Drip Works as well as The Drip Store have far more variety in their offerings. The Drip Store also has a forum where you can ask the folks running it for a parts list of what you need and they will actually tell you what is needed for the application from hose bib to the end of the system.

The thing to watch out for with drip irrigation in a raised bed is that the water from the emitters doesn't 'fan' out well in a lightweight mix. It tends to drain downward in a very narrow inverse cone shape.

The more clay/loam in the bed the more it will spread out, but if you are following Mel's mix or any other mix that more resembles a potting mix than soil it is something to consider.

A good system is one with a filtered mailine terminating with 1/4 soaker hoses with the predrilled emitters at 6" spacing. However, you will want the hoses spaces about 6" apart as well. For a 4' wide bed you would want 9 hoses at 8' each so let's round up to 50' of 1/4 soakers per bed.

You can try to get by with less, but it all depends on what the beds are filled with as to whether you can use fewer hoses.

I keep thinking that someone needs to invent something inbetween a drip emitter and a mini sprinkler. Something ideal for raised beds.

In any event the folks at the Drip Store will definitely give you their recomendation if you ask them.

Also, don't forget a pressure regulator. Very inexpensive and it keeps the flow correct and ends the problem of hoses popping out of the system from too much pressure.

I too am trying to figure a better way to water my beds. What are you thinking of using for a "header pipe"?
Gumby_CT

The normal garden hose puts out 6gpm if that helps your calculation. The amount the soaker hose puts out will vary with the size of the holes in the hose. I was hopeing to use soaker hoses this year but time got away from me. Next year I think I will use old discarded garden hose (from our spring cleanup) and put my own holes in it. That way I can get more water in the ground faster provided the ground cooperates.
Paws

username_5, thanks for the feedback. I was wondering about the spread of the drip in the growing mix...basically going by Mel's mix to get started with and hoping to get some compost piles going for future use. I wanted to get by with less hose than that, but if that's what it takes...

Using 50' of drip hose per bed would equate to 50 gallons per hour which would be plenty fast enough for me....probably 45 minutes or so to give the bed a good watering. Being as the spacing of the emitters are at 6" then laying the lines 6" apart makes sense. Thanks for the info!

The "Heart" kit from Dripworks comes with the pressure regulator (30psi I think it is), also comes with a t-filter.

Gumby_CT, what I've got in mind as of now is to bury pvc pipe to the beds, then use a piece of the 1/2" PE pipe for the header pipe, punch holes for the 1/4" barbs in it, and then attach the 1/4" drip hose. I'm figuring I'll need two elbows to clear the top of the frame...one bending over the frame and another bending down toward the soil. Since the side of the frame is only ~3/4" thick I figure I will actually place the pvc "t" on the outside of the bed offset by a few inches from center and then situate it going over the side at an angle so as to position the end of the inside elbow as close to the frame (and centered) as possible. I figure going straight across with the elbows would require that either the outside upright pipe has to stand away from the side by a few inches or either the manifold itself would have to be placed several inches from the frame. Running the elbow assembly across the frame at an angle will keep both inside and outside pipes/hoses close to the frame where I can attach them.

paws4pets, thanks for the info on the waterhose flow. I'll keep that in mind. I'm interested in seeing how the homebrew soaker hose works out

Ed
South Central (WET!!!!...JUST GOT ABOUT 1" OF RAIN!!!!) Alabama

Ed, I saw the rain over AL today on the radar was thinkin bout you.
I experimented some with soakers in the beds and decided to run the hose under the beds (since I am using gravity & rainbarrels, YES we have rain here). 1st I thought about simply cutting a notch in the frame for the hose. Then found some plastic pipe I had layin around which is large enuff for the hose. I cut about a 6 inch piece to place under the frame to keep it from crushing the hose. Keep in mind, my frames are simply placed on top of the ground, so the beds are NOT filled to capacity but just a few inches.

I had thought about the PVC header, too. Decided it was more work & money than I wanted to spend. Right now I am just using a couple 'Y' connectors I had on hand. May have to introduce a couple of strategically placed holes in the soaker hose.

If you don't mind me asking - why the high flow on the water? Seems the high flow would be more than the plants could possibly use. If time constraints for watering are a problem, Have you considered simply leaving it on a while you are away at work or whatever? Just a thought. That's what I ended up doing with my soakers since the rainbarrels do NOT provide enuff pressure for the soakers.

