Keyline Swales – a Geoff Lawton/Darren Doherty Hybrid
Biological Cleaning, Conservation, Earth Banks, Land, Soil Conservation, Swales, Water Harvesting — by Campbell Wilson November 30, 2009
A swale on Zaytuna Farm – © Craig Mackintosh
(Remaining images below © Cam Wilson.)
Geoff Lawton and Darren Doherty are the two highest profile people in Australian Permaculture when it comes to broadacre water harvesting earthworks. They’ve both had success in some very tough environments, and yet it’s interesting that their styles are quite different, particularly when it comes to infiltration strategies.
This article is a short comparison of their approaches, along with an idea I had recently for amalgamating the benefits of each.
Comments (16)Part-time Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC) course (Forest Edge Permaculture, Heathmont, Melbourne)
Courses/Workshops — by Campbell Wilson July 15, 2009
Two courses commencing Saturday the 5th of September or Sunday the 6th of September, one day per week over 13 weeks
Having managed the PRI site and taught on Geoff’s PDCs in the past, Cam Wilson is now teaching courses out of Melbourne where he is currently based. To suit busy urban lifestyles, we offer the traditional Permaculture Design Certificate course (PDC) part-time over 13 weeks, with either a Saturday or Sunday option to choose from. Our latest round of courses has just been completed and to read more about our course, who we are, the fantastic working urban-Permaculture site where the course is run and feedback from our participants, click here.
Comments (0)French Drains for Urban Storm-water Infiltration
Biological Cleaning, Conservation, Storm Water, Waste Water, Water Harvesting — by Campbell Wilson July 9, 2009
When rainwater harvesting is mentioned, most people think of tanks straight away. That’s a great start, but there is a much bigger storage you have available to you on your land – the soil. (Check out Brad Lancaster’s fun U-tube video on this site, ‘The muffin tin and the sponge’ for a good intro)
So when your gutters flow and your tanks are full, don’t send all that valuable water straight the drain like so many do. Instead, have a go at utilising that water in your garden by creating a system similar to this.
Comments (2)Greywater Mulch Pits
Biological Cleaning, Compost, Conservation, Soil Conservation, Storm Water, Swales, Waste Water, Water Contaminaton, Water Harvesting — by Campbell Wilson May 20, 2009
by Cam Wilson, Forest Edge Permaculture
Greywater mulch-pits provide an excellent solution when re-using greywater on your garden – they are cheap to construct, they improve the quality of water entering your soil and after some time provide you with valuable compost. They’re very easy to construct too. You basically just dig a hole, wack in some 100mm ag-pipe and then fill it up with nice chunky mulch.
