Cottage Farming

This may not be a totally original idea, but we came up with a way to easily water the garden without having to monkey with the hose every time. Since our hose is across the yard, each time we need to water there’s a process required that, while not onerous, is a minor barrier to ease. The solution was to fill up and leave a water sprayer next to the gardens.

Even though this was primarily a solution to increase the ease of watering, it turns out there are additional benefits. First of which is that plants grow better with water that’s warmed to ambient temperature, rather than the colder water generally coming right out of the tap. Leaving the sprayer out allows the sun to warm it throughout the day.

Second, and probably more important, we found we’re wasting a lot less water. When using the hose, we often let it run while we did minor work on the plants (e.g. pulling off dead leaves). Also, when using the hose we would be watering much more of the beds than was strictly necessary. Using the sprayer we only watered the area around the plants themselves, not the unplanted sections.

Finally… the kids love it, too, and they don’t get as soaked as they generally do when using the hose. Goodness all around.