This is a swale/berm I dug out in two days. This swale/berm is on contour which means that the swale should fill up with water completely without water breaking free and traveling down the slope above ground. All of the water that is captured in the swale will percolate into the soil and should form a lens below ground. Also the berm will wick water up from the swale making it available to any vegetation growing on the berm. I’ll probably do a blue berry guild, but I may also plant a tree or two in this berm. Haven’t decided yet. This swale is entirely too big, and it is overkill, but I like diggin’ holes. I may fill the swale with mulch, or I may leave it open. Haven’t decided yet.
Using an “A Frame level” I made from scavenged wood, cordage, and a small rock I excavated from a permaculture dig in Asheville NC
Here you can see that part of the A Frame came from an old broom stick
Wendy went to run errands with the kids, came home, and there I stood
turning intention into reality
our soil is mostly clay beneath the four inches of bermuda grass…so it takes a forceful stabbing action to get the shovel to stand upright on it’s own
working on some “ledging,” where I attempt to carve a more obtuse slope into the swale so as to slow water down somewhat
end of the first day
not sure what kind of rock I mattocked through…but I think it might be limestone? Or sand stone perhaps? I’m not a geologist, but I find the rocks I uncover to be fascinating
View from inside the new McCarty Canyon Swale
This is the oak tree on the other side of my property line. I gathered a good bit of the leaves from it
oak leaves on the back side of the new berm
extra points to the person whom can determine what this is a picture of….the next two pics give more details
view from the lowest point of my property
Bo Beppa jumping over McCarty Canyon
Leave a Reply