schenker is an avid traditional grower with wild roots, but along with the other organization members, she will be pivoting toward an innovative form of gardening called hydroponics that wild roots is incorporating.

hydroponics is the technique of growing plants using a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil, according to the usda national agricultural library.

“it’s kind of like a constant flowing water system, and there’s no soil needed,” schenker said. “the plants are just growing out of the water.”

rachel silverman, a mccormick school of engineering second-year industrial engineering major, is the co-vice president of engineers without borders, a student organization using engineering to promote sustainability. their newest project is partnering with wild roots to build the hydroponic system.

silverman said hydroponic systems pump water directly to the roots of the plants, which is beneficial for the environment.

“due to soil degradation, we lose soil faster than we can make it, so having an alternative available when we can grow produce without soil is really essential,” silverman said. “second of all, it uses a lot less water than how you would normally grow plants because it doesn’t have to be saturated in the soil and water can be recycled through the system.”

hydroponic systems work circularly, with water pumping from the nutrient-filled water into the grow tray, and then cycling back to the solution tank where more nutrients are added. the nutrient-water solution is typically replaced every two to three weeks for an average-sized hydroponic structure, according to floraflex. an energy source is needed to provide light for the plants when grown indoors and to pump the water.

engineers without borders and wild roots are working out these technical details in an effort led by silverman and juliana gonzalez, a mccormick second-year majoring in manufacturing and design engineering. silverman said she and gonzalez weren’t familiar with gardening alternatives like hydroponics before wild roots reached out, but when the organizations connected, engineers without borders researched the system and decided to take on the project.

“i think you learn a lot more through doing. joining this club has taught me a lot more about the different solutions that exist,” silverman said. “[i am] just getting a better grasp of the situation with the environment and the ways we can help.”

once engineers without borders agreed to collaborate with wild roots, they put together a rough design and worked through logistics with wild roots advisor corbin smyth. their final sketch is a 6-feet long and 4-feet wide structure with plants growing in horizontal rows above a water basin. while many hydroponic structures feature lights above the plants for controlled growth, this system will not need them because it will receive natural light outdoors. 

gonzalez said the biggest barrier they faced was getting their materials approved. engineers without borders sent their material proposal to the northwestern student organization finance office (sofo) to order before spring break, she said. sofo officials asked the students to restructure their plans solely with materials from vendors approved on ibuynu, a web-based ordering platform providing organizations with streamlined purchasing options.

“they ended up sending us the materials [list] back, and then we redid the materials and sent it back to our advisor, who sent it to sofo,” gonzalez said. “the whole process took a really long time. it was very frustrating, honestly.” but the process and patience paid off.

gonzalez said the students decided to exclusively choose items from home depot when rebuilding their materials list because the store is approved on the sofo platform. while engineers without borders initially planned to unveil the structure in late may of 2024, gonzalez said they are postponing the project launch until the coming academic year due to the delays. she said that even with delays, she thinks a hydroponic system will be meaningful enough for the university that the students are sticking with the plan.

the hydroponic system will bring awareness about water consumption and waste on campus, gonzalez said. she added that sustainability is a large part of the world now, and integrating it into engineering projects is very interesting to her.

eric weber, director of operations at plant chicago, embraces and builds upon the sustainable aspects of hydroponics, they said. plant chicago, on chicago’s south side, adopted hydroponic and aquaponic urban gardens in 2011 when the organization launched. their first systems were located at the plant, a former meat processing warehouse welcoming a collaborative community of small food businesses, according to the plant website. plant chicago relocated their hydroponic and aquaponic structures to their current space a few blocks away in 2020, said weber.

hydroponics is one component of an aquaponics system, which pumps naturally fertilized water from fish tanks to plants growing in water, then redirects the plant-purified water back to the fish tanks, according to nelson + pade. fish waste fertilizes the water and special bacteria in the water breaks down the ammonia in the waste that would be harmful to plants.

weber walked us through plant chicago’s indoor space, which boasts several hydroponic and aquaponic towers of various sizes. in the aquaponic structure, fish swim lazily on the lowest level and a series of pipes lead up to neat rows of plants growing in the water. weber said the main benefit of aquaponics over hydroponics is that it grows fish in addition to plants.

“you get the ability to have a potential protein source that you can harvest and eat in addition to your veggies,” weber said. “you treat the system as its own living organism; you’ve got fish, you’ve got plants, you’re trying to keep them living in harmony with each other.”

the nutrient source in a hydroponic system differs significantly from that of an aquaponic system, weber said. in a solely hydroponic structure, the plants rely on a synthetic fertilizer rather than organically processed fish waste. according to weber, this ties into one of the main criticisms of hydroponic growth.

critics of hydroponic growth don’t see hydroponics as organic and instead prefer more natural methods, said weber. while the u.s. department of agriculture (usda) makes no mention of soil growth in their definition of organic, the usda does specify that “the basic rule for organic agriculture is to allow natural substances and prohibit synthetic,” according to the website’s organic 101 subsection. if hydroponic and aquaponic systems do not use synthetic fertilizers, the usda recognizes them as eligible for organic certification.

but, according to the real organic project, a defining characteristic of organic produce is growth in soil. weber acknowledged that for both hydroponic and aquaponic growth, the plants grow in a controlled environment rather than letting nature take its course.

“you’re trying to control as many parameters of the environment as possible, so the amount of light, temperature, humidity, airflow, oxygen, co2…” weber said. “all that requires technology in some form, which tends to be fairly expensive, and electricity. depending on your electricity source or part of the world, it can vary in its environmental impact and cost.”

weber said the “gut check” for these technology-based growth methods is properly weighing cost and energy use against the systems’ benefits. they said some gardeners can build a small in-home hydroponic system for a couple hundred dollars, but the systems can cost upwards of $10,000 depending on size customizations and energy needs. some structures rely primarily on renewable energy sources, such as the systems at plant chicago, which operate from a 16-kilowatt solar array on the roof installed over a year ago, according to weber. however, others can rack up energy from non-renewable sources such as coal or natural gas, they said.

opposing organizations such as the real organic project look at the potential cost- and energy-related negatives of hydroponic growth and rule it out as a sustainable option. weber takes a more holistic approach. they said multiple factors should be considered when implementing hydroponics, such as which crops thrive naturally in that geographical area, which financial resources are available, and whether renewable energy is easily accessible. hydroponics also recycles water in a world where drought is spreading due to climate change.

