WATER
HARVESTING NEW SOIL & FOOD FORESTS
Written
Feb, 2014. Updated April 2014.
First
some visual glimpses of possibilities emerging from over sixty years of Action
Research throughout the East Asia Oceania Australasia Region with input from
remote area local Indigenous folk, action research farmers and
agriculturalists, and Academics though Post Doctoral to Emeritus Professor.
Below
is a photo of an example of replicating a Livaceum, something that may occur naturally at some Keypoints
(refer Keypoints in Keyline
Design). The locality where very special thriving soil evolved by bio-mimicry to replicate a Livaceum is termed a
Livacea. The very special top soil is Termed Livyon.
A
You Tube Video providing a
fascinating visual glimpse into the teeming flow of life that is playing inside
‘cupcake’ in the photo below may be found at Life Colloid.
Keyline Design with linked Keyline dams and network of
irrigating channels
Irrigating channel with movable ‘walls’ so water
flood-flows side ways
From
the mid nineties, understandings about process have been action researched such
that it is now possible to invariably
produce extraordinary new soil in a few weeks; what nature takes 800 to
1000 or more years to achieve rarely.
A small example is the first of the photo series above.
These
processes were inspired by Indigenous knowing about how to find water in the
driest inhabited continent, and Chinese folk wisdom of bringing water across
country by just-off contour channels for sluicing gold. The processes have been
evolving since the 1940s-1970s pioneering work in water harvesting and new soil
generating. Associated processes support nature create contexts where nature does the changework in rapidly
transforming compacted clays and shale into deep organic soils rich in soil
organisms and humus. Further action research has extended understanding whereby
chance occurrence deep in rainforests over hundreds and sometimes 1000s of
years may make pockets of magnificent soil.
Processes
have also been evolving that quickly creates extremely dense heavy charcoal
which has most of the wood oils still
present, that while very hard, may be readily finely powdered. With water
added, this charcoal turns to colloidal
charcoal as shown in the black ball in the palm in one of the above photos.
One soil scientist assumed that the ball was 20,000 year old peat, when in fact a few days earlier it had been
green wood. Colloidal charcoal has extraordinary properties in the soil mix.
The
photo to the left of the one with the two
blue drums on the Yeomans Plough shows
a process whereby natural inoculants may be delivered sub-surface by hose using
a Yeomans Plough; inoculants like myriads of healthy soil-organisms, super rich
‘1000 year old’ super soils, colloidal humus, and colloidal charcoal. The
Yeomans Plough has unique properties enabling decompaction and aerating the
soil. Repeated cropping and shredding of selected plant varieties may quickly
add back further organic material to degraded soils along with repeated
die-back of root systems following cropping. Keyline irrigation and natural
soaking into Keyline pattern Chisel Ploughing distributes water into the mix,
Action
research is integrating all of the above towards:
o
Comparatively
low cost water harvesting
o
Re-constituting
degraded land
o
Creating
processes whereby water slowly percolates through soil
o
Oasifying
desert regions
o
Creating
food forests
o
Creating
vertical farms
o
Greening
Central Business Districts
o
Creating
organic food forests in peri-urban areas
o
Food
Sustainability
o
Evolving
organic life-food with very low mileage to the plate
o
Extending
PA Yeomans City
Forest ideas
o
Having
Eco-cities designed with Keyline and Cultural Keyline Processes including
rainwater and grey water harvesting and processing through city forests (the
Monarto Plan)
o
Combining
thriving nature and thriving human nature
Perhaps
worth exploring possibilities via further viewing the above photos.
That
link to You Tube video of the
teeming flow of life playing inside ‘cupcake’ in the photo at the start of this
page may be found at Life Colloid.
Further
Links:
Humane Global Transitions -
Therapeutic Community, Self-help Networking and Peacehealing