California drought

[pixie N.C.]

Although its unfortunate and would be devastating if conditions get as bad as predicted,but could this also be a blessing in disguise,as far as the possibility that some farming land in each state could be freed up from gov. subsidized farming,and produce their own food crops. I had read a while back that something like 85% of fruits and vegetables cost was transportation .I'm not that educated in economics. Was just wondering what everyone else thought,is it possible ? ? ?

 

[dave david]

for a meaningful contribution to the food needs of America, you need to be a huge organization or sell your production to one. You need to be on that level as they throw away more food than our little group here, produces in total. There are copious regulations and employment requirements to contend with, and of course the bashed crop subsidies and yield bonus/penalty payments.

This "drought" has been decades in the making, and much of CA litigious environmental movement has a LOT to do with it. Do your homework.

The gov't is not likely to release any of their holdings for small garden/victory garden type activity. Just too much hassle for them, it would be easier and more cost effective for the Feds to get involved with a water solution.

I will just save as much money as I can between now and the time the product prices rise. Else eat more PB&J.

 

[marlingardener]

Processing and transportation do take up a goodly portion of the cost of produce. But, the public wants tomatoes in December, lettuce in March, and all sorts of out-of-season vegetables available when they want. We pay for irrigation, hoop houses, and shipping.
We live in a farming/ranching region, and without government crop insurance, low-cost farm loans, and the advice provided by the USDA and state universities, many family farms would go out of existence.
The California drought is tragic--almond orchards drying up, acres of cropland becoming unproductive--it is heartbreaking for the land owners and farmers.
We have planted three more vegetable gardens here on our little farm, anticipating the increased cost of vegetables usually grown in California. We aren't going to use all this produce, but plan on donating all we can to a local food pantry. I won't pay a dollar for a bell pepper, but for us it is "won't" not "can't" as it is for many people on very limited budgets. For many, fresh vegetables are a luxury.
Eventually Texas will face the same problem California has, which is basically caused by rampant expansion, growing population, and more and more demands on infrastructure, especially water needs. We have had towns run out of municipal water; there are water restrictions in large metro areas; and when drought hits, we have hard decisions to make.
Eight years ago we started putting in water harvesting systems--very basic, low-tech, but they work. Locals thought we were tree-hugging idiots--now they are asking where we got the big fiberglass cubes and how we manage the water delivery (one lady with big biceps carrying five-gallon pails of water to plants that need it--I said it was basic!).

 

[Chuck]

And yet the CA government is going ahead with a taxpayer paid train no one wants or needs and spending millions when that same money could be used for desalinization plants that would alleviate the drought problems

 

[CanadianLori]

I have been told that California bans artificial lawns. So precious water is wasted on the lawns of those who don't even want them. They would rather have green carpet. True or false? If true, why?

 

[Chuck]

I have been told that California bans artificial lawns. So precious water is wasted on the lawns of those who don't even want them. They would rather have green carpet. True or false? If true, why?

I don't know about banning artificial lawns but on the news this morning they were going to ban watering lawns and let them die

 

[CanadianLori]

I don't know about banning artificial lawns but on the news this morning they were going to ban watering lawns and let them die

Would peeing on the lawn rather than in the toilet and then flushing three gallons of water help them??

oh my , not going to think about this one in too much detail....

 

[Chuck]

Would peeing on the lawn rather than in the toilet and then flushing three gallons of water help them??

oh my , not going to think about this one in too much detail....

That is a thought. After all one of those CA mental midgets proposed using only one sheet of toilet paper to uh, wipe, uh, your uh, never mind

 

[Kansas Terri]

I spoke to my folks in California just last night, as my Father just turned 91. They said:

That more people are going to "dry lawns". A dry lawn is a handsome creation of a concrete apron with a pattern on it. It does not sound handsome but it is. It reminds me of the concrete around a courthouse or whatever. I bet it collects heat in the summer time.

The government is still protecting the snail darter fish. The city may be dry but they will not allow the use of enough water to endanger the snail darter. They have since learned that the snail darter is not a rare California fish but an import from the state of Michigan, where it is apparently very common. This does not matter, though, as this snail darter has been argued over for the last 30-odd years that I recall, and no politician will back down. While water was originally brought in to give water to people, the snail darter gets priority over people.

I do realize that over the decades an entire ecosystem has grown up around the water that is flowing in, and if the snail darter suffers so does that ecosystem.

