A Permaculture fish pond in development

Swimming pools get a bad rap in enviro-circles, and for good reason. They cost a great deal to construct – using a lot of CO2 intensive materials in the process – they waste huge amounts of water and energy for maintenance, use chemicals to keep them clear and ’safe’, and they take up a lot of space that could be utilised for more productive purposes (like growing veggies!). Many people also just find them a lot of work to look after, which is especially annoying when their usage is often only seasonal at best.

But, what if you’re already lumbered with a pool and are trying to make the best of the situation? Maybe it came with your property, or hindsight has kicked in after you’ve shelled out thousands to install something you almost never use…. What then?

Some simply drain their pool of water and leave it at that. Although that is an option, it isn’t a particularly attractive one, and the pool interior will still require periodic sweeping and cleaning if you want to avoid raised eyebrows from your mother-in-law and other guests.

Is there anything you can do? Is there a way to use the pool while maintaining aesthetics and perhaps even bringing some other benefits with it?

A couple of days ago I stopped in at the home of Vanessa Fernandes (a former PDC student of Geoff’s) and Justin Sharman on Australia’s Gold Coast – to check out a rumour I’d heard of their swimming pool conversion. It was a fascinating visit!

Permaculture gardens and the pool blend beautifully

You see, about eighteen months ago, after a little contemplation and research, Vanessa and Justin determined to make better use of the big watery pit in their back yard. They decided to turn it into a biologically active fish pond!

The work is still in progress, but is already, in my opinion, a seriously superior version of what they had before. If a pool-to-pond conversion is done well, aesthetics can improve dramatically, and you can also end up with a regular supply of fresh chemical-free fish for the kitchen.

Eating from the pool didn’t seem to be the primary goal for Vanessa and Justin, but rather to create a closed loop biological system that would add beauty and diversity to the rest of their Permaculture system.

How they did it

After draining the pool, they set to cleaning it of contaminants by scrubbing the inside with vinegar and rinsing it clean. This is important or the fish you introduce could die. Before introducing fish, however, plants need to be established, as well as the all-important oxygen-generating algae. Algae forms on its own when allowed, and the best plants to introduce are those you’ll find in natural freshwater environments in your area (lakes, ponds, rivers) as these are best suited for your climate. Justin and Vanessa even introduced a couple of plants that are regarded as ‘pests’ by many government authorities – like salvinia, a fast spreading floating fern. Rather than a pest, the plant serves a purpose here as chicken feed, and its characteristic of spreading fast just means the chickens have a good supply of it!

Another plant introduced is azola – which is very high in nitrogen due to its special relationship with a nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium. This makes it an exceptionally good mulch (azolla is said to increase rice yields significantly – "as much as 158 percent per year"). Of course, they also introduced plants that are great for human consumption – like kangkong, water chestnut and watercress.

The upside down crate in the water acts as a chicken self-rescue platform, in case
one chicken pushes another in (out of spite), and the hapless victim needs a way back out

At the moment the pool supports about a dozen silver perch ("plate sized", Justin said. "About 4-8 kilos of fish weight"). These are native to the region. The fry you can see below are munching on bread we tossed in to tempt the bigger guys that like to hang out in deeper water. I was hoping they might come up an impromptu photo shoot. The adults did make a showing, but they must be seriously camera shy, as they’d only lunge at the bread and disappear before my trigger finger had a chance to move at all. As we had another pressing engagement, I didn’t spend more than a few minutes on this, so forgive me for not supplying a picture of the final ‘product’. I guess it’s yet another fish-that-got-away story….

Baby fish snack on bread that was thrown in to attract the larger fish further down

At the moment the pool is essentially a closed loop biological system. The plants feed off the nutrients supplied by fish and bird droppings, the fish feed off the plants and insect larvae (like dragonflies, etc.), and the algae regulates the CO2/oxygen levels. Zooplankton and mollusks (snails) feed on the algae, the crustaceans (shrimps) feed on the zooplankton, and the fish feed on the mollusks and the crustaceans.

