I think California is generally dry anyway except for an occasional La Nina or heavy snowfall in the mountains. Ive lived here most of my life and there is always some kind of problem with water. Its also true that as California's population continues to rise, the less water there is to go around. People talk about how much water agriculture takes up, but nobody wants to talk about how much water it takes to keep a lawn and golf course green. And all those swimming pools to fill on top of that! Now we have fracking to contend with..............and whatever your opinions and facts are about global warming , the world is in a heap o trouble. I take that back. The world will always be fine without us. WE are in a heap o trouble. I really don't know what "normal" is because Ive seen dry and wet and in-between, but this year is gonna be bad. So Ive been doing my part to keep my water consumption down. More than usual - except for accidentally leaving the hose running a couple times last year. And by mistakenly allowing a neighbor to work in my garden when he had no respect for water use or my landlord's property. ( I kicked said neighbor to the curb very quickly) Ive been saving all my grey water and using it to flush the toilet and water my garden. This is still winter, so while it is fairly warm outside, the sun isn't drying out the soil quickly. My grey water is doing just fine. I'm finding that aside from some loads of laundry and dying my hair on occasion, I don't use as much water as I thought I did. Which is good, but I don't know what this will mean for the garden when it gets hot. I do know that produce and everything affected by produce consumption is going to go sky-high in price!
I will have to do my best to keep on with the plan of double-digging and amending the soil. My sister with chickens brought me a bin of chicken poop last week and it is composting nicely in my tumbler bin! Its hot! Ive never had hot compost before! My plants are going to be soooo happy! But this small amount is not enough. Ive started another pile out by my garden and I'll be collecting more manure and aging it until it can be used. I'll have to go buy a few bags of some organic chicken poop in the meantime. Its pretty cheap.
I'll be more selective about what and how much I plant. I'll mulch, and I'll do some kind of bucket irrigation system. I sent away for my 2014 seed catalogues and I drift to sleep dreaming about heirlooms and flowers for the bees.............no, I really do............
Fingers crossed that all of this will work. Of course it will mean more work, but I need the exercise, Hauling that water around is going to be great for upper arm strength!
So far, the backyard has been ok without a lot of water. I give it some now and then, but I keep it to a minimum. So far so good.
And my peas are very happy. These are Tall Telephone. Flowers, but no peas yet. I'm not sure that I really care as I didn't realize that they are a shelling pea - and I just don't think I'll get enough to even bother. But I like looking at them!
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