Good Luck,
Gumby_CT

I'm still very happy with the irrigation system for our 4 x 8 beds. There is 50 feet of soaker hose in each bed but it's not intrusive at all. In fact, it reinforces the grid system. What I did: I found bulk soaker hose and cut strips for lengthwise placement, 5 for each box. Walmart was the only place where I'm at (Dayton, OH) where I could find the bulk hose and tee fittings. In the picture I provided you can see the fittings on each end of the box. In between the fittings on the ends are small segments of hose to connect it all. In the right hand front corner of each box is one last segment of soaker hose, an adapter to go from soaker hose to normal hose fitting, then a quick disconnect. I still need to drill a hole in the side of each box to feed that last piece through so it doesn't hang over. I've been watering for 2 hours at a time, but with hot weather upon us, I'll probably bump it up to 3. I split our main hose and now water our two boxes simultaneously.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1276538}}

Genetic, I see your soakers are 12" apart. How far apart are the emiters (or are these the hoses that leak all over)?

Also, what is your soil mix?

This hose leaks all over, so the 4 boxes on each end end up getting water on three sides. The picture is early in the season. The soil mix is Mel's mix, but I was not too happy about the variety of compost I was able to find locally. Being our first year, our compost pile is also in its first year. Everything has done fairly well, but the peppers, and for awhile basil, is not looking up to par. Basil now looks better but still seems bitter. Climbing crops (beans, cukes, squash) seem behind in their growth. I've been supplementing with Miracle Gro but I hope our compost from now on will let us reduce that.

Gumby_CT, yelp we finally got some water...here it is going on a week and other than a slight rain the following evening things are definitely drying back out...getting dusty quickly. Basically we get these systems that blow through, but the rain is basically coming from cloud bursts rather than a solidified front. Thankful for what we got, though!

I've re-thought my approach with pvc after you mentioned running it under the bed frames. I had one of those "duh" moments when I read it. :) What I'm figuring on now is to run 3/4" pipe along one end of the beds...two sticks of it will cover both beds and leave me me plenty for creating a hook-up point for the water supply. I'll probably go ahead and extend/bury the line to an existing spigot about 50'away and plumb it into the system. The run past the end of the beds will be simple...a tee fitting centered at the end of each bed with a short piece of pvc riser coming up to the surface of the bed at the frame. To this I'll attach one of the pvc-to-pe tees and extend the poly/header pipe to either side of the tee. From there I'm still debating soaker hose vs. emiiter hose.

The flow-rate isn't that important (I guess) to me. I figure I need to get from 1-2 inches of water on the beds which would be 20-40 gallons of water for 4x8 beds.

Fifty feet of Lee Valley's soaker hose would take 2 hours to put 20 gallons out...4 hours for 40 gallons...a more gentle watering.

DripWorks dripline with 6" spacing would put 50 gallons out in an hour, 25 gallons in a half hour....fast watering.

Of the two, I like the more gentle approach...

username_5's revelation to me that I should be concerned with the way the water fans out has me wondering which of the two types of hoses would fan out the best...or if either is better than the other in regards to "fanning". From my newbie eyes, it seems the faster flow would tend to fan out better, but this would be the emitter hose and the drip would be centralized on the line every 6 inches.

I can arrive at the total amount of water delivered to the beds with either type of hose. What I'd like to know is:

1. Does either the soaker(pourous) hose or the 6" emitter type hose fan out more than the other one does?

2. As for durability and the least problems which of these hoses would be better?

Another issue that I've noticed is that either type of tubing comes in 50 or 100 rolls (with the occasional odd 40' or so rolls). Nine 8-foot lines would take 72' of tubing. In trying to use the tubing in multiples of 50' per bed what I come up with is two lines spaced six inches in from each side of the bed, with four more lines spaced 7 inches apart between the two outer ones...a total of six lines. What'cha think? Or should I bite the bullet and get an extra roll of tubing...will probably need it later anyhow?.....

Ed

Hmmm, everybody must be roasting hotdogs and lighting firecrackers...HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

I've got a question regarding emitters, which I think I touched on in the previous message:

Has anyone noticed whether 1gph emitters fan/spread water out in a wider pattern than the .5gph emitters? I'm thinking that since the 1gph emitters have a higher flow rate that they *might* fan out wider...???

