112 Looking good. The area you showed while talking about sheep did not have enough ground cover. Grazing animals tend not to rip plants up by the roots unless they are really hungry and have no alternative. Most over grazing is not the fault of the animals, but if they are kept in an area too long that they have to start stripping it. That's the farmers fault. If you have enough grass in multiple fields you can move the animals around, but you don't have enough established grass for that. Rushing it now would be a costly mistake. The swales looked great, I hope you get some more rain soon. If you still get pressure problems, you might want to add another line with no emitters until you get to where the problem is. Cap the one you have at the extent that it works, and move the rest onto the second line. Another option is to feed it from a gravity assisted cistern of some sort. A barrel on stilts would do.
This is why Brad Lancaster puts the priority on "plant the rain" and not necessarily putting seeds in the ground. Grass is the key to rebuilding your ecosystem, but you can't get there if you don't first get the water into the soil. Lucas' wonderful beaver dam in the gully is exactly the right thing for every small crease and fold in the ground that you can find. You need more of those, not more pits on the flat portions where the water will already be slowed down by the existing plants. The 'gutters' that evacuate the water from your land are where you need to be working overtime to create low dams that will force the water to pond up behind it. In the river, too. That one dam you built is nice, but a dozen more foot-high dams along the channel will hold back that much more water when the floods come. Plants some grasses in the pond of Lucas' wonderful dam now that it's been saturated with that rain you had. Maybe even plant some corn there. You know the grasses will grow, and they will only help in the days to come, so might as well get a jump on it in stead of waiting for nature to do it.
I think you're right catching the flood would make for more water then the African Smiles. There's just litterally more to catch. Most cost efficient as well, labour wise.. Would it not be possible to create an elevation map and design a waterway system for this? On camera the flood looks a little bit intimidating.
Give some thought to Sorghum, in Australia, there are literally a 1,000 varieties for every climate. In Western Australia especially, they have Sorghum varieties for dry land conditions.
The little holes can be filled with sticks, if you plant trees, use very old mediterranean method of digging a hole, fill the bottom with ( chopped) fig cacti, soil over it and than plant your tree. It wil have a water and nutrient source. Also bamboo is a very good soil maker in dry areas. Love your work. Any questions, i will answer as good as i know.
Wherever you look in the Americas, the native people always planted corn with beans and squash. They called it three sisters. The corn, the beans and the squash act together to make life better for each other and they will do the same wherever you want to plant corn give it a try. This is my third post.
109. If you decide to go ahead with the auger idea, it would definitely be worth it to add biochar (charcoal soaked in compost tea solution) to add lots of beneficial microorganisms and moisture capacity to the soil and/or an inoculated fungal substrate which could be straw, grain, or log/sticks (
10:43 you can make the pits/holes any way you like. The smaller they are, the more you make. They are very adaptable. If you have animals/children, make them broader and shallower, so they aren't dangerous.
Regarding the pressure problems, why not put a high water tank somewhere (~4m) and use a smaller pump that can be run on solar just to slowly always keep it filled up to serve as your constant pressure? Rather than relying on running pump every time you water
117: Great to see the trees happy from the rain. Glad to hear more bird & insect activity. For drilling small holes, choose an area you can fence off, even with just a sparse or low warning fence. An area you won't be grazing the horses. Another safety measure is a wooden stake or stick with a small flag on it sticking out of each hole, and/or around it.
107 comments. A cool concept for a video would be to explain the seasons/weather patterns. Maybe sprinkle in some background information throughout videos for those who are not familiar with Namibia. Beats having to go to google mid video to see when rains usually come or average temps etc
You can fix the pressure on the swale by having water enter from both sides of the swale, instead of just one side. To fix your problem put a tubing that wraps all the way around the swale, then on both sides of the swale you will connect your drip line into this tubing.
Funny, I had the same idea about drilling holes and Kickstart soil improvements. I propose putting fast decompose materials, dry leaves and fresh lettuce and worms. It will be interesting to see if worms can move from hole to hole. Loosening is soil. Also maybe make the holes in a long line in contour of the land, creating a barrier for heavy rain.
#69 I think that you could try to plan some grass in the washes by praying seeds on the floor and covering it with a thin layer of worm casting as mulch, with the humidity of the rain it can take roots before the next rain
When you swung the camera round to the swale where the moringas are growing, I gasped! It was great to see that dense green and the mix of plants. I know it is drip-watered, but even so, it must give you much hope and joy.
@@janpieter3093 maybe we could set goals for supporters, like gutters and a poly tank for collecting rain off the house roof, a Bucky for the farm to collect rocks n grass etc etc, tools and equipment, a roofed cover for the vermicompost system, poly tunnels for a tree nursery and winter veg.. the list goes on but a great idea crowdfunding to boost the projects
3 As i understand your plan , it's about improving the soil quality first. Later when the soil is upgraded you can plant more and better 'fruiting' plants
If you run a watering hose, evenly pierced, down a row and back then watering will be even, because the pressure drop at the far end will be next to the near end.
