Drought, flood, freeze, heatwaves, fires, and storms, what is the best way to cope with these extremes, we need to get our heads together, now and come up with some concrete coping mechanisms - how can we produce crops in this more volatile ever changing situation?  I know a few farmers are pulling their hair out now - and it is not getting easier, but harder., one farmer I know dubbed it cropageddon !  Time is short. .I started planning for drought and flood years ago, mulching as much organic mattter onto the soil as I could muster to help hold the rain that falls, a loose mulch of straw in the autumn helps protect the soil from being washed away and I top it with grass clippings and non seeding dried weeds  in summer the mulch serves to slow down evaporation. I stopped digging, allowing michorrhizal fungi to proliferate underground these work in symbiosis with most plants, providing nutrients and holding water for the plants from a wider deeper area,  Trees vines, and bushes take production up several levels, it becomes a cube, instead of a flat handkerchief, garden, they add more mulch when the plants lose their leaves. paths are channelled to hold excess water in time of flood, beds are raised to lift roots away from waterlogging, but mulched to conserve water in drought. We have stripped forests and trees, and concreted huge areas, forgetting that vegetation plays a big part in regulating our climate and air quality.Vegetation was earths pelt we have stripped most of it. In excess heat use shade canopies over vulnerable plants, or clear canopies in excess rain.

http://www.350resources.org.uk/2012/07/09/extreme-weather-is-worse-...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJMgfKqKXwY

how to make raised beds without depleting more trees -, no wood needed

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_x5rXq19g