Re: California's Drought

**Kelejan** 6/23/2015, 12:54 pm

At the moment we have about five hundred fires on the go in British Columbia alone.
Depending on wind direction we get some smoke. Clear for today so far.

Marc Iverson 6/23/2015, 12:56 pm

Hope it doesn't get too bad up your way, kelejan.

The smoke from a couple years back really hurt my garden, too! Lots of ash shut down some of the plants and disease levels skyrocketed.

CapeCoddess 6/23/2015, 12:58 pm

Really, Marc. That is so interesting...yet sad. Was everything covered in ash and couldn't breathe, is that why? If so, can it be washed or blown off?
CC

**Kelejan** 6/23/2015, 1:11 pm

In all the time I have lived here (1979) there has never been a really big fire near us. Lots of small fires that have been dealt with due to the diligence of our firefighters.

A few years before we arrived the local Mount Sentinel caught fire and I remember my brother-in-law said they watched it over four days from their house on the opposite side of the Columbia River.

I, also, live opposite Mount Sentinel from across the Columbia River and year by year the trees are getting larger and no doubt one day they will catch fire again. We need have no fear as the river is pretty wide at this point.

My own worry would be the hillside behind my house and next door's cedar hedge that is about forty feet high and is far too close to my home. I cut off as much as I can that grows over my boundary.

VJ72584 6/23/2015, 1:35 pm

I think you could make an olla homemade. Here is a link to something I had in mind. I think I would actually glaze the top pot to keep the water from evaporating that way. And put the dish that is usually under the pot on top of the whole. He used gorilla glue but plain caulking might work. Something to consider since it has been so hot. I am thinking about trying it in my flower bed.

http://blueyonderurbanfarms.com/228/making-an-olla/

Marc Iverson 6/23/2015, 5:35 pm

CapeCoddess wrote:Really, Marc. That is so interesting...yet sad. Was everything covered in ash and couldn't breathe, is that why? If so, can it be washed or blown off?
CC

There was ash deposited on the leaves and in the beds. I've read that even though you'd(I would,anyway) figure ash was from burning stuff so it must be sterile, it can actually somehow still pick up and carry disease. And it has its own pH and assorted toxins as well. Blight was going around, but I'd never seen so much of it, and many very vigorous plants drooped, stopped producing, and some died.

I rinsed off the leaves and the rest of the plants as thoroughly as I could, but the effort might have had minimal results. More ash was being deposited constantly, day and night over a period of about a week from one or two major fires alone. And whatever I got to, had already had a chance to sit on the plants for a while.

I guess that's a great argument to cover your plants if you think some big fires are headed your way. You can always uncover them if it doesn't happen.

Marc Iverson 6/23/2015, 5:38 pm

VJ72584 wrote:I think you could make an olla homemade. Here is a link to something I had in mind. I think I would actually glaze the top pot to keep the water from evaporating that way. And put the dish that is usually under the pot on top of the whole. He used gorilla glue but plain caulking might work. Something to consider since it has been so hot. I am thinking about trying it in my flower bed.

http://blueyonderurbanfarms.com/228/making-an-olla/

Not a bad idea. Pretty small pots in the example, but the basics of the idea make sense.

**sanderson** 6/24/2015, 2:55 am

We already have 4 Topics regarding ollas. Maybe the discussions could be posted in one of them??? That way they won't get buried in another topic.

**sanderson** 6/25/2015, 4:52 am

California temps predicted for the next 10 days:

Fresno (me, in the middle of the Central Valley) - 100s tongue

Yuba City (northern valley) 90s and 100s
Elk Grove (just south of Sacramento in the Delta) 90s and 100s
Rocklin (east of Sac towards Tahoe Lake) 100s
San Mateo (coastal just south of SF) 70s - lucky folks!
Palm Desert (desert between LA and Las Vegas, sort of) 107-113*F Yikes What a Face

San Diego (southern CA where Mel lives) 70s with small chance of rain

The coastal towns often get cool morning and evening fog when the Valley is boiling, so folks flock to Monterrey and Pismo for relief.

Mulch, water and shade.

**Kelejan** 6/25/2015, 2:53 pm

Yes, as much mulch as possible, to make the best use of allowable or available water.

Cajun Cappy 6/25/2015, 4:18 pm

My heart, and prayers goes out to all you in drought stricken areas. I kinda feel guilty sitting here in our house while it comes what us country boys call a "Real turd floater" ya may be a country boy is ya know or have heard that phrase Razz

boffer 6/25/2015, 4:38 pm

Well...the country boy who taught me that phrase went on to say, 'but we don't worry 'til the outhouse starts floating away!'

