Complimentary Blueberry Juice

First, welcome to all from the East Kildonan Garden Club, thanks for having me out to speak during some pretty intense weather. Just like gardening, rain or shine!

I certainly count myself as lucky, between the tornadoes, multiple funnel clouds, hail, and winds, many areas of Manitoba this morning woke up to flooding, crop damage, downed trees or perhaps buildings. The nature of these storms, now supercharged by climate change, will become much more normal. I’ve seen a supercell just about every season come close to the farm, and the very real risk of hail damage to crops is always a worry in the mind of a prairie farmer. So it’s extra important and incumbent on us to adapt and put into place mitigation strategies.

For me, that’s partly our one acre of experimental no-till.

The final total from yesterday’s craziness was 80mm, and I can now go to sleep knowing that my no-till field (which also I’ve been irrigating quite a lot during these early heat waves) can absorb 80mm of rain without issue.

While I’m not apt to test if this field can absorb more than 80mm, it probably can. The wonderful soil aggregates created by our plants are allowing deeper and more quick water absorption. On the far left in the first few of our beds there is a small amount of water sitting in our pathways, which we walk on and get compacted.

We can get back on to this field to keep working shortly after even a heavy rain dump.

For comparison, here is the conventionally managed modified soy field across the street, only a couple hundred metres away:

This is going to be the scene for much of Manitoba.

There are better ways, and preparing and planning management strategies for a rain event of 50+mm on the prairies is a must. Leaving a season to chance is simply not worth it in my worldview.

I was able to get a YouTube video up this morning as well, lots of great shots of the wildlife coming to live at the farm and I’m really enjoying learning to use my new camera.

Hope all your farms and gardens are doing well after the storm, and let’s hope today and tomorrow aren’t too heavy with the rain as this system continues to move through Manitoba.

Graham

thanks for reading complimentary blueberry juice

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