We took the conversation to social media and shared anecdotes.

Lucy Becker shared the Al-Baydh project in Saudi Arabia where permaculturalists are restoring dead streams to life by bringing soil back to desertified hills. If you're interested in permaculture, this mini-doc a great example of its power.

BIG NEWS We had another avid gardener—a professionally-certified permaculturalist, decide to become a regular contributor to our discussion group! Monica Richards is located in hot and dry California, and she gave her expert advice about hot weather gardening.

"We went through a wildfire, the Bobcat Fire, and our entire property burned, right up to our house – though the house was saved. But much of my garden burned and I had to start over in places. This has been a fascinating experience as I saw what came back, and how to rebuild, using the ash in the soil, as well as making use of the burned branches and trunks of burned trees."

Her answer as to how to conserve water in a drought is as follows: "Water conservation, shade and wind systems, mulching around plants and trees, plus understanding the microclimates around our property and how to add to them. We have a greywater system, and much of our gardens and trees are watered through that. We also catch rainwater and continue to work toward finding ways to create shade.