Another thing we did in December before the weather got ridiculously cold was to map out some contours using our trusty A-frame (constructed during Geoff’s PDC last year). We did not want to use those little flags to mark them as the metal stems bend easily and rust when left outdoors, and the flag material was plastic (which we try to avoid, unless it is a good-quality object that will last for many, many years). Instead we ordered some wooden stakes (http://www.dpind.com/productcart/pc/Natural-Wood-Markers-c12.htm) that do the job just fine.

We mapped out contours in all three of the areas described in previous updates. Our bold plan is to dig the terraces by hand (in the spring), but get in a landscaping company with equipment to dig the pond and orchard swales (late summer/autumn, for autumn planting of the fruit trees and companion plants). We’ve still not decided how to lay out and exactly what to do in the partially shaded area. 

There is an interesting area in the north-west corner of the property, downhill from where we are thinking of siting the orchard swales. It is a roughly triangular area, essentially flat although of course flat is never exactly flat. The rainy days were very helpful in showing the very subtle topography and areas where water naturally accumulates. It also highlighted water catchment onto our property from the road adjacent and nearby where it goes uphill slightly. Properly sheltered by windbreaks, this area would be a nice sun-trap and could be a good spot for a few additional fruit trees to extend the orchard area. Possibly a water feature could be incorporated to make use of the above bonus water (and any overflow from the swale system) although this could be tricky due to the lack of natural slope on the property here - we’ll need to keep thinking about this.

Our initial perambulations on the site also highlighted some natural (efficient) access ways between the house/garage, decks and barn. We’re integrating these into our design. However, on this west side of the property, these are not on contour and water falling (or making its way onto) them would be lost via downhill runoff. To minimize this, we intend to integrate contour ditches or covered drains across the access ways to capture water runoff and direct them into the adjacent orchard or terrace swales.

One of the first things we did was to use the 811 service to get underground utility cables marked out. Luckily, the electricity lines run under what is a natural walking route between the house/garage and the barn, so this has not disrupted our plans. The gas line passes on the other side of the house under an area with existing vegetation that we are not planning to alter. For some reason, they did not map the sewer line though. We have a rough idea of where this goes but we’ll probably need to confirm this before digging the orchard swales.