California, of course, is (or almost is) a desert climate. Unless plants are watered almost all of the plants will die. Most of the native California vegetation goes dormant during the dry season because there is not enough water to support growth, and some plants have leaves that are designed to catch the ocean fog and drip the moisture to the ground below. Redwood trees are a good example of plants that do this: redwoods have very shallow roots so that they can suck up the moisture that the leaves drip onto them. Redwoods mostly grow near the ocean, and most evenings the fog rolls in and then the Redwoods collect the moisture onto the leaves, drip in onto the ground below, and have a drink.

It often will not rain for 8 months straight where I grew up in California, and unless you water your vegetable or flowering plants you will not have any. My Mom says her lawn has turned to weeds, as they have been ordered to reduce their water use by 25%. They have been getting a reduce water order every year for years, now! She seems quite put out as she does love her back yard!

My parents are getting too old to visit all of their friends and family and so they like to invite them to their place, and entertain in that back yard. The little kids play on the lawn while the grownups sit in lawn chairs and talk. Burgers are grilled outside and eaten on paper plates to minimize the clean up. They do this once or twice a month and when my Mom spoke of weeds instead of lawn she sounded TICKED OFF! It seems that rich people break the water rationing rule and simply pay the fines, and she is angry that they are using all that water and she cannot!

This year I expect most of our produce will come from Florida instead of coming from California. I expect the cost of produce to go up yet again. And, while flowers are my first love I am a very practical person: it is true that I prefer flowers, but I have a vegetable garden as well, and this year's vegetable garden will be larger than last year's.

5 years ago a can of string beans where I live cost 45 cents: this year a can of green beans cost $1.25. Prices have almost tripled! And I expect the price to go up again this year. Because I can garden I do not HAVE to pay those prices unless I chose to: I feel sorry for apartment dwellers who have no choice!

 

[Chuck]

I spoke to my folks in California just last night, as my Father just turned 91. They said:

That more people are going to "dry lawns". A dry lawn is a handsome creation of a concrete apron with a pattern on it. It does not sound handsome but it is. It reminds me of the concrete around a courthouse or whatever. I bet it collects heat in the summer time.

The government is still protecting the snail darter fish. The city may be dry but they will not allow the use of enough water to endanger the snail darter. They have since learned that the snail darter is not a rare California fish but an import from the state of Michigan, where it is apparently very common. This does not matter, though, as this snail darter has been argued over for the last 30-odd years that I recall, and no politician will back down. While water was originally brought in to give water to people, the snail darter gets priority over people.

I do realize that over the decades an entire ecosystem has grown up around the water that is flowing in, and if the snail darter suffers so does that ecosystem.

California, of course, is (or almost is) a desert climate. Unless plants are watered almost all of the plants will die. The native California vegetation mostly goes dormant during the dry season because there is water, and some plants have leaves that are designed to catch the ocean fog and drip the moisture to the ground below. Redwood trees are a good example of plants that do this: redwoods have very shallow roots so that they can suck up the moisture that the leaves drip onto them. Redwoods mostly grow near the ocean, and most evenings the fog rolls in and then the Redwoods collect the moisture onto the leaves, drip in onto the ground below, and have a drink.

It often will not rain for 8 months straight where I grew up in California, and unless you water your vegetable or flowering plants you will not have any. My Mom says her lawn has turned to weeds, as they have been ordered to reduce their water use by 25%. They have been getting a reduce water order every ear for years, now! She seems quite put out: she does love her back yard!

My parents are getting too old to visit all of their friends and family and so they like to invite them to their place, and entertain in that back yard. The little kids play on the lawn while the grownups sit in lawn chairs and talk. Burgers are grilled outside and eaten on paper plates to minimize the clean up. They do this once or twice a month and when my Mom spoke of weeds instead of lawn she sounded TICKED OFF! It seems that rich people break the water rationing rule and simply pay the fines, and she is angry that they are using all that water and she cannot!

This year I expect most of our produce will come from Florida instead of coming rom California. I expect the cost of produce to go up yet again. And, while lowers are my first love I am a very practical person: it I true that I prefer flowers, but I have a vegetable garden as well, and this year's vegetable garden will be larger than last year's.

5 years ago a can of string beans where I live cost 45 cents: this year a can of green beans cost $1.25. Prices have almost tripled! And I expect the price to go up again this year. Because I can garden I do not HAVE to pay those prices unless I chose to: I feel sorry for apartment dwellers who have no choice!

I am quite sure that the eco-minded water conservation politicians will immediately stop the daily watering of the untold acres of Country Club Golf Courses and instead divert that water to agriculture or the public.

 

[Kansas Terri]