Fabled Oaks Farm

~ Water Harvesting Earthworks Implementation ~

Mainframe Design

Location: Temecula, CA

Land & Climate Characteristics: The 18.9 acre property features 6.4 acres of mature avocado orchard, 3.8 acres of juvenile olive orchard and .8 acres of vineyard. Over 1,100 feet of De Luz Creek flows year round through the property, bisecting it into two sections. The creek is bordered by oak woodland and some remaining chaparral sections. The entire property was covered in native CA chaparral until 2002, when over 80% of it was scraped bare in preparation for planting avocados, which was completed in 2005. Topsoil loss from this initial clearing, as well as the later removal of half the avocados (due to Phytophthora root rot) was severe and remedying it was a main focus in formulating the dryland agroforestry systems proposed for retrofitting the olive and vineyard areas.

Young olive orchard plantings looking up towards the main residence.

Client’s Vision and Goals: The clients envision creating an abundant homestead that can nourish their family and surrounding community for generations to come by creating a place where people, animals, plants, and insects can express their fullest innate potential. They wish to build literal and metaphorical soil by living in connection with nature and providing a lived example that will inspire their close relations to take similar steps in their own lives. You can follow their continuing journey on Instagram @fabledoaksfarm.

Mainframe Design Elements

Water
- Passive water harvesting earthworks to capture road and property run-off (formerly contributing to creek flooding) and infiltrate it to irrigate dryland agroforestry cropping areas.
- Re-patterning of active rainwater harvesting system overflow to halt inbound erosive flows, additional rain water storage for greater water resilience.
- Erosion control plantings with vetiver grass and earthworks where erosion is actively happening.
Access
- Additional vehicle access to permit truck and trailer access to future livestock housing areas without having to turn around.
Shelter
- Siting and orientation for future equipment barn and ranch headquarters building.
Living Systems
- Climate-appropriate plantings to maximize the biological benefit from additional water infiltration in the form of biomass.
- Perennial cover-cropping of bare soils to reduce erosion and increase fertility.
- Diversification of existing monocrop plantings into multi-layered systems that increase overall production, restore healthy ecological function and reduce input costs.
- Management of broad-acre areas with livestock to improve soil fertility (and thus plant health) and provide food for the family and community.
- Recommendations for wild-tending the riparian zone into a forager’s paradise while also enhancing it’s beauty and ecological integrity.

Basemap of existing conditions vs. mainframe water and access design map.

Design Map Call Outs

Proposed surface flows following implementation of the passive water harvesting earthworks throughout the olive orchard blocks.
Zoomed in look at the location of swale lines, level sill spillways, water flows and vegetative bank stabilization for the passive water harvesting earthworks.
Contour vetiver grass plantings in old orchard area experiencing severe active erosion.
Orchard expansion zone.
Natural swimming pool retrofit of the existing kitchen garden zone.
Proposed flow path following implementation of the Carancho Road pick-up drain leading into the NW Vineyard Swale.
Truck and trailer loop from main driveway to the future animal and nutrient processing area.
Dryland agroforestry zones.
Rolling dip crossing the west driveway and transiting water from the NW Swale to the West Olive Swale.

Water Harvesting Earthworks Implementation

Implementation Scope: Mainframe passive water harvesting earthworks as specified in the Mainframe Design in early February of 2021. The earthworks included…

Elements Implemented

~950 linear feet of swale spread over four separate swale lines, with a combined bank full capacity of ~ 17,200 gallons.
A geologically-armored pick up drain that can be “turned on” with ~5 sandbags to direct run-off from the roadside drain (where it would normally run right by the property) into the swale system. This feature alone will put an additional 150,000 gallons of water per year into the soils at Fabled Oaks Farm – simultaneously alleviating storm flow surges and improving base flow in De Luz Creek.
Seven geologically-armored flow transitions – energy dissipation pools, armored sills, media lunas, splash basins and knitted rock mulch rundowns.
Two rolling dips where water is transitioned over existing driveway surfaces in a non-erosive fashion. Rolling dips enable overland water flow across a road surface while also maintaining 4-season driveability and a high speed of vehicle travel.
This system is estimated to infiltrate between 750,000 and 1.5 million gallons of precipitation that would have previously run straight off the property or passed by it on the road surface during a typical rain year.

Earthworks Implementation Gallery

Pick-up drain transitioning into northwest olive swale.
Armored step-down from the pick-up drain into the NW Vineyard Swale.
Northwest Vineyard Swale level sill transitioning across one section of driveway.
Northwest olive swale transition across driveway into West Olive Swale.
West Olive Swale level sill spillway.
Level sill spillway into catchment basin transitioning into a rolling dip to cross an orchard road before exiting the property.
Armored catch drain discharging into a rolling dip to transition flow across an orchard road.
Armored drain leading to the property exit drain.
Mini-excavator just barely fit between the vineyard rows.
East olive swale line freshly cut.
NW Vineyard Swale line freshly cut.
Rolling dip connecting the NW Vineyard Swale with the West Olive Swale.
Trying to jump start the dead excavator – gotta always have a back up plan!