Oh, speaking about snails, if anyone spotted the blue hoses at top and thought I really should have pulled them out before taking any pictures, let it be known that I was going to do just that, but got stopped in my tracks. These hoses also serve a purpose – snails cling to the outside, and also live inside the hose, and it’s from these hoses that the fish like to feed.

As mentioned, algae is very important for the health of the pool – but you can have too much of a good thing. Algae blooms are to be avoided as they can suffocate life in the pool. A balanced algae population can be regulated in three ways: 1) reducing nutrient input (i.e. harvest some fish), 2) reducing light (i.e. add a translucent shade, or a living vine, over part of the pool), or 3) simply scoop some algae out if you get desperate and use it for mulch or compost.

The biggest thing stopping a decent increase in the fish population is oxygen. To regularly eat from the pool, Vanessa and Justin would need to incorporate a water filter/oxygenation system – which is something they’re looking at doing next. As you can see from the pictures, the water in this particular pond is rather ‘natural’. A biological filter would make the water clearer – so, if you wanted, it could still retain the pool’s original purpose (swimming!). Increased oxygenation also tends to keep algae from getting out of hand.

A bio-filter doesn’t need to be too complicated or expensive. Water could be pumped out of the pool and through a gravel trench, and then back into the pool (a solar pump could be utilised). As the water passes through the gravel it gets filtered/cleansed (by the algae that will develop there) and oxygenated. Reeds growing on the gravel aid in making the biological filter itself a closed system.

As well as the general aesthetic and the potential for increased food security and health, pools like these also contribute to the health of the garden in general as they attract a greater diversity of wildlife. Vanessa and Justin now have regular visits from predatory creatures, including white-faced herons and even the australasian bittern, a threatened species.

Essentially, a pool like this is a great example of the very essence of Permaculture – working with natural synergies, and finding ways to make them work for ourselves and the environment. Where modern agribusiness concentrates on chemistry, Permaculturists deal in biology. Instead of reductionist science, which would take just one element and pull it apart to its base chemical ingredients before we look up thinking we understand something, this kind of management takes a broader view.

This reminds me of an excellent passage that brings this thought home well:

Working with living creatures, both plant and animal, is what makes agriculture different from any other production enterprise. Even though a product is produced, in farming the process is anything but industrial. It is biological. We are dealing with a vital, living system rather than an inert manufacturing process. The skills required to manage a biological system are similar to those of the conductor of an orchestra. The musicians are all very good at what they do individually. The role of the conductor is not to play each instrument but rather to nurture the union of the disparate parts. The conductor coordinates each musician’s effort with those of all the others and combines them in a harmonious whole.

Agriculture cannot be an industrial process any more than music can be. It must be understood differently from stamping this metal into shape or mixing these chemicals and reagents to create that compound. The major workers – the soil microorganisms, the fungi, the mineral particles, the sun, the air, the water – are all parts of a system, and it is not just the employment of any one of them but the coordination of the whole that achieves success. – Eliot Coleman, The New Organic Grower, p.3, 4.

Justin and Vanessa’s back yard is not only a productive permaculture garden, but also an extremely beautiful wildlife habitat. I think my camera and I will have to stop by again sometime….

Resources:

Justin gave me a few resources that they found useful for their pool:

• http://www.biofilters.com/webfilt.htm – things that a bio filter does
• http://www.beadfilters.com/downloads/printablecalc.pdf – some things that you need to consider when you are sizing a bio filter
• http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S1519-69842002000400019&script=sci_arttext – "water hyacinth is one of the many plant species we use as a low impact bio filter. When we harvest it, it makes a fine fungal based compost. We use azola as well."

by George Monbiot: journalist, author, academic and environmental and political activist, United Kingdom

I live a few miles from Cardigan Bay. Whenever I can get away, I take my kayak down to the beach and launch it through the waves. Often I take a handline with me, in the hope of catching some mackeral or pollock. On the water, sometimes five kilometres from the coast, surrounded by gannets and shearwaters, I feel closer to nature than at any other time.

