When
the prediction of a few days of cloudy weather encourages
transplanting, the seedlings are lifted with a large, sharp knife.
If the fall rains are late and/or the crowded seedlings are getting
leggy, a relatively small amount of irrigation will moisten the
planting areas. Another light watering at transplanting time will
almost certainly establish the seedlings quite successfully. And,
finding room for these crops ceases to be a problem because fall
transplants can be set out as a succession crop following hot
weather vegetables such as squash, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes,
potatoes, and beans.
Vegetables that must be heavily irrigated
(These crops are not suitable for dry gardens.)
Bulb Onions (for fall harvest)
Celeriac
Celery
Chinese cabbage
Lettuce (summer and fall)
Radishes (summer and fall)
Scallions (for summer harvest)
Spinach (summer)
Chapter 5
How to Grow It with Less Irrigation: A--Z
First, a Word About Varieties
As recently as the 1930s, most American country folk still did not
have running water. With water being hand-pumped and carried in
buckets, and precious, their vegetable gardens had to be grown with
a minimum of irrigation. In the otherwise well-watered East, one
could routinely expect several consecutive weeks every summer
without rain. In some drought years a hot, rainless month or longer
could go by. So vegetable varieties were bred to grow through dry
spells without loss, and traditional American vegetable gardens were
designed to help them do so.
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