VegeNag

Last year I ran a post about a drip irrigation system that I use in my vegetable garden. I have been really happy with this drip system and it is supposed to stand the test of time. That being said it is very expensive and many home gardeners may not want to spend the money. Below are some various options for drip irrigation to better meet your needs instead of doing it my way. For a run down of the benefits of drip irrigation, please check out my post.

Types of drip irrigation systems for the home gardener.

1)Really cheap tubing with holes in it that you can buy at the local big box garden store. I would not waste your time with this since you will end up throwing it away after a while. The holes clog up or shoot up in the air when there is inconsistent pressure.

2) Poly-tubing with emitters- (approx.$.50 a foot w/o fittings)- This is the type that I use. It is made up of thin wall poly tubing with emitters manually punched in by the user. Emitters can be pressure regulated or just free flowing.

Rainbird 2.0 GPH punch-in emitters

Advantages:

• You can put the emitters exactly where you want them to go
• Long lasting, usually will hold up for many, many years
• Very versatile in terms of how long or how short to make your runs

Disadvantages:

• Most expensive
• A lot of labor involved with installing the system

3) Dripline- (approx.$.20 a foot w/o fittings) -This is poly-tubing with emitters manufactured inside the tubing. I have also used this system and am quite happy with its performance. There is no labor involved with installing emitters, however, you are locked into a certain spacing between emitters depending on which you buy.

Advantages:

• Easy install with no punching emitters in the tubing
• Fairly inexpensive

Disadvantages

• Locked into pre-spaced intervals for the intervals
• If emitters clog up or break then hose needs to be replaced

4) Driptape- (less than $.10 a foot w/o fittings)- This is “tape-like” tubing that expands when water begins to flow through it. It is very economical and good for home gardeners on a budget

Advantages:

• Very easy to install by just laying down the tape hose where you want it
• Least expensive

Disadvantages

• Locked into pre-spaced intervals for the intervals
• If emitters clog up or break then hose needs to be replaced
• Probably need to replace every 5 years

A good source for pricing out the different options including fittings that need to be purchased with the hose, go to www.dripirrigation.com. There are lots of tutorials and helpful articles there to help you make the best decision about what to get.

Popularity: 5% [?]

• Leave a comment...

Many of those I talk to feel that gardening is expensive and that it would be cheaper to buy produce from the store. I guess that you can make an argument that if you take your labor and multiply it by an average labor rate and then estimate the land costs of your garden cost while adding in the cost for your water and gardening tools then it is possible that it is cheaper to buy from the store.

That being said, realistically we should only count cost incurred from actually having a garden vs. not having one. That would be things like money for seeds, fertilizer, special mulches and the occasional tool. According to a recent study done by the National Gardening Association in 2008, the average food gardener spends $70 a year on their garden. The average gardener has a 600 sq.ft plot for their garden. Given a $2 per pound average produce price and 1/2 lbs per sq.ft of produce produced (according to the study). That is an average of $600 of produce produced per gardener. If you subtract the $70 investment. That is a $530 return on investment or a 757% return on your money. In times of economic uncertainty, what could be better than that?

This return is consistent with my experiences. Last year, I estimate that we produced over $1000 in produce and we probably invested just under $200 into it. Of course, if you are not successful in your garden then you will just waste your money on a bunch of dead plants. That is why I suggest you read the posts in the blog to help in your efforts. Also, our “nag” service will be coming soon. So keep your eyes out for the roll out.

Popularity: 85% [?]

• Leave a comment...

For the last few years I have been buying my black plastic mulch from the big box stores. I usually buy the 3′x50′  6 mil roll and then would drape them across the rows. This has worked well for water retention and weed control. I am a big fan of black plastic for your mulch. For more information on mulching, read my recent post.

This year I am trying a new black plastic mulch that I got from PineTree Gardens. I was skeptical because it was such a thin mil. However, I saw the same mil thickness in all the gardening magazines so I figured they knew something I didn’t. Well, I believe they did. I just received the plastic today and while thin, it is highly durable and stretchable. I also believe that the thinner mil will moderate the soil temperature better producing better yields.

I am also really excited about the 4ft width instead of 3ft. We always have weeds in the pathways between rows since the plastic doesn’t cover this. Now I shouldn’t have that problem.

