Dry Farming

The weather doesn't always co-operate by raining when our gardens need water.

I have a few old books on dry-farming saved in my Google Library. These books were written over 100 years ago. They contain ideas you can use today to grow vegetables if you live in a dry climate or are growing under drought conditions.

Here's an excerpt from "Dry Farming" by John A. Widtsoe...

DRY-FARMING, as at present understood, is the
profitable production of useful crops, without irrigation,
on lands that receive annually a rainfall of
20 inches or less.

In districts of torrential rains,
high winds, unfavorable distribution of the rainfall,
or other water-dissipating factors, the term "
dry-farming " is also properly applied to farming
without irrigation under an annual precipitation of
25 or even 30 inches.

There is no sharp demarkation between dry- and humid-farming.
When the annual precipitation is under 20
inches, the methods of dry-farming are usually
indispensable. When it is over 30 inches, the
methods of humid-farming are employed; in places
where the annual precipitation is between 20 and .
30 inches, the methods to be used depend chiefly
on local conditions affecting the conservation of
soil moisture.

Here's a link to the Dry Farming Books in my Google Library. These are the complete books readable online or downloadable as a PDF.