Water of life.

Now if that title does not cause a blip of interest in your alpha & beta waves, then I am going to have to revert to shock tactics.

Like talking about the principles of doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do, with less subtle nuances referring to the state of ethics and tone at the top. In various real-life examples.

But for today, I am going to continue the theme of Wednesday’s greenfield promises. Yes, I was known for being able to raise a single chilli off a purchased ready-made pot plant. It was dire, and the tannin levels of all plants elevated when I entered the nursery. Now, I seem to be on my way to some measure of success, and today, I will explore water, as being what I now know was my fatal “subtraction”.

We have three options on the farm. Two of the three came with the farm, and still causes some consternation when we try and figure out where what goes.

I will start with the most important point. The start.

The water comes from a reliable place underground, via a sun pump. The pump has a generator back up, for days that the sun may not be fully present. (Yes, that does happen maybe 2 times a year, here in the semi-arid country of Namibia).

The water then has a choice. Kind off. The choice is to run up to the reservoir near camp 2 (about 2.8km), or to fill the tank.

The tank feeds the house, and a selection of taps throughout the garden.

Once the tank is full, it feeds the dam, in which I have started my future experiment. Tilapia hydroponics.

Out of the dam, it goes into various pipes in the garden.

It is important to know, because, like Isaac Asimov’s three laws for robots:

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
   1. The people in the house get water first. And if there is no water, no one else gets.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except when such orders would conflict with the First Law.
   1. Animals get water second, but if there is no water, revert to rule 1.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
   1. The veges and garden can have as much water as it needs, provided 1 & 2 are met.

We have three ways of distribution:

Good old-fashioned flood irrigation.

It is not the most water effective method. Statistics say that as much as 90% of the water used through flood irrigation, is wasted as run off.

They also say, 75% of statistics are made up on the spot. 😉

 Most of the trees in our garden are watered in this manner, and I guess that works well, because their roots go deep.

This method is prettily demonstrated by the Rundu mielies over here.

This least water wise method is fed by law number 3. Whatever water is left for distribution.

Hosepipe & spray.

Somewhat less waste, but troublesome to get right if the wind is playing its games, and the sun is beating down.

I have chosen the ground nuts as the lucky recipients to demonstrate this method.

BUT the hosepipe run off the taps, and the taps are fed by the tank. And the tank is subject to rule 1 and 2. So timing is important.

We have forgotten to close taps before, and have suffered the consequence of a dry house.

Drip irrigation

The new way. Thanks to some much-valued input from a dear friend (who played rugby for Griquas) (how is that for subtle name dropping).

The weight of the water in the dam is not quite enough to provide pressure for adequate water flow, but we are working on that.

I think these wild rockets are the first candidates for commercial distribution.

And what I thought was going to be a few words on water, for those of you who are starting afresh, turned out to be quite a long article.

I’m thinking that later this week, I want to explore the concept of “Uncanny valley”. From green thumbs, to AI…..