Re: Shredders?

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----- Original Message -----

From: e*@goodnet.com

To: s*@listbot.com

Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 7:04 AM

Subject: Re: Soakers-Upand down A better Way? Please Suggest.

Square Foot Gardening List - http://myweb.flinet.com/~gallus/sqft.html

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At 04:19 PM 2/8/01 -0800, you wrote:


>Pat- I am going to try using soda bottles with the holes frilles in the
>litds ands the bottoms parlty cut out( but not all the way- you want them to
>"snap" closed so the water doesn't evaporate) for some of my plants that are
>in hard places to water or that need more water. I still havent' come up
>with an easy way to get the soaker hosed up to the raised beds without
>haveing them strung all over and tripping all over and mowing in between in
>a pain as they don't lay flat  and when you lift then then you have to
>resettle them and sometime disturb them plants. Have thought about doing
>sunken beds even thought iniatially this would be a lot of work- however-
>just to encourage the new garders( and I am only on my second year so this
>is really encouraging!)The Layering techinique that I used over my hardpan
>and clay last year to make my raise beds had resulted in lovely loamy soil
>that does about 8 inches dowm below the bottom of my beds now- from the
>worms coming up and eating all the hay and newspaper and goodies and making
>good soil out of terrible soil- so I guess If I wanted to sink a bed- It
>wouldn't be so hard. Of sourse just like with everything- there are probably
>robalems unforeseen withthat medthod. In the meantime- if anyone has a
>handydandy trick or gismo that helps with how to get the hoses up and down
>tidily so that you are not constantly tripping over them- let me know- I am
>sure there is something simple- I just can't viualize it. Brain fart and all
>that.Thanks!

Yes, I had the same problem when I used soaker hoses. Fortunately, in this
climate I don't have to worry about freezing pipe so I use PVC pipe
underground to get the water to flower beds and then tie into it with
whatever type irrigation that seems right. In my little veggie garden, I am
using spray heads which I know is not the most efficient use of water but
since I grow different things in these little beds at different times of
the year it would take a lot of changing of soaker hoses, I think and i
hate messing with them. Nearly all my beds are up against walls, fences, or
bordering the front yard so I go for easiest though this year I may
experiment with other ways of irrigation. Using the method of mounding up
the soil around the edges makes it like sunken beds, holding the moisture
where it is needed. Of course, i use a lot of mulch here in summer.
I have a little personal shredder gadget that will shred a double sheet of
newspaper folded in half and use the paper to help build up my soil. I have
a compost bin near the kitchen but my son has made a smaller one out of
some perforated metal that he and his brother scrounged from a job one time
with no idea what they would use it for but that one can go out to the
veggie garden to hold garden waste for later use.
I would love to hear from other gardeners on this list about how they
manage their gardens, reuse things, crafts from the garden they enjoy or
any other favorite hints.

Pat


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