1 Year Ago We Designed This Empty Land, Here's How

one year ago we built this Homestead to try and turn this empty piece of land back into a thriving ecosystem since then we built SRS to harvest rainwater planted trees to reforest this landscape and introduc chickens and ducks for well they're just awesome in this video I will share the whole story of how we designed this dry and Barren land back into its former glory 10 years ago my wife and I decided to leave everything behind to explore a different kind of Lifestyle away from the business of Modern Life as we both stumbled into the world of farming ironically a seed was planted it was a desire to create our very own Paradise the sort of Garden of Eden 2.0 a place where nature and human coexist in the most abundant way though mostly nature so our goals for this project were simple create the resilient ecosystem that will Outlast our lives and provide sustenance for the local wildlife and generations to come after more than a year of looking for a property to implement our ideas we found ourselves here on this forgotten piece of planet Earth nestled in the hills of central Portugal overgrown with shrubs devoid of trees and well not much else it was in essence a blank canvas ready for a transformation seemed like the ideal place they could use a helping hand so we got to work the driving force behind our design is a simple yet profound yearning for abundance it's the aspiration to make every element on the land not not just coexist but Thrive together just like these chickens here they are great companions for our veggie gardens they provide nutrient Rich fertilizer for the gardens and they receive all the food scraps and weeds in return or this road here which is perfectly built on the ridge to allow rain water to move passively into our swells they then capture all this rain water and allow it to slowly infiltrate into the soil without causing any erosion this water then also happens to irrigate our food forests that are planted on the BMS of these swells these are the pieces of the puzzle and the connections we aim to put together in this journey it's all about doing more with less about observing and interacting and about integration rather than segregation from our ducks and chickens to our veggie gardens and pond and from the swells to the food forests all these elements are connected this allows the ways from one system to become a resource for another ultimately closing the loop like any project before we dig our hands in to the soil and shape the landscape of our dreams there is a crucial First Step that proceedes all others defining our goals and purpose homesteading is incredibly rewarding and it makes sense to be drawn to this lifestyle but don't let these videos deceive you thinking it is easy because it's hard you need to find somehow a way to balance a job or try to generate your own income combined with the high demands of homesteading then there is the constant maintenance the improvements that you have to make and Land Management like it's a lot there can be times when you wonder if it's even worth it you're going to be discouraged and demotivated and if you don't know why you're doing it in the first place any little obstacle will cause you to question your sanity and make you want to quit imagine the big obstacles every element that you introduce and every Contour that you shape and every plant that you nurture should align with your vision without one it will become a very difficult Journey so we set the goals and the purpose for our Homestead to make the most out of this property we realized that understanding the context of our land was crucial to making the right design decisions every land has a story to tell and it's up to us to find out what it's saying that's where permaculture principles come into play they provide us with the framework to work with rather than against the land and natural attributes if we learn how to read the landscape we can discover how to harmonize with it maximize its potential and build a resilient ecosystem that thrives on its own at this stage think of yourself as a detective uncovering Clues pay attention to wind patterns sunlight distribution and areas with shade observe how water behaves during Heavy Rain does it pool or drain in specific spots take stock of existing vegetation as it tells its own story study the topography drainage and microclimates to help us in this process we seek out maps and data about the land including average uh precipitation Frost dates Sun Direction and prevailing wind another great map is the contour map to help you understand the different elevations and the way water flows on your land to make a contour map is pretty simple first we need to download a free tool called Google Earth Pro while it's downloading we go to this website we zoom in on our location and we select the area we want to have the Contours from we insert the number of levels or individual lines of Contour we'd like to have on the map change the level of an interval to one meter and press on get data now we can clearly see the Contours of our land after we've done this we scroll down to the bottom of this page to download the KML file on top of the left corner we press on file open and select the document we just downloaded this is a quick and simple way to get a contour map of your property and if you want to create one for yourself I'll leave the links in the description box down below as well as for our free newsletter where we share one weekly tip to help you design start and grow your own Homestead all these observations and data points are puzzle pieces and when a samp B they create a clear picture of your sight's unique characteristics and help you shape your design choices when we arrived on this land for the first time a couple of things caught our eyes quite quickly we saw a lot of traces of wild boar which is beautiful but they can also be quite destructive then there are these large Boulders that create a lot of interesting little microclimates here some spots barely receive any sunlight others are completely protected from the wind and yet others are in full sun each gives opportun unities and challenges to consider next to that the runoff of these Boulders is incredible so potentially we can catch and divert a lot of the water and channel it into our SWS and ponds then there are these fire traces which give us a clear warning of the dangers that we have to watch out for so we definitely need to come up with a plan to prevent the spread of wildfire on our land this could mean that we would have to install um retaining walls or Terraces uh keep our land free of brush and tall grasses do f escaping and potentially even install an emergency irrigation system our initial site observation revealed fascinating details about how water moved across the terrain and showed us the opportunities and the challenges that we're working with and with this information in hand it is time to create a base