When we get regular amounts of rain I do not water. The only time I might water is some seeds that I direct sow into the garden to ensure they stay moist enough to germinate. I often take for granted regular rainfall. Water from the heavens is so much better for my plants than when I have to artificially water. The plants thrive under rainfall. Under artificial watering to make up for the lack of rain, my plants are just surviving. It is almost like Gloria Gaynor's hit song, I Will Survive. I often sing the chorus as I work out in the garden under drought conditions just to pep up the plants and give them hope! In case you need to sing this same song to your struggling drought overcome plants to keep them going refer to the video below.
Okay seriously though, we are in a drought here in my neck of the woods. I am watering daily a new area of my garden or pastures. I am watering because my family and farm animals depend on the vegetables from the garden and grasses growing in the pastures to eat.
I start my watering in our vineyard. I follow the red lines each day until I get to pasture 2 and then I reverse order it following the blue lines until I get back to the order. If I water every day it takes me a total of 10 days to make it back to the vineyard.
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| My Drought Watering Schedule |
I use this watering schedule to give a routine to follow to ensure the important areas of our farm receive water. I water about an hour each day either early morning or in the evening. I use four 6 foot tall sprinklers and 2 inch round flexible pipe. The water we use comes from our pond that is spring fed. We use a gas powered water trash pump to pump the water from the pond through the sprinklers.
If I water twice a day, I could water 2 areas on our farm. Sometimes I water once a day and sometimes twice a day depending on how many chores I have to get done for the day and sometimes depending on how desperate some of the areas are for water.
One of the most important keys to consider when choosing a property to homestead is the availability of water. The water could be from a creek, pond, or well water. We can't keep our homestead going without access to water. We depend on it to irrigate crops, pastures, and for our farm animals to access for drinking. It really is the life blood of our farm.
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