Water For Every Farm
 

 A Keyline Design Intensive  

Keyline Design and Sustainable Agriculture Workshop 

with Darren Doherty

 

Dates Nov. 30 through Dec. 2nd*  2007

Location: Rancho Rico, Big Sur, CA

 $225 includes lunch

*Inquire about our continued 2 day hands-on 

Earth-working intensive Dec 3rd and 4th

 

For more information and registration:
Please contact Benjamin Fahrer:

      www.urbanpermacultureguild.org/pfr

          pcdesigns@earthlink.net 

831-667-2376

What is biological wealth?  Healthy forests, fertile soils, abundant waterways and seas---has any great nation been built without these?  As we degrade and treat them as throw-aways can we expect a prosperous future for our families and children?  Is a sustainable system for agriculture possible that enhances rather than depletes our natural environment? 

        Keyline Design is a complete design system for landscapes.  It is applicable to both rural and urban designs. It is a unique combination of water conservation and soil building, with great appeal to both farmers and ranchers, as it has the ability to build and regenerate degraded soils rapidly, and sees the use of grazing animals as beneficial to this process.

        Keyline systems were developed in Australia during the 1950’s by P.A Yeomans ( www.yeomansplow.com.au) as a response to increasing desertification and erosion he observed on the Australian landscape as it related to agriculture.  His book Water For Every Farm, A Keyline Plan is an important work describing a set of principles and techniques based on a holistic approach that works with natural patterns to restore and increase the depth and fertility of the soil, while increasing its water holding capabilities.  Yeomans realized that conventional agriculture totally ignored the biological aspects of the soil.  He created a “sustainable agriculture” system before the term was coined, and for the first time in human history, methods were developed that could produce rich fertile soils in relatively short periods.  A permanent and lasting agriculture Yeomans believed, must materially and financially benefit the farmer, and benefit the land and soil.

        Keyline Design integrates terraces, ponds, tree plantings on contour, and a special cultivation technique using the Keyline plow, to infiltrate water into the soil efficiently and hold it on the land as long as possible. Water harvesting strategies employed by Keyline Design provide drought-proofing for farms with very low maintenance using gravity fed irrigation systems, with a huge reduction in water lost to evaporation. In contrast, up to 80% of water is lost to evaporation using conventional overhead sprinklers.  Farms using Keyline Design have amazing records of deepening the topsoil by 3-6” in 3 years, in contrast to nature’s process, which can take hundreds or thousands of years.

        The term Keyline comes from the reference to a “keypoint” on the watershed, which is the interface between collection and distribution of water on the landscape, where ridge meets the valley.  Keyline is a philosophy and technique that doesn’t pit the needs of farmers against environmentalists trying to protect wildlife and fish habitat, and with carbon sequestering techniques used, helps to address aspects of global warming and climate change.

        Darren Doherty is an Australian Keyline Designer, Developer & Manager and Australian Approved Keyline Design™ Farm Planning Consultant, and recipient of Whole Farm Planning Certificate ~ Train the Trainer(University of Melbourne 1995).  He has designed and developed over 1100 properties across four continents working most recently in Vietnam, on land projects for Mars Inc, owners of Seeds of Change. His remaining time is spent managing a working research & demonstration farm in Southern Victoria, Australia.