One of the long-term projects here involves trying to control some of the never-ending erosion right around the house. Not that we can, or even want to stop the water from doing what it does. In arroyo country of the southwest, the slow carving out of land is stark, dramatic, and constantly changing. What we want to do is slow it down, stop the damage from cattle, and start to build a healthy riparian zone around some of the creek. The alternative is that eventually (20 years or so) our house will land in the creek.
What makes it fun, in my view, is that doing this work doesn’t require a lot of know-how, heavy equipment, money or tools. It’s the kind of project that I enjoy most – low tech with immediate rewards. I’ve found that simple solutions usually work best: an Occam’s Razor kind of philosophy. The mantra of the jury-rigger set.
A few days ago, Alan and I took a walk down the arroyo, slipping and sliding around the snow and mud, to find and cut branches of healthy willow shrubs. I used a foraging bag, which is water proof and holds a lot. I use it to collect herbs in the summer and carry schoolwork when traveling.
We gathered a couple dozen cuttings, and they are sitting in a bucket now, starting to root while I finish building the fence around the first replanting area. Actually, the fence is finished, just waiting to hook up the solar fence battery.
In the strange division of labor that all couples develop, most of this project is mine. (On the other hand, fixing the cistern, a future post, is Alan’s). Maybe because this is sort of “gardening” and that has always been my bailiwick?
The plan is to put in about 50 willows here, which involves shoving the cuttings about a foot into the soft ground. That’s it. Then, I’ll plant something called “streambank wheat” and dryland wildflowers, transplant some sage bushes and rabbit brush from the meadow above. Because we miss our aspens, I’ll put a few up on top, but that’s just icing on the cake. We’ll have to water it all for a month or so, if it doesn’t rain, but after that, these plants pretty much take care of themselves, as long as cows can’t come in and trample them. The red ribbon is to warn elk that there’s a new fence here!
I have one other area a little downstream marked off for this project and hope to get them both done before hot weather kicks in.
4Fords Journal 
green hands always wins against nature and the cattle eating everything. you’ll get it.. I would be clueless….
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