3. The more holes you have no matter the size the more water you can get back in to the ground. Perhaps have the tops of thorny branches sticking out of them so that small animals can crawl out and kids and grownups will know where they are and stay away from them.
You know the more i think about that gully the more I know you should dam it up sealed and let the road water funnel in to fill it like a pond ....thats a heck of a lot of water that can be sunk down in the HIGH point of your land that will slowly move underground towards the low point over the year raising the underground auifer/water level
189 check with local people about trees you can cut and stick in the ground that could root; you can use them in your check dams and live fences as well.
Both moringa and leuceana will grow from branch cuttings and both are available in town, this is a good idea, getting them started in the black bags in the shade house then plant them out
02:23 I can't overemphasize the importance of mulch. On our farm I planted peanuts in the first year after the first rains. I didn't know back then that very often it would rain for just a couple of days and then stop for a month or so. On our comparison plots, all the peanuts died, but in the FGW plots (Farming God's Way, covered with mulch), the peanuts sprouted and survived a whole month of drought before the rains came back! We then replanted the other comparison plots, but the FGW - mulched - plots had more than twice the harvest from the other plots.
What you could do to fix the water pressure is to 1) build a stand serveral meters above the ground 2) place 4-8 barrels on top of the stand 3) connect the barrels together near the bottom 4) add 1 outlet in the center and connect the drip irrigation to it 5) use a solar pump to fill up the barrels
A wood/leaf chipper/shredder would give you something to do with some of the excess biomass you produce to help break it down into smaller bits to decompose it quicker for building organics in the soil. Also a pea/been crop helps to get nitrogen into the soil - even if it's short lived. Also have you done any hügelkultur berms where you have the berms for the swales? Helps to retain moisture longer while the hügelkultur mass decomposes.
23 Thanks to your almost daily updates, I learn a lot from a distance!!! From a keyboard it is easy to say I would do this or that. Your intention to create 300 Zaai pits next year seems to me to be a very good one. The more water is stored in the soil, the greater the chances of survival of the plants. It may be useful to focus mainly on 2 specific (already green) parts of your plot, expand these annually on a project basis and allow them to grow towards each other. Equip the zaai pits pit in this area with a thick layer of mulch of 25-30cm and leave the other seed pits outside these 2 areas bare to collect water. I think that this way you make more effective use of your biomass/mulch layer instead of providing all zaai pits with a thin layer of mulch.
There is no surplus biomass in this region. It is a desert. The best Danou can do is grow his own greens, process them into manure then into worm castings. It is a cycle that takes time.
Main Swale pressure problem: Run another water supply line to the far end and a two way valve at the current water input. Switch every other day to push water from one end or the other. I hope that makes sense...this will alternate which end has high/low flow evening out the overall watering over time without the high cost of another/bigger pump. The flow get's low at the far end because of the emitters all along the length...changing the direction of flow should get more even watering.
15. I note that your sorghum is growing beautifully. Far ahead of the corn in lucas special attention corn patch. You also have some sorghum seed heads forming, I believe. Will you please show them also? ✅
Corn is a heavy feeding plant, and it requires some decent fertility to germinate in the first place. On top of that, there's very little ground cover to keep the soil moist for more than few hours of your Namibian sun.
Have you tried growing ice plant ? ...I can't remember. It is a succulent ground cover that flowers which is good for pollinators and it propagates very easily
Every drop of water and soil must be saved from escaping for later use, by making more terrace like structures , 1st assure your water , you can dig TUBE WELLS,
Danou, another topic on termites. Do you know if there is a type of pig that eats termites? You can train pigs to eat certain bugs, snails etc. that they would not normally eat. You then divide your plot into zones and let the pigs onto certain areas of the plot. Advantage They eat the termites and at the same time loosen the soil so that more water can be absorbed. This is how Sepp Holzer describes it in his books!
@@thefoodforestnamibia You can do the same with chickens, they also eat unpleasant bugs - you would have to try it, I don't know if it works as well in Namibia as it does in Central Europe.
@@frank_realtor the termitaria should be treated as sacred and the termites are beneficial insects, they bring moisture, minerals and clay up from the water table to make their nests, they breakdown cellulose in to soil and farm mycelium that produces mushrooms, their termitaria is full of NPK and their tunnels allow for gas exchange and moisture penetration from rain, they’re only a problem if they are in your house and not your garden
Try millet, sorghum, finger millet etc. Johnson grass if you want to keep chicken. Pigeon pea. There's ton of options for dry areas. How long is your rainy season?
#41 or #83 - I am not sure. Possibly using half moons, rather than holes (with the danger of holes) is why the half moons have been the most chosen structures. Also, if the halfmoons are sown with grass, and possibly covered with sticks (for shade and further wind protection), they work well enough. Both to harvest water for the grass, and for getting water into the ground. I wonder if those holes will only help water to seep into the ground, and will not help the top soil to grow grass? Having water in the ground is good, but roots need to be long enough to reach the water, for it to assist in anything growing above the ground. However, until you (or someone) does the experiment, we will not know for sure.