“just as easy as it is to say, ‘oh, hydroponics is going to save us from world hunger,’ those broad strokes could be used to say, ‘oh no, this is terrible, it’s a huge waste of space and time and money and electricity,’” weber said. “i don’t think either of those are right.”

to exemplify their point, weber said they would never set up huge greenhouses in florida to grow trees inside because the climate is ideal for growing them naturally outdoors. however, they may consider growing leaf lettuce in nevada using indoor hydroponics. the state’s desert climate means far more water would be required to irrigate fields than it would be to grow plants in a nutrient-based water solution. they said in that case, the overall water loss is significantly less, which is a clear benefit to growing crops in a desert environment.

kellye fleming, branch assistant at the evanston public library’s robert crown branch, said hydroponics may not always be sustainable, but offers a great resource nonetheless. she implemented a rental program for hydroponics systems at her branch two years ago, where patrons can rent out small structures for 11 weeks at a time for free.

hydroponic growing is great for people such as fleming who live in apartments and don’t have much access to greenspace, she said. she added that soil can contain lead or other heavy metals in urban areas, making it impossible to grow healthy crops. indoor hydroponic growth makes fresh produce more accessible in that circumstance and for growing greens and herbs off-season. flemings said she doesn’t rule out the benefits of hydroponics simply because it’s not considered organic.

“if you are sustainability growing items, does it matter if it’s organic?” fleming said. “as long as people are growing, it’s great.”

schenker also frowns upon black-and-white criticism of hydroponic systems. to her, everything has a positive and negative, she said, and giving people more options for plant growth in different situations is a move in the right direction.

“i’m not saying that we should completely move toward hydroponics — i think that would be unsustainable,” schenker said. “but when it comes to how little access to good, clean food people have nowadays, a diverse amount of solutions to implement is great.”

the hydroponic system created by engineers without borders and wild roots will tentatively be placed outside norris university center in 2025.

silverman said the system will feature a qr code with information about hydroponics so students can learn more about why this structure was built. she thinks the project will spark interest in the environment on campus, she said.

“i hope it draws curiosity toward sustainability-focused tools,” silverman said. “i want it to open the conversation about other ways we can be more environmentally conscious.”

this article was originally published in north by northwestern.

two major projects “… will improve and change the agricultural industry and will show how to better sustain materials” said jacqueline carlisle, technical writer, college of agriculture, environmental and nutritional sciences of tuskegee university.

uma karki, ph.d., a professor of animal sciences at tuskegee university is heavily present in these two projects. her academic interests include “promot(ing) the sustainable livestock production system, especially focusing [on] small-scale, limited resource producers” among other environmental specialties like goat grazing and management. 

project one: expanding the participation of marginal producers and landowners to promote climate-smart agriculture and forestry practices: continuous efforts of 1890 agroforestry 2022年世界杯亚洲预选赛结果

the first project entails increasing the number of farmers and knowledge of forestry among them and landowners, said karki, who also listed three additional institutions who will participate. these schools are alabama a&m university, virginia state university, university of maryland eastern shore, and tuskegee university. 

the project will offer its members courses in climate-smart and environmentally sustainable principles to benefit the world we live in. the specific goals include an initiative to increase trees in open pasture areas. karki states that for this project, trees will play the role of creating windbreakers in crop fields to act as shields from erosion. according to karki, the presence of trees in pastures will help keep nutrients in the land, so that they are not washed out by water or more serious flooding. they also act as a buffer for toxic waste, emerging from the water out of the open fields.

along with these benefits, this project will teach farmers how to handle their land properly. the main focus of this project is to ensure that underfunded minority-owned companies and farmers in the states of alabama, maryland, and virginia receive the funding they deserve to achieve environmental success.

project two: improved practices of climate-smart livestock production systems and agricultural commodities while enhancing carbon sequestration in the southern usa: innovating toward a new climate-smart commodity by investing in minority producers

the second project that tuskegee university has received funding for has numerous goals that range from “implement[ing] climate-smart production practices…” to “develop[ing] markets and promot[ing] the resulting climate-smart commodities” according to the george washington carver agricultural experimental station (gwcaes), an organization that is documenting this project’s aspirations and its membership.

joining tuskegee university in this project are institutions including mississippi state university, alabama a&m university, langston university, and the u.s. department of agriculture. overall, the gwcaes states that the intended outcome is for an expansion in durability “…of agriculture, forest sectors, and communities”’ in the face of changing climate conditions.

looking towards the future

this funding comes at a pivotal moment as climate change is a rising issue that many are still skeptical about, despite tangible and drastic changes in the environment around us. by 2050, researchers predict that the earth will hold about “…10 billion people,” said karki. with this expected population increase, carbon dioxide and other pollutants will have increasingly detrimental effects on the planet. experts also predict that livestock production will deplete, leading to a decrease in food production, among many other issues. if this problem of food production is not solved quickly, the earth will not be able to properly sustain human life. 

the good news is that these initiatives also open up opportunities for students majoring in environmental studies and beyond. carlisle stated that students “… will help with research” and that “… other students from different majors can reach out to help as well.” this is an important factor because students from all different backgrounds can express their interests in the world around them. for example, vet students may not be necessarily involved in growing plants, but the vegetation grown will be a source of food for the animals they are caring for. so, by the projects improving the durability of land on the farm, the animals will eat better which will lead to a longer and healthier life expectancy. 

joree comes from the apsáalooke nation in montana. photos were shot with a fuji xt-1 viltrox 24mm. photo captions are italicized in the photo essay. apsáalooke and crow will be used interchangeably.

dorfer, 46, owns and runs cobblestone farm, a community-supported agriculture (csa) farm. she has invited university students to visit the farm and ask her questions.

as she shepherds the students back to the parking area, someone asks her how far in advance she plans for the growing season. it seems like a practical question with a straightforward answer, but she pauses, looks to the sky and sighs. “that’s actually more of a mental health question than anything else.”

