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Monday, March 10, 2014

RAISED BED IRRIGATION DONE




So the first thing I did was move the hose bib to a new location. It's now along the side of the fence, so that it's in the middle of the garden beds instead of at one end (I think I owe that one to one of you who suggested that in a comment).






I utilized this item from Gardener's Supply that is called the Snip-n-Drip Soaker Hose System.  The basic kit comes with 25 feet of garden hose and 50 feet of the various connectors.  You just measure what you need, snip the hose with scissors and put a connector on one end...







...and then put the other half on the other end and screw them together.  It's really about as easy as you could want.  I had enough connectors and hoses to hook up three 4x4 beds and one 4x8 bed.  Should be enough for this first growing season.  After hooking it all up there was only one thing left to do, turn on the water and see what happens.




I turned on the water faucet at the house and then at the garden hose bib and voila, water came bubbling out of the soaker hose just like it's supposed to.  There wasn't a single leak in any of the connections and all is good!  We even had great water pressure, in fact a little too much pressure in the first raised bed, closest to the faucet.



I turned it off before too much came out because I didn't really want to waste water and  it was about to rain anyway.  Now I just need to get some hooks to keep the soaker hose in position on the surface, and then clamp the green sections to the sides of the beds.  I did them so they run down and along the ground and then back up to the next bed.  That will make it easier to walk between the beds.  Now comes the next quandary, figuring out how to  arrange them.

I am not going to do exact square foot gardening, but I do need to figure out the best way to lay the hose.  I actually thought about this shape and planting in and around it.  The spiral above I thought about using in the herb bed.  I'm putting the tomatoes in the 4x8 bed so I think that will run straight down the middle.  Hey, I guess all that matters is that we have water.  This will all be hooked up to an automatic timer so we'll see how it goes.  Now if it will just stop freezing one a week, we can get some veggies in the ground.

15 comments:

  1. great job! you are all set to plant!

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  2. Looking good - well done :) The porous pipe (soaker hose) is brilliant!

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    1. Yes, I'm hoping this will solve our hot summer/drought problems.

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  3. Good job well done. Watering is something DH does as I can never get to grips with it. Our little patch was cleared today ready for rotovating. We will plant when the weather gets warmer.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. Well hello! I see you post over on Singing Gardener website, thank you for stopping by here. Much appreciated!! I bet you are excited to get to planting soon too. :-)

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  4. It must be very satisfying seeing it all come together. It looks great. I was wondering whether you could bury that sort of soaker hose. I saw an article recently that recommended this as it left very little water to evaporate. They recommended that every now and then you pull the mulch off a section just to ensure that the hose is working but otherwise you just leave it to do its thing.

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    1. Definitely. I was thinking about that. I wasn't sure I'd put it in the dirt, but I might put mulch over it and around the plants when I get them in. I like the idea, thanks!!

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    1. Well, I only did 4 of the raised beds (technically 5 if you count the 4x8 as two 4x4's ha). And the snip and drip system was truly super easy and fast. Now of course I have no idea how it will hold up but it's a start, ha. Thanks!!

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  6. Similar to FionaG, I was thinking cover the hose with mulch after you get your planting done... just be careful if you dig, you don't go right through the soaker hose!! As I recall, it's pretty tender and if you can cut it with scissors, it can be cut by shovel too ... Good idea periodically checking to make sure water is emitting properly.

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    1. Funny you said that, when I was twisting on one of the connectors, I broke off a piece of the soaker hose it's very easy to damage. You are smart to think about tools and such I might use in the garden. I will remember that ,thanks!!

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  7. What a great job.

    Uh, when you guys catch up I could use a hand.

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    1. LOL! Thank you. Will we ever be caught up? Ha.

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  8. Do you not have deer problems with them eating your gardens down there? Here in WV the deer are like mountain roaches, they eat everything.
    Leslie

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