CCF Irrigation System

 Hey All! 

This year we are relying on a fresh irrigation system which began being constructed last year. During the late Spring of 2020 we dug a new well. The dug well is our water source for irrigating all gardens and greenhouses on the farm. It is 13 feet deep, which is deeper and wider than our last dug well. It holds enough water for irrigating all gardens and greenhouses throughout the summer months, even during dry spells and droughts (we hope!).

Drip Tape on rows of early season lettuce

Blue Line drip tape on the kohlrabi in early May

Specifics

We have also invested in a new mode of irrigation that can more easily carry and distribute water to all gardens and greenhouse from this well. For this project, we buried plastic water pipes which run from the well to all outdoor gardens and greenhouses. After reaching the gardens and greenhouses, the water will run through a spigot with a shut off valve, will then run along the ground across the top of each garden and greenhouse through Orchard Tubing.  Attached directly to the orchard tubing, the water will then run down each garden row through Drip Tape. 

The drip tape covers the length of the gardens and greenhouses. The drip tape will replace the use of sprinklers and soaker hoses, which used a lot of water. The drip tape is a flat tube that inflates when pressurized with water. It has slits on the top of the tape, each slit is 4 inches apart, running down the whole length of the tape. The water beads out of the slits when we turn on the water pump to pressurize the lines. We placed this drip tap in our greenhouses this winter and have installed drip tape in all outdoor gardens that have been planted so far.

Orchard tubing with drip tape attached

Benefits

The main benefits of this new irrigation system address our pitfalls from the gardening system that we had in place in this past. For instance, this new system allows us to distribute water to every growing space! Last season we struggled with this as our lower and roadside gardens did not get adequate water, which impacted the growth of the crops that we planted in these gardens. 

Additionally, this new irrigation system is more efficient as the drip tape system uses less water than our old sprinklers and soaker hoses. The drip tape distributes water at the plant's roots, keeping the plant's leaves dry, thus reducing the likelihood of blight transmission and plant rot. This saves us time, money and effort tending to these overwatering issues.

Lastly, the drip tape on each garden and greenhouse is fixed in place, meaning that we won't have to move it around during the growing season. We are excited to have to move sprinklers around anymore! Wooohoo!!

We have already used this new watering system quite a bit this year and it is proving to be very helpful!

Cheers!

CCF