It was hard to imagine how the perfect storm which is currently leading us toward global famine could get any more perfect until today. Due to the recent hot weather it has been announced that all the canal systems of France must be diverted back to the rivers, to protect local wildlife they say. What this means for anyone who relies on canals to water their plants is a difficult period ahead. Authorities don't know for how long it will be (rain dependent) so it could be as much as a month or more, which in this heat is plenty long enough to stress the majority of your vegetables (or agricultural fields) beyond repair.
While many will say this is just further evidence of global warming, I would say it is a co-ordinated attack on the farmers and anyone who grows their own food. The goal is to get every last one of us reliant on the government of course and on supermarkets which will soon be the only place you can buy food. Control the food, control the people. Nothing new here.
The solution
It was actually years ago I first considered this potential problem. If our canals can be controlled by a centralised system we are always at risk. As a consequence I upgraded our small garden pool to a decent sized one (around the same time we planted the tomatoes in the spring) and filled it up with canal water.
How do we keep it from going stagnant you may ask?
Well, we add sodium bicarbonate.
It obviously isn't as effective as chlorine but it does have a noticeable effect. All we have to do is clean the bottom once every few weeks when it starts to get slippery and remove the gunk with a net.
The massive advantage of using bicarb is that the plants don't mind it.
So, long story short, unlike every other allotment in our village we have a month's worth of back-up water at our disposal.
If it rains and the canal runs again even for just an hour, we will re-fill the pool and be ready for another month without water. And if it doesn't rain, we will simply find another way!
Like the village source for example. There is no government in the world which can turn off a natural water source.
What you are looking at here is our recently re-discovered village water source, covered in this post. And it never stops. Because nature doesn't care about government regulations.
So, while it may take some effort lugging water around, our village will always have drinking water and if they are keen, a way to water their plants.
This will be useful moving forward because if the heatwave persists we may soon experience a cut in tap water too, like these 100+ French villages.
Long ago I bought a ton of water filters, thinking I could use them in the event of a tap water shut-off, but I didn't account for the canal not running.
So, I am super grateful for the natural water source and also for the swimming pool which has brought me much pleasure, cooling off when it is hot.
Not much else to say about that really.
Ah yes, I do have something to say in fact. If you are suffering from water shortages and don't know how to care for your plants I recommend looking up dry farming. It is the technique of farming without water. Sounds impossible right but I assure you it isn't. In short some plants only need watering to get them established and while you may be too late this year it is worth getting organised for next. Here is an article about it which lists tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, potatoes, sweet potatoes, okra & garlic as their top plants for growing without water.
Love & Light everyone 🌱
