permaculture

["Andrew Clements" <jara@otenet.gr>]

Dear Keith,

    I have lots of different deciduous leaves - ranging from Plane
(platanus) (related to maple) to fruit and nut trees (apple, pear, plum,
cherry, persimmon, pomegranite, walnut etc etc etc)

    Concerning Schauberger - I first tried his votex flow ideas on a
troublesome brook I have in the garden - This brook regularly breaks its
man-made banks. I noticed that it tended to break its banks where it was
being forced to flow in a straight line by the manmade embankments. I
removed the boudlers that had been used for embankment and chucked them in
the stream - Logic would say that this would make the problem worse due to
displacement but it didn't - It completely solved the problem. Encouraged by
this I removed all the embankment works and put the boulders in the whole
length of the stream forming whitewater rapids - this slowed the downward
flow of the whole of the stream considerably but speeded it up laterally as
the water was forced to whirl and gurgle. At this point I had the distinct
feeling that the water although now 'behaving itself' was not entirely happy
with the white water rapids situation so I moved some of the larger boulders
from the middle of the stream to either side which forced even greater
whirls vortexes and funnels to become established - this had a  truly
remarkable effect. It was as if this bound the water molecules together
making the whole stream a coherent single unit which was not flowing
downwards as much as pulsating in and out. The clarity of the water has
improved dramatically and the colour has changed too.

    The next experiment links Schauberger's ideas with the ideas of Fukuoka.
As is obvious to anyone that spends anytime with plants - water goes where
certain  plants are and not the other way round (plants grow where there is
water) in a myriad of ways from the morning dew effect to mountain springs
that are located under lush vegetative cover. Of course conventional
agriculture believes the opposite which is why farmers irrigate - causing
criminal salinity/chlorine damage to entire ecosystems and in fact their own
crops. Realising that instead of irrigating to bring plants, I should be
planting to bring water (and high quality water at that) I have begun
planting lots of plane trees (platanus) along and in the water course. In
addition, I have been planting cypress trees where I don't want lots of
water, ie around the house. Cypress are used in Greece to expel water from
graveyards and they work a treat. Miraculously, previously damp areas where
I have planted cypress have become bone dry and the water volume in the
brook has increased measurably. Furthermore the stream looks much 'happier'
with all these plane trees in and around it.


     I have done other experiments based on Schauberger's and Fukuoka's
ideas and I will report on them in a further installment.

Yours,

Andrew.

> What kind of deciduous leaf do you have? Maple leaves decompose faster
> than oak leaves. Most likely many of the organisms are already there.
> Laying down mulch of any carbonaceous type, and size,  is usually good
> to support complex soil life. Rock dusts, appplied lightly and regularly
> (weekly / monthly,  more or less depending on size of dust particles,
> smaller dusts get integrated faster) will fall into the soil with
> watering and be moved around by worms and other critters.
>
> >Secondly, are those on this list
> >familiar with the work of Viktor Schauberger, the Austrian forester, and
> >water chap - I have just finished reading 'The Water Wizard' and have
done
> >some experiments based on his ideas with my springs and rivers and
frankly
> >this guy is completely mindblowing.
> >
> I've read several of the books on the subject. What experiments and what
> results have you achieved?
>
> Keith Johnson