the video have been waiting months to hear from you!

[@cleonawallace376]

I was just going to say the same thing! I am based in Umbria, Italy.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks for your comment. Yes. Sometimes it takes me months to add another video. That's just my rhythm. But I hope you enjoyed this one. All the best...

[@rottenwings]

@@TheNaturalFarmer I hope your water levels got refilled now with rains, how did you manage the last year of drought?

[@sydneygardener540]

Why not watch articles from Bill Mollison and David Holmgren the Fathers of permanent Agriculture. They live in Australia. A climate similar to yours

[@petersterling5334]

So Glad you made this Video to share your Wisdom with the World!! Thank you! Keep doing more Videos cuz the World Really needs to hear what you have to say! In Hawaii you are called "Kupuna" or Elder who shares their Wisdom to the Younger generation! We appreciate you!

[@corinnemuller6412]

DANKE für die Verbreitung solch wertvoller Kenntnisse ❤

[@wwoofthailand]

Nice design John and good video communication of the principals behind it.

[@aldas3831]

Thanks for posting again John! Your Italian is very good!

[@PermacultureHomestead]

Love ya John, thanks as always for years of commitment and content. We only use rain water at home and at the farm site, you are right we have recharged under ground aquafirs and now have natural springs. Permaculture for the win

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks my friend. Always good to hear from you...

[@ΙΩΑΝΝΗΣΚΑΛΑΜΑΚΗΣ-υ3δ]

Your videos make us happy dear John. Can’t wait for a new tour on your property 😊. Kind regards, Yiannis from Aegina island, Greece (the pistachio island)

[@naiyanascott6466]

Awesome! We are also 100% off grid and get all of our water from rain water catchment in Hawaii. We of course get more water than your area but have had more and more droughts, which just creates even more awareness of water usage and appreciation of the rains when they come. I think it's something we can both be proud of!

[@joshuapersaud1659]

good to see you back

[@Oggiwara1]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! Rainwater catchment is the way to go if we want to preserve and increase the water in the ground. Where our farm is located, it is not allowed to drill a bore hole more than 28 meter deep. It is even illegal to have bore equipment that goes deeper than the limit set by law. I will finally go back to visit our farm in Thailand this Autumn after 3,5 years. My plan is to start to make swales in and around the food forest we have planted, and to plant more trees. But first I have to see what state the trees are in and replace the dead ones, and take it from there. I also want to plant Lime and Orange trees in between the old Pomelo trees. But in order to do that the water supply has to be up and running. So the swales and pond need to be working together to be able to feed those trees on a regular basis.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Always great to hear from you Svein. I'm happy to hear that things are still alive and well on your plot in Thailand. One step at a time, right?.... All the best my friend.

[@estebancorral5151]

You are not water wise. All citrus fruits use vasts amounts of water. This water you do not have. A countryman of yours already has coconut palms growing in between swales. In the swales he grows aquatic species which he sells domestic ally. He went to Vietnam and realized that Thailand is missing out on a very lucrative crop which is vanilla. He will go back to Thailand and grow vanilla underneath his coconut palms. I suggested to him that he could also grow pineapples since they could be harvested every day in Thailand. That means there will be money in your pocket every day.

[@urban9361]

Hi John. Hope all is going well for you and your family. We have been hearing about the high heat over there and trust you’re coping well with all the effort you have put into your place. Kind regards Urban. Queensland Australia

[@scottweier4285]

We owe it to ourselves to have a garden and figure out the water issue, because there is a HUGE water issue in much of the world. Especially here in Baja Mexico where I live. Capturing rain water is a very good way to do it, so always looking at videos like this to learn how. The one thing I would add to this is reuse your water. Set up two septic tanks, one for the toilets' and one for the shower, and cink water to reuse on the gardens. Then you get to use the same rain water twice. At my home we tried to do this, however on a small scale and not much success. But our garden is small also. I am now looking at buying a ranchito and doing it right this time. In my opinion it is better to over do it (as cost are not that big) than to leave it short.

