I know this thread is mostly about seeds, I do heirlooms but always have some leftover. Every year, I plant a few “iffy” rows with all my old seeds. Tomatoes, corn and jalapeños always seem to germinate pretty well. Last year I had four year old corn kernels (kept in mason jars with desiccants) that had an amazing germination rate. So that’s good!
I have an unrelated question - I need to switch to drip watering this year because I am constantly battling blight and such. Does anyone have a recommended system they use?
We also need to do some major water redirection - my neighbor did a lot of construction that has now directed so much of water through my garden and blueberry bushes, the bottom half is waterlogged, almost like quicksand now. We are going to rent a ditch digger and try to dig trenches to redirect water. I hate to spend so much on gardening, but I also don’t want to have crops fail if/when we come to a point of needing them to survive!
“I have an unrelated question - I need to switch to drip watering this year because I am constantly battling blight and such. Does anyone have a recommended system they use?”
I’m going to pass you on to some people I think have set up drip irrigation systems. :)
And to prevent it from getting clogged since I'll be harvesting rain water; https://www.greenhousemegastore.com/collections/hand-watering-hoses/products/in-line-hose-filter
I've seen videos of people that use pvc pipe and drill many tiny holes on it.
Will be interested to anyone who's used drip tubing.
You can buy a beginner set which provides some practice at setting a system up.
https://www.dripworks.com/ Rainbird. Home Depot online might have what you need. (Do they have any stores in Georgia? :)
I think a lot depends on how you have your garden laid out. If you have a lot of 40 foot straight rows with one type of plant (Say corn) you could just go with go with Augie’s suggestion and run a one feeder line at one end of the rows, and put an outlet with a shut off for your drip hoses and that would probably work well. One set up at the beginning of the year with not much change. (Be aware that too long a run and you lose water pressure at the end!)
If you have a number of small beds you might need to use something a little different. I have a number of 2’ by 12’ beds. and several 2’ by 6’ beds. I use a 1/2’ feed and run 3 1/4” drip lines in each bed ) I can get enough pressure to water 2 beds at a time. Then I have to switch to the next 2 beds. It does resolve the issue of mold pretty well. (Use 6” spacing drip lines) I can get a bed planted with marigold in the front sun side, then your tomatoes, and basil at the back and they stay pretty well watered. Read up on it beforehand and start small the first year.