Thanks,
Ed

Ed,

When it comes to drip emitters there are two 'forces' to take into consideration in trying to guesstimate how far the water will fan out.

Those forces are gravity and capillarity. Gravity always draws water downward. Capillary action draws water onto dry elements. The effect of capillary action can be easily observed by dipping the corner of a dry paper towel into a bowl of water. The water will wick up against the force of gravity a certain distance and then stop.

With drip irrigation gravity is a constant, but the force of the capillary action will vary depending on what materials are in the growing mix and how closely together they are packed.

Some materials will wick the moisture more efficently than others and any air spaces between particles will stop the capillary action.

Drip emiters which simply drip or slowly trickle water do not eject that water with enough force to 'spray it'. It drips/trickles straight down as it obeys gravity.

Once it encounters the soil mix gravity moves it downward while capilary action moves it outward.

The only variable then is the capilary action of the particles in the bed. Flow rate won't have any noticeable impact on how far capilary action takes the water. The exception would be if flow rate was increased to the point water pooled on the surface of the soil mix and spread on the surface before working downward. Drip emiters generally won't result in standing water in a raised bed.

The other exception would be soaker hoses under enough pressure that the water sprayed out the pores rather than dripped. In most home systems the hoses are fitted together with pressure fittings and are likely to 'pop' loose under the pressure though.

Thanks for the reply, username_5. What you stated makes sense to me...I need to keep the emitters close to each other.

One reason I was asking is that DripWorks offers both 1/4" and 1/2" drip tubing. The description of the 1/2" states that the emitters are pressure compensating and have a self-flushing ability. Nothing is mentioned about pc or self-flushing for the 1/4". I like the ideas of pc and self-flushing, but the closest spacing of the 1/2" tubing is 9" whereas the 1/4" has a 6" spacing. They state for the 9" spaced emitters row spacing of 9-12".

If I go with the 1/2" 9"-spaced tubing, I figure I will stagger the emitters from row to row, and place them 6" apart (as per your original recommendation for the 6"-spaced 1/4" tubing). I *think* that this should give me good coverage.

Still, the 1/4" tubing seems like it would be much easier and less-expensive (fittings,etc.)than the 1/2" tubing. Are the pc/self-flushing abilities of the 1/2" tubing worth the extra expense of both work and cost?

Ed

I know some years back I used a drip system, which I used for 1 yr before switching to soakers. What I found frustrating was the fact that the emitters were 'pressed' into the hose line where ever you wanted, making easy to customize. However when one blew out, due to the pressure of the water, it would throw the entire system out of wack and water would just leak where the missing emitter was. When working right they do spray & spit, not just drip.

Plus once you get it set-up (with spacing) what do you do next year? Esp. should the spacing be different. Admittedly, it may be easier in SFG, I was doing row gardening at the time. But imagine the time it will take next year to get the emitters where you want them again?

I went to the soakers for a more even soaking. I think you are spinning your wheels trying to 'calculate' a "fan pattern". I think you could calculate the next Lotto number easier.

Certainly would like to hear how it works for you.

Just my 2 cents,
Gumby_CT

Gumby, the type of drip hose Ed is talking about is kind of inbetween the type you are talking about where the emiters are put in manually and a soaker hose.

These are hoses with the emiters built in at preset spacing.

Ed, The PC and self flushing are nice. However, with a level bed and a filter inline on the system neither are necessary for good performance.

A soaker hose setup is also an option.

Decisions, decisions ... ;-)

Why not just take a regular garden hose, set it to just barely on and let it water one spot for a minute? That will give you a good idea of how well an emiter is going to cover. Better yet, if you get a little dripping between the hose end and water nozzle, just let it drip into the bed. Then you know what you need.

Howdy Gumby_CT.

The drip tubing I'm looking at actually has the emitters molded into the tubing...no hole punching and pressing in emitters. The emitters are spaced at specific distances...6" or 12" for the 1/4". 9", 12", 18", etc. for the 1/2". I don't think there'd be an issue of "blow outs".

With either the 6" or 9" spaced emitters I was figuring on trimming the tubing so the emitters were staggered going down the row...kinda like this:

->--x---x---x---x---x---x---x
->x---x---x---x---x---x---x
->--x---x---x---x---x---x---x

The soaker hose hasn't been ruled out, just trying to get a clue on all my options. I think the specs on the 1/4" soakers state the longest run can be 15', which I shouldn't have any problems with being as my runs will only be 8'.

