Introduction
So as I am sure many of you already know, I am really big into growing the three sisters growing method. I tend to allocate a large portion of my garden and growing space to just growing corn, beans, squash, and this year sunflowers. I did not invent this method of interplanting, I was inspired to give it a try after reading about the concept it in various forums and via books. In theory the practice made perfect sense, but when reading about the practice in books it seemed like there was lot of variation when it came to how everyone preferred to implement their agriculture design.
I will take the time to explain right now that dry farming doesn’t just revolve around the three sisters method, but it does seem to play a role. Not all indigenous groups who originally utilized the method all used the same types of designs, nor did all of them dry farm. There are many examples of tribes who were agriculture based and cultivated the three sisters, but relied on various forms of irrigation to help water their crops in areas where rainfall was either inconsistent or very scare.
The act of dry farming is to grow food without the use of irrigation or human hand watering. The method relies solely on residual soil moisture from winter snowfall, floods, and rain fall. As one may assume, growing crops in this manner is very risky and can fail for many years in a row if periods of drought or irregular weather patterns occur. Dry farming takes serious planning, preparation, and energy to help improve one’s chances of a bountiful yield. Often times, all if not most of the labor involved in planting, maintaining, and harvesting these plots are done by hand. No one eats for free.
Various Native American groups have been practicing dry farming across North America for thousands of years. For one to say that it doesn’t work, or is unrealistic to think that such a practice could sustain a community would be a sign of ignorance. Early American settlers caught on to this practice/method of growing food without irrigation in the mid-late 1800’s when settling in California.
What first got me interested in learning about dry farming was a couple of random YouTube videos I watched a year or so ago prior to me growing corn. The videos entailed a brief interview and showing of the respected Hopi textile artist/painter Ahkima Honyumptewa and his corn field at the beginning of the season and at the end of the season. Akhima has various other videos taken of him or by him showing him planting and harvesting corn and other produce. The video takes place in the early to mid- 2010’s when growing food was allegedly easier/not as difficult for Hopi farmers. Ahkima goes on to explain how he grows corn and further elaborates on some of the traditions/stories from the Hopi people.
I personally find it very interesting to listen to what Ahkima had to say and was inspired to grow Hopi corn. I did try a form of mounding for my Hopi blue corn last year, but wasn’t too enthused with my results. I don’t believe I planted deep enough and had issues with my garden bed being too new and the cardboard preventing grass underneath wasn’t broken down yet from the previous fall. This lead to a small harvest, only weighing about 2lbs from a small cluster of ears despite my efforts to hand pollinate and water my plants from my backyard hose. This year I planted the saved seeds from last year in a more conventional/traditional block pattern and seem to have more ears, but did notice smaller/weaker corn stalks and a degree of stunting/delay in both height and silk production.
I have decided that after this year I am going to stop adding water to my Hopi corn and grow in the methods it was intended to grow. I do not live in the American Southwest and should have no issue growing corn in these extreme temperatures without water as my state/city gets more inches of rain than they do in Arizona. I plan to elaborate on why I am making the switch to dry farming when growing Hopi corn (or any form of field corn for that matter) in the text below and some of the advantages/disadvantages of the farming method.
1. Why Not Irrigate?
If you have been keeping along so farm you may be asking yourself, “Why don’t these people just start growing food where there is already water?” which seems to be a logical question. The answer is that they are already growing food where the water is. As I mentioned previously, dry farming is inherently risky and unpredictable, it takes a good relationship and understanding of the landscape and the observation of how various weather patterns interact with the land.
So to answer the most common question, the Hopi people grow where there is water (under normal circumstances/weather conditions). It is said that many people will choose to grow their corn in natural terraces or flood plain where excess moisture settles or washes out from the mountain. This helps to catch all the melting snow and any extra bit of rain that may help their crops. Natural wind brakes are also considered in site selection.
