permaculture

[Stella <stella@finca-luna.com>]

this might be the glay method is described in Nacy Jack Todd & John 
Todd's brilliant book "From EcoCities to Living Machines

they say it worked in very porous coralline island soils ... the 'glay' 
(glue-clay, a kind of organic clay) is formed by alternate layers of 
biomass (rich in nitrogen and not, like cardboard/straw then green 
leaf, like in layer composting ...) then put under pressure in 
anaerobic conditions (ie. under water, but I think firstly with a 
plastic film to accelerate the process) .. another observation of how 
natural ponds are formed... which usually take years if not decades to 
form

the general idea is that leaves fall in a hollow, then rot as water 
accumulates over them, then green stuff grows in spring, then more 
water kills it off... more dry leaves, etc ... until this natural 
impermeable 'glay' forms.

sorry I dont remember the details but highly recomend that book


El 29/11/2007, a las 13:18, jedd escribió:

> On Thu, 29 Nov 2007, Vital Scherrer wrote:
> > The method with the liner of soft organic material, which is covered 
> > with
> > soil to turn into a water proofing slimy layer is not applicable 
> > either, as
> > there is not enough such suitable material around here.
>
>  This method was what I first thought of when the question popped
>  up a few days ago.  I've never seen it done, but I've been wondering
>  how effective this type of dam construction actually is.
>
>  The way it's been explained to me is that you generate your own
>  organic material - sowing things like dolichos lab lab (for example),
>  irrigating it if needed, and then when there's sufficient biomass,
>  trampling it down and then filling the area with water.  I've no
>  idea how it self-replenishes, and/or what maintenance is required.
>
>  I should possibly just try it on a small scale - I've got the perfect
>  (sandy loam) soil to experiment with.
>
>  Jedd.
>
>
>  {140 lines of irrelevant and repeated messages removed}
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