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Rainwater Cistern Pump Troubleshooting
Several months ago, we were bestowed a 500 gallon rainwater cistern with a submersible pump. The pump turns on when it senses pressure changes such as squeezing the hose nozzle. Several weeks back, it grew less and less responsive taking several minutes to turn on. These were the steps I went through to troubleshoot: Shake the hose Fling the hose on the ground Jump on the hose to squirt the remaining water out Unplug the pump and plug it back in Remove the spray nozzle to allow for unrestricted flow Detach the hose from the cistern valve and fully open the valve Take out the pump and check for clogs…
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Lettuce Germination
Lettuce may be one of the easiest crops to grow so long as it isn’t planted too late in hot conditions that make it bolt. Several years ago I had a great crop of Romaine in a raised bed with ideal soil conditions. There was a rich blend of manure compost, peat moss, vermiculite and the existing soil. I started seeds in the early spring, watered regularly, and added tomato plants in to the bed in April which gave the lettuce shade by early summer. The crop lasted several weeks longer than it should have. There was another year when I switched to in-ground beds that I couldn’t get my…
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Rainwater Harvesting Cistern
Last week I got an email asking if we were interested in hosting a teaching and demonstration project for a class of NCSU students, which would involve the installation of a free rainwater harvesting cistern at our house. Of course I jumped on that opportunity as Joe and I have been attempting for awhile to get a system going for the garden. Two of our downspouts feed into this 550 gallon cistern, which has a submersible pump smart enough to turn on when it senses a pressure change. Mitch Woodward came out to our house last week to assess the site and bring by all the materials. Yesterday, a class…
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When it Rains
Last night it rained and rained and rained. As the boys were working on their highly processed veggie straws for breakfast (I didn’t give it to them… Scooby snuck the back off the counter), I snuck outside with the camera. To my delight, there was no flooding. The new French tile drain is working like a charm, and this was a serious rainfall. Just look how the mulch on the path was washed downstream: A week ago these mystery seedlings popped up out of the ground. I don’t know what they are, but I’ve tossed out cantaloup, sunflower, and possibly squash seeds that I was too lazy to take to…
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Drainage – My garden Cesspool Part Two
Living in the city on 1/3 an acre of land in clay country, finding the ideal spot for a vegetable can be problematic at best. When we moved to our house back in 2007, our lot was covered in pines. Over the past three summers, our garden has been relocated and rebuilt no less than three times. Finally, this summer was THE summer when my gardening stars were to align. We’d removed 19 pines from our yard (don’t worry, there are still plenty of trees left) and we moved the garden to the south side of the house where sunlight abounds. The topsoil appeared rich, and we dug right in.…
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Drainage – My garden Cesspool.
I’m not sure if it was the mucky shplucky smell, the dead zone, the disease on my tomatoes or the lake under the bean tunnel that give it away. But it has become very apparent that the garden has drainage issues. On our sloped lot, most of the runoff cuts around the south side of the house through the garden before making it down to the street and eventually into the Neuse River. The garden sits in a low spot that retains the water on its downward track. Considering we’ve had several years of drought, I figured it would be good that it served as a catch basin during storms;…
