digging ditches (not to glamorous) "helping neighbors"

[rockriver]

neighbor's water comes on our property big time.
this water adds to flooding problem that gets us a few times each spring.

so I've spent the last 4 days helping neighbor build new ditches (he keeps calling them swales!) to divert his groundwater into a pond of his that is usually dry.
my time. my equipment, my fuel. (his equipment is broke!)

the real subject of this post is to encourage all of us to get to know and befriend our neighbors.
if the shtf it will sure be nice to know the neighbors ahead of time.
if the s never hits the fan, there are benefits.
examples:
1. the same neighbor I'm helping has helped me on several large projects.
2. stressed neighbor... most folks won't have anything to do with him... but we take him some veggies/fruit.
I visited in hospital. pulled his truck out of hole. and... he's started watching our place like a guard dog..
calls us anytime anything unusual happens... he's wound tight, but, he's helping us
3. little neighbor lady was old and sick and died... she left word with heir to offer to sell us her XXXX before anyone else. she knew we were in market for item.


I need to know who's stressed, about to die, skilled house builder ahead of time!

[jimmycthemd]

On a similar thread:

Have a neighbor, we'll call him Florida (where he moved from). Was married and they were pretty much a party couple...has lived next door for about 10 years. We'd talked and I'd lent him some tools and helped him with a couple of projects around the house. They divorced recently and cost him about $500k. He's a liberal and always says (somewhat sarcastically) that his retirement plan was to support the liberals and live off the government.

Another two neighbors...one we'll call the Contractor (general contractor) and the other we'll call Crazy Navy (former naval officer about 85 with early stages of dimentia).

Contractor is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, due to chemo, can't do much around the house. He's there, Johny on the spot, mowing his lawn and generally helping the wife (several years older than him) take care of things around the house. We know the wife and know that it's purley platonic.

Crazy Neighbor and Florida get along like oil and water. Navy has accused both Florida and his ex (while she was living there) of several things (falsely) and threatened to shoot them (he has a ccw). Police have been called several times, etc., a real mess. Navy's wife dies and his relatives have him in a nursing home. While this is going on, Florida helps the relatives get ahold of realters, local lawyers, etc., and is a real help in the situation. The house is empty and the refrigerator causes a house fire and Florida calls the fire department and, again, gets ahold of the relatives and helps clean up the house, finding them a reliable contractor to help restore the house so it can be sold.

Moral of the story? It's hard to tell which neighbor will REALLY be there when the balloon goes up. I think that, althought he is a liberal at heart, he'd be there, pitching in, if the SHTF.

Pay attention not only what folks say but what they DO.

[protus]

I've only met..as in having conversation with two of mine. The one that has given us the most "issues "..hasn't been bad...we get citrus...they get eggs now and then. The younger folks who live there are a Tad rowdy at times but that common for this area.
We just met our new ones few days ago..I've been watching them clear their place behind us...as they were getting close to my property line. I was mowing when they pulled to the gate. Wife was looking for how had chickens (she heard) the rooster ...she got "gifted " 6 from here son and two ducks and had zero idea. We talked..showed them the pen..met the husband. Both rode hard wet types...construction all their lives etc. Patting words were " grate to meet y'all we'll have to have a beer one day." .

Sides that I wave at folks up the street when jogging....nothing more.
Everyone knows almost everyone here it seems....if not someone does and then its passed around of "who's who " LOL.
Most folks least my side of the tracks kinda stick to themselves ...the other side where my family lives seems more of the "lets all cook out Friday " social club types ...

[610Alpha]

neighbor's water comes on our property big time.
this water adds to flooding problem that gets us a few times each spring.

so I've spent the last 4 days helping neighbor build new ditches (he keeps calling them swales!) to divert his groundwater into a pond of his that is usually dry.

Technically a swale is water path/vessel that is dug on contour, meaning that the water should fill evenly. He could have the swale overflow sill flow into the pond.

The purpose of swales is to make water take the longest path across the land. This is very important, without water you're not growing food and your not hydrated.

Another way to increase water in your soil is to make wood core beds, dig a trench dump in a bunch of wood and cover it with dirt.

If you made one of these wood core beds that was say 6ft tall or so you would be able to eliminate irrigation in a year or two. The wood acts like a sponge and stores the water for the plants.