[@franziskani]

Search with the term "Planting the Rain" - Permaculture in Arizona

[@kablevins]

Hello, John! It is so good to see you again. I have missed your videos. Each one is a gem and well worth the time it takes to watch. You've inspired me again. I'm still here in the central, gulf coast of Florida where the climate is described as humid, but the reality is that we have quite a long dry season from fall through the end of spring. Following your sound teaching, we have been working for years now to turn our sandy, sugar-sand soil into fertile soil, and the methods you teach have been working well. I made a poster based on your video to remind and inspire us about what we are doing. We (mostly my son) have spread countless truckloads of mulch across our property, and planted cover crops, etc. Now, this reminds me that even though we have a reliable well, we really should be harvesting what rainwater we do get. I have been concerned about the salination of the soil from the well water. Back to the drawing board.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you for your message Kimberly. Florida is sub-tropical and at much less risk of soil salinity. The organic material that is being added greatly reduces this risk as well. So no worries. It sounds like you're on the right track. But just remember, trees eat trees and plants eat plants. If you want to grow trees, be sure to add lots of woody material as well. All the best...

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

By the way, could you send me a copy of the poster you made? Send it to [e-mail] Thanks again!

[@brianhollenbeck5281]

Always happy to see you.

[@B30pt87]

Your pride in what you've done is entirely justifiable. What a wonderful farm - and video. (subscribed)

[@emsfrnl]

Great video Jhon. Just what i need to show my mom why we need to try permaculture.

[@huehue5286]

Not mentioning that back a few decades after ww2 most of the fresh vegetables were grown in gardens, it's something possible to do, I've seen in America how wasteful lawns are, some madmen raising them in the desert. It is possible to reduce the dependence in the industrial farming but it also requires a lot of change in how people see working the land.

[@lcotee]

I'm in Arizona right now so this info is super useful. Congratulations on living in Sicily ❤

[@trillium7582]

This is a beautiful video, John. Something about it is deeply moving to me. Thank you for the teaching.

[@bayareasparky9180]

It's great to see you again Johm... and to see all of your hard work bearing fruit (and nuts0. Best to you and your girls! Arrivederci!

[@podskizee]

Great video. I've been thinking of doing this in the Sierra mountain foothills where the climate is basically the same there. This really makes me believe I could do it.

[@RRaucina]

I do similar things here in 8b Mariposa, about 3000' elevation. Built 3 miles of steep road with many small pools and catchment basins

[@rsk_st1294]

John, be more frequent in making videos. We love to hear from you. Good luck.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Haha. Thanks for your comment. Always appreciated. The videos come when they come. That's all I can say. All the best to you and yours...

[@mauriciocardona2853]

It s a great pleasure to see you again! keep up the amazing work you are doing there and I really hope the bureaucratic system in Italy does not get the best of you. Thank you for your wisdom. Looking forward to the next video.

[@louiseswart1315]

Your food forest there looks amazing in such a short span of time. We have quite similar climate here in Wellington, Western Cape, South Africa. We are also harvesting rain water for our backyard garden, and are gleaning knowledge everywhere to curb our water usage while growing as much as possible of our food ourselves. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us.

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thanks for reaching our Louise. Your kind words are very much appreciated, I can assure you. All the best and have a safe an happy Winter...

[@CharlesGann1]

Living in the temperate zone and need your strategies more and more. Appreciate your comment on pumped water not doing the job. Love your work.

[@Mineiro96]

Hello!! I am glad you back thanks 😂

[@reddy2grow66]

Great to see posts from you again . I live in Uk , my problem is too much water , drainage and flow.

[@casseardley9856]

Amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing all of this, I'm about to start planning my own rainwater catchment and it's so inspiring to see a fullt functioning, well developed system!

[@razman_offgrid-dusun]

Great view of the land. Lots of greens. I live in the tropic and in my orchard, only use rainwater for everything.

[@talawillow]

Really enjoyed watching this video. Feeling grateful 🙏

[@janebishop5885]

So much wisdom and love in your videos. Very inspirational.

[@raygrant2439]

This was a lovely video, thank you for your time.

[@charlespalmer3595]

I can't wait to see the changes in your land! I bet your neighbors are green with envy!

[@columlynch4229]

More like brown with envy. Cheers from Ireland, the wettest country in Europe. 😂👍

[@jclewisisimo]

Thanks for posting the video. I’ll try to watch them whenever you do. You look like you’re doing well. God bless!

