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 might approach your municipal authorities and point out that they
are charging you for a service you are not using. In our town, they
responded by reducing the sewage charge during the irrigation system by
a percentage designed to match your sewage charge to what water you use
during the non-irrigating system. Seems fair to me.

I agree that drip irrigation systems are more efficient than the
indiscriminate soaker hoses, although they take a bit more work to
install. You can use different sizes of nozzles depending on the
watering need of each plant, and I use extra long feeder lines, in case
I decide to move a plant (or one dies and I want to put the replacement
in a different spot. I think either will work well with rain barrels,
although I have read that some states do not allow rain barrels, arguing
that they keep the water from going into the aquifier (I have no idea
where they think the water goes after you take it out of the rain barrel
and put in on your garden or lawn).

"Notat Home" wrote

in a different spot. I think either will work well with rain barrels,
although I have read that some states do not allow rain barrels, arguing
that they keep the water from going into the aquifier (I have no idea
where they think the water goes after you take it out of the rain barrel
and put in on your garden or lawn).

Here, the objection to rain barrels is mosquitos. Although you can prevent
them with a thin layer of oil, that too requires some level of tending that
many do not do. Hehe I have a friend who uses them and he puts in a few
goldfish (feeding them yes). The fish poop doesnt harm the plants any.

On 12/26/2010 11:01 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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 might approach your municipal authorities and point out that they are
charging you for a service you are not using. In our town, they responded
by reducing the sewage charge during the irrigation system by a percentage
designed to match your sewage charge to what water you use during the
non-irrigating system. Seems fair to me.

I agree that drip irrigation systems are more efficient than the
indiscriminate soaker hoses, although they take a bit more work to install.
You can use different sizes of nozzles depending on the watering need of
each plant, and I use extra long feeder lines, in case I decide to move a
plant (or one dies and I want to put the replacement in a different spot. I
think either will work well with rain barrels, although I have read that
some states do not allow rain barrels, arguing that they keep the water
from going into the aquifier (I have no idea where they think the water
goes after you take it out of the rain barrel and put in on your garden or
lawn).

If you are considering using collected water from rain barrels or ponds or
whatever to feed a drip system be sure that you have a _good_ inline filter
in the water feed. It takes almost nothing to clog the drip emitters and
once they are plugged up they are a lost cause.

If I were younger and building or remodeling a house it would be great to
install an underground cistern for rain collection. In some rather dry
climates it is possible to collect enough free water for a large garden
from the roof of the house. Of course the huge underground storage tank is
far from free but over the span of a couple of decades it will surely pay
for itself several times over.

On Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:27:11 -0500, John McGaw
wrote:

On 12/26/2010 11:01 AM, Notat Home wrote:
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 might approach your municipal authorities and point out that they are
charging you for a service you are not using. In our town, they responded
by reducing the sewage charge during the irrigation system by a percentage
designed to match your sewage charge to what water you use during the
non-irrigating system. Seems fair to me.

I agree that drip irrigation systems are more efficient than the
indiscriminate soaker hoses, although they take a bit more work to install.
You can use different sizes of nozzles depending on the watering need of
each plant, and I use extra long feeder lines, in case I decide to move a
plant (or one dies and I want to put the replacement in a different spot. I
think either will work well with rain barrels, although I have read that
some states do not allow rain barrels, arguing that they keep the water
from going into the aquifier (I have no idea where they think the water
goes after you take it out of the rain barrel and put in on your garden or
lawn).

If you are considering using collected water from rain barrels or ponds or
whatever to feed a drip system be sure that you have a _good_ inline filter
in the water feed. It takes almost nothing to clog the drip emitters and
once they are plugged up they are a lost cause.

If I were younger and building or remodeling a house it would be great to
install an underground cistern for rain collection. In some rather dry
climates it is possible to collect enough free water for a large garden
from the roof of the house. Of course the huge underground storage tank is
far from free but over the span of a couple of decades it will surely pay
for itself several times over.

Break even over a couple of decades, that's twenty years, that
indicates a lotta bucks invested... not to mention unanticipated costs
like pump, wiring, electric, and plumbing, and what happens when it
doesn't rain... it would be far less costly to simply buy your produce
from the stupidmarket/farmstand. In dry climates water from a cistern
would get sucked up into the hot bone dry ground in no time, far
faster than you can collect it, a total waste. Unless you have a
natural body of water to pump from or your own well then what makes
the most sense is to keep your hobby farm small and use tap water. My
garden is located right along side a natural spring fed stream, even
during the dry spells it can keep the ground fairly damp for like 2-3
weeks. I have my own well too, but were I to use it constantly it
would cost a lot to repair it when it broke down. I learned to keep
my vegetable garden small, a few years back I gave up more than 1/3 to
blueberry bushes... a 50' X 50' plot can produce enough veggies for
six families, I got tired of giving them away. Knowing then what I
know now I would have built my garden 1/4 its size.

Brooklyn1 Gravesend1 wrote:

Break even over a couple of decades, that's twenty years, that
indicates a lotta bucks invested... not to mention unanticipated costs
like pump, wiring, electric, and plumbing, and what happens when it
doesn't rain... it would be far less costly to simply buy your produce
from the stupidmarket/farmstand. In dry climates water from a cistern
would get sucked up into the hot bone dry ground in no time, far
faster than you can collect it, a total waste. Unless you have a
natural body of water to pump from or your own well then what makes
the most sense is to keep your hobby farm small and use tap water. My
garden is located right along side a natural spring fed stream, even
during the dry spells it can keep the ground fairly damp for like 2-3
weeks. I have my own well too, but were I to use it constantly it
would cost a lot to repair it when it broke down. I learned to keep
my vegetable garden small, a few years back I gave up more than 1/3 to
blueberry bushes... a 50' X 50' plot can produce enough veggies for
six families, I got tired of giving them away. Knowing then what I
know now I would have built my garden 1/4 its size.

It is not all about cost. I prefer not to consume genetically engineered,
roundup filled soil and pesticide on my produce. If one purchases organic
produce, those cost factors may change dramatically. I can have varieties
that are not found at your local market. Also for me it is about being
independent, which also beyond a cost factor.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)