Here's my tale of woe. The seedlings were planted and begining to
grow, the seeds I planted were starting to sprout, then the water tap
broke!

First I should explain my situation a bit. I have two plots in a
community garden about six blocks from my home so the broken tap is
more than just an inconvenience. I do not drive, so the only method of
getting water to my garden is on foot carrying two watering cans and
making probably 15 round trips inorder to moisten the soil.

Other mitigating factors a
Did not mulch.
No significant rainfall.
Relentless heat.
It's now been three weeks! Apparently a part had to be ordered and
that was the last we heard.
The building we get the water from is not ours, so we have no control.

By the time I thought of laying mulch the soil was bone dry, so I did
not think that it would do much good. On the other hand, having never
mulched before I have no actual knowledge to draw from, just ignorant
logic. To be honest I have avoided going over for the past week, it's
too depressing.

Does anyone have some advice or even words of encouragement? I know
that there are lots of gardeners here who are probably quite used to
these conditions. Is it too late in the game for me to salvage this
situation?

Thanks for any help!

jcm

Toronto, Canada
Canadian zone 5b, U.S. zone is apparently 4b

I'm just trying to find my way amongst the forest of diverse information.

Thanks to global warming it's bloody hot here!

Joanne wrote:

Here's my tale of woe. The seedlings were planted and begining to
grow, the seeds I planted were starting to sprout, then the water tap
broke!

First I should explain my situation a bit. I have two plots in a
community garden about six blocks from my home so the broken tap is
more than just an inconvenience. I do not drive, so the only method of
getting water to my garden is on foot carrying two watering cans and
making probably 15 round trips inorder to moisten the soil.

Other mitigating factors a
Did not mulch.
No significant rainfall.
Relentless heat.
It's now been three weeks! Apparently a part had to be ordered and
that was the last we heard.
The building we get the water from is not ours, so we have no control.

By the time I thought of laying mulch the soil was bone dry, so I did
not think that it would do much good. On the other hand, having never
mulched before I have no actual knowledge to draw from, just ignorant
logic. To be honest I have avoided going over for the past week, it's
too depressing.

Does anyone have some advice or even words of encouragement? I know
that there are lots of gardeners here who are probably quite used to
these conditions. Is it too late in the game for me to salvage this
situation?

Thanks for any help!

jcm

Joanne ... mulch. Heavily. Make any water you ARE able to provide work
harder. Mulch will collect the dew better than bare ground and channel it
down toward the ground. Moreover, having mulch piled on helps keep the soil
cooler and that is good for the roots.

It is almost always a good idea to mulch all the soil in the garden except
the paths and there are even good reasons to mulch them, too. Just grab
whatever is available and get a thick layer of it down. (NOT plastic!)

Clearly, until you can get water to the ground, no answer is going to
provide complete relief ... but mulching the beds will be a huge help!

Bill
--
I do not post my address to news groups.

On Fri, 04 Jul 2003 00:39:57 -0400, Noydb
wrote:

Joanne ... mulch. Heavily. Make any water you ARE able to provide work
harder. Mulch will collect the dew better than bare ground and channel it
down toward the ground. Moreover, having mulch piled on helps keep the soil
cooler and that is good for the roots.

It is almost always a good idea to mulch all the soil in the garden except
the paths and there are even good reasons to mulch them, too. Just grab
whatever is available and get a thick layer of it down. (NOT plastic!)

Clearly, until you can get water to the ground, no answer is going to
provide complete relief ... but mulching the beds will be a huge help!

Bill

Thanks Bill!

jcm

Toronto, Canada
Canadian zone 5b, U.S. zone is apparently 4b

I'm just trying to find my way amongst the forest of diverse information.

Thanks to global warming it's bloody hot here!

I would focus on that "part that had to be ordered." Nail someone down
and find out what part ordered from where. Obviously the
water-suppliers aren't among the gardeners and may have no clue how
critical this is. If you have a lot of money, hire a plumber to check
out the situation. If you don't have a lot of money, ask everyone you
know if they have a 2nd cousin's nephew who's a plumber or knows
*anything* about municipal water, and might take a look. Promise
tomatoes or whatever you're trying to grow. If it's not a
highly-specialized industrial fitting that's needed, perhaps someone
in the newsgroups could help.

