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  • From: "John D'hondt" <dhondt@eircom.net>
  • To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Drainage
  • Date: Tue, 3 Jan 2012 18:40:22 -0000

I think you are so right Dieter. I would just like to add here that we use moldy hay and silage and wet straw to create pathways so that you don't loose your wellies by every step you take. It only takes 2-3 inches of fibery hay or silage to keep from sinking in. When we do this things will eventually come right again in summer. It also creates great dry shelter for earthwortms that would otherwise drown.
john

Steve,

I understand that the water needs to go somewhere, especially when you are on level land that is flooded all around you. In that case, there is no alternative to digging trenches. But that is not the case here; we live on a hillside property with very little level land. One of our fields that can be water logged for months is at an incline of 5 to 10 %. It shouldn’t get water logged because the water could easily run off. Yet, the field is badly eroded and SOM is low because of tilling by the previous owner. This to me is a very clear demonstration of just how important SOM is for drainage.

Dieter


--- On Tue, 1/3/12, Steve Bonney <steve@sustainableearth.net> wrote:

From: Steve Bonney <steve@sustainableearth.net>
Subject: Re: [permaculture] Drainage
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Tuesday, January 3, 2012, 3:27 AM
I agree about SOM to increase
drainage, and also the importance of
earthworms to drainage. However, water has to have a
place to go. My
farm receives an average annual rainfall of 46 inches and
even in dry
periods, water does not percolate, even through the A
horizon which has
about 2.5 % SOM. My apple trees are on 18" berms, and when
I dug holes
for more tree planting in early December, water stood in
the holes at
the old surface level upon which I built the berms Standing
water
generates anaerobic conditions. So it is a chicken and egg
situation. In
order to foster the proper biological activity, the soil
must have air
in order to build SOM.

I am the product of a PhD program in soils at a land grant
(agricultural
and mechanical) university, and have always opposed the
quick fixes of
industrial agriculture -- drainage is one of those.
However, in the
industrial paradigm, drainage systems are implemented to
work the land
during wet periods and to increase yields -- with little or
no regard
for increasing SOM. I know it seems anthropocentric to
start moving soil
around -- Wendall Berry advises against it -- and I view my
farm as a
managed ecosystem, but there seems to be no other options
for lowering
the water table. And I am retaining the water on the farm
to grow plants
and fish, so it doesn't seem to be a blatant violation of
holistic
principles.

Steve
Field and Forest Eco-farm
Indiana USA



On 1/2/2012 5:56 AM, Dieter Brand wrote:
>> Will those with experiences of soil drainage in
wet
>> climates please share those experiences,
observations and
>> advice.
> Steve,
>
> I’m in a semi-arid climate. If we do get rain,
it is usually between November and April. In a wet
year, some of my fields are water logged for almost 5
months. In the beginning, I dug some drain channels
and even buried drain pipes and gravel. I will not do
that again. The effect was minimal. I have very
heavy clay soil with little OM. That is the reason the
soil gets water logged. The only way to remedy the
problem is by increasing SOM – at least in may case.
It takes time, but it is the only sustainable way. A
clay soil rich in humus can absorb huge amounts of water
without getting water logged. It also has good
drainage.
>
> Dieter
>
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--
Steve Bonney
Sustainable Earth
a 501(c)3 not-for-profit membership organization
to promote sustainable farming and food systems

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