You're right...I'm probably spinning my wheels trying to figure all this out. I'd just like the investment to be one I'm pleased with. But, I *do* tend to over research things. :)

I'll definitely let you know which way I decided and how it works out. I'm in no big hurry at the moment on it, the beds are still solarizing, been working on a compost pile, etc., I would like to do some fall planting, though.

Ed

username_5, you must of been right ahead of me in explaining the drip tubing!

I'm figuring on a filter so I'll degrade the appeal of the self-flushing. And my individual drip tube runs won't be but 8' and level so the pc isn't really a necessity either....back to the 1/4" stuff!

I'll have to wait until I get the beds built before I can really run a drip test. I guess I could wait to purchase the hardware until then...all I really have to do beforehand is make sure I've got the pvc piping/risers in place.

I went on a trek for BROWNs today. I knew I had too much greens when I started my compost pile, but... The bulk of the greens were two 55gallon garbage cans full of pea hulls that I got from a local produce stand. The hulls were already going through a heat ('twas a bit slimey, phew!!!)when I got them so I'm not sure what quality of ingredient they were/are. Anyhow, I mixed them with some old hay I had but I think I had too many peahulls for the hay...the ammonia smell grew. Yesterday evening I turned the pile and mixed in three packed 20 gallon bags of chopped pecan leaves/twigs. Today the ammonia smell seems to be lessening and the temp is just under 140f. Anyhow, I rounded up five more bags of oak/bay/etc., leaves today from the swamp and built a couple of more layers in the pile (with some bags left in reserve). Once I get the green/brown balance right I'm thinking I might need to put a band of plastic around the side of the round wire mesh bin leaving a gap at the bottom and punch a few holes in the sides...the heat down here is drying the edges out quickly.

Soaker-hose, drip-hose,...yelp dees deciziones are killin' me!

Ed

Yea, research along with discussion will go along way in making the right choice. I will throw you another curve ball. Read this link, then decide where you want to put your "drips".

I found it very interesting but the one that really surprised me was lettuce. I thought they just had surface roots. After over watering them (to death) one year, I just do NOT water lettuce any more.

Keep in mind the research was done (well published) in 1927. Maybe it is me, but I find that truly amazing.

I did a post on here about my water buckets. I think it was titled watering deep feeders. I have good luck with that but in SFG, watering can be a challenge.

I will be away for a while (my turn to keep the country safe) but hope you have made up your mind by time I get back.

Ed, are you anywhere near Bay Minette?

Good Luck with your choices,
Gumby_CT

Here is a link that might be useful: ROOT DEVELOPMENT of VEGETABLE CROPS

Thanks for the link, Gumby. Very interesting. I'm solarizing the area for my beds so maybe I've done something right already. :) You're right, for mid-20's research I would say it was very good...unfortunately it seems like research today is more geared to the high-tech rather than the practical. But, since research of this type has already been done the researchers have to dig deeper. It's a shame though, that they don't promote more of the older stuff...of course I've got some old farm books that promote ddt, so... :)

Hmmm, thanks for sharing your lettuce experience...that's something I'm going to try growing this fall/winter. I might have to get some of those little cut-off valves to go on some of my drip lines.

I'll do a search for the watering bucket/watering deep feeders thread.

I'm not that close to Bay Minette, they (fortunately) get some of the rains that come in off the gulf. We've got a customer there that we deliver to a couple of times a week (tire business). Interestingly, my first marriage was performed by a judge in Bay Minette (we eloped)...from all the wheezing and coughing the judge did I thought he was going to croak before he got through with the ceremony. After the fact, it would've been better for me if he had've.(groan...but, that was a long time ago and we were blessed with a beautiful daughter from the marriage!) I'm about 50 miles south of Montgomery...about 100 miles as a crow on a mission flies from the coast...hills, creeks, a few swamps, plenty of humidity with little rain...go figure.

Well, I'm not sure where you're heading to, but our prayers will be with you. Thanks for doing what you do. USA!!!!

Ed

Remind me when I get back, I have a story to share about my experience in Bay Minette. It's not all that far from Montgomery is it?