In regard to the post holes, yes they would be very dangerous, but if they were dug with a conical shape, (45degree sides with a flat bottom) they wouldn’t be so dangerous. I haven’t seen a conical auger but one could be made. These would be scattered in a fish scale fashion and whilst they are being dug, you would push the soil towards the lower side of the hole creating a circular Zai pits.
Perhaps you could plant climbing or trained plant in z pit ( so many options ) and trellis or living fence off in some imaginative way the most worrisome .
Danou, what can we actually call you? Do you have a nickname? Have you ever thought about what a water basin would cost? Maybe 10m x 10m x 10m. Important, you will probably have to bring in some clay! I think with a good plan you might get a few donors to support such a project!
151 When youre talking about the hard-to-water places. Is it worth it to throw up some barriers there to create shade and reduce the erosion from wind? Maybe growing stuff is not feasible there but you still want to have a windbreak. I reckon some posts and interwoven branches would already do a lot. It is labour intensive though.
Instead of 30cm holes you could try making tiny holes with a broadfork. Might be safer. Dumping tons of wood chips in one place would also be an interesting experiment. Check out Jake Mace "The Vegan Athlete" he does this for more than 10 years now in desert climate and it's visibly working great.
I am wondering if the writer was thinking more in the line of deep holes just 4 or 5 cms in diameter. When I had a problem with drainage in my yard, my brother used a narrow pipe with a garden hose on the end. With the high pressure of water he drilled down through the soil to drill through the clay pan and allow the water to drain. It was quite successful.
2. If your going to dig lots of holes to capture more water, it might be advisable to fill them with sand or gravel. They still let water soak in but they won't be a hazard.
@@thefoodforestnamibia Biochar is a good method to improve soil. Helps retain nutrients and binds stuff up that is harmful to plants in some extent, for example heavy metals. Greeting from Finland. Just found your channel and I find very interesting seeing all the methods of permaculture done around the world. Will be following your progress for sure!
@@thefoodforestnamibia that could be a very good way of having water stored near the surface for plants and still let water sink into the ground water.
189 digging small holes in the flat open and bare soil idea is not good I think. It might be dangerous for you and other animals. Secondly other insects such as ants might choose to live there down the road some day, that’s what you see in the arid environment like this one. If your idea is to aerate the soil simply use heavy digging bar (metal) or auger and see if that will loosen up the soil compaction. I don’t know if corn grows in the area; but trying wouldn’t hurt especially if you use a variety like hopi blue corn or a short season corn variety could be better. Pearl millet is another great option maybe if you can get the seed. You are doing great, keep up the good work!
139 - Okie dokie! I thought zai pits were supposed to be for capturing water flow on contours, like mini terraces. What is the point of making 'useless' zai pits - is it just to capture rain?
Yes, we plan to turn the whole farm into a muffin pan style landscape so that not one single drop runs off. This in turn wil boost the water table and I belive wil benifit everyone around us?
114 Does that fencing make a difference to protecting the crops from wildlife predation? And that soil that Lukas is digging looks like concrete so indicative of how tough it must be to grow vegetables in it.
Arent 2 shallower african smiles better, than one deeper? I feel like its a bit overkill to dig such a deep holes, so much effort and manual labor. I might be completely wrong though
7. That is the reason you fill a Zai pit with brush, soiled hay, etc. - so little rodents don't fall in. Covering the area with thorn branches or building a living fence keeps the big living things out of the area. in time the sides collapse and what remains is a depression that is especially receptive to infiltration To dial in the termingy, this is the definition of a Zai pit. The African Smiles- Bunds - Half moons are what lucas and Simone are digging now. To the best of my knowledge there are no Zai pits on the project. These are Zai Pits; th-cam.com/video/FNQeP2P0lbA/w-d-xo.html ✅
16. BOOSTER PUMP: The dealer wants to sell you a pump capacity that will water one hectare all at once. What you need is a booster that will fill 200 yards of 25mm drip irrigation tube to 15 psi. Go back with that "scope" of capacity and confirm it will run on solar If not, power it with a generator and backfeed the surplus power to your PV battery bank charger. I put my money where my mouth is unlike the toxic commenter [Portia] who is compelled to tell me what to do and how to think when I am speaking to you, Danou. I'll buy that capacity pump for you. Tell me how many USD you need. Merry Christmas. ✅
Another Idea are pebble holes. Esspecially where Water makes ponds. Drill holes and fill them will travel or pebbles. Lots of Water will get into the ground and the trees will suck it m.th-cam.com/users/shortsWcKThOB2MRc
6th comment: The little holes are like Aeration we do in wetter areas to break up toil so roots can more easily grow and water can permeate the soil. I would recommend one strip with little holes (20-30 cm deep, one strip with holes 60cm deep, third strip of tilled soil like creating a Zia pit without mounding the soil, and one area as a control and undisturbed. Mark the four strips with small post/pegs so you can identify the four areas. The tilled soil has higher erosion (wind blowing away soil or soil loss during heavy rain) possibility than the other three, but also best chance of plant growth in general. I do not think much difference between 30cm holes and 60 cm deep holes, but it will be better than the control area. I just don’t think the deeper holes are going to make much difference (besides being more labor intensive)
These are Zai Pits; th-cam.com/video/FNQeP2P0lbA/w-d-xo.html Ancient practice. Nothing new. Goal is one meter deep. They work across Africa and India. Why not on Danou's farm? No reason to reinvent fire. ✅
You could fill the small pits with bio char over a period of time when you have nothing else to do. It would still be pourus enough to sink the water deep in the ground and less dangetous if thats a concern.
