Cool, Clear Water: Irrigation

With lots of young plants in the ground and a few consecutive days of warm, sunny weather the past few weeks, I’ve been making the most of my 3 rain barrels to irrigate my garden.  My irrigation system is a bit archaic – I fill up a watering can and water plant by plant, row by row.  It takes a lot of time and I know there are more sophisticated systems out there (farmers certainly don’t water plants individually).  One day I’ll upgrade, but for now, my water brigade works just fine for my garden.

Most vegetable farmers use drip or trickle irrigation to water their crops.  In a nut shell, drip irrigation consists of a number of hoses transporting water to drip lines, which are thin-walled, perforated polyethylene tubes.  Water is pumped through the lines, which rest along plant roots, and slowly seeps into the ground.  Drip irrigation is an extremely efficient system since water is targeted to the roots and not lost to evaporation.  Farmers can also use this system to apply liquid fertilizers.    The disadvantage is that it takes a considerable amount of initial set up and installation time.  Some farmers, such as sweet corn growers, use traveling gun systems, which consist of a big sprinkler mounted on a wheeled cart.  The cart is then pulled by a cable through the fields.   This type of irrigation makes sense for much larger plots, but a considerable amount of water is lost to evaporation and never makes it to the plant roots, since the water is intercepted by leaves.

So where do farmers source their water? Some farmers may be lucky enough to have a pond or a perennial stream to pump water from.  If they don’t have a water feature on their property, they could use a fire hydrant with permission from their local Water Authority or install a well.  Either of those options could be quite costly, so they’ll need to do the math to balance water costs and harvest profits. 

Save Water in Your Own Yard! If you’d like to build your own rain barrel to water your plants, join Penn State Extension Master Gardeners and Master Watershed Stewards on Wednesday, May 21^st at the Seed Farm in Emmaus.  You can choose between 3 sessions: 5:30 – 6:15 p.m.; 6:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.; and 7:00 – 7:45 p.m..  In this workshop, volunteers will guide you through the process of constructing your own, fully functioning rain barrel. The workshop fee of $40 includes a plastic 55-gallon drum and all the necessary parts and assistance to build your own barrel. The workshop also includes a tour of The Seed Farm, an organization that is growing new farmers by providing them with training, equipment, and land which eliminates the top three barriers to farm entry and opens the doors for a new generation of farmers.  To register, visit http://www.cvent.com/events/rain-barrel-workshops/event-summary-457a1fac8ebc4716b8056cb04f5ba325.aspx

Sources:

http://extension.psu.edu/business/start-farming/news/2013/irrigation-for-vegetables

http://extension.psu.edu/plants/plasticulture/technologies/drip-irrigation

http://extension.psu.edu/business/ag-alternatives/horticulture/horticultural-production-options/drip-irrigation-for-vegetable-production

http://www.clemson.edu/irrig/equip/Trav.htm