Re: OT: Water

Hi Donald:
        A couple thoughts on your dilemma. We bought a square container
that a sweetener for animal feed had been shipped in. (Cleaning it was a
chore). We mounted it on a platform and directed the rain gutter into it.
It held 2-300 gallons. From there I gravity fed water to my plants around
the house and in the yard. This was in Arkansas and while we did have a
measurable rain fall, we had months where there was no rain at all and
plants suffered.
        Mulching sure helps retain moisture.
        Building the soil to where it retains moisture. I incorporated
organic materials like a demented person in my beds and gardens and
mulched the same way!
        Here in El Paso, it's a whole different ball game. I continue
building the soil and I continue mulching but I have added one more
thing. . .POLYMERS. Wonderful little things. I hydrate them and
incorporate two good handfuls under each iris I plant. Building the soil
is the biggest job for me. This intensely hot sun just burns stuff up
about as quick as I can get it in. . .that's where mulching comes in. I
checked my broccoli yesterday by digging down with a trowel about 6-8
inches and the soil was quite moist. It was watered a week ago. . . .and
the broccoli is actively growing and producing. . . .and it's been in the
high 80's for well over a week.
        I put the POLYMERS under any plant I set out, (including my
Arilbreds), squash, green beans, cabbages etc. I put it under virtually
everything I plant.
        I bought a 50 lb. drum, shipped out of Oklahoma City (I believe).
It costs me around $200 but it goes a LONG way. A 6 oz. tuna can will
hydrate right at 2 gallons!!
        When I pulled up my over wintered broccoli in February, the roots
were full of the polymers! I scraped them off and back into the soil.
They last about 5-7 years. This is my 2nd. year using them.
        I'm posting a picture to Iris-Photo of polymers in the summer
squash planting holes. Take a look!

Doris Elevier
USDA 7b, Sunset 11
El Paso, TX





What I'm trying to do 
> is come
> with some alternate mean(s) of storing and having water to use.
> Unfortunately, the water well attempt resulted in a dry hole.  The 
> other
> methods I've come up with require an initial start-up cost that I'm 
> not
> prepared to expend at the moment.  So I'm left with long-term plans 
> that may
> or may not happen, as circumstances allow.
> 
> Donald Eaves
> donald@eastland.net

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