Zai pits are filled with organic matter like brush, soiled hay, worm castings etc. Biochar is not available in the desert. Covering the area with thorn branches or building a living fence keeps living things out of the area. in time the sides collapse and what remains is a depression that is especially receptive to infiltration ✅
13. maybe just stick charcoal stumps into the ground (maybe smaller than 30cm as you might not have a lot at that diameter), it is effectively a hole with biomass, termite resistant, literally signposted as it can stick out, so less of a hazard, could also be level with the ground. You could do different lengths to allow water to penetrate different depths.
could u borrow or hire a small axcavator for a day or two ? you could dig a big deep pond in the middle of your land and cut on countour channels all around it to direct tons of water there so it definitely stays on your land ? you could even put small pits all along the length of the channels so the water soaks in there as well as the pond. i ve seen villagers in parched indian villages all club together and dig a huge pond that fill in the monsoon season and lasts all year 👍👍
wouldn't long term water storage be worth worth risking a tree or bush if hundreds are getting planted. and the contours could be done bit by bit with picks ? just an idea 🙂
Get a mini excavator or a bobcat or tractor will make life on your farm much easier.... Just a idea.. 💡Build a big enough dam stock it with fish with a island for ducks make the dam deep enough it would make your water a problem a thing of the past also get high capacity water tanks to catch rain water and to keep it longer though droughts ... I like seeing your farms evolution... 👍🏻💪
You fill a Zai pit loosely with brush, soiled hay, some worm castings etc. - so little rodents don't fall in. Covering the area with thorn branches or building a living fence keeps the big living things out of the area. in time the sides collapse and what remains is a depression that is especially receptive to infiltration.✅
40. These tiny holes are a terrible idea IMO. Death traps for horses, and serious danger for people and other animals. And they will last for years likely. You would rather want to create floodplains.
41. These are Zai Pits; th-cam.com/video/FNQeP2P0lbA/w-d-xo.html Ancient practice. Nothing new. They work across Africa and India. Why not on Danou's farm? ✅
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 These are very shallow in that video, surely they would not pose a problem. Maybe I misunderstood, I thought Danou talked about some deep, like 50cm or more variety.
112 Looking good. The area you showed while talking about sheep did not have enough ground cover. Grazing animals tend not to rip plants up by the roots unless they are really hungry and have no alternative. Most over grazing is not the fault of the animals, but if they are kept in an area too long that they have to start stripping it. That's the farmers fault. If you have enough grass in multiple fields you can move the animals around, but you don't have enough established grass for that. Rushing it now would be a costly mistake.
The swales looked great, I hope you get some more rain soon. If you still get pressure problems, you might want to add another line with no emitters until you get to where the problem is. Cap the one you have at the extent that it works, and move the rest onto the second line. Another option is to feed it from a gravity assisted cistern of some sort. A barrel on stilts would do.
This is why Brad Lancaster puts the priority on "plant the rain" and not necessarily putting seeds in the ground. Grass is the key to rebuilding your ecosystem, but you can't get there if you don't first get the water into the soil. Lucas' wonderful beaver dam in the gully is exactly the right thing for every small crease and fold in the ground that you can find. You need more of those, not more pits on the flat portions where the water will already be slowed down by the existing plants. The 'gutters' that evacuate the water from your land are where you need to be working overtime to create low dams that will force the water to pond up behind it. In the river, too. That one dam you built is nice, but a dozen more foot-high dams along the channel will hold back that much more water when the floods come.
Plants some grasses in the pond of Lucas' wonderful dam now that it's been saturated with that rain you had. Maybe even plant some corn there. You know the grasses will grow, and they will only help in the days to come, so might as well get a jump on it in stead of waiting for nature to do it.
I think you're right catching the flood would make for more water then the African Smiles. There's just litterally more to catch. Most cost efficient as well, labour wise.. Would it not be possible to create an elevation map and design a waterway system for this? On camera the flood looks a little bit intimidating.
113 Looking great again! I can't wait to see this space in 3 years time!
I am commenting to make the great algorithm happy :)
10. Thank you so much!! I think it is the best thing for the algorithm.
Give some thought to Sorghum, in Australia, there are literally a 1,000 varieties for every climate. In Western Australia especially, they have Sorghum varieties for dry land conditions.
The little holes can be filled with sticks, if you plant trees, use very old mediterranean method of digging a hole, fill the bottom with ( chopped) fig cacti, soil over it and than plant your tree. It wil have a water and nutrient source. Also bamboo is a very good soil maker in dry areas. Love your work. Any questions, i will answer as good as i know.