[@thepeopleplaceandnaturepod8344]

Incredible video on rainwater harvesting in Mediterranean permaculture! 👌🏼

[@sotto8071]

Well done…… nice smile on my face when I heard you speak in Italian…. 👏 👏 👏

[@danshimony-he]

What an incredible video! The way you showcase rainwater harvesting in Mediterranean permaculture is truly inspiring. It's amazing to see how nature can be harnessed to create sustainable systems. Sending big love from Israel! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@Soilfoodwebwarrior]

juggernaut you have been a huge inspiration to me. I live in southern California very similar climate as Sicily near me. Water is crucial here, i have been collecting rain water this year next year i will be water self sufficient. I appreciate 🙏 you

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you for your kind comment. It sounds like you're making great progress. It's definitely a journey worth taking. All the best to you and yours... John

[@timmoore3188]

I like your philosophy of using what you have and saving what you have. I live in an area in Southern Califorinia, and a lot of people in lots above me have wells. During the drought, especially, this has resulted in a lowering of the groundwater table. The oak trees depend on the deep water source to survive our long, hot, dry summers. Not surprisingly, many of the big oaks in my yard died. About three quarters of them. When we do our landscaping, we should always be mindful of our neighbors.

[@Mrnewkrakbo]

Been watching your videos for a while now, beautiful work!!

[@daiblaze1396]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this truly important subject. More people will be able to get a grasp on what we have forgotten...

[@xavierroy5254]

great achievement,beautiful paradise you created,please upload more videos

[@UBonice]

Grazie John, i returned home (Puglia) from France after 30 years and I share your passion and your convictions. I start a new adventure on a magnificent sloping terrain, similar to yours and immersed in nature. Your videos will be very useful as well as very pleasant to watch. Thanks for share.

[@benjaminklenner4310]

Thank you so much for sharing. I like watching your videos, because I'm in a Mediterranean climate in Western Australia. Keep up the great work!

[@geraldnemanishen5079]

Its good to hear from you again. For some reason, I had not received notices of posts several years ago. The garden looks so lush.

[@wanderingmonk007]

Dang YT algorithms, just stumbled across this one.... Glad to see you making another video, and your farm is coming along great. It looks awesome!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!

[@dariocannistraro493]

Ciao John, complimenti per il tuo video. Continuerò a seguirti per trarre il meglio da te. Dalla Sicilia ❤

[@joaomarcelino5035]

Thank you for sharing your sicilian venture. It looks just great. Congratulations. A hug from Montijo, Portugal. You are invited to meet our little community urban farm managed according to permacultural principles.

[@pavelz8750]

Nice video. Thank you very much. I saw your trees and your land when you just bought it. It is huge surprise now! With no city water! You are hero! Great. Greetings from Czech Republic....

[@amandawilson1516]

Lovely to see you again. We are still living and from our stored rain water, its the best. Feels good indeed! Bravo on your Italian!

[@richardbird5697]

The hardest part of gardening in Australia is watering.most places other than cities rely on rain water tanks and dams

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Yes. Australians such as yourself are leaders in this type of work. Thank you for all of your contributions

[@cts-video]

Oh My!!!!! So glad I found your channel. I am in the Campania region and will be moving onto my homestead in the next month or so. I have always said that we need to get back to the basics; rainwater harvesting and get back to nature. This is right in line with what I plan to do and thanks for identifying and verifying the agriculture zone....wasn't quite sure if I had it correct. Peace and blessings

[@Stephen_Strange]

Thank you for 'being' John. We need the info that you gave and your video was short, to the point and easy to understand. Now I will subscribe - because your ideas are the same as ours.

[@user-zr2yb1iz8l]

Hi John, where did all your videos go? I was hoping to see how you sealed your ponds to save water without using a liner. I live in San Diego, where we usually don't get much rain except this year.

[@chriscritchell5115]

Great video, thanks, we have lived on rainwater only for 35 years.

[@arrhazes8198]

Hello John, just wanna say, do be proud of what you did. And though you don't know me, nor do I you, I'M PROUD OF YOU! I'm starting my own FoodForest adventure right now in the Tropics (about 6 acres) and my family kept asking me about installing city water or underground water pump but I decided not to, for the reasons you mentioned. Watching your video helped boost my confident with that decision. If you can do that in the Mediterranean, there's no reason we can't do that in the Tropics! Thank you! 😊

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

That was a very kind comment you just left me. Thank you very much. To span our 4-5 months of Summer dry here in Sicily I have calculated that each sapling (baby tree) requires 300 liters of water. Now that figure should be much less where you are, but hopefully this gives you a ballpark estimate to start from. And as Bill Mollison always suggested, start small, stabilize the system and get success, then expand... All the best to you and yours. It sounds like you are all setting out for a great and rewarding adventure!

