Though the wet weather has finally arrived, it didn't come soon enough. We have been irrigating throughout the season to ensure that our seedlings will sprout and our plants will grow. Whenever we plant we lay drip tape at the same time. This allows us to water six 200 ft rows slowly over the course of two hours before moving on to the next crop.According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations:
Irrigation is the supply of water to agricultural crops by artificial means, designed to permit farming in arid regions and to offset drought in semi-arid regions. Even in areas where total seasonal rainfall is adequate on average, it may be poorly distributed during the year and variable from year to year. Where traditional rain-fed farming is a high-risk enterprise, irrigation can help to ensure stable production. http://www.fao.org/ag/agl/agll/drylands/irrigation.htm
And high risk it would have been. Theresa said that this season, without irrigation, we couldn't have run the CSA. Though I don't like harvesting in it, I welcome the rain. The crops could use a little natural moisture.
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