mental health in farming

farming has one of the highest suicide rates of any occupation in the country, according to rebecca toms, communications coordinator for solid ground, a program created by uconn’s college of agriculture, health, and natural resources extension. the program aims to provide support, training, and a community of like-minded people to new farms and farmers around connecticut. 

as well as being a farmer herself, toms, 36, received her master’s degree in social work. her current role at solid ground has allowed her to use both of her fields of expertise. earlier this year, she hosted a series of webinars on farmer stress and solutions. 

farming fosters a certain culture that may make getting mental health help harder.  “within the farming industry there is a strong vein of self-sufficiency, which makes it hard to say ‘i have a problem,’” says toms. in agriculture, there are so many other problems to address first.

finances pose the biggest challenge to small farmers, followed by legal and land issues. in connecticut especially, land is prohibitively expensive, making it difficult to get into and stay in farming. moreover, supply-chain issues and inflation in recent years have dramatically increased the cost of raw materials.

many newer small farmers start their careers for emotional, physical, and spiritual satisfaction; both dorfer and toms cite these reasons. but small-scale farming is not a lucrative business. for some, the job itself is the yield. 

“my financial goal was to be able to afford to do the job,” says dorfer.

climate and physical stress

physical health is another major factor to mental health. the intensive labor of farming takes a major toll on the body. farming is not just time-consuming, but all-consuming: it takes up such a large part of a person’s life that it can put a major strain on their relationships. often, they have to choose between farming and their families.

some farmers cannot pull through and must leave the profession because they do not have the time, resources, or physical strength to continue.

these aspects are stressful enough by themselves, but climate change has been making the job increasingly difficult. rising temperatures, shifting season lengths, and changes in precipitation are just a few of the climate threats that loom over the farming industry. these factors make it hard to reliably predict and plan for the growing season; looking at the past year or two doesn’t provide enough data, yet looking too far into the past doesn’t help either due to climate change. “every year is new data,” says dorfer.

one weather anomaly can compromise an entire season’s worth of crops. a one-day spike or dip in temperature could kill off an entire batch; a false start to spring might cause crops to start growing early, only to be killed off by frost. 

secondary issues arise from the more direct effects of climate change. warmer winters allow insects that would otherwise die off during the cold weather to survive, increasing the number of pests that can damage crops. during droughts, mammals eat the vegetables for their water content. farmers then have to spend more money to keep the damaged crops alive and the pests at bay.

toms recounts a moment over the summer where thinking about climate change gave her a panic attack. “it’s terrifying,” she says.

dorfer says that this past summer was particularly hot and miserable; her work felt “demoralizing” and would sometimes make her think, “why am i doing this?” even so, she could not imagine doing any other job.

making resources available to farmers, toms says, is the most effective way to decrease farmers’ stress. this is solid ground’s biggest priority. a large part of their work consists of making things as easy as possible for farmers, as they have little time to deal with the many administrative aspects of farming. this includes facilitating access to legal help, assisting with grants and subsidies, and making farming supplies available and easy to find.

the movement for farmers’ mental health is very new, but toms is hopeful that it will gain traction and help farmers everywhere. “it’s something that’s just beginning, and personally, i hope i can be a part of it.”

earlier that day, he had gone to home depot with his crew: shelly, his wife of 42 years, and caleb johnson, a longtime friend. he and johnson loaded up two-by-fours to rebuild the roof that sheltered animals at southern fresh farms, a non-profit educational farm in fort myers. shelly remained in their dodge ram pickup and turned down fox news to answer concerned calls.

she texted a friend coping with the destruction from hurricane ian that pounded the west coast of florida at the end of september. the storm had subsumed her friend’s home in floodwaters. still, he had made the time to check in on the farm. shelly responded with several hearts, and her blue eyes glistened like morning dew. as messages asking to donate surged, so did her tears.

back at their farm, robert leaned over the cherry picker bucket lift, hammering each timber one slab at a time. a-rat-a-tat-tat, an echo of the woodpeckers on the oaks surrounding them. johnson and jake stevens, another friend of the mcmahons since his childhood, stood nearby, the two swapping turns directing the crane and clamping down the wood. manure encircled them, musky, but they didn’t seem to mind. the pair joked that they were dating. stevens had come by with a pack of ale the night before, and “not many people show up with a cold beer for no reason,” johnson said. johnson’s wife, michelle, swept away glass shards by the farm’s central market, where visitors sit on wooden benches and buy harvested crops. the three of them, in cream cowboy hats, guffawed like father and sons.

hurricane ian trampled over 5 million acres of agricultural land in florida. the storm ranks among the top storms in u.s. history. for small, family farmers, the recovery is a long season, a brutal winter, fruitless. they face flooding, scattered debris and long-term crop losses. sea water deposited salt in some soils, parching the plants, making them impossible to nurture back to life. 

southwest florida’s barrier islands are familiar with the walloping winds and waters. in 1926, a hurricane choked sanibel island farmland. farmers gave up seeding fruits and vegetables like tomatoes on the island.

the loss is also palpable for fruit orchards, especially the state’s citrus industry, which leads the nation in growing oranges for juice. hurricane ian uprooted the trees, and with them, years of growth. once oranges tumble to the soil, they cannot be sold.

the mcmahons, 15 miles from the beach, were far enough from the bay that salt didn’t inundate their five acres. robert and shelly moved onto the land in 1980, the year they married. in 2014, they stacked rows of pots in vertical towers, tall as longleaf pine saplings. lettuce, tomatoes, peppers and green beans sprouted from those towers, with some, like hops and watermelon, embedded in the earth. a spaghetti tube wove through the lined containers, irrigating them with compost. the mcmahons scattered seeds of education in the soil, welcoming students to learn agriculture. they became an agritourism park and offered paper cups of chopped carrots and kibble to feed the livestock and fish. the livestock shuffled in the grass, the chickens squabbled. the hens were too old to lay eggs, but they cracked up the guests.

in that first weekend after the storm, robert prioritized the roof over replanting. he did so to shelter the animals from rain. the goats, donkeys, sheep, chickens and cows braved the category 4 hurricane, except henry, a bulking mass of 2,200 pounds. the steer’s hoof, matted by mud, had cracked under his weight and the sloshing waves. he was on medication from blue pearl, the only pet hospital that was open in the storm’s aftermath. shelly and robert had bought him when he was only an hour old, 30 pounds. they saved him from the butcher block and coddled him with gatorade and milk replacement, after he left his mother. he had laid his spotted head on shelly’s shoulder, dwarfing her. he snoozed in her lap. now, henry’s eyelids hung heavy, as though to conceal the fractured farm.

