Sunday, March 1, 2009

stress or starvation


The lack of rain has been a serious issue in Texas for several months. I have been forced to change the way that I do things in the garden as a result of it. I am not a big fan of watering but in order to make a harvest out of the investments that i have made in out land in Kurten I have been watering 2 x a week. . Its not easy to water 3/4 of an acre . I have had to build irrigation using 1/2 inch pvc pipe sections about 20 feet long with 4 sprinkler heads and a hose connection . I have built a total of 10 of these so far . and I move them around the garden. I have also started using the system used by the A&M system digging trenches between my rows and running water down the trenches in order to water the roots of the plants. It takes a long time to dig a trench 100 feet long 5 x in one afternoon.
The stress of ]all this work is exhausting but my efforts are paying off and the plants are growning. But of course not like they could be if
if it would just rain.
This drought has really made me think about how reliant we all have become on the modern water sources we have available . Im not sure what i would have done 100 years ago if i was trying to grow food for my family with a shallow well or if I was really lucky a tank to get water from. I guess we would have been really hungry. I would really like it if any of you old timers out there could tell me how your parents or grandparents would get through times of drought like we are having now.
Have a great week. I think it is going to rain on SAturday.... . Vicki

No comments: