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Mesquite and Manna

Notes on a desert parish: the church year, the desert seasons, neighbours and local memory

Desert year

Seasons, water, heat, plants and wildlife in and around a low desert town, read from the ground and from published records.

Every entry on this desk

1
A shallow soil pit dug in dry desert ground beside a braided wash, with a folding ruler laid against the exposed layers and a stake marking the high water line on the bank, photographed in low morning light.

DY-001Desert year

Reading Desert Ground Before You Build

An ecological assessment measures soils, washes and seasonal water. Here is what gets measured, what gets declared, and what a landowner can record first.