Hello friend! You may have heard about the 80:20 rule, this often refers to 80% of your results coming from 20% of your efforts. Once you know what 20% to focus on you can basically control 80% of your results, the rest is just tweaking. So when it comes to your garden the 20 is water and soil. If you have great healthy living soil and the correct amount of water available for your plants then you are in a really good place to optimise your gardens yields. Soil we talked about in last weeks email, this week I want to dive into water a bit more.

When it comes to water and plants we should be aware that there is a sweet spot, too much water and the plant is drowning and will stop growing until water is reduced or it may eventually die. On the flip side if a plant it too dry, its thirsty and again not growing well and could die. We want our plant to have optimum water availability so the plant is not stressed and can just focus on growing. Healthy plants don't get as many disease or pest attacks as plants that are stressed

Now every site is unique and the weather a changeable factor. What we want to do is focus on the controllable factors. We can look at irrigation systems with water being stored on site in specialist containers, we can also incorporate earthworks to help slow, spread and soak rainwater into the land, we can focus on anti evaporation techniques like mulching.

To offset, too much water risks, we can use raised beds, drainage ditches, make sure that rivers are planted with plenty of trees along its banks, and generally understand where our land is situated in regards to flood prone areas and select plants that are appropriate to that zone.

So just how important is water to you and me? Let’s use the word vital, and we are not overstating the point. Without water we are dead. 2021 has seen multiple events linked with water, including flooding in Europe, USA and Asia which left thousands homeless or worse. Some of these events are linked to long term weather patterns and some the effects of climate change, dry becomes dryer and wet becomes wetter, we are seeing more extremes.

How we store and manage water is a massive issue, water borne diseases kill millions of people a year across the world. 

Do you want to have abundant clean water?

YES! Click Here!

How much water does each and everyone of us use each year? How can we shape cities and houses that put water security and sustainability at their heart? Is my home at risk of flooding and how can I best defend against such events?

These are all questions that we should ask ourselves and evaluate the answers.

In Permaculture we think about design from an ethical holistic approach, water is an amazing material and how it flows in a system can be designed and monitored. Cities can be designed with rainwater capture in place and grey water recycling systems utilised to reduce our overall needs. Coastal forests can be used to capture humid sea air and increase inland rainfall alleviating some drought problems.  Simple water filters can be installed across the planet and provide disease free safe drinking water. Understanding where your house is in relation to a flood plain and what defences can help.

Water is one of the chapters that I cover in my online Permaculture design course.  The course will leave you feeling informed and ready to take action in your garden, farm, house and community. Joining other students on this voyage of discovery and transformation.

This course has been designed for you to gain a real understanding of how things in nature work and how you can utilise them in your life to use less energy and get better results.

Check out the full course details here and take advantage of the limited time price offer.

Would you feel good to know how to optimise all the water in your house and garden?

YES, Click Here!

Its rainy season here in Colombia so I'm off to plant some trees and continue growing our reforestation project here at the Love Grows farm.

Speak soon and take action, Generation Regeneration. Kind regards Russell Manning