Cardigan Bay, Wales

Last year I was returning to shore through a lumpy sea. I was 200 metres from the beach and beginning to worry about the size of the breakers when I heard a great whoosh behind me. Sure that a wave was about to crash over my head, I ducked. But nothing happened. I turned round. Right under my paddle a hooked grey fin emerged. It disappeared. A moment later a bull bottlenose dolphin exploded from the water, almost over my head. As he curved through the air, we made eye contact. If there is one image that will stay with me for the rest of my life, it is of that sleek gentle monster, watching me with his wise little eye as he flew past my head. I have never experienced a greater thrill, even when I first saw an osprey flying up the Dyfi estuary with a flounder in its talons.

The Cardigan Bay dolphins are one of the only two substantial resident populations left in British seas. It is partly for their sake that most of the coastal waters of the bay are classified as special areas of conservation (SACs). This grants them the strictest protection available under EU law. The purpose of SACs is to prevent “the deterioration of natural habitats … as well as disturbance of the species for which the areas have been designated”(1).

That looks pretty straightforward, doesn’t it? The bay is strictly protected. It can’t be damaged, and the dolphins and other rare marine life can’t be disturbed. So why the heck has a fleet of scallop dredgers been allowed to rip it to pieces?

Until this Sunday, when the season closed, 45 boats were raking the bay, including places within the SACs, with steel hooks and chain mats. The dredges destroy everything: all the sessile life of the seabed, the fish that take refuge in the sand; the spawn they lay there, reefs, boulder fields, marine archaeology – any feature that harbours life. In some cases they penetrate the seafloor to a depth of three feet. It is ploughed, levelled and reduced to desert. It will take at least 30 years for parts of the ecosystem to recover; but the structure of the seabed is destroyed forever. The noise of the dredges pounding and grinding over the stones could scarcely be better calculated to disturb the dolphins.

The boats are not resident here. They move around the coastline trashing one habitat after another. They will fish until there is nothing left to destroy then move to the next functioning ecosystem. If, in a few decades, the scallops here recover, they’ll return to tear this place up again.

The economic damage caused by these 45 boats is far greater than the money they make. They wreck all the other fisheries; not only because they destroy the habitats and kill the juvenile fish, but also because they rip out the crab and lobster pots they cross. We deplore slash and burn farming in the rainforests for its short-termism and disproportionate destruction. But this is just as bad.

Ever since the boats arrived, local people, led by the Friends of Cardigan Bay, have been campaigning to stop this pillage. After months of dithering, in March the Countryside Council for Wales advised the regional fisheries committee to stop the dredging. The committee’s chief executive refused on the grounds that its powers “are not terrifically explicit” and “the precautionary principle is a vague term, and we don’t really know how we define it.”(2) He postponed any decision until June 12th – which is a fortnight after the season ended. In 24 years of journalism I have not come across a starker example of bureaucratic cowardice.

What hold does the fishing industry have over our ministers and officials? Does it sink the bodies of their political opponents? Does it supply them with call girls and cocaine? The UK fishing sector has an annual turnover of £570m a year(3). This is less than half the size of the potato processing industry(4). Yet no one has the guts to defy it.

The story is the same all over the world. Next week, on June 8th, The End of the Line will be released in UK cinemas(5). It’s an excoriating, shocking film about the collapse of global fisheries, and the utter uselessness of the people who are supposed to protect them. It follows the journalist Charles Clover as he struggles to understand why no one is prepared to act. After several years of trying, he talks to the manager of Nobu restaurants, to ask why he is still selling meat from one of the most endangered species on earth, the bluefin tuna. The man refuses to take it off the menu, but says he’ll warn his customers that bluefin is “environmentally challenged”(6). But why is it left to restauranteurs to decide whether or not an endangered species should be allowed to survive?

