On Wednesday I finished the digging portion of the swale for the 2014 food forest. I added some more organic matter that I found in our neighborhood including: grass clippings, aspen limbs and even some worms.
This first photo shows the organic matter that makes up the woody core of the swale mound.
Here are some photos after the digging.
I dug this half of the swale with a skid steer with a straight edge bucket. The other half was dug with an excavator with teeth on the bucket.
Having dug Swales with an excavator and a skid steer I found the skid steer to be quicker. I do wish the skid steer had teeth on the bucket so I could rough up the soil. The skid steer has a five or six foot bucket making it really quick to dig this swale. I’m sure a large excavator with an experienced operator would be quicker than I was on the excavator I rented.