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Thread: Gardening in a drought...

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    Senior Member Tootsiepop254's Avatar
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    Default Gardening in a drought...

    Water rationing, drip lines, ect. How do you prepare and tend your gardens when the water is low, and you have no well (think us California town dwellers)? I have plants ready to go in the ground, I want to make sure I can do this right...
    Cheer up, the worst is yet to come.


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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Probably the most important thing you can do is understand what type of soil you have. Knowing whether it is primarily sand or clay makes a huge difference on the amount of water your garden will hold and how often you have to water. A cheap and easy test can be done with a simple fruit jar. Here's a good article on how to perform the test and what the results mean.

    http://preparednessmama.com/jar-soil-test/


    I do a number of things to help with water on the garden.

    1. I have rain barrels
    2. I use mulch. I usually have around 4 inches on the garden to control weeds and reduce evaporation
    3. When I water I soak at the base of the plant. Don't worry about watering from above. The roots are what need the moisture. If it's particularly dusty then I'll spray the garden to remove dust from the leaves but not to water.

    You need to do some study on which plants need water when. Too little or too much water is bad and watering at the right times are critical. For example, pole beans need more water when flowering and tomatoes need more water from the time they flower on. That's how they put the juice in the tomato.

    It might be a good idea to keep a water diary especially given the conditions California is currently under. Keeping track of when you water and keeping a close eye on soil dampness will probably help a lot.
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Plus one on what Rick said.
    Are you planning on watering from another source.... or just depend on rain?

    This question has been around ever since the domestication of plants........
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    I literally just booked marked this a few days ago: http://www.attainable-sustainable.ne...-food-drought/

    I second the mulch, & rain barrel. Although I have heard that some areas it is illegal to capture rainwater? or maybe that's on larger scale? Not sure.

    My favorite tip is to use gray water. For example if you're boiling pasta or eggs, you can use that water for watering your garden (let it cool off first!).

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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Don't let any water you use in the home go down the drain. Collect it all! It may not be all you need, but it's a good start.
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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    I was just discussing this with someone. I want to put some type of diverter on my kitchen drain. It's a grey water system already in that it just runs out under the cabin which is on a gravel pad. I'm thinking of all that rinse water just going to waste and thinking I could put some type of Y on outgoing pipe that diverts to the garden. But how would I switch it from just draining to watering the garden without going under the cabin?
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 1stimestar View Post
    I was just discussing this with someone. I want to put some type of diverter on my kitchen drain. It's a grey water system already in that it just runs out under the cabin which is on a gravel pad. I'm thinking of all that rinse water just going to waste and thinking I could put some type of Y on outgoing pipe that diverts to the garden. But how would I switch it from just draining to watering the garden without going under the cabin?
    Your situation might not be too bad to connect up a diverter....judging by the height and sink set up....as you showed in your vid.
    Would have to be inside though.

    Here are some images....click on one and follow the page that explains it.
    https://www.google.com/search?q=gray...w=1093&bih=514

    Wash water, dish water, sink water all can be considered gray water, but a lot of systems have some sort of simple filter to remove grease (bucket with gravel and sand) and lint, (panty hose over outlet).

    In an existing house may be difficult to plumb up and code may get in the way.......Much easier to design it into the mix before building.
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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Lol yea we have no codes. Yes the cabin is high off the ground and my garden will be in the small space right in front of the house.

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    They will be raised beds, kind of to the left of the steps.
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    Here's my system. It just drains underneath. I'm trying to think of some kind of diverter to put here. I'll watch your videos today but don't have time at the moment.

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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Looks like it wouldn't be too hard to cut in a valve and separate pipe under the sink....as you can't really save water in the winter anyway, just divert it during growing season?
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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Yes just during the summer.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Not to get crazy but why couldn't you put a dry well beside the garden and instead of running the water out into the street you just run it into the dry well. That will keep your garden moist from the bottom. You wouldn't need a diverter.
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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Well tell me about it Rick. What's a dry well? I wouldn't want to put too much dish soap on the garden, even the biodegradable stuff. Although, I don't use a lot of soap for the most part anyways (uses too much water to rinse).
    Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.

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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Oh what about a gravel filled perforated pvc pipe underneath the bed? I could run a line from the sink down to it. Is that something similar to what you were talking about?
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    Senior Member hunter63's Avatar
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    Yeah, kinda....a dry well is just a well that has holes in the bottom to let water seep into the ground.
    I don't know how deep your "dirt" goes and permafrost starts.

    Maybe a drum next to the garden or in the middle of it, with some gravel/ sand to kinda keep the grease/ soap out and let the water thru....watering from below.
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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    'Zactly. It's just a hole filled with course rock to catch the runoff. You can get as fancy as you want but it really boils down to a hole with rocks. If you are worried about soap you could use a small sand bed to catch the run off then let it filter down and drain into the dry well. That way you could change the sand periodically and you won't have the soap in your garden. Stop the pipe say three or four feet short of the garden. Then a sand bed between the pipe and the dry well with a drain pipe at the bottom of the sand bed draining into the dry well. Hopefully, that made sense. Just thinking out loud.
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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Ok kind of like this? Not real technical, just trying to picture it.


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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    That's how I pictured it. It depends on what kind of soil you have as to how deep you want the dry well. I'm also assuming, based on the pictures, that everything is uphill from the garden. It looks like a gradual incline toward the house. That will give you the benefit of gravity feed from the dry well toward the garden. You could also do a direct irrigation from the sand into the garden without the dry well. Just plant in rows so the water runs between the plants. If your ground is particularly rocky then direct irrigation might be easier.

    Those are just a couple of ideas. I think it would be fairly inexpensive. The cost would be in drain pipe from the existing outlet to where you put the sand and in the sand itself if you don't have a natural source. Otherwise, it's just labor.

    If you decide to go that way remember that you'll have a sudden rush of water into the sand so you want to have some kind of splash guard to keep from flushing the sand toward the end of the bed. Even something like a couple of sticks laid across the sand would slow the water down. When the water enters the sand it will strike the sticks and be slowed.

    The buried barrel idea Hunter had would also be good. Just let the water flow through the sand and then into the barrel. You could use a bucket to retrieve the water and water your plants.

    You might not want to glue the drain pipe at the existing exit. That way you can pull the pipe apart in winter. If a long section froze up that would be a pain to try to thaw.
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    Alaska, The Madness! 1stimestar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    If you decide to go that way remember that you'll have a sudden rush of water into the sand so you want to have some kind of splash guard to keep from flushing the sand toward the end of the bed. Even something like a couple of sticks laid across the sand would slow the water down. When the water enters the sand it will strike the sticks and be slowed.


    You might not want to glue the drain pipe at the existing exit. That way you can pull the pipe apart in winter. If a long section froze up that would be a pain to try to thaw.
    I think I might just have it empty into a "box" of sand then drain out to the garden. I like the stick idea. Yes the parts can not be permanent because in the winter it has to drain directly. Even with a short pipe it sometimes gets frozen up due to conserving water. If you just use a little trickle now and then, it freezes up. Then I have to do this, remember?


    And yea, when it's that cold, your lungs don't want to breath in the cold air so you end up breathing heavily.

    Yes there is a slight incline from where the garden will be to the cabin.
    Why do I live in Alaska? Because I can.

    Alaska, the Madness! Bloggity Stories of the North Country

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Maybe someone has a better idea. That's just some thoughts I had.
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    Super Moderator crashdive123's Avatar
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    Depending on the size of your garden, you could always put a short section of hose on the outlet under the cabin and have it fill a 5 gallon bucket with easy access and then just water from the bucket. This is not a recommended method if you plant in excess of 5 acres.
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