THE WAY OUT HERE

Sweet drinks are made of these

BY HUNTER HILL
Posted 6/8/22

Rain, rain, go away, but please come back another day. Preferably a weekday, when I’m stuck inside between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with enough days before the weekend to dry up nicely. 

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THE WAY OUT HERE

Sweet drinks are made of these

Posted

Rain, rain, go away, but please come back another day. Preferably a weekday, when I’m stuck inside between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., with enough days before the weekend to dry up nicely. 

If only the weather worked like that. Fortunately, the forces of nature are mercifully arbitrary, and simply follow the dictations of the Almighty. While I may not have rain the exact days I want it, somehow in the end I normally get just what is needed for our crops. We’ve been blessed with a relatively dry spring compared to years past, which has afforded my wife and me time to complete a few major steps in setting up our crop-growing infrastructure.

One major step in this, however, has been to install a large water reservoir to maintain consistent water to our plants when the odds shift out of our favor. We first got the idea to add a water tower to our greenhouse when we were considering our irrigation system. We have invested in drip tape irrigation, which relies on steady pressure to fill the system and evenly irrigate our plants. 

If there’s too little pressure, parts of the drip tape would not receive water and plants in those areas would go thirsty. Because it needs the pressure, and because we don’t want to always rely on a water pump to provide that pressure, we decided to use pressure created by gravity in a large storage tank for the water.

 The next question was what we would use for a water tower. Large 500-gallon tanks, or larger, are very costly, as much as $2 or $3 a gallon brand new. Used tanks can be cheaper, but you never really know what they were used for, or if they can safely hold water that will go into food. My father-in-law suggested we utilize the old molasses tank from his barn. He has since ceased using it for that purpose and needed it out of the barn anyway. Molasses, while sticky and prone to clogging, could at least be cleaned out of the tank. It would also not harm the water if any molasses remained after cleaning the tank. In fact, a large part of plants’ diets includes natural sugars, so it would be borderline advantageous to leave a little in the tank for a quick treat for our leafy investments. 

After a sketchy few moments swinging the 600-gallon tank out of the barn by the forks of the skid-steer, we managed to get it mostly cleaned out and prepped for installation on a newly built platform near our greenhouse. While preparing the platform, I happened to look over in our greenhouse, where a row of tall grass and wildflowers grew (one of the unattended items on my to-do list) and caught sight of a vibrantly colored butterfly. It was spread out against the wall of the plastic above a cluster of buttercups, competing with them with its yellow hues. I could only think how the butterfly might like a little bit of molasses in its diet. Perhaps via a vegetative flowery straw soon to come. 

As we worked, the sun came to an early, yet beautiful, set on the hill behind us, painting our field in rich glowing tones as we wrapped up the day’s endeavors. It was one of those days when things seemed to be going in the right direction. The weather held off while we had the time to work, we sourced a tank that was as beneficial to us to receive as it was to be parted with for my father-in-law, and we got one step closer to completing the system that will soon feed not only our own family but those who look to us to provide fresh produce for theirs.

To top it all off, I enjoyed—as I always do—the time spent with my wife to work toward our future, which seemed to have the subtle blessing of nature itself, delivered on the fairy-like wings of the greenhouse butterfly. 

I pray we continue to have successes like these and that we give as much to the land we steward as it gives to us both personally and professionally. The way out here we take opportunities as they come, and go with the flow. Sometimes that means waiting for the rain to come or go; other times it means using an old piece of equipment for a new purpose. But amid every opportunity, we look for those moments designed by the Creator himself for us to stop and smell the roses, or watch the butterflies.

weather, nature, water

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