In making plans to try to grow rice, I have been been looking at my
water catchment practices. I currently have 2 tanks that store a total
of 600+ gallons. I have capacity for additional tanks, 2 or maybe three
of them- I just need to locate some tanks and gutters.
If I get a 27 ft pool(I put a wanted ad on Freecycle this evening), and
if I fill that area 4" deep to grow rice, that is about 1500 gallons of
water. A foot of water is just under 5000 gallons of water.
My well doesn't have that capacity-or it might, but I won't try it. For
me to be able to flood a rice paddy, I need rainwater, and I need to
collect more than I currently do. 5 tanks of 300 gallons would be 1500,
so I need 3 more tanks. They say that ideally you can collect 0.62
gallons per square foot of collection surface per inch of rainfall can
be collected. If I set up my tanks, I should be able to fill up my
tanks in a thunderstorm that drops 2" of rain. Those are fairly common
here in the Spring and Summer.
So, I need 3 additional water tanks-they are anywhere from $35 to $75
each, and less than 50 feet of gutter. I'll ask for gutters on freecycle.
I would appreciate it if someone would check my math on these
calculations as well as the other rice growing calculations. It's been a
long day. I estimated some things, tried to be conservative in those
estimates.
If anyone has any comments, ideas or rice growing information, Sage and
I would appreciate it. I am posting what I learn here.
Bev
--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda