How to Dry Farm: Growing Tomatoes without Water
What is dry farming? Simply put dry farming is a method of growing crops without additional irrigation. This is best done in areas that are water stressed and have no to minimal rainfall over the summer months. The end result will be intensely flavored crops!
How does dry farming work?
Dry farming is done in areas that get winter rain and/or snow but little to no summer rains. Seeds or starts are planted deep into the soil where they will be able to pull water from deep within the earth.
Before planting is ever done the soil is prepped with cover crops. These crops will help increase the biomass within the soil, pull nutrients needed by the plants from deep within the soil, and will protect the soil from moisture loss. Dry farming can be done from a small scale garden to a large scale production farm.
Once the soil is prepared, seeds or starts are planted deep within the soil. This will help the crops be closer to where the water will be and also establish wide and a deep root system to help the plant forage for water during periods of drought. Depending on the plant they are often planted with multiple plants per hole or 12 to 18 inches apart for plants such as tomatoes.
How did dry farming start?
Some say that dry farming originated in the 19th century in the Great Plains and by the end of the 1890s it was championed as an agricultural solution to the problems arising in the Great Plains. However, the Hopi people that live primarily around Arizona in the United States have records of dry farming for 2,000 years!
The Hopi reservation location can receive less than 10 inches of rain per year! One thing that has helped them year over year has been seed saving and understanding how to work with the land. There is also evidence of Ancient Egyptian systems of agriculture that involved dry farming.
While this concept is new and novel to many of us, let’s not forget that many cultures and civilizations farmed rather successfully without the use of modern irrigation.
What crops can be dry farmed?
Tomatoes (varieties such as early girl is popular, I have had luck with many cherries and paste tomatoes as well)
Grapes
Summer squash
Winter squash
Watermelons and melons
Corn
Wheat
Amaranth
These are just a few of the more commonly known crops that are dry farmed. The best practices will come from seed saving the seeds of the crops that had the most success and continuing those the following years. Saving these seeds will continue to produce the best adapted plants for dry farming. This is how the Hopi people have had so much success for centuries.
How to dry farm tomatoes?
Dry farming tomatoes is quite simple and it will yield some of the best tomatoes that you have ever tasted in your life. This practice works great in clay soil that can hold a lot of moisture but dry farming has been proven to work in many different soil varieties.
Over the winter months grow cover crops such as fava (broad beans), peas, and oats where you plan to grow tomatoes. During the spring you will cut the cover crops down and cover them with compost and mulch or turn them into the soil and cover with mulch. This is important because it will provide your tomatoes with the nutrients they need and the additional organic matter will help the soil retain water.
If you weren’t able to grow cover crops over the winter you can still dry farm your tomatoes. Be sure to add a lot of compost to your soil along with some amendments so your tomatoes will still get the nutrients that they need. I am a big fan of adding lots of compost, worm castings, fish bone meal, and kelp to my beds. Mix these in well especially if you are planting in clay soil. The video below will show how to mix these amendments into clay soil.
Now that it’s time to plant the tomatoes you will want to dig a trench, or a very deep hole if planting in a raised bed. You will want to plant the tomato plants about a foot deep in the soil. As the tomatoes grow you will start to close up the trench and form a small mound or hill at the base.
Water the tomatoes in for the first week or two until it establishes and then you will be done with watering for the season.
Some practices of dry farm especially in large scale farms don’t mulch, its an added expense, however I have found that a heavy amount of straw mulch will really help in keeping the soil moist for longer. I am a very big fan of alfalfa hay/straw because as it breaks down it will add nitrogen to the soil. Once it’s mixed into the soil it will also help to retain moisture.
Check out the video below for more information and to see how I plant the tomatoes.
How to dry farm in a raised bed?
It is possible to dry farm in a raised bed but some things are necessary.
My tomatoes in a raised bed. Goldy Double sunflower in the front.
Compost is key! Lots and lots of it
Cover cropping your raised beds
Mulch is needed
There can NOT be any weed cloth or barriers underneath your raised beds that can obstruct the roots of the plants from reaching the soil unless you have 3 foot tall beds.
I have been experimenting with dry farming in raised beds for the last several years and for some I was able to come close to not needing any water. I was the most successful in the beds that contained only cherry tomatoes and small round paste tomatoes. The bed that I like to plant a mix of slicers, paste and cherry tomatoes has been a challenge because those slicers like water.
What’s the benefit of dry farming?
The biggest benefits to dry farming are the incredibly sweet crops and saving water. Crops such as tomatoes are incredibly delicious dry farmed. The skins will be tougher but the inside is super sweet and juicy.
Dry farmed crops don’t get overly large. The plants, especially annuals, tend to be small but the fruits are super sweet. Water will help the plant produce bigger fruits but the lack of water will keep them small, with tougher skins, and a concentrated sugar amount that is induced from water stress.
I hope that this was useful for you! Let me know if you have any questions. I will be doing updates here and on social media to show how the tomatoes that I planted in the video are doing.
Until next time and have a wonderful day!
