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Re: Soil Erosion



At 11:54 PM 2/19/98 -0500, Jonathan Layburn wrote:
>	I have been taking a sustainable agriculture class here at the
>University of Maine at Orono and we have recently learned ideas and
>practices to limit soil erosion.  I was curious how some of you out
>there control soil erosion on your farmland.  
>	Thank you.

Well, at this point there are things we've *done* and things we *plan* to do.

The first and best preventative medicine, I think, is to plant and landscape
on contours.  This traps and holds runoff until it has a chance to
infiltrate.  The "contour swale" of Permaculture, in places where you're not
planting, also provides this double-duty of reducing sheet erosion and
infiltrating more water into your soil.

The second best preventative medicine is to not allow bare ground.  If you
don't have a crop there, have a cover crop.  Plants provide a vital buffer
against the energy of rainfall, as well as providing root systems to hold
soil in place.

If you've already got gullys and erosion on your property, you'll need to do
other things.  Above the gullys, create swales to stop and infiltrate the
water *before* it gets into your gully.  In the gully itself, you want to
trap and hold as much particulate matter as possible to help it fill itself
back in.  Gabions -- wire cages full of rocks anchored into the sides and
bottoms of the gullys -- allow water to pass through but trap sediment.
Once the gully fills with sediment, you can plant it.

Most of what we've done so far has involved swales and cover crops, and
works reasonably well.  We have at least one gully that needs to be "fixed"
with swales, diversions, and a gabion or two...when we have the time,
materials and person-power to do it.

The guiding principle of all erosion control is to slow down and trap the
flow of water.  The faster water moves, the more soil it picks up.  Keep
runoff from moving in straight lines -- this will slow it down.  Make the
water meander as it runs across your property.  The more water that
infiltrates your soil, the less you'll have to irrigate in the long run.

(Caveat:  Obviously, try not to create flooding problems when doing that.  A
lot will depend on what type(s) of soil you have, the slope and aspect of
your land, etc.  Each site will have specific solutions that will work best
*for that site*.)

Hope this helps,

Loren,
Harmony Hill Permaculture Demo Site (in development)
--
Loren Davidson      
loren@wombat.net         http://www.batnet.com/beauty/
"Follow your dreams.  Make your wishes.  Create the future.  And above all,
believe in yourself."  -- J. Michael Straczynski