Breaking ground on a new garden

[cmhyland]

Like I said before, everybody has their own way! I thought about soaker hose, but that would involve taking them up when I wanted to till or hoe out and it would take a lot of soaker hose unless I did about half the garden, moved them and did the other half.

But then again, I'm not watering with city water either, I've got a fairly good sized pond less than 50' from the garden, and I already owned a 6HP water pump, so it was a no brainer for me. During the season, I just leave the pump and suction hose there by the pond. I doesn't take me more than 20 minutes to set the two sprinklers up (they're on tripods) and run 5/8" garden hose to them, then fire the pump up, grab a cold frosty something and watch my garden get watered!

I usually fire the pump up and after making sure everything is OK, I head for the garage, I can see the garden from there and hear the pump running. Most of the time, it takes a full tank of gasoline to get enough water down, so as long as I hear the pump running and can see the water spraying, I just let it run out of gas until the next time. That way I don't have to worry about this ethanol mix drying up and gumming the carburetor either.

I don't think a pump as big as mine would work very well with soaker hose and I don't want to buy a smaller pump, but in my case, the water is almost free, all I'm paying for is the gasoline. If I had to use city water, you can bet I'd be using soakers.

I've also seen people water their garden by the trench method - drag out a ditch with a garden hoe down every row, then flood the ditches until everything gets a good soaking.

Thanks Gunny,

We are watering off a well. As far as the soaker hose I was thinking of a couple or three 100" sections and water a section and move the hoses... I can see where it might become a pain in the asstroturf....

Regards,
Chris

 

[Gunny]

It might be a pain, but in the end, it's worth it!!! Fresh veggies (specially fresh tomatoes and cukes), the ability to can and eat stuff from your garden all year long, all the friendships you cement in with a gift of fresh veggies, the ability to help some elderly people, plus just the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from looking at what you have accomplished.

I probably spend too much time in my garden, but darn I like it!

 

[DFB]

Making lines with drip irrigation tubing and emitters would be better than cutting up hoses. The tubing isnt expensive the emitters are adjustable for flow can lay tubing on the ground or even hang it high on stakes. We tie it to conduit pipes for support overhead in the greenhouses or lay it to water the metro mix bags we grow squash and cucumbers on the ground out in the parking lot and tomatoes inside the greenhouse on the floor. Whats neat is once you make a setup for certain plant spacing all you need to do is lay out the hose and good to go. Low pressure drips puts the water right where you need it

Link just for reference
Tubing & Tape

 

[cmhyland]

It might be a pain, but in the end, it's worth it!!! Fresh veggies (specially fresh tomatoes and cukes), the ability to can and eat stuff from your garden all year long, all the friendships you cement in with a gift of fresh veggies, the ability to help some elderly people, plus just the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from looking at what you have accomplished.

I probably spend too much time in my garden, but darn I like it!

When I used keep a garden, my favorite thing was going out into the garden at around 5am with a coffee and a hoe. Great "thinking" time... quiet and calming....

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Western]

When I used keep a garden, my favorite thing was going out into the garden at around 5am with a coffee and a hoe. Great "thinking" time... quiet and calming....
Thanks,
Chris

Aint that the truth, gardening is good therapy!!:laughing:

 

[cmhyland]

Aint that the truth, gardening is good therapy!!:laughing:

Saves a ton of money on shrinks.... LOL

 

[Ted Summey]

I agree with spraying the grass after a short mowing. Then till the clippings. One thing that will help will be to spread your manure on top of the sod before you till, this will give you better traction. That way you save fuel by making a single pass plus the dark manure will warm the soil faster - you may be able to get better early thaw if the ground stays frozen in your area.

I bought drip TAPE which is much simpler for irrigation than irrigation hose with emitters. The difference is that I roll out the drip tape, close the far end, then connect the supply end to the header hose and I can start watering. It isn't necessary to place emitters. The drip tape is inexpensive. My whole irrigation system was less than $250 for a 50 x 100 garden. Drip tape is reusable with proper care. It comes in different spacing of the built in emitters. 1000' was around $60.

 

[jymbee]

Rabbit manure?

How would you manure connoisseurs rate rabbit manure? I dumped a very large pickup load out back about two years ago but have yet to get around to using it.

 

[cmhyland]

Re: Rabbit manure?

How would you manure connoisseurs rate rabbit manure? I dumped a very large pickup load out back about two years ago but have yet to get around to using it.

My wife said when they were kids they kept rabbits. Her father used to put the manure under some little seedling pines they had on a property line... She said the tree shot up like corn....

Regards,
Chris

 

[Western]

Re: Rabbit manure?

My wife said when they were kids they kept rabbits. Her father used to put the manure under some little seedling pines they had on a property line... She said the tree shot up like corn....

Regards,
Chris

Well Chris, that should tell ya something, the Pines where trying to get away from the rabbit poo!!
I dont know why rabbit poo wouldn't be any good, never even thought about it and I had rabbits at one time
:confused3: But I bet it would take a good amount, I doubt it would be as strong as say chicken manure, but I'm no connoisseur (I gotta know the cook before I try sumthin):thumbsup: