An urban farm can be like any other backyard garden - we are just gardening at a slightly different scale. But, in Colorado, as we say in farming, "Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting." As water becomes an increasingly scarce and expensive resource, we have to be very careful how we use it. This year, 5 Fridges Farm has decided to use all domestic water at the Farm. The decision was made because the cost of pumping agricultural water with gas surpassed the price of watering with domestic water. Because "broadcast" sprayers are more inefficient (and create more evaporation) we mainly use drip irrigation at the site of each plant. These "drippers" put a certain amount of water in an hour on each plant (0.5 gallons up to 10 gallons). You can even put it on a timer so that you can water consistently each night and avoid evaporation in the sunlight. These systems are a little like Legos in that they are interchangeable, universal, and you can buy a basic kit at a local hardware store. Or, you can put together a custom set-up quite inexpensively with a la carte PVC pipe fittings, etc (also available at the hardware store). Best of all, the whole thing can be put away at the end of your growing season and repurposed in different configurations the next season if you choose.