[@andrewmcintyre8774]

Hi John , I only use rainwater for irrigating my gardens too , although it is harvested from my roof top into tanks......the mains water in the tap is so full of chemicals and rubbish that I wont use it and you can really see the difference between the two by the growth of the plants and trees. Keep up the great work.

[@donnavorce8856]

Rain water is magic water! Yes. The difference is not subtle. Our village water contains no chemicals. It's cold and clean out of our two wells. We're very fortunate in that respect.

[@pauldalmas6977]

Always beneficial and encouraging thank you John

[@michellegreenspan2866]

I just found your channel and I love this. I live in Upstate South Carolina in rainforest. I’m excited to harvest water naturally. Thank you.

[@dmacosta1]

Always enjoy and learn from your videos, I have been following you since you were in India.Thank you for your time

[@arcadiapermaculture974]

Great stuff as always John. really neat tweaks to the core concepts that you've adapted to your site. So great to see the progression year over year at your property too!

[@usamaizm]

I hope one day you get to do a TED Talk because some of the work you have done and the insights you have gained are incredible.

[@urban9361]

Thank you John 😀. As always your videos are inspiring to many of us who aspire to follow your lead into more and more permaculture effort on our land ❤😀❤️😀

[@TheNaturalFarmer]

Thank you for your kind comment. Nature is a great teacher. Happy to be open to learning the lessons. All the best...

[@MonkeyMind69]

Living with nature instead of against it is so much more satisfying. I wish all of humanity could enjoy such bounty. Sustainable is the way.

[@monevaluation4716]

Hello John, how do you avoid massively increasing tiger mosquitos with the water collection ponds please?

[@donnavorce8856]

Thank you. You have inspired me to utilize my rain collection system better. Also to add to it so as to harvest more water from the roof. I can upcycle a few more 55 gal barrels to store rain. My food forest only needs young tree irrigation during the severe heat waves. But the organic garden, though heavily mulched, still relies on village well water. In fact, we're facing at least 8 days ahead of 100 degree sun days and hot nights. Yikes.

[@PepBo]

Hello John! Just came across your channel after getting interest in permaculture... And saw that you live in Sicily! I am from here and it would be a great pleasure for me to meet you some day and come see your beautiful place and maybe get to learn something from you...

[@RobertoMontagna]

I started following you few years ago, everyone of your video is a pleasure, an inspiration and a source of informations. Congrats on your work and on your Italian.

[@BlazeCard]

Thanks for your help pointing us in the right direction John. I love your ponds and your videos! I am using hugelculture, which I have found to be a resilient way of retaining rainwater. The buried wood really does act as a big sponge. It's also great for stopping erosion. Where water once washed away soil, now it is slowed down into a bio-sink. I'm hoping to make some ponds in the future for the frogs as you say and for use of watering in drier months. What's the best way to keep the water to stay in the pond naturally?

[@donnavorce8856]

Might have to line it with some fine clay manufactured for that purpose - to hold water in pond bottoms.

[@BlazeCard]

@@donnavorce8856 Hey Donna-thank you for the comment.

[@kebunmaksaya]

Living with nature. It's a skill. Superb sharing. Thank you.

[@tomfool43]

Great video, great teacher and a wonderful holding. Also inspiring to see so many in the comments with similar projects underway. After struggling with unreliable shallow wells here in Serbia, and seeing the 'race to the bottom' with deeper and deeper wells I decided to build a cistern and collect rainwater which is still plentiful here but increasingly unreliable in the summer. We run our house off it and will soon be filtering all the grey water we produce as well. There's still work to do to make the water potable, but with a composting toilet it's enough for a frugal family.

[@JohnMarsing]

Great video (as usual). I would like to learn more about CEC 2:10 Irrigation water is filled with nutrients and clay particles which greatly increase Cation Exchange Capacity

[@guddi123426]

Love the Indian classical music you included in the video

[@glenpryce]

Great to see you back. I love your simple but valuable videos😁

[@simonezampini]

Ciao John, sempre interessanti i tuoi video. Grazie

[@fderon]

Great video! Hello from the scorched and dry south of France, would love to know more about how you built your rain water catching ponds and how they're able to retain the water.