map of our property this map is a fundamental tool for understanding our property and shaping our design on it there are all the existing features that already in place think of trees buildings and Roads to name a few we head back into Google Earth and take a screenshot of our property we then head over to canva which is a free design tool and upload this screenshot here we can add the boundaries and all the existing features on the bottom left of the screenshot you can see the scale of the map which we copy to help with sizing the elements that we want to include in the design at this point this is your base map you can keep it like this or delete the screenshot print it out and continue the design with graph paper and pencil now that we have the base map we're going to use the data that we've collected Ed and develop our sector analysis map in permaculture sectors refer to Natural Forces or influences that affect your design site and a sector analysis helps you predict and make design decisions to manage control or enhance these external factors so think of things like sunlight wind water flow and Wildlife but also noises pollution views and neighbors all these external factors play a role in shaping your design by understanding and mapping out these sectors you're essentially creating a blueprint that accounts for the broader environment in which your land exists at this stage we have all the information and tools in hand to start creating our design we've got our wish list we've collected important data and created a base and sector analysis map and here's where the excitement truly begins now we need to somehow take all the ideas that we have and put them in the right location but where do we start this is where the permaculture principle of Designing from patterns to details come into play and where we use the design framework called waspa This Acronym stands for water excess structures plants and animals this provides us with a simple yet powerful order for Designing and implementing our design starting with water water is the lifeline of any design without it our dreams of a thriving ecosystem simply can't take root but as with any precious resource balance is key especially on our land here in Portugal here rain mostly Falls in large amounts in a short time frame and when it rains well it really [Applause] rains water takes the path of least resistance and during a storm it quickly rushes from The Ridges Into The Valleys unfortunately it often carries a lot of valuable organic matter and even top soil a good design will handle these extremes by capturing and storing as much of that water as possible and putting it to good use so our goal is to slow it down spread it from the wet valleys to the dry ridges and encourage water to sink into the soil and for that we built these selles swes are essentially trenches dug exactly on Contour they stop the water on its Rush down the valley spread it over the landscape and ultimately let it soak into the soil in our specific context they are helpful tools to rehydrate the landscape but it's not a one-sized fits-all solution to every climate or soil type for example in the east of France where we ran our Market Garden and rain is abundant creating swells would be the least of my concerns simply because just there's just so much water so it's really crucial to understand the specific land soil and climate that you're working with to help us identify the location of where the swells had to come we used contour maps and observed the land to find a location on the property that optimized the water harvesting potential while making sure that the gradient of the slope wasn't more than 10 to 15% if you build SS on steep terrain there's a big potential for landslides and well I don't really have to tell you what that would mean to the property while we were looking for the best location to place a sale we realized the need for easy access and that's where it got a little bit more complicated because well there was no road yet so we needed to simultaneously look at what the best options were to integrate both of these elements together roads are considered hardscapes and what it doesn't infiltrate here yet if we can place the road in in the right location we can use the road essentially as a roof just like a roof is able to harvest rain water so can a road but instead of storing the water in the tank we divert it to the swes and one of the best places to construct the road is either directly on a contour of the land or on the ridge after countless iterations with our design we eventually decided on the Final locations we place the road exactly on the Ridge and place the main swell just below it this is the location where we could install the longest possible swell with the largest amount of water catchment then we added two smaller ones halfway up the road and one small sale above the road that's built more to help with reforestation then there are ponds whenever I imagine an oasis there's always an abundance of water and a large body of water reflects that exact dream ponds in the Mediterranean climate on the other hand are disputable some would never build one here and others swear by it but after driving a lot through the countryside I was surprised by the number of ponds that were built fonds that held water all summer long until the next rains arrive and after reading a book by SE Holter called desert or Paradise we were sold as we observe our land on the map there are really two areas where we can build them a small one in the valley right here and a large one right here to avoid water running off the midslope we decided to include one more swell to help fill up the bottom Pond and there's a potential to connect one larger one on the edge of the property at this point we've accounted for the water and ex as part of this land the road is connected to the SS which are connected to the pond all with the goal of keeping as much as possible water on the property for as long as possible the next step in our design process is infrastructure and this is generally the time we start looking at our wish list on our wish list we have of course a home nothing big just enough space for shelter and the winter months but we also need a barn a post Harvest station a greenhouse Gardens and solar panels to name a few you what really helps during this stage is the use of permaculture zoning permaculture zones are a strategic way of organizing design elements within a human environment based on the frequency of interaction and the needs of plants animals and other elements of the ecosystem these zones help optimize efficiency and resource allocation in our design ensuring that elements requiring more attention and Care are placed closer to where we spend most of our time while elements needing less free quent visits and maintenance are located farther away throughout this process our sector analysis remains our Guide Understanding how external influences like sunlight wind and water