We got the almonds planted in the field behind the house. I know they are only sticks right now, but it is soooooo nice to have trees back there. It already feels like an orchard, instead of a open ground.
I can hardly wait to see these trees grow!!
On a side note, can you see the water? We watered the trees in. The field was lasered dead flat and the rows are 600 feet long. We cut the water off and you can see it is perfectly flat.
Why is that important? We can irrigate with almost perfect efficiency without a drip system in these conditions.
Why is that important? Drip systems are not a silver bullet. They are a tool. Drip systems are energy intensive, because you have to pressurize the system. Drip systems are also labor intensive, because you have to check every emitter, every day. In this field we are as efficient with our water, without the costs. Not bad.
We have never had water to waste as long as I have been here. Even before this current drought we were always careful with our water. Not only is that proper conservation of a precious resource, it is good farming. If you over water plants you can drown them. If you under water plants they stress. In neither case do they produce the quality or quantity.
Below is a piece I wrote four years ago. It is hard to believe that only four years ago people were asking me if that drought was over. I stand by my closing comment here-
Is
the Drought Over?
A
logical question after our heavy rains and snow last winter and the fact people
were snow skiing on the 4th of July- is the drought over?
The
answer is Yes... and No.
The
fact is we have wet years and dry years in California and they tend to come in
bunches. I have looked at the historical data back to the 1860’s and every
twenty years or so there is a two or three year drought. John Steinbeck
mentions the pattern in his novel ‘East of Eden.’
This
past winter we had 160% normal rainfall. Millions of acre feet of flood water
ran out to the ocean. (An acre foot is approximately 325,000 gallons). Meanwhile,
on the west side of the valley, farmers are only getting 80% of our full
allotment.
So, Yes the drought is over—for now. We have had
two winters of heavy rain and snow. But,
No, the drought is not over because we haven’t learned to save water from the
wet years to use in the dry years.
Please Don't Forget- This next week is my reading from "This Week on the Farm" at Peeve's Public House in downtown Fresno, Thursday night at 7pm. Come hoist a local craft brew and enjoy the evening.
You can find directions at http://peevespub.com/
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