Putting Your Garden to Bed

10 Steps to Winterizing Your Drip Irrigation System

     

The harvest is over, the memory of summer is fading, and the cold is creeping in. Time to hang the storm windows, clean the gutters, and winterize your drip irrigation system. Though necessary, like all such tasks, we'll likely drag our feet unless we have a distinct plan laid out to help us achieve our goal. We can't push you out the door but we'll do our best to make it easier by providing a simple 10 step plan.

Red Acre Farm CSA

Red Acre Farm CSA-Cedar City, Utah

This is the story of Sara Patterson, an energetic nineteen-year-old who has been farming in rural Utah for five years. She sells fruit, vegetables, meat, cheese, and eggs, all of which she raises. Hers is the story of a small family farm, a community supported agriculture farm, and how it can fit into today's world. 

Cover Your Assets-Part 2

In part one of this two part series, we discussed Agribon™, a row cover that shields plants from frost, wind, and insects. In part two we will discuss greenhouses and high tunnels, economical structures that can add to the bottom line (or feed a gardener’s addiction) by allowing four season crop production in most climates.

Agribon-Cover Your Assets

Agribon in the DripWorks Demo Garden

You've spent all spring and summer, planting, weeding, watering, feeding, and nurturing the plants in your field or garden. Now an early frost threatens to wipe out all that invested time and money. So what do you do?

Cash for Grass-Incentivizing Conservation

Municipalities across the country are offering cash incentives to homeowners to tear out their water-guzzling lawns. Here in California alone, there are dozens of programs to encourage homeowners to make the move to a grass-free yard. Cities like Sacramento, Los Angeles, Roseville, Palmdale, Victorville, and Napa have all implemented similar programs, and with rebates up to four dollars a square foot in some areas, it's easy to see why many are taking advantage of this opportunity. The money is intended to defray the cost of lawn removal and replacement with drought tolerant landscapes commonly known as xeriscapes. The results can be truly distinctive and beautiful.

Mycelium-An Underground Revolution!

Mycelium in the DripWorks Demo Garden

Recently I was reading an article in the Mother Earth News and came across one of those statements that forever change one’s world view: “A white fungal network called hyphae, not plant roots, is the principal structure for the uptake of many important nutrients in the plant kingdom.” If that hits you like it did me, take a moment for it to sink before reading on.

Supercharge Your Soil with Biochar!

As farmers and gardeners we are always searching for ways to make our soils better, richer, and more productive. Biochar is an inexpensive, lightweight, and readily available product that is easy to incorporate into vegetable beds, landscape areas, and orchards. Besides an amazing capacity to sequester up to three times its own weight in carbon (possibly for millennia), biochar helps the soil’s ability to retain water, improves the condition of hardsetting soils, increases microbial activity, stimulates mycorrhizal fungi, and enhances the absorption of nitrogen fertilizers. All of which means you can expect to drastically augment plant growth in your backyard while doing your bit to save the planet!

Pollinators Need Your Help

Photo Courtesy of Maria Steffen

Although a few plants rely on wind or water for pollination, most of the world's crop plants (75%) need pollinators to reproduce. Many people don't realize that a high percentage of the food we eat exists because of pollinators. Pollinators visit flowers in search of food (nectar and pollen) and during this visit often come in contact with a flower's reproductive parts, depositing pollen which is necessary to produce a seed for that plant.

Vertical Gardens

Vertical Wall Garden at Bay Meadows in San Mateo, CA

Whether you’ve run out of gardening space, or have seen one and just think they're plain cool, you may have toyed with the idea of creating some form of vertical gardening. Perform a web search on the term and you’ll find examples of all kinds of vertical gardening from across the country and around the world. That’s because vertical gardens are an ideal opportunity to think outside the planter box.  In other words, anything goes, so long as it goes up.

Growing Melons without Draining the Tank (or Breaking the Bank!)

Watering Melons with Drip Tape at Lopez Island Kitchen Gardens

If you love melons (and who doesn't), you may be surprised to find out that growing them doesn't require as much water as you might think. While the young plants like plenty of water for the first month or so, cutting back to a deep watering once a week will keep the plant thriving and improve the flavor. On the other hand, excessive watering or poorly draining soil will quickly promote root rot, so don’t make the mistake of killing your melons with kindness.