Cajun Cappy 6/25/2015, 4:48 pm

yessir I just didnt wanna go into that much detail Smile

boffer 6/25/2015, 5:00 pm

California's Drought - Page 4 3170584802

And I had to substitute 'outhouse' for the actual word he used!

Cajun Cappy 6/25/2015, 5:06 pm

yep das why I didnt wanna. I actually heard grand pa call grand ma on the phone and tell her "mama sell da errrr (out house) I am playing cards and done lost my arse" California's Drought - Page 4 3170584802

**sanderson** 7/14/2015, 1:20 pm

Update on California temps predicted for the next 10 days:

Fresno (me, in the middle of the Central Valley) - 90s and 100s
Yuba City (northern valley) 90s and 100s
Elk Grove (just south of Sacramento in the Delta) 90s and 100s
Rocklin (east of Sac towards Tahoe Lake) 90s and 100s
San Mateo (coastal just south of SF) 70s and 80s- lucky folks!
Palm Desert (desert between LA and Las Vegas, sort of) 97 - 108*F Yikes What a Face

San Diego (southern CA where Mel lives) 70s with small chance of rain

The coastal towns often get cool morning and evening fog when the Valley is boiling, so folks flock to Monterrey and Pismo [75*F] for relief.

Mulch, water and shade

boffer 7/15/2015, 9:55 am

Sig, I saw a large scale CA farmer interviewed last night. He said that when he converted from flood irrigation to drip irrigation, his water consumption dropped 40% and his yield increased 30%. Good thing the switch worked as he had over $50,000 invested in the drip system.

I forget the varieties of crops that he has in rotation, but he classified them as Mediterranean, meaning they like lots of heat, but that a good rain would wipe them out. That's such an odd concept for those of us with web feet, and those in various parts of the country doing a rain dance every day!

**sanderson** 7/15/2015, 12:03 pm

I would love to see the news clip if you can remember the TV channel. If he is a large truck farmer, it's probably tomatoes, peppers, melons, grapes, cucumbers, eggplant, or the such. We usually get an August rain and everyone prays it is light enough not to rot the fruits, especially grapes laying on papers for raisins.

We are headed to the cool coast for the night. Very Happy

I could use the break.

**kauairosina** 7/15/2015, 12:12 pm

I think of you drought folks when I start to lament about not being able to cut the grass because it is so wet that the tools would balk. Sometimes it seems to me that our vegies aren't as sweet with so much rain. Could that be?

boffer 7/15/2015, 12:14 pm

Sig, Chris Hayes on MSNBC is spending the week in CA looking into various aspects of the drought. I saw it on his show on TV last night; it might be on their website.

Marc Iverson 7/15/2015, 5:30 pm

kauairosina wrote:I think of you drought folks when I start to lament about not being able to cut the grass because it is so wet that the tools would balk. Sometimes it seems to me that our vegies aren't as sweet with so much rain. Could that be?

I remember a chef -- maybe Alice Waters -- saying that the best tomato she ever ate was an Early Girl that had been grown without water all season. And Early Girls, she noted, aren't known for being the most flavorful tomato.

**Scorpio Rising** 7/15/2015, 6:21 pm

Kinda makes sense, more concentrated flavor, vs being diluted by intracellular water.

**kauairosina** 7/15/2015, 7:41 pm

Check out a book by Steve Soloman about growing veggies with little water. Sorry I don't recall the exact name. His books are very informative. The Intelligent Gardener and Gardening When It Counts. He was an organic gardener in Oregon for something like 30 years, feeding his family from his garden. Has since moved to Tasmania. He and some Fijians discovered that for all their organic practices they had loose teeth and there had to be some remediation of the soils, minerals especially.

audrey.jeanne.roberts 7/15/2015, 11:51 pm

I'm going to order his book, that sounds really valuable and because wells all around us are drying up, could be very important in the years ahead. Thanks for sharing it!

**kauairosina** 7/17/2015, 5:21 pm

Just found the name of that book by Steve Soloman as I had ordered it on Amazon. it is Water-Wise Vegetables: For the Maritime Northwest Gardener (Cascadia Gardening)

While we are not from that area and it was written in 1993 I believe there is food for thought. Pun intended.

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California's Drought