"tenacity" wrote in message
ups.com...
Phx, Az, USA - Zone 10

[snip]
If anyone has any tips for saving water while maintaining a big garden,
please let me know. For the first time, I'm actually counting and
measuring gallons, and it adds up REALLY fast.

In the absence of enough mulching materials, such as grass clippings and
leaf mold, you can always create a dust mulch with your hoe to conserve soil
moisture.

Scuffling the top inch or so of soil breaks the capillary / wicking action
and helps to slow the rate of evaporation. It/s not as good as real mulch,
but it/s better than doing nothing.

Drawing little soil up against the plant stem will also slow the rate of
moisture loss and help keep the weeds down, too.