Drip Irrigation on a Slope

Saracina Vineyards

There are many types of slopes, from gently undulating backyards and rolling hills to precipitous mountainsides. By necessity, many growers have to garden or farm on uneven terrain, forced to terrace their land or take advantage of natural benches. Fortunately, drip irrigation can provide an even flow in these situations through the use of pressure compensating drip emitters. Whether you have an orchard, a vineyard, a farm, a rural home, or a house in town, here are some DripWorks solutions to watering on uneven or sloping terrain.

Dreaming about a Pond?

Backyard Tranquility

There are so many reasons to build a pond. Perhaps you want a pleasant place to take a dip and cool down on a hot afternoon. Maybe you’re looking to bank some winter rain for irrigating an orchard or vineyard. Or maybe a pond is the ideal focal point for your landscape or garden. After all, a pond doesn’t have to be huge. Using as little as 50 to 500 gallons of water, you can place a pond in your yard and create your own calm oasis.

10 Items to Consider for your Drip Irrigation System

Every project requires a particular set of tools. Here are a few we feel everyone-from drip irrigation 'newbies' to irrigation masters-might want to have in the garden. 

Beauty in the Garden

Chive Flowers in Our Garden

With Mother's Day just around the corner, we thought it would be appropriate to celebrate beauty in all its forms by showing you a few pictures of our garden in its present state. In the DripWorks Demonstration Garden we try to inspire our visitors by showing how easy it is to set up a garden and use drip irrigation. Located just outside the door of our retail store, this tranquil setting has benches and tables for you to relax and enjoy our pond and waterfall. A beautifully landscaped area sits nearby where trees and shrubs enjoy the morning sun, afternoon shade, and a cooling drink from our gravity fed drip system. In all, a pleasant place to wait while your order is being packed.

Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, and Raspberries, Oh My!

Raised Strawberry Bed

Though small in stature, the humble berry is a giant when it comes to nutritional value. Loaded with phytochemicals that protect cells, they are ounce for ounce one of the best foods you can grow!

Watering Trees and Shrubs Effectively

Whether you're an orchardist, a landscaper, or a homeowner looking to install a few trees or shrubs, you may have questions how to water them effectively. Today we hope to answer a few of those questions and provide you with some options to that water-wasting wand you've been lugging around.

The Magic of Aqua-Traxx Drip Tape

A field watered with Aqua-Traxx

Aqua-Traxx is a low-cost, thin walled 5/8" drip tape that offers superior plugging resistance and incredible watering efficiency. Available with emitters spaced 4, 6, 8, or 12 inches apart, it is ideal for long, straight rows and performs best on level terrain. If you have row crops or raised beds--and want to save water--this may be the ideal product for you.

Water Wise Planning

Lake Mendocino-Photo courtesy of savingwaterpartnership.org

If your part of the country (like ours) has been gripped by drought then you're probably already doing several things to save water (cutting back on shower times; shutting off the water while brushing your teeth; not washing the family car). But if your local water department implements restrictions (110 gallons per day at our house) perhaps it's time to look for more ways to save even more water.

New Products for 2014!

Spring is almost here which means a 2014 DripWorks catalog should be appearing on your doorstep. We're excited about the new catalog and anxious to share all the new products we are carrying this year. With the rising cost of watering and the dwindling supply, we know that an efficient drip irrigation system is more important than ever.

Getting Your 2014 Garden Going

California River Bed courtesy of NOAA

Happy New Year! I started writing this back in January, when temps were in the 70’s. Although it was wonderfully unexpected to bask in summer sun at midwinter, the long awaited rains have arrived and couldn't be more welcome. Still, it appears we are in for a very dry year ahead. If so, gardening this year will require some creative planning. With water restrictions possible (our local water district has already implemented them), the size of the garden may depend on how much water you are allowed or can afford to use. Whether you rely on a municipal water system or a well, one thing is for sure: the supply will be limited.

Community Supported Agriculture

Robyn Van En

Back in the 70's I graduated from college in Boston, drove across the good ole USA, and settled in northern California. Riding shotgun was my friend, Robyn Van En, who needed to visit her parents on the West Coast. During our travels through the Midwest farm belt, we had many discussions about the economic struggles of these vitally important farmers and the need for healthy, locally-grown food.