Meanwhile found this

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cornucop/msg0702324226662.html?8
RE: Watering My Summer Vegetables
& thought it might interest you.

Gotta run

Here is a link that might be useful: Deep Watering for heavy feeders

Update...ok, I got my feathers ruffled...

I emailed DripWorks a week ago inquring about availability of a timer along with a couple of questions regarding design. As of yesterday I hadn't recieved a reply so I decided to call. Nice lady answered the phone and I explained what I was doing, the size of the beds, lightweight growing mix, etc.,. After some lightening fast calculations she explained that I had 32 sq ft in each bed and that the 100' drip kit would cover both beds with plenty of tubing left over. Basically, that I should make one run down the bed and curve it around going to the end it started from...making the equivalent of two runs. After realizing that I was a bit daft she got somebody on the phone with me that seemed to be a bit knowledgeable. His recommendation was three, maybe four lines of the 1/4" tubing.

Well, I got to thinking and figured I'd just have to tinker with the system to really see what I needed to space the lines so I went ahead and faxed an order to them.

DripWorks offers a 10% off on their timers when you order one of their kits. What I did was basically build my own "Heart" kit with upgraded parts, but I also ordered the close-spaced garden bed "add-on KIT"....which I *thought* qualified for the 10% off. Well, I got a phonecall from them letting me know that I didn't qualify for the 10%...that it didn't apply to add-on kits. Hey, the ad said "kits" and had no disclaimer attached pertaining to add-on kits. The only disclaimer I saw was that the 10% didn't apply to the "Sampler" kit. I got to looking and some of their "qualifying" kits were even cheaper than the add-on kit. Besides that, I had basically ordered the "Heart Kit", but was paying them around 50% more for the upgraded configuration. She was nice and checked with a manager to see if I could get the 10% on the timer but came back and said they'd have to wait until Monday and talk with the owner. At that point I decided to cancel the order.

I know the $4 off on the timer is somewhat trivial, but I guess it's the principle of the thing. Maybe decisions, decisions are making me picky, picky. :)

I've since emailed The Drip Store with a couple of questions...I'll see how/if they respond. Drip Works has a few fittings that I liked, but after going through The Drip Store's site and reading a good many of their instruction/how-to articles I think I've figured a more simple way to do what I want to do. I also see that The Drip Store's 6" spaced drip tubing uses PC emitters. A bit more expensive, but...

Anyhow, we'll wait and see.
Ed (that just got 1" of rain last night!!!)
South Alabama

Well Ed, once you get something set up please post back and let everyone know what you did and how it works for you.

Will certainly help lots of folks in the future contemplating drip for their SqFt beds.

I noticed that Mel recomends 6" spacing of soakers on pages 140-141 in the latest version of the book (All New Square Foot Gardening)

I found my garden notes from last year where I was trying to figure out a way to layout the soaker hose for my corn in a 4x4ft bed. This is what I came up with. Keep in mind I am trying to make the soakers work with my rain barrels. Without the pressure, the soakers really do NOT work that well on the rain barrels.

My thought was to use a 'Y' connector to connect to 2 hoses - 1=9ft & 1=13.5ft. I figure it would take about 18 ft to circle the outside of a 4x4ft bed.

Maybe this will spawn more thoughts/ideas for your beds.

{{gwi:1276540}}

username_5, I'll definitely get back with the final setup...couldn't leave everybody hangin'! :)

Gumby, the image didn't make it through on this end. ???

Well, I got a response from The Drip Store, within one workday I guess you could say. The response was, well, mostly a "canned" response.

One thing though, after going back at looking at the Drip Store's 1/4" emitter tubing I couldn't find where it stated the tubing used pressure compensating emitters so I asked about them in my email...their reply was that the emitters were not PC. Hmmm, I guess I had been seeing things, eh? The reason I ask is that 100' of their Toro-supplied 1/4" 6" spaced line is something like $25 whereas HomeDepot has the 1/4" "Toro Blue Stripe" 6" emitter tubing which is stated as using PC emitters for less than $16 per 100' roll...of course taxes and shipping will bring the HD tubing up to the DripStore pricing but it's pc tubing. ???

Decizions, decizions... :)
Ed

Ok let me try again...took me hours, ha

Thanks for the diagram, Gumby, I see what you were talking about now.

BTW, what's the story about Bay Minnette? Bay Minnette is probably 100? miles south of Montgomery, but both are more or less on Interstate #65.