As the film shows, the EU’s scientists recommend a bluefin catch one and a half times as big as it should be; the European Commission then doubles it and the fishermen then take twice as much as the Commission allows. The Mediterranean fleet now catches one third of that sea’s entire bluefin tuna population every year: at current catch rates, it will be extinct by 2012(7). There’s a total absence of enforcement, as even the most blatant illegal practices, like using spotter planes to find the shoals, are ignored by fisheries officials. Worse still, these pirate boats are subsidised by us. Aside from payments by national governments, fishing fleets in Europe are being given E3.8bn of EU money over seven years(8). There has been a total failure to make these payments conditional on fishing sustainably or even legally.

The EU now recognises that its fisheries management has been a disaster. Its green paper admits that 88% of European fish stocks are overexploited and 30% have collapsed(9). Its quota system encourages the dumping of millions of tonnes of dead fish at sea, while its efforts to reduce the fishing fleet’s capacity haven’t kept pace with technology. “In several Member States,” the paper reports, “the cost of fishing to the public budgets exceeds the total value of the catches.”(10) Last week, European fisheries ministers agreed a radical reform of the Common Fisheries policy by 2012, just in time for the extinction of the bluefin tuna.

Of course, as I have seen in Cardigan Bay, it doesn’t matter what they say they’ll do if no one is prepared to enforce it. Our marine ecosystems will continue to be ripped apart until governments stand up to the mysterious power of the fishermen.

Trailer for The End of the Line

References:

1. European Council, 21st May 1992. Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora; Article 6.2.
   http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CONSLEG:1992L0043:20070101:EN:PDF
2. http://endoftheline.com/blog/archives/334
3. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/abi/fishing.asp
4. http://www.statistics.gov.uk/abi/subsection_da.asp
5. http://endoftheline.com/
6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/may/27/nobu-blue-fin-tuna-menu
7. http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE53D00320090414
8. European Commission, 2006. The European Fisheries Fund 2007-2013. http://ec.europa.eu/fisheries/publications/FEP_EN.pdf
9. European Commission, 22nd April 2009. Green Paper: Reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. COM(2009)163 final.
   http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0163:FIN:EN:PDF
10. ibid.

Recent developments at Kailash-Akhara, Adi Yoga Retreat Center, Phu Rua, Loei, Thailand.

By David Perkins (Dharmadeva) – Farm Manager and resident permaculture designer and educator at Kailash-Akhara.

Ducks

Our duck population has exploded from 4 to 22. We have been keeping Muscovy ducks (1 male and 3 females) since December, and their reputation for prolific breeding has proven to be true! After we noticed some ducklings were dying shortly after hatching, we found that well-timed human intervention was necessary to reduce suffocation or trampling in the nest. This resulted in 18 survivors, who have been a delight to watch this month. The adults keep laying, so we now need to eat more fresh eggs to keep the size of the flock manageable, while looking forward to some home-grown meat in due course.

Swales

What is a swale? Imagine a ditch running across the land on contour, so that it collects the runoff of rainfall flowing downhill. A long mound, or berm, below the ditch acts as a barrier, causing the water to build up during a heavy rain. Then it slowly infiltrates the soil. Plants and trees are specifically planted on and below the berm to stabilize it and take advantage of the increased moisture content of the soil. A swale is an earthwork feature commonly used in permaculture design, with which we achieve a great deal of benefit, by preventing erosion, hydrating the soil, and contributing to a more fertile and productive landscape.

The process of creating our swales began with careful observation of the land, and extensive surveying to find the contours and the most appropriate locations. The design for this property now includes 5 swales (3 x 300 meters long, and 2 x 150 meters). With the help of a skilled local man at the controls of the excavator, and a crew of laborers, we hope to have our swales dug and planted in time for the beginning of the rainy season. A swale takes a lot of work to create initially, but once established as a water infiltration and tree growing system, the resulting food forest keeps on giving for a long time… permanently, you might say – a clue to the origin of the word permaculture.

