Stop Watering Your Garden (So Much)

If you want to save money for your water bill when it comes to your garden, then you got to watch this episode. Today, I want to talk about how to use as little water as possible in your vegetable garden. I'm going to give you a few methods that work for me so that even though I don't have a formal irrigation system set up in my garden, I rarely water with the hose. And you won't have to either, after we go through this episode together. My name's Nicole Johnsey Burke. I'm the owner of Gardenary. I wrote these two books, and I'm on a mission to get everybody gardening, including you. So if you're holding back from vegetable gardening because you're thinking, ah, really don't want that big water bill, I mean, I don't want to use all that water. I recently saw someone talking about how they would never have a vegetable garden because it takes so much water that it's really just not even worth the effort or the money. And I thought, ah, what a shame. So this episode is for them. All right, so here's the deal. A vegetable garden obviously needs water. Plants have to have water to produce, and they need consistent watering. But I'm going to give you some methods that I use that I rarely have to water by hand. And I don't have a formal irrigation system set up in my garden. I'm growing over 250 square feet of vegetable garden space in my backyard. I do live in Tennessee, so we do have a good average rainfall, but we definitely go through seasons of drought and times when there is no rain at all. So the very first thing you've got to do in order to make sure that you do not have to water your garden a lot is to plant for the season. Oftentimes the reason why we have to over water or put lots of water on our gardens is because we're stretching the season too much. We're trying to grow a plant that belongs in a cooler season when it gets hot. And when that happens, you're going to have to water more, and you don't want to do that. So one of the tricks of the tray that I use is to rotate my plants each and every season. So as soon as the temperatures start to move to the next season, I try to pull out all the plants that belonged in that previous season when it was cooler, and move on to plants that really like that warmer temperature. So when I lived and gardened in Houston, where it was in the 90s, all through the summertime, from June to sometimes September, Remember, I wasn't ever trying to grow plants that were very thirsty for water and that needed lots and lots of attention when it got hot. Plants like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, those would grow in the spring and in the fall when the temperatures are lower. And then when we hit those hot temperatures of summer, I would adjust and plant the garden with plants that were drought tolerant and that also were heat resistant. And so you want to do the same thing, especially if water conservation is important to you, which, honestly, for all of us, it should be. So instead of trying to grow a plant when the temperatures have gotten too hot for it or the rain is just not there, you want to adjust and grow plants that are more able to sustain themselves when it's really hot and when it's really dry. So for most of us, that means moving from the cool season to the warm season and then moving from the warm season to the hot season. So the hottest seasons are going to be when the temperatures are over 85 degrees for days and days, even months on end, and those nighttime temperatures aren't coming down below 70. The plants that thrive during that time are eggplants and tomatillos and hot peppers, Armenian cucumbers, yard long beans, sweet potatoes. These are plants that originated in areas that were very hot and also could have dry spells. And you'll notice that all these plants have adaptations that they've created to protect themselves when it gets hot and when it gets dry. So if you're trying to stretch the season when it comes to your plants, stop. This is the top way to conserve water in your garden is to grow plants that fit with your current climate. The second way to make the most of your garden and to use less water is to plant densely, to plant intensively, to plant the gardenary way. So when I grow gardens, I aim within six weeks of planting those gardens to have no bare soil. I mean that six weeks after I've put in my plants and seeds, when I come back to the garden space, I don't want to see any bare soil, any soil that's not covered by a plant or by a leaf. This is a game changer when it comes to keeping your garden watered and to not having to water very often. Why? Because exposed soil is soil that dries out fast, and covered soil is soil that retains water, moisture and nutrients. So covering your soil is essential if you want to have a garden that you don't have to water often. So you want to have the same aim that we have with the gardenary method, which is within six weeks of planting, you have no bare soil left. Now, you might be thinking, Nicole, how do I plant enough plants so that there's no bare soil? I. Well, that's where point number three comes in. This is where you're going to bring in a lot of diversity of plants into each and every one of your raised garden beds. This is where my system, leaves, roots and fruit really takes shape. So in each and every garden, you're going to have leaves on the outside of the garden space, so herbs and greens on the middle spaces. You're going to have root crops and things that are medium sized, things like radishes, carrots, beets. You can also have garlic and onions and celery. You can also have basil and Swiss chard and kale. And then right down the center of the beds is where you're going to have your fruiting crops. So things like tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatillos, any of those tall, big plants, they're going to be in the center. So when you plant your plants this way, a mix of leaves and roots and fruit, you end up with massive soil coverage and you also end up with plants that work well together. So you've got these fruiting plants that need the most amount of sun. They're there in the center, but they're also creating shade and protection for your root crops and for your leafy greens on the outsides of those beds. So you've protected your soil by over planting. And then by using this diversity, you've created a mix of plants inside this one bed that have different watering needs and can work together to maintain a really nice moisture balance throughout the season without you having to water a lot. All right, so as you can see, the first three steps of watering your garden less have