Ed

You want a private emale or want me to post it here?

Either way Gumby, I'm at a point in my life where if someone points out that my fly's unzipped it doesn't really embarass me...but I do zip it up.[grin]

Ed

I'm pretty much the same way. It's a bit off topic, that's why I asked but hey it's your topic, so let me see if I can summarize. Here goes.... Oh, if you are interested in the irrigating part of this thread, scroll down, as this is longer than I expected & off topic.

Last year, I drove to Biloxi, MS in a car a friend gave me. An 87 Chev Celebrity. With gas prices on the rise my thought was two fold. This got better gas mileage than my F150 plus if any thing happens to it, I could just leave it, rent a car and keep going. If I had the F150, I would feel obligated to pay inflated, out-of-state roadside repairs.

Well the car ran fine on the way down. My return trip began on Fri. May 13th at 00:45. I am not superstitious (good thing). After about an hour & half of driving, I began to hear a noise pulled off the highway to check it & the oil. At an idle the knock didn't seem too bad, the oil was good (had it changed before I left). Asked a local for directions, she mentioned go over the "Dolly Parton bridge". So at some point after I crossed the "Dolly Parton bridge" the vehicle emitted a severe knocking noise and lost power. After pulling off to the shoulder in a rural area of I-65 in Alabama (with no street lights), I investigated and found a puddle of oil under the engine. I was happy this did not happen a few miles back in the middle of a long bridge with no breakdown lanes. While I have never had an experience like this before, I knew that the engine was beyond repair.

This is when you get that nauseating, sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. Pitch black out, somewhere after 2 am, and you just have NO idea where the hey you are. No street lights, no signs to read to tell someone. I grabbed my Cingular cell, happy to have a signal. I dialed 911, The local police transferred me to the Alabama Highway Patrol who informed me if I had AAA, I would have to call them myself. The dispatcher hung up without giving me the local number. I could not locate my AAA card to find a number but checked my cell phone to find a number to the office in CT which luckily had menu options for roadside assistance. After finding out I was in AL, I was transferred to another number. While this dispatcher was trying to determine where I was located (I had absolutely no idea) I saw headlights pull up behind me.

Thinking, oh good it is the highway patrol, it turned out to be a well meaning civilian (who appeared to be under the influence) offering me a ride to Montgomery, some 3 hours north. Afraid to admit I did not know where I was, I told him the police wanted to know what mile marker I was at. He informed me I was approx. 6 miles north of the Bay Minette exit. After a few more minutes he insisted if I did not get in his car, he would have to get going. I felt it unwise to get into a car with a strange man in an altered mental status. I thanked him and off he went. The AAA dispatcher contacted a local towing company who called me some time later requesting a mile marker, informing me AAA would only pay him to search for 3 miles and if I was not in that area he would have to stop looking.

Despite my best efforts to describe where I was, the tow operator could not determine where I was located. Approximately 10 miles north of the bridge is all I knew but that didnt seem to help. A desolate part of I-65 in Alabama, without lights but plenty of trees and absolutely no other signs or markers. Apparently the entire stretch between Bay Minette and Montgomery is pretty desolate. This would have been a good test for OnStar.

During further conversation with the tow operator, he informed me there is one highway patrolman who works 200 miles of the interstate. With fog limiting visibility as time went on, we agreed that if I wanted assistance, I would have to start walking to find a mile marker and call him back. I grabbed a flashlight and began walking north on this lonely unmarked stretch of I-65. Thinking someone might stop if they saw a disabled vehicle with emergency flashers followed by someone walking, I decide to walk in the direction of travel. I flashed my light while walking, hoping someone would stop, maybe a truck driver with a CB radio. Making use of the headlights on the southbound vehicles I checked both sides of the highway, I continued as the flashing lights of my car faded from view. After walking for about 2 miles in the pitch dark with trucks and cars whizzing by at 75-80 mph I happened upon another motorist on the southbound side experiencing car problems with an air conditioning belt. After assisting him with my light, I was able to convince him to give me a ride to the next mile marker. He appeared to be hesitant since my flashing lights were not visible from where we were. It turns out that I was north of the 141 mile marker and the 142 mile marker was missing on both sides of the highway. What are the odds?

