Deep Dirt Farm & Institute

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With much gratitude for Heather Cox Richardson who has taught me much:" ... But now there is more to add. Exactly three ...
03/15/2023

With much gratitude for Heather Cox Richardson who has taught me much:
" ... But now there is more to add. Exactly three and a half years ago tomorrow, on September 15, 2019, I began to write these Letters from an American. At the time, I was simply answering the questions people on my page had asked me about the emerging scandal of Trump withholding congressionally approved funds from Ukraine; I had no idea that we were beginning an epic journey together.
It turns out to be a journey deeply rooted in this country’s history, and I often cannot wrap my head around the fact we are quietly making our own history, just as our predecessors did. It is a curious thing to be a historian in this moment: we live in both the past and the present, and I promise you we worry about the future. Above all, though, I am constantly thankful to be on this journey with so many wonderful people who are organizing, as Lincoln’s Republicans did, to change the course of the nation. ..."

Two years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, I whipped off a quick and somewhat flippant letter about why March 15 is a crucially important day in American history. It became one of the most popular things I’ve ever written, so popular that when I was asked to write a book based on these letters, ...

If you are not familiar with the work Brad Landcaster has done in Tucson, AZ, with water harvesting, brace yourself! Thi...
02/24/2023

If you are not familiar with the work Brad Landcaster has done in Tucson, AZ, with water harvesting, brace yourself! This is simple, profound, inspiring, and gives hope to us all!


resident Lancaster believes that cities around the world can live off . This is the story of how he transformed his neighborhood by e...

An inspiring story of resilience!
02/22/2023

An inspiring story of resilience!

Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to Hawaii to investigate the ecological and cultural restoration work of the Independent Sovereign Nation o...

Encouraging:" ... Calling out both presidents Roosevelt—Republican Theodore, who oversaw part of the Progressive Era, an...
01/26/2023

Encouraging:
" ... Calling out both presidents Roosevelt—Republican Theodore, who oversaw part of the Progressive Era, and Democrat Franklin, who oversaw the New Deal—Biden celebrated their attempt to rein in the power of big business, first by focusing on the abuses of those businesses and then by championing competition.
The administration put together a whole-of-government approach to restore competition based on the 72 separate actions outlined in Biden’s executive order. A terrific piece today by David Dayen in The American Prospect suggests that the effort has worked. Overall, Dayen concludes, the executive order of July 9, 2021, was “one of the most sweeping changes to domestic policy since FDR.”
While administrations since Reagan have judged whether consolidation is harmful solely by its effect on consumer prices, the Biden approach also factors in the welfare of workers, including their ability to negotiate higher wages. It has also taken on the sharing of medical patents that have raised costs of drugs and equipment like hearing aids by preventing others from entering the market. ..."

Democrats are generally staying out of the way and letting Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the House Republicans make a spectacle of themselves. In order to get the votes to become speaker, McCarthy had to give power to extremists like Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and now has openly brought her on boar...

Permaculture Water Summit | Solutions to Drought....Water in AbundanceJoin this free summit! In a world challenged by th...
10/07/2022

Permaculture Water Summit | Solutions to Drought....Water in Abundance

Join this free summit!

In a world challenged by the confluence of groundwater depletion, land degradation, and extreme weather events…there are solutions that connect them all: Permaculture water management.
This free global summit was created to share viable solutions for the water crises found throughout the planet.



Presented by Oregon State University Permaculture Design on October 13-15, 2022

" ... The report follows research from the University of Washington in 2018 that found 2C (3.6F) of warming would boost ...
09/06/2022

" ... The report follows research from the University of Washington in 2018 that found 2C (3.6F) of warming would boost the number and appetite of insects globally, causing them to destroy 50% more wheat and 30% more maize than they do now. Rising heat stress is already affecting yields, with harvests of staple crops in Europe down this year as a result of heatwaves and drought. ..."

Milder winters could threaten crop yields as plant-eating insects spread northwards and become more voracious, researchers say

" ... We focus on the big cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas, but it’s farms that use 80% of water. They grow crops that ...
09/01/2022

" ... We focus on the big cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas, but it’s farms that use 80% of water. They grow crops that provide huge amounts of the winter fruits and vegetables and nuts for the entire country. Is there any way that farming in California and Arizona can continue even remotely close to how it is today?
I don’t think so. It has to drastically change. We’ll need wholesale conversion to efficient irrigation and different pricing structures so that water is better valued. We’ll need different crops that are bred to be more drought tolerant and more saline-water tolerant. And we’ll probably have a lot less production.

What does that mean for the country’s food supply?

This is the big question. I don’t want to be flippant, but people don’t understand the food-water nexus. Do we try to bring more water to the southern high plains, to Arizona, to California, because if the food system’s optimized, maybe that’s the cheapest thing to do? Or does agriculture move to where the water is? Does it migrate north and east? It’s not just food production. What about the workers? Transportation? If we were to move all of our agriculture to northern California, into Idaho, into North Dakota over the next decade, that’s a major upheaval for millions and millions of people who work in the ag industry.

It’s really interconnected, isn’t it? ..."

The megadrought gripping the western states is only part of the problem. Alternative sources of water are also imperiled, and the nation’s food along with it.

Much hinges on our winter rains that have become minimal to negligible since 2000:" ... “There’s a duality in the effect...
08/24/2022

Much hinges on our winter rains that have become minimal to negligible since 2000:
" ... “There’s a duality in the effect of climate change on the hydrologic cycle,” said Dr Andrew Hoell, a meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (Noaa) physical sciences laboratory, noting that the heavy rains and underlying drought conditions exist on separate time scales. It will take a sustained rainy season over the cold winter months to crack the conditions and forecasts aren’t causing much optimism for the months ahead. Dried soils are also less able to absorb the added moisture when storms are severe.
“We are already in a pretty tough spot where we have low water reserves in our lakes and reservoirs,” he said, “despite the fact that it looks like we have had a small and temporary reprieve because of some active monsoon rains.”

Climate experts warn temporary increases in water levels will not mitigate a crisis that has been years in the making

" ... That reliance on a small number of crops has made agriculture vulnerable to pests, plant-borne diseases and soil e...
08/22/2022

" ... That reliance on a small number of crops has made agriculture vulnerable to pests, plant-borne diseases and soil erosion, which thrive on monoculture – the practice of growing only one crop at a time. It has also meant losing out on the resilience other crops show in surviving drought and other natural disasters.
As the impacts of the climate crisis become starker, farmers across the world are rediscovering ancient crops and developing new hybrids that might prove more hardy in the face of drought or epidemics, while also offering important nutrients...."

As the planet warms, these five drought-tolerant and highly nutritious crops offer hope for greater resiliency

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76 Stevens Canyon Road
Patagonia, AZ
85624

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+15202229942

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