the five acres, once orange with marigolds and sunflowers beaming up at the sun — gone. the mcmahons had planted the flowers just days before ian. but the storm drowned them in its current. perhaps the marigolds, called flor del muerto in latin culture, foretold the death to come. 

the arrival of hurricane ian

as the swirling winds approached at 8 a.m. on sept. 28, robert and shelly huddled at home with their daughter and son-in-law and their two children, aged 13 and nine. forecasters had predicted the storm would hit tampa bay, so the mcmahons didn’t bother to shutter the windows. they didn’t do too much to prepare. they left the farm in mother nature’s palms. 

but then the storm swerved south. and mother nature didn’t spare them.  

robert said he recalls looking out the windows and saw the roof insulation trickle down, like fluttering snow. the wind rustled, tousling all the crop towers, round and round. the children played games on their ipads and sat idly by.

they lost power at 11 a.m. still, robert assured everyone everything would be all right. as the grandfather, he said he felt the paternal tug to protect, later recounting that he said, “we’ll get through this,” to his family. 

robert said that he thought the roof might upend as the wind roared, louder than a groaning tractor. he told everyone to grab their shoes and a flashlight. 

“why?” blake, his grandson, asked him. 

“just put your shoes on. let’s be ready,” robert said. 

he remembers clenching his boots and the kids their tennis shoes. no thoughts of other possessions flashed in his mind, only getting his family to safety.

hours went by. time wavered, flickering unsteadily. robert said he felt helpless as time passed, only able to watch as the roofs atop the market and animal shelter blew away.

finally, at 2:30 a.m. the hurricane bands receded.

at first light, the family walked outside. shelly wept. hurricane ian had wiped away everything they had built. within hours, their livelihood – lost. the hydroponic crops, the lettuce a week away from harvest, smothered and withered. the seminole pumpkins, which had crept up a wire trellis, hung brown and shriveled. the golden sunflowers, once on fire under the sun, submerged and floated away.

at the time, shelly thought they were “screwed.” 

she figured the farm and upcoming seventh-annual fall festival were over. every year, the mcmahon’s welcomed vendors and locals to the farm where they sold animal feed, pumpkins and vegetables in woven baskets and offered hay rides. the festival raked in much of the family’s profit. she had no idea how they would survive without their fruits and blooms.

they spent three nights in darkness without power. shelly had collected oil lamps for years, one of the many memorabilia and handmade creations stashed in the home. now, they had utility. she lit them in the darkness, cradling the orbs aglow.

over the next week, her fears were extinguished. dozens of folks from neighboring areas arrived, some bearing only the clothes on their backs. they had lost everything themselves, but they had come to help the mcmahons rebuild. the farm meant so much to them over the years, especially during the pandemic. an alcove, a nature trove brimming with vegetables, chirping birds and mangoes. those gleaming sunflowers blazed in their memories.

changing climate

robert remembers when the surrounding neighborhoods, like paseo, were sleepy areas. his father first bought the land in 1978. daniels road, now six-lane daniels parkway, was still one-lane and dirt. their mailbox was in town. at the time, the farm had some cows and a couple of horses. 

robert mcmahon sr. farmed most of his life, tending to mums and gladiolus with his wife, lillian, in iona, florida decades before. they were truck farmers, driving the crops to the packing house, and didn’t live on the land. across the river near paseo, the family later leased the land and grew red potatoes. their farm was on the upland; no wetlands drained. with the sprawling housing developments built since, hurricane floods clog the homes, robert said, rather than sloshing through.

“do i go along with the climate change thing? i don’t know. i’m not that guy,” robert said, as he dragged a hoe across the soil, digging up weeds. “all’s i can tell you is what i’ve seen in my 63 years of being here, and what i see is development, what i see is concrete, what i see is asphalt, what i see is roofs. and to me if you want to blame something, that’s the thing to blame.”

gravel slabs, spread by human machines, harbor heat. and he’s felt the blaze of hotter days on his nape since his childhood, even since the ‘90s.

david zierden, state climatologist, said that the number of hurricanes has not changed, as many climate change deniers point out. the intensity has. the heating atmosphere, increased sea surface temperatures and sea level exacerbate the storms.

“the rising global sea level is getting close to about a foot now in the last 100 years,” he said. “so now you’re adding a foot more to the potential storm surge.”

rapid intensification, as seen with ian, has also risen, zierden said.

“we can’t say that hurricane ian would not have happened without climate change, but we could certainly see the fingerprints,” he said.

the climate, of course, is not the only thing changing for florida’s farmers. brad hawkins, a fellow farmer who robert said will one day run southern fresh farms, comes from a multi-generation farm family. his father helped robert back when he grew solely red potatoes. hawkins said he searches for answers on google, such as solutions for ravaging rabbits. as a kid in the ‘60s, robert gathered with farmers at a southern restaurant on weekends at 5:30 a.m., where they sat at a big table, ate breakfast and shared what they knew. lee county is not the same, robert said. everyone knew a farmer back then, with six to seven million farms in the u.s. from 1910 to 1940. now, there are about two million. 

robert and shelly have felt the farming struggles in their relationship, each ding to their livelihood. they met in high school, shelly at cypress lake and robert at riverdale, when robert hosted a toga party. shelly arrived in sheets and said she immediately knew that she wanted to speak with him when she saw him at the door. from there out, he became her partner, her protector. she laughed with johnson’s wife, michelle, saying she only got drunk a handful of times and never smoked. she had no need. she was content with life with robert on the farm. she grew up, after all, going to her grandparents’ illinois farm and was accustomed to dirt under nails. 

the mcmahons are the kind of family who wake up with the sun each day and sometimes crave chicken gizzards from a gas station. they call themselves rednecks proudly. they are entwined with their land, as sure as the mycelia woven below. they certainly were not the kind to be stopped by a hurricane.

