permaculture

["Kelly Finigan" <kfinigan@telus.net>]

> Dont ask me what a sheepsfoot roller is. The farming experts here in the
> groop can probably tell.

A sheepsfoot roller is a type of drum with large (about 100mm square to
200mm square) "pegs" spaced all around it. The roller normally goes on the
equipment used to roll asphalt instead of the flat roller used for the
asphalt. As the pegs roll, there is a sort of "squishing" of the
soil...leading to compaction. I don't know if many farmers use these (I'm
not a farmer) but they sure are used a lot in: compacting soil for
foundations; building up compacted layers in dams; soil preparation for
roads. Generally I would associated them with civil engineers and
earthmoving contractors.

I'd recommend them only for LARGE jobs (expensive and tough to manoeuvre for
fine work!)

Another pond-making method is the famous "carpet sandwich"...a layer of used
carpet, pile up, a layer of plastic sheeting, a layer of used carpet, pile
down...uses waste material and can be really, really cheap...more details in
one of the more recent (2 or 3 years) of the Permaculture Activist...

hope this helps...

ciao,
Kelly


Kelly Finigan, M.Sc. P.Eng., Permaculture Designer
Essential Elements Inc.
744 - 4 Street NW       Calgary, Alberta, Canada         T2N 1P2
1-403-283-7270           fax 283-9783     kfinigan@telus.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "keller" <ak.and.ak@on-line.de>
To: <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Saturday, October 12, 2002 8:22 AM
Subject: Re: [permaculture] (fwd) Newbie.... Where to begin?


>
> This is what the book says about Bentonite:
>
> "Perhaps the best known pond bottom sealant is bentonite clay, which
absorbs
> large amounts of water and expands to 8 to 20 times its original volume,
> plugging up the pores in the soil. It is applied, preferabl, to the dry
pond
> bottom, at 1 to 3 pounds per square foot (5 to 15 kg/sqare metre) spread,
> mixed and compacted as described above. (You will need a laboratory soil
> analysis to determine precises dosage.) Bentonite is readiliy available
and
> not expensive, but immense quantities may be needed, so that, if you
cannot
> find a nearby source, shipping costs may be prohibitive. An added caution
is
> the occasional unexplained failure that occurs with bentonite. Some say
the
> ist is the low montmorillonite content of some bentonite which is
> responsible, but I cannot confirm that."
>
> There are other methods discussed, with chemical sealants and membrane
> liners. The next section is more interesting from a pc point of view,
> gleization:
>
> "To use the gleization method, proceed as follows:
> - Cover the pond bottom and sides completely with moist animal manure.
> - Cover the manure layer with green vegetation, preferably broad-leafed
> sorts. Paper or cardboard may also be used.
> - Cover that with a third layer of soil.
> - Moisten an compact, as described above.
> - After several weeks, add water.
> The process set in motion by the manure-green leaves-soil compaction
process
> involves creation of anaerobic conditions under which certain bacteria
form
> a 'biological plastic' called 'gley'. It is likely that the same sort of
> process goes on at a slightly slower rate under plastic or rubber liners,
> giving a fast, temporary seal together with a slower but permanent one.
> Publication of an article on gleization in The Journal of the New
Alchemist
> ... led to a number of responses describing variations on the mehtod. In
> some casses, the animal manure was omitted, resulting in a slower, but
> eventually effective reaction. Perhaps the most interesting response came
> from Lee Shilling of The Folk Life Center of the Great Smokies, Cosby,
> Tennessee. Lee reminded us that farmers in that region used to let their
> hogs do the work for them. The pigs were simply allowed access to, and
> perhaps fed in, a newly excavated pond. After a year or so, the resulting
> combination of fertilization and compaction brought about a natural seal"
>
> (let me stop the citation here before the author accuses me of copy right
> infringement :).
>
> Generally, after reading a lot about aquaculture, I get the impression
that
> there is a tremendous body of useful knowledge and that it will pay off to
> delve into
> the literature before you start practically. The same, I suppose, holds
for
> other areas
> of farming.
>
> Andreas
>
> >
> > I understand that trout are not pond fish. But I saw
> > some trout in a small pond at the Holman Ranch in
> > Carmel Vally. I was surprised. Maybe they were a
> > special type of trout.
>
> According to that book Trout "Needs flowing water for natural
reproduction,
> but can survive and gro w in suitable standing waters. Requires cold water
> saturated with dissolved oxygen". So you would need to buy young fish, and
> you need cold water. With rising temperature, oxigene solubility
decreases.
> Since you are in a hot area, trout is probably not the right fish for you.
> There are other species that do fine and reproduce by themselves in warmer
> waters.
> >
> > http://www.theholmanranch.com/openwedding.html
> > "The Redwood Deck, just off the lawn, is reached via a
> > small bridge spanning a trout pond."
> >
> >
> > --- keller <ak.and.ak@on-line.de> wrote:
> > > >    4) Build a natural pond with fish. Trout would
> > > be cool.
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > trout like it cool and prefer running water (high
> > > oxigene content). Not a
> > > typical pond fish.
> > >
> > > Tilapia could be the right thing, but they are
> > > forbidden in some areas
> > > (African family of fish, they multiply very quickly
> > > and tend to push native
> > > species out). But tilapia species might already be
> > > present in your area, and
> > > then why not grow them.
> > >
> > > I am not a fish farming expert, (no practical
> > > experience myself) but
> > > interested in the field.
> > >
> > > I recommend the following book:
> > >
> > > "Freshwater Aquaculture" by William McLarney. 1998
> > > Hartley and Marks. ISBN 0-88179-123-7
> > >
> > >
> > > What fish species do naturally occur in your area?
> > >
> > > Species to look at (some quotes from that book):
> > >
> > > Bluegill (Leomis microchirus)  "Probably the best
> > > warm water insectivore for
> > > North American ponds".
> > >
> > > Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) "The most
> > > important commercially
> > > cultured fish in the United States. Main culture
> > > methods is intensive
> > > monoculture in ponds, but also used in high and low
> > > intensity polycultures,
> > > closed systems, cage culture, farm ponds, trated in
> > > Arkansas, Louisiana and
> > > Mississippi, with some commercial culture in the
> > > South Atlantic States, the
> > > Great Plains states, Texas, California and Idaho."
> > >
> > > Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus) " On of the
> > > few large, native North
> > > American filter feeders, and as such potetially very
> > > valuable as a cultured
> > > fish. Well suited for culture in rotation with rice.
> > > Culture methods were
> > > developed in Arkansas inthe 1950'as, but channel
> > > catfish became much more
> > > important economically. Mostly used in low
> > > -intensity polyculture..."
> > >
> > > Filter feeders are low in the food chain, so that is
> > > fine with respect to
> > > food energy.
> > >
> > > Polyculture is something to read about! Different
> > > fish occupy different
> > > niches, some feed on plants, some on small animals,
> > > some on feces of other
> > > fish and dead plant matter, some on other fish
> > > (don't dismiss theses: in
> > > Tilapia, it the population density becomes too high,
> > > fish tend to be
> > > stunted. On way to solve the problem is some
> > > carnivourous fish in the pond).
> > > So pc-wise, that is the way to go. The chinese have
> > > done it for thousands of
> > > years, also integrated systems with aquaculture and
> > > other things.
> > >
> > > Get some books, surf the web, find people who do it
> > > (but not the commercial
> > > guys, who feed the fish with all kinds of
> > > non-organically grown things.
> > > Normally, feeding them should not even be necessary,
> > > since a pond in the
> > > sunshine will produce quite some amount of biomass.
> > >
> > > Andreas
> > >
> > >
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