Watching the Water
August 2011
It is now mid August and we don’t seem to have had a proper summer yet. Sunshine and showers being the order of the day, sounds familiar somehow.
As we approach another bank holiday weekend, I am confident the sun will finally shine, and with it I turn my thoughts to the possibility of an Indian Summer. The wet June and July means our irrigation equipment to water the leaves hasn’t been particularly stretched so far, but that can all change very rapidly.
A field of Steve’s Leaves soaks up a lot of water and without rain we need to replenish soil moisture by irrigating. To ensure Steve’s Leaves reach you in perfect condition we do this in a very controlled way. Water is a precious resource and we use it very carefully. Here are some things we do to manage our water…..
Firstly we work out just how much moisture our soil can hold and how much water is currently already there. We do this to avoid over watering, there is no point adding more water than the soil can soak up. Then we work out how much the leaves need. This is dependent on what growth stage the plant has reached, how dry the air is and how windy it is going to be. We use all this information to decide how much water to add, only then do we start to irrigate.
Aside from looking after our precious resource, we have found less water is good for our tasty little leaves. Less water means the plant grows deep roots as it searches for water. Amazingly this can be over 1 metre deep. This makes for a very healthy plant because it is able to take up more nutrients from a well developed root system, which makes Steve’s Leaves tastier and better for you.
