Sunday, January 21, 2018

REAL land life - water

I'm hoping to develop a new series to write about. The way life is "really" like, on the land. I show a lot of my successes, with a fringe of the failures. This is not an intended deception, rather I needed many years experience, under my belt, to determine what actually constitutes an unmitigated failure.

Unmitigated failure means, they're failures which seem to be set in stone, no matter how I address them. The approach changes, but the repeat of the failure doesn't. The information I share, is therefore applicable to my location and climatic factors. It may not necessarily apply to yours. So don't feel like anything I talk about, MUST be set in stone for anyone else, who owns land. Remember to keep it real, where you are.

First big admission: we don't grow our own food. Second (relating) admission: the land and climate, is not compatible with growing food. BAM! There it is. I've not wanted to believe this was true of our land. I thought if I just kept trying new things (permaculture, hugelkultur, wicking beds, shade cloth, buy another rainwater tank, etc) then the pendulum would eventually swing in our favour.


 Fig tree fruited when rain came in spring, but withered in summer
~we won't be able to eat these


But let's get real: the laws of physics "real". We live in an area that receives no prevailing winds from the coast, so any radiant heat, builds - making evaporation high. Plants get stressed. When we do receive rain (in very high amounts) the humidity arrives, along with the pests. Because it's clay soil too, the heat dries it out quickly, once the sun returns. And it always returns. This cycle happens every summer, and even showed last winter, when we had summer temps in the middle of it.

The opportune moment for growing food, successfully, is getting more unpredictable. Even when we DO manage to get something to crop, it's often attacked by pests, bacteria or simply falls off the plant/tree, because it's struggling with the prevailing conditions.


 What leaves are left on the fig tree, are being devoured by grasshoppers


The unmitigated failure, is the prevailing conditions, not being compatible for growing a reliable food supply. Maybe bush tucker? Maybe kangaroo and brush-turkey meat? But not fruits and vegetables. It would not be suitable for pigs even. Small livestock, such as chickens, only.

I know the missing link, that would make ALL the difference. Access to permanent water. We have 11,000 gallons of tank water, as our ONLY supply to our house. No permanent water stores, such as a creek, dam, or bore (well, for the US readers) otherwise. Which ensures every protracted dry spell, the first thing to suffer to conserve water, is the food we grow.


 Small bowl of chat potatoes, almost killed by water logging


We might get a hand-full of tomatoes, a couple of potatoes, or some silverbeet, before the dry (or even wet) starts killing off everything. But it has not been enough to sustain on. We still purchase 97-100% of our own food. Depending which season it is. We seem to get all our water at once, or no water at all.

If we were pioneers (or even indigenous) we'd have walked away from this land already. It's not yielding the kind of reliable food stores, to keep people alive. Reliable, is the key word. Therefore, it's the industrial network, still feeding our family almost, all the time. We try and source our fruit and veg, from local growers, but even that is unpredictable. With five acres, who wants to admit they're still buying up to 100% of their food, off site? It's not for the want of trying.

I thought the overall problem was my lack of understanding, how things grow. But I have succeeded, every time the prevailing conditions, allow. Very small windows exist, where the natural elements favour the foods we attempt to grow. And we've deliberately selected hardy varieties. For the most part, we lack enough natural rainfall, and prevailing winds to keep temperatures down.


 Even the watered ginger, under shade-cloth, suffered in the heat.


We CAN grow food more reliably here, we just need about $20,000 to dig a bore. That would give our family some greater food security. I'm hoping it might be on the cards one day. Until then, we have to rethink our growing endeavours. Food for another post!

So my advice to anyone seeking land to grow food on, is to ensure you have access to a *permanent* water supply. No matter how pretty that land looks, or how cheap the price tag - you won't get very far, without water. It will become an unmitigated failure, which stops anything from growing on your land too. You might be fortunate enough to live in an area, with favourable conditions. Which is great. But how long before the prevailing conditions change? Still make access to a permanent water supply, a priority, if you intend to grow most of your food. It's intended for a lifetime, remember.