In summary, I would recommend the new way I am trying. I believe I will be very happy with this new black plastic mulch. It was also pretty cheap, .15 cents a foot. You can also try some of the other new plastics like the SRM red plastic for your tomatoes. I have yet to try it, but they say you get a 20% better yield than black plastic because the sun reflects the red into the plant which somehow makes it produce better. One of these years I will spend the extra money and try it, but for now I am happy with my yields for the money.

Popularity: 100% [?]

• Leave a comment...

Anyone who hates gardening because of all the weeding probably doesn’t use mulch. Last year I hardly ever had to weed because I use mulch wherever possible. If for only this reason I would mulch, however, there are many more benefits to mulching your garden. Go to the USU extension fact sheet on mulching for a full run down of mulching and the different types, I will sum up the benefits here.

Benefits to mulching:

• Reduce moisture loss
• Increase nutrient and oxygen absorption due to near the soil root production
• Moderate soil temperature
• Control weeds
• Reduce compaction
• Add visually to landscape

Hopefully this will convince you to use mulch, but now the question is what kind. Here are a few tips.

First, my favorite mulch is black plastic. It is fairly inexpensive, and provides the best results for the benefits listed above. When it is not possible or practical to use plastic, then I like to use grass clippings.

For example, with peas, beans or corn it is not very practical to use black plastic because it would require so many holes. For these I spread grass clippings which also improve the soil over time. I also do this for my raspberries.

A word of caution when using grass clippings, you should not use a “weed and feed” lawn fertilizer on your grass or else the weed control will affect your plants, if you do use this type of fertilizer then let the clippings compost for a number of weeks before using. Also, you should let your clippings dry out before using. I usually only need to dry them out for a week in my climate.

Of course, if you want the many benefits of mulching then you need some sort of irrigation system that would allow mulching. I would recommend a drip irrigation system as shown here.

Popularity: 80% [?]

• Leave a comment...

After pouring through 10+ seed catalogs, I have determined what I will order and from who. I make this post to give you an idea of things that you should consider when planning your garden.

First, do it early. Seed growers only have a certain amount of seeds and when they run out they can’t produce more until next year. Also you want to get them shipped to you in a timely manner so that you have them on hand to begin growing when it comes time.

Next, look at different catalogs. While I only ordered from 2 different catalogs, each catalog had something different to offer that met my particular needs. Many times I will focus on some special thing I am looking for and then if the price is right, I will order the other stuff from them that is the same in most other catalogs.

For example, I am trying to get broccoli and cauliflower to grow in the Spring here in Utah. This is very difficult and I have not yet had great success since it gets too hot, too early, so I looked for the earliest ones I could find. I found ‘Major’ broccolli at 43 days from transplant and ‘Silver Cup’ cauliflower at 40 days. Both were at PineTree Garden Seeds. They have great prices so I also ordered my carrots, beets, peas and so forth from them.This will be my first year ordering from them, so I will let you know if I have any problems with fulfillment or service etc.

Prices is another consideration when deciding who to order from. Some have good prices, but high shipping rates. Some have high prices, but give large coupons like Henry Fields. They give $25 off an order of $50 making it 50% off everything. And some have high prices, but very reliable service, selection and premium seeds. I would put Stokes in that category. In the end, seeds are really cheap. I got everything I needed for a huge garden for a whole year and I will have a ton of extra seeds for about $35. Therefore, I wouldn’t concern yourself with seed prices, check for shipping rates and such since that could be a bigger hit in the end. I spent 25% this year just on shipping.

Last, try new stuff and don’t get stuck with one variety just because it comes with a ton of seeds. If you want to try two different onions like a red onion and a yellow onion then order both. I know that they each come with 300 seeds, but they are only $1-2 each.

I just ordered 5 different kinds of tomatoes, one early variety, 2 beefsteak variety, one paste variety and one cherry tomato. I will get about 25 seeds per pack for 125 seeds. I am only growing 6 different plants. Assuming no loss, that would take me over 20 years to plant all the seeds. I estimate that I will grow over 400 tomatoes from the $12 that I spent on the seeds. Don’t worry about wasting seeds, give them away or throw away, but have fun with growing different varieties.

Please let me know your experiences this year or in year’s past with seed companies. I have ordered from a handful, but would love to hear about your experiences.

Popularity: 98% [?]

• Leave a comment...