WATERING THE GARDEN

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Sprinklers have other drawbacks. They waste a lot of water, both by evaporative loss and by wetting pathways—and weeds—as much as crops. They can increase salt buildup in your soil or on your plants (do your crops' leaves have a powdery residue on them or a burned-edge look?). And they wet the leaves of your disease-susceptible crops.

The most water-efficient, automated system around is drip irrigation—invented when an Israeli engineer by the name of Symcha Blass spotted the beneficial effects of a leaky spigot on the growth of a nearby tree. Drip irrigation systems today come in two types: plastic hoses with small valves—called emitters—spaced every couple of feet, and microporous plastic pipes that weep liquid along their entire length. Both systems use from one-third to one-half less water than do overhead watering methods . . . put the liquid right at your crop's roots . . . and help increase yields by reducing the stress of extreme fluctuations in moisture levels. Indeed, tests at Ohio State University have shown that peppers and cantaloupes grown with drip irrigation and black plastic mulch produced more than twice the yield of those grown without those two aids.

Drip systems do have some possible drawbacks. Their openings can clog (to avoid that, put an appropriate filter in your waterline). They can start to break down after prolonged exposure to sunlight (that won't happen if you keep the line just underground). And they must be moved whenever you're going to do any serious cultivation.

Their biggest disadvantage, though, is cost . . . around $15 to $30 per hundred feet of tubing. Perhaps the best way to deal with that consideration is to buy a small "starter" drip system and try it out for a season so you can evaluate its effectiveness. Indeed, we intend to assess the merits of a number of such systems this summer at the Eco-Village. (We'll be sure to tell you what we find out!) A few sources for drip irrigation equipment are The Urban Farmer, 2121 Taraval St., San Francisco, CA 94116 (emitter systems) . . . Submatic, P.O. Box 246, Lubbock, TX 79408 (emitter systems) . . . and Irrigro, 1555 Third Ave., Niagara Falls, NY 14304 (weeper systems).

STRATEGIES FOR WATER CONSERVATION

Many timés, conserving water will be as important as getting some to your crops. Particularly during July or August dry spells, you'll want to make sure your garden uses and loses as little water as possible.

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