I wonder why you call swales a holy cow of permaculture. I figure the only holy cow in permaculture is to do what is appropriate to the situation.

Where you have saturated soil, and it takes a while for the soil to warm up in the spring, it seems like you would get some benefit from the berm that rises above the swale. It would be drier than your saturated soil, and depending on orientation might warm up sooner in the spring. Also might have a cooler side and a warmer side.

For me, on the cooler side of the berm associated with the swale, I can grow spinach, beets and lettuce. In my climate we are cool until we are very hot. When very hot gets here, the sunlight is very intense. Lack of gradual warming prevents us from cool season crops altogether, and prevents us from getting a good start on warm season plants.

For me, swales and berms create microhabitats, extending both cool and warm in different locations.

If your article gets people to consider the comparative merits of swale versus pond or drainage ditch, then it’s accomplishing something.

Thanks

I think Geoff Lawton in particular has a lot to answer for in regards presenting swales as an almost universal panacea. I did a PDC with him and I think they were talked about more than anything else. I’ve since heard of several instances where ones he’s implemented have failed because of inaccurate implementation or sodic soils. Even when they do work, I don’t think they’re all that appropriate here in Australia much of the time, since getting good groundcover and deep ripping seems enough to make the soil absorb all moisture if it wasn’t already. Although it is possible to add a pipe which gives you drainage options (you can literally pull the plug on them in wet winters). They have a place, especially when water is running in off a hard surface somewhere, but I think we hear too much about them.

Patrick, your article on swales is very interesting as is your questioning of them. As a relatively recent student to Permaculture, I desire to know about everything that constitutes the whole that defines what Permaculture is even if some of the Permaculture solutions, such as swales, do not apply to the particular area where I live in Switzerland. I am glad to know about swales and why they are particularly relevant in Australia but maybe not so much in the UK. I agree that if the particular Permaculture solution doesn’t apply to ones case, it seems pointless to apply it just because one is doing Permaculture. I would like to think that Permaculture, because it involves a network of living/working relationships, can adapt and evolve in organic ways to meet ones needs, just as Mollison and Holmgren developed and adapted older ideas from other environments to their needs in their environment. Thank you.

Obvserve, catch and store energy, obtain a yield, you know the rest but “always have swales” isn’t one of the underlying principles 🙂

I have been growing plants ever since i was a little kid and never had a strict rotation, not even for annual veg. I do sometimes grow annuals in straight rows and keep notes but i never use it for a strict rotation. I have never seen clubroot or whiterot in my gardens.

The people i hear about this often have either large annual monocultures and/or deeply troubled soils. Maybe it’s key to what people call organic farming, and lots of those books just copy large scale practices to books about gardening in backyards…

Best,

Maranke Spoor

Hello Junko,

Thank you for your enquiry. There isn’t really any organic horticulture in the permaculture design course. The focus of the course is very much on those things which are unique to permaculture, especially permaculture design. You can see the full timetable at http://patrickwhitefield.co.uk/residential/permaculture-design-course/permaculture-design-course-further-information/

Please do get back to me if you have more questions.

With best wishes, Patrick