Wicking Beds

I've heard people who come to visit Oklahoma say that we seem a bit schizophrenic...it's because of the weather. A common local saying is: "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute". Which is usually true...but we are in the midst of the worst drought and heatwave in Oklahoma history. Jason recently bought me enough soaker hoses to fill all of our garden beds...partly to save on water and partly because it's just TOO HOT water for an hour every night and partly because our city has banned watering during daylight hours. That means I get up before dawn (no thank you) or contend with the mosquitoes after sunset. The garden is doing okay. It's been an average of 103 degrees for the last month...and it's only rained (for an hour) twice. It would have been nice to be able to collect that water where it counts. Enter: Water Wicking Garden Beds. They are built using the same philosophy as a self watering pot but on a huge scale. You can either put water in it or store rain water that falls into the bed:

.............................................(image found at: http://www.urbanfoodgarden.org)

Below is a great Youtube video that records the whole process:

...and I found a how-to with basic specs on building a wicking bed here

Too bad it's too hot to actually make one. It looks like our cinder-block composter and the greenhouse frame will have to wait until September.