Applegater Summer 2014
9
DIRTY FINGERNAILS AND ALL
How dry I am or my tomato plant wants a beer
by SIOux ROgERS
With the predicted dry, dry summer
looming ahead, I suppose it would be quite
lovely if we could just pour cold beer on all
our plants to quench their thirst. Heck, I
plan to down some cold ones myself. Sadly,
I doubt if the garden or your wallet would
survive the hangover.
“So,” you ask, “what do I do and
where do I start?” Whether this is a first-
time garden or an established ho-hum
garden, the rules for water conservation are
the same. You start with a solid foundation,
i.e., the soil.
“Okay,” you ask, “what about the
soil?” Healthy soil is full of earthworms.
It crumbles in your hand rather than
lumping up like a ball of clay. Healthy soil
is rich in organic matter and retains water
for longer periods of time. Water and rich
organic soil have a good relationship. The
water knows how long to stay, but not so
long as to slump around and make the soil
boggy. If you have compost, add as much as
you can to the entire garden. The compost
will trap moisture and thus encourage
plant roots to grow deeply. Deep roots are
good—the soil is much cooler the deeper
down you go. If you do not have your own
compost, buy soil amendments.
Along with well-amended soil,
mulching is a must. Mulching can be
a very creative adventure. I have personally
mulched with old rugs, old sheets and
old blue jeans. More traditional mulches
are straw, old leaves, black plastic, wood
chips, pine needles, a light coat of pea
gravel, or cardboard. What you mulch
with is your call, but mulching is not
optional. Mulching slows water runoff
and evaporation. And—one more cheer
for mulching—it keeps weeds under
control. This is important because weeds
and vegetables compete for water, scanty
though it might be during a drought.
Okay, your soil is good and you are
A-frame structures can be handmade as shown (yearroundveggiegardener.blogspot.com)
or by using ready-made trellises purchased at a hardware store.
ready to plant. The summer is dry and
water is scarce, but we all cherish our own
homegrown vegetables. You still have a very
good chance of getting the garden well on
its way before the terror of our hot August
nights. The roots of established plants will
be growing deep down in the soil to a nice
cool and moist place.
Another water-saving hint is
to be aware of which plants need less
water when they mature. Crops such as
cucumbers, summer and winter squash,
melons, tomatoes, eggplants and peppers
are often overwatered. Overwatering is not
only wasteful, but it also dilutes the flavor
of the fruit. Other plants such as potatoes,
garlic and onions need no water at all after
they are mature. If watered while still in the
ground, they rot and get mushy.
One wee word about watering in
general: use drip irrigation if at all possible.
The water will go directly to the plants
instead of blowing in the wind as with an
overhead water system. Drip watering can
save up to 50 percent of water usage.
Don’t forget the general
principles we have all heard about water
conservation—like turning the water off
while brushing your teeth or shaving, and
taking shorter showers. Better yet, shower
with a friend. But my personal favorite
way to conserve is by using grey water.
The website www.growveg.com has an
informative section on grey water (“water
from washing machines/dishwashers and
water from washing in showers, baths and
sinks”). Believe it or not, plants thrive on
bubble baths.
Then you ask, “So how do I plant
once I have the soil and water system
in place?” Start by planting in squares,
blocks or whatever you call it, just not a
single row of anything. Understand which
plants need the water faucet off at the
end of the growing
season and which
Sioux Rogers
plants need to
continue drinking up until harvested. For
example, potatoes, garlic and onions, as
mentioned above, should not be watered
once matured. On the other hand, leafy
greens need water until harvest.
There are many creative styles
of planting to save water. Here is just
one idea: take two garden trellises and place
them together to form an A-frame. On
both sides you can plant sun-loving plants
like tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, etc. I
find this structure works best in widths no
longer than three to four feet. The reason
for this width is to allow you to reach in
at the bottom opening of the A-frame
structure where you have planted salad
greens or whatever else that likes shade. If
you have eight-foot long arms, then make
the structure wider. The height of the
structure does not matter.
You can also use this same method
with just one trellis slanted slightly
backward and propped up any which way.
On the sun side, plant the sun lovers; on
the back side, plant the wimps that use
sunscreen.
A few more water conservation ideas:
1. If possible, choose plants with fewer
days to maturity, or miniature plants,
especially the lovely miniature and colorful
bell peppers.
2. Use shade cloth if heat is high and water
is low.
3. Tall sunflowers are excellent umbrellas for
green leafy vegetables, squash, eggplants,
and various other yummy etceteras.
That’s it, folks; however, all the above
ideas and information work only in healthy
soil with a good mulch overcoat.
Dirty Fingernails and All
Sioux Rogers • 541-846-7736
dirtyfingernails@fastmail.fm
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