Kross Farm: Water free or drought resistant gardens are entirely possible here on the Canadian prairies!
We have a very dry climate here and it is compounded in years when there is drought conditions! What do you do when water restrictions are put in place but you are growing vegetables for your family?
I can help with that!!
I have a game changing tip for anyone gardening in an area struggling with drought or water restrictions or limited time/mobility to water or even the cost of water is prohibitive to grow a garden……….
…….move away from traditional gardening methods to no till growing!
A field in winter with stubble left on vs a summer follow field in winter. Where is the top soil?
Our Canadian farmers are already using low or no till methods to grow Canadian cash crops so why do gardeners still rely heavily on tilling their soils and leaving bare soil exposed?
Tilling soil causes any moisture in that soil to be turned over. This increases evaporation of that moisture from the soil. The warmer the day, the faster this process occurs. If you live in an area with a lot of wind, this occurs even faster!
Every time you till your soil, you lose water from it!
Tilling soil also destroys soil structure. What is soil structure and why does that matter?
The little lumps and bumps that you see in this image are called soil aggregates. The more aggregate structure there is in the soil, the more room that soil has to hold water. These aggregates don’t fit tightly together which leaves pore spaces between them. This becomes the space where water can sit in your soil.
Compacted soil has little to no aggregate structure. This means there are no pore space for water to exist as the soil particles are so close together. Soil aggregates should be dime to toonie sized and no bigger! Large clumps of soil is a sign of soil compaction. Further to this, compacted soil makes it hard for water to penetrate into the soil as there is no place for it to enter and flow down. Soil aggregates make the surface less smooth and help to trap the water giving it time to soak in to the pore spaces in the soil!
Tilling breaks apart the aggregates that healthy soil needs to create space for water!
So if we stop tilling, soil aggregates will form in our gardens so we can start holding more moisture there?
Not quite!
Soil aggregates form when organic material attracts oppositely charged soil particles to it. Organic material is simply compost. Compost serves as a “glue” that holds soil particles to it which in turn builds soil aggregates over time.
If your garden is low in organic matter, then soil aggregates will not form very fast even if tilling is stopped!
To start creating a drought resistant garden, add compost (not compost tea, that is just the nutrient part of compost, you need the solid part of compost!) to your garden on a yearly basis until the garden needs less attention from your watering can!
This isn’t an overnight fix.
It took three seasons for my gardens to reach drought resistance! Patience, no tilling and addition of compost will get you there! If you have a lower quality soil, it may take longer than three seasons!
Watch for my next blog post on using mulch to help in this process and keep the moisture on your garden!
Comments