2010 Diary week 14
Gardening
The weather has turned warm. We have been planting purchased plants and seeds ready for later transplanting.
Book Review
Last week Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last? pointed out that between 1951 and 1985, Israel expanded its irrigated area fivefold with only a threefold increase in water use. Output per cubic meter nearly tripled and the value of output (in real terms) jumped 10-fold. Israel is the only nation that appears to have done what the world needs to do over the next 30-40 years – double water productivity in agriculture.
The authors of Food from Dryland Gardens “believe that local control and self-reliance, social equity, cultural and biological diversity, and environmental conservation are essential ingredients of sustainable food systems.” “We have found four types of information most useful in writing this book: reports of basic or applied research relevant to dryland household gardens; reports of how people in drylands are gardening, and the impact of gardens on nutrition, income and community development; manuals for field workers in related areas such as irrigation; reports of garden projects, including brief personal narratives, giving some detailed information on assessment, implementation, and evaluation.”