Water harvesting swales at Make-it-Do Farm

We added on contour water harvesting swales to the south facing hill on the east side of our home. They fill up with about 1.5 inches of rain and then that water slowly permeates the berm and downhill soil. The swale berms are planted with clovers, beans, flowers, berries, rhubarb and other edible plants. An added function and benefit is that the swales provide a place for our muscovy and kaki campbell ducks to swim.

[@rachelfrees1268]

So educational. I’m 82 and learning everyday.👏👏

[@boogiedownforever]

I could have watched those baby ducks in the swale water all day. I really loved this video

[@lettysells]

love the ducks enjoying the water, very peaceful

[@ciceroaraujo5183]

You have a beautiful mind

[@kevinwharem6464]

This entire video is fantastic! The information, the birds & background nature sounds, the water harvesting and plants... all of it. However, the day old ducklings immediately jack the "Awesomeness Factor" right off the top of the chart! Anyone stuck working in a cubicle should watch this at the end of the day as a mental "detox" before going home. Thanks so much for posting it!

[@svetlanikolova7673]

Kevin watch Geoff Lawton " Greening the desert" and " Back to Eden" with Paul Gauchi part 4 , for insparation

[@LitoGeorge]

Looks terrific. Another benefit of the ducks is that their poop gets diluted in the water and spread along the swale, washing into the ground doing its good work. Great stuff.

[@oliverhughes3566]

I really enjoyed your video. so full of life and so peaceful. the progression you showed is amazing. good on you!

[@gerrygold9273]

Was beautiful to watch those ducks enjoying the water. 😉👍✔🍒

[@blabityblabblab2]

Loved this video! I especially loved the ducks and the little booty wiggles, lol! So precious! But, your place is beautiful! Thank you for sharing

[@wihaf]

nice...greeting from Indonesia

[@TutuSainz]

So beautiful and peaceful!!! Thank you for sharing your work/world!

[@growingfoodbackyard]

Thank you for the video. Awesome work.

[@kevinhenson942]

Nice job

[@ranjanprakash2521]

Very Good ! Thanks for the video.

[@rickyyang3357]

Nice lil video.

[@tennybobenny]

Wow what a classic representation of swales in action, great work. Here's an idea, slip some bananas on the swale berms. It's a great perennial biomass producer. Sweet potato as a ground cover won't hurt. And some palms just behind the swale ditches. Palms have fibourus roots, this will strengthen your swale edge and further protect it from erosion.😉

[@felixkeenan5176]

That's very nice results. I'd probably end up planting some bush or small trees on or just behind the berm to stich everything together but doesn't mean it's nessaseraly the thing to do. It looks beautiful as it is at that kind of scale. Thanx:)

[@2.67acrehomestead2]

Looks great......Joe from South Ms.

[@fieldagent59isintheforest32]

BEAUTIFUL JOB !! I really enjoyed the day old ducks taking to the water like that...you may want to build up the ends of your swales,.. looks like the water is ready to creep over the ends..

[@DennyHenke]

Actually, yes, the ends of the swales are designed that way on purpose. The purpose there is to have a flat and level sill that allows for the water to gently seep out of each end when the swale is full. Having the sills lets the water out of the full swale but does so in such a way that it does not cause erosion. It’s set in such a way that it won’t creep over the downward slope but rather creeps off gently to both sides and does so at the same time. Glad you liked the ducks! It’s a real joy to see them taking their first swim!

[@allisonridgeway4449]

Beautiful space! Would love to see an update of your swales and garden.

[@johntraynor8777]

Hi Denny your swales look great I need to be pointed in the right direction can you help? My land has been scraped down to clay and is on a slop I want to install swales to collect water and rebuild the soil, so I need to know how to install several swales like the ones in your video can you advise. cheers in advance

[@etiennelouw9244]

Although I only have a tiny suburban garden I am planning to have 2 swales, maybe 3.

[@nedinamaria3203]

Deny bom dia querida lugar mágico se eu fossem uma borboleta Europa iriam aí é muito perfeito e maravilha de Deus natureza soberanas Deus abençoe você é seus patinhos que fofocas nedina rio

[@123danks]

Nice dude

[@rickershomesteadahobbyfarm3291]

I was going to do this in my food forest but my wife would have a fit lol. She already lets me know how much she hates my food forest all the time and I know she would be pretty mad if she walked out one day and saw swells lol.

[@solfeinberg437]

0:59 - there's the a frame that made finding the level contour possible.

[@therecommendationstudio9917]

WELL DONE LADS

Thanks :D

[@katherinec1003]

I love the idea of swales, but I have to wonder if they encourage mosquitoes. I'm a mosquito magnet, and that's the first thing I think of whenever I see standing water :)

[@DennyHenke]

Generally speaking most swales will drain within 2 to 4 days and that's been my experience. That's not enough time for mosquitoes to become a problem. That said, the largest of our swales held water for well over seven days and I think that was largely due to its size and the high clay content of the soil. If it out you could always start with the small swale and see how well it drains.

