Natural Sequence Farming

Having recently taken over the family property I am committed to the principles of NSF. The property falls from steepish timbered country on the southern boundary to a 2 km flat on the north which has the creek as it`s northern boundary running East West for the 2 kms.The creek enters and leaves the property from neighbours.The flats are widest on my side and on the northern side the flats start to rise again into hills [this on neighbours side] Flats were last cultivated 30 yrs ago. The banks of the creek are easily 20 feet deep on a generally gentle gradient. The family has always let the bottle brush grow in the creek so it`s well timbered down there with pools of water. QUES : How would I be able to open channels to and from the creek given the depth? If I opened a channel of some depth into the flats in the optimistic hope of a flood again one day would I leave myself open to erosion of that cut if water rushed into that bypass from both the hills and the creek. I would appreciate thoughts or ideas.
Ques 2 : 3 fairly shallow gullies eg 4-10 feet deep run through the hills South to North and drain onto the rounded ridges that become the flats. If I divert water from those to run over the paddock and then back into the gully will it be worthwhile given that that country is not flat as it is all part of the general fall to the flats? Again any thoughts would be most welcome
Thank you.

Ruth,

It's very difficult to answer you accurately, sight unseen.
Where are you located?
Would you be able to get to a NSF field day?
My advice is to do nothing yet until Peter or someone experienced could come on site.

Thanks Duane. I will take some photos as a start and email them to you so if they are able to be passed on to Peter it gives some idea of the lay of the land and creek. The field days are all a bit far away from me at present but I will always keep an eye on the site and would definitely attend one if they come further north. I am in SE Qld approx 200 kms NW of Bris. Regards, Ruth

Happy Birthday Ruth from everyone at NSF.

Ruth now you can pit up on this forum your photos showing the problem areas that you have. Just go to the post click and follow the links to upload your photos.

Ian and Vern and Shirley you can do the same if you wish to share your experiences.

Ruth, I have just posted photos of my project onto the site which Duane has organised.

It was very easy! No difficulty at all.

I can't wait to see your photos up there too.

I am very interested in the topography of your farm. Your description created an epic landscape in my imagination.

If I may comment I would agree strongly with Duane's reply.
Do nothing until you have expert advice.
It sounds as if the area could suffer water erosion on an unpredictable scale. One thing I would suggest though is making a plan to fence stock off from the creek if there is not already a fence in place.

From what you write re: gullies 4' to 10' deep I think initially that you would need to stabilise these from further erosion damage caused by runoff.

Ruth I have been looking at Vetiver as an erosion control recently and I am very impressed with what I have seen.

This plant is sterile and as such can not reproduce without hand planting.

It is used widely in China and India to control erosion and water.

Have a quick look at this slide show on vetiver and its uses. click here http://picasaweb.google.com/VetiverClie ... nservation

How has it been going with your gullies Ruth?

Have you decided on a course of action?

Have you been able to get someone to inspect the site to offer any advice?

Have you been able to post your photos onto any sites where we can have a look, see?

Hello all,

Haven't been on for a while and plenty to ask and share.

Firstly does anyone know where i could get hold of vetiver in vic and what sort of promise is it showing in your situation Ian?

Muzza

You may want to google up vetiver...they have an extensive website but I am unsure how successful it will be in your area.


The website also has suppliers.

The vetiver is under trial at my site.

After planting it seemed to die.

The salinity of the water in the pond seemed to be the problem.

Lately I noticed that some offcuts had shot and were still alive, to my great supprise.

The jury is still out, they have a long hot and dry summer to get through.

Gidday Ruth
I have been thinking about your problem and it seems pretty difficult without making the creek a little shollower. So he is the idea.
Are you able to pull the sides of the creek down to fill the bottom to make it wider and shollower at that point. form a leaky dam so that over time with more plant growth and silt build up the creek becomes shallow enough to be able to divert the water to the places you want it to go.
Just a thought.
Greg

I am very interested in this subject also. I am facing this same problem in the area I work. The water has rushed through with such speed there is nothing in the bottom except rock. There are heaps of clay shale and organic matter pushed to the side in some areas and plants do grow in that. Also gullies with rushing water suddenly drop to bedrock. I thought Peter had suggested filling these areas with Branches, rocks solid rubbbish to a degree. (I wonder if shopping trolleys are any good because we end up with quite a few of those).
Interested to hear suggestions or recommendations.
Shirley