Permaculture tips: hugelkultur and swales
Let's talk about swales, this amazing new thing that's been around for thousands of years. The basic principle is to create mounds of soil to hold moisture and prevent water run off and erosion. Even if you completed your understanding of swales with the structural benefits it would still be wise to apply the concept to your farm or garden, but there is so much more.
Placing swales will also improve the nutrient quality of your soil. This occurs because it prevents water from washing nutrients away durimg heavy rains and because the contents within the swale decay slowly over time, creating amazing compost.
During our farmer interview, Ton Kodden at Domaine Les Gonies, tells us how he has implemented two swales using the Eastern European hugelkultur technique. Often, a trench is dug and filled with compost material, then covered with dirt from a new trench just uphill from it, but the ground in south France is very rocky, preventing deep digging without excess effort or machinery. To accommodate this, Ton dug an initial shallow trench and mounded the dirt from it down hill. Then he back this up with logs from his own property and covered the wood with compostable materials and top soil. This increased the perspective depth of the trench compared to the hill behind it allowing for a swale to be effective even in rocky terrain.
Not only does the swale catch water on his sloping land side, it also retains it the moisture in the wood creating a feeding ground for microbes and fungi as they decompose, increasing the biodiversity of the soil, and again, enhancing the nutrient density.
Within only a few years, this swale, using hugelkultur principles, has become home for tomatoes, squash, peach/apple/cherry trees, raspberries, herbs, flowers, a feeding ground for chickens, and fenced barrier for one of his cow pastures. As the pictures below show, this area is still green even into the hot month of August. There is also a picture of some exposed logs to give perspective on size.
This has been an effective technique on Ton's farm, hopefully you will implement it on yours.
Check out our blog for further posts about Chef Mirella and her wonderful auberge.
Placing swales will also improve the nutrient quality of your soil. This occurs because it prevents water from washing nutrients away durimg heavy rains and because the contents within the swale decay slowly over time, creating amazing compost.
During our farmer interview, Ton Kodden at Domaine Les Gonies, tells us how he has implemented two swales using the Eastern European hugelkultur technique. Often, a trench is dug and filled with compost material, then covered with dirt from a new trench just uphill from it, but the ground in south France is very rocky, preventing deep digging without excess effort or machinery. To accommodate this, Ton dug an initial shallow trench and mounded the dirt from it down hill. Then he back this up with logs from his own property and covered the wood with compostable materials and top soil. This increased the perspective depth of the trench compared to the hill behind it allowing for a swale to be effective even in rocky terrain.
Not only does the swale catch water on his sloping land side, it also retains it the moisture in the wood creating a feeding ground for microbes and fungi as they decompose, increasing the biodiversity of the soil, and again, enhancing the nutrient density.
Within only a few years, this swale, using hugelkultur principles, has become home for tomatoes, squash, peach/apple/cherry trees, raspberries, herbs, flowers, a feeding ground for chickens, and fenced barrier for one of his cow pastures. As the pictures below show, this area is still green even into the hot month of August. There is also a picture of some exposed logs to give perspective on size.
This has been an effective technique on Ton's farm, hopefully you will implement it on yours.
Check out our blog for further posts about Chef Mirella and her wonderful auberge.
Ooooh-la-la. I just learned me something new. Keep um coming!
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