FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Guess you know about http://www.highcountrygardens.com/

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/browse/xeriscape-perennials/

But the above is ornamental.

Below deals with food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryland_farming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...cultural_Resea
rch_in_the_Dry_Areas

All I think of is heavy mulch. We had a very dry year a few years
back so I mulched heavy the next year in preparation. However the next
year was very wet. So I play it by ear with a light mulch as I can
always water but it is hard to dry out the sandy loam here.

Bill


Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Try container gardening.
That is my plan this year for here.
--
Peace! Om

"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once." -- Anonymous

Billy wrote:
FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy

I don't know about vegetables, I have not seen any that are worth a damn if
you don't keep the water up to them. Most have characteristics that are
contrary to drought hardiness (soft leaves and shoots, etc). You know about
mulching etc already.

As for trees and shrubs there are better choices as they have larger root
systems and tougher bark and leaves and can shut down to conserve water when
it gets dry. Here are some that come to mind that work in my district:

Eucalyptus; hundreds of species, all shapes and sizes, suit diverse habitats
many dry, some survive heavy frost or snow, you need to pick the right
species for your conditions. Although not eucalyptus strictly you could
include other gum trees here, eg angophoras

Acacia; as above. Also many other Australian natives of different genera

Crepe myrtle; amazingly tough, also pretty, thrive on neglect although
better if pruned, survive drought and frost

Feijoa (pineapple guava); very tough, quite good looking and tasty, can be
hedged, needs a bit of water for a good crop of fruit but will survive
without it, frost hardy

Liquidambar

Quite a few palms

umbrella tree (sheflera) (sp?)

star jasmine (trachelospermum) (sp?) great perfumed climber

David

In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Here is a start of possible interest concerning dry farming.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/AZ/200002727.html

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Bill wrote:
In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Guess you know about http://www.highcountrygardens.com/

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/browse/xeriscape-perennials/

But the above is ornamental.

Below deals with food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryland_farming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...cultural_Resea
rch_in_the_Dry_Areas

All I think of is heavy mulch. We had a very dry year a few years
back so I mulched heavy the next year in preparation. However the next
year was very wet. So I play it by ear with a light mulch as I can
always water but it is hard to dry out the sandy loam here.

Bill


Bill


Another method that might work to some extent is to provide more room
for each plant, as a larger footprint will provide more moisture when/if
it does rain or when you are able to water. And as has been mentioned
previously, Mulch.

In article ,
chasndeb wrote:

Bill wrote:
In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Guess you know about http://www.highcountrygardens.com/

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/browse/xeriscape-perennials/

But the above is ornamental.

Below deals with food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryland_farming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...cultural_Resea
rch_in_the_Dry_Areas

All I think of is heavy mulch. We had a very dry year a few years
back so I mulched heavy the next year in preparation. However the next
year was very wet. So I play it by ear with a light mulch as I can
always water but it is hard to dry out the sandy loam here.

Bill


Bill


Another method that might work to some extent is to provide more room
for each plant, as a larger footprint will provide more moisture when/if
it does rain or when you are able to water. And as has been mentioned
previously, Mulch.

One of the above sites mentioned twice the distance between rows. The
Hopi seemed to advocate planting deep to contact more moisture.

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

Here in Georgia we had a bad dfrought last year, our lake is down 17
feet. that is straight down. my summer garden was stunted , only hot
weater plants survived. i watered every other day only way i fot things
to live,, hope we get rain this year, but we are already in a drought.
our lake is still down 15 feet

Bill wrote:
In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Guess you know about http://www.highcountrygardens.com/

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/browse/xeriscape-perennials/

But the above is ornamental.

Below deals with food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryland_farming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...cultural_Resea
rch_in_the_Dry_Areas

All I think of is heavy mulch. We had a very dry year a few years
back so I mulched heavy the next year in preparation. However the next
year was very wet. So I play it by ear with a light mulch as I can
always water but it is hard to dry out the sandy loam here.

Bill


Bill


Another method that might work to some extent is to provide more room
for each plant, as a larger footprint will provide more moisture when/if
it does rain or when you are able to water. And as has been mentioned
previously, Mulch.

In article ,
chasndeb wrote:

Bill wrote:
In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Guess you know about http://www.highcountrygardens.com/

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/browse/xeriscape-perennials/

But the above is ornamental.

Below deals with food.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dryland_farming

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...cultural_Resea
rch_in_the_Dry_Areas

All I think of is heavy mulch. We had a very dry year a few years
back so I mulched heavy the next year in preparation. However the next
year was very wet. So I play it by ear with a light mulch as I can
always water but it is hard to dry out the sandy loam here.

Bill


Bill


Another method that might work to some extent is to provide more room
for each plant, as a larger footprint will provide more moisture when/if
it does rain or when you are able to water. And as has been mentioned
previously, Mulch.

A site mentioned doing your normal row distance but planting every
other row. The Hopi link is interesting in that the seed is planted
about 8 inches deep as water may be about. Blue Corn mentioned.
I vaguely remember that the micro climates the Hopi provided was to
hill the corn in a manner that reduced wind dehydration but captured
morning dew.

Complex No?

Bill

Story

A man and his young daughter on house back were traveling along a road
in Costa Rica. A car came by and back fired startling the horse. Both
were thrown to the ground.
Both were OK but shaken. When asked if they were alright. The
response was " A spirited horse No?

