As an experiment in sustainable development and to diversify the farm we are putting in walnut orchards. We are using two approaches for this.
Fencing the dam
None of our dams were fenced. Our idea to deal with this was to take a permaculture view on this and to do more than just put a fence around each dam.
- On the down hill side of the dam we put in ~ 6 rows of walnuts each about 50 metres long.
- The dam and walnut orchard are fenced
- On top of the dam wall we put a 10,000 litre water tank that is fed by a solar powered pump in the dam
- The tank gravity feeds a stock trough just outside the fence to water the cattle and also gravity feeds the irrigation system for the walnuts
- Along the fence line we plant some black wood wattles that the cattle like to browse over the top of the fence
So far we have just about finished doing this for one dam and the results appear promising.
More Conventional Orchard
We are also putting in a small more conventional orchard with about 300 trees