Hello everyone, Thank you for finding our channel and spending a little time with us.
In this video we continue to enjoy VlogMas and hope that you are too. Elaine takes us on a walk around the lake and the well
We hope you enjoy the video.
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43 Comments
I was trying to find a video to give the link to you. It is a video i watched about a couple that got land in a dry part of one of the north west states of the USA . They adopted a similar water management and conservation strategy as you seem to have adopted. They started with one large pond in a comparable location to yours in their property. They created several ponds. They created a second pond similar to what you described is your intention at the lower end of your property. They created strategicaly located ponds for water storage towards the top part of the property. The connected all the ponds with pipes, and pumped water to the upper ponds from the ones located at the lower end. They managed to keep all the ponds at a stable level through all seasons to irrigate their land. Unfortunately i cannot find the video link. What you mentioned from the day you terraplaned your property to create the cachement pond you have now, resonated in my mind. Your property is smaller and has a well. Theirs is bigger. But through a strategy similar to yours they managed their water resources and never experienced drought like the estates around them did. Your water management strategy sounds right from the first day you explained it. One of the last years i spent in Portugal around the capital, i remember it rained non stop for months. There was green moss growing on the white walls of the garden n the house. Such was the saturation. First time i ever saw such precipitation. I believe time patterns are changing and you can no longer rely in set weather patterns. I wish you continued success. Season's Greetings to both of you and Max.
Another lovely vlogmas! I've been thinking of your lake so it was perfect timing to see how full it is! Could you store some of the water in your well rather than an IBC tank? We've been waiting for our rain to come this winter in San Diego but its been disappointing. Rain predicted for tomorrow but we will see. Thanks for sharing! See you tomorrow.
To stop the leaking from the lake, you need to plant deep rooted plants and grasses, cover crops like red clover to stop erosion.
Greetings from WA state in the Pacific Northwest U.S.A. Enjoying your journey of creating home and land/garden!
I got a chuckle over your dog running with the other neighborhood dog..
I saw your peas growing and thought a trellis made from branches would be nice?
How great that you can garden in winter! It is cold and very rainy here.. Looking forward to your next video!
Thanks for your vid 😇💟💟💟 Love you guys.
Dig a well there – where it bubbles up. The lake will dry up in no time, when heat comes.
I live in Australia and thank God He gives us rain and ask for His mercy in drought. Im up at dawn with pale blue sky and pink clouds. Diesel pump is good for winter but we also have solar pumps here for summer. It might save some money in the future
mosquito problem?
re leak from. your lake, the thing that came to my mind was clay.
In some years, when you'll have planted différent bushes, trees for example between your neibour's and you's, and when grass will have cover the pass, you won't have so strong rivers", when hard rain.
Hi, I have come over from Frugal Queen in France. Have watched a bit of your journey this afternoon and enjoying. Subscribed and will continue to watch D x
I love the idea of pumping some of the water out of the pond and into tanks for future use. That berm at the bottom is making me nervous for fear of a breech.
So much water! Fantastic work by your digger chum! It will be really interesting to see how it progresses. ❤️
I've watched you guys since you were just buying the house and nearby property. This is the kind of content I REALLY enjoy. I know your videos can't all be informative like this but so many people are considering land use and water issues, it surely is timely and useful for many of your viewers. I would LOVE to dig a series of permaculture-inspired ponds like yours. Great work and congratulations!!
Very informative.
That's such a good idea about the IBC tanks. Have you seen Cindy Vines setup of IBC tanks? It's really nice for her pigs and gardens.
Maybe put some decent size rocks on the bottom side of lake to prevent erosion.
Wow, so much water and so precious!! Jacques really did a great job for you guys. Stay dry and Max was really cute again . Cheers and stay safe.
Plants will slow the water flow.
We have plants call cattails we plant in the wet lands.
