GROWING VEGETABLES IN DRY AREAS OF THE COUNTRY~extended to add plants

[Hattie the Hen]

While researching vegetable growing & allotment blogs around the world I came across this one from Australia showing a solution found in Rajasthan in India. I know a lot of you have gardens in dry areas so I thought I would pass it on. It might help in saving the precious water (& your wallet).

http://hillsandplainsseedsavers.blogspot.com/2010/02/sink-and-wall-gardens.html

**** if you follow the links within this article there are a lot more ideas & photos.


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[old fashioned]

Those are great ideas, thanks for posting! I just heard yesterday on the news or some show about the sunken gardens to save water and I was thinking about trying that myself this year. This is great it gives me a visual of how to do it-planting in blocks instead of rows. And I think if I also used like a straw mulch to fill in that would be an additional help. I also like the water pot ideas too.
Now if only we'd get some warm, dry days so I can get out there in the dirt. :tools

I think that is just awesome!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Hi old fashioned,

Glad you like it. I am fascinated by these methods although I live in a very damp country.....!! We are awaiting yet more snow today................. Oh where is Spring!! But we can have very dry summers (occasionally) & these terrw-cotta pots sunken in the soil & filled with water would be a great standby.

http://olives-and-artichokes.blogspot.com/2008/07/terracotta-pot-watering-system.html

***Have you had a look at our thread on allotments around the world -- it is filled with links to blogs etc. which contain lots of useful info. If you have a day or so have a look.....!! *** http://www.theeasygarden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=27452



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[HiDelight]

UM yeah almost did not open this thread because I am ..as you know in a swamp!!!

but our poor folks east and you Hattie with all this crazy snow this year ..I can not say anything bad about my swamp in comparison I am sorry it is just hitting you one after another! OOOXXX

you have to put something at least in a pot this weekend for your friend in on the Salish Sea ok ..just to perk youself up in this rain plant some peas if you have them and lets have a cross the pond tradtion starting now!!! maybe it will go on through generations LOL! We can call it Peas across the Pond!!!

ok lost my mind here

anyway

thanks so much for the blog link it is really nice I am perusing it now!

and ideas for dry gardening are worth considering even though the frogs are taking over my yard now ..during the summer we have very bone dry soil in just a day or two with out rain

oddly we rarely have any degree humidity or dampness at all here when the rain is gone .. water bills shoot up

so again thanks Hattie ..always such a pleasure to read your threads

 

[old fashioned]

Hattie-I too live in a notoriously wet spot-South Puget Sound- Washington and we do get an occaisional dry summer. I figure those methods would be worth trying atleast once or with just one or two veggies as a test. I love to experiment in the garden and it's always a learning adventure.

As for the other thread I admit I've peeked a few times

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Here is another little offering!

http://oldvegiepatch1972.googlepages.com/subtropic_garden.html



:rose Hattie :rose

 

[GardeNerd]

I came across this one from Australia showing a solution found in Rajasthan in India. I know a lot of you have gardens in dry areas so I thought I would pass it on. It might help in saving the precious water (& your wallet).

http://hillsandplainsseedsavers.blogspot.com/2010/02/sink-and-wall-gardens.html

That is a neat idea! I am going to have to try in it in the future.

I have used other methods to control evaporation developed in Australia in the past with good results. We have been on water rationing for a couple of years now, so every little bit helps. I have read books by Esther Dean and Ruth Stout on a "no dig" style of gardening. Their methods enabled me to go on vacation in the summer and not worry about asking the house sitter to water the veggie garden. More recent garden writers call the method Lasagna gardening. The down side is hay and straw aren't cheap around here, but my labor to dig a sunken bed is.

Thanks for posting that!

 

[Hattie the Hen]

More info on the Clay Pot Method of Irrigation, this time from Brazil:

http://howtomakeeverything.com/CD3WD/HDLHTML/ATWTR002/EN/CH38.HTM


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I have just come across this very useful list of plants that will tolerate dry conditions:

http://veggiepatchreimagined.blogspot.com/2008/12/drought-tolerant-edible-plants-for.html

It is going to be very useful to me as I re-gig my front garden which is ,essentially,the front edge of a high bank, sitting on a hill. It is in full sunshine for three quarters of the day in the summer. I want it to have more of a traditional English cottage garden feeling with flowers, vegetables & herbs growing side-by-side. My chickens don't have access to this area so I will put certain things out there which they adore so I get my fair share........for once! row


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[desertwillow]

Hattie,

I really found the blog interesting. I will have to try the terra cotta pots. Another thing people mite be interested in is something I do with my trees. In the desert the drip water will evaorate on the surface before it gets down to the roots so the trees get to be shallow rooted. What I've done is to take an 18" piece of PVC pipe and drill holes in it about 4" apart and in different sections of the pipe and sink it in the ground when the tree is planted. Then I put the drip line down in the PVC pipe so the water gets doen to the roots. If you put a hole big enough to run the 1/4 inch drip line through then you can put a cap on the pipe to keep out the debri. I've done this for several years and just noticed that our local hardware store now carries them to buy ready made but they are very pricey. Maybe this will help someone else.