Terraces

Many projects have been happening on the farm and in life. The farm projects are long over due in getting done. These projects have been on “the list” for a year or two. Their length of time on “the list” has various reasons from sheer mechanics of doing the project to outright procrastination.

Our farm is not located on one level piece of land. Our pasture is level, but the house, barn, pens and shelters are built upon a hillside. Not a steep hillside, but a hillside that the water during rain storms flows rapidly down, the rushing water causing erosion. One farm project was to slow the progression of erosion. There will always be erosion when water runs downhill. Slowing the progress helps to save the soil and keep me from falling into ditches and washed out areas caused by the erosion.

One solution to slowing the flow of water is terraces, flat step like landscaping of soil held in place by rocks, logs, or other types of building material. Terraces are not designed or built to hold the water in place such as a dam. Terraces are flat, allowing the water to slow down in momentum due to the lack of gravity pushing and pulling it down the hillside. When water reaches a terrace, the water looses momentum, spreads out not forming a trench and soaks into the ground. The water will still flow over the terrace and onto another terrace or towards its destination determined by the highs and lows of the soil and the force of gravity.

This project took several weeks to complete due to obligations of having to work a job away from the farm. For fill I used manure from the horse stalls then covered with soil that had already moved farther down towards our pasture by years of water travel. The soil was trapped from traveling farther away from the original source by a fence. Moving the soil up to the terraces allowed the level of the ground to be lowered to a height that the current fence was the proper height to contain the animals.

Creating the terraces and moving the soil solved two issues on the farm. First, the water will be slowed down and not erode as quickly. Second, I did not have to redo a fence that was becoming “too short” to keep the horses contained. After building the terraces, I planted some grass and winter wheat to help keep the soil in place once the grass and winter wheat sprouted. This area will also provide grazing for the sheep on what was once bare ground due to the constant erosion.

Small changes can have big effects. A small change in elevation will have a big effect on how fast the water travels and erosion. Small changes in our own lives can produce big effects. Our habits in eating and activity, although seemingly small can have large effects on our health. Even the small amount of time to breathe, reflect and pray before responding to an angry word, can change the course of a conversation. Small things matter.

amtolle