💧 How to catch water like a beetle

And your chance at a year's worth of seeds.

Did you know the kiwifruit was originally called the Chinese Gooseberry? Kiwis (New Zealanders) got turned off by the name, so they changed it to honor the country's flightless bird, a Kiwi. Makes me wonder if a Kiwi ever fed a kiwi to a kiwi.

In today's newsletter:

  • 🌱 Your chance to win a year's worth of seeds

  • 🔥 The Big Idea: How To Harvest Water Without Rain

  • 🌎 Natural wonders: Watching a river freeze over in front of your eyes and other epic natural phenomena

Win A Year's Worth of Seeds for Your Garden

That's right. We're doing a giveaway.

For one lucky grand prize winner, we'll buy you a few thousand heirloom seeds (more than a year's supply for most gardens) from the folks over at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. 

Second and third-place winners will get 5 free packs of heirloom seeds from the same shop.

🐞 How To Catch Water Like A Beetle

Whenever gardeners discuss harvesting water from their environment, there are typically two or three suggestions.

You'll almost always get the standard rain barrel and roof combinations. In Permaculture Land, everybody wants to be the first to recommend a swale or pocket pond, even if it makes no sense for your project.

Of course, nearly all of the water harvesting techniques you'll hear involve rain. That makes sense, given the volume of water you can harvest from a good thunderstorm, but rain isn't the only way to pull water from the sky.

The Other Water Harvesting Technique:

Part of being a permaculturist requires paying attention to what happens in nature around you. If you can mimic what Mother Nature has done for millions of years, you should — it's no different where water is concerned. If every living thing requires water to survive, some fascinating traits have probably evolved over the years.

But if we aren't talking about catching rainfall like everybody else, where should we look?

I suggest you start at one of the oldest deserts in the world: the Namib.

The Namib Desert is roughly 80 million years old, and its driest regions receive only 0.08 inches of rain annually. Despite the lack of rainfall and luscious vegetation, the desert still contains plenty of life. But wait... without rain, how can anything survive?

The secrets to harvesting water without rain are carried on the giant shoulders of a tiny little creature. It wanders the expansive sand dunes inch by inch, not knowing its funny tendencies are inspiring new technologies worldwide.

What is it?

The Namib Desert Beetle.

In the land without rain, we're looking at a little magician taking a sip of water. How does he do it?

Every single morning, this beetle treks up the steep desert sand dunes and hefts his boisterous backside into the air. With evolutionary traits that would make Darwin proud, water condenses on the beetle's shell, navigates tiny channels down to its head, and flows as droplets into its mouth.

It's like the old saying, "When life gives you lemons, turn your body into a juicer."

In this desert (and many others around the world), sparse precipitation doesn't mean there's no water to harvest. The Namib's coastal proximity causes the tops of its dunes to be kissed by fog nearly every day of the year.

But there's still an obvious question. Fog might be enough for a minuscule beetle, but what about people?

Well... of course. I wouldn't be writing about it otherwise, would I? Here's some practical proof of the concept:

The megacity of Lima, Peru, boasts a population of 10 million yet receives less than an inch of rain yearly.

Residents were once able to pull water from surrounding rivers. As the city expands, those sources are gradually becoming less and less reliable. Families that can afford to truck in water do so. Poorer families walk to better sources or buy as little water as possible.

The situation sounds dire, no question about it.

Thanks to plants, animals, and insects like the Namib Desert Beetle, there's a better future for the city's inhabitants. New variations of fog catchers apply the same natural concept to a much larger surface area.

Source: BBC, Ethereal Art of Fog Catching

These fog catchers, alternatively called fog nets, require very little construction and can capture between 200 and 400 liters (50-100 gallons) of fresh water every day. Granted, Lima has quite a bit of fog, but that's a certifiable MASSIVE volume of water.

Now, instead of choosing between buying water or food, families can have both. Surplus water supplies mini farms, which feed the families.

Catching Water Vapor At Home

If you sometimes feel like you live in a cloud, I recommend trying out these fog nets. Worst case, they're a passive water-harvesting tool that gets you a few dozen gallons of water every year. Best case? The sky is the limit.

Fog nets, like the ones in Lima, are super simple to build; typically, you'll only need some tall posts, shade netting, a channel to catch dripping water, a storage vessel, and ties to tighten it all down. Put them on the highest elevation you can access.

For those readers who live in a consistently sunny environment, no worries. You probably still have lots of water trapped in the surrounding air (aka humidity).

If that's you, there are some alternatives to fog-catchers. Source Hydropanels use solar energy to push air through hygroscopic materials, which condense humid air into drinkable water. In average humidity, each Source panel produces between 3-5 liters daily.

They work in Arizona, so they probably work for you too.

🌎 Natural wonders for your eyeballs (10/10 guarantee):

That's it for this week's newsletter.

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