When tow operator arrived, he agreed the car would need another motor. But said "no one will give you any money for this". I asked about the availability of a used car. After telling me he did not have anything, he advised me that if I was to buy something locally, I would again have problems within 100 miles (no warranty). He said "they do it all the time to people in your situation". I again contacted the local AAA. Their first referral was to Enterprise Rent A Car, who insisted I would have to return the car to Alabama, NOT. I again called the local AAA dispatcher who had to research and call back with a 3 way conference to National Car Rental agent, located in Charleston, SC., who insisted the nearest one-way rentals were only available at the Mobile Airport. The tow operator told me it would be at least an hour drive to the Mobile Airport. I had no idea how I could get to the airport at this time of the morning and began inquiring about rooms in the local area.
Hearing my discussion with AAA the tow operator informed me that I have AAA-plus and he could take me up to 100 miles. He said this was within range of the airport. After pulling off to the side of the road and discussing it further, we decided the airport would likely be my best option. It was 4AM and the National counter did not open until 6:30 AM. He agreed to wait so I could unload my luggage.

The fun did not stop there but continued with airport police threatening TSA would confiscate my luggage or the vehicle if either were left unattended. Meaning, I could not leave my luggage on the sidewalk while going to the rental counter. I remember saying "hmmm then 'I' won't have to worry about it". Well he didn't think that was funny.

If you are the tow operator reading this, I want to Thank You, you were a complete gentleman and a huge help in my time of need.

I continued on to visit with my daughter in Orangeburg, SC and a long time friend in Princeton, NC. I had the worst experience of my life at the Sun Moon Inn, Orangeburg, SC but that is a whole story in itself. I would NOT recommend the Sun Moon Inn to anyone.

After my daughterÂs friend suddenly passed on in October, I returned to Orangeburg. This time in the F150 with trailer in tow. I am happy to say this trip was w/o incident.

Now folks, back to gardening. Ed, it is raining here again today & now again tonight. In fact, there are reports of a tornado touching down in Westchester County, NY and in Fairfield County, CT (Greenwich).

Gumby_CT

Sounds like you got to enjoy I-65, Gumby. Yelp, there's some empty stretches up and down that interstate...and folks from all over the country traveling it. Glad things worked out ok for you...though it sounds like it was an ordeal. Something folks don't know about is the "Alabama Triangle"...it's an area between Enterprise, Evergreen, and Montgomery. Twenty-five percent of the missing people in Alabama come up missing in this "triangle". What really caught my attention about it is that I live about in the center of the triangle. Like I said...glad you made it ok. :)

Ed

Well, it's 95*F in the shade, heat index of 101*F and NOAA is giving us 30 and 40 percent chance of rain for the next week!!! A few clouds floating around, a little breezy, I got the old rain-gauge up...we'll see.

Progress on the irrigation system: I finally placed an order with The Drip Store, fittings, valves, 1/2" .700 mainline tubing, DIG 9001D timer, etc.,. They're holding the order till they get the figure-8 hose-end clamps. I'm in no hurry, still gotta build the beds!

I'd decided I wanted to go with the 1/4" drip line with emitters every 6". The Drip Works' 1/4" tubing of this sort was $25 for 100', made by TORO and the emitters were not pressure compensating. I got to looking and found that Home Depot had a 1/4" TORO "Blue Stripe" .5gph that was stated as using pc emitters...price was $15.47. My wife was going to Montgomery so I got her to pick me up two rolls. When she got back I looked at the invoice and they actually sold the tubing for $13.85. Along with a 10%-off coupon I had it brought the price down to $12.47 a roll before taxes. So for less than $28(tax inc.) I got 200' of 1/4" PE drip tubing with PC emitters. The store SKU # is 716299. Hopefully the "blue stripe" will work good.

I just thought I'd pass this on in case somebody needed some of the tubing, seemed like a good deal to me.

I'll let ya'll know when everything arrives and I began assembly. :)

Ed

I had NOT heard about that Triangle before. Things could have turned out sooo much different. Thanks for that link.

Meanwhile back at the garden, Gumby has been playing around with some old garden hose thats been laying around. I drilled some holes, every 6 inches. Layed the hose out in the pattern described above and connected it to my rain barrels. So far it seems to do OK.

I may try doing the same with some soaker hose. I have quite a bit of both. The problem is - Gumby don't like the heat. Slows him right down.

Gumby_CT