Huh, what thought I had replied to this already about the cannibis issue. Really for us it is not an issue as it is only legal for medical marijuana and with that comes a hefty 200,000.00 non refundable application fee. That doesn't mean you got selected to be a grower... They got rich ... You got nothing in return if you didn't get selected. I know the owner of cropking greenhouses... He said "trust me, we make far more money and far less problems selling greenhouse structures than trying to grow pot". No perennial plants except if you pay for the two year of a growing season for garlic. Which isnt a real perennial plants but takes 9 months to grow. No strawberries horse radish etc..
While at the lottie today, I took a couple of piccies to show our water situation...not piped city water, rather what we have to live with here. Being a “Low Country”. We have canals through and around our allotment complex. To keep the gardens dry, we have a drainage system that takes the water from the gardens, drains into the canals and are then pumped into a higher canal which carries that water eventually out to the north sea. We had to replace this pump a couple of years ago. It is a different type of water problem than most gardeners have.
yes, S... that is not what most of us worry over. that just is weird to me. always worrying over the pump failing... or what if all the pumps fail? how can you get out of there quick enough? I always have worried about that ever since I was a child learning about the Netherlands being built lower than sea level. we had a similar problem last Summer... too much water pressure. I turned off the well and when I called my "water guy" he was like "I will be right there". the pressure switch had failed and was over pressurizing the tank which could have exploded ( and that is no fun. we already dealt with the pressure tank blowing about 15 years ago. filled the downstairs with water. had to be gutted and refloored. new carpet new vinyl new doors... it was a mess. thankfully we had a walkout basement and it could not fill up with water.) BUT the water pressure was fantastic. although it did make a tiny fissure in a fitting in the greenhouse which I am thankful that didn't completely break as it was part of the injector frame.I do miss that water pressure.
Gadzooks Carolyn— what a wild story. Exciting for you, annnnnd expensive. The idea of a tank blowing would make me perspire a bit I think. BTW, the whole of the Netherlands is not under sea level, just some parts. In the low parts should all the dikes brake it doesn’t mean that the low bits would be covered in mile deep water. So it is not something that is always on our minds.
We began with a 55gal.plastic barrel (or drum it's sometimes called), adding a few until we now have 5, the 6th must have weakened, it burst, gushing out 55 gallons of rain water. The first collects runoff from the patio roof, the second from an extension roof over a section. When these two are full, the runoff goes into a slightly slanted pipe, past the shed, curving onto the first barrel, #3 sitting behind the shed, that filled, rain continues into #4, #5 is now unavailable and hopefully will be replaced, and will continue into #6. After #6, there is a 20 gallon barrel. Still, the water must be carried to the gardens across the road. Sometimes we use a hose with a pump attached. We only carry two, 2 gallon jugs across when only slight watering is needed. My arms tend to be long having carried water as a child from a hillside spring for cooking, laundry, bathing, dishes, drinking. Thus carrying water for our garden isn't odd to me. We prefer rain water over City water for our food source. Having begun my 85th year, I have cut back on the garden area a bit. I may take up rain dancing in 2021.
yeah, you know how the minds of children work. one little tidbit of information sets them to worrying for a lifetime even when you know it isn't going to happen. unless you are living in a place like New Orleans during a cat 4 hurricane when the levy pumps all fail. then you had better hurry.
More Community Garden doings: We are still in the dead of winter here in New England, but like gardeners everywhere we are eagerly anticipating the coming growing season. I have sent my emails around to see who is continuing with the Garden this year. Everyone but two will be continuing and I already have 2 prospective gardeners eager for a plot assignment. One of our gardeners will be hosting a "Best Practices" zoom talk on the 31st. (What is it with that term, "Best Practices"? Was it originally a business term or a medical term that got co-opted? You see it everywhere now). Anyway, should be interesting. I plan on bringing up some of the things I have learned on this site....thank you all. A little later in the month we will hold our business meeting where we decide on what repairs etc are needed. I'll present where we are with our water system research.
It sounds like you guys are organised well. Funny how terms get adopted and thus spread isn’t it. They turn into fad phrases or words. Language is always changing isn’t it. Will it be possible to hear how the meetings went. I, for one, would be interested in how your group of gardeners function, their interests, techniques and plans for the future. Let us know how it goes.
Many folks think that starting a community garden is just plowing up some land, marking off plots, and off you go! There is so much planning, research, and education involved. I do admire those who will make the effort to organize a community garden. Kudos, Cayuga!