I wish it were different, or another way around it. But that's REAL land life, for you. Make permanent water your priority, and you'll see food from the garden.


23 comments:

  1. Chris, that's no good. You wouldn't consider moving would you? Of course here in town we take access to water for granted and even then I sometimes don't have good harvests once the heat and humidity arrives. My cucumber leaves just shrivelled up on a really hot day recently. If it is any help the Farmers' Market at the Cobb and Co Museum starts up again on Saturday :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've contemplated leaving in the past, but ultimately, it's not a good long term solution. Given, most of the land we could afford in this area (we want to stay in this region) would have similar climatic problems. It seems like a lot of effort to move, just to experience the same problem, on a different patch of ground. I'd consider it a waste of energy and resources.

      It makes more sense to devise a different strategy, in the short term for our food (you've made some great suggestions) and figure out how to bring permanent water to the land, long term. We have several locals we buy veg from, who do have bores, so that also helps.

      Delete
  2. Really good post, understanding your land and environment is key to growing crops, we to have clay soil, which is hard work, but here in UK water is not a problem, we do live in one of the drier spots in UK. I hope you can one day have your bore hole and then enjoy your land as you expected.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You get the rain, but shorter growing seasons. It's always a compromise on something, with any patch of dirt. ;) I hope we get to bring that water in too.

      Delete
    2. Forgot to say, Thanks, too. :)

      Delete
  3. Hmmmm, look around you. What does flourish in your area? Also what enterprises do flourish in your area? No one would expect gold bearing ground to grow food - by way of analogy only. Is your property clay rich or mineral rich or perhaps something else?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Eucalyptus! They flourish like the Dickens, lol. I've thought that must be our secret gold mine, we haven't tapped yet. ;) Like your thinking.

      Delete
  4. Wow Chris, an excellent post. Brutally frank, but all too often reality is brutal. Most of my growing failures stem from lack of water as well, although we seem to have generally more rainfall than you. How deep would you have to go to get a permanent water supply?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's so true, Leigh. Reality is brutal in being so uncompromising. While I'm not a Doomsdayer, I do believe in having my eyes open to weak links in our chain of survival. I haven't wanted to accept our link was so weak, in the food growing dept. But the prevailing conditions have been so uncompromising. Time to get real. :)

      I haven't checked with the neighbours how far they've had to go down, but I've heard it's potable (ie: drinkable) water. We're lower down the slope too, so I imagine we should go less than the neighbours have, on top of the ridge.

      Delete
  5. Yes, Chris, water is the key. And water access, even if you have town water will go away once there's no fossil fuels for pumping it to households. We were lucky enough to get good December rains, but there's been nothing much since.

    We've just had a couple of days at 42 C and others at 39 C and the plants just can't cope, no matter how much water is at the roots. The leaves of my beans, tomatoes and cucumbers are crisped and burned just like your ginger, and I put shade over most of them and many were in wicking tubs with fairly moist soil. The green tomatoes just burned. It has been so disheartening and will get worse as climate change kicks in further. It seems that no amount of water and shade can combat the extreme ambient air temperatures which will become the norm rather than the exception.

    Your experiences are good to relate...so others get a broad view of the many problems coming down the line. I've been so disheartened by the effect of the weather on the garden, that I can't even find the enthusiasm to do a blog post on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you said that about the climate changing overall, because in our 10 year tenure here, it has. Even though I've improved my growing areas and techniques, it's only gotten harder to produce something. It's getting hotter, for longer and the pest load is increasing. The nesting birds, aren't able to keep up. I'd hate to think what the pest load would be like, if we weren't putting out water for the birds.

      The disheartment was part of the reason I haven't been blogging much either. Starting my kids at school, was the other. And it was challenging to write what I did - because who wants that kind of scenario BEING their reality? True to my word of the year though (sacrifice) I think it's part of reality. I'm seeing a lot of sacrifices in nature, more than I ever experienced here to date. I'm having to give things up, I've worked hard for, on a more regular basis.

