SAVE SOME WATER, NOW. FOR REALS.

 

Remember when we were all, "Save some water, already"?

 

Yeah - well, now we're more like, "SAVE SOME WATER, NOW. FOR REALS."

 

You know about the drought. It's no secret. But what about your summer garden? Can you still grow food while conserving water? 

 

But, of course.

 

Here's our shortlist of water saving techniques for the vegetable garden. If you, say, also get rid of a water sucking lawn in the process, though, that wouldn't hurt.

 

*Excerpt from our coaching update*

#0 MULCH

Yeah, so there's not usually a #0, but what we're trying to say here is that

if you only do one thing to save water this summer, this is the thing - MULCH.

 

A 2" layer of bark or straw, black or green plastic, a single layer of cardboard, a few layers of newspaper, dense shade from low growing companion plants (nasturtium are totally pros at this) or densely spaced main crops (see #3 below) are the way to go. 

 

I'm naming the next farm dog, Mulch.

 

No sun on bare soil! For reals, now.

#1 Water smart

Install drip irrigation
This is one of the most effective ways to conserve water AND the best way to water your vegetable plants. Here's an all-in-one kit that will drip irrigate a 75 square foot garden area. Get nuts.

Check all of your irrigation and fix the broken bits
Test your system for leaks, clogged drip emitters, calcium encrusted manifolds (the big main head that all of your drip lines connect to) and missing bits and pieces that the naughty squirrels made off with during the winter. Then fix it and get to growing while saving water, already.

 

Plant in raised beds

Whether you construct raised garden beds from boards (just not treated railroad ties, please), concrete blocks, scrap metal or hay bales or just mound up soil a foot or two deep, raised beds help promote drainage, warm the soil faster, avoid compaction (you won't be as likely to walk on the raised part of the bed) and focus water at your plants' roots rather than indiscriminately *around* the plants. 

 

 

#2 Water like you mean it

Know your plants' water needs and then don't overdo it

Know what kind of watering condition your different vegetables like and go with that instead of blanket watering everything. Seriously. For instance, tomatoes like infrequent deep watering (think 3 days a week for 10-15 minutes) and lettuce likes consistent shallow watering (think daily or every other day for 5-10 minutes). 

If you can't provide specific watering conditions for each type of vegetable (I get it - we have automatic drip irrigation, too, and lots of different stuff planted together in the Test Garden), follow these four rules that will, generally, appeal to most of your warm weather crops:

1. Water deeply - This encourages deep root development.
2. Water infrequently -This keeps the soil from leaching nutrients below the plants' roots.
3. Water in the morning - This gives the plants a fighting chance of being able to take up the water before it evaporates in the hot sun and gives them the turgidity (upright strength) to power through the hottest parts of the day without flagging (falling the hell over).
4. Water at the roots and not on the leaves -This discourages disease and gets water to where the plant can use it. 

 

#3 Plant wisely

More IS better...in this case anyway

Sure, there are spacing requirements listed on your seed packets and seedling starts and such, and these are good guidelines for most situations, but when we're in a bind for water, resources and space, these requirements can be overly conservative. Instead, look for the "spread" or "width" size for the plants you're growing and plant to the edges of that area rather than including extra space. 

So, for example, tomato spacing is usually recommended at 30 inches (2 1/2 feet) between plants, but if your tomato plant's spread is 3 1/2 feet (or 1 3/4 feet on center), you can plant your tomato plants at 1 3/4' apart so that when the plants reach maturity, their leaves and branches will touch/overlap a bit and there'll hardly be a flicker of sunshine that hits that soil to dry up any moisture that exists.  

Cover seeds

Loosely cover germinating seeds with a floating row cover to keep the soil mo-ist enough for the seeds to germinate without risking them drying out.  Plus, it'll keep marauding birds from eating all your seed. Bonus!

No sun on bare soil! For reals, now.