I can actually see the advantages of gardens, especially commercial, in regions with dry, warm, not humid climates.  The garden is doing very well at the moment, though the soil is fine dust.  Why? Well, essentially no rain and no humidity (this is subjective: no humidity for this region in this season, quite a bit of humidity I am sure for the desert) These conditions tend to equal no mold, mildew, or bugs.  And that leads to healthy plants, at least, as long as it is coupled with a good well and a drip irrigation system: the roots are wet and the leaves are dry and clean.  The bean, chard, and brassica families love that.  The peas don’t seem to mind either.

Now, of course, areas without that drip irrigation system….well.  It is interesting to observe what works in gardening and just how far we have pushed the plants out of their comfort zone and into one requiring artificial conditions for maximum production.

This all rather ignores that one nasty issue: water and the availability thereof.  And that is a challenge….but it gets one thinking about some of the trade-offs.  How much fungicide and insecticide would be required to grow the same crops here, in a wet year, as are grown in a drier climate?  Could one even?

I think about water an awful lot these days it seems!