An interesting video showing the use of clay ollas for watering the garden
2. Benefits of Dry Farming
You have to imagine a time where the use of conventional irrigation, domestic plumbing, garden hoses, and underground aquifers were not available to people to use. To shift the land to work with you via irrigation is no small task. It often requires a ton of labor and proper environmental locations to make it work. There are other forms of irrigation that doesn’t require you to move a lot of earth, but that requires still hauling gallons and gallons of water up from the river on a near daily basis in the hot desert mountains. Dry farming makes all of this extra labor, unnecessary. Why fight the Earth to make agriculture work in your way rather than with nature?
Dry farming also reduces the amount of wasted freshwater allocated to plants rather than for humans or other native plants. In the landscape of the American Southwest (and anywhere really) water is sacred. We may not appreciate water as much in the city or in the modern world as we have seemingly infinite water from various taps in our kitchen. I can assure you if you had to pail your own water you would possess far greater appreciation for the quality of the resource, especially in a time of drought.
3. Issues with Dry Farming
While dry farming may take less work in the intimal set up and wastes significantly less water than that of conventional agriculture practices that are common today. I can assure you that many Hopi farmers are feeling the negative impacts of a changing climate and more unpredictable weather patterns. There are many Hopi farmers who have expressed grief when discussing their lack of harvest over the past few growing seasons due to a lack of rain and snow. They rely on these weather events for proper seed germination and to ensure that the plants can stabilize and establish before temperatures get too hot and damage the young/weak plants.
4. Can You Dry Farm Anywhere?
You may be wondering if anyone can dry farm and the answer is it depends. I say this because this method of farming is actually more prevalent in areas with drier growing seasons and hotter climates. It isn’t really intended for people who live in tropical regions as they already get adequate rainfall to support corn as corn is technically a tropical plant in its origin. Ideally those who wish to dry farm need sparse to moderate rain or snowfall (prior to the growing season) and to possess qualities in the soil which allow for water to be held such as a high amount of organic matter in the soil or clay soil.
Clay soil is typically not ideal for corn, but in some cases can be very beneficial, especially when growing corn without any supportive water source in times of high heat stress or during crucial growing periods such as ear production/the milk stage.
5. What Plants are Best For Dry Farming?
Since a once tropical plant like corn has been able to survive this long without any help from humans with water in super dry areas, you may be wondering what else can be grown in a dry farm environment. The answer is more than you think! While the variety is quite large, there is a still a few types of vegetables that do better in drought like situations like certain types of wheat and barley or even types of fruit like grapes, tomatoes, and watermelon!
A lot of these crops that seem to do fine in a dry farming setting are usually those that are native to North America and some plants that were brought over from the African continent like millet (grain sorghum) and cowpeas (which originate from sub-Saharan Africa). The list goes on and on, but I encourage you to look into all the types of plants you may be able to grow with little to no water. Some even argue that his reduction in water intake by the plants actually increases the flavor and nutrient composition of the fruit/grain /veggie, which makes sense to me as the nutrients leach from the soil with heavy amounts of rain.
Conclusion
While the Hopi people have a great history of dry farming in the American Southwest, it is not clear who the first people were to start practicing the method of farming. I am sure there were a handful of groups who utilized the method in the old world prior to the crossing of humans into North America. Regardless, the Hopi people still hold their tradition close to their heart despite the numerous attempts to get the people to assimilate to various European cultures and religion over the past few hundred years.
The use of dry farming opens up opportunities to grow more food on land that would be considered barren or a wasteland by conventional farmers. The practice is what I believe holds one of the keys to food sovereignty in an unpredictable landscape and climate into the near future. Despite the risk of the practice, there is still very little to lose as the reward is often just as great as or potentially greater than the latter. I hope you have given the idea of dry farming some thought and that you may consider doing some more research on the Hopi culture, dry farming and the amazing art/information that Ahkima has given us for free via the internet. I would personally love to be able to go see how the various tribes grow their food on their land in the southwest and in the Midwest. Until then, I will have to be content with the information I am shown via YouTube for free.
Hopi Blue Corn from 2023 Season