Pond

The upper pond is located in the core area between the training hall and the dormitory building, and its primary use will be recreational. The pond has 3 levels, and a depth of 2.5 meters at the deepest point. The main water source for this pond will be catchment from the training hall roof. It was dug one year ago, but did not hold water due to low clay content in the soil. Now it has been sealed using reinforced concrete, which was chosen for its great sealing properties, easy availability, relatively quick installation, and its durability and longevity. Additional landscaping around this pond will make it complete, and ideal for relaxing or taking a dip to cool off.

Garden

More beds are now in cultivation in the main garden. At this time of year, 2 ravenous pests emerged: flea beetles and grasshoppers. They can present a significant challenge to the organic gardener, and here we confronted them with natural sprays of neem oil and garlic juice – nevertheless, they chewed up more than their fair share of the young vegetable plants. Beans and squash are growing vigorously, and some beds have been sown with cover crops for building organic matter in the soil. In another bed, two of our favorite Ayurvedic medicinal plants, tulsi and ashwagandha, were transplanted, having been raised from seed in our nursery since January.

VAC is an acronym formed from the three Vietnamese words Vuon, garden or orchard, Ao, fish pond, and Chuong, pigsty or poultry shed. It refers to a form of domestic agriculture in which food gardening, fish rearing and animal husbandry are wholly integrated, and stems from farming methods developed in the Red River delta of Vietnam.

The VAC system is a highly intensive method of small scale farming that makes optimal use of land, water and solar energy, achieving high economic efficiency for low capital investment. Plants are used for food, fibre, and fuel, and always products are passed into the production cycle. Developed from age old production agricultural practices, VAC farming now takes place in many regions of Vietnam, with models varying according to the terrain and the climate.

Background & Prototype

In the fertile plains of the Red River delta, a major rice growing area, farmers have traditionally had gardens around their houses for growing produce for their domestic needs. Such gardens form the model for VAC farming.

Initially a hole is dug in the ground. The soil from the hole is used for the foundations on which the house and the animal sheds are built, and to build up banks around the garden beds. (The buildings and the gardens need to be protected from rising water, as the delta floods each summer.) The hole itself becomes a pond, as a result of rainfall and the high water table, and a well is dug for fresh water for the household. Thus an area is created in which animal husbandry, gardening and fish rearing can all take place in an interrelated fashion adjacent to the house.

Plants are grown in the garden in a system of tiered cultivation, in which various species are intercropped and overlapped to make full use of solar energy and soil nutrients. Fruit trees are interspersed with vegetable and legume crops that will grow in the shade. Other legumes are grown around the perimeter of the garden, and timber trees and rattans are planted to form green fences.

A variety of fish is reared in the pond, so that food resources are fully used at different water depths. (For example, tench feed at the top, roach in the middle and carp and tilapia at the bottom.) Taro is planted around the pond and on part of its surface. Gourds are grown on trellises just above the water. Sweet potato is cultivated as pig feed.

The pig sty and the poultry shed are situated close to the pond. Pig manure is used for fish food, and various garden products are used to feed the livestock and fish. During the dry season the pond provides nutrient-rich water and sludge to irrigate and fertilise the garden. Surplus fish are fed to the pigs, or sold.

The whole VAC system is operated by the farmer’s family. They consume meat, eggs, fish, fruit and vegetables and in turn they contribute waste products to the system.

Recent History

The late president Ho Chi Minh had a great liking for gardening and fish rearing. In 1979, on the tenth anniversary of his testament to the country, the ministry of agriculture, the ministry of fisheries and the Ho Chi Minh museum launched two movements: "Uncle Ho’s Orchard" and "Uncle Ho’s Fish Pond". These were not true VAC models, but they marked the beginning of the reintroduction of small scale intensive farming as an alternative to the socialist cooperative large scale farms.

