The weather has been warming up, the days have been getting longer, the buds on apple trees are beginning to flush, and rose bushes are showing their first green growth. Spring has arrived in New Mexico.

I’ve started preparing for the the 2006 gardening season. The picture above shows the most recent set of soil blocks I made to start seedlings. On the far end of the table are tomato plants that are about 2 weeks old. The other two trays are freshly minted blocks. I like using blocks as they are easy to make, simple to transport and maintain, and don’t require the use of cheap, disposable plastics. You can purchase a soil blocker online.

One thing I’ve noticed with the blocks is that they tend to produce plants with weak stems if left too long in the block. You can avoid this by transplanting to pots two to three weeks after germination.

As I till the earth this new season, I do so with mixed feelings. Yes, it is wonderful to water the earth and the compost and smell it coming back to life, but this winter was one of the driest on record. The entire desert Southwest is so dry that experts are predicting extreme fire danger and massive shut downs of public lands to help stave off disaster.

Now, I am an extremely conscientious water-user. I have implemented a micro-irrigation system that is highly efficient, and my intensive soil management techniques have turned my garden soils into a giant sponge. My garden uses water so efficiently that, during the hottest months of July and August, my plants only ask for water about twice a week. A far cry from the desert-dwelling grassophile whose sprinklers turn on every afternoon, even on the windiest days.

But, year after year (with last year being a rare exception) the state of New Mexico has been victim to some of the driest conditions imaginable. I am beginning to wonder at what point these massive reductions in our water supply will render our beloved desert Southwest practically uninhabitable.  And to what extent are these increasingly dry conditions a result of global warming?