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Xeric Vegetable Gardens

© Max Dalrymple

This time of year I think of putting in some onions and other fall vegetables. Of course this year we've had our summer monsoon in the fall, so a lot of people in the area might be thinking the same. Some of my friends are surprized when I talk about vegetables in a xeric area. Can you really plant a good fruit and vegetable garden?

I talked with one of my neighbors last July. He's been hay - baling his garden for a few years. He said he started doing it to keep down the wind. He'll put a row of hay in the garden, plant next to it, and have another bale of hay decomposing in the third row. Then he'll have another row of crops before he starts all over again with another row of hay bales.

The hay also assists with water retention, and he's dug in some good compost and manure, too. He had a good crop of asparagus and corn this year. His tomatoes and brocolli have done well, too.

The nice thing is he's doing it all on one - inch of water a week. He distributes his water through a sprinkler that reaches every corner from it's center location. I estimate he's got about twenty - five feet by twenty feet in the garden.

How much water is he using each week?

My dictionaries' measurement table didn't provide me a conversion figure, so I measured the 2.5 gallon plastic container the City of Amarillo uses to sell its water. Although it's got a handle, some grooves, and missing corners, it measures 6x12x10. I could add a fifth more to it and have 6x12x12 and 3 gallons. By doubling this I'd have 6 gallons and one cubic foot of water.

One cubic foot is 12 square feet of water one inch deep. I don't know how many gallons my neighbor uses since I don't know exact measurements for his garden, but I can predict that if I have a 12x12 foot garden I'd use 6 gallons each week watering at the same rate he does. I could water a 24x24 foot garden using twice that amount, or 12 gallons a week, which, judging from the success he's had, is probably large enough.

One nice benefit of using this method is that each week it rains I can look at my rain gauge to determine if I need to put additional water on my garden and how much. My neighbor uses extra water if it rains .60 of an inch or less. Sixty percent of 12 gallons is 7.2 gallons, the amount of water on my water bill I'll save that week if I follow his method. 12 gallons minus 7.2 gallons equals 4.8 gallons, the amount of water I'll use on my 24 foot by 24 foot vegetable garden any week it rains .60 of an inch.