The amount of water that entered your land because other people are not taking steps to capture their own water.... So much topsoil washed away. Love your attitude ... Planning improvements as you walk the land. Look forward to the land bursting into green in the coming weeks. Great video.
Hahaha I am not here for perfection. I am here for hope, which you provide in abundance. Next time you plant some cauliflower / Californiaflower, laugh and think of me? 🤪
This is MAGNIFICENT 😍 Look at all those structures working in synergy, even with such a huge inlet of water! Danou, you should be really proud of yourself and your team. During the video you said multiple times that you were loosing water. Yes, it’s true, but there will always be an event greater than your storing capacity, so don’t worry too much about that. Focus on the opposite: your intervention improved the land 10000x times more than what it was before and you’ll start to see the difference in very few years. And you probably avoided greater damage downstream your property. Your descendants will remember your work for a long time 🙏🏽 Can’t wait for tomorrow’s update
what a generous and brilliant idea to make "African smiles", even if you don't anticipate enough rain to fill them. “Nature hates emptiness,” says a local proverb. Today she filled those smiles. You have proof that a smile attracts rain falls (I use to say "smile, smile, it is not taxable, so you save more money than when you look down"). Your joy is communicative. Thank you for sharing these moments with us.
Well it started as I hoped and imagined, but I never expected it to do what it did. At least you now know the potential and the weak points which will need management.
What a climax really loved it. You now know what to work on harder. The work from the past weeks at te last moment before rain where golden i think. 👍❤
Wow wow wow stunning congratulations!!! I'm a little confused as to what part was boring. Exhilarating to see. You could call your farm something like 'the lake district'! 💚😎👍👍
It would be super helpful to have a map of the property and highlight where you are while walking around it. Just a tiny one in the corner. :) I'm glad for all the rain and can't wait to see the update tomorrow!!
If the map is not possible, please consider placing landmarks in strategic positions, so that the viewers can recognize the same places in following videos. You could use a poles, crosses or rocks. Congratulation for the success.
SO AWESOME Danou, Your hard work of your workers really paid off. The proof is all there. Now you can adjust and amend and the areas you need to. Congratulations. Thank You so much for sharing your joy with us. God is good 💯. God does not take us half way but all the way! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍 SEVEN is a symbol of completeness! 🤗❤️🤗
Amazing to see!! Water truly is life and it's encouraging to see how well your structures are gathering the precious resource 🙏🏽💧 I dream of the whole of Africa managed in this way!!
Rain at last, so happy for you and your team. For me it marks two different worlds. I live in the South West of Scotland and we are always complaining that it's raining AGAIN, where you guys are filled with joy! Do you know anyone with a drone? It would be great to see an overview of the site.
Rain finally. On the road, you should raise either the center or the far side of the road to shed the water into your swale, and keep the majority of the road visible and more dry. If you raise the center of the road, and have a gentle slope to the sides, I'd recommend an "African smile" on the far side of the road to catch and slow water there. It would run over, but with some spare grass seed, you could have some free grazing for neighbors or wildlife. It would give nosey neighbors a closer inspection item without having to injure their pride (some people don't want to ask even if they are burning with curiosity). Its not required, but it may be a thought. Also, is the water coming from the road lower on your property than the garden and food forest? If so, perhaps a higher swale collection from the road may help.
What an incredible achievement, all that planning and hard work is starting to pay off, all that water captured and filling up the groundwater. This has given you so much information to help you continue to build and plan ready for next years rain, and the following year and so on. Each pit, dam swale is building up your soil fertility and structure that will help the land recover. I hope Simon and the rest of your workers are starting to understand how all their hard work is starting to pay off for you and perhaps start to spread the message. Very well done, thinking of you from the UK
Lucas! Cheers Hoorah!! 🎉 Your determination and work ethic are so obvious that even across the oceans you have big fans! Love from the West Coast USA!!
0:37 The soil conditions you report are precisely why you want to plant on the berm with a drip line. There is no substitute for loose soil that still has structure. Now is the time to seed the berms you will drip irrigate with earthworms and sow the seeds you have collected.
