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...
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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...
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.
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........
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!).
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by 1stimestar
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.
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.
https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...76978888_n.jpg
They will be raised beds, kind of to the left of the steps.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.n...19281625_o.jpg
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.
https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...67080760_o.jpg
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?
Yes just during the summer.
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.
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).
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?
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.
'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.
Ok kind of like this? Not real technical, just trying to picture it.
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...29120630_n.jpg
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.
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?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick
http://youtu.be/CArVMxwN7nE
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.
Maybe someone has a better idea. That's just some thoughts I had.
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. :whistling:
You know, I thought about that but any standing water is mosquito breeding grounds and we already have enough of that. I wonder if I couldn't just cover it up. I could just run a hose from the pipe directly to the garden and then just move the hose every day. I could water with enough fresh water to dilute the biodegradable soaps.
The mosquito issue could easily be solved with some screen or lid. Of course the method Rick showed is about as "automatic" as you can get.
Oh found something perfect. http://www.reuk.co.uk/Sand-Filters-for-Greywater.htm Check out the "Slow sand filter".
I think the drawing is incorrect though probably just meant as an example. The inflow water would have to be higher than the outlet in order for the water to flow. In that drawing no water would be forced out of the outlet. Someone correct me if they think I'm wrong. What that means for you is that a filter like that would have to be lower in elevation than your drain (easy) but higher in elevation than your garden. I don't know if you have that much incline and distance to make that work.
I was thinking something simple like this for a sand trap. You could use 2X12 maybe six feet long placed on edge. Line the bottom with plastic to keep the water from soaking into the ground. It wouldn't have to be too wide. If it were 2 feet wide that would give you 12 cubic feet of sand (2X12) to filter the water.
That looks perfect Ric. I was thinking of just using a 5 gallon bucket placed under the drain. I was going to use sticks as you suggested to soften the flow. Gravel at the bottom, 3/4 full of sand, then putting a drain coming from the bottom side and running a hose from that to the garden. There is plenty of incline for gravity feed. Also, if it over flows (not too likely) it will just run into the gravel pad as all the water does anyways.
My only problem is that I think I would prefer a bigger bucket so your idea of a box makes good sense.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...69027604_n.jpg
T'Pop-
I figure you have already planted, so I am probably too late, but here a few thoughts on drip systems. You are in one of the best places to use drip because you do not have hard freezes which can tear up drip lines and fittings.
The problem with drip systems is that, although they are heavily advertized for vegetable gardens, in practice this does not work out very well unless you are using the soaker tubing with micropores. The main problem with using the emitters is that they are single point waterers and every time the vegetable garden is replanted plant locations change. Then the emitters have to be moved by pulling out the branch tubes and emitters, patching the feeder line, then plugging the emitter and its branch tube in a new spot. For this reason, drip systems tend to be more feasible when used for watering shrubs and bushes (each of which usually requires multiple emitters or a circle of soaker tube). Using soaker tubing along furrow rows avoids some of this hassle when replanting or second cropping vegetable gardens. Drip irrigation per se is not usually usable for flower beds despite manufacturers' claims to the contrary.
I understand that in your area a lot of water supplies have hard water. If you are supplying a drip irrigation system from municipal water or a well, the hard water build up will clog emitters and the micropores in soaker tubing, sometimes during a single growing season. If your hose bibbs are fed from lines coming via a water softener, then a lot of excess salt is going into the soil -- not good for vegetable gardens, especially if your soil is very alkaline.
Go with Rick's suggestions and harvest your own grey water. I'll bet you can get a lot more water to use in the garden than you might think. Couple this with hill row planting, and you can encourage plants to send down deeper root systems to where water is retained better. Also, no matter what watering system you use, pull weeds often, and use a hand tiller or rake to gently break up the soil in the watering zone around the plants to prevent a crust from forming (actually a form of soil compaction). This crust will slow down water penetration into the sub-surface root zone leading to water loss from evaporation and run-off. Compost worked into the soil before planting, no matter what the soil type, is especially good for drought conditions because it aids in making more of the limited water available to plants. Partner this with mulch as a top dressing after planting and the water needs in the garden decrease, often quite dramatically. Water very early in the morning.
As usual, I am long-winded. PM me if you have more questions on drip irrigating or gardening in arid places and I will try to answer them.
I catch rain in a couple 50 gallon plastic
drums with a hose attachment i made at the bottom
gravity fed it works pretty darn good.that and plannning ahead of time
I catch rain in a couple 50 gallon plastic
drums with a hose attachment i made at the bottom
gravity fed it works pretty darn good.that and plannning ahead of time
I know I'm chiming in a little late, but I wanted to offer up another strategy -- one I'm using now -- ollas. Just buried clay jugs. I made mine from two unglazed terra cotta pots siliconed together, with the bottom hole sealed.
Attachment 10105
The concept is that the water slowly seeps through the pores of the clay, directly to the roots. It makes for an efficient delivery system. I currently have 5 of them installed in my community plot, but I am only using three. Though it's been over 100 every day for months now, I only top them off about every three days, though they could probably go almost a week, I would guess.
I made them a bit too tall. They should be full buried. I couldn't sink them any deeper, because there is hardware cloth at the bottom of the bed. So I piled a lot of dirt on them, to minimize evaporation as much as possible.
And yes, mulch heavily.
1stimestar,
Not sure what your resources are that you have available to you, but a diverter can easily be set up under a sink using PVC components. Since I'm not sure what your particular set up looks like, I can only assume you have a standard J pipe with a trap under your sink. If you're not familiar with the terms, basically you have the pipe that comes straight down from your sink, which then U turns and comes up a few inches (like a "J"), then turns and goes out the wall. Usually inside the wall the pipe will turn again and either run along the wall or straight down. Any pipe going up from there would be a vent pipe (might be a vent/drain combo, but thats against code where I am).
For your needs, you could do a couple of things depending on the space you have. Both of which would include cutting into some of that piping under the sink and installing a "T" fitting and 2 valves. Yes, you can by a single 3 way valve, but those tend to be at least twice the cost of 2 regular PVC valves. Basically, cut into the existing piping either in the first down pipe or just after the trap where the pipe is heading into the wall. Install one valve AFTER the T fitting and one valve off the newly created outlet of the T fitting. Run a new line out the wall. This new line can either feed your dry well or fill a collection barrel. All you would have to do is turn the two valves to adjust which outlet the water takes. I would add another trap to your new line for clean outs and to prevent air from back flowing.
When you want the waste water to flow normally, open the valve after the T fitting and close the grey water valve. It will flow like it does now. Close the waste water and open the gray water and it will divert to your garden/collection point.
I live in CO and its always dry. My family, and I use the Earth Boxes. Also raised beds with a water proof weed tarp all around it.
Gardening Without Irrigation: or without much anyway, is a free audio book by Steve Solomon. I got it at LibriVox. Lots of good info.
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