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 14:49:53 GMT, Frogleg wrote:

I would focus on that "part that had to be ordered." Nail someone down
and find out what part ordered from where. Obviously the
water-suppliers aren't among the gardeners and may have no clue how
critical this is. If you have a lot of money, hire a plumber to check
out the situation. If you don't have a lot of money, ask everyone you
know if they have a 2nd cousin's nephew who's a plumber or knows
*anything* about municipal water, and might take a look. Promise
tomatoes or whatever you're trying to grow. If it's not a
highly-specialized industrial fitting that's needed, perhaps someone
in the newsgroups could help.

Sadly the building does not belong to us. We are not allowed to
arrange our own repairs or, believe me, we would have. We are on
their case as much as is possible. It is a very complicated
situation/relationship which would take at least an hour to fully
describe, so I won't bore you with the details.

Anyway, still no water, although it did finally rain yesterday (!!!).
Thanks

jc
---

Joanne wrote:

snip so I won't bore you with the details.

Anyway, still no water, although it did finally rain yesterday (!!!).
Thanks

You could put containers out to collect rainwater (unused garbage
bins, pails, buckets) and use that on the plants... in order to
collect and keep as much water in the container as possible, you want
to lid them with something like a funnel. Old garbag bins work well
for this as their lids can be used upside down with a 1" to 2" hole
punched in the center.

or get a reeeeeeeeally long hose.

L.

jc
---

On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 10:17:52 -0400, Lynda
Joanne wrote:

snip so I won't bore you with the details.

Anyway, still no water, although it did finally rain yesterday (!!!).
Thanks

You could put containers out to collect rainwater (unused garbage
bins, pails, buckets) and use that on the plants... in order to
collect and keep as much water in the container as possible, you want
to lid them with something like a funnel. Old garbag bins work well
for this as their lids can be used upside down with a 1" to 2" hole
punched in the center.

or get a reeeeeeeeally long hose.

We have about 10 large rain barrels, which is where we usually store
water, but (and I thought I mentioned this in my original post, but
may have forgotten to) we have had no significant rainfall for more
than a month ( finally had some last night!). The barrels dried up
weeks ago. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress, there have been several
rainstorms in my city lately but they all just miissed us.

We thought that this year our "big" issue was going to be West Nile
Virus Mosquitoes (as we have so many rain barrels) but to hell with
that!

jcm

Toronto, Canada
Canadian zone 6, U.S. zone is apparently 4b

I'm just trying to find my way amongst the forest of diverse information.

Thanks to global warming it's bloody hot here!

On Tue, 08 Jul 2003 09:36:07 -0700, Joanne wrote:

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 14:49:53 GMT, Frogleg wrote:

I would focus on that "part that had to be ordered."

Sadly the building does not belong to us. We are not allowed to
arrange our own repairs or, believe me, we would have. We are on
their case as much as is possible. It is a very complicated
situation/relationship which would take at least an hour to fully
describe, so I won't bore you with the details.

Anyway, still no water, although it did finally rain yesterday (!!!).

I wonder if there any websites with instructions for rain dances. :-)
It's a wonder that humans ever took up agriculture anyhow. Locally (SE
Virginia -- zone 7 or 8) farmers dealt with drought last year, and too
much rain to plant this spring. My own community garden (with a tap
for each plot!) taught me to be happy I didn't depend on
gardening/farming for a living. Between no rain, too much rain, bugs,
diseases, too cold, too hot, birds & rabbits, and weeds, it's a
heartbreaking enterprise. Of course they (and we) keep on because
"next year may be better." You are not alone in your dilemma. Keep
us posted.

Mulch with something called Soil Conditioner. It helps with dry
soils. Then on top of the soil conditioner, add some shredded
newspaper or just lay it flat. Add a few rocks if you can to hold it
down if you choose to do flat method.

