The Watering System

 

The watering system for Eldorado Windy Farm includes rain water catchment and the use of water from the Eldorado Area Water & Sanitation District (EAWSD). All of the rain that falls on the farm is caught by the roof of the house and transferred to some catchment system. On the east side of the house the fruit orchard, lavender garden and vegetable garden are watered by catchment directly from house canales into three rain barrels. One holds 360 gal. and two hold 200 gal. each for a total of 760 gal. of water that can be contained. (These can all fill up in one good rain storm during the monsoon season in July and August.) Water from the kitchen roof goes down a gutter and runs into the small garden beyond the Flower Garden wall to water the peach tree, tomatoes and peppers that are planted there annually. The water from the garage and studio roofs drain from gutters into a ditch beside the house that waters the older cherries, apricot and Asian pear trees.

Trees and other plants in the front of the house are watered by rain or snow and supplemented by house water from Eldorado Area Water & Sanitation District (EAWSD) when needed. Additionally, water from the clothes washing machine in the house is captured in a 60 gal. rain barrel inside the studio and is transferred to the Flower Garden by gravity through a 50 ft. garden hose. All of the water runoff used in the kitchen sink to wash vegetables, etc. is caught in a 3 gal. bucket and transferred by hand to the outside planted containers.

Our rain barrels were purchased and installed by Jack Dant of RainHarvest, LLC.