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

"Billy" wrote in message

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

Sorry Billy, haven't been reading for a few days so didn't see your
question - too bloody hot here to do anything but loll around contemplating
one's navel.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

I assume you are interested only in veg so will talk about that (if
flowers, use plants from South Africa or Aus) and probably wont' get to
cover all the things I do but here's a few thoughts:

Mulch and shade are very important! When you plant seedlings, use a fine
mulch. I use chaff (alfalfa or wheaten chaff). As plants grow use bigger,
less fine mulch (hay/straw). For corn and tomatoes, shove it on in buucket
loads as both these plants put out new roots into the mulch. For spuds,
mulch as the haulms grow.

If the sun is really severe, then shade plants. I do this with either shade
cloth, cuttings off Sacred Bamboo (I also use this if I have to plants when
it's hot - the leaves fall off over time as the plant hardens up) and even a
light bird netting - it seems to just give a bit of protection to make a
more gentle microclimate. I often plant things in semi shade - like
lettuces or herbs so that they get afternoon shade but morning sun. I also
use upturned plastic pots with huge cuts in the side over things If I notice
that the sun is causing then to shrivel.

I have one bed that has wire all roudn it so I can drape an old floor
leangth curtain over if need be. Old sheets are also useful for this.

Don't waste water. Plant things into a depression so that if you have to
hand water, the water stays around the roots and percolates down. Mulch
depression. Evening watering if you can. As soon as you notice something
needs water give it some - dont' wait 'cos an hour or two later can be too
late. We're often moving hoses around long after dark which makes fun when
you have the sort of venomous snakes that we do and that are supposedly
nocturnal - we go through lots of torch (flashlight) batteries.

Plant early and late if weather allows. In our early spring it's sometimes
too cold and in our mid summer it's too hot to plant so I plant after the
local gardening calendar says I should and hope that the
seeds/seedlings/plants survive. One example, this year Broad (Fava) Bean
seeds went in about 2 months later than was supposed to be their last Spring
planting time. Not a huge crop harvested but still enough to be wortth the
time and the space and the small outlay. Himself has always cliamed to hate
all forms of beans, but I convinced him to actually taste one Broad Bean and
he loved it so much that I then had to share the crop with him. Guess I'll
have to plant a greater number next year to allow for a new addict.

Some forms of planting can also be counter intuitive. Some things I plant
very close together and somethings I plant further apart. Close - trees,
lettuce, herbs, spuds, corn. Further apart - Rhubarb, Asparagus,
Artichokes, tomatoes.

Wind - stop it if you can. We get hugely hot westerlies and they can fry
things to a crisp in a few hours. Over the years I've put up an 8 ft shade
cloth fence with a windbreak on the windward side of it using acacias and
small native shrubs. On the veg garden side of it, I've planted things like
figs and apple trees and Prune trees. On the east of the veg garden I have
a low hedge of Photinia Red Robin (or somesush name) with artichokes in a
row inside that and flowers such as Agapanthas on the far (lawn ) side of
the Photinia hedge.

Depends on how hot it gets where you are Billy. Here it gets over the ton
and can stay that way for a week of so. That isn't too bad if it comes on
gradually, but lately it seems to be cold then a couple of days later it's
stinking hot. That, I think is more of a problem that ongoing heat (except
if therre is hto winds along with the heat).

Hope some of that helps. More might occur to me as responses twig my
memory.

g'day billy,

for me it comes down to mulch, mulch and more mulch, heaps of it on
the garden beds up to 8"s deep, around trees up 20"s and out just
beyond the drip line.

then we use all our used water on gardens and potted plants. we try to
plant native type trees or hardy trees like citrus.



On Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:21:48 -0800, Billy
wrote:
snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len & bev

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/

On Sun, 11 Jan 2009 11:21:48 -0800, Billy
wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.

My first thought is to use soaker hoses. They make the best use of
what water you can afford to irrigate with.

--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)

In article
,
Billy wrote:

FarmI, and any other farmers who live in drought stricken areas,
I would appreciate hearing on how you are coping and what plants are
performing best for you.

It looks like we are in for another year of water rationing here
in northern California, due to lack of precipitation and the need to
provide our endangered salmon with sufficient water for spawning. The
water also gets sent south so that people can grow lawns and hose down
sidewalks in the great desert that is southern California.

Yes, I've "googled" drought resistant vegetables and found some good
sites like
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/new...toryType=garde

Looking forward to any advice you can offer.


Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1031285.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net

Look at this as it touches on drought resistant plants and techniques.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2521880/Com-Plant

"Zuni waffle garden was designed to conserve water in the arid
southwest climate. "

Bill

--
Garden in shade zone 5 S Jersey USA

In article ,
Bill wrote:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2521880/Com-Plant

"Zuni waffle garden was designed to conserve water in the arid
southwest climate. "

Bill

I haven't tried the Zuni waffle garden design, Bill, but I have tried
squash with corn, and beans with corn, only to have the corn choke out
the sunlight. Granted, I laid out the corn on a Cartesian grid before,
planting in a mound (on the south side of the corn) seems more
reasonable to me. If I do plant corn this year, it will be simply to
continue my efforts in trying to acclimate Golden Bantam to my
environment.

Thanks for the idea.
--

Billy
Republican and Democratic "Leadership" Behind Bars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyFnE2Z5bpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTf...ef=patrick.net