To get more water there, buy a couple of those 3-gallon water bottles.
If you have a way, get a wheel barrow, kid's wagon, or some method to
transport the water. If you cannot pick up the 3-gallon bottles, buy
lots of 2 liter soda bottles and put those in a wagon to transport.
Also, you can use the 2 liter bottles, cut the bottom off. Bury these
bottles in several places in your plot leaving about 2 inches of it
above ground. Do not fill the bottle with dirt. Fill the bottle with
water. It will slowly leech out around the roots where plants need
it. Water will last longer this way. I just read about it in a
Gardening magazine and maybe it will help you too.

I live in a hot dry climate and we have to water every other day here.
Luckily I have lots of shade so I can get by with every 2 days in
portions of my yard.

Carla



Joanne wrote in message . ..
Here's my tale of woe. The seedlings were planted and begining to
grow, the seeds I planted were starting to sprout, then the water tap
broke!

First I should explain my situation a bit. I have two plots in a
community garden about six blocks from my home so the broken tap is
more than just an inconvenience. I do not drive, so the only method of
getting water to my garden is on foot carrying two watering cans and
making probably 15 round trips inorder to moisten the soil.

Other mitigating factors a
Did not mulch.
No significant rainfall.
Relentless heat.
It's now been three weeks! Apparently a part had to be ordered and
that was the last we heard.
The building we get the water from is not ours, so we have no control.

By the time I thought of laying mulch the soil was bone dry, so I did
not think that it would do much good. On the other hand, having never
mulched before I have no actual knowledge to draw from, just ignorant
logic. To be honest I have avoided going over for the past week, it's
too depressing.

Does anyone have some advice or even words of encouragement? I know
that there are lots of gardeners here who are probably quite used to
these conditions. Is it too late in the game for me to salvage this
situation?

Thanks for any help!

jcm

Toronto, Canada
Canadian zone 5b, U.S. zone is apparently 4b

I'm just trying to find my way amongst the forest of diverse information.

Thanks to global warming it's bloody hot here!

On Wed, 09 Jul 2003 11:36:33 GMT, Frogleg wrote:

My own community garden (with a tap for each plot!) taught me to be happy
I didn't depend on gardening/farming for a living. Between no rain, too much
rain, bugs, diseases, too cold, too hot, birds & rabbits, and weeds, it's a
heartbreaking enterprise. Of course they (and we) keep on because
"next year may be better."

WOW! you have your own tap for each plot, that IS luxury!

You are not alone in your dilemma. Keep us posted.

The good news is that for the past two days it has rained off and on
consistantly (woo woo)! Good news for me (us), bad news for the Molson
Indy time trials (aww), which are taking place mere blocks away.
They'll survive, my lemon cucumbers probably won't. :-(

jcm
Toronto, Canada
Canadian zone 6, U.S. zone is apparently 4b

Thanks to global warming it's bloody hot here!

Joanne wrote in message . ..
Here's my tale of woe. The seedlings were planted and begining to
grow, the seeds I planted were starting to sprout, then the water tap
broke!

First I should explain my situation a bit. I have two plots in a
community garden about six blocks from my home so the broken tap is
more than just an inconvenience. I do not drive, so the only method of
getting water to my garden is on foot carrying two watering cans and
making probably 15 round trips inorder to moisten the soil.

Other mitigating factors a
Did not mulch.
No significant rainfall.
Relentless heat.
It's now been three weeks! Apparently a part had to be ordered and
that was the last we heard.
The building we get the water from is not ours, so we have no control.

By the time I thought of laying mulch the soil was bone dry, so I did
not think that it would do much good. On the other hand, having never
mulched before I have no actual knowledge to draw from, just ignorant
logic. To be honest I have avoided going over for the past week, it's
too depressing.

Does anyone have some advice or even words of encouragement? I know
that there are lots of gardeners here who are probably quite used to
these conditions. Is it too late in the game for me to salvage this
situation?

Hi

Annuals have shallower roots, perennial type veges are nothing like so
susceptible to these problems. With pernennials I've always found the
water issues are gone after year 1.

Regards, NT