and plant in longer rows (north–south) instead of short (east–west) rows. Th at
should make thinning easier because one could reach a long line with greater
consistency.8. Watering
If you listen to Pacific Northwest stories about our annual rainfall, you might
wonder why watering was even on my radarscope (so to speak). Well, this past
year was a triumph—lots and lots of sun. My friend Scott called it “the best grow
ing year I’ve ever experienced”—and here I
had thought it was my newfound skills!
Regardless of my soil’s natural tendency
to retain water, I did need a regular supply of
water about twice per week. Since I had a pre
existing sprinkler on a timer for the grass, I
found yet another local expert to adjust the
coverage to match the planting choices I had
made in each bed I had prepared.
A few plants, like beets, did better receiv
ing misting from above, but most of my plants
benefited from ground up watering. We
thought about this as we did the overall plan and decided to use drip irrigation,
three lines to a 4-foot-wide bed.
It all worked out fine except for the large winter squash leaves, which eventu
ally developed a powdery mildew because they had already gotten too much
overhead water (a situation not helped by the fact that they were growing in
partial shade, which is not advised).
My suggestion is to get advice from someone who really knows, and bite the
bullet on cost. Once it’s done—and you understand what was done and why—
then your approach to watering can remain flexible year after year with only you
in charge.34 • GROWING AT THE SPEED OF LIFE