Yeah, a lot of people have started gardens this year or expanded what they have. I live in an apt so I don’t have space for a garden. But I built a hydroponics tower for inside, a small herb garden in the kitchen, and the patio has a small container garden. I’ve been pirate gardening in the landscaped areas of a nearby office park and a few empty lots. (I live in a big city.) Stocking up. All that jazz.

If I can get some help and cooperation from my neighbors, I’ve been thinking of lining up the back alley with cardboard boxes and maybe growing corn and beans along the wall there.

We’ve also pared down our food intake a bit in favor of higher calorie drinks, started taking vitamins (eww), and shifting our diet away from wheat. Zoodles instead of noodles, that kind of thing. We do that in the summer anyway because of the heat here in Phoenix, but we won’t shift back this fall.

Even so, I’m more worried about water and power. We’ve cut off irrigation to farmers but water fountains are still going full blast. There’s been no ordinance to turn them off. There’s been little to no public messaging about water conservation and I still routinely hear people bragging about their showers after lounging in the pool all day. We’re having power flickers. It’s time for people to start realizing they live in a desert and conduct themselves accordingly.