My mom woke up one day and said, "I'm going to make a garden in the backyard!". This coming from the woman who has a hard time keeping things alive that don't ask for food or water -I'm the same way. We have dogs and I have a little brother, but we don't have any plants, fish, lizards, etc. in the house for a reason. We learned the hard way with some of those...
So...my mom wants to build a garden. I laughed out loud. But guess what? She did it! And she managed to find a way to water the plants just the right amount at the exact right times while saving water!
How did she do it?
She picked a place to start her garden. She needed a spot where the plants would get at least 6 hours of sun. The area she chose had grass and overgrown, nappy plants. Before she could start work at making her garden, she had to dig it all up and soak the ground so none of those plants would grow into her garden. Then, she covered that part of the ground with weed cloth and rubber mulch.
To get her garden started, she hand-built 4 wooden boxes to hold the plants and filled them all with dirt. Then, she planted her plants in specific areas and specific boxes so she could keep track of which plants were planted. She tried watering the plants the old-fashioned way, but she didn't have any free time away from taking care of my brother to go outside. This called for a trip to the Home Depot, where she found Drinking Water Safe Marine Hoses that don't put any weird chemicals into the water like most hoses do, which is why they're blue. Also, she has a micro-irrigation system that the blue hoses are feeding.
The website, St. Johns River Water Management District on www.floridaswater.com says that a micro-irrigation system saves water! A micro-irrigation system does even more than save water, too! It "decreas[es] water loss from evaporation, wind and runoff (the draining away of water)...Minimize[s] pest problems, such as weeds and diseases, by applying water to the root area of the plant...Increase[s] water application efficiency when retrofitting (adding to new technology or features to older systems) in-ground sprinkler systems...[has an] Easy connection to hoses or outdoor spigots...[has] Flexibility in meeting variable water needs of new, maturing and established plant...Minimize[s] erosion when watering plants on steep slope...[and complies] with local water conservation codes and ordinances".
These mini hoses are awesome! Don't believe me? Just look at my mom's garden! She's growing squash, zucchini, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, onions, carrots, strawberries, peppermint, aloe vera, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and corn! Soon she'll be growing green beans and in the winter, she'll be growing broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and winter squash.
It took a few trips to the Home Depot's and the Lowes before I got into the "gardening thing", but soon enough, I found myself asking to plant something. I got a medium-sized pot in my favorite color, blue, some fertilizer (yeah, that part was a little messy and smelly) and I got some basil to plant. I chose a purple basil because it's pretty and I can actually use it when I make dinner for my family once a week.
I didn't believe my mom at first when she said she wanted to build a garden, but you know mom's...they can do almost anything, and find a way to do it the eco-friendly way too.
So if you ever get a wild hair and you suddenly want to build a garden, don't worry that according to the United States Drought Monitor, there is a 76.68% extreme drought in Los Angeles. You can save water and still have a beautiful garden for your backyard! My mom did it, I did it, both of my neighbors did it and you can do it too!
Works Cited
Brewer, Michael. US Drought Monitor California. 2014. The National Drought Mitigation Center, Lincoln. http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/Home/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?CA. Web. 1 June 2014.
N.A. "Micro-irrigation, the basics." 2014. floridaswater.com. Web. 1 June 2014. http://floridaswater.com/waterconservation/savingwater/microirrigation.html.
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