Love this. All the hard work has paid off and now you’ve got a good idea how much water you can catch. Once your new trees become established and mature they’ll seek out all that groundwater you’ll continue to replenish over time with these swales and zai pits and your pockets of fertility will thrive around them and start joining together. Really pleased for you. God bless.
Good day Michelene from Cape Town.l was the watching the weather since last week to see the storm build over our two countries so l knew it was coming . So prepare for more rain and lots more work to come especially your sewing and planting. Good luck and well done the journey only starts now.
wow! this is amazing. I’m so glad to see the work paying off. Do you think planting any willow on edges would be helpful in holding up the shoreline in the swales? Does willow live in Namibia?
Would it be worth planting the useless zei pits with quick growing grass seeds, which will provide biomass and send down roots to penetrate the lower soil.
He should plant grass everywhere after the water drops down, to cover the ground, protect it from erosion and build the biomass - now is the perfect time when the land is perfectly hydrated.
You are off to a great start Danou. Time for a little strategic planning, I think. I will suggest you make a list of all the elevation changes you want to make to improve water holding and distribution across the land for infiltration. Then prioritize that list for your workers. Start with the most important and work your way down the list because you never know when the next rain will come. Everything you are doing is working - concentrate on fine tuning the pathways the water takes to get spread across more land. All the millions of liters of water you caused to infiltrate the land are dropping to feed the farms aquifer that you access through the bore hole. That means more water can be pumped for drip irrigation to get the young trees, shrubs and plants established. Make sure all of your diggers have tamping tools so they can compact all of the damp soil they move. Compacted soil makes a much sturdier berm that will resist blowouts by high water.
@@thefoodforestnamibia Your accomplishments to date have been masterful. Getting the river level up so it floods the low lying land will maximize results. Focus on refinement of what you have built to grow your success.🌦
Well done!! This water gives a great picture of your property and all your hard work! I can see great potential in what you are transforming this place to be!
Really amazing work you guys did! Goes to show just how vital all the water harvesting features are! Perfect opportunity to see where you had it right and what changes need to be made. Nothing like seeing it in motion to become more familiar with the contour of your land. Very cool! Thank you for sharing!
It must be very rewarding to you to see that all of the work that you have put into building these swales has shown its value. All that captured water will seep into your soil and remain available there for all of the plants that you grow on your property. That is an amazing accomplishment.
Do you have any major construction work planned for this season to create a small lake on the property? I think the rainy season will last until January
Great stuff. We got 84 mm of rain on Sunday and so far on Monday. My buffalo grass planted during the dry on the 'stress' and painstakingly nurtured has done its job perfectly. No damage or erosion at all.
Oh wow! I'm very happy for you! finally rain :D what an excellent job you guys did with capturing water systems! Just imagining how this all gonna look next year, i hope you get many volunteers and students that come and learn that way of life! We Jews let our land rest every 7th year, total hands off, no disturbtion what so ever, let the earth regenerate and all the crops are free for everyone to take (not allowed to sell) (priority for the poor), wise words from your wife! Also, can you tell us how big is your land? i don't know if you mentioned that before , i might have forgotten! i really wish i could buy a neighboring land to yours but i can't bear the price, maybe you can make an event where people able to buy a piece of land and we name it "subscribers forest"? , i mean, not like legally own the land (i'm pretty sure it's a lot of headache if not straight impossible) but have a name of that piece of land named after the person donating the money "buying a land" i don't know if i'm explaining it right lol, it's like having many many small lands that have the names of the donators in 1 big forest called subscribers forest :D People pass away and their names will still be there, it's mind blowing! or is it just me? maybe i'm crazy hahaha
you'll need to rock armour your spillways to prevent erosion and maintain your berms. can't wait for an update tomorrow on how quickly it absorbed and what you think went wrong. also take a shovel so we can see how deep the water penetrated in different areas (in the swales, vs run off areas for example)
@@OublietteTight yeah, his property does look devoid of rocks, mostly sand. probably have to try and find some construction waste or something, or if you can spare the expense get some aggregates delivered.
@jimdotcom1972 That would be great. My worry is that all the local landscape is this same sand and clay, so shipping in rocks could mean long distance?
