Why I NEVER Irrigate (Hot & Dry Yet Productive)

In a world which abuses its water resources, let's look at practical examples of growing food in abundance without irrigation infrastructure.
We're classified Semi Arid Tropics with strong tropical storms in the wet season, then pronounced dry spells with hot, drying sun. To make matters worse, our soil is a rocky, sandy, silt mix that cannot support ponds or standing water.
Regardless, we use natural, passive techniques to grow sustainable food for our community. To support our work here, consider sending funds via Venmo @Frenchie-Powell (venmo.com/u/Frenchie-Powell).
Your support is a huge help and expands the work we do, thank you!
Don't have the extra funds or Venmo? Then do consider sharing this video with someone you think it might help, and leave a comment down below, I read every last one!
Mission Goals:
1.) To live as a living sacrifice for the sake of our community and island, living below our means and within sustainable parameters.
2.) To grow food without synthetic compounds or external imports while boosting biodiversity and ecosystem health.
3.) To educate individuals locally and abroad about sustainable and nutritious food production.
4.) To provide food and plants for free or at ridiculously low cost to others.

[@LifeTransPlanet]

Hey guys! This is super interesting! We do irrigate since we can. The method of our madness is to get the big shade makers that need a lot of water at first (but not as much when mature) like bananas and coconuts going so that they can keep all everything underneath and around cooler and wetter and then won't need as much water later. Our forest is mostly secondary or tertiary forests that at one point in time were just all completely slashed down (the original forest), so in order to take out fast growing opportunistic dry weedy trees and noxious vines that grew afterward, we need good and productive shade and water is a must for those. Once we have that, then those big mama trees can baby everything else around them making little island garden oases that bring up the water and protection to other plants around them. We left for a month last year in February (dry season) and almost everything lived through it, so it seems to be working! Buena suerte!

[@alrinaleroux9229]

Fascinating. Very impressive. I'm sharing this.

[@CatherineandRob]

Really fascinating!

[@SimpleEarthSelfReliance]

It's on-topic and important, and so good to see, Frenchie. In my zone, it's the same. People are fighting over water, sharing miniscule source and towns are being scheduled for water. Yet!.. When people get water, they flood irrigate, run pivots in 60kmh winds and suck boreholes dry. It's a sad state of affairs. Loving your strategies. I do admit, I use drip systems which brought my use down to a few litres a day on larger areas.

[@frenchiepowell]

I'm glad you're saving the water that you are! You're right that so many people waste this precious resource even when they know it's scarce. Hopefully we all have systems in place for when the wells run dry

[@notconfused798]

HI Frenchie and Priscila, I am coming down again this weekend for a short stay. I would love to see you again. I sent a text yesterday. -Joy Perew

[@Wallakazulum]

Here in Venezuela we have been having water supply issues for years now. I live in a hill side that drains very quickly so my garden died when this issue begun, then I just turned to the survivors... those who still grow around here without my input. Passion Fruit or Parchita as we call it here is incredibly versatile in these environments, if it where not for the presence of another autoctone vine that outcompetes it our hills would be covered with it. I actually have a Taro infestation growing wherever the bananas offer some shade, if you still have some tubers you could try and disperse them around in the most shady areas, some might do well.

[@frenchiepowell]

If perhaps one day I get my hands on some dryland taro I'd love to try it. Smart to stick with the survivors, we use black eyed peas instead of green beans for example here, since other green beans fail to thrive. Wishing you all the best as you continue on!

[@cleightcleight3623]

I definitely did learn something from your vid. Actually learned a few things :) And I do like that idea of 'passive watering' even naturally rather than having to 'baby' the garden and make it dependent on us rather than doing what it naturally would do (even according to the 'design' of God should one hold that belief as I do) Thanks for the vid. OH and that 'dirt bag home' thing is a cool idea for a home especially if one ended up homeless and wanted to build a place OR if it is done with great intent to live there 'long term'.

[@frenchiepowell]

Lol yeah, the Earth Bag home is a great option for us too since it's resilient to both earthquakes and hurricanes, both of which we have here. And The Garden of Aibonito where we're at is particularly modeled after another Garden where a certain designer "planted trees and shrubs that were good to eat and pleasing to the eye" 😉 Those two caretakers of that Garden would've had it pretty easy managing a perennial food forest that was designed for them, until they got kicked out and then had to get their food from a field. Anyways, glad you found the video informative and thanks for commenting, have a blessed day!

[@8971felix]

How the yam can store its energy in the roots if the leaves are dead?

[@mithim99]

Do you use biochar or do you mostly use chop and drop for soil creation?

[@frenchiepowell]

By far mostly chop and drop. However when I cook with a gasifier stove, or burn wood in a char pit, I definitely take full advantage of the available char.

[@shannonlynne1558]

Super interesting. We get plenty of rain in the central west part of the island but I am thinking a hole dug into the ground where there is a slope would slow down erosion? That is an issue here.

[@frenchiepowell]

@@shannonlynne1558 an on contour trench would indeed slow erosion yes, or at least it would catch the sediment, and increase vegetative cover downhill which would help. For more info, look into making permaculture swales 👍

[@shannonlynne1558]

@@frenchiepowell Thanks 👍

[@jamesbackyard7192]

Where are you? Hawaii?

[@frenchiepowell]

Aibonito, Puerto Rico

[@ourgardeningchannel5201]

HAIR

[@AselflimitedcapitalisemW0mamon]

like a wise village chief that was a quality nature wisdom share & you really wouldn't have needed any of the permaculture gimmick (key words to peoples "money generating" love of higher-intellect education filled wallets:) if you had a likeminded fellow population of fellow village chief strictly locally type provisioning types strictly focused on earth-nurturing methods for their sustainable Provisions. instead of The mass-human-personal-wealth-generating methods causing "climate-changed": by mankind's excessive love of higher learning type science of economics; putting the proper earth nurturing: (for near 100% compostable way-of-life) second: all for the money

[@frenchiepowell]

Would definitely love to see a greater community shift here that focuses on and values the other forms of capital as much as financial capital, but until that day we remain as fish swimming against the current building the foundation for a better future to be built ✌️

[@AselflimitedcapitalisemW0mamon]

@@frenchiepowell if you ever find some spare time for hearing about a methid to get the better focus & endevor happing sooner please cintact me for the conversation focused on the proposed method. And thank you for your kind reply