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With my disappointment that I would have to maintain my apple trees due to the dry weather I got to thinking why not work with nature instead of against it and pick crops that are suited to droughts.
It is ok to have to maintain a couple of crops by regular watering sometimes but is rather onerous for the whole growing area when I don't have running water.
I have experimented with some grains and found that ryegrass seems to hate my heavy clay soil, with only a few having survived after several tests on more than one area, while wheat seems to really be doing well.
I am just reading this article: https://www.marthastewart.com/drough...ables-11707663 which has quite a few that are both drought tolerant and I would be interested in eating. Peas and beans seem to be a regular theme and I do remember growing them last year in the now famous drought and them doing well. Oh and root vegetables like potatoes and jerusalem artichokes. All these are great for being nutritious as well unlike empty salad stuff like kale or lettuce.
It is ironic that in winter the land is almost a swamp and waterlogged but as soon as spring comes the total opposite.
Maybe longer term it is a good idea to work on larger water catchment basins to collect water which is enough for the whole spring and summer droughts which are coming to be staples of these seasons nowadays to overcome the unfavourable conditions while in the shorter term picking drought tolerant crops but the latter still mean less work anyhow and lots of nice veges that seem to fit that category, quite a few of which I was planning to plant already this year.
It is ok to have to maintain a couple of crops by regular watering sometimes but is rather onerous for the whole growing area when I don't have running water.
I have experimented with some grains and found that ryegrass seems to hate my heavy clay soil, with only a few having survived after several tests on more than one area, while wheat seems to really be doing well.
I am just reading this article: https://www.marthastewart.com/drough...ables-11707663 which has quite a few that are both drought tolerant and I would be interested in eating. Peas and beans seem to be a regular theme and I do remember growing them last year in the now famous drought and them doing well. Oh and root vegetables like potatoes and jerusalem artichokes. All these are great for being nutritious as well unlike empty salad stuff like kale or lettuce.
It is ironic that in winter the land is almost a swamp and waterlogged but as soon as spring comes the total opposite.
Maybe longer term it is a good idea to work on larger water catchment basins to collect water which is enough for the whole spring and summer droughts which are coming to be staples of these seasons nowadays to overcome the unfavourable conditions while in the shorter term picking drought tolerant crops but the latter still mean less work anyhow and lots of nice veges that seem to fit that category, quite a few of which I was planning to plant already this year.
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