permaculture

[Wesley Roe and Marjorie Lakin Erickson <lakinroe@silcom.com>]

hi everyone
        there will be Open House to come talk to 
Darren Doherty and the Graduating Class of the 
Keyline Design Course   on Sat April 28,  2pm-4pm 
Santa Barbara CA, to  see the Yeoman's Keyline Plow working on a Keyline Design

DIRECTIONS:
Orella Ranch is located 15 miles north bound 
(actually west) of Goleta, 20 miles northbound of 
Santa Barbara.  From either of the above take US 
101 north to Refugio Road.  Exit and take a right 
and then an immediate right.  Take this unmarked 
“frontage road” approx. 1.5 miles until you see 
signage for our workshop.  It will be a gravel 
drive way on your left hand side.  These 
directions will suffice when coming from either 
Santa Barbara airport and LAX (which is about 2- 
2.5 hours from us to the south).  If coming from 
the north take Refugio Road exit and follow the 
road under the freeway and take your first 
possible right onto the un marked “frontage 
road”.  As above go approx. 1.5 miles and look for signage.

KEYLINE
What is biological wealth?  Healthy forests, 
fertile soils, abundant waterways and seas---has 
any great nation been built without these?  As we 
degrade and treat them as throw-aways can we 
expect a prosperous future for our families and 
children?  Is a sustainable system for 
agriculture possible that enhances rather than 
depletes our natural environment?

        Join Santa Barbara Permaculture Network 
for a special equipment demonstration (plow on 
display) as we explore the concept of Keyline 
Design, a design system that restores and 
regenerates landscapes, with Darren Doherty from Australia.

        Keyline Design is a complete design 
system for landscapes.  It is applicable to both 
rural and urban designs. It is a unique 
combination of water conservation and soil 
building, with great appeal to both farmers and 
ranchers, as it has the ability to build and 
regenerate degraded soils rapidly, and sees the 
use of grazing animals as beneficial to this process.

        Keyline systems were developed in 
Australia during the 1950’s by P.A Yeomans 
(www.yeomansplow.com.au) as a response to 
increasing desertification and erosion he 
observed on the Australian landscape as it 
related to agriculture.  His book Water For Every 
Farm, A Keyline Plan is an important work 
describing a set of principles and techniques 
based on a holistic approach that works with 
natural patterns to restore and increase the 
depth and fertility of the soil, while increasing 
its water holding capabilities.  Yeomans realized 
that conventional agriculture totally ignored the 
biological aspects of the soil.  He created a 
“sustainable agriculture” system before the term 
was coined, and for the first time in human 
history, methods were developed that could 
produce rich fertile soils in relatively short 
periods.  A permanent and lasting agriculture 
Yeomans believed, must materially and financially 
benefit the farmer, and benefit the land and soil.

        Keyline Design integrates terraces, 
ponds, tree plantings on contour, and a special 
cultivation technique using the Keyline plow, to 
infiltrate water into the soil efficiently and 
hold it on the land as long as possible. Water 
harvesting strategies employed by Keyline Design 
provide drought-proofing for farms with very low 
maintenance using gravity fed irrigation systems, 
with a huge reduction in water lost to 
evaporation. In contrast, up to 80% of water is 
lost to evaporation using conventional overhead 
sprinklers.  Farms using Keyline Design have 
amazing records of deepening the topsoil by 3-6” 
in 3 years, in contrast to nature’s process, 
which can take hundreds or thousands of years.

        The term Keyline comes from the 
reference to a “keypoint” on the watershed, which 
is the interface between collection and 
distribution of water on the landscape, where 
ridge meets the valley.  Keyline is a philosophy 
and technique that doesn’t pit the needs of 
farmers against environmentalists trying to 
protect wildlife and fish habitat, and with 
carbon sequestering techniques used, helps to 
address aspects of global warming and climate change.

        Darren Doherty is an Australian Keyline 
Designer, Developer & Manager and Australian 
Approved Keyline Design™ Farm Planning 
Consultant, and recipient of Whole Farm Planning 
Certificate ~ Train the Trainer(University of 
Melbourne 1995).  He has designed and developed 
over 1100 properties across four continents 
working most recently in Vietnam, on land 
projects for Mars Inc, owners of Seeds of Change. 
His remaining time is spent managing a working 
research & demonstration farm in Southern Victoria, Australia.

  The event is free, no reservations are 
required.  Event sponsors are Santa Barbara 
Permaculture Network, Yeomans Plow Company, 
Nutiva Foods, Quail Springs Permaculture Farm, 
Orella Ranch, Earthflow Design Works & Island 
Seed & Feed Nursery. For more information, visit 
Upcoming Events at www.sbpermaculture.org, or 
email  margie@sbpermaculture.org, phone, (805) 962-2571.