The Big Dry

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology is a wonderful site because you not only get the forecasts you get information about the weather. We all know we have needed rain. We all know it's been hard on the eastern states and we all know WA has been hit hard by rain and storms, but it has had some real success with its crops this year. The rain for us and the change in the weather pattern for the eastern states means there is a hive of activity. We have a long weekend, so the farmers will be out there tilling and planting like mad. We have all been doing what we normally do in April. April is normally the time to get out there and plant and fertilise because the rains have started. Not this year. We were all looking at the brown and dry. I have been through droughts before. Geraniums and bottlebrushes last the distance. Melaleucas get there but look so twiggy and dry. Spider plants keep the green going if they can get a splash of water. Last drought I lost much of my garden and it was a dust bowl. People will be cleaning up the water damage from Friday but when you look at the garden and you turn the soil and see the worms, it softens the blow a bit. So much dust has come out of the air. Red, brown grey. Lovely on my nice shiny car! The dark red patches on the map show areas of the lowest deficiencies of rainfall we have ever had on record. Sometimes you wonder what goes on and why you can't just tilt the land a bit. Like we've had all that rain in the west and not in the east and there was one year where Germany and Poland were flooded badly and France was as dry as a bone. We need to learn a bit of tilting or long distance piping of water!!

Australian rainfall deficiencies - 3 months