Another Dry Year

[Train]

Ya

I found this little thing I
found very interesting
and so thought you may
also.
It is essentially an article
presented by the Climate
Watch Magazine » Droughts
Downpours Harvesting Rain
on a Dry land Farm.
So here is the clip http://www.climatewatch.noaa.gov/vid...a-dryland-farm
If you can't view the clip
here is the transcript.
Video Transcript

Kirk Brock: We got a thousand acres we grow—and it’s all dry land—so we have to

consciously think about water. We get rainfall in this area. We get almost 60 inches a

year typically. But it’s that time between rainfalls that we’re trying to use cover crops

and conservation tillage to mitigate those 30-day periods of dry weather– maybe 14

day periods of drought.

Wendy-Lin Bartels: Farmers have always been paying attention to the weather and

the climate. It’s what they do. It’s the way that they function. But, a lot of the times

it’s in a reactive way, and it’s not so much preparing for it. So now that we have the

science information and the climate forecasts we can actually provide that to farmers

and they can think about their planting—think about their harvesting—and prepare

for that.

Kirk: I’m going to use this research data to influence my decisions on my operation to

make my bottom line better and my livelihood for my family and our economic

viability into the future. We are going to use this research to our advantage.

Kirk: Historically, in the farming community here, there was a July and June had more

even distribution of rain. The rainfall events were usually one inch, or two inches. But

now, in the last 20 years, it seems that our number of four-inch rainfall events has

increased, but the time between those rainfall events has expanded. We don’t get a

rainfall event more than two inches in conventional farming because anything more

than two inches runs down the hill and into the creeks. But with these conservation

tillage and heavy cover crops we can harvest a four-inch rainfall event and get it into

our soil profile for our cash crop to use.

Wendy-Lin: My father was a farmer, and so I grew up on the farm. And I grew up

watching him and watching how he learned. And he would learn by paying attention

to what was going on around him.

Kirk: One particular day in the summer we had, it had rained. It wasn’t much slope, in

a field. We had a quarter inch of rain, and the water was already running out of the

field. So I made the decision right then we’ve got to go to a system that holds the

water in the field to allow it percolate into the soil profile.
Train

[Imp]

Hopefully, mid to late summer here in Texas, La Nina is supposed to let go to El Nino again, which means more water. Maybe as late as fall, for the more rain, but I'll take it when it comes!

I sure do not want to see another year like last summer here again. I'm still sick of smoke and reporting fires, and worrying over fires.

It's hard on old folk to fight fires, but getting them out fast is paramount.

[TastyofHasty]

I have this link in my "gardening" bookmarks: US Drought Monitor,
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

and this is "long term drought indicator blend percentiles," white and dark blue means not much change ... y'all in TX and northern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama ... lots of spots ... droughty.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...db/lbfinal.gif

[Imp]

Originally Posted by TastyofHasty

I have this link in my "gardening" bookmarks: US Drought Monitor,
http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

and this is "long term drought indicator blend percentiles," white and dark blue means not much change ... y'all in TX and northern Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama ... lots of spots ... droughty.
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/product...db/lbfinal.gif

Hope all that will change with the weather pattern change. We are still under "moderate", but it's a concern after last year especially.

[izitmidnight]

I believe it will be another very dry year. We are on the edge of Severe Drought. Another week or two without rain and we will be in it! Thankfully, the city still allows the community gardens to water. My garden is under a 6 inch layer of straw/mulch except around the peppers since they like it kinda dry.

Good luck to everyone who is in the drought stricken areas! May you have unexpect gentle rain!

[Longtail]

I dont know how to deal with dry weather. We almost always have sufficient moisture, many times too much is the problem. We get very edgy if it doesnt rain around here. I have to say, it is almost ideal normally. too dry is scary.

[BeckyW]

Sent you a pm. Thank you for the post.
BeckyW

[Storkie]

Ya know, it would be Mother Nature/God's good laughs to slam a few hurricanes or tropical storms into the drought areas - the type of storms that just sit there and rain and rain, and you think there's no end in sight. (If you get these, please don't throw a book at me - just saying - Murphy's law)

[TastyofHasty]

The worst drought thing I can remember in my life was Bastrop, Texas.
I still wonder what happened with Bellzeybubba, an iDig member who lived there.
http://idigmygarden.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48616

[Nastarana]

Absolutely, Train. Even in a city or suburban lot, it is important that whatever precipitation lands on your property stays there. Better it filter down through your soil into the water table than run off into rivers, sewers and the ocean eventually.

Even for mixing potting soil, I try to use rain and snow water.