Haha, maybe every trip just pick up any rocks he can? Grocery run, ask a neighbor there for their broken construction bits? Visit grandparents? Pick up rocks from the side of the road in the middle of nowhere? Might sound slow, but if he keeps up for a decade, he could end up with a good supply?
hello from Brasil, for "problem" with full water, you can make one spillway with rocks for no production you can use the dry weeds for organic matter and your trash to. Nice video and the kids and dogs hehe
You will be amazed at how quick restoration goes with your system. We work in Central Tanzania, with 500 mm of rain per year, and within seven years our farm has totally changed into a thriving food forest system.
@@thefoodforestnamibia Just saw that I will have to update the history page, the latest images are from 2020. Today, you can't see a thing any more because of all the trees...
#Natalie Topa says to put in channels from the river around your property that you want to capture water in. This is so well executed. Put logs dams along the end of the swales where the walls are in danger of being washed away
Man, its impressive to see how the water collection structures are working. I am impressed. I started doing some trenches and half-moons on my very flat farm yesterday, planted some tree seeds too. When it rains the water does not flow anywhere, and the soil becomes soggy. I need some structures to collect water.
@@thefoodforestnamibia I am in Botswana. We get about 400mm of rainfall per year where I live. I probably will have about 3 swales across the farm, measuring a maximum of 100m or less and lots of half moons to collect more water and provide water to trees. I plant to plant lots of fodder trees too for the livestock I intend to keep.
![fellow fellow - พรุ่งนี้ไม่มีใครรู้ feat. INK WARUNTORN [OFFICIAL MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/QP6JyjYx_W0/mqdefault.jpg)
The amount of water that entered your land because other people are not taking steps to capture their own water.... So much topsoil washed away.
Love your attitude ... Planning improvements as you walk the land.
Look forward to the land bursting into green in the coming weeks.
Great video.
Fantastic work! Congratulations!!
Fantastic site,great well done,you deserve it
great too see it all working,Impressive:)
Bravo!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 Many Blessings🌨🌨🌨
Simon! Excellent work mate. Your efforts are easy to see. All across the world we are watching and cheering for you.
❤ from California USA!
Got your name wrong in the video tonight.
But thank you for the comments!
Hahaha I am not here for perfection. I am here for hope, which you provide in abundance. Next time you plant some cauliflower / Californiaflower, laugh and think of me? 🤪
amazing, and it is only the start.
At last !! So pleased for you.
This is MAGNIFICENT 😍 Look at all those structures working in synergy, even with such a huge inlet of water!
Danou, you should be really proud of yourself and your team.
During the video you said multiple times that you were loosing water. Yes, it’s true, but there will always be an event greater than your storing capacity, so don’t worry too much about that. Focus on the opposite: your intervention improved the land 10000x times more than what it was before and you’ll start to see the difference in very few years. And you probably avoided greater damage downstream your property. Your descendants will remember your work for a long time 🙏🏽
Can’t wait for tomorrow’s update
Happy for you and your community - enjoy the water - support from France ❤
I am so happy for you guys. That is absolutely awesome.
Always, hard work will pay back at the end.
what a generous and brilliant idea to make "African smiles", even if you don't anticipate enough rain to fill them. “Nature hates emptiness,” says a local proverb. Today she filled those smiles. You have proof that a smile attracts rain falls (I use to say "smile, smile, it is not taxable, so you save more money than when you look down"). Your joy is communicative. Thank you for sharing these moments with us.
Well it started as I hoped and imagined, but I never expected it to do what it did. At least you now know the potential and the weak points which will need management.
What a climax really loved it. You now know what to work on harder. The work from the past weeks at te last moment before rain where golden i think. 👍❤
Wow wow wow stunning congratulations!!! I'm a little confused as to what part was boring. Exhilarating to see. You could call your farm something like 'the lake district'! 💚😎👍👍
Duck heaven!
Yay!!!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
Great work Danou! A lot more coming brother, 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 Can't wait to see the change in the landscape in a month from now!!
Great experience! Blessed to get the rain. Deserts all over the world are going green again.
