So I trekked out to the garden this morning with my 4 month old. After a rather long stop at Home Depot for mulch and the "key" for the hose at the church we finally got there. It was long because I couldn't find the key thing and the home depot helped had no idea what I was talking about. A call to the church revealed that pliers would work so I picked up a pair so I didn't have to go back home. Well the good news about the key, is that one is left by the hose. Hallelujiah!! Thank you Lyn if that was you! I would suggest everyone take a pair of pliers with them or bring your own water, just in case the key goes missing!!
The wind was still blowing today and the plants were very dry and many pretty wind blown. The squash and zucchini seemed to handle it the worst. To make it through the summer I would suggest that you create wells around each plant with dirt. This will keep the water from running off as you water. I would also suggest that you mulch around the plants. This will help the plants retain the moisture. I was shocked at how dry everything was even with the big rain on Sunday and Lyn watering yesterday.
So it was an interesting trip for us. I purchased 3 of the 5 gallon Home Depot buckets and lids and used those as my water transporting devices. The baby was not thrilled about being there and I am sure I was a sight filling buckets and holding a baby, then putting her in a front carrier and carrying 2 -5 gallon buckets of water to the garden from my car. I used close to 15 gallons of water on my plot today and probably could have soaked them so more. I plan on bring 25 gallons of water with me each time. If I need more I can refill at the church, but hopefully I won't. The good news is that with the wells around each plant and the mulch you can water from the buckets and you do not have to transfer to a watering can. It saves a bunch of time. I watered in about 15 minutes with the buckets.
Hope this all helps. The wind definetly dried things out the last few days, but hopefully we will get some good soaking rains over the weekend. Tracy
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tracy - I am on the hunt for a used, children's wagon for this very purpose - hauling water from the hose area. I will stop in at some thrift stores and maybe some garage sales to see if I can snag a children's wagon to donate to the garden. One of those garden wagons would be ideal, but I think they are a bit pricey for us now. I am willing to chip in $20 or so to the purchase of one (I think they run around $100), but I can't afford to foot the entire bill for one at this time. I also found that you can buy used pickle buckets (5 gallon buckets) at any FireHouse sub shop for $2 a piece. That may be a more affordable solution than the orange HD buckets.
ReplyDeleteHi, everyone! I can contribute something for water hauling - either a wheelbarrow or a wagon - for this season. Let me talk to my fellow family members and see which one they'd prefer, as the kids occasionally take a trip down the hill in the wagon (remember that? weeee! no steering!!), but it really would work better.
ReplyDeleteI'll bring it by this evening or tomorrow.
Also, I can still bring a larger quantity of mulch. I am having a problem with the brakes on my trailer that I tow behind my jeep. My husband is fixing it this weekend, so as soon as it's up and running again, I'll bring a load up to the garden.