hacking losses and sowing seeds – recovery

a wooden gazebo, once washed up from the swirls of hurricane charley, still stands. robert found it toppled over on sanibel island while cleaning up from that 2004 tempest. the arches have overseen weddings and birthday parties. and it survived hurricane ian.

but their pond and a mango tree did not. after a couple years of growth, it had finally begun bearing fruit. 

the first steps were to scrap the losses and hack the fallen trees like the mango, just as farmers once took to the woods with a trusty backhoe. clearing and cleansing the land prepares it for new plantings.

the first weekend after hurricane ian, robert and shelly debated a facebook post asking for volunteers to help. they decided against it, not wanting hundreds to show up. already in a gofundme campaign, they had raised $21,050 by the first week of october. that’s how beloved they were in their community.

shelly and her daughter amy swept debris in the marketplace. they wore rubber boots, chicken proof for when the birds pecked at their feet. they knew rain could return. but they hoped that it wouldn’t and drown the delicate seedlings.

michelle rode a golf cart over to the animals and huffed along, carrying a hefty bag of “sweet feed,” as good as any southern tea. she dumped the protein-rich grains into bowls like she would for any beloved pet.

“this is what we do,” robert said, and he opened the gate. one bullock, bob, shoved him with his head in greeting. bob then mulled over his bowl, and food scattered everywhere, his black hide, dark as subversive sheep fleece. he’s “full of piss and vinegar,” robert said.

robert worked on the roof the rest of the day, cracking jokes and smiling, while shelly struggled not to cry. her gratitude shone around her like the glow of her oil lamps in her home. 

by the end of the day, the mcmahons said they felt good about the progress they had made. the animal roof offered ample shade, the market floor was almost safe to hobble barefoot on. so the next morning, they departed the farm to chip in elsewhere.

they helped neighbors lug furniture, tarnished by mold to the street corner. they had already been collecting clothing donations and taking them to the beach and the churches nearby. 

the next day on the farm, a handful of volunteers arrived. they devoted themselves to the battered plants. the hydroponic crops, with four pots per tower, were skewed to the side or uprooted. water could not flow through. two men, one an elementary school teacher in sperry water shoes, another with his hair tied back in a bun, lifted them. the two stood on chairs, hammering the poles deeper into the soil. sweat dribbled down their faces in florida’s warm fall air. 

robert bought everyone wendy’s burgers for lunch. they also snacked on “monkey meat,” a scramble of bologna and mayonnaise spread on white bread. shelly said she and the kids grew up on the sandwiches. she intended to continue the tradition.

the fall festival was just a week away. even though they had come a long way, they had nothing to sell in the market. but they had an idea. they decided to purchase fruits and vegetables at the local market and ship pumpkins from north carolina too. they were determined to hold the festival, even though their farm was laid bare.

the day before, shelly raised the american flag in a ritual, her head tilted in awe toward the star-crested banner, as though gazing at the constellations themselves. “we’re raising the flag, baby,” her best friend, diane stevens, with similar short stature, said. shelly yanked the metal wire and the flag up, up, up. stevens sang “god bless america,” the chorus ringing alongside the rustling of the flag. when it reached the top, waving in the wind, shelly raised her arms triumphantly, her face splayed in a wide smile. 

but by night time, stress furrowed shelly’s brow. she hadn’t known this day would come; she didn’t think it would. 

“what else do we have to do?” she shouted at amy. 

“i don’t know,” amy said. 

they ran back and forth. “i feel like we are not even close to being ready for tomorrow,” shelly said.

“we always feel like that,” amy said in a reassuring tone. 

 in response, robert said, “what we get done, we get done.”

the fall festival

by 8 a.m., food trucks piled in, dozens of people they had known for years. stuffed animal making stations, apple butter and jelly merchants, friends who wanted to make a couple extra bucks frying doughnuts. shelly and robert allowed anyone in. they especially wanted those who had lost a lot from the hurricane to make some sales. admission was free for everyone, as always.

the kettle corn aroma, nutty and dusted with caramelized sugar, wafted about. children squealed, swinging in the playground. scorched sizzles of steak arose from the grill. robert flipped burger patties as deftly as he drops seeds.

“they’ve been here before,” shelly said, pointing at a family donned in rubber boots, their feet sinking in and sticking to the soggy soil saturated from rain. ‘course shelly knew almost everyone, and dished out “honey” and “sweetie,” as often as she sold cups of carrots to families. she set aside a dozen eggs for a past pet sitter. she whispered to teresa guilday, robert’s sister and fellow cashier, about a woman who taught kindergarten. she remembered a little girl who once drew her a minnie mouse picture when she was in diapers. shelly still keeps the picture, as she does with most sentimental items. the table was stacked with mementos, including a cloth pumpkin her mother sewed and a photo of her and robert, when her silver locks were ginger and voluminous in true ‘80s fashion.

each time someone came by that table, they exchanged hurricane stories. 

“i was a puddle here 17 days ago,” shelly said to one passerby.

frans kox, who owned a flower store on sanibel island, told her about the wreckage he faced: 17 feet of water assailing his home, only a few inches from their front door. he told her his street looked like a river, water churning through. every bloom drowned. 

shelly told him that she and robert lost 90 percent of their crops.

“i cry every day at what we accomplished and all the people who came to help,” she said to kox. 

true to word and form, shelly’s eyes welled with each embrace and conversation, her puffy cheeks flushing to a deep, tomato blush. “stop it,” guilday said to her, lightly slapping her on the arm. “they’re happy tears,” shelly said. 

the festival, envisioned as a weekend affair, stretched for three weeks. the winter season quickly approached. the productive christmas season was in the seeds tucked in the cooler, in the balsam trees and pine scent — a cold winter’s night, the rustling of their wreaths and dangling lights. shelly would cook five made-from-scratch meals again for the community with santa claus visits throughout december. 

robert and shelly had planted sunflowers the week before the festival with hopes of seeing their barren field blossom once more. palms to earth with their community, hope budded in their souls. and in the fields where they planted the flowers, little tendrils circled the soil, teeming beneath.

katie delk is a 2022-2023 florida climate institute fellow reporting a series of articles about the impact of climate change on florida’s farmers—and how they are adapting.

