Grower’s Dilemmas - Veg/Herbs You Want to Grow But Can’t (Yet)

I'm more of a gardner than a farmer. And minimally so, especially since the local community water setup started charging for water. Grey water is an option. A lot of non local plant crops won't grow well here unless shaded and watered - very arid, high uv, low humidity, short growing season. Winter snow, summer rain. Most field raised crops are dry farmed (no irrigation) and precipitation dependent.
 
SoCalZone10 said:
I gave away all of my stuff, my husband and I did the hardscape here, I like DIY. But it’s dangerous to own a chainsaw, I could technically end up without a finger or something, so yay, better to give away.
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Funny enough, I do own a chainsaw! It’s come in very handy over the years, and I live in the suburbs.
 
Z-Cook said:
A question about watering gardens and growing areas:
Who waters/irrigates, when/how and who doesn't?
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Depends on the weather. Some years are wet and I don’t need to water much, some years it’s dry and I need to water often.

I’ve got a rain barrel that I fill my watering can from, so that helps. Here if there’s drought conditions they will put a temporary ban on watering lawns, but you’re always allowed to water food crops.

Most of my ornamental plants are native to this area and drought-resistant once established, so I barely ever water my flowers.
 
I water when I plant the seedlings and they get mulched after that. They then get watered for the following 2 weeks, once a week, with plant food/fertilizer. After that it's whenever it rains since the mulch keeps the ground from drying out. When the plants are producing heavy they'll get some food once a week and they'll get Bloom Booster when the season starts to drop off.
 
I have sprinklers here, this is the 3rd house that my husband did the sprinkler system from scratch, so he has experience.
No way to wait for rain here, we live in California for goodness sake, haha. However, I do plant very close together to help with evaporation.
 
SoCalZone10 said:
I have sprinklers here, this is the 3rd house that my husband did the sprinkler system from scratch, so he has experience.
No way to wait for rain here, we live in California for goodness sake, haha. However, I do plant very close together to help with evaporation.
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Mulching helps tremendously. The first year, without mulch, I had to water weekly. With the mulch this past season I only had to water twice in August. 👍
 
Barriehie said:
Mulching helps tremendously. The first year, without mulch, I had to water weekly. With the mulch this past season I only had to water twice in August. 👍
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I have some mulch, but some of my fruit trees are in container too. I believe the watering system is setting up for every other day. I have so many fruit trees so they don't get much, but they don’t die when I’m on vacation. I also use a lot of my own compost so that helps with retaining moisture.
 
SoCalZone10 said:
But it’s dangerous to own a chainsaw,
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Owning a chainsaw is not dangerous at all. It is how it is used that is the problem. And there are plenty of small battery-operated chainsaws and online safety tips or lessons that make it much safer.

Where we are, owning one is essential. Likewise, a generator, a trailer and a 4x4 vehicle. You need to learn how to operate and maintain them all.
 
Grey water is an essential fact of life where we live. As is all water collection and mulching. Planting too close together is not productive and only leads to underdeveloped wilting veg. Space them out and mulch as well as under a shade cloth is the only way things grown and develop, else there are not enough nutrients in the soil. Here, the humidity drops below 20% in summer. All veg here is grown under shade cloth for plenty of reasons, too numerous to cover all of the reasons, but an exceptionally high UV index (15), months at a time without rain and no mains water or sewage are just a few of them. The trick is to adapt and not to expect it to work as though it were a farmer's field where you can grow a single crop in bulk and water freely.

I also have to garden by hand. A tiller is not an option, nor is not fencing everything in to protect it from anything and everything else which wants to eat it. (My back can not manage a tiller - I am partially paralysed and whilst I can walk and hike again and am out of the wheelchair now, I do not expect to stay that way, and I know I have a spinal deformity.)

Using shade cloth means I rarely have to water. In fact, I only water when the plants start to wilt. We have no backup for drinking water, so it is a balancing act between watering the veg plot and us having drinking water. When that water tank is empty, it is empty, no sanitation, no drinking water and certainly no daily showers (ever - water is too precious). You learn very quickly that hygiene can be maintained with a bowl of water - no need to shower daily (your choice is shower daily or have drinking water). Plus, we shower standing in a tub - that way we know exactly how much water we have used and that water can be collected and used on non-eating plants in the garden, or on edibles when they are not producing fruit or veg we eat. Herbs are the only exception; they get clean water, or die.

Just my thoughts on living in a land where it can be months between rain showers, no mains water and very hot, dry weather for long periods of time. Our temparture ranges is -15C to +45C depending on the season. Summer is our 'dead' season here. It is brown everywhere. Autumn is the start of the planting season, winter is a slow growth season and spring is when you harvest.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
Grey water is an essential fact of life where we live. As is all water collection and mulching. Planting too close together is not productive and only leads to underdeveloped wilting veg. Space them out and mulch as well as under a shade cloth is the only way things grown and develop, else there are not enough nutrients in the soil. Here, the humidity drops below 20% in summer. All veg here is grown under shade cloth for plenty of reasons, too numerous to cover all of the reasons, but an exceptionally high UV index (15), months at a time without rain and no mains water or sewage are just a few of them. The trick is to adapt and not to expect it to work as though it were a farmer's field where you can grow a single crop in bulk and water freely.

I also have to garden by hand. A tiller is not an option, nor is not fencing everything in to protect it from anything and everything else which wants to eat it. (My back can not manage a tiller - I am partially paralysed and whilst I can walk and hike again and am out of the wheelchair now, I do not expect to stay that way, and I know I have a spinal deformity.)

Using shade cloth means I rarely have to water. In fact, I only water when the plants start to wilt. We have no backup for drinking water, so it is a balancing act between watering the veg plot and us having drinking water. When that water tank is empty, it is empty, no sanitation, no drinking water and certainly no daily showers (ever - water is too precious). You learn very quickly that hygiene can be maintained with a bowl of water - no need to shower daily (your choice is shower daily or have drinking water). Plus, we shower standing in a tub - that way we know exactly how much water we have used and that water can be collected and used on non-eating plants in the garden, or on edibles when they are not producing fruit or veg we eat. Herbs are the only exception; they get clean water, or die.

Just my thoughts on living in a land where it can be months between rain showers, no mains water and very hot, dry weather for long periods of time. Our temparture ranges is -15C to +45C depending on the season. Summer is our 'dead' season here. It is brown everywhere. Autumn is the start of the planting season, winter is a slow growth season and spring is when you harvest.
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You're ex British SAS yes??? 😲
 
badjak said:
SatNavSaysStraightOn
I've noticed that your climate is even more extreme than mine!
We range from 8 oC to 45 oC. UV generally up to 13.
But I live on a river. Reasonably fast flowing and that's where we get all our water from.
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It is a little extreme at times. Luckily we haven't seen over 44.2°C at this house. Some parts of Australia got 50°C this summer. 44°C was hard enough with no AC.
 
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