Pump up your local soil fertility with this simple system

Ducks love a bit of water to float about in, it's just part of their nature. By supplying a dedicated, well designed setup we can fulfil the ducks need for water while creating a valuable nutrient resource for strategically located plants.

First take and old bath. Locate it beneath a roof edge to collect rainwater. Insert a vertical pipe that passes down and out through the plughole, the top of which is slightly lower than the edge of the bath. When the bath fills it will overflow down through this pipe and out underneath at a specific location. Downhill from the bath lay out a swale to collect and infiltrate water. Below the swale plant your productive plants.

We have included a layer of chipped limestone in the bottom of the bath as ducks like to poke around underwater looking for snacks. This also adds some calcium to the otherwise acidic mix.

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Fertigate with ducks

Fertigate with ducks

A simple and effective way to fertigate (fertilise while irrigating) fruit trees or other productive plantings using an old bath tub. Like all good permaculture solutions, this stacks functions by providing the ducks with a source of water to enjoy while collecting their nutrient, discharging it via gravity. It could also provide some thermal mass to help nearby plants during cold times...
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ducks  water  nutrient