all to do with setup. Number one, to only plant what actually grows and thrives in your current climate and season, not trying to stretch it. Number two, planting intensively the gardenary way, so within six weeks of planting, no bare soil. Step three, planting a diverse group of plants, leaves, roots and fruit all mixed in together so that these different types of plants work well together to protect your soil and to keep you from having to water. Now, once you've got your garden set up this way, your job is only two things. One, to daily check the weather or do it over a week's time. But take a look at the weather before you water. So if you've got rain coming in a day or two days, then today is a great day to skip watering. Oftentimes we'll water consistently, we'll water frequently, but we're not looking ahead to when rain is coming later on in the week. And so we'll end up giving our garden way more water than it actually needs because we didn't anticipate the rain that was coming naturally from the sky. So checking the weather at the start of each and every week, you can figure out if there's going to be an inch or less of rain hitting your garden that week. If you know that rain is indeed coming, then you're just going to watch your plants over the first few days while you're waiting on that rain, making sure that no plants are stressed out. We don't want that to happen. And if you've got seeds that you're waiting to germinate, obviously you'd want those to stay moist in the soil. But once your garden is established, you're simply going to watch the garden to be sure it's not stressed. Not watering, just watching. And then as soon as the rain comes, you'll watch to see how long the garden can stay and not become stressed. So before you need to water it. So it's not just about keeping a watering schedule. It's watching the weather, knowing when rain is coming, anticipating it, and only watering it before that rain day. If indeed you see that your plants are suffering and they need a little help to make it to rain day, if you hit a time when there's no rain in the forecast for the next seven days, and you're certain that there'll be nothing coming in terms of natural water for the garden, and then you want to set a schedule to water the garden. For me, I only try to water the garden in the morning, and I only do it when I know that there's not been any rain in the last three, four, five days prior to that day, and there won't be any rain for the next three, four or five days coming, then I'm going to set a time for myself to water the garden. And it's going to be early in the morning. This is the best time to get the plants completely saturated so that they can make the most of the water. The last time of day that you want to water the garden is right in the middle of it. When the sun is high, evaporation is going to be the highest it will be all day. That's when you're going to literally lose probably a third of the water you're putting into the garden simply through evaporation. So you want to get your Water source out to the garden very early in the morning and get the garden fully watered before the sun comes up. That will ensure that all the water you're putting into your garden goes to your plants and not to the sky. Next up, you want to water right at the roots of the plants. So I see a lot of people, they love that feeling of like watering the leaves of their plants, but that's really not going to conserve water and make the most of your resources. Instead, you want to get your hose, your sprayer way down low. If you have an ability to set up a soaker hose, even better, or a drip line even best. But you want to have water running to the roots of your plants, not to the leaves. The leaves could absolutely get wet, but they're not going to be able to make the most of that water like the roots will. So when we're thinking about conservation, we want to think about the roots. And there you have it. Those are the steps to conserve water in any garden. First is only planting for the particular season. Plant plants that belong in the weather that you're currently living in. Step two is to densely plant, fill up the garden so that there's no bare soil in six weeks. Step three, use a diverse group of plants, leaves, roots and fruit, all in one bed to protect the bed, to grow together and to work well with one another as they go through the season. And then finally, watch the weather. Only water when you know that there's been no rain behind you and no rain coming. And when you schedule your watering, do it early in the morning and get the water right to the roots and then start all over again. As soon as you get that water to your plants, you're going to start watching the weather again and you'll hold off. You're not going to water again until you see that there's no rain ahead of you and your plants are starting to need a little lift. With this system, I rarely water my garden by hand, and yet I have a thriving, over growing garden using this system. In fact, every time people see my garden, one of their first questions. Well, their first question is, do you fertilize? Which the answer is no. But their second question is, how often do you water? My answer is what you'll hear today, less than you think. This system really works. In fact, it is the best system for conserving water and it will work for you no matter where you live. If you're in a hot climate, if you're in a mild climate or a cold climate, planting densely, planting for the season you're in, watching the weather, and then carefully watering at the roots in the early mornings. This makes the most of every drip of water you have, and it will absolutely make the most of your vegetable garden. So if you want to know when to plant all these things in your garden that you're going to have to water, you want to check out the Gardenary calendar. You can download it for free@gardenary.com calendar. You'll put in two dates, we give you all the rest, and then you'll know when to plant the plants so they're planted at the right season so you don't have to water them that much. Thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. I hope you'll subscribe and come back next week to hear more. I love hanging out with you, talking about the garden and how we can make it an everyday part of our lives and we can save water doing it. I'll see you next time. Thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. You can keep listening anywhere. You love getting your podcast delivered on Apple podcasts, on Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it, we are there. 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