Grow Your Own-March 2015: Water, Water, NOT Everywhere

March 5, 2015
2 mins read

Recently my Inner English teacher reread a statement three times because she thought it contained a misspelling. It said, “As adults there’s a real danger in becoming competent. “  Shouldn’t that be incompetent?   But that was not the case. At least that’s the opinion of Mike Becktle, a nationally published creativity consultant. According to Becktle becoming excellent in an area squelches the production of new ideas. Competence can kill creativity.  Could this be true?

In gardening, I can’t claim too much competence. One area in which I felt I deserved at least a B- was in  garden watering . Having lived on Ft.George Island where all water came from a well, I learned about  careful watering early. As a certified Squarefoot Gardener www.squarefootgardening.com , trained by founder  Mel Bartholomew himself, I hand water my 3X3 raised beds just the way Bartholomew decrees. I  ladle out sun warmed water  scoop by scoop to each plant individually. Most of the time this approach  works  just fine. And,  I confess, I feel  righteous about my low tech ladling especially  when I read  information that tells me  World Water Day  is observed on March 22. N www.worldwatermonitoringday.org.  And  the world’s fresh water supply is rapidly dwindling.

But, sometimes real life intrudes. I have to leave the garden plot and tend to progeny who are geographically undesirable. How do I water then? On occasion I ask my spouse to check his weather app and see if Mother Nature will send the required moisture during my absence. If rain seems unlikely and I can’t trade watering services with a fellow gardener, I resort to several other devices.

aqua conesFor an absence of just a few days, I stick Aqua Cones by the thirstiest plants. These cones found at www. gardeners.com   are attached to one or  two  liter plastic bottles. The user simply punctures the cone to put water in the garden according to the type of soil.  There is a choice of holes for sand or clay or other. As a side benefit to watering using this method, plant leaves stay dry and this helps reduce blight and other diseases engendered by our Florida humidity. And what could be more righteous than re-using plastic bottles?

For gardeners whose taste in beverages runs more to Malbec than Mellow Yellow, there are Plant Nanny stakes which can be purchased in many garden stores or on Amazon.  The stakes are terracotta and a wine bottle is emptied, ( by gardener or colleagues)  inverted , filled with water and then attached to the Nanny.  The right amount of water then weeps through the terracotta into the soil. As a side benefit, the wine bottle strewn  landscape achieves a level of sophistication impossible to attain with  rotating Rainbirds or plastic bottles.

If I am on  assignment in progeny land  for a week or more, I rig up  a Snip-n-Drip system or convince a cash strapped teen to  use a handheld delivery system  which was the term legendary Ft.George gardener Dr. Ashbel  Williams taught me as a synonym for garden hose .  If I have managed to connect the hose to a rain barrel, all the better.

There are make and take rain barrel workshops offered frequently at the IFAS center on McDuff Ave. http://duval.ifas.ufl.edu.  Some folks create artistic landscapes on their barrels and I am in awe of these folks.  Reflecting on Becktle’s theory, I must have immense potential for creativity in the art arena, because I have zero competency.

 

Current Issue

SUBMIT EVENTS

Submit Events

Advertisements

SingOutLoadFestival_TheAmp_2025
liz-buys-houses-digital
generac-home-standby-generator-banners

Date

Title

Current Month

Follow FOLIO!

Previous Story

Eco Relics: What’s New?

Next Story

Ryan Cabrera – March 22 at Underbelly

Latest from Feature

Get Your Golden Ticket to a Sweet Take on a Classic at the Alhambra

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, THE NEW MUSICAL is a very different take on the classic based on the book by Roald Dahl.  If you’re expecting the songs from the original musical or movie, for the most part, they have new counterparts.  When the show moved from the West End

Listen Locally

May 16  “Blest” – Yuno Former Jacksonville local artist Yuno dropped a new album “Blest” this spring. The album is a mix of eclectic, indie/dream-pop and is influenced by trap and rock with popular hits “Blest” and “True”. If you’re a fan of Steve Lacy and DJO, you should certainly

The Fourth of July: America’s Loudest, Proudest Day of Reckoning

Words by Teresa Spencer Every summer, on the fourth day of July, fireworks slice through the night sky, flags ripple in the humid air, and hot dogs vanish at an alarming rate. Beneath the parades and pyrotechnics, however, lies a radical idea that still crackles with revolutionary energy: that

Chaos Sells

Why your favorite brand wants you thinking about murder, nipples and the apocalypse  Words by Carmen Macri  We’re officially in the era of weird branding, where companies are getting riskier, louder and a hell of a lot funnier. The playbook hasn’t changed much — grab attention, be louder than
July 5th Cleanup
GoUp