Hi guys, I've sent you a FB message re IBC tanks 🙂
I love your vlogmas! For one thing, it’s so nice to see you every day. You have so much to share. This video of your water management is really fascinating, and it will be interesting to see how it is working and what tweaks you will have to make. Being off grid, I can see, is quite a balancing act between having too much or not enough water, and having enough power to keep going. That is, a balance between rain and sun throughout the seasons. I hope you can get as many IBC’s as you can afford to see you and your land through the summers! Cheers to you both, Judy. By the way, I am a Canadian expat in the US, in Southern California, so I don’t have snow to contend with anymore!! (Not enough water, either.)
How about your well? Os it also full?
Sorry I've asked about the well before the end …sorry Nice to know that's getting full
Great Vlog guys ..!how long has it taken the pond to fill up ?
It's great to see the pond full. So much water. Portugal really needs the rain, from what I saw on videos this summer, so the more you can retain, the better. Glad to see that even your dry well is no longer dry! All the best with your water management plans.
We're planning to add ducks to help seal our future pond (I'm still in research mode, so I can't personally vouch for this, but a lot of people swear by it!), so if you were considering ducks anyway, it might be worth adding them sooner than later. Your land is coming along so nicely! Thank you for sharing!
🌟👏👍🍀💐 21.03
Hope you guys are doing ok👍. Would it be possible to put a water storage tank to collect the water where it pools at the bottom of your land? I guess you can redirect PVC piping where it's most
desirable for you. Just a thought. Love you dearly 😍😍😍 Harriet, Jim and Yuki. Richmond, Va.
It was so nice to get a full report on the lake and water levels. Brilliant ICB idea. You both will get some nice exercise walking up and down your land. Have you two noticed an increase in your endurance since you’ve been working the land? Thank you again for sharing…provides a bright spot in my day…I’m healing.
How far from your house is your land,…can you walk it?
Great vlog Elaine and Darren, so lovely watching and following your enthusiasm for your land, it’s fascinating, find it very interesting, thank you 😊
Greetings garden angel and angel helper……….mieke….uit …Nederland. ..💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙💚💙
you need more dirt on the backside of the pond to make a thicker wall on the back to help the water from breaching.
I had seen The Dutch Farmer talking about using ducks to seal the pond- called gleying. But having ducks means having more mouths to feed if you don't want to raise them for meat. So I looked up bentonite like another commenter suggested. It seems to be a clay that seals well. On the other hand, the silt may self-seal your pond but that might take a few years.
It's great your well is refilling! Your groundwater seems to be recharging. You are doing great trying to keep water on your property underground.
I hope you can get IBCs delivered for a decent price. I imagine there's a demand for them right now.
Pumping from dam into tanks is the best way to save water. You will find the dam will soon dry up once the hot weather comes back. Well done with your progress. 👏👏🦘🦘🦘
Very nice pond! What a fun project! Merry Christmas!
Ahh how wonderful 😀 Maybe next year you got frogs 🐸
I think the berm and correct planting will help retain water and give it chance seep into the land instead of running off. Well done for considering water management!
Your neighbor Jacques did a wonderful job for you all with the forming of your land and the lake. Truly impressed with the results, especially first year after being done. You might check with Jacques to see what he recommends about the low point on the lake edge. Have you considered doing a paved French drain following the natural flow of the water from your neighbor's property to help prevent it eroding its path to create more damage.
Well that didn't take long for your lake to fill up👍. Definitely a good idea to store some of the water from the lake in order to create more space in the lake for when it rains again. Also great that there is now some water in the well. During this first year of growing produce you'll not really know exactly how much water you'll be needing, so I imagine that it's better to have as much water as possible stored before the hot summer comes around.
I was a bit worried with you and your land because of the heavy rains. You are absolutely right – we need to take advantage of all the water and store it for the summer and dry weather. Good projects. 👍
I hope the pond is holding the pressure of the water. It's so important to have this as a reservoir for the hot summer.
Thanks for sharing your journey