Still Raining...Heavily

Rain with a few spots of hail. The trenches are still holding.

Rain Runoff Redirected

In the midst of one of southern California's heavy weekend storms, Eric did some heroic work digging trenches, building embankments and moats. Our property is on sloped land. As the heavy rains come down, the water builds momentum leaving a wake of erosion.


In Bill Mollison's book on Permaculture, he says the best place to store water is in the ground. He talks about building eddies that slow down rain runoff, allowing the water to soak more deeply into the earth. Eric's been working on this on our property. Eric said the benefit of working in the heavy rain was that he was able to see how the water flows. There was no guessing if one area was higher or lower, the water spoke for itself.


Another storm swept over L.A. Wednesday afternoon. The storm offered the opportunity to take pictures of the fruits of Eric's labor.


The water that was seeping into our "Little House" is now diverted to the black sage.

The smells of the rain have been delicious.

Rainwater Harvesting Now Legal in Colorado

Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Rain harvesters are no longer outlaws in Colorado. Two new laws reverse a century's old complex policy on rainwater rights. Read more about it in The New York Times.

Good Transparency on the Pacific Gyre

If you haven't heard already, there is a gigantic accumulation of plastic floating in the middle of the pacific ocean. Good magazine created an info-graphic that explains it's contents. It is a beautiful representation of a repulsive ecological disaster.

There are many reasons to avoid plastic as much as possible but this is at the top of my list.

Link to Good's "Through the Gyre"