Rick, here's a drip system using various types of fittings, emitters, distribution manifolds (some adjustable), inline drippers, pot drippers, adjustable drippers, inline shutoff valves, and both 1/4" & 1/2" tubing with non-clog pre-installed emitters (6" & 12" spacing.) It also has a fertilizer injector and 3 zones. It's a very challenging garden to do because of various heights, paths, raised beds, containers, many different types of plants & plants' needs, a driveway, etc. It has tomatoes, peppers, corn, watermelons, perennials, garlic, onions, peas, brugmansia, strawberries, raspberries, giant pumpkins, etc. I agree corn should be planted in blocks of at least 4 rows rather than a single row. You can put your corn rows next to each other and fill in the path with plants too, or plant more than 1 "row" wide per row, or even many "hills" per row. The corn in the pic has 1/4" dripline with 1/2gph pre-installed drippers every 6" (1gph per foot.) Rows are branched off of a distribution head that has dime adjustments for each of the outlets to shut off any line at any time. (Yes, you use a dime to turn a screw in/out to control flow of each outlet.) The pumpkins have 1/2" dripline with pre-installed 1gph drippers every foot. The same line zigzags through the strawberries and watermelons. The driveway container peppers and tomatoes use similar 1/4" line with the pre-installed drippers positioned over the containers. Many lines have shutoff valves to turn the line off when not needed. The beds have distribution heads with plain lines going to each plant on the rightmost bed, and the output is changed by changing an emitter in a distribution head; adjustable emitters were manually inserted into 1/2" lines on the bottom bed, and the black fabric beds have 1/4" lines with pre-installed 1/2gph drippers run off a distribution head with shutoff knobs for each line built into the head. I liked the 1/4" line with pre-installed drippers so much I converted many of the larger lines. Cherry tomatoes in containers near the middle have pot drippers that connect to a 1/2" main line via 1/4" lines w/shutoffs. The triangular cages near the bottom have inline pot drippers. The black fabric pepper bed uses 1/4" tubing with emitters pre-installed every 12 inches. The garlic bed uses three 1/4" lines with pre-installed drippers every 6" and shutoff valves for each line. I've probably skipped a lot of things (1/2 drums get adjustable drippers, perennials along fence 1/4" line with preinstalled drippers, etc.) The fertilizer injector (the cheap model) cannot be under pressure constantly (faucet on but valves closed) so a "master" valve gets inserted before it. Anytime one of the 3 valves open, the master valve opens first, so there's no pressure on the injector and water only flows to it when a valve is turned on. This way, you can use one $39-$59 fert injector system for the whole system (versus the need for a pressurized fertilizer injector system at $200+) and the fert only goes to the open valve. My point is, while this is a really complicated system, (even partially intensive/square foot gardening principles in some places) it shows the flexibility of drip. There are limitations on 1/4" line lengths too, (I think somewhere between 20-30ft) but you break those limitations by simply adding a ditribution head or punching a hole in a 1/2" line with a $1 tool and connecting additional 1/4" lines off it to get around the length limit. I guess you'd have to decide if you want to take the easiest way out (Tape) or do it right the first time with extra options available, plus future changes possible (Drip.) If you pull a diseased or dead plant, will you be watering an empty spot? Do your plants have different watering requirements and can you make changes? Can you branch off and add a new spot easily? If a line plugs, will it still provide for the rest of the plants in the row? Can you bury the line? Is it repairable or can a section be bypassed or shut off, individually or completely? These are some questions you'll have to ask yourself, only you will know what your needs and limits are. Hope this helps. Mark Here is a link that might be useful:

7000ft, I am totally convinced you ought to write a book. Your family sounds very interesting and it sounds like you all work as a cooperative of sorts. How much of your food do you produce? The tomatoes that I grow are primarily for sauce, so I use Roma-type tomatoes. They are odd-looking, being long and quite large. The variety I grew this year was Super San Marzano. I've tried some others, but this one is the best. The sauce-type tomatoes are awesome for making sauce. They are very meaty with minimal juice and seeds. Making sauce is a breeze because you can skip the steps for squeezing the juice and seeds out. According to the catalogs, some varieties have pectin in them that helps to thicken the sauce. We ended up with 25 jars of sauce in the freezer. That is a record for us, so we are pleased! That's 25 dinners during ski season that I don't have to cook. :) I also grow a cherry tomato and some sandwich-type tomatoes. I've had good luck with Early Wonder, which is early yet tasty. (way better than early girl!) Inside the GH we enjoy our first tomatoes in mid-July. Without the GH we are lucky to get any red tomatoes at all. I'm sure it's the same for you. My gardening efforts are pretty much solo, but my husband was instrumental in building the GH and in helping look after things as needed. He is an expert at raising seedlings because I tend to travel a lot in the spring. He also built a root cellar and he is fully on board with our quest to grow as much food as possible. It's a bit of an oddball pursuit, so I'm happy that he's into it!

cut back on the tomatoes also! :) Not enough room and they are too close together--the groundhog got some of the best looking ones just as they were ready to pick. I hope he moves on by next year. Nes--what tomatoes did you find did the best for you? What tomatoes are you keeping for next year? I gave up on cucumbers a few years back but tried them again this year--didn't do well again!!-what is it with me and cucumber?? :) Not sure I will waste space on them again :( I did plant and have success with some long asparagus beans--I only had a few seeds and something dug up about three of the vines, but did have about six vines produce and they were nice. I am saving seeds to plant more next year. a definite keeper--pepper fish that I got at the swap-one of the two seedlings I got survived and was so pretty in the garden--they have variegated leaves, and some of the peppers are variegated also--small--about two inches and very hot. trying to cut back on trying to have a huge variety of plants--will plant just a few tomatoes of a couple of varieties--and as far as perennials go--divide what is really doing well and spread it all over. fill in the blanks with some of my favourite annuals that have done really well this year and have saved a ton of seeds from--four varieties of marigolds, tall orange cosmos, malva-zebrina (planted mauritania and it grew big but no flowers so far!), melampodium (which I FINALLY got to grow and look beautiful :))-thanks Bev! :) probably other things but you know--I will change my mind at least once of twice before next year! LOL

I have a 2 1/2 year-old son and we also struggle with working in the yard at times. IT is better this year here are some things I have done... Let them water your containers or play with water. Drexler now tells me the flowers are crying because they are thirsty. I then give him the hose and let him have at it...last night he was right. One of my pansies was thirsty! Get excited about things. Right now EVERY DAY when I get home from work my son asks to go pick the strawberries. We go out and usually a new one is ripe (can't wait a few more weeks). He is still working on not picking the green ones, but he'll learn. Teach them what is yummy. Last year we planted carrots in a container and he would go out and pick a carrot out, wipe it off and eat it. Clean soil, no chemicals and hey he was eating carrots. Teach them to love flowers. How does it smell? How does it taste. Have them help you pick out what ones to pick. Drexler and I will do this together, go into the house and put them in vases and then talk about how pretty they are. I have a small vase by my bed that he empties out every day and replaces the water in...and then the flowers. A bit of a pain, but he is learning to appreciate my yard. Don't freak when they step on a plant, but do teach them to be nice to your plants. I have a large yard and Drex has hurt some of my plants, but we talk about how to treat them. Teach them to watch for bugs and to be interested in them. Ants can keep a kid busy for at least fifteen minutes. Tell yourself you will most likely not get a lot accomplished with your helpers so when you do accomplish something it feels good. Make them an area that is all theirs.