Water Worries

After a long, cool spring, the heat came in quick and mean.

The last couple of weeks have brought us record temperatures and many, many fast moving and destructive  fires.  The air, heavy with smoke and fear, has felt thick and unforgiving and it has left me to wonder and worry more often than not for this season, this land and our future here.

That said, as I sat here contemplating this post, a storm blew in and, though it looked promising at first, seemed as though it would simply pass us by…like most storms do when they’re brought in with the wind and whip their way around the mountains.  However, this time was different.  Finally.  The sky cracked open and what started as the tiniest sprinkle quickly evolved into a full on downpour.  There was lightening and thunder and rain.  A real, deep, soaking rain!!!  A beautiful summer storm!!!  It didn’t last long, but that is not the point.  The point is that it came!

Now, is one short rain enough to alleviate the current drought we are in?  No, of course not.  But it is a start and it is hopeful!

After years of little rainfall and even less snow pack than we’ve been accustomed to, reservoir levels are low…very low and the rain fall predictions for the coming months aren’t looking incredibly promising either.  We live in the desert, after all…the high desert, but the desert none-the-less…and are looking at our third consecutive year of drought.

So, how does one balance growing their own food and trying to participate in such an important movement while being faced with continuous drought around the state and worry of our water supply?  Truly, we are still trying to figure this out.

This little graphic is actually quite amusing in a sad kind of way if you really read it…

I do believe that growing a good portion of our fruits and veggies and keeping chickens allows us to not only eat healthier but to also participate in our food system and be part of the change we would love to see in the world (yep, I said it).  However, I also worry about our water situation and I worry about it often.  I worry about our personal consumption and all that goes into our little plot and I worry about our city’s consumption as a whole.

Santa Fe is the only home I’ve ever known and I love my city and this land deeply, but when I think about all we want for our future (acreage, animals and fruit and veggie production at its peak), it just doesn’t feel easily achievable or sustainable here.  Not that we will move any time soon (or any time at all, really), but it does weigh on me.

So, in the interim, all we can really do is keep doing what we’re doing, because fresh, organic, non-GMO fruits, veggies and eggs are good for us and the process is incredibly important.

So, we run drip irrigation through all of our beds and around our trees and we mulch heavily as soon as each little seed germinates with the intention of holding the moisture in and down for as long as possible.

We use the rain that does fall from the sky and into our rain barrels to water as much as we can and we collect buckets of water from our bathrooms when we shower (and are waiting for hot water to make its way through the pipes) and carry it around to whichever plants are the thirstiest.

We are mindful of our water use and hope others are as well.

And when the clouds build and the thunders rolls over our parched mountains, we hold our breath and we hope against hope for rain.  Lots and lots of rain.  And we are grateful (and refreshed – mind, body and soul) when those wonderful, wet drops kiss the ground!