Here in the semi-desert of West Texas, we have to depend on irrigation. The Charamon Garden is watered by infrequent rain and water from my well. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, the water is not all that great. It is full of minerals (gypsum mostly) and, at times, sand and clay. The plants seem to thrive on it. The major problem is not the water but the system used to deliver it: drip irrigation.
I never hook up my supply to the irrigation lines without having to clean one or more emitters. This involves flushing the line by opening the end and then pulling the blue “flag” out of each clogged emitter, using the water that sprays out of the top to clean the emitter and replacing the flag. A real pain in the…well, you know. I plan to get my humongous filtration system up soon but, in the meantime, I am depending on the small filters at the head of each distribution manifold. They filter out the sand easily enough, but the clay is finer than talcum powder and eventually clogs the emitters.
Today, I pulled the screens out of six filters, took them to the kitchen sink, plopped them in a bowl of warm water and detergent and rinsed them and scrubbed them with a brush resembling a test-tube brush. It’s one of those chores that will be repeated over and over again during the dry season. You might say it is one of those chores that screens out those who are not serious!
Filter screens and caps
Drip lines for eggplant sets.
In the meantime…eat your veggies! Nonnie and Pop said so.
April 16, 2008 at 4:54 am |
A big job, but one that will pay off, I’m sure. Love my veggies.
April 16, 2008 at 1:18 pm |
Hi! I found your blog searching for garden blogs in my area on google. In reading I found that you are originally from Odessa which is where I lived the first 20 years of my life and now I’m in Midland. We visit Abilene quiet often as I have family in Hamlin, Stamford and Rochester. It’s nice to find someone that is gardening in the same weather that we have to endure here.
April 16, 2008 at 1:49 pm |
Hi Nancy, yes getting too big for me alone. My #1 son helps a lot. We have to get everything done by the end of May since I spend June and most of July out of pocket. I try to grow as much produce as I can because it’s organic and tastes great. We hope to put in chickens next year.
Hi Shala, I am fortunate to have a well. I had it drilled about 8 years ago. I live in an area where we have water about 20′ down. It’s the alluvial fan for Elm Creek and as long as I’ve been using it, it has never gone dry. I’m not sure how far you would have to drill in Midland but I’ll bet its way down there. In Odessa, fogedaboutit!
Thanks for both of you tuning in to Charamon Garden.