Swale Works!

We are having our first big storm of the year here. And lucky for us we got our swales done last week. The soil is absorbing lots of water. Our southern swale has started to fill due to the hardscapes above it. The northern swale is still waiting for the soil above it to fully saturate. There is more water from that watershed but it has more distance to travel. We are so happy to see the rain and even though it's quite intense and windy, happiness all around. During the long hot months of summer sometimes it seems like the rains will never come. And last winter they hardly did come. But this Oct. storm makes me hopefull that this winter we will get some good rain.

After this rain has saturated the soil we will start to plant. The tricky issue is how to keep the mulch on the swales when the wind is so strong! And will the rain keep coming or will it get dry again? It's all very exciting but also you really don't know for sure when to do stuff. There is no manual with the exact steps. Each location is slightly different. So off we go! on another adventure.