Save Water by Learning How Much Your Plants Really Need

The following is an excerpt from Solar Gardening: Growing Vegetables Year-Round the American Intensive Way by Leandre Poisson and Gretchen Vogel Poisson. It has been adapted for the Web.

Mention watering, and the first thing we think of is how we can garden so that we don’t have to water. If a garden’s soil is rich with humus, the decomposing organic matter will absorb water like a sponge and hold in the moisture, making it available to growing plants. Mulching also makes for moist soil, because it prevents the evaporation of water from the ground’s surface. That’s why, in American Intensive Gardening, we grow plants close together to form a living mulch. Just like a miniature rainforest, the canopy of leaves shades the soil, keeping it cooler and reducing moisture loss through evaporation.