[@xxxranger25262728]

me too, living in Vienna, gardening in Krems where it rains here and there.

[@bjwilliams8869]

Beautiful knowledge and I am very grateful for you sharing.

[@123pangolin]

thank you. what lines your ponds, clay, compacted earth...?

[@snookzter]

Thank you John.

[@BrianBetron]

Thanks for having great audio.

[@rosehavenfarm2969]

You set out to use rainwater only, and accomplished your goal. Well done. We live in Great Lakes region of US, and although it is "temperate" by definition, in our little part of the region, most summers in the last few years have been extremely dry. This year has been different, for which we are grateful: we have been receiving good "farmer's rain" a couple times a week this summer thus far. That being said, we are still looking for a way to capture the rains we do get. We have a series of catchment swales, a rain garden, we do have a frog pond, and very much want to harvest the water from the roofs of our structures. Large, clean containers are difficult to source in our area, and if you can find a clean one, it's very, very expensive. But we persevere. Best wishes to you for continued success.

[@jjessicalynn]

Hello, thank you for your video. I live on an island in the Mediterranean and I would like to build swales to harvest more rain water. I live on almost flat land and I would like to plant the swale with trees and plants just like you have done. It’s going to be a lot of work so I will just start with one swale and see how it goes. Thanks again!

[@magscapes]

Love your content John, have applied permaculture on our acres in France, but have yet to establish ponds and full rainwater system - inspired!

[@youngsahm03]

I really appreciate you taking the time to speak on where these techniques came from and how they were shared through migration and sharing amongst peoples. Many times permaculture practicing folks leave these parts out, but understanding of these roots helps provide a deeper understanding different methods and lineages of practice that often just get thrown under an umbrella of “permaculture.” Looking more into the Arab and North African rain harvesting techniques such as the Gebbia you mentioned helped expand and deepen an understanding based on your awesome examples demonstrated and explained here, and showed connections between cultures I hadn’t previously heard of! Also the cherry on top for me was placing the rainfall amounts in comparison to other well known natural farmers and demonstrating how you are adjusting to your specific corner of the world. 🎉

[@manuelacacciato6729]

wow che bellissima sorpresa questo video e che gradevole scoperta sentirla parlare molto bene in italiano!

[@ruthlongridge]

This is very valuable information. Thank you and bless you, love from South Afrika

[@salifukujabi4487]

Happy to hear that you are doing permaculture,we are also doing permaculture in the Gambia

[@lkonny9200]

I am so happy for your video. We have recently moved to Portugal and I am surprised by the lack of rain water harvesting. We have dug a swale and a pond and might do more over the course of years. All locals are looking at me as what is this foreigner doing. I just can't wait to see the difference this makes to our land.

[@annashealthylifeeverything8583]

Do you know if you need a permission for a pond in Portugal?

[@lkonny9200]

@@annashealthylifeeverything8583 I don't think so.

[@yzm2065]

This is brilliant. I am so excited to be diving into this hobby eventually. Im thinking years ahead, to be honest, but its something I know I wanna transition to in time. But you just need to know that it has to be you, since no one else is going to provide these niche perspectives and drive this blossoming concept. I truly think that the growing desire to leave the big city and the rat race to live a simpler, and more sustainable life like this is a trend that is here to stay. But you need to keep up the support so that people who are on the fence about it can be welcomed into it, and that its doable and practical in a quality of life POV.

[@TheGrilledCheeseSandwich]

Praise the creator for his amazing creation. Hallelujah!!!!!!!

[@soniquetemusic]

John, could you please explain how you created the ponds and what you did to make them retain water long term? Just the clay in the ground?

[@jurjenfeitsma1386]

Amazing and inspiring video John! Thanks a lot for sharing this!! I'm in Mallorca in a similar climate. One question: did you seal the ponds in a natural way? And if so, can you elaborate a bit on how you did this?

[@AnMarie263]

Wow.. that's Great news were using rain water too here in Phil!

[@hermitholllerhomestead2080]

Wonderful perspective and content!

[@humantouchfacetoface5480]

I love your philosophy of the land 🥰

[@everestteiken8537]

Thank you very much for the valuable information you provided. May I ask, 00:15 where is that place?

[@MarceloRezendePlus]

As one that learned and interacted very briefly with Italians, I could understand well enough your spoken italian. Viva!