flow interact with our infrastructure zones ensures that we're not just building structures we're harmonizing them within the landscape so for example if we decide to place a large building here the whole Northern side will become a much more shady it could be a good thing it could be a bad thing but if we build something thing here it will be completely exposed to the wind this also happens to be exactly on the edges of the ridge which is the worst place for a building regarding wildfires throughout the process we conceptualize ideas and make many versions until we've considered everything and come up with our best version once we have structures in place the next step in our design process is plant systems and then specifically in our case food forests also known as Forest Gardens or edible forests they are regenerative diverse planting system that mimics the structure and function of a natural forest ecosystem while focusing on producing food and other useful resources they can be designed to be both ecologically and economically sustainable offering a wide range of edible and beneficial plants that work together harmoniously so here we have a good example of the concept last year I created this raised garden bed around an olive tree that survived a forest fire it got cut down after the fire and and since then it has grown back many shoots from the stem ideally for olive production it would be best to cut it back down to one main leader but at this stage of our journey we prefer the shade it provides more than the olives it produces yet as we can clearly see it is quite loaded but that's not what this story is about when we built this Garden we planted a wide diversity of different types of plants to create a guild around this Olive and the goal of a guild is to create a self-sustaining and resilient community of species that support each other's growth health and productivity the main star of the show is obviously the Olive Tree but we've also included Ground Covers like strawberries herbaceous plants like Rosemary this beautiful mint that is completely taking over oregano and Sage we planted a fija and a bay leaf which we keep a little bit more trimmed to cover the under story we've got a Blackberry going wild and spreading out successfully a grape vine that will grow into the canopy we've got some can Inda growing here which is a subtropical plant that has an edible root crop which is nicely sheltered by the canopy of the tree I mean there's a whole mixture of plant species that all cover different layers of the forest and are all aimed in this specific context to support the Olive Tree and that's what we're essentially trying to achieve with our food forests we want to create a self-replicating ecosystem that supports the local wildlife and provides for our basic needs in reality this subject requires a whole series of videos to barely even scratch the surface of what's possible so I guess I have some work to do by this time to include the food forest and threee plantations in the design it's pretty simple we've got the layout of our water harvesting swells the road and the buildings in place now it's just a matter of following the patterns all the mounts of the sells are where we plant the food forests as well as on the side of the road on the ridge between the main selles we consider creating half Moons for large overstory crops under which we can then introduce produce goats sheep and even pigs to create something that's called a silo pasture and talking about animals they are the next step in our design animals play a pivotal role in creating harmonious and productive ecosystem they serve as integral components in the Web of Life contributing to the overall health and sustainability of our land they provide a steady source of organic matter through their manure EMB bedding materials and when properly managed it helps enrich the soil and enhance its fertility so certain animals such as chickens and Ducks are natural forages they help control weeds and pests by eating insects and unwanted plants goats can graze on grasses and browse on shrubs making them valuable for managing various types of vegetation and creating diverse fireproof Landscapes bees which we also want to include can be strategically located near the food forests and Gardens to enhance pollination and increase fruit yields they are essential pollinators and their presence a benefit both the ecosystem and our harvests through the constant movement of animals they help distribute nutrient and seeds across the land promoting plant growth and diversity and in the end integrating them into the design a faster and more closed loop system where resources are efficiently utilized and waste is minimized I mean there are lots of reasons to include them but they also require a lot more maintenance and care than for example plants so it's likely that we will only start incor separating some of them once we can provide them with the attention and care they deserve except for these little birds that don't require more than 10 minutes a day here we have ducks and chickens which are FedEd friends they excellent forages and play a vital role in P control with a mobile Coupe they're even easily moved to different areas where they can work on weed and pest control and fertilize areas where it's needed most while they receive fresh food and clean surroundings to include the animals systems in our design we looked for the areas that make the most sense and ensure they align with our overall goals and principles in between the swes next to the road we have a good sized piece of land we can use to host our chickens then there is the pond which marries perfectly with our ducks in case their presence becomes too heavy in the area or the pond runs dry in summer we can always place them with the chickens which is where they are now here the whole ground is covered in mulch and combined with the manure is a perfect match to use as a fertilizer for a food forests that are right next to it a perfect example of closing the loop eventually we'll take some goats and maybe some pigs but since they'll be on a constant rotation we don't have to include them here in the design just yet as long as we keep the areas where we will place them available designing a piece of land is a dynamic and rewarding process one that continually evolves in harmony with the land even though we've barely even scratched the surface of design I hope this can provide you with some food for thought and aspiration to build your own Garden of Eden and with our design in hand how do we go about implementing it and that is what we're going to cover in the next video in the meantime if you haven't seen our one-year overview of building this project consider watching it until next time see you later

Channel: The Dutch Farmer

Views: 461,149

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Id: It9FFqcxcmA

Length: 20min 18sec (1218 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 08 2023