think about the most recent trip you took to your local grocery store. how long did it take you to get there? did you take multiple forms of public transportation? how accessible was your trip? for the many people living in the district’s wards 7 or 8, it can take them a long time with multiple forms of transportation to get to their nearest grocery store.

arcadia center for sustainable food & agriculture is providing a unique solution to bring food closer to d.c. residents living in areas with little to no food access. outreach and education manager, juan pablo echeverria, takes us along on a tour of arcadia farm to show us how their sustainable agriculture is contributing to food accessibility in d.c. 

the property neighbors top of the world farm, which has been at the center of controversy surrounding water rights in the area for years. according to carmona, who also goes by farmer dan, the business was started in the 1950s by a group of insurance companies who wanted to lose money for a tax write-off. top of the world farm received a permit to divert millions of gallons of water, said carmona, which severely disrupted the upper rio grande watershed while inducing distrust in local communities with their water rights. 

last summer, i met with carmona at his cerro vista farms to learn about his relationship with water and how he copes with water scarcity in one of the driest places in north america. during our conversation, carmona describes how the history of water rights and land use in northern new mexico has greatly influenced his ability to access water.

this multimedia presentation combines our conversation in podcast form, with a visual presentation of images captured at his cerro vista farms and the surrounding areas. please explore both below!

across all states, water issues are becoming more critical by the day. due to climate change and watershed management, new mexico has been experiencing water scarcity for longer and drier periods, making it more vulnerable to uncontrolled wildfires and salinization. limited precipitation at the headwaters of the rio grande river, is exacerbating water issues downstate. you can help mitigate water scarcity issues through watershed conservation and stream restoration initiatives, and by learning about water justice in your community.

this story was featured in our series, slipping through our fingers: the future of water.

full transcript below:

eva sideris: last summer, i met with daniel carmona, who is also known as farmer dan, to learn about his relationship with water and how he copes with water scarcity in one of the driest places in north america. farmer dan is the owner of cerro vista farm and has 42 years of experience farming in the high-altitude short-growing season of the sangre de cristo mountains near taos, nm, in cerro, arroyo hondo, las colonias, and lama. he has been growing and selling organic food in taos since 1977, in the roles of farmer, restaurant owner, and grocery store manager. during our conversation, farmer dan describes how the history of water rights and land use in this corner of new mexico has greatly influenced his ability to access water. generally speaking, many states west of the 100th meridian, including new mexico, function off of prior appropriation water rights meaning that one’s access to water for beneficial purposes is based on the first-in-time, first-in-right principle of the prior appropriation doctrine. this method allows the oldest, and therefore most senior appropriations of water to have priority over other younger, or more junior, water rights. however, when the water supply is limited, the most junior rights may not be fulfilled, so they must go without water. prior appropriation water rights are a controversial and complex topic due to the long history of proclaimed water ownership in the united states. they are especially critical in areas experiencing extreme water scarcity that is exacerbated by climate change. as water becomes more scarce, the ownership and seniority of one’s water rights will control outcomes of success and have even determined life or death for water rights owners. in this podcast, farmer dan shares his personal historical account of water, politics, underground rivers, and water witches!

farmer daniel: so i got this place in 1995, and five years later. i got a permit to pump water. it took five years, and i wasn’t going to stay here if i didn’t get that permit. i was going to just sell it or sell part of it and look for a place where i could pump water. when i got my first farm and got my first well, you only had to talk to the state engineer to get a permit. but in 2002, the ditch associations in new mexico were given the legal powers to control the water in their jurisdictions. so now, if you want to drill well to supplement surface waters, your ditch association has to approve it before you even approach the state engineer’s office.

eva sideris: acequias or community ditch associations are recognized under new mexico law as political subdivisions of the state. acequias are engineered canals that carry surface waters like snow runoff or river water to distant fields. many of them have been in existence since the spanish colonization period of the 17th and 18th centuries. the customary law of the acequia is older than and at variance with the doctrine of prior appropriation. although the doctrine of prior appropriation is based on the principle of “first in time, first in right,” the acequia norms incorporate not just priority but principles of equity and fairness because water is treated as a community resource that irrigators have a shared right to use, manage, and protect. while prior doctrines allow for water to be sold away from the basin of origin, the acequia system prohibits the transference of water from the watershed. acequias in new mexico have lengthy historical roots in pueblo and hispano communities and greatly contribute to local culture which is why they are carefully projected in places like cerro.

farmer daniel: the ditch association would have never approved me drilling a well, but i got my well permit in the year 2000, and the ditch association got its legal power to control the water in 2002. so i just slipped in by chance before the ditch association could say no, and i know they would say no, and i know the reason. and that’s because where the water is 4500ft deep, at the base of ute mountain, there’s a place called top of the world farm that was started intentionally by a group of insurance companies who wanted to lose money. they needed to lose some money somewhere, through a tax write-off. there was water there and they got a permit to pump. they pumped 10,000 gallons a minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and grew crops that they couldn’t even sell because there was no railroad and there wasn’t any paved highway to take crops from there to get them to a market – it was intentionally designed to fail. they told me, a lot of people who have passed on told me, who used to live here, that they could hear the pumps running in cerro that were at the base of that mountain, 24 hours a day. well, you know what that did? it dried up everybody’s well, everybody’s hand dug well, and cerro went dry! so that’s why the cerro ditch association members, who were kids then remember what happened and they don’t want anybody to drill a well because they’re afraid their wells are going to go dry.

eva sideris: starting in the early 1950s, abundant vegetables, grains, and alfalfa were grown in the semiarid climate of northern new mexico – thanks to more than a billion gallons of water pumped from just below an extinct volcano called ute mountain. although the farm was able to grow produce at an unsurmountable scale, the operation came with an extreme tradeoff that severely depleted the water table. whatever groundwater was pumped to the fields was diverted from the rio grande, so people, plants, and animals downstream were less likely to access water. according to local news, santa fe county and four indigenous pueblos are in the process to move 1,752 acre-feet of water rights from the farm to serve faucets in the area north of santa fe that would supply drinking water to thousands of people downstream while also respecting traditional uses and tribal claims to water. however, this is a highly contested issue, that continues to impact the greater new mexico community and no decisions have been made yet.

