Irrigation and Garden Design

We modeled our pepper farm after my father in laws blueberry farm operation. We used 20 gallon EG 10000S Econ-Grip nursery pots from John's blueberry farm and realized we would need a few more. I tried stopping by our local nurseries to see if they would sell me some of their used pots and I had no takers. I was actually surprised by there unwillingness to part with them, even to sell. So I found a place online called Great Western that sells them for about $5.00 each. But they sting you in freight.

We tied into our automatic irrigation system with 3/4 inch PVC and added an "Add-It" device that makes it easy to add fertilizer as needed automatically as we grow our peppers.

This particular device is not meant for constant pressure and was meant for use with a garden hose. However, this is setup with the auto irrigation system after the station valve and is not under pressure continuously. The PSI max is listed at 60 and our water pressure measures to about 50 PSI. So we improvised.

We are just about ready for planting. The irrigation seams to be working great and after some calibrations we should be ready. Starting to look like the blueberry farm setup? Nice to be able to put some space to use on the side of our home. Hope y'all come back for our next post. 

Inspiration

Patti and I have often talked about growing peppers and tomato's and other fresh vegetables for making our own salsa. It's was only recently after visiting my wife's dad did we decide put our plans into action. Over the last several years her dad has grown and developed a wonderful blueberry farm in the Hudson, Florida area. John Curry gave us for the trip home several nursery 20 gallon pots to help us get started.

Each plant is set up to a drip irrigation system where they are watered twice daily. The birds are another matter. He uses air cannons and shot guns with blanks to scare the birds away.



Grandpa in the middle
and dad is on the right



In reflecting on my new found desire to grow peppers I feel like I must be getting in touch with my own agriculture heritage as I get older. My grandfather worked as an irrigator in the orange groves and my dad owned a large orange grove in Southern California in the late 60s. Probably explains why I love Oranges.



So Patti and Is agriculture heritage comes from Florida Blueberries and California Oranges. Just makes sense to grow peppers in Texas.

Any who, we will begin our journey of growing peppers and tomato's at the side of our home in Southern Texas and post our progress and things we learn along the way. We hope you enjoy and leave us a comment from time to time. Our next post will be on how we setup our pepper farm and varieties we chose to grow.