May 2019 – RabbitEye Farm

Keeping the momentum

We have put a lot into our permaculture quest this year. With the help of David Spicer, (docspicepermaculture.com) earthworks specialist, we have taken larger, more tangible steps this past week. Heavy equipment and many helping hands have made a visible difference, but the work is not finished.

A few of the “next steps” in our 2019 permaculture endeavors include moving a 2,000 gallon tank to a higher elevation. Dean Gentry of 5D-Designs (5d-designs.com) donated this tank. Dean is a fellow permaculture enthusiast and long time supporter of Grayhill School Farm, the teaching non-profit that we host. Thank you, Dean! This tank is a key element in our plan and with the help of a Glockemann pump it will be efficient to fill as well as to use.

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Sitting on the highest point of our property, this tank will provide irrigation via gravity for our blueberries, blackberries, muscadines, and rice paddy. That’s right… rice paddy, built by David Spicer (photo below). One of the experiments of Grayhill School Farm, is a series of rice paddies to determine overall feasibility and varietal studies in our area. We are beginning with normal rice (Oryza Sativa) and will progress to black rice, water chestnuts and perhaps even crawdads in the same area. Rice is grown commercially in the mid-west and western United States, so hopefully we can grow it in West Georgia.

Planting the Terraces

The sculpting of the terraces that has taken place this past week must now be seeded and maintained. This time of year is definitely not optimum for sprouting regular grass seed, so we have to use a Millet. With seed ordered and hay already delivered, we have a lot more work to do to protect the terraces and the investment we’ve made in them. There is still no rain in sight, which means they are really dusty and dry right now. Once we get the seed and the hay down, hopefully Mother Nature will send us a few days of solid gentle rain. After this initial rain, we can also start planting our young walnut and fruit trees.

Berry Season

Multi tasking is in order since blueberry season is now upon us. Thursday May 30th is opening day for picking blueberries at RabbitEye Farm. Many of you have inquired about opening day, and this hot weather means they are ripening up fast.

If you would like some fresh blueberries, you don’t need to bring anything special with you to pick, but you may want to bring a hat (a helper is also nice). We supply buckets that have a liner. You simply lift out the liner to carry your berries home. This is the gentlest way we’ve found to transport your berries. Hope to see you on Thursday. Morning pick is 7AM – 11AM and evening pick is 5PM – 9PM. Rain or Shine. Click here to read more.

It’s officially summertime!

Big project with David Spicer right before berry season… Our blueberries are coming on strong and we are anxiously awaiting picking season (we may start a little early this year)… but

What else have we been up to?

Doug Roberts left, David Spicer right, May 23, 2019 | West Point, GA USA

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If you have visited our farm, you may already know our blueberry and blackberry terraces are designed with water conservation in mind. They make picking easier, but their real purpose is to help with irrigation. Managing water wisely is a core lesson when studying permaculture and regenerative farming techniques. Over the years, we have implemented other smaller design elements and have tried to stack functions in everyday farm life. The berry terraces were a huge project back in 2011, which totally work, but what about the rest of our farm?

Where to begin?

Well, we started with a swale plan, but just could not make it happen. Along with being a daunting task, being too close to a project can make it difficult to see the overall characteristics that are influencing it. Its like seeing a forest from an airplane vs. seeing a forest while you are standing in it. Every change you make in a landscape has an impact and is also impacted by other changes. Carefully studying the big picture and deciding on a plan that fits both the land and your needs has to come first. So, implementing larger permaculture elements into the rest of our farm landscape has been a long time coming.

Doc Spice

We contacted David Spicer, who is touted as one of the best earthworks designers on the globe. His work functions beautifully and is beautifully functional. David’s specialty is water management and creating ways to optimize and use this resource. This is his first trip to the United States and with fresh eyes, he quickly calculated a workable plan that is now being carried out – at this very minute.

There are several projects going on at once during his short stay here in America (from Australia). Here are a few photos of the process of creating long terraces the right way. These terraces function similarly to swales, but give us better access and are easier to maintain in our situation.

The thing on the tripod is a laser level that tells the heavy equipment when the ground is level. Rather than the usual concept of moving water away quickly, the idea here is to let water collect slowly along a level plane, holding it, and allowing it to soak in. The photo at the picnic table is of David making some calculations.

Below are more photos from the day.

These are some hard workin’ folks. All day in the sun for several days in a row. Its amazing what you can get done with a bit of good help. Thank you to Jeremy Darda (in blue), Kyle Roberts (sun glasses), Kelly Darda and his excavator.

We all need to respect water a little more than we do. Careful planning in the landscape can control flooding, control drought, improve soil structure and lessen erosion. Now, I can’t wait for it to rain.

Monthly Archives: May 2019

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