We have had a mild winter. It has been nice not having to wear a coat that often, but we also have not had much snowfall. I live in a desert, so a winter without snow is a huge concern.
Watering your garden during a drought....in the Desert.
I recently attended a class taught by Caleb Warnock from Renaissance Seeds. He made me think differently about what I had been doing. So, I made some changes. Because I have very limited time, I had developed some of my own little methods for gardening. For the past few years, I had put sheets of weedblock on top of the garden and cut holes for the plants. This ensured that I did not have weeding to do. However, the water would bead up and run across the tops of the weedblock and not always to the plants.
I am now going to face a harsh reality this summer along with many other people. We may have water supply issues. Mr. Warnock suggested putting a barrier at the bottom of my growboxes and not on top. As he explained why, it was an 'ah-hah' moment....so that weeds cannot come up from the bottom.
I hired some young teenagers in my neighborhood and they helped me make the change. This only took about an hour.
I have a watering system for my garden. It is tied to my lawn sprinklers. I can turn it on and off. The water runs through these PVC pipes and waters the garden. Every year, I get a skinny nail and press it into the holes in the pipes to clear any debris that may be present. Normally the holes are facing down. I turned them upright to clear the holes.
I then tested the pipes by turning on the water....everything looks good!
Now, I am going to garden a bit differently this summer, so I am going to leave the holes at the top instead of the bottom.
Yes, that those really are grass clippings around my pepper plants. I put this mulch around all of my plants and as I get more I will cover the entire box. This helps hold moisture and keeps the plant from drying out as quickly.
This is the first step in my Garden this year. I look forward to see how this new method works and to see how my harvest looks.
2 comments:
Such a great idea.
I was able to attend a class that Caleb taught here in Southeast Idaho.
I loved it. I have rethought my gardening as well.
I would love a little PVC unit for a couple of beds. I'm looking in to that after reading your post
I want to clarify that the PVC unit is one of my ideas. Caleb is very practical and has elevated a lawn sprinkler to water his garden. Very functional and inexpensive. There is more to this technique that I have not publicized as Mr. Warnock indicates that his information is proprietary. As I use his watering schedule and actually plant certain plants that will tell how hydrated the garden is, I may comment on them in the future.
I too really appreciate his courses. I have attended a couple and have had a privilege to go to his gardens and see things in action. He certainly makes one think about how we can become more self-reliant and not be dependent on others.
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