In the Sidebeds get some Totes and get some tarpe or coveri g between the trees you collect rain
Wherever you look in the Americas, the native people always planted corn with beans and squash. They called it three sisters. The corn, the beans and the squash act together to make life better for each other and they will do the same wherever you want to plant corn give it a try. This is my third post.
@@mavrickjohn1 wil do that! Thank you!
@ just remember to use climbing beans not bush beans
109. If you decide to go ahead with the auger idea, it would definitely be worth it to add biochar (charcoal soaked in compost tea solution) to add lots of beneficial microorganisms and moisture capacity to the soil and/or an inoculated fungal substrate which could be straw, grain, or log/sticks (
10:43 you can make the pits/holes any way you like. The smaller they are, the more you make. They are very adaptable. If you have animals/children, make them broader and shallower, so they aren't dangerous.
1. Hello from South Africa, Western Cape. 🇿🇦
3.yeah welcome!
Regarding the pressure problems, why not put a high water tank somewhere (~4m) and use a smaller pump that can be run on solar just to slowly always keep it filled up to serve as your constant pressure? Rather than relying on running pump every time you water
117: Great to see the trees happy from the rain. Glad to hear more bird & insect activity. For drilling small holes, choose an area you can fence off, even with just a sparse or low warning fence. An area you won't be grazing the horses. Another safety measure is a wooden stake or stick with a small flag on it sticking out of each hole, and/or around it.
nice video,thank you
109 The swale transformation is quite incredible already!
107 comments. A cool concept for a video would be to explain the seasons/weather patterns. Maybe sprinkle in some background information throughout videos for those who are not familiar with Namibia. Beats having to go to google mid video to see when rains usually come or average temps etc
Listen to Steve. He gives good advice. He is on all permaculture channels and his contributions are epic!
You can fix the pressure on the swale by having water enter from both sides of the swale, instead of just one side. To fix your problem put a tubing that wraps all the way around the swale, then on both sides of the swale you will connect your drip line into this tubing.
Funny, I had the same idea about drilling holes and Kickstart soil improvements. I propose putting fast decompose materials, dry leaves and fresh lettuce and worms. It will be interesting to see if worms can move from hole to hole. Loosening is soil.
Also maybe make the holes in a long line in contour of the land, creating a barrier for heavy rain.
11. The long line is a cool idea. Could get creative with the filling options too
If you want holes, plant daikon radish, it drills holes for you. Either leave it to rot or feed it to livestock
Great crop to plant on berms and in half moons. Can plant when weather cools as a winter crop in your climate. ✅
#69 I think that you could try to plan some grass in the washes by praying seeds on the floor and covering it with a thin layer of worm casting as mulch, with the humidity of the rain it can take roots before the next rain
#69😂
You could also leave some of the perennial grass to seed and expand it that way naturally.
Yes we do. I hope to have manny more next year.
When you swung the camera round to the swale where the moringas are growing, I gasped! It was great to see that dense green and the mix of plants. I know it is drip-watered, but even so, it must give you much hope and joy.
100 whe as supporters should maybe start a go fund me for this guy and maybe bring some water in every month so he has a head start
@@janpieter3093 maybe we could set goals for supporters, like gutters and a poly tank for collecting rain off the house roof, a Bucky for the farm to collect rocks n grass etc etc, tools and equipment, a roofed cover for the vermicompost system, poly tunnels for a tree nursery and winter veg.. the list goes on but a great idea crowdfunding to boost the projects
3 As i understand your plan , it's about improving the soil quality first. Later when the soil is upgraded you can plant more and better 'fruiting' plants
Inoculated bio char is a real game changer and greatly reduces water usage.
If you run a watering hose, evenly pierced, down a row and back then watering will be even, because the pressure drop at the far end will be next to the near end.
You get a soaker hose that works even better.
3. The more holes you have no matter the size the more water you can get back in to the ground.
Perhaps have the tops of thorny branches sticking out of them so that small animals can crawl out and kids and grownups will know where they are and stay away from them.
You know the more i think about that gully the more I know you should dam it up sealed and let the road water funnel in to fill it like a pond ....thats a heck of a lot of water that can be sunk down in the HIGH point of your land that will slowly move underground towards the low point over the year raising the underground auifer/water level
189 check with local people about trees you can cut and stick in the ground that could root; you can use them in your check dams and live fences as well.
Both moringa and leuceana will grow from branch cuttings and both are available in town, this is a good idea, getting them started in the black bags in the shade house then plant them out
02:23 I can't overemphasize the importance of mulch. On our farm I planted peanuts in the first year after the first rains. I didn't know back then that very often it would rain for just a couple of days and then stop for a month or so. On our comparison plots, all the peanuts died, but in the FGW plots (Farming God's Way, covered with mulch), the peanuts sprouted and survived a whole month of drought before the rains came back! We then replanted the other comparison plots, but the FGW - mulched - plots had more than twice the harvest from the other plots.
