permaculture

[Rick Valley <bamboogrove@cmug.com>]

> From: "Kirby Fry" <peace@totalaccess.net>

> Use the old water to irrigate.  You could siphon it out

or use a shadouf to fill watering cans. (they're the counter-balanced big
water dippers used in Arabic countries) Simple to build and can move water
ergonomically using human power. It's good irrigation water- much better
than well water.

>>> I find it so hard to balance "neat and pretty" with ecological
> permaculture...  <<
> 
> After a Pc system gets installed and there's time to incrementally improve
> upon it, such aesthetics become more possible and manageable.

And aethetics are highly subjective; "do not adjust your TV- adjust your
mind"

>The area under water could be
> rocked and graveled and used for cultivating iris and taro.  Some of the
> mini dams could be converted into stone foot-bridges.
and Sagittaria and Cyperis and and

> Annual cover crops, which we have relied on heavily for building soils,
> could be phased out over time.  We used a sorghum once that grew 7' tall and
> was so thick you couldn't see three or four feet into it.  It was fantastic
> but looked pretty strange when it turned brown and started falling over,
> pretty ratty if you know what I mean.
Cut it before it gets ratty?

> The area around our larger permanent ponds could also be "turfed,"  and foot
> paths could be made out of flat stones with nice edging delineating the
> growing areas.  I would also like to at least set stone around the rim of
> our existing pond and excavate / pour a gravel beach for getting into the
> pond.  It's very steep as it is and I oncecut my foot on a rock getting out.
> 
floats are good in earthen ponds; in the case of an infestation of insurance
agents (who don't like floats and docks- accidents happen) an "accidental"
log works OK

I'm about to embark on a project that needs lots of water/earth work, and
it's so much fun just thinking about it, I can't wait to get in there and
start digging.

-Rick