farmer daniel: wow! so i got a permit, and i had one year to drill a well. i didn’t have any money before i had the well drilled, so i got a water witch out here, or a dowser. dowsers find moving water, not standing water. so she found underground rivers using brass welding rods. some people use willow branches, and you have to be gifted in that way. i’m sure i could do it, but i’ve never tried.

eva sideris: water witches — also known as dowsers, have been around for at least 500 years, and records show their presence all over the world. in order to locate groundwater accurately, hydrologic, geologic, and geophysical knowledge is usually needed to study an area; however, dowers are able to provide many of the same services as hydrologists by substituting science with forked sticks and their intuitions.

farmer daniel: she found me three spots with rivers, and we marked those spots for my domestic well, which is why my house is in this spot. and she found the best spot for my irrigation well, which is right on the road where my driveway meets the road. so i found out later, probably 15 years after she was here, dowsing the well. i found out that, in fact, the biggest underground river in this whole aquifer is right where my well is. makes a big difference because the water table has dropped 18ft since i’ve been here. if your well is not deep enough, you’ll have to drill another well and go deeper. so i feel pretty secure with the water supply here. this is the only spot in cerro that has water. and it’s enough acres, 26 or 27 acres, that if we keep growing food on it, it can be continued to be a valuable asset to the community. we can’t sell the water because it’s in the jurisdiction of a ditch association, i wouldn’t want to anyway. i really want this farm, even when i’m dead and gone, to still be pumping out of that river and producing food for the community. that’s really important to me. i’ve grown most of my own food for most of my life since i started farming 43 years ago. i’ve lived here for 28 years. once i started growing produce here, all the old folks who grew up having to grow their own food became my best customers selling from my farm because they appreciated what i was doing, because they had to do it to survive. now they can just come here and buy it. so i feel totally rooted here, and i feel appreciated by the community.

eva sideris: after his lifelong journey to secure water, farmer dan has finally found it. he and his son are planning on expanding the cerro vista farm.

farmer daniel: when i realized maybe i could actually farm with my son, it was totally exciting to me. plus, he’s a totally cool person!

eva sideris: across all states, water issues are becoming more critical by the day. due to climate change and watershed management, new mexico has been experiencing water scarcity for longer and drier periods, making it more vulnerable to uncontrolled wildfires and salinization. limited precipitation at the headwaters of the rio grande river, is exacerbating water issues downstate. you can help mitigate water scarcity issues through watershed conservation and stream restoration initiatives, and by learning about water justice in your community

this quote comes from bartlett durand, water quality partnership director of sand county foundation. he is talking about the agriculture system in the united states and the pressure that large-scale industrial farming puts on agriculture workers.

for decades, it has been the norm for farmers to use practices that can pollute our waterways. now, farmers are facing pressure from government officials to cut their polluting systems, but are under such financial strain that they can’t afford to change their land management practices.

this leaves many farmers stuck, all while officials continue to set more demanding standards and while water all over the country gets more polluted. durand’s job is to be a neutral ground between the city officials that set water quality standards and the farmers that must follow them. 

an excess of nutrients

the major environmental issue driving durand’s work is excessive algae growth, which can cause hypoxic zones, or areas in bodies of water that lack oxygen and are therefore susceptible to toxic algae blooms. all farming requires nutrients, whether through intensive soil management or added nutrients through manure or fertilizer. without careful management or buffering areas to contain the nutrients, rains can cause soil runoff and with that, the transportation of excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus to local waterways.

just like nitrogen and phosphorus help crops grow on a large scale, they will also make the naturally occurring algae in ponds and lakes grow excessively. these overgrown algae can use up all of the oxygen in an area of water and leave none for the entire rest of the ecosystem, killing most living things in the area. the watershed becomes a dead zone.

this can happen small-scale, in local ponds, or large-scale, like in the gulf of mexico. the great lakes, which surround durand’s home state of wisconsin, also suffer from dead zones. in lake erie, for example, the hypoxic zone is sometimes as large as 3,800 square miles.

the nutrient pollution can also get into groundwater, which can be very harmful, even at low levels. nitrogen can percolate through layers of soil all the way down to aquifers. one third of all americans — and 95% of americans living in agricultural areas — get their drinking water from groundwater, so this poses a real threat if left unregulated. 

the role of regulators

officials want to set water quality standards that slow dead zone growth and keep our water clean. but behind the issue of nutrient runoff lies social tension between farmers and officials that must be smoothed over to create any progress.

“the clean water act gives authority to the epa to enforce (water quality standards,) and then the epa gives authority to each state,” durand says. “there are different state agencies, so it varies. the culture of each state is different, and the agriculture community is different.”

the clean water act can directly regulate pollution coming from point sources, meaning they can regulate pollution that comes from a single, identifiable source, like a wastewater pipe. the epa pushes the states to set limits on how much nitrogen and phosphorus pollution is allowed from point sources, and how much certain areas must cut their levels. most water treatment plants were built in the 70s and 80s — before we understood the harms of excess pesticides, says durand — and they aren’t advanced enough to filter out the nitrogen and phosphorus at the level the epa wants. it can be expensive if not impossible for some of these plants to meet the nutrient targets set.

but some states offer the option of partnering with farmers to “trade” nutrient reductions. the responsibility then falls on the farmers to cut their personal nutrient use, asking them to change their farming practices, or to implement ways to manage field runoff. 

“farming is a brutal profession,” durand says. “you’re running a small business with tiny margins, and you do not control your pricing. the pressure on farmers is intense. you can’t make a mistake, you have so much money invested in the equipment… to change a bunch of (equipment) at once is almost impossibly expensive. and then you have to change the management style. they say, ‘i have a rhythm. i know it. i grew up with it.’ so, it’s really a difficult thing (to change).”

farmers come to the table

clean water act administrators and farmers come to the issue of water quality with completely different backgrounds. the issue can get quite contentious, as durand explains.

“right now, you have engineers and regulatory people and the government enforcing a checklist, and you have people who are regulated trying to complete that checklist. every five years they redo it and they all have to sit down and haggle over what those numbers are,” durand says. “i come in and provide a neutral ground to help negotiate. it’s a big deal because it starts breaking down that adversarial relationship.”

substantial progress has been made in madison, wisconsin. the state’s clean water act administrators and the epa allowed a pilot project for adaptive management. the project takes place in dane county, which is predominantly an agricultural landscape. farmland covers over 500,000 acres of the county, more than two-thirds of all the land.

