If you are setting up irrigation for a homestead garden, you likely need more extensive solutions than someone who just does a bit of backyard gardening. However, at the same time, you probably don't want to spend as much money as a professional farmer. Here's a look at some of the irrigation supplies you may want to consider.
1. Low-Flow Gravity-Fed Irrigation Tape
Irrigation tape is essentially drip hoses. You line these hoses at the base of your crops, and they slowly release water. Because the water is seeping out of the hose, it gives the plants the moisture they need along the roots rather than saturating their leaves unnecessarily.
In most cases, you locate your water such as a bucket of water or a rain barrel above the irrigation tape. Then, you connect the irrigation tape to the water source and snake the tape through your homestead garden. Finally, you let gravity do the rest of the work and you refill the water source as needed.
2. Fibre Embedded Heavy Duty Rubber Hoses
In addition to irrigation tape, you may need hoses, and if you want them to last, you should invest in quality. The most durable hoses are fibre embedded heavy duty rubber. While they may not withstand a lawn mower running over them, they also won't break down in the elements like many inexpensive hoses.
3. Brace Replacement Fittings
If you use an inexpensive hose, you may notice that the ends of the hoses don't fit together well. When you are trying to irrigate a lot of your property, it wastes water if it's constantly squirting out your hose attachments. To avoid that, you may want to invest in brace replacement fittings. They can help to eliminate issues with threading, and brass will stand up to abuse from lawn mowers, animals and weather.
4. Metal Sprinklers
If you decide to buy a few sprinklers instead of or in addition to irrigation tape, you may want to opt for metal. Metal sprinklers are simply more resistant than plastic sprinklers. If you are trying to homestead to offset grocery bills, buying metal sprinklers costs more upfront, but it can save you money down the line as you won't need to replace your sprinklers as often.
5. Irrigation Pumps
In many cases, small homestead farms can get by without irrigation pumps, but that depends on how your land is laid out. If you need to bring water uphill or to far parts of your property, you may need to invest in an irrigation pump. You can connect these pumps to the rest of your irrigation system so that you have water whenever and wherever you need it.
Share12 April 2017
Hello, my name is Richard and I own a medium-sized industrial unit in Sydney, Australia. I only started the business a few months ago, so I am not a professional in any sense of the word. Before I could set the business going, I had to kit out the new factory with equipment. I didn't have a clue where to source the best equipment or how to get the best deal. Thankfully, my brother-in-law is worked in manufacturing for many years. He came along with me when we viewed the equipment and got me the very best stuff. I decided to start this blog to help others who are just starting out.