Strategies to obtain soil rich in water
Water covers 70% of the globe although unfortunately we can only use a minimal part of it as 97% is salt water. Of the 3% of fresh water, ¾ are trapped in ice and 50% of what remains is found underground at more than 700 metres depth, enclosed in rock and therefore unusable. Ultimately the fresh water available in lakes, rivers, aquifers and the atmosphere represents 0.375% of total water.
Our planet should be called “Water” rather than “Earth”.
Where there’s water life is born
It’s a precious substance, it’s life. We’ve heard this phrase said 1000 times but I understood its true meaning the first time I was in a tropical rainforest. Enormous trees, gigantic leaves, every single centimetre of light covered by dense vegetation and an incessant buzzing of insects, birds, animals and every form of living being. I slept for a few nights inside this forest in a bungalow whose roof was also covered with vegetation. Without the owner wanting it, in the roof, every two years, a forest with trees grew, thanks to the incessant work of birds, insects and animals that first transported organic material, seeds and therefore trees. Periodically he was forced to cut down the trees, remove the soil and organic matter to prevent the roof from collapsing due to the weight. There everything is accelerated, nature is frenetic. On the contrary, in a desert plants struggle to grow, plants of dozens of years might seem recently born, life in general is very slow and parsimonious. Man himself, before the advent of fossil fuels, has always “reproduced” near water.
The cities and peoples that made history, almost always were on the banks of a watercourse, lake or sea, because it would have been too difficult to stay far from this primary source of life.
Water and Permaculture
So in Permaculture water design and management play a fundamental role. Agriculture, vegetable gardens, gardens are sadly known for requiring large quantities of water to have good production. This happens not due to plants’ needs but because conventional agricultural design doesn’t create the conditions for uniform distribution of water and humidity in the soil. In a Permaculture project the aim is to create vegetable gardens and gardens able to survive difficult climate conditions, even in the absence of maintenance and irrigation. To manage water well and intelligently, it’s necessary to implement strategies that improve soil drainage, rainwater storage for future use and direct water where most needed, to help the vegetable garden or garden survive not only drought, but also periods of excessive precipitation.
5 strategies to conserve water
“The most economical place to store water is the soil”
In addition to obvious sources such as lakes and ponds, water in nature is stored in plants, air and soil. Based on this observation it’s possible to devise strategies to conserve water in one’s vegetable garden or garden.
- The first strategy is to have a high content of organic matter in one’s soil, the famous humus. Humus acts like a sponge and is able to retain an enormous quantity of water. Studies demonstrate that soil with 2% organic matter is able to reduce the need for irrigation by 75% compared to soil with 1% organic matter. Moreover it adds fertility to the soil, stores nutrients, increases soil vitality and makes it softer. Having a good layer of humus is one of the main objectives of those who design in Permaculture.
- The second strategy is to always keep the soil covered with mulch. Mulch can be straw, leaves, hay without seeds, stones, wood chips, sawdust, algae, cardboard or another organic material we have available. Thanks to mulch, we reduce water evaporation from the soil, we cool the soil because it’s not in direct contact with the sun, we add fertility, we increase soil life and we limit the growth of spontaneous grasses.
- The third strategy is to place plants based on water need. It may seem obvious but one should be able to read one’s soil, identify the most humid and driest areas and then plant each plant accordingly in the place it prefers. In this way we’ll make much less effort in irrigation and our plants will survive drought. In general, if we’re in a dry place, we’ll favour plants that need little water and vice versa, moreover we’ll place water-needy plants near the water tap, pavement runoffs and downpipes. If you’re not able to establish which is the most humid point of your garden you could observe where the grass is greenest during drought.
- The fourth strategy is to plant very densely so as to always keep the soil shaded. This reduces evaporation, keeps the soil cooler, chokes spontaneous grasses and increases productivity per m².
- The fifth strategy is certainly the most complex and also the most dangerous, but certainly the one that can offer the greatest results. It consists in modifying the topography of the soil through contour ditches, ponds and terracing to channel water where it interests us, avoid run-off erosion, capture and retain water. Secondary benefits are often visual pleasantness, humus increase, increase in edge zones and consequently biodiversity.
Each of these strategies will increase water and humidity of your plot of land, clearly applying them all together the result will be even more excellent.