What you could do to fix the water pressure is to
1) build a stand serveral meters above the ground
2) place 4-8 barrels on top of the stand
3) connect the barrels together near the bottom
4) add 1 outlet in the center and connect the drip irrigation to it
5) use a solar pump to fill up the barrels
❤❤❤❤❤
42 Hallo from Australia came on your site very impressed with what you are doing now subscribed will sign up to become a member
51. Wow thank you so much!!!
1 looking forward to more rain, hopefully there will be a massive boost of greenery soon 👍👍
A wood/leaf chipper/shredder would give you something to do with some of the excess biomass you produce to help break it down into smaller bits to decompose it quicker for building organics in the soil. Also a pea/been crop helps to get nitrogen into the soil - even if it's short lived. Also have you done any hügelkultur berms where you have the berms for the swales? Helps to retain moisture longer while the hügelkultur mass decomposes.
23 Thanks to your almost daily updates, I learn a lot from a distance!!! From a keyboard it is easy to say I would do this or that. Your intention to create 300 Zaai pits next year seems to me to be a very good one. The more water is stored in the soil, the greater the chances of survival of the plants. It may be useful to focus mainly on 2 specific (already green) parts of your plot, expand these annually on a project basis and allow them to grow towards each other. Equip the zaai pits pit in this area with a thick layer of mulch of 25-30cm and leave the other seed pits outside these 2 areas bare to collect water. I think that this way you make more effective use of your biomass/mulch layer instead of providing all zaai pits with a thin layer of mulch.
There is no surplus biomass in this region. It is a desert. The best Danou can do is grow his own greens, process them into manure then into worm castings. It is a cycle that takes time.
Nice to see the effects of the rain and the speed with which all that water disappeared (into the ground).
The best channel
This means so much to me!
Thank you so much for viewing with me. I missed out on posting this weekend... How was your weekend?
Main Swale pressure problem: Run another water supply line to the far end and a two way valve at the current water input. Switch every other day to push water from one end or the other. I hope that makes sense...this will alternate which end has high/low flow evening out the overall watering over time without the high cost of another/bigger pump.
The flow get's low at the far end because of the emitters all along the length...changing the direction of flow should get more even watering.
Do you have a way of capturing rain run off from the roof to save the water for later?
3. @@garryhancock3394 Good idea
Stressful, i move in a small Apartment.
06:20 let the grasses go to seed.
40 something..everything is taking shape..would like to see a video on the wildlife op die plaas..birds, snakes and everything else...
Companion planting. Corn with squash
2. That swell looks fantastic! 😊
15. I note that your sorghum is growing beautifully. Far ahead of the corn in lucas special attention corn patch. You also have some sorghum seed heads forming, I believe. Will you please show them also? ✅
Grow plante in a nursery and then plant them
Corn is a heavy feeding plant, and it requires some decent fertility to germinate in the first place. On top of that, there's very little ground cover to keep the soil moist for more than few hours of your Namibian sun.
Thank you for your rational and informed comment. Might you agree that sorghum may be better suited in this climate?✅
Have you tried growing ice plant ? ...I can't remember.
It is a succulent ground cover that flowers which is good for pollinators and it propagates very easily
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 sorgum seems to be thriving in this area
@@tesha199 Sorghum is drought and heat tolerant. It can also be harvested twice in one growing season.
Every drop of water and soil must be saved from escaping for later use, by making more terrace like structures , 1st assure your water , you can dig TUBE WELLS,
I think deep litle pits are worth trying, maybe they are more Recharge pits then.❤
14. Maybe you could put mulch over the little drain holes? or a woven grass mat
Danou, another topic on termites. Do you know if there is a type of pig that eats termites? You can train pigs to eat certain bugs, snails etc. that they would not normally eat. You then divide your plot into zones and let the pigs onto certain areas of the plot. Advantage They eat the termites and at the same time loosen the soil so that more water can be absorbed. This is how Sepp Holzer describes it in his books!
Very interesting idea. Wonder if you could train normal. Pigs to do that...
@@thefoodforestnamibia
You can do the same with chickens, they also eat unpleasant bugs - you would have to try it, I don't know if it works as well in Namibia as it does in Central Europe.
@@frank_realtor the termitaria should be treated as sacred and the termites are beneficial insects, they bring moisture, minerals and clay up from the water table to make their nests, they breakdown cellulose in to soil and farm mycelium that produces mushrooms, their termitaria is full of NPK and their tunnels allow for gas exchange and moisture penetration from rain, they’re only a problem if they are in your house and not your garden
Try millet, sorghum, finger millet etc. Johnson grass if you want to keep chicken. Pigeon pea. There's ton of options for dry areas.
How long is your rainy season?
#41 or #83 - I am not sure.
Possibly using half moons, rather than holes (with the danger of holes) is why the half moons have been the most chosen structures.
Also, if the halfmoons are sown with grass, and possibly covered with sticks (for shade and further wind protection), they work well enough. Both to harvest water for the grass, and for getting water into the ground.
I wonder if those holes will only help water to seep into the ground, and will not help the top soil to grow grass?
Having water in the ground is good, but roots need to be long enough to reach the water, for it to assist in anything growing above the ground.
However, until you (or someone) does the experiment, we will not know for sure.