[@mentafari]

HI! great video demonstration of water harvesting, I got one question, in what zone are you located? thank you!!

[@DennyHenke]

In terms of growing zones of US we're in zone 6. But in Permaculture terms we would be in zone one as the swales are located immediately around the house.

[@mikewright3029]

Beautiful! Thank you! :D Question: Do you have to plant ground cover in the swale itself?... because I've heard people say to never leave the bare soil exposed? I'm not sure if it applies to swales. :/

[@VillageTV]

awesome

[@ForageGardener]

wow!!

[@chich3chich176]

Thanks for the video, it was very helpful! I’m wanting to install a swale on my property along a hillside but I wanna make sure that I’m doing it right. How do I know if a hillside is too steep to build a swale on? Does the ditch have to be in a straight line?

[@DennyHenke]

Glad you liked the video. I’m not sure about limits on steepness but I think almost anything will work. The key is that it should on the contour of the hill. That may be straight or may not. I built a simple A-frame to measure contour. See here for a good video on that: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWrMmmimZpaHoK8

[@mattroberts8532]

great video! what climate are you located in? Also what is the slope of the hill the swales are on?

[@maudepotvin8660]

Your local aquifer is tanking you ! :)

[@benjamingrezik373]

stuff like this will.seriously recharge your wells let alone help with surface vegetation

[@dr.mikeybee]

What are you doing to mitigate landslides?

[@joxxxyalpharius2008]

thank you, how do you decide the size of the swale ?!

[@rstevewarmorycom]

You need more woodchips or such in your swales to absorb and hold the water.

[@thanhthi398]

how do you handle the mosquitos?

[@athenamorales7321]

Just let the goats and sheep have at some of those just remember to route them to deferent areas of the property.

[@thefullers1927]

I have a question Mr. Henke, do your ducks disrupt the garden in any way? Our chickens can really reek havoc on ours. We would like to get ducks and also dig swells, if we could put them together that would be amazing! Thank you!!

[@DennyHenke]

On occasion but they are much less destructive than the chickens. They do sometimes pick through things but they don’t tend to disrupt or destroy things.

[@thefullers1927]

thank you!

[@quercus4730]

Terracing has been around for who knows how long and they work.

[@nancyburridge]

Thank you for the video. Your volume was so low I had to wear a headset to hear you. Please consider increasing your volume on future videos. It is easier to turn volume down as we can't turn it up. Again, thank you for this presentation.

[@garrywhere7511]

That is not a swale according to the "land management department " . That is a marsh.

[@fredfrond6148]

Do the swales dry up at all in the hot season?

[@DennyHenke]

Yes. Usually.

[@klo69k88]

Very nice!! What state are you in??

[@DennyHenke]

Glad you liked the video! Southern Missouri.

[@iiishw]

Do you have issues with mesquitos?

[@DennyHenke]

William, we've got six swales and all but one of them drain out in 2-3 days as expected. One of them, the largest, does indeed hold water for an extended period... Easily 7-10 days. We're not sure why it holds water so long. Definitely a high clay content but that is the case for all of the Swales. Hard to say though if it is a mosquito problem as the ducks are in it all the time and it stays a bit muddy.

[@deismdrake6476]

+Denny Henke do ducks eat mosquitoes?

[@EntagroIndia]

Introduce some fishes in it...

[@angelavandernest4794]

you have a lot of water, we have about 3 by 50mm a year, don't know how that would work for us?

[@TheVigilantStewards]

I like how green everything is, where is this at?

[@DennyHenke]

Missouri

[@zj1710]

Those baby ducks grew that big after a month?

[@DennyHenke]

They did!!

[@mechanics4all405]

have you become self sufficient by now

[@svetlanikolova7673]

you have been watching Geoff Lawton?

[@Kindafu]

Any mosquitoes problem?

[@DennyHenke]

Not much

[@planetbob4709]

Mulch the swales with wood chips

[@eric123426]

How do you deal with mosquitoes 🦟?

[@DennyHenke]

Water dries out before mosquitoes are a problem

[@connorburke7726]

Fantastic swales check out allan savory

[@leelawrence5420]

geographic location please :)

[@DennyHenke]

Missouri :)

[@incorectulpolitic]

Cardboard and any paper material is full of mercury and other heavy metals.

[@2ry1n]

What about mosquitos?

[@DennyHenke]

Most swales only hold water for a few days and mosquitos won’t be a problem. Of these swales this was the largest and would hold water for a week or more though it didn’t seem to hold water long enough to create a problem.

[@2ry1n]

@@DennyHenke Thank you.

[@darylogle6696]

What about mosquitoes

[@vasantkrishna1246]

grow some fish yar so that they eat mosquito larva

[@almightyyak675]

So how are the mosquitos during the summer? And don't say "not too bad" because we'll know you are full of sh*t! lol Gotta take the good with the bad I guess. Also, do any of your swales keep water year round? Do you have a pond to collect all the extra water? I'm curious about fish habitat.