Water – How to use it wisely in the Edible Landscape

by Avis Licht –

The earth through a drop of water – Thank you Markus Reugals, photographer

 Here’s an amazing fact:

All the water that is on the earth now has always been here!  No water has ever been gained or lost in the water cycle. Global warming is radically changing the availability of water on earth and it’s distribution: either through storms, hurricanes or droughts.

Glaciers hold water in the form of ice.  On mountains, these glaciers slowly release water in the summer for farmers to use on their crops. As the Earth’s temperature warms up glaciers are not only receding, but disappearing.  This is a huge problem for farmers who will not have water available to them in the summer when they need it.

These two photos were taken in the same place exactly one year apart. One year had the most snow in modern history, the following year, had the least snow recorded.

 

 

Being conscious of changes in our climate will encourage us to make good choices in our use of  precious water resources.  Those of us who grow food will have an opportunity to make many  choices in the garden – let us choose wisely.

In the next period of time, I’ll be talking about how to create healthy soil, rain water harvesting, slowing the movement of water and returning it into the water table, best irrigation practices and much more.

There’s so much we can do to take positive action in the garden.