Awesome job mate! Hard work paid off, I’m happy you had a successful test and collection of an incredible amount of water!!
It would be super helpful to have a map of the property and highlight where you are while walking around it. Just a tiny one in the corner. :)
I'm glad for all the rain and can't wait to see the update tomorrow!!
If the map is not possible, please consider placing landmarks in strategic positions, so that the viewers can recognize the same places in following videos. You could use a poles, crosses or rocks. Congratulation for the success.
That is SO much work...
@hendrikfeddersen6768 maybe colored flags?
I had no problem following him and where he was
@bobronsons5780 😊 I am jealous. I have the basic main locations in my head, but not the whole layout. I wonder how big the entire property is, too?
It's great the more you can catch and hold from flooding without rain is going to help the annual infiltration rate enormously 👏✌️
Congratulations, what a success and the actual rain us yet to come.
SO AWESOME Danou,
Your hard work of your workers really paid off. The proof is all there.
Now you can adjust and amend and the areas you need to.
Congratulations.
Thank You so much for sharing your joy with us.
God is good 💯. God does not take us half way but all the way! 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
SEVEN is a symbol of completeness! 🤗❤️🤗
Amazing to see!! Water truly is life and it's encouraging to see how well your structures are gathering the precious resource 🙏🏽💧 I dream of the whole of Africa managed in this way!!
Rain at last, so happy for you and your team. For me it marks two different worlds. I live in the South West of Scotland and we are always complaining that it's raining AGAIN, where you guys are filled with joy! Do you know anyone with a drone? It would be great to see an overview of the site.
This is so cool thanks for sharing
Great good for you👍
Very satisfying
I am so happy! 🎉🎉🎉
Rain finally.
On the road, you should raise either the center or the far side of the road to shed the water into your swale, and keep the majority of the road visible and more dry. If you raise the center of the road, and have a gentle slope to the sides, I'd recommend an "African smile" on the far side of the road to catch and slow water there. It would run over, but with some spare grass seed, you could have some free grazing for neighbors or wildlife. It would give nosey neighbors a closer inspection item without having to injure their pride (some people don't want to ask even if they are burning with curiosity). Its not required, but it may be a thought.
Also, is the water coming from the road lower on your property than the garden and food forest? If so, perhaps a higher swale collection from the road may help.
Very impressive! Thanks for getting wet for us.
so happy!😁
Wonderful! Magnificent! So glad that all the planning and hard work paid off. Lots of water captured and lots of ideas of what to do next. 😀
What an incredible achievement, all that planning and hard work is starting to pay off, all that water captured and filling up the groundwater. This has given you so much information to help you continue to build and plan ready for next years rain, and the following year and so on. Each pit, dam swale is building up your soil fertility and structure that will help the land recover. I hope Simon and the rest of your workers are starting to understand how all their hard work is starting to pay off for you and perhaps start to spread the message. Very well done, thinking of you from the UK
Lucas! Cheers Hoorah!! 🎉 Your determination and work ethic are so obvious that even across the oceans you have big fans! Love from the West Coast USA!!
Very well done
You got the rain you wanted ☔😊
beatifull.Now life in the plants will happen.
0:37 The soil conditions you report are precisely why you want to plant on the berm with a drip line. There is no substitute for loose soil that still has structure. Now is the time to seed the berms you will drip irrigate with earthworms and sow the seeds you have collected.
So happy for you and your family! What an incredible day
Awesome, well done on your systems!
Love this. All the hard work has paid off and now you’ve got a good idea how much water you can catch. Once your new trees become established and mature they’ll seek out all that groundwater you’ll continue to replenish over time with these swales and zai pits and your pockets of fertility will thrive around them and start joining together. Really pleased for you. God bless.
Good day Michelene from Cape Town.l was the watching the weather since last week to see the storm build over our two countries so l knew it was coming . So prepare for more rain and lots more work to come especially your sewing and planting. Good luck and well done the journey only starts now.
Awesome. Finally 🙌
Awesome, went a lot better than I expected considering it’s sand. Well done, let’s hope the water stays and doesn’t drain away quickly.
