"Mycosimian" wrote in message
...
snipped for brevity
Most of my failures, I think, were due to uneven
watering. In the beginning, I was using a regular lawn sprinkler. Many
people in these forums suggested using soaker hoses for a number of
reasons. I tried some of the cheap ones from Wally World, and have
used them with some success. Unfortunately, I won't be able to replace
these hoses if I find myself suddenly living in a third world country,
nor can I expect the municipal water system to continue functioning.
So one of my biggest projects in the near future will be to build a
rain water collection and drip irrigation system using materials that
can be obtained locally. I don't expect this to be easy.

Rain water collection is actually quite easy. Get yourself a tank and
redirect your down pipes to empty rain water into the tank from the roof of
your house. Most tanks have a tap at the bottom that you can connect a hose
to and you can then connect your soaker to or, if society does break down, a
back up plan of a watering can might be a good move.


This is where everything came to a crashing halt as a big, ugly storm
lashed my garden with 100+ mph winds and eventually dropped a large
tree on everything.

It's heartbreaking when things like that happen, but it also means you get
to start again and redesign your garden to be more productive. I guess you
have to think in a permaculture way when these things happen and turn
problems into solutions.

Andi