As spring continues, and the trees and flowers blossom into their beautiful oranges, blues, purples, and yellows, my mind moves toward my mother’s garden. Truly a paradise in summer, the expansive gardens are now in their beginning stages of development.
About a month ago, my dad and I helped to install a greenhouse which I designed to be removed throughout much of the summer and winter. Large reinforcing bars were driven into the ground to provide a base for the long PVC pipes which arch over the 15ft wide garden. Clear plastic is then stretched over the newly formed ribs and held in place with a rigid wooden frame at the base. The latter was an addition last year, due to the wind’s “uplifting” nature.
The greenhouse allows for the in-ground planting to start about a month earlier than is typical in this fickle New England climate. The season is then extended by the same at the end of the season, lasting well into November. In the early spring, even on cloudy days, the greenhouse easily reaches temperatures in the upper 80’s during the day, feeding the soil with much needed warmth. It also keeps the wind at bay, as this can be detrimental to young plants.
Over the years, I have done several projects to help conserve water in these gardens. The first project was a drip irrigation system which brings water directly to the soil and roots, rather than the tops of leaves where it can cause burning and more easily evaporate. The drip system, combined with a tendency to water in the evening or early morning can make a marked difference in efficient water use.
Lastly, and perhaps the most fun project is the rain barrel system. We installed a 150 gallon water collection system about 3 years ago for about $50.00.
Automated car washes are prevalent in the New England area, and they all use soap to clean the cars. The soap comes in 50 gallon drums, and the owners give them away for free. The key here is that they have a both a 2″ and 3/4″ threaded connection which, when combined with about $50 in pipes and connectors, allowed us to combine 3 drums to make the system. All we needed was a platform, rain gutter and rain, and it worked like a charm!
My point in writing all of this is to describe how easy, and dare I say, fun, to make these little improvements to your backyard garden. These projects were done, not only because they were more environmentally friendly, but because they made it much easier to garden. Extending the season, eliminating the process of manually watering, and saving money, have all been helpful outcomes of these projects.
Happy Gardening!
-Nate