      The question for me is, what next? What are my options if we don't want to leave the area we live in?

      Delete
    2. How did the wicking tubs you tried go? Were you able to grow much in them? I think it's going to be the only way for some situations, because you can manipulate position, shade, soil and so on.

      Delete
    3. The wicking boxes were too exposed, and once the heat gets into the black plastic, it just bakes the soil - even with a layer of water, available for the plants to wick up. So if I tried wicking boxes again, they'd have to be under shade cloth.

      Delete
    4. I must admit mine are in shade or only get morning sun. I did consider putting white cardboard around the outsides but it hasn't been necessary as the plants seem OK. I must put a thermometer in the soil and see how the temp alters during the day. The only other alternative I can see is to get clear plastic boxes and line them inside with that white plastic corrugated corflute which they use to make signs. But it's more expense and more plastic which the world can do without.

      Delete
    5. I just haven't had luck with them in my location. They need to be cooler. But thanks for the feedback on yours. :)

      Delete
  6. Oh Chris you sound so disheartened. We live in town but we also have a bore/spear. If we had to use town water only, we would not be growing anything. At the moment the bore and deep mulching is the only thing keeping the garden alive.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is disheartening, but it's also real. Sad on one had, but enlightening on the other. I'm glad to hear you're garden is still growing, and you've confirmed what I suspected was the weak-link - a permanent water supply. Are you growing in ground, raised beds or tubs, Jane?

      Delete
    2. All of the above Chris. I would really like to try wicking beds next to see if they help in keeping the moisture up to the plants. I have fruit trees in pots and these used to only need two or three in a hot week of watering over summer. This year it's a minimum of five waterings, and this is just keeping them alive. The fruit trees in the ground are fine once established. The water table is not very far down. We are only 150m to the beach and our soil was sand. Much mulching and composting has given me something that acts and looks like soil. My raised beds are the gardens that dry out the quickest. It's all a case of experimenting for the best results.

      Delete
    3. Yes, your extra watering is in line with the consecutively long and hot days. Little to no rain, or even cloud cover. It dries out anything in pots, raised beds, etc. I'm glad your fruit trees are at least spared though. :)

      Delete
  7. You do sound disheartened but also accepting now of the limitations the local climate/water supply puts on your ability to grow some of your own food. We all have to deal with the realities of the place where we are planted; to understand that it may not align with our dreams, sometimes not even with a whole lot of bloody hard work! Maybe, after all you've tried, you'll now be able to put your energies into other areas of your life that you want to develop and grow. Meg Xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We're thinking along similar lines Meg. Where to place my energies for best use. That's what I'm contemplating now, and hope to share in future. Thanks. :)

      Delete
  8. Hi Chris, maybe you need to do some research on plants that may suit your climate a bit better. Lookup rainfall data and find other areas like it around the world and try that. There are a lot of different plants available that may not be your classic european style veges but are still very good!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Surprisingly, my spaghetti squash survived the drought and intense heat, yet my choko - with a reputation for being as die-hard, as they come, actually, er...died??? I'm stumped by that! I can only grow the tough stuff, but even they succumb to death, or disease - unfortunately.

      I have a carob tree, which survived and cropped (again) on natural rainfall, but the pods got infested with beetle larvae. Because we got that one wet spell, back in spring. The pods prefer dry conditions for drying. So it's always a bit hit and miss, even with survivors.

      I've actually had a lot of vegetables and fruits, reputed to be productive in my conditions (and have in the past) go the way of the Dodo. It just depends how long the dry-spell lasts, and how intense the heat is. The last few growing seasons, they have been very unforgiving conditions. Even for the die-hards. Additional water, is the only thing that will make the difference for us.

      But thanks for the suggestion, because knowing what you should be growing, can make all the difference. In most circumstances. ;)

      Delete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. I love reading what you have to share. Gully Grove is a Spam free environment though, so new commenter’s only leaving hyperlinks, will be promptly composted.