Monday, April 01, 2013

The drought is already starting to bite. People just don't know it yet.



Just in case you didn't know. California is in an epic drought. Most people don't realize this because most people don't pay attention. This is one of the driest winters on record. But it's spring, so the effects haven't really hit us yet. However.....it will soon, and this is how I know.

Over the weekend I bought the following items. Garlic and lettuce. The winter garlic crop is the smallest I've ever seen it. Almost not worth buying. But, it all was that way. The lettuce I bought was hollow on the inside and the heads were also considerably smaller.

My Cherry tree - I thought it was gearing up for blooms. Turns out, not so much. I'm banking on the smallest crop I've ever had. That's saying a lot because with Cherry's you only have one crop. If rain comes in and splits them - you are done for the year.

When I was growing up, all of the old timers would comment on Silicon Valley and say "these building used to all be Cherry orchards". At the time it seemed like a sadness thing. A loss for the way things were. Now I understand it is a huge bitch to be a cherry farmer. Every year I'm fighting to keep my 'one crop' from fizzling. If the orchards were still there, surely we would all be living in poverty.

Finally, April showers bring May flowers. We just started April and all the May flowers are about done.

I would never put money into this market. So take this for what it's worth. Nothing.

4 comments:

  1. Aquaponics looks like easy money these days.

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  2. Hmmm. At first I was a bit intrigued because I'd never heard of aquaponics. Then I wondered how it was different than hydroponics.

    After doing about a half an hour of searching around, I understand
    why I've never heard of it. I just don't think it's feasible on a grand scale. Sure, you use less water - but look at the set-up for this kind of stuff. I know they
    say you can do this on the cheap - but it doesn't look that way to me. The sorts of water pumps they would need, and there is so many points of failure. Which is the biggest issue for production.

    Good job on finding me something I had to investigate.

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  3. Lol, I figured someone living in California would have one down the street. There is a solid investment at first but it seems like it would be quick return on investment.

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  4. No - that's Oregon. We aren't that douchy yet. ;)

    That whole thing just seems like a whole lot of setup for not as much return.

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