OUT with the hose!

Well, watering season has officially begun. We haven't had any significant rain for almost a month now. We really could use a good downpour! My two water holding tanks (they each hold 250 gallons) were full several weeks ago. Now, one is completely empty, and the other is half way empty. Already. I really expected them to last at least until July. I use the water mostly for watering livestock and dogs. Amazing how fast it goes! Really puts into perspective how much water we go through on a daily basis.

I dragged all my hoses out last week, and took them down to my new garden by the storage shed, wayyyyy down at the end of the driveway. Hooked everything up, crawled under the house and turned the water to the field on.  My plants were desperately needing some moisture. When I made my way back down to the hose, almost no water was coming out. CRAP! I think there is a leak or something down the pipe somewhere. It is buried in the ground, so almost impossible to figure out where it might be. Just in case I did something wrong, I crawled back under the house, to see if maybe I had turned the wrong tap or something. I had done it right.
I proceeded to have a minor meltdown about then. I burst into tears. I have been working literally 16 hours a day, planting and making gardens, and trying to get everything done. Having no water for the 150 tomato plants, the 50 sunflowers, and the 30 Snackjack pumpkins I have planted in the back bed just all of a sudden seemed like too much to bear. I screamed at the universe for a bit, then said some very bad swear words, then crawled back from under the house, and got busy again. There is not a lot of time to sit around feeling sorry for yourself on a farm. No matter how hard things seem at the time, you just have to pick yourself up and deal with it.

So, now my ritual is this: everytime I have to go open or close the gate, I fill up my watering cans and lug them down the driveway, and water a few plants each time. I really need to find a better plan, as this won't do when it gets really hot. I've covered everything with hay to help hold in the moisture, but pumpkins and tomatoes and sunflowers are all really water hungry plants. It will be easier next year, as the hay and mulch I put on this year will start to compost, and hold in the moisture better. It only sucks the big one this year, as the bed is brand new, and there isn't enough organic material in it yet.

Sigh.