Whitsend Market Garden

Hey Everyone…

Before I get into this post on watering the crops, I would like to mention something I discovered.

It has come to my attention (in mid meal) that the garlic shoots are a bit too old for genuine "garlic shoot" status.  The stem is a little too tough.  Don't bother trying to cook it, add it to your compost.

And now for this weeks post...

As I have said before, the weather does its thing and I adjust my activities accordingly. With more heat, I water the crops (and myself) more.

Here is an example of the weather "doing it's thing".  Dry at Whitsend, pouring two kilometers away.

The drought of two seasons ago was two weeks longer in our immediate area than the rest of Ottawa.  According to a local, the driest his family farm had recorded since 1928.

Watering the crops.

Delivering water directly to the crops has some advantages.  I can control where the water goes.  Most crops prefer to keep their leaves dry.  



Various parts of the plant will become infected with mold and cause the plant to grow poorly or die.  Lettuce and Escarole are two of the few plants that I am aware of that respond positively to having their leaves soaked on a regular basis.  Some plants are very sensitive to water exposure.  

Nightshades blight and Onion blasting are two well known mold conditions.  As well, Squash stems can rot, killing an entire plant, by having too much water around their base.

By watering by hand, I can direct the water to the soil around the plant where the roots can take in the water.  As well, I can keep water away from parts of the bed where there are no crops (such as in between tomato or squash plants) to further control weeds.

Watering by hand can be very time consuming.  Pouring water onto the very warm soil, in the direct sun, will cause much of the water to evaporate.  I have to go slow to allow the water to sink in.

Too much time is spent filling the watering cans with the hose.  A couple of years ago, I had a large cistern that was topped up with well water on a regular basis.  The watering cans could be filled up almost instantly, simply by plunging the empty cans into the full cistern. 

The cistern provided the best water for the crops.  After a couple of days, the water contained a soup of micro organisms, algae, and nutrient rich sludge.  This could be further enriched with an addition of some compost.  

Some growers create a compost tea by adding certain plants to large water containers, and letting the water soak up the nutrients from the plants as they decompose.  Stinging Nettle, or Sows Thistle, is one of the best plants to use for this technique.  It stinks, but the crops don’t mind at all.

Sadly, I found that the cistern bottom rusted out last year.  A few small holes would not have mattered much (the sludge would have stopped it up), but it has become a sieve and now contains leftover lumber.

Aside - The above photo was taken in our first year - the place I am pictured standing is now the rock garden.  The mass of foliage at the side of the barn is now the prep station.  The cistern (at least part of it) is visible to the left.

On the freshly seeded beds, I use row covers pinned flat to the bed surface to hold the moisture on the ground (I also do this when there is heavy rain in the forecast, to keep the seeds from washing away).  

For crops that are more established, the row covers are suspended by metal hoops.  The drawback is that the plants receive a little less sunlight.

On beds with little weed pressure, I use some straw mulch to slow evaporation.  

Too much straw will become a haven for mice.

Some of my beds have an irrigation tape that releases a steady stream of water droplets.  This is fairly effective as well, though the tapes tend to get in the way when doing work in or around the beds.   As well, the tape tends to deliver water somewhat unevenly.   The well pump has to run continuously to deliver the water at a steady pressure, which is a draw on the electricity bill. 

I have heard from an experienced farmer that thirty minutes of steady, gentle rain will deliver the same amount of water to the soil than a week’s worth of watering with a high tech irrigation system.

The pigs also require a steady supply of water.  Without it, they can either quickly overheat, or begin to suffer from salt poisoning (too much sodium in the blood stream).

As well, they use the water to make mud wallows, which they use to cool off and coat their skin.  Encrusted mud helps keep off the flies and ticks and provides protection from the sun.

I’m no different.  I keep my hat soaked to draw heat away from my head, and the jug of tea is rarely far away.

Your beans are in flower...

Happy pigs play.