Awesome, are you expecting more rain the coming weeks?
Wow, can you show this video to the school kids? Can you bring them back out in a month so they see the green?
Thank you for loving our Mother Earth.
I bless the rains down in Africa 🎶
Yeah!!!
wow! this is amazing. I’m so glad to see the work paying off. Do you think planting any willow on edges would be helpful in holding up the shoreline in the swales? Does willow live in Namibia?
love these types of series. congrats on all your hard work
Would it be worth planting the useless zei pits with quick growing grass seeds, which will provide biomass and send down roots to penetrate the lower soil.
He should plant grass everywhere after the water drops down, to cover the ground, protect it from erosion and build the biomass - now is the perfect time when the land is perfectly hydrated.
Maximum biomass everywhere
I have to say seeing these results makes it so much easier to understand the concept of zai pits and swales
Agreed.
Wow wow wow crazy
Exciting to see you get some rain! Look forward to the green follow up videos. So happy for you
You are off to a great start Danou. Time for a little strategic planning, I think. I will suggest you make a list of all the elevation changes you want to make to improve water holding and distribution across the land for infiltration. Then prioritize that list for your workers. Start with the most important and work your way down the list because you never know when the next rain will come. Everything you are doing is working - concentrate on fine tuning the pathways the water takes to get spread across more land.
All the millions of liters of water you caused to infiltrate the land are dropping to feed the farms aquifer that you access through the bore hole. That means more water can be pumped for drip irrigation to get the young trees, shrubs and plants established.
Make sure all of your diggers have tamping tools so they can compact all of the damp soil they move. Compacted soil makes a much sturdier berm that will resist blowouts by high water.
Thanks for the advice! We are working on it and trying to make sure that the water stays where it needs to be.
@@thefoodforestnamibia Your accomplishments to date have been masterful. Getting the river level up so it floods the low lying land will maximize results.
Focus on refinement of what you have built to grow your success.🌦
Well done!! This water gives a great picture of your property and all your hard work! I can see great potential in what you are transforming this place to be!
Really amazing work you guys did!
Goes to show just how vital all the water harvesting features are!
Perfect opportunity to see where you had it right and what changes need to be made.
Nothing like seeing it in motion to become more familiar with the contour of your land.
Very cool! Thank you for sharing!
It must be very rewarding to you to see that all of the work that you have put into building these swales has shown its value. All that captured water will seep into your soil and remain available there for all of the plants that you grow on your property. That is an amazing accomplishment.
Thank you for your kind words! It's definitely worth all the effort!
Congratulations 😁
I am so happy you got decent rain! Congratulations!
Amazing result meneer! Your hard work has already started to pay off. I can't wait to see the plot in two years' time! Excited!
Impressive water catchment 👍
Now mark the flooded areas for future reference (to protect things in the future).
Do you have any major construction work planned for this season to create a small lake on the property? I think the rainy season will last until January
Great stuff. We got 84 mm of rain on Sunday and so far on Monday.
My buffalo grass planted during the dry on the 'stress' and painstakingly nurtured has done its job perfectly. No damage or erosion at all.
@@garystone2154 fantastic!! 84mm that is incredible!
We had more rain today Meneer (JHB). There might be more coming your way! (I'm hoping)
Such a thrill to see this and hear your excitement. Your mind is racing! 🙏 Praise God.
Incredible example of water harvesting and what an impact it will have over time. Well done. Very inspiring.
can you you explain your friendly forest,and why you named it that.
This has made me smile (: been waiting for it
Oh wow! I'm very happy for you! finally rain :D what an excellent job you guys did with capturing water systems!
Just imagining how this all gonna look next year, i hope you get many volunteers and students that come and learn that way of life!
We Jews let our land rest every 7th year, total hands off, no disturbtion what so ever, let the earth regenerate and all the crops are free for everyone to take (not allowed to sell) (priority for the poor), wise words from your wife!
