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drought
Apr 18, 2014 10:41:55 GMT -5
Post by davida on Apr 18, 2014 10:41:55 GMT -5
Getting the water to where you want it might require some degree of engineering. Water will always run at right angle to contour. With a contour map, you can fairly easily calculate the volume of water that you need to handle for any amount of rainfall. Then you design the system to handle your maximum rainfall. When you break this down to gallons per minute, you can visualize what is needed.
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Post by steev on Jun 3, 2014 0:23:12 GMT -5
Update on that stupid Sites Reservoir: I got around to taking the back way out. Took me ten minutes longer, being unfamiliar and two-wheel-drive. It's a beautiful drive, having some lovely mountain vistas. Most of it is narrow, winding, mountainous, unpaved, graded, graveled road. It is usually locked to non-residents in the wet season and will not support any significant traffic in any year that has enough rain to maintain that reservoir.
The fools pushing to build that reservoir would be better employed building funerary pyramids for the super-rich, who should pay for that, rather than putting this stupid shit on the public dime! I think we need to put our tax dollars into public education, so we have a populace educated enough not to suck along with such unmitigated bullshit!
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drought
Jun 3, 2014 13:21:12 GMT -5
Post by 12540dumont on Jun 3, 2014 13:21:12 GMT -5
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drought
Jun 3, 2014 21:52:26 GMT -5
Post by steev on Jun 3, 2014 21:52:26 GMT -5
Very interesting stuff; I'm curious where he actually grows, there being more to "suitability for me" than DTM and drought-tolerance. There were few of his suggestions in my fields, but I put that not on him, but to my own scatter-shot approach. To some degree, my environment is much like Joseph's, radiative-cooling-wise and aridity, although the temperature-whipsaw is rather more extreme on my farm, I think ( and my water is ground-water, so drip, not water-cannons ).
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Post by bunkie on Jun 4, 2014 9:56:42 GMT -5
Great info Holly! Thanks for posting!
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drought
Jun 16, 2014 20:46:44 GMT -5
Post by steev on Jun 16, 2014 20:46:44 GMT -5
When I went to shut off the pump yesterday, having run to (solar) capacity a day and a half, there was a new sound. I just shut things off and will investigate next week-end. My suspicion (fear) is that it was the sound of the pump sucking air; if so, I'll be sucking gas. Two-thirds of my peak-irrigation area is already fallow (a polite way to say I'm growing diddly-squat).
I think I'll look into growing dehydrated veggies.
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drought
Jun 16, 2014 21:29:15 GMT -5
Post by flowerweaver on Jun 16, 2014 21:29:15 GMT -5
I recently read Nabhan's book Growing food in a Hotter, Drier Land. I am a fan of Gary's work and buy a lot of seeds from Native Seed/SEARCH. That said, I found very little helpful to my situation. I cannot tell you how many friends have read that book and want me to save my farm with ollas. This might be a great idea for watering some patio plants in sandy loam, but who realistically is going to pay $30/ceramic vessel every three feet and dig through all this rock to install them? Who is going to drag a hose around to fill them regularly?
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Post by steev on Jun 16, 2014 21:38:18 GMT -5
Now you know what destroyed the Anasazi: the lack of a Home Despot from which to buy cheap ollas and hoses.
Climate change? They'd have beaten that if they'd just used better tech; silly folk! Luckily, we, today, are ever so much more aware and advanced that we need not fear Mother Nature, being so much more powerful than She, indeed having been granted Dominion over Her and all the World by "prophets" thousands of years ago, when they really "knew what was what".
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drought
Jun 21, 2014 1:26:22 GMT -5
Post by 12540dumont on Jun 21, 2014 1:26:22 GMT -5
Flower, I was going to buy that book. I'm growing out one of Gary's corns..PI 476868 "Blue Corn" which is a 40 day to silk flour corn. I had really good luck with the 60 day Tohono O'dham from Native Seed.
