Yep, it has been rather stupidly hot this summer in Central Western NSW. So hot in fact I have only mowed the lawn three times in the last 2 months. Normally it is a weekly event, but it just isn’t needed. In fact what appears to some to be a bit of laziness in not mowing is actually me using the knowledge I gained of how to conserve soil moisture. It is really simple and I’ll give you a hint.

Don’t let the soil get hot.

It really is that easy. By letting your grass be a bit longer, even if it has undesirable species (for you) in it like dandalions and paspalum, you keep the top layer of the soil cooler. If none of the soil is exposed to sunlight at all then you are winning the battle. And I refuse to water the grass, unlike some who are mental enough to water it during the day when it is 35 degrees outside (cough, nearby neighbours, cough). My grass gets watered when it rains. By leaving it a little longer and mulching any cuttings straight back onto the ground while mowing I conserve some of what is about. My yard hardly looks like an Irish paddock, other then the lush green strip I attack weekly with a whipper snipper (grass that has roots down into an old septic trench that gets overflow from the rainwater tank), but there are still plenty of green bits out there. My trees that need mulching have a good layer of pea straw about the bases to conserve moisture on shaded patches of bare ground, and all in all it ain’t anywhere near as bad as it could be. Most of the nasty weeds have been taken out over the course of some years (no caltrop at all this year – YAY!) with only a bit of Khaki Weed left fortunately. So much for the plants, what are we expecting next?

And so, the upcoming 6 day forecast.

Sunday 19 – 39
Monday 20 – 40
Tuesday 19 – 38
Wednesday 17 – 37
Thursday 17 – 36
Friday 20 – 36

Long term average maximum for February – 31.7 – and amazingly that weather station has only kept temperature records since 1998. Rainfall records to 1952 but no temp data. And since the mid 90’s we are reliably informed that temperatures have been gradually rising with the climate change spectre hanging over us, and it is STILL way above that short time average.

The other piece of data of interest is this. Number of February days on average above 35 degrees here is 7.1. Hmmm. It’s the 8th, and 5 days already have been above 35. One was actually exactly 35 and I didn’t include it. We had one day below average, at 31.0, so a whopping 0.7 degrees below average. And now the next 6 look like being above 35 as well.

What I know is electricity usage is sky high during these times. Water usage tends to go up overall, but in my house it’s about the same. This kind of prolonged heat causes stress to plants, animals, humans, infrastructure and our society itself. And without getting too political, my science training and my evaluation of the evidence presented thus far at fora like the IPCC, the UN, the Royal Society, and elsewhere is the heat is going to become more common and more extreme events will occur. And we need to get on to that. But it costs $, and we all know that is more precious than anything else, that mighty $. I say bullcrap. Well I actually say a lot more than that but I am keeping this G rated. So we need to get on to it. NOW.

In the meantime though, damn it’s hot.