What did you do in the garden today?

[Ascholten]

Today I got some minor cleaning up done in the yard.
Im about given up on the damned foot.

It'll be 10 days before I get the MRI, and then the end of the month before the doctor sees me again., If there is anything 'urgently wrong' it's way too late to do anything by then,

Baptist hospital is the WORST health care system I have ever seen. I would not bring my dog to these sorry $##$ to put it to sleep at this point ! 20 years ago their hospitals were shit but I was in pain and decided, well, after 20 years they HAD to fix their game by now right? besides the ER was open and close and its a brand new hospital, so I went., Now I am stuck in their system and 20 years later they are still HORRIBLE.

Im shopping around now to some of the places Ive been in the past to see if I can get an MRI done in faster time. If anyone ever needs health care, avoid Baptist Healthcare system like a case of herpes that has clap oozing out of it.

My blueberry / blackberry totes over the year, the dirt level lowered a bit in them, and my asparagus and some other totes as well, so I am taking my totes that were full of autumn leaves, mixing them lightly with grass and topping everything off with a slight sprinkle of pine shavings / chicken poop mixed in to jump start everything so by end of Feb / March they should be well happy on their way.

I still need to do garlic / onions / and so much other stuff but with this foot, it just is not happening. I hobble for about ten minutes then it's just throbbing and I need to take a rest. What normally takes me an hour or so, took half the day or more.,

I DID get everything watered though. Need to keep up on that. People think that just because it's winter that they don't need to water. Wrong, you'll kill your plants real fast if you don't keep them hydrated. It looks like I lost my lemon tree and my stupid apples are full of blossoms so we'll see where it goes with them.

Aaron

 

[vall]

I got the same tomato freebie packet. I doubt I'll plant it because I don't need them but out of curiosity why do you refuse?

I haven't seen any caterpillars but there are wasps flying around.

They're too tiny to bother picking, grow out of control, and as a result become weeds. I don't want a million tomato volunteers so I really limit how many cherry tomatoes I grow.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Here's a very rudimentary drawing of my proposed irrigation system. The circles are all tire beds. The rectangles that are along the sides are all raised beds. In the middle, flanked by a row of tire beds on each side, is the main "in the ground" garden. It's split between the covered hoop house on one side and open garden on the other. I put the water lines in red. The green star is where I'd like to put the well pump but DH and I still need to confirm this spot.

I have to add that this beginner's checklist has been INVALUABLE!
https://help.dripdepot.com/support/solutions/articles/11000113017-beginner-s-learning-checklist

 

[Ascholten]

How many gpm will this well reasonably be able to pull? If you have a slow draw that could make a HUGE difference on how you have to lay it out.

Aaron

 

[TJAnonymous]

How many gpm will this well reasonably be able to pull? If you have a slow draw that could make a HUGE difference on how you have to lay it out.

Aaron

Good question but I don't know yet. My property is located on the side of a foothill ridge. That typically means rock and clay. However the spot where my garden sits has lush, rich soil which gives me hope that we can tap into groundwater at a relatively shallow depth...say less than 50 ft. The city also has a giant water tower right across the road from me on the same ridgeline. It's less than a 1000 ft from my garden. That also gives me hope.

But until I actually dig the well, test the water composition, and test the flow, I won't be able to answer your question. That's why I need to get the well put in FIRST before I order the irrigation supplies. What I provided above is just a preliminary layout.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Another great resource... This gives me some ideas on how much water needs to go through the emitters by the type of vegetable.

https://www.rainbird.com/homeowners/blog/drip-watering-for-vegetable-gardens

 

[Ascholten]

Ok, you better do your homework on wells FIRST before you get soaked, and not in a good way either.

So the city has a watertower, they may also be digging 1100 foot to hit an artisan aquifer too with a 12 inch wellhead. YOU are not going to do that, might not even be able to even if you wanted to OR could afford it. What are the laws on wells where you live? How deep do you have to go? can you or are you going to do it yourself? if not, wells are not cheap anymore !! How deep for GOOD water, good as in it won't kill you or your plants.

what kind of draw can you get, if you have a slow water table where you may only be able to get a few gpm out of the well, that is not enough to really water with, at least not directly. Now you may need a slo pump, fill an IBC then pump it out to your irrigation that way.

Id call a few well digging companies and pick their ears a bit on what it's like in your area, and how much they'd charge and what all you'd need,just to get an idea what you are getting into there. If you don't live in florida, or somewhere where you can dig 10 feet down and be in a water table, wells are not just dig a hole and drop a pump in.

What if you hit water at 25 to 30 feet but it's nasty ass Iron / Sulphur water? The grass will love it but it will stink like ass and stain everything it touches. Ok the next water table is now at 160 feet. No you are NOT going to jet that one out, especially if you are playing with hard pan or bedrock.

Just some food for thought.
Aaron

EDIT: Oh you are going to do a drippy irrigation setup ... yah good luck with THAT if you have ANY minerals in your water, those swizzle heads will be clogged by the end of the year.

 

[WthrLady]

must have been me. I use 1/2 inch irrigation hose line by rainbird. and 1/4 inch feeders for the plants off that.

 

[Ascholten]

Im done.
I quit.
I give up.
it's over, YOU WON....

I have fly paper that has pictures of flies on it. I don't know, maybe they are decoys for other flies. no friggin clue. I put some outside on the table. I usually keep a fly trap bottle or other stuff out there for catching flies and yellowjackets. About 20 minutes ago I look outside and the damned chicken is all tangled up in the stuff.

Really?? So you hopped UP on the table where you don't belong to begin with, to get into that???

What kind of chickens do you have Aaron. Umm They are TARD Island Reds ....

So now her feathers are all sticky from the crap on them, so I have to wash her now or it's going to turn into a HORRIBLE mess as everything under the sun gets matted into and sticks to her feathers. Ive been thru this before with the Cockatoo and a pan full of cooking oil...don't ask.... so off to the shower with a bottle of dawn dish soap we go. The chicken is NOT going to stand still for this, we BOTH know better so I strip down to my skivvies because I dont want to get soaking wet trying to clean the damned bird off and slogging water through the bedroom. The shower is actually pretty good for this procedure. it's a fairly small enclosure, so worse case, they can't run far, about 3 feet in either direction. Hold them down, soap them up, scrub a dub dub, then chase them around with the shower head to rinse them off. When I bathe the Rottentoo this is the general procedure only I don't use soap on him for a normal shower just warm water and use my hands to get under his wings and his belly etc to make sure he gets good and washed.

Then it dawns on me, what if I have a heart attack in here?
How do you explain this to my next of kin?

Well we found him dead in the shower with a chicken. Nobody would EVER believe the truth...

At this point, a meteor can crash into my bedroom, I just don't care anymore...

Aaron

 

[WthrLady]

it doesn't take much pressure, if you use drip lines, one the water hits the ends of the line pressure builds. You can also increase pressure by putting in ballcock stops at a few locations to make zones so you aren't watering the whole parade at one time. I can see three places off the bat.
Will your well have a pump to move water?
Or is it a hydrant pump off your mainline house pump?