Drought Tolerant Veggies

Hi Everyone:

Happy New Year to all.

A neighbor has offered me a decent sized parcel of land to grow vegetables on for the past few years. I think I am going to take him up on this year. Land is fertile and he has it nicely plowed. The only issue is that there is no irrigation so I would need to plant veggies that might be ok just depending on rain. I know field peas are fairly drought tolerant but are there any other crops I could grow?

Thanks
BB

MY first choice there would be potatoes, Bronx Boy. They grow quite well from just the moisture that falls from the sky.

Lima beans, cowpeas, sweet potatoes, watermelon do pretty well for me without irrigation most years. Most years I can also grow corn without irrigation but it is tricky. Of course any crop grown between September and June usually does ok without irrigation.

Thanks

wouldn't have thought of potatoes

If you're interested in things a little bit different, try seakale and New Zealand Spinach.
And of course you can't go wrong with ordinary ol' spinach beet ( perpetual spinach) we eat it with everything all through the year and never water it

Thanks

Here is a link to a Colorado Extension Service pamphlet "Water Conservation in the Vegetable Garden":
http://cmg.colostate.edu/gardennotes/716.pdf
Short version: Avoid Beans, Cole/Crucifer family, and corn.

mulch, mulch, mulch!

Melons and squash (esp winter squash and pumpkins and such) are often grown in even drier parts of Texas without irrigation. Sunflowers too would be nice.


I'm not a market gardener, but last year I gardened in two locations and if I ever do it again, I will plan it so that the crops on the "away acre" are those that need less attention. Even tho it was only about 3 miles away, the daily drive to gather okra during the prime of the season got old. :-)

Tina

Yes.

Lots of mulch in the plans

BB

Take photos, and keep us up one what you're doing with it.

Ga isn't always dry, is it?

Maybe a living mulch of clover between the rows? It could be plowed in for green manure at the end of the season. Just a thought, good luck.

You have a chance with tomatoes, also, if you mulch them well.

No. Georgia just ended a 3 year drought in 2009. We had plenty of rain last year

BB