Also, can you tell us how big is your land? i don't know if you mentioned that before , i might have forgotten! i really wish i could buy a neighboring land to yours but i can't bear the price, maybe you can make an event where people able to buy a piece of land and we name it "subscribers forest"? , i mean, not like legally own the land (i'm pretty sure it's a lot of headache if not straight impossible) but have a name of that piece of land named after the person donating the money "buying a land" i don't know if i'm explaining it right lol, it's like having many many small lands that have the names of the donators in 1 big forest called subscribers forest :D
People pass away and their names will still be there, it's mind blowing! or is it just me? maybe i'm crazy hahaha
Awesome work, Awesome results congratulations!
Rain at last! Can't imagine to it all green. Keep on Danou
to see
I love love love seeing all that water! 🎉
Wow, you can see how your ground works actually divert all that water and settle on your land.
Respect!
Hello from West Virginia, USA. Glad to see you were able to capture all of that water on your property! Good job, I'm sure your plants appreciate it!
Thank you so much!!
⛈️🎉
What is the size of your farm?
When did you buy it?
I wonder if water cohesion has anything to do with how it absorbs more into the soil when moist
❤🎉Amazing efforts guys, brilliant.
Thanks a lot, we are super happy with the results!
This is so amazing!
you'll need to rock armour your spillways to prevent erosion and maintain your berms. can't wait for an update tomorrow on how quickly it absorbed and what you think went wrong. also take a shovel so we can see how deep the water penetrated in different areas (in the swales, vs run off areas for example)
Agreed, but Danou (spelling?) mentioned that their area has precious few rocks.
Maybe carry a walking stick / shovel that doubles as measuring stick?
@@OublietteTight yeah, his property does look devoid of rocks, mostly sand. probably have to try and find some construction waste or something, or if you can spare the expense get some aggregates delivered.
@jimdotcom1972 That would be great. My worry is that all the local landscape is this same sand and clay, so shipping in rocks could mean long distance?
Haha, maybe every trip just pick up any rocks he can? Grocery run, ask a neighbor there for their broken construction bits? Visit grandparents? Pick up rocks from the side of the road in the middle of nowhere? Might sound slow, but if he keeps up for a decade, he could end up with a good supply?
hello from Brasil, for "problem" with full water, you can make one spillway with rocks
for no production you can use the dry weeds for organic matter and your trash to.
Nice video and the kids and dogs hehe
Let's go ! A new life cycle can start now !
You will be amazed at how quick restoration goes with your system. We work in Central Tanzania, with 500 mm of rain per year, and within seven years our farm has totally changed into a thriving food forest system.
@@AlmaTlust incredible! I was walking on the plot this morning and wondering if I Wil ever see a difference. One always has doubts
@@thefoodforestnamibia Just saw that I will have to update the history page, the latest images are from 2020. Today, you can't see a thing any more because of all the trees...
did you presoak the cowpeas first they will germinate quicker?
Congrats!
Have planted Faidherbia albida?
fabulous!!! smiling
Wow dit is awesome, Hallelujah
incredible, great to see
That zoom in on Moremi was not bad at all. Good phone meneer!
pumkins will grow directly in manure or fresh compost heaps.
Yes especially sheep poo
Congratulations 🎊
Thanks, it was a crazy sight!
I'm SO happy for you!
@@greeneileen thank you so much!!
It is so encouraging to see this
What a soul satisfying sight!!
Can you keep tire dams in place by inserting a post in the middle of each? Or cable them together and anchor one end?
WOW!!!
#Natalie Topa says to put in channels from the river around your property that you want to capture water in. This is so well executed. Put logs dams along the end of the swales where the walls are in danger of being washed away
Man, its impressive to see how the water collection structures are working. I am impressed.
I started doing some trenches and half-moons on my very flat farm yesterday, planted some tree seeds too. When it rains the water does not flow anywhere, and the soil becomes soggy. I need some structures to collect water.
@@mandandi fantastic! Where are you based and what is your rainfall?
@@thefoodforestnamibia I am in Botswana. We get about 400mm of rainfall per year where I live.
I probably will have about 3 swales across the farm, measuring a maximum of 100m or less and lots of half moons to collect more water and provide water to trees. I plant to plant lots of fodder trees too for the livestock I intend to keep.