Monday, April 13, 2009

DIY Deep Watering

Hey, so check it out. Victory Home & Garden will soon become Anarchy in the Garden™. Not to diss VH&G but I was never in love with her. It conjured up too many images of the victory gardens of yore and that’s all good but it’s not what I’m about. The victory I speak of is victory against the man, corpo agribusiness. It’s the ability to whip up an organic vegan feast from the garden in minutes and with two dogs and an omni husband I need to!

Anarchy in the Garden™ is a mixture of DIY ingenuity and tried-and-true old timey techniques with a punk attitude. It’s not your grandma’s grandma’s garden. I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel; just give you my perspective, share my techniques, what works and what doesn’t. Most importantly I’ll share my failures so you don’t screw up 160 soil blocks like I did.

So here’s a short slide show on the high tech deep watering system I employ. A video would have been better but the mic on my camera is useless.

Directions:
Step 1: Locate a 1 gallon nursery container (you know you have a ton in your shed).
Step 2: Drill ½ in holes (or get the husband to do it like I do) all around the container up to the lip.
Step 3: Dig a hole where the container will be “installed.” I usually shove one of these between two tomato plants.
Step 4: Fill the container with water. Y voila!

Why do I do this? Good question. Firstly, this is the only way I’ve ever watered my tomatoes. Second, I don’t have a fancy drip irrigation system. That would just be too easy.

These watering containers slowly allow water to seep through the holes and directly to the plant’s roots. Establishing a strong root system equals happy healthy long producing plants. Did I mention I have tomatoes long into December?

Also, it frees up your hands. I’m a multi-tasker. I can’t just do one thing at a time. Dump the hose into the watering container and walk away; tend other garden chores. Keep an eye on the water level, once it reaches the top toss the hose into the next container. You can even splash a little Sea Magic Organic Seaweed Growth Activator like I do. Have fun!

9 comments:

Jenn Shagrin said...

Goodness, I know. I wish I wasn't, but I get antsy when I'm bored anyways. And thank you! She's the cutest little peanut.

kelli said...

Hey! I must have missed something...what happened to your soil blocks? I am so coveting the soil block maker...

Alyce said...

Thanks so much for posting this! My tomatoes will be thrilled!

Shatbox said...

I bury a gallon milk jug with a pinhole on the bottom for tomatoes/peppers. For anything planted in hills like melons and squash I fill a nursery pot with gravel and bury it like you do except I don't drill holes.

Meg said...

just came over from sunset blog, I'm really excited to keep up, I just down in huntington, so hopefully I can borrow some of your climate ideas!

christina said...

thanks for the dog love...i thought of you since we drove to the long beach farmers market to visit the doggie rescue...it's awesome! we had the best time strolling the farmers market & sitting by the marina...

my self watering containers leak. wtf? that means that they actually *waste* water rather than save water...so i might try this genius tip!
xox

Katie said...

Looking forward to the new digs.

Fern @ Life on the Balcony said...

Cool idea Adriana! I wonder if there's a way to tweak this idea so it will work in a container garden.

So...when you make the switch to the new name, are you going to be getting your own domain name? Like www.anarchyinthegarden.com? I'm excited to see what's in store for your blog!

Gramps said...

Ahhh! Too. high. tech. for. me.