“the concept was, we’re going to give you (the wastewater treatment plant) 20 years to clean up your water, and you, the municipality, are going to take responsibility for your entire watershed. so they (dane county farmers) are committing to stop the pollution that’s happening, with a partnership approach,” durand says. the municipality provides the goals and funding, and the farmers figure out what works best on their farm to help improve water quality overall. 

the partnership approach was a game changer.

“it was irritating farmers that there wasn’t a single farmer on the committee discussing (water pollution). so one farmer leader formed a group called the yahara pride farms, after the yahara chain of lakes,” durand says. “and that gave him the authority to get a seat at the table.”

jeff endres, the founder of yahara pride farms, brought farmers’ voices to the forefront and set the record straight on their practices in the community.

“he started talking, ‘we need to keep nutrients on our land. we’re not just willy-nilly spreading stuff. we’re already doing a lot of sustainable things you don’t think we’re doing. we can probably do better, but you need to understand our costs.’”

most importantly, durand says, farmers can be part of the solution for preventing nitrogen and phosphorus runoff, and shouldn’t be treated like the enemy in water quality conversations. the enemy, durand holds, is the system of large-scale industrial agriculture that puts farmers in this difficult position.

yahara pride farms has been doing incredible work in partnerships with other organizations to reduce their nutrient runoff. the farmers get to choose how to spend the money they’re given from the city for conservation practices together, and share the benefits.

“the first thing they did was hire their own agronomist to work with them. instead of having to rely on the government,” durand says. “it’s been wildly successful. you get a group of farmers together, and ‘why don’t we all buy our cover crop seed in bulk? why don’t we all buy one piece of equipment together that we can share to do our cover cropping?’ once you get the farmers together, it is a huge plus. people can be so inspired by these partnerships.”

durand’s work facilitating partnerships and open conversation is essential going forward in the struggle for clean water and healthy watersheds.

“water is the most immediate system that is dramatically not working and that we have to make changes on,” durand says. “there are ways we can rally around that system to change it. because water is so fundamental to life.”

both the increase in temperature and the wild swings in precipitation have a significant impact on the soil, said dr. margaret walsh, a senior ecologist in the u.s. department of agriculture’s office of energy and environmental policy.

“for pretty much any crop, yields go up as the temperature goes up, until a certain point when it goes down fast,” said walsh. this increase in yields is also assuming that the nutritional deficiencies and amount of rainwater are sufficient, which often is not the case. 

soil nutrition is key

temperatures are not the only factor impacting crop yields. walsh highlighted that the long period of drought, followed by the heavy rain events, have also led to soil erosion. as a result, according to experts, soils are depleted and unable to sustain abundant yields, and even affect the crop’s nutritional levels. 

“soil erosion degrades the soil, meaning that the soil will lose most of its organic matter in the topsoil,” said dr. richard anyah, a natural resources and environment professor at the university of connecticut. organic matter is important for the protection of water and nutrients reservoirs within the soil that animals, plants, and microorganisms need to grow. 

dr. anyah points out that the combination of an increase in water run-off and the disturbance of the soil will lead to a decrease in topsoil. “the increase in precipitation leads to more frequent floods. so, that will mean that we have more run-off, that especially will take away topsoil.”

these impacts did not remain unnoticed by local farmers. diane dorfer, owner and full-time farmer of the cobblestone farm, employs a variety of methods to keep her soil healthy and productive. 

dorfer uses compost and organic soil amendments to maintain high nutrient content in her soil, such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. these inputs were mainly agricultural byproducts like soybean meal and fish emulsion. with a smile on her face, she said her kids particularly liked the latter.

“when my kids were little, i would come into the house and smell not so great, and they would ask me: ‘what is that smell?’ and i am like, ‘fish emulsion.’ and they thought i was saying ‘fishy lotion.’ ‘oh, mom just put the fishy lotion on.’” 

another local farm employing similar practices is spring valley student farm. it is a one-acre vegetable garden owned by uconn dining services and run by uconn students. jessica larkin-wells, farm manager and old inhabitant of the student farm, explained that soil health was of high importance. 

“as an educational farm, we have the opportunity to pay a lot of good care and attention to our soil health,” said larkin-wells. “that is a central part of our mission. we can center that in a way commercial farms are not always able to.”

like cobblestone farm, they use organic inputs instead of chemical fertilizers. they also try to keep the soil covered to avoid soil erosion and nutrients loss due to long-term exposure.

“we never leave the soil exposed. there is always something like either cover crop, mulch, or whatever our vegetable crop at the time is,” larkin-wells said. “cover crops are an extremely important part of our growing rotation here and can do some pretty amazing things for the soil.” 

she defined cover crops as anything that is grown in the soil not to be harvested. they can prevent erosion, maintain nitrogen levels, or increase aeration in the soil. dr. anyah explains that nitrogen is important for the plant to develop healthy and more nutritious fruits. without these high levels, the nutritious levels of crop yields will be limited. 

changing temperatures, increasing pests

similarly, to protect their soil, both farmers do not use any damaging chemicals to fight increasing pests. according to walsh, the increased pest population is an example of an indirect effect of changes in temperature and precipitation. every vegetable is impacted by insect pressure, making them harder to sell. many bigger farms use aggressive pesticides to fight these infestations. 

dorfer used two different methods instead: insect-inclusion netting to cover some of her vegetables, and an organic pesticide to disrupt the molting cycle of larva. she explains that this organic pesticide is very specific. it will not affect the soil or any important pollinators like bees, just the larva growing on the plants. the adults will survive but their reproduction cycle will stop, limiting the hungry larva on crops. 

at spring valley student farm they scout and pick the insects by hand, and spray their vegetables with garlic spray. this is a mixture of garlic water and soap, to make each plant less attractive for animals. 

when confronted with the question of the future and the concern of climate change, both farmers seemed confident they would be fine, if they continue the methods described above. however, they also realized climate change is unpredictable. in the words of dorfer: 

“every year gives me more experience, expands my database, and i do adjust.”