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market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Travellers vs. stationary guns

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  • From: "David Inglis" <mhcsa AT verizon.net>
  • To: "'Market Farming'" <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Travellers vs. stationary guns
  • Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 14:14:43 -0500

Well said Paul.

David

 

-----Original Message-----
From: market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:market-farming-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Paul Bucciaglia
Sent: Monday, December 18, 2006 12:56 PM
To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Travellers vs. stationary guns

 

Re why don't we drip everything:  Of the 15 acrres of crops we grow, we irrigate about 4 acres with drip on widely spaced crops that are in the field for longer than 2 monthts--either under plastic (toms, peps, eggs, melons), or buried bare soil (winter squash, strawberries).  I never put drip on the soil surface.  It needs to be moved everytime we cultivate, and that is a huge task on our sandy soil, which needs frequent irrigation.  Water  also travels stragiht down in sandy soil, so the tape needs to be within 3 inches of the row.  Drip is definately more water efficient, but for crops which cover virtually the whole bed, like lettuce or spinach, the savings are not near as great as they are with say, winter squash (which is why we drip winter squash).  So I use a combination of water use effieciency, labor efficiency, crop duration and crop layout to make a decision on weather to use overhead or drip. 

 

Corn and spuds I feel are a weak candidate for buried drip, I find it easier to irrigate with the traveller since they only need a few well-timed irrigations (and sometimes none at all) in a normal year (western CT).  We dig our spuds with a mechanical digger which would make a buried drip line a real hassle. 

 

Re: 'drip pops less weeds than overhead' :  WHile I find that to be nominally true, in my sand you have to have the drip right next to the row, and that is the hardest place to kill weeds, and drip pops 'em just as good as overhead there.  So not a big advantage, in my opinion 

 

Of course, I live in waterworld out here.  We get 40 inches of rain a year, but can go a month in summer with zippo.  So while I definately feel the need to conserve water, our aquifers can recharge each year.  Thats a different deal for folks west of the Mississipi, where 'dinosaur water' is being pumped out of the ground faster than the rate of aquifer recharge, and soil salinzation is an issue (I've never experienced anything other than 'very low sodium' soils in the northeast).  

 

Before I get flamed for being a resource hog, let me add we have a great composting program,  use organic mulch (straw) whereever practical, and I am a cover cropping maniac.  However, sand is sand, and I will always have to deal with the droughty soil, and the huge labor and management obstacles that presents.  .

 

So maybe drip would be the way to go for you.  I once managed a farm with a 12 acre field on nothing but drip, and after running (LITERAALY!) lines through one of the driest summers in memory, swore an oath never to leave an exposed drip line in the field again! 

 

It all depends on your farm, and your farms particular rate limiting factors. 

 

Paul Bucciaglia

Fort Hill Farm

 




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