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Labbe-Watson Homestead

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Commenced:	01/07/2010
Submitted:	10/08/2011
Last updated:	07/10/2015
Location:	168 W. Meadow Rd, Rockland, ME, US
Website:	http://midcoastpermaculture.com/
Climate zone:	Cold Temperate

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Labbe-Watson Homestead

Rockland, US

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Terraces August 2010

Project: Labbe-Watson Homestead

Posted by Jesse Labbe-Watson over 10 years ago

Earthworks installed to catch & store energy

The implementation of the project began in earnest with an earthworks project to construct terraces on the SE facing hillside. Austrian permaculture farmer Sepp Holzer was very inspirational to me with this construction project. At first the slope was the primary design challenge. After watching Holzer’s video “Farming with Nature” it all clicked. By using the contour lives to my advantage, i could create a series of terraces and ponds. I had to adapt my path design pattern of course. The wife wanted mandala gardens with concentric rings of paths and beds. I did too, and it would have been nice, but i learned that you can only do that on flat ground. Sure, you can draw the paths on paper, but when you go to marry the paper design to the real world, things change. So in this case where initially i wanted nested concentric rings as the garden path pattern, i had to adapt it instead to more of a branching pattern. Larger arterial paths for carts connected to smaller keyhole-style footpaths.

The terraces are not so much dead level as they are slightly pitched backward into the hillside. This way, the terrace can settle and become more level. In the meantime, all rain that falls is caught right where it falls and percolates into the earth.

In some cases woody debris was partially buried, hugelkultr-style. By burying the woody debris from the trees i cut i turned a waste product into an asset. This buried wood will hold moisture, support the terrace, provide habitat for mycelium and other life, and slowly give up nutrient as it decomposes. I left this part of the terrace slightly high, anticipating some settling over the years.

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