Hi Jean - The biggest issue with people and putting stuff in their front yards comes down to something being an eyesore and decreasing property values - that is the only thing I can think of. It would be the same thing as someone not mowing their grass in weeks and it being a foot tall in their front yard in a neighborhood - or crap just thrown around the front yard with no respect to what it makes the neighborhood look like. Right now in the front yard I do not have the PVC "fencing" up that will hold the deer net around the gardening area. I will be putting that up soon when I plant the corn in the front yard. I'm actually surprised they have not got into the garden with the broccoli, peppers, and celery growing. I do have about 60 onions in the front - and deer do not like onions. Maybe this is keeping them away from the front where I have all of these items planted. The PVC fencing is what will make it look more like an eye sore than what it already is. But, my neighbors haven't said anything to me about it. In regards to videos, here is my YouTube Channel so you can see all of my videos that I've taken - wine making and information about the barrels. --- Organicislandfarmer - the water pressure works very well. I have not tried soaker hoses, but the irrigation works very well with the PVC pipe that I use. It does have its limits though - and it seems that I can get by with up to about 150 holes from one feed off the the 3/4-inch main pipe from the barrels. So in the front garden, I have about 120 holes total. Been working no problem with one feed from the line. I then have two other gardens - one behind the garage and the other next to the house. Originally I had all of these hooked to one feed amongst almost 300 holes. The pressure wasn't enough to do this. So I split it in half - about 150 holes each - and it is working well in this fashion. In regards to sprinklers - I highly doubt there would be enough pressure for what you would use it for. It will work, but you won't have near the range like you would if using tap. The other idea would be to get an in-line pump that could take the water from the barrels and pressurize it. Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog

lehua, Thanks for your reply - much appreciated. I suppose I should have checked more into the forum archives prior to posting - would have prompted me to first check into my hydraulic specs. Our water does come from a municipal source, which obtains it's supply from local fresh water natural lakes/ponds and reservoirs. It is treated with chlorine and fluoride (1.0 mg/l) and has a moderate hardness of 68 to 84 mg/l. I just did a test by filling a 5 gal bucket from the freeze-proof garden bibb, timed it with my phones' stopwatch - and it took exactly 60 seconds to fill to the brim, which equates to 300 gal/hr. The main vegetable planting area consists of (6) 36"+ wide x 18 ft long beds, each naturally bermed about 6" above the 18" wide pathways - which are freshly covered in straw mulch each season. Each row slopes along its length, approx 6" in 18 ft., or 2.8%. We also have a couple of 42" x 12 ft wood-plank raised beds for strawberries, herbs and smaller rotating crops. An 8' x 5' onion patch, 10' x 4' raspberry patch and a 40' x 3' mixed use bed along the east garden fence - all with about a 1.5% slope. The soil composition is 12" to 18" of very rich humus, with a mix of loam + grey clay in the subsoil layers. I have been layering at least 3" of my own organic compost over each bed twice/season, which I first break down with my shredder/chipper. Water plumes have always spread very well when hose/pail watering in the past. Organic additives, such as bone meal, wood ash, and dried blood are added regularly, with limestone tilled in the Fall, if soil ph tests require it. Concentrated fish emulsion is mixed with water and applied by hand to each plant during the growing season. Due to some early blight occurring on our tomatoe and pepper plants, which was spread I believe from water ground splash, I'm thinking drip irrigation may minimize this from happening. I have not yet purchased the inline filter, 3/4" mains and 1/2" laterals, but have received the 3/4" ball valves and electronic water timer/valve I had ordered. The author of a Utah Co-op Extension article on the prototype PVC system (see link), recommends drilling 1/16" holes, in 2-3 hole clusters, spaced to align with individual plants. My plan was to dedicate each lateral to plants with similar needs, with all lateral and major pipe joints being separable to accommodate seasonal rotation and off-season storage. Since I have no experience with this yet, I was waiting for the time when my indoor grown seedlings are about ready for transplanting, before determining hole spacing. Drilling should be easy enough to do when that time comes by setting up a jig. Sorry for being long-winded - many thanks for your encouragement, and system endorsement . . . I feel less like a pioneer now. Best, Steve Here is a link that might be useful: PDF - Designing a Baasic PVC Home Garden Drip Irrigation System

Xoxosmom, I am not an expert, but I have been doing some research. The decision of sprinkler Vs Drip is actually made on the basis of what type of plants are planned in the strip. Veggies and like that need constant moisture do well with Drip. Large shrubs perhaps might benefit from sprinklers. Another consideration is, if your plants get completely drenched by sprinklers, it attracts slugs. If the plant planned has a trunk, then perhaps a sprinkler might be ok. Also, since you are starting a new garden, how about planting some draught tolerant natives that need no water once established? Things like ground covers, native bushes/grasses etc.? Just my 2c.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm not sure I fully understood however and I should clarify that the PVC pipe would be in the ground, not above. I think that you are suggesting is to attach a tee to the water source (in this case the PVC pipe) and then on one side of the tee, install a hose bib for the garden hose. The hose bib would allow me to keep the hose turned off when I want to water with the drip irrigation but wouldn't the drip irrigation still run when the hose is on? I think the concept of installing two valves from a tee splitter would work (one to the drip irrigation and one to the garden hose) but if possible I would prefer to keep is as a single switch. Since this is likely to be located in the ground, I was hoping to minimize the space required and if possible fit this in an in-ground valve box. Thanks!