NO MORE WATER FROM THE WELL

Apparently most wells dry up each year and so has ours - this week. (Not a big problem, you might think, but the French are parsimonious and well water is free, whereas mains water is metered.)
10 days ago I could water the whole garden. a week ago I either did the vegetables or the mixed border and pumpkins.

Very soon I could only fill 5 buckets, then just one watering can.

It is very hot - about 36 - 40. No point in holding your breath for a thunderstorm as they are always miss us and are just a field further away.

I thought I would have to watch as the garden died from drought and disease and stress but -

John has made me a tap for the veggie garden from the mains water. It has very little pressure so after an initial brave squirt of 8 ft it dwindles to a dribble and I am back to filling watering cans from it and putting little amounts on individual plants.

New gardens must be watered to get established.

Hopefully in a year or two most plants will survive the summer and I will just nurse the veggies like M. Blandin on the next farm who can grow 20 metre rows of cabbages with one can of carefully administered water.

It is like Lusaka and Zambia again and my childhood in Zimbabwe where water was always in short supply and a reddish colour. I still cannot bear to see a tap running while someone cleans their teeth even if it is me!! <

MAIZE, MAIZE, MAIZE, MAIZE AND MAIS AND FOOD SECURITY

So its monoculture here as well and no food security.

We are surrounded and dwarfed by the maize that grows all around us.

We chose this place because at least the rural economy was alive even if not well.
We were somewhat surprised that nothing was planted until late in April - only one crop a year? In spite of all that heavy machinery! Well that is because it is maize.

What is maize good for then? (Maize, huh! What is it good for?)

Basically it is for fattening cattle and animals. In Africa maize feeds Africans - by the way - not its primary purpose.

Fact is maize is not a good staple unless you also can get fresh fruit and veg and some protein. In Africa where people can't it is one reason why people succumb to HIV/AIDS. It needs to be supplemented with Soya etc.

Why were so many poor South African women both fat and not very strong - too much maize pap and no real food! It is a serious health issue.

Well it pays to grow it - BUT - IT USES VAST AMOUNTS OF WATER - and it dries up rivers, wells, lakes and artesian basins. (It dries up our well, too. Right In My Back Yard.) (Cultural Note for our male readers. The word "artesian" comes from Artois in Belgium. So Stella Artois actually uses water from doubly Artesian wells.)

So it is bad news. Here people used to grow several varied crops a year - none of which needed this kind of irrigation.

What does maize also do?

It makes people obese. Scientists and physicists are changing the structure of corn starch - modifying it - so that it makes food look lovely and not disintegrate - so ice cream doesn't melt and baked beans shine.

go -on - get a packet of corn starch - moisten it and see how it behaves. It is useful for cooks in small amounts -

You it makes fat and you didn't know how much you were eating did you? Have a look at food labels - go on!

All the way across Europe on our travels there was maize or there was nothing! Only Turkey has a sustainable agriculture.

Hungary had maize. Poland and Romania rural poverty. Maize is taking over the world - wasting water and killing people with malnutrition and obesity.