Shoveling the sawdust into the dam
We are lucky to have a local sawmill, where we can always find an abundance of sawdust for use in our garden. We also have a friendly neighbour, who has a large pile of rotting sawdust on his property which we have access to.
Our recently dug dam has a slight leak (we have incredibly difficult soil to dig a dam in…), and using rotted sawdust may help seal the dam. The sawdust also has a number of other uses.
It rots down at the bottom of the dam and is a way of creating soil on the floor of the dam, so we can start growing food there. We are planning to plant a number of different water plants, to create a healthy and abundant environment for the fish we are planning to add to the dam (and eventually catch and eat!)
Ground cover is starting to come up!!
The sawdust also helps to establish the ground cover on the edge of the dam, which will minimise erosion of the bank (which means we will be able to do some more splashing around in the future without worrying about erosion issues!!) , and the ground cover minimises clouding of the water during and after heavy rain, so we are keen to ensure there is plenty of it!
The growth on the dam wall has had its first haircut already, it is looking fantastic! Weather has cooled a little here, so we haven’t been using the dam as much as we would like, but summer is on its way!
Author: Zaia Kendall
Zaia grew up in a family of musicians in Holland, and has a background in top sport (snow skiing) and web development and design. She co-founded the PRI Luganville and PRI Sunshine Coast Inc (now PermEco Inc.) with Tom, and runs the “invisible structures”, like finances, business administration, website design and maintenance, writes articles and records and edits videos. She assists Tom in running the Kendall Permaculture Farm and supervising other volunteers. She is an active member of several musical projects and bands, involved in community music and runs percussion and marimba workshops, is the percussion leader for the Woodford Folk Festival People’s Orchestra and composes as well as plays music. She is passionate about community music and loves seeing people discover that they can play!