In regard to the post holes, yes they would be very dangerous, but if they were dug with a conical shape, (45degree sides with a flat bottom) they wouldn’t be so dangerous. I haven’t seen a conical auger but one could be made. These would be scattered in a fish scale fashion and whilst they are being dug, you would push the soil towards the lower side of the hole creating a circular Zai pits.
Doing something like that in today's video.
Geoff lawton is also very good😂
Perhaps you could plant climbing or trained plant in z pit ( so many options ) and trellis or living fence off in some imaginative way the most worrisome .
Danou, what can we actually call you? Do you have a nickname?
Have you ever thought about what a water basin would cost? Maybe 10m x 10m x 10m. Important, you will probably have to bring in some clay! I think with a good plan you might get a few donors to support such a project!
151 When youre talking about the hard-to-water places. Is it worth it to throw up some barriers there to create shade and reduce the erosion from wind? Maybe growing stuff is not feasible there but you still want to have a windbreak. I reckon some posts and interwoven branches would already do a lot. It is labour intensive though.
Instead of 30cm holes you could try making tiny holes with a broadfork. Might be safer.
Dumping tons of wood chips in one place would also be an interesting experiment. Check out Jake Mace "The Vegan Athlete" he does this for more than 10 years now in desert climate and it's visibly working great.
I am wondering if the writer was thinking more in the line of deep holes just 4 or 5 cms in diameter. When I had a problem with drainage in my yard, my brother used a narrow pipe with a garden hose on the end. With the high pressure of water he drilled down through the soil to drill through the clay pan and allow the water to drain. It was quite successful.
Goal is 1 meter deep. Diameter is smallest gas powered post hole digger bit available. ✅
💚
89 can I suggest that you start the demi lunes at the highest capture point and work down the elevation
80 small water catches with a layer of clay bellow the soil put to catch and store water would be cool
2. If your going to dig lots of holes to capture more water, it might be advisable to fill them with sand or gravel.
They still let water soak in but they won't be a hazard.
9.i also think that is a good idea. Was wondering what effect it would have if I filled it with charcoal
@@thefoodforestnamibia Biochar is a good method to improve soil. Helps retain nutrients and binds stuff up that is harmful to plants in some extent, for example heavy metals. Greeting from Finland. Just found your channel and I find very interesting seeing all the methods of permaculture done around the world. Will be following your progress for sure!
@@thefoodforestnamibia 12. Where would you get this much charca and can you afford to buy it by the super sack? ✅
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 biochar is just charcoal, it can be made very easily.
@@thefoodforestnamibia that could be a very good way of having water stored near the surface for plants and still let water sink into the ground water.
😊
Thank you for the comment to boost this video 😊
#37 🙏 ❤ love the daily updates ❤
189 digging small holes in the flat open and bare soil idea is not good I think. It might be dangerous for you and other animals. Secondly other insects such as ants might choose to live there down the road some day, that’s what you see in the arid environment like this one.
If your idea is to aerate the soil simply use heavy digging bar (metal) or auger and see if that will loosen up the soil compaction.
I don’t know if corn grows in the area; but trying wouldn’t hurt especially if you use a variety like hopi blue corn or a short season corn variety could be better. Pearl millet is another great option maybe if you can get the seed. You are doing great, keep up the good work!
2. It bothers me i cant buy you guys coffee. I only can give super thanks on the shorts. Or maybe i just dont get it 😅.
In the video description is links to his buymeacoffee
I know that 😅, but it does not work for me, im a dummy😂
139 - Okie dokie! I thought zai pits were supposed to be for capturing water flow on contours, like mini terraces. What is the point of making 'useless' zai pits - is it just to capture rain?
Yes, we plan to turn the whole farm into a muffin pan style landscape so that not one single drop runs off. This in turn wil boost the water table and I belive wil benifit everyone around us?
Algorithm booster 😎
114 Does that fencing make a difference to protecting the crops from wildlife predation? And that soil that Lukas is digging looks like concrete so indicative of how tough it must be to grow vegetables in it.
152.Yes the fence wil definitely make a difference. Our land is verry hard but we hope to change that ASAP
Arent 2 shallower african smiles better, than one deeper? I feel like its a bit overkill to dig such a deep holes, so much effort and manual labor. I might be completely wrong though
Any Zucchini???
7. That is the reason you fill a Zai pit with brush, soiled hay, etc. - so little rodents don't fall in. Covering the area with thorn branches or building a living fence keeps the big living things out of the area. in time the sides collapse and what remains is a depression that is especially receptive to infiltration
To dial in the termingy, this is the definition of a Zai pit. The African Smiles- Bunds - Half moons are what lucas and Simone are digging now. To the best of my knowledge there are no Zai pits on the project.
These are Zai Pits; th-cam.com/video/FNQeP2P0lbA/w-d-xo.html ✅
25. Cool!!!! I had this idea for the corn and sorghum. Good to see it in working. I am going to make a field of these.
16. BOOSTER PUMP: The dealer wants to sell you a pump capacity that will water one hectare all at once.
What you need is a booster that will fill 200 yards of 25mm drip irrigation tube to 15 psi. Go back with that "scope" of capacity and confirm it will run on solar If not, power it with a generator and backfeed the surplus power to your PV battery bank charger.