I'm taking his advice very seriously about planting shorter day crops, so I can irrigate less. My farm is planted in 3 feet wide beds, 50' long. On each side of the bed is a path...about a foot wide. Which makes each bed 5'. I was talking to Leo about planting a row of perennials every 5 beds. It appears the the birds are planting mulberries for me. Gary's further south than me....so some of his plant recommendations don't work here. I'm pretty sure macadamia nuts will not grow here. However, loquats do well...but there leaves are tough to deal with. I loved seeing your cactus with the corn.
Has anyone grown Jujubees?
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drought
Jun 21, 2014 3:29:25 GMT -5
Post by copse on Jun 21, 2014 3:29:25 GMT -5
Flower, I was going to buy that book. I'm growing out one of Gary's corns..PI 476868 "Blue Corn" which is a 40 day to silk flour corn. I had really good luck with the 60 day Tohono O'dham from Native Seed. I'm taking his advice very seriously about planting shorter day crops, so I can irrigate less. My farm is planted in 3 feet wide beds, 50' long. On each side of the bed is a path...about a foot wide. Which makes each bed 5'. I was talking to Leo about planting a row of perennials every 5 beds. It appears the the birds are planting mulberries for me. Gary's further south than me....so some of his plant recommendations don't work here. I'm pretty sure macadamia nuts will not grow here. However, loquats do well...but there leaves are tough to deal with. I loved seeing your cactus with the corn. Has anyone grown Jujubees? I've got two jujube seedlings in the ground. Hoping to make this if they live to produce fruit.
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drought
Jun 21, 2014 12:21:56 GMT -5
Post by flowerweaver on Jun 21, 2014 12:21:56 GMT -5
Flower, I was going to buy that book. I loved seeing your cactus with the corn. It's a very interesting book that I enjoyed reading. He weaves the practices of the ancients (gathering of herbs from the desert floors, building wadis, creating shade, etc), desert fathers spiritual parables, and science of climate change with suggestions and solutions. Maybe it's that I read a lot, and most of these ideas have already been presented in permacultural writings. Some I already implement, like noticing the changes in encroaching species, keeping track of historical weather, seed saving, soil building, rainwater harvesting, creating pollinator habitat, growing polycultures. Maybe I will seek out some of the fruit recommendations. The rest just isn't practical for implementation at my place, like the ollas or fredges. He suggests preparing for climate catastrophes...having just gone through (another) one I'd say it's a good goal for which it's difficult to prepare. It sounds like you've been through your share of them, too, so I'm sure you can weigh in on that as well! Your droughty place looks a lot like mine, perhaps a bit more rolling, less rocks and no cacti with your corn!
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drought
Jun 21, 2014 13:41:34 GMT -5
Post by 12540dumont on Jun 21, 2014 13:41:34 GMT -5
Yes, I've moved the cactus far away to the edges. The kids were always falling in it when they were pups. It's still there though.
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drought
Jun 21, 2014 17:01:18 GMT -5
Post by 12540dumont on Jun 21, 2014 17:01:18 GMT -5
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drought
Jun 21, 2014 19:03:59 GMT -5
Post by flowerweaver on Jun 21, 2014 19:03:59 GMT -5
We leave anything of potential food value in the fields, including mesquite and cacti. Can't tell you how many times I've backed into that thing, ouch! My county looks to have all five drought designations at once right now. I guess we've had enough rain to be out of 'exceptional,' but it's a stone's throw.
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drought
Jun 22, 2014 21:14:29 GMT -5
Post by steev on Jun 22, 2014 21:14:29 GMT -5
Jujubes grow fine on the farm; thay're very tolerant of poor soil and dryness. I think they're a "hillside" crop in China.
They're another thing I have to get into grafting, having a copious supply of seed for rootstocks from rootsocks thst lost their grafts.
I find them trouble-free, easily-dried, long-keeping, and tasty in a good range of uses.
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