Sunday 11th December saw an energetic crew gather
at the garden to install the new drip irrigation system. Angelo Eliades led the hands-on workshop and
capably ran the attendees through the parts of the system and demonstrated how
the parts fit together to water efficiently. Under the guidance of Angelo and
John Pinnegar, small teams worked collaboratively to lay out and peg just under
two hundred metres of drip irrigation hose line in giant looping zig-zag
formations across the four garden beds, as well as connect all the valves,
filters, connectors and extenders required.
 |
| Angelo demonstrates how all the parts fit together |
 |
| Laying out the drip line |
The benefits of drip irrigation for the garden will be:
- greater water efficiency by delivering water directly to the
root zone of plants
- reduced water run-off and evaporation
- prevention of
disease by minimising water contact with the leaves, stems, and fruit of plants
- decreased labour
(less lugging of hoses around and across garden beds)
- greater effectiveness of watering on uneven ground (all our garden beds slope)
The watering at the
garden is managed by a roster system.
Gardeners are rostered on in pairs for a week at a time and for that
week manage the irrigation needs of the garden. If it rains, you’re lucky!
One potential drawback of the system is that it does take longer to
water, with each bed needing at least 25-30 minutes for a deep watering. However, given where the garden is situated,
this means that waterers can duck into the library, have a coffee or go
shopping between watering beds!
Our sincere thanks are extended to the City of Darebin
for supplying the irrigation equipment and for its ongoing support of the
garden. Angelo and John continue to be
great teachers and facilitators in the garden and we thank them for lending us
their time and expertise once again.
 |
| Laying out the drip line |
 |
| It's a team effort! |
 |
| Many hands... |
No comments:
Post a Comment