Growing food in the desert
 

Does anyone know anything you can actually grow in the desert that you could use in a garden for food? And I am not talking about buying soil and then planting in that. Is there anything that will grow in what is basicly sand and clay?

I know the weeds love it out here. They practically grow right out of the rocks. They dry out and look pretty dead a lot of the time but when it rains they come right back. Can't eat them though.

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

Nope. I'm a native Arizonan, your not going to grow anything with out amending the soil and having to water it 2 times a day.:Sorry:

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

the permies have the game down... nice quick show about greening the desert from Geof Lawton:


[MEDIA]http://permaculture.org.au/greening.htm[/MEDIA]

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

It isn't easy, but the Hopi have been desert farming for thousands of years. They do a lot of praying for rain.

http://www.cpluhna.nau.edu/People/hopi.htm

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

You might want to try planting some cactus seeds

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

Pitaya/Pitahaya (cactus fruits.) Prickly pear.

I'm sure there are desert plants with edible tubers, too. Agave might be one.

P

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

If you mulch the hell out of your garden, you can preserve much of your watering. Use drip hose and bury it. Even better is the capillary drip system with the durable tubing. Takes very little water to grow plants/food. Just have to make sure your low humidity does not evap it away before the plants can get to it.

Desert soils are terrific because they do not have the parasites and diseases that other soils have. French Intensive garden methods will yield the max on a min area. Use a lot of hay for mulch and your water will not be wasted.

Maybe you have room in your garage for hydroponic tanks and grow lights?
Lots of ways to live with the desert.

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

Maybe you could grow some raisins.

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

Jerusalem Artichokes? aka SunChokes? Basically a weed that thrives in almost any environment and puts down a very edible tuber/root.

I can't claim that they grow well in the desert, but damn, they grow like weeds around here. Maybe they do OK out there?

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

When I lived in So Cal The farmers would roll out plastic and put drip tube under it then cut an X and plant in the X.

This kept the berrys off the dirt and the water from evaporateing to quickly.

E-A

Re: Growing food in the desert
 

I had wonderful desert gardens.

I did amend the soil. Some need it and others do not. In my area the most important thing was to dig out and set aside caliche as it harms most food plants. I did it in a small area at a time. I would dig down 4 to 6 feet, in a bed 3 feet wide that I slowly expanded. I got free horsemanure and hay leavings to amend with, plus made my own compost. I used a layer of old newspaper with straw on top for my mulch to keep moisture in and cool the soil too. I poked holes in the newspaper to let water run in easily.

If you currently have grass, use a clippings catcher for free compost makings, with compostables from your kitchen added in. Some stores will let you have over the hill veggies, which are also a free source of soil amendment.

I mulched to conserve water. People have gardened in the desert for centuries. If you catch your roof rain runoff, you can put edgeing around your food beds (dirt or a pound in kind) and flood an inch or 2 deep once a week if it did not rain that week. I found a rain gauge useful, in addition to feeling the soil for when it needed water.

As has been posted, the lack of pests is great, though it depends on the desert. Some desert environments have mammals that will adore your produce.

If your land has a convenient slope, you can plan your garden so it is the low spot that gets naturally well watered. Also, your shower water and clothes and dishwasher water can provide moisture if you are careful what chemicals you put in it. Sewage should not be used.

I used soaker hoses a couple of years, so that works too, but gradually moved to using lower tech.

Anyway, if you do the sweat equity and make good beds, truly astounding harvests of delicious food can be grown in tiny beds. I grew tomatoes, squash, melons, beans, peas, carrots, radishes, peppers, turnips, onions, garlic, and more. In many climates you can grow something year round. Kale and chard will tolerate mild freezes. Where I am now potatoes are planted around Christmas.

Corn takes more room for much of a crop, so I grew little of it.