A Godzilla El Niño is coming. All the experts agree. Clearly we must have a lot to do to be prepared, right?
Actually, not as much as you might think.
Sure, we’re going to be doing some work on drains and ditches. We’ll even have some sandbags prepared. But our real ability to weather the coming storm lies in our soil. For the last decade, we’ve been building up our ability to absorb and retain water. Our mulch and covercrop practices have given our farm the ability to absorb 2,600,000 more gallons of water than our soil had in it’s natural state. So we’re really not approaching the El Niño that much differently than we approached the last few years of drought. We’ve been getting ready for years.
The same soil that absorbs water in a deluge retains water in a drought. No matter the forecast, soil structure is paramount.
Last season’s barley and rye covercrop will help with this year’s El Niño
