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Water

June 5th, 2014

There is no water up by my main garden behind the garage. As a result, I end up carrying water up there by hand, which isn’t a big deal, until you plant a few 70 foot long rows and no rain comes. Luckily we have a tank that we put in the back of the truck. This gets filled and parked by the garden, viola – water.
watering the garden
This makes it much easier to water my garden and take water to the pigs as well. These piggies can go through 6 gallons of water a day for drinking and their wallow. While I don’t mind carrying water, I like saving a little bit of time to use for other things. Eventually it would be nice to have a yard hydrant put in, but that will probably have to wait for a few years. Until then, my water truck works very well!

Do you have anything you have to find workarounds for in the garden?  

13 Comments to “Water”
  1. Kathi cook on June 5, 2014 at 6:29 am

    Can you add gutters and rain barrels to the garage? They fill up quite fast. I used to belong to a community garden and we had to lug water from home early in the season. Water sure is heavy!

    Reply to Kathi cook's comment

    • Susy on June 5, 2014 at 9:19 am

      Yes we have considered it and have a few barrels. We still need to figure out how to put in a stand and then purchase a pump for the system. We had a really nice rain barrel setup in Ohio but had to leave it behind.

      Reply to Susy's comment

    • Mr. Chiots on June 5, 2014 at 10:52 am

      The problem is the gutters on the garage are level with most of the garden. When I start suggesting a ‘good’ solution, it quickly gets complicated and expensive.

      Reply to Mr. Chiots's comment

  2. whit on June 5, 2014 at 7:13 am

    A gardening lecture I attended a few year ago mentioned using large scale pieces of pottery planted throughout the garden to collect rainwater in to water gardens. That way no pollutants from roofing tiles or such are in the water. Of course with the mosquitoes, open cisterns of water may not be a good idea.

    I keep a couple of large bins near my lil greenhouse for rainwater collection. I use those to water my starts throughout the spring, until I see skeeter larva, then I dump them in the garden nearby.

    Reply to whit's comment

  3. Nebraska Dave on June 5, 2014 at 8:02 am

    Susy, water is always an issue on a homestead. This year the water issue is too much. Yeah, I know there are folks around the country wish they had that problem and I certainly wish there was some way I could send it to them. I’m not sure just how much planting I’m going to get accomplished this year. It may be a year of building garden structure. Which would be an OK thing as well. Two years ago when rain just quit for the months of July and August, I was hauling 100 gallons of city water three times a week to Terra Nova Gardens. That was a tedious task which inspired me to get busy and start developing the natural spring there. I’m glad to see the old truck still earning its keep around the homestead.

    Have a great water transporting day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  4. daisy on June 5, 2014 at 8:12 am

    We use our rain barrels all the time. It’s so handy to be able to use the water nature has provided and not use the city water. The bonus is that it’s free!
    I enjoy hauling water too. Thought I was the only one.

    Reply to daisy's comment

  5. Erika Keller on June 5, 2014 at 9:03 am

    Once our barn is completed (with metal roofing) we will have the downspouts go into rain barrels. Our property is very hilly and the barn sits above the garden. I will feel so much better watering the garden with rain water than using power to pump it from the well.

    Reply to Erika Keller's comment

    • Susy on June 5, 2014 at 9:21 am

      Indeed, we’re hoping to get a rain barrel system set up, though the garden is above the garage so we’ll still have to put in a pump for the rain barrel system if we want to use a hose in the garden. Plus the roof is not metal, so I’m not sure if I want to use water from the asphalt roofing on my edibles.

      Reply to Susy's comment

  6. Misti on June 5, 2014 at 9:14 am

    We ran a bazillion hoses out to our vegetable garden until we can trench in the water system. Trenching will likely have to happen post-baby at this point! Hoses work, just gotta be careful not to mow them!

    Reply to Misti's comment

  7. Sara on June 5, 2014 at 9:19 am

    Our new garden is as far as you can get from the hose–it reaches but it’s kind of a pain. I’d love to put in a new faucet but yeah, it’s not a very high priority. The worst was for the hoop house, which needs water more than the rest of the garden and of course doesn’t get rained in–I hate to drag the hose out just to water one 10 x 12 space. SO, I put a gutter and barrel on one side and now get 40+ gallons every time we get a good rain. I think I’m going to add another to the opposite side this year.

    Reply to Sara's comment

  8. Mary Z on June 5, 2014 at 9:25 am

    I attached a drip irrigation system to a rain barrel that sits on a 3-foot-tall stand. The emitters/valves work on very low pressure. I fill the rain barrel with a hose and then leave while it drips. It saves a lot of time.

    Reply to Mary Z's comment

  9. Marcia on June 5, 2014 at 1:41 pm

    I had such a laugh when the city sent me pamphlets on water conservation. They suggested water barrels to collect water and use on lawns. But they warned not to use rain barrel water for food crops as it is unsafe for human consumption. HAHAHAHAHA city people!

    Reply to Marcia's comment

  10. Chris on June 5, 2014 at 5:58 pm

    Great idea with your water truck-tank system! Your back will thank-you! :)

    Reply to Chris's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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