Drought season

Today's post is more sobering than usual, we're talking about the drought conditions affecting us at the moment. Summer is usually drier than Spring and Fall, of course, but what we're facing at the moment is out of the ordinary. Or at least it used to be!

According to an article on Newsweek, more than 47% of the nation is experiencing abnormally dry conditions. That's a large swath of the country! Most people who aren't farmers are lucky to not feel the serious effects of this on a daily basis. Your lawn looks brown and crispy and it's sure hot out there, but without a job tied to mother nature, it's hard to fully comprehend.

In the map below, from the U.S. Drought Monitor, the red areas are the worst in terms of drought, orange the next step down, and so on. As you can see, our little area of Maryland is orange.

In this Maryland-specific map, our corner of Montgomery County (outlined in bold black), is again orange, labeled as Severe Drought.

We're seeing our pond, the sole source of water to irrigate our fields, getting lower and lower at a rapid rate. Without at least semi-regular rainfall to replenish this source, we'll be in a tough spot! Farmer Mike has been closely monitoring the levels while trying to ration the water we use for irrigation.

Last year we had a great system of soil moisture monitors that helped us determine exactly how much water was available in the soil. We could use this data to decide whether to water or not, and for how long to turn on the irrigation. In this way, we could be much more sure that we weren't overwatering and wasting our precious resources.

This year however, we are without these sensors! The company developing and making them are working on updates so we are driving blind at the moment. Testing soil moisture the old fashioned way by feeling the soil with your hands works OK, but Farmer Mike thinks he's probably overwatering since we don't have real data.

Compounding the drought conditions are long stretches of intense heat. We've had two weeks straight of temperatures in the mid-high 90s and it looks like next week is more of the same. This puts a lot of strain on our crew who are outside all day! We facilitate many breaks throughout the day with cold water and icy pops to make sure everyone is staying safe. Despite all this, farming in the high 90s is tough work!

What we're seeing with these drought conditions, and other extreme weather events, is a much higher frequency that we used to experience. Climate change is shifting all the patterns that used to be standard and predictable and throwing them out the window. Planning for a year of farming is a lot harder now when we don't know if we'll be trying to grow vegetables in a drought or a flood.

Speaking of floods, Vermont is facing extremely high rainfall levels at the moment leading to intense flooding. Several farms that we follow on social media are posting pictures of washed out fields, broken and closed roads, and other damage. The kicker is that this "historic rainfall and flooding" is now occurring for the second year in a row!

All of this cements for me the importance of supporting local farms and farmers. While these extreme weather events can seem way too large of a problem for you or me to tackle, the diversification of our food system is crucially important. By supporting your local farm, CSA, or farmers' market, you can be a vital drop in the bucket towards creating a stronger food system that can better rebound from the effects of climate change.

Thank you all for your support of One Acre Farm! We're still growing out here the best we can and we're glad to provide your vegetables.