Over the course of New Year ’s Day weekend , I committed a few 60 minutes to one of my favorite annual pursuits . I poured through the germ and plant catalogs that arrive by mail each winter , planning out the coming twelvemonth ’s garden .
This is always an gratifying recitation . But it was made even more fun this year by the knowledge I am prepared to quest for a significantly thrive garden . No fewer than 15 newraised bedsare waiting to be filled in the main garden . I will also instal four extra - large resurrect beds within the protected confines of myorchard cervid fence .
One Problem
The orchard bed are not bad because they provide a pile of room for maturate enceinte plants like pumpkin and watermelons . There ’s only one trouble . The orchard is n’t as close to a body of water source as the garden .
Since I ’m doubling the number of bed from four to eight for 2022 , I ’m going to need double as much water to keep the plants suitably supplied .
This is going to require a niggling thought . My current solution , which works well , is to place a35 - gallon leg tankfilled with water in the back of a wagon and drag it to the orchard using a lawn tractor . But dispensing a tank by gravity takes time . If I were to purchase a larger armored combat vehicle to serve my needs — say , a 70 - gallon armoured combat vehicle — I’m apt to spend doubly as longsighted watering the garden bed .
During the peak of a engaged land summer , I ’m come to I wo n’t be able-bodied to obtain the extra time .
Read more : Growing pumpkins vertically figure out multiple problems . Here ’s how to do it .
Potential Solutions
This is prompting me to explore other options . For deterrent example , I could purchase a 2d 35 - congius tank car and dispense water supply from both tanks at the same sentence , cutting down on watering time for the expanded garden .
I ’m also curious whether the tanks could provide enough water system pressure level to work effectively with soaker hoses . If I could thread boozer hose through each bed , I could theoretically open up the tanks and let the piddle feed evenly through each bed without supervision . This would allow me to sour on other orchard labor in the meantime .
Of naturally , time is n’t the only enquiry here . Fresh water weighs about8.34 Irish pound per gallon . My 35 - gallon leg tank crest the scales at virtually 292 pounds . That ’s a bonny chunk of weight to cart around with a Charles’s Wain and lawn tractor .
Part of me wonderment if double over the payload to 584 pounds is asking too much of my tractor . I ’ll have to consult the substance abuser manual and see how much weighting it ’s rat to tow . If it surpass or pushes the limits , I may need to observe a different solution .
possibly the oldJohn Deere Model 40has find a new line of work ?
record more : New yr , fresh tractor ? Wait ! That old auto can still be plenty utilitarian .
Catch in Place
In add-on , I ’m pondering whether I can instal sewer along the top of my orchard deer fencing to catch rain and guide it toward a pelting barrelful . The front discussion section of the fence is made of Sir Henry Joseph Wood and duad more than 200 feet .
During a intemperate summer rainstorm , it might catch a fair amount of water that I would n’t have to haul to the expanded garden using the tractor and wagon .
Suffice to say , there are a lot of possibilities to mull . I do n’t fuck yet which option ( or combining of options ) will prove most desirable .
But one affair is sure . My expanded garden presents a fun logistical challenge to psychoanalyse while waiting for natural spring !
