Generally when you ask someone when their rain season is you will expect them to say winter or summer rain………. and yes we would answer summer rain, but in truth in the Bushmanland our rain season is in February. With an average of 125ml a year you can imagine the trust we put into February.
We were fortunate to get some rain in November and December. This is unusually early. And February didn’t come to the show. What I do believe however, that with the planed grazing, and the litter that has been formed by trampling dry grass, and locust swarms we have maintained some moisture in our soil. There is still green showing in our new perennial grass, the Silky Bushmanland grass (Stipagrostis Uniplumis). (New simply because for the two previous years after the drought our land was covered in short living perennials). We breathe again as we see annuals returning).
Being on the farm almost full time now I have come to realise, to the full, the delicacy of the balance between nature and farmers. And mostly I feel a bubble of excitement inside me when I consider the difference that regenerative farming can make in this arid area.
It is not without hope though, that I sit and watch the grey and white clouds being brought in by the promising North wind today
Until next time …….