I'm Trying to Build a 'Factory' of Biomass in the Desert

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About the honey: I'm not sure about your area, but please look into competition between native (solitairy) bees and honey bees. Depending on your local species, honey bees are known to in some cases outcompete local solitairy species that have specialised in plant species, causing a lot of biodiversity problems (plants not being pollinated well because honey bees can't do it very efficiently etc). (For credentials: I have a MSc in Biology)

Your pots are black, even with water the roots can bake. Give them shade from the afternoon sun and your transplants will have better success.

RE: the drip irrigation. The hose you are using wont work with as low water pressure as you have there. They need at least 2Bar (30PSI) to work properly. What you need is drip TAPE. It works with pressures from 0,2 - 1,25 Bar (3-18PSI).

Just a suggestion. Every trip to the ranch could include 4 square bales in that pickup to be used as mulch. Neat project 🍿

Why not just keep a small plate for bees? Giving water is charity. Just give them water and they will always be nearby for future.

Shaun - anywhere you can put up a shade cloth to add a shady area for getting plants to get going? Shade will increase the time that it takes for moisture to evaporate, and lead to more plant growth. I know fencing is high on the priority list but I think that getting some work on “key line” trenching is equally high. “Key line trenching” (for those who don’t know) is like a swale but just a small narrow trench leading from a ravine out to the ridge line in a very slight decline. This directs water flow from the ravine out to the ridge line increasing the amount of water that can soak in and rehydrate the land. The seeds that are already there will start to sprout and grow. Additionally small rock dams or weirs could be built in the ravine at each “key line” trench to help slow and direct water into them. Meanders can be added to the ravines to force water to flow around them and encourage strategic erosion of the banks such that the water spends more time on the land and doesn’t run off in a straight line taking all the sediment with it.

A milestone for me would be seeing an video with actual rainfall.

To achieve a fine mulch, use a chipper/shredder. Smaller pieces of mulch have more surface area relative to their volume. This allows microbes and decomposers to access more of the material at once, accelerating the breakdown process. Finely ground mulch holds moisture better, creating a more hospitable environment for the microorganisms that aid in decomposition. Smaller pieces of mulch can settle more closely to the soil, which helps with nutrient exchange and speeds up the decomposition process.

So happy João was able to come and help, this is great!

Being in a desert situation, you will have all kinds of desert wildlife chewing on your waterlines to get a drink. Only had it happen here in Michigan one time, but the squirrels do chew on my maple syrup, sap line, that are strung through the woods

This is one of my favorite shows to watch. It’s amazing watching your growth as a person with a vision.

Next time you transplant agaves, they should be a lot bigger! I cultivate A. americana on my farm in Northern Country, Victoria, Australia, and I have learned, by trial and error, that these kinds of tiny pups hardly ever survive! The offsets need to be at least 12 inches tall to survive and 2 to 3 feet tall to thrive and do well! Over 3 feet tall and they are a bit too big and heavy to handle, but the larger pups certainly do establish more quickly whereas the 12-inch pups will often just sit there for years before deciding to get bigger than 12 inches tall!

shaun i used to work bees commercially south of Tucson in conjunction with the USDA Tucson bee lab. The disposition of those bees you are filming is too hot. Their extreme defensiveness will only become noticeable once their hive is established. What you are seeing is the workers seeking a water source as surface water is too scarce at the moment. My suggestion is to audit the plants in the area and assess the times of year when a nectar flow is occurring(blooming flowers). That is how you evaluate the value of your land for honey production. Talk to a local commercial beekeeper to better understand local honey production. good luck.

Greetings from Scotland where rainwater is never a shortage! lol 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Love following your journey!

Hey Shaun. You should do a colab with Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't. He would be very knowledgeable about local plants/trees that would do well for you. He resides in Texas now.

Re the water strategy. Trying to tow tons of water it to the top of a hill which isn’t high enough to provide enough pressure for the solenoid and drippers anyway is daft. All you need is a small pump - low flow, high pressure. Like an RV water pump, a shurflo or similar, with built in pressure switch. Run it off a solar and battery system, I know you have those already. Good progress though, great to see those seedlings!

Hey mate love you're work! You need to build fencing to keep the cows out from your seedlings. It is going to need to happen at some point. Pick your most fertile place, the most likely to have success in creating a desert forest. And fence off an acre or 2, it is very expensive but will be worth while in 5 to 10 years. Focus heavily on that 1 or 2 acres and the rest will grow. Good luck from Adelaide south Australia

I got small hoses fed by gravity running all year around. In my experience, 1:14 this small hill/berm(?) and the one below which the water needs to travel over might cause issues. Sediment and small particles will accumulate in the hose if the pressure is not strong enough to pull it over. I suggest digging small trenches for the hose through the berms and making sure the hose is as straight as possible. I'm not familiar with hose filters but perhaps installing the filter at the top of the hill rather than below the berms would remove that potential issue. Best of luck and greetings from Sweden.

Another thing you could do to add pressure on your tank, is to get it as air tight as possible, put a Schrader air valve on it, and pump air into the tank. A simple 12 volt tire pump for a car tire would work great to add a couple PSI to the tank and help get your water to the emitters