As a result of these initiatives many collective VAC gardens have been established by cooperatives, businesses, kindergartens, schools, churches and pagodas. They are often established around centres for orphans, the aged and the disabled, where people provide free labour and are in turn provided with food that they have helped to grow. They can then either share the produce with family members, or sell it.

VAC Results

VAC practice leads to increased income and improved standards of living. Research has shown that in some communes in the Red River delta where VAC farming is being practiced, VAC income constitutes 70-90 percent of farmers’ incomes, and that their annual income through VAC farming is from 3-5 times higher (and sometimes as much as ten times higher) than that derived in the same area from growing two rice crops per year.

With VAC practice, dependency on rice is reduced as other dietary items constitute a greater portion of food consumed. This assists in reducing malnutrition.

Environmental Impact and By-Products

VAC leads to the creation of pleasant, peaceful landscapes with little or no agricultural pollution. No artificial chemicals are used and tree planting is encouraged. Employment is provided for people of all ages because hard manual labour is not required. Vietnamese women commonly work on the roads, in lime kilns and in distant rice fields. VAC offers them the opportunity to work in a healthy environment close to home, enabling them to care for their children rather than leave them in the care of others.

VAC activities also result in a variety of by-products. Food can be salted, dried and preserved, and crafts such as weaving, spinning and basket-making contribute significantly to family income and quality of life.

VAC Models for Coastal, Delta and Mountainous Regions

The original VAC model as practiced in the Red River delta has been modified to suit Vietnams three principle climatic regions, and further modifications are being made to suit particular conditions, such as in cyclone-susceptible coastal areas. The three main VAC models are outlined below.

Coastal Regions

The typical VAC garden-farm in a coastal area is from 2000-5000 square metres. It is bordered by a row of Casuarina equisetifolia which acts as a windbreak, hinders drifting sand and filters salt. Other timber trees and rattans are densely planted on mounds built up around the garden as protection. Within the garden a variety of fruit trees is grown, such as bananas, mulberries, figs, papaya and citrus, plus tuber crops such as sweet potato, arrowroot and jicama. Fish and prawns are raised in brackish ponds and canals. The most common forms of livestock raised are buffalo, cattle, pigs and poultry, especially ducks.

The Mekong Delta

The Mekong Delta has saline, alluvial soils, and a wet and semi-dry season. People dig canals around their gardens to achieve better drainage and to wash salt from the soil. The fruit trees grown here, such as coconut palms, are selected according to their suitability to the available water (either brackish or fresh), and to the type of soil. On the flat land close to the coast coconut palms are intercropped with the bananas, guavas, citrus, pineapple and rambutan. A little further inland citrus species dominate, and are intercropped with coffee, cocoa and pepper plants. Fish and prawns are reared in the canals, with pig sties and poultry sheds situated by the canals. Bee hives are kept beneath the tree canopy.

Foothills & Mountains

Timber trees are grown on the steeper slopes, with perennial shrubs such as coffee and tea planted lower down. Peanuts (ground nuts), pulse legumes, medicinal herbs and tuber crops are planted beneath shade trees such as cassias. A series of small ditches and contour banks are built along the slopes to prevent soil erosion. Pineapples are grown along the banks. The house is built near the bottom of the hill, surrounded by bananas, orange trees and medicinal herbs. In front is the vegetable garden. The fish pond is at the foot of the hill with the animal sheds nearby. If there is a stream, fish are often raised in cages in the running water.

VACVINA

Since 1985 the Vietnamese government has been encouraging the development of family sized economic units. In 1986 the association of Vietnamese gardeners, VACVINA, was founded, and currently it has branches in 33 of Vietnam’s 44 provinces. This non-governmental organisation has the following objectives:

1. to promote VAC development;
2. to provide education, support and technology transfer to enable farmers to practice VAC; and
3. to exchange information with international organisations.

VACVINA, with its emphasis on teaching nutrition and farm/garden design, shows how old and new food systems can be combined in ways that are highly productive and environmentally sound.