It’s All About Water

by Gary Ingram

I bought into biointensive vegetable gardening over 25 years ago. With the biointensive system, we grow our vegetables in mounded beds about five feet wide and 20 to 30 feet long. We never walk or stand on the growing beds, and grow the plants so close together that they touch each other. This shades the soil, which slows down evaporation. The first of several advantages is that I use less water. 

My watering goal is five gallons per 100 square feet when I’m watering. Plants do most of their growth in the evenings, so I water after the hot sun is over, and in our garden, that’s about 3 p.m. Back when I followed the common belief that watering early in the morning was the best practice, I would water at about 7 a.m. On a sunny and warm day, the top two inches of my soil would be bone dry. When I started watering in the afternoon, the soil would still be wet in the morning, meaning a lot less evaporation during this critical period so I could use less water to achieve the same goals. 

Some plants like getting their leaves wet, like those in the cabbage family. And some don’t, like thyme, peas and members of the squash family. 

I water by hand. We have 13 raised beds with about 2,000 square feet of growing space. Every square inch will be covered with something that we can eat now or process for winter, with the exception of our many flowers growing among the vegetables. We love our flowers. I read that most of the farmer’s work is watering and harvesting. It takes me about 20 minutes to water. I individually water each plant which allows me to examine them daily. I do this while listening to spiritual music in my ear buds and after a hard day of work, it totally relaxes me. In my humble opinion, hand watering is where it’s at. 

Sprinkling overhead wastes thousands of gallons of water by going to places that don’t need it. I used drip irrigation many years ago, but it is such a pain dealing with the hoses. Besides, all plants are not equal in water needs. 

My mature fruit trees don’t get watered, but I’ve had to water my large raspberry patch for the past four years. Our climate has changed, and water is our planet’s lifeblood. My grandmother once said to me, “Waste not, want not.” She grew up on an old homestead.