I put my money where my mouth is unlike the toxic commenter [Portia] who is compelled to tell me what to do and how to think when I am speaking to you, Danou. I'll buy that capacity pump for you. Tell me how many USD you need.
Merry Christmas. ✅
45.That is an incredible offer!! Thank you so much!
85 comments I’m late to the party, you can get small auger drills that the animals won’t fall into
You may have better luck planting sorghum or Sudan grass
118: Can you grow hemp?
Wish is could but it is illegal here.
Hemp needs loads of water and nutrient to be successful.
Another Idea are pebble holes. Esspecially where Water makes ponds. Drill holes and fill them will travel or pebbles. Lots of Water will get into the ground and the trees will suck it m.th-cam.com/users/shortsWcKThOB2MRc
6th comment:
The little holes are like Aeration we do in wetter areas to break up toil so roots can more easily grow and water can permeate the soil. I would recommend one strip with little holes (20-30 cm deep, one strip with holes 60cm deep, third strip of tilled soil like creating a Zia pit without mounding the soil, and one area as a control and undisturbed. Mark the four strips with small post/pegs so you can identify the four areas.
The tilled soil has higher erosion (wind blowing away soil or soil loss during heavy rain) possibility than the other three, but also best chance of plant growth in general. I do not think much difference between 30cm holes and 60 cm deep holes, but it will be better than the control area. I just don’t think the deeper holes are going to make much difference (besides being more labor intensive)
These are Zai Pits; th-cam.com/video/FNQeP2P0lbA/w-d-xo.html Ancient practice. Nothing new. Goal is one meter deep. They work across Africa and India. Why not on Danou's farm? No reason to reinvent fire. ✅
You could fill the small pits with bio char over a period of time when you have nothing else to do. It would still be pourus enough to sink the water deep in the ground and less dangetous if thats a concern.
Zai pits are filled with organic matter like brush, soiled hay, worm castings etc. Biochar is not available in the desert. Covering the area with thorn branches or building a living fence keeps living things out of the area. in time the sides collapse and what remains is a depression that is especially receptive to infiltration ✅
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 biochar is available everywhere there are plants.
13. maybe just stick charcoal stumps into the ground (maybe smaller than 30cm as you might not have a lot at that diameter), it is effectively a hole with biomass, termite resistant, literally signposted as it can stick out, so less of a hazard, could also be level with the ground. You could do different lengths to allow water to penetrate different depths.
129
Maby tried to close some holes in the beginning
And are you sure you don't have some air bubbles
Littel fine tuning, I hope 😊
could u borrow or hire a small axcavator for a day or two ? you could dig a big deep pond in the middle of your land and cut on countour channels all around it to direct tons of water there so it definitely stays on your land ? you could even put small pits all along the length of the channels so the water soaks in there as well as the pond. i ve seen villagers in parched indian villages all club together and dig a huge pond that fill in the monsoon season and lasts all year 👍👍
land contours are done by hand. Heavy equipment butchers the existing ground cover and roots in the ground. ✅
wouldn't long term water storage be worth worth risking a tree or bush if hundreds are getting planted. and the contours could be done bit by bit with picks ? just an idea 🙂
@@endurance8910 Nope - look at India and Africa - all done by hand by committed citizens for no pay. ✅
Get a mini excavator or a bobcat or tractor will make life on your farm much easier.... Just a idea.. 💡Build a big enough dam stock it with fish with a island for ducks make the dam deep enough it would make your water a problem a thing of the past also get high capacity water tanks to catch rain water and to keep it longer though droughts ... I like seeing your farms evolution... 👍🏻💪
And from where does this money come? THis is a shoestring budget project. ✅
I wonder how many little creatures will lose their lives in those deep holes. If you do try it out, try it first in a small area, like 4m².
4.That is a excellent point... Did not even think of that
@@thefoodforestnamibia fill the holes with sand or gravel, they'd be able to capture water and not be a hazard.
You fill a Zai pit loosely with brush, soiled hay, some worm castings etc. - so little rodents don't fall in. Covering the area with thorn branches or building a living fence keeps the big living things out of the area. in time the sides collapse and what remains is a depression that is especially receptive to infiltration.✅
66
40.
These tiny holes are a terrible idea IMO. Death traps for horses, and serious danger for people and other animals. And they will last for years likely.
You would rather want to create floodplains.
41. These are Zai Pits; th-cam.com/video/FNQeP2P0lbA/w-d-xo.html Ancient practice. Nothing new. They work across Africa and India. Why not on Danou's farm? ✅
If they are filled with some sort of medium that'll let water sink into the ground there won't be a hazard for other animals.
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 These are very shallow in that video, surely they would not pose a problem.
Maybe I misunderstood, I thought Danou talked about some deep, like 50cm or more variety.
@@hotbit7327 The target is one meter deep . overtime, they collapse inward.✅