Laying out Your Fields - Irrigation

March 14, 2016

Categories: Starting a New Farm

We run T-Tape on both sides of each raised row for irrigation and fertigation. More on all the hook-ups later, but for now you need to lay out the T-Tape throughout the field. Check with Drip Works. These guys will work with you to lay out exactly what you need for irrigating your fields from the initial T-Tape to the hook ups etc. free if you purchase from them. We‘ve found them to be extremely useful and their pricing is good. Freight to Alaska can be challenging. Perhaps you can work with a freight forwarder or combine orders with your fellow farmers. Here in Homer, we use Redden Marine (Kachemak Gear Shed) to receive our freight. They always have a good rate.

Next we cover our fields with Typar, a black slick, woven row cover (not felt that allows weeds to grow through) used in construction for driveways. The Typar comes from the hardware store. In Alaska we buy from Spenard Builders. Typar comes in several widths. We use 12 to 15 foot widths for ease of handling and fewer seams. Wed lay out the typar crossways. We anchor the typar with landscape staples. We also line our fields with rocks. Many farms have had their typar blow up during the winter or spring winds. Staples alone will not keep the typar from sailing away. One grower sews long tubes of typar and fills it with sand to anchor her Typar corners. I just saw these tubes already made for sale in the FarmTek catalogue. I‘ve seen logs, rocks, home made huge staples used. After a few years I think the roots help to secure the staples but newly planted fields require a lot of weights or you will see the largest sails ever in your fields and it‘s not a pretty sight.