Drought

It hasn't rained here since last August. As my oasis depends on harvested rainwater, things are looking bleak. The bats are even gone. If one of my tanks hadn't leaked I wouldn't be in such bad shape now. I can't water my trees with the foot or so of water that's left in one tank because it's needed for the birds and deer to drink, as well as keep my gambusias alive. Without gambusias, when it does rain, the place would become unbearable with mosquitos. Gambusias eat the mosquito larva in the water. So, I sit and watch my trees languish. Here's a mulberry tree beside a mesquite. You all know how dense a healthy mulberry tree is.

Realistically, it probably won't rain until July, the beginning of our 3 month rainy season. The oasis is still crammed with birds desperately seeking food and water. And lack of water isn't entirely why things are puny. Without rain things will survive on watering, but not thrive. Something about rain. The desert is totally transformed when it rains, and hopefully my oasis will be too. Maybe I'll end up with a more natural habitat that won't require so much watering, but still be equally lovely. It's evolving. When I started out with bare ground I had to plant stuff to water and I planted what I thought would be good for me and the birds. I had to attract birds so they would plant the native stuff. Then when the native stuff gets mature, the stuff I planted isn't as important. But having it gives me the incentive to water, and the water helps the native stuff too. We'll see.