Gardening Without Irrigation: Or Without Much, Anyway

Gardening Without Irrigation is a novel written by Steve Solomon. Soil moisture loss averages 1-1/2 inches per week during summer in the eastern U.S. West of the Cascades, bare soil may not lose much moisture at all. By creatively using and conserving this moisture, some Northwest gardeners can go through an entire summer without irrigation. A plant wilts out of self-preservation when it can no longer absorb as much water as it is losing. Water is so crucial to life. In deep, open soil west of the Cascades, most vegetable species may be grown quite successfully without irrigation or mulching. Let's suppose that on April 1 the soil in this bare plot was at capacity, holding all the moisture it can. From early April until well into September the hot sun will beat down on the bare plot. The soil serves as their bank account, storing the water that is accessible. Water will eventually rise by capillary action from below the root zone if the soil body is deep.