Brooklyn1 wrote:
On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 01:52:48 -0500, (EVP MAN)
wrote:
Last year I used soaker hoses for the first time to irrigate my
vegetable garden. They worked great and I had a good crop. The
problem is that living in town, I'm on city water and sewer with a
water meter. Our sewer bill is based on our water usage even though
the water used never enters the sewer. My combined bills for water
and sewer were super high using the soaker hoses. I realize there
are no free rides but this season I will water each plant by hand
with a measured two gallon of water per plant each week depending on
rainfall. When I was researching the use of soaker hoses, it all
sounded good. In my research, soaker hoses were said to conserve
your water usage but not so as I have discovered in my case. I was
running two 50' soaker hoses for a total of four hours a week. My
water and sewer bill more that doubled! I also planted far more
crops than my wife and I could use so I ended up giving away at
least half of all the vegetables I grew to friends and family. Cost
me a lot of money for a few thank you's that I got! This season I'm
not going to over plant and only grow what two people can reasonably
consume. I may raise a few tomato transplants for my one neighbor.
Gave him eight plants last year and he showed his gratitude with a
case of beer which I didn't expect but was a very nice gesture on
his part indeed 
Gave another neighbor eight plants also and he
let them all die because he didn't want to pay to water them at all.
Guess this year he will have to buy all his plants at a nursery if
he wants any! The funny thing is that after he lost all his plants,
he ask me if I wanted to sell him some tomatoes. I just gave him a
bunch of them. The more I think about that, I realize how dumb I
was! Won't happen this year. After he kills all his plants and
wants to buy for (free) some of my tomatoes, I'll say: sure $1.00
each. How many would you like? LOL Live, learn and get a bit
wiser each year
Rich
You don't say where you live (climate wise) so it's difficult to offer
explicit advice. But in any event soaker hoses are probably the best
of any watering alternatives.
It depends on the situation. For small scale conservative targeted watering
what he doing now (hand watering) is likely best. For a larger scale where
carrying water is too tiresome drippers are very good, although they can be
expensive. It depends on how you rate the cost of water, your time and
capital costs.
You'll use less water if you bury the
soaker hoses with a heavy application of mulch, you'll use less water
because you'll lose less. Also the better your soil is amended with
organic material the more water it will hold and hold it longer.
For sure.
There
really is no simple/inexpensive work around with how your water/sewer
company bills but I know that many small town municipalities bill
exactly the same way (it's very common), they charge for town sewer by
how much water you use with no regard for how you use that water, if I
lived in town I'd have the same.
This is a strange billing system. I suppose it is some kind of attempt to
bill sewerage as "user pays" instead of at a flat rate. But it sure bites
the home gardener using town water. It is not used in these parts.
The only alternative I know of is to
drill your own well (if permitted), but if you're heavily into
gardening you'd do much better to move to a rural location.
Tanks or ponds to collect your own roof or surface water are other
possibilities, Gov regulations and cost permitting. There is no one size
fits all solution.
Not
growing so much is an excellent idea regardless where you live, who
needs all that extra labor just for the luxury of being able to show
off all your give-away crops. It's best to grow only what you can
use. Contrary to what so many think the home vegetable garden over
time offers no savings, it's a big expense, it's strictly a hobby...
I can see that it could be like that if you buy all your inputs or cost your
time and don't have much to show for it. I buy very few inputs and don't
cost my time so I am way in front year after year. For some there is real
joy in giving or spreading their bread upon the waters so a neighbourhood
dividend is not a luxury.
even farming professionally is a huge gamble. With a home vegetable
garden over time you will have a few good crops but they need to be
weighed against the years when crops fail, and usually there will be
more bad years than good.
And for you the glass isn't half full, it isn't even half empty, your glass
is near empty all the time. Don't assume that everything is as bad as you
see it, other people live different lives in different circumstances and
they are not all as grim as yours seems to be.
In a way you are fortunate that you need to
do a lot of irrigating, what do you think happens to crops when it
rains nearly every day.
Some of my best crops were when I lived in a dry inland climate (no fungus
and few bugs) and had access to plenty of water at no direct cost.
David