Dry-Farming in a Drought cont…

Not only do we pay close attention to the volume of rain we receive in any given season, but also to the amount of time that the rain falls. Last season at this time we were at 24 inches with most if the rain falling in December during three heavy storms. The 15/16 season has only produced about 13 inches of rainfall so far, it has fallen slowly, in increments, over at least a dozen storms. While the totals are significantly less, the slow and steady precipitation has soaked into the ground. At this time our cover crops are lusher and the ground is more saturated than last season. While I love a good atmospheric river that dumps buckets of rain and fills reservoirs, our vineyard is wetter today than it was at this time last year and with only half the rain!  And it does not hurt that the forecast looks very promising.  (this post was lost in my drafts folder, thus the publishing date…)