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Summary
part 2 of a 2 part podcast
Paul continues the consultation with Janelle.
They discuss
water some more. The water supply is from the
city and so Paul says it's got chlorine in it but worse still they charge you by the gallon.
Permaculture though allows you to grow stuff using much less water. Paul's idea is to make
berms around the perimeter and on about half the property and build hügelkuturs 7ft tall between them where it's sheltered. The hügelkultur might be a little slow to get going as the soil is dirt, not soil, so you have to start by building soil. He suggests a target of making a quarter acre of hügelkutur per year. Hügelkultur also multiplies the growing area you have.
Given water (maybe from digging a well if the ground water is close
enough, or from ponds) you can build soil pretty fast.
Trees with tap
roots can also lift water to the surface, to the benefit of plants growing around them.
Paul mentions Mark Shepherd's book which says we
should grow more perennials, and also describes the STUN method which Janelle likes.
The other half of the property he feels it would be good to build swales, which can be used to make cool pockets to grow things that are less tolerant of the heat. If you're in a cold climate, swales are of limited use but southern california is hot.
Janelle has also acquired a lot of big rocks and Paul says those are great to put around frost sensitive plants, because they have a lot of thermal inertia and help prevent freezing by storing heat during the day. Moving them can be tricky though.
Janelle had thought about adding
wood to the soil by digging, but Paul doesn't care for that idea.
Relevant Threads
Paul Wheaton's Permaculture Consultation with Janelle Quint - Recorded Livestream
Hugelkultur forum
Earthworks forum
California regional forum
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