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Life off the grid in the SW Texas desert. An experiment in sustainable living. NUMBERS AT THE END OF EACH BLOG POST: temp at 8PM,high temp,low temp,rainfall,wind conditions(CalmBreezyWindyGusty). YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/TheFieldLab Daily live streams at https://www.youtube.com/thefieldlab/live
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15 comments:
from 6/09: "At that rate, my reserves will last 286.25 days. Looking forward to some more substantial gains." Ask, and it will be given…
still down by ~ 2¾" by your YTD numbers…
hopefully that boosted your tanks a bit.
HarvestH2o
checked and it looked like you could be wet thru Monday… 30% chances… but the humidity has to be a buzz kill with those temps - really saps the cooler's efficiency. At least there is a small temp drop for the weekend, before it climbs again - will be mondo muggy. Kinda like a heat wave in Hoosierland — without the green.
After working at my Dad's nursery in Seabrook, Texas, for about fifteen years, I too became sensitized to the rain--or lack thereof.
The three of us watered every plant with a hand-held hose, a task which required about forty hours a week for one watering. The nursery had to be watered twice a week during the summer with some plants getting a third watering.
Many times it would rain across the street at the house, just pouring down and not a drop on the nursery. That's probably a weather anomaly you didn't much notice until moving out to the Lab.
Sometimes, it drives me nuts seeing my students turn on the water at the sink to clean up and then walk away leaving it on!
I lived in Texas during the drought of the 1950s. It only seems better now. Severe drought is always only a few weeks away. Those reservoirs built following the 50s drought weren't meant for the current burgeoning population.
You do a great job of water management. But anyone who lives in close connection to the land will alway be at least a little worried where we live, and a LOT more concerned out where you are.
Rick, would you believe I am just up the road from Pine Mtn? ~Sherri
I fully understand that answer. Looks like you had nice down pour yesterday based on the photo and the Good Lord is looking after you. I viewed your weather forecast and you have 40% chance of rain today (Wednesday, 6/18/2014). We had afternoon shower with hail (buck size shot) in Pine Mountain, GA. There was also that deadly dual tornado that hit northeast Nebraska town of Pilger yesterday around 3:45 PM. Fox news reported the killing a 5 year-old and a motorist and injuring 19 others, and demolishing half the town's structures. Extremely sad news and my prayers will be with the families of Pilger, Nebraska.
That truly amazing Sherri! I would never have guess that.....I was thinking you were a Texian.
Actually that dual tornado that hit Pilger, Nebraska occurred on Monday, 6/16/2014 and not yesterday as I mentioned above. I'm little foggy on what day it is....I think I need another cup of coffee. Having trouble typing too....Oh well.
I'm a LaGrangean, lol. Well, not in the city proper. I'm in the Rosemont district.
Sherri, That's amazing you live just up the road and we are both reading and post on The Field Lab. I guess it is a small world.
LOL! Are you on facebook? I'm Sherri IronBard Cooper on there.
Considering how much water you use to haul to TFL, are you having to do this again? Sometimes I know I'm right there about what you are dealing with, the water moving/ storage. I know it has been hot as the dickens there for awhile.
I wear the Ingot a lot, too hot to wear the t-shirt right now, amazing how many folks inquire about the Ingot, I truly love wearing the piece on my neckless. Gives me strength, and pure ness of thoughts of kindness.
I posted a link to this on todays blog from John but I bet you all will enjoy this also. From the article(link at bottom)-
The featured documentary, Back to Eden, reveals a simple organic gardening method that can not only transform your personal garden, but may even be part of the food solution needed on a global scale as well.
Far from being life sustaining, our modern, large-scale, chemical-dependent farming methods strip soil of nutrients, destroy critical soil microbes, contribute to the creation of deserts where nothing will grow, and saturate farmlands with toxic pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that then migrate into ground water, rivers, lakes, and oceans.
This video really inspired me and after watching it I called my local tree cutting service and was able to get three truckloads of wood-chips dropped on my driveway for free and wheel barreled them on my landscape. The great thing about the wood chips is that they are waste and most companies will give you all you want. I plan on adding more every few months.
One important aspect I learned though is that the wood chip pile will tend to decompose rather rapidly if you don't spread it on your landscape right away. So it is best to spread the chips over a few days and not leave it in a pile. Otherwise you will wind up needing to wear a mask when you use a pitchfork to move the chips into your wheel barrel to avoid inhaling the dust..
I am convinced that Paul makes load of sense and that this is a crucial part of the equation for creating healthy soil to produce healthy plants. Wood chips seem to eliminate the need for any fertilizer or mineral supplements, reduce watering and make weeding a snap.
I hope you will overlook the religious overtones of this film if that doesn't appeal to you, because regardless of your religious beliefs (or lack thereof), the information shared still has tremendous value, and is sure to be of interest to anyone concerned with sustainable agriculture. As presented by Documentary Storm:1
"Dana & Sarah Films, a nomadic grassroots film production company, travel to Washington where Paul Gautschi has developed a revolutionary gardening technique that is estimated to cut back on the need for irrigation by up to 95 percent.
(copy and paste below link or search words from above) ENJOY!
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/06/21/back-to-eden-organic-gardening.aspx?e_cid=20140621Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140621Z1&et_cid=DM46777&et_rid=561300399
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