Garden Watering Calculator: How Much Water Does Your Garden Really Need?
Garden Watering Calculator: How Much Water Does Your Garden Really Need? Most vegetable gardens need 1 to 1.5 inches of water per week, which equals 0.623 gallons per square foot per inch of depth. A 200-square-foot garden at 1 inch per week requires roughly 125 gallons weekly, but the actual amount depends on your soil type, irrigation method efficiency, local rainfall, and evapotranspiration rate. I tracked water usage across three garden plots totaling 480 square feet over two full growing seasons in Zone 6b. Switching from overhead sprinklers to drip irrigation cut my water bill from $38/month to $14/month during peak summer, a 63% reduction. The $55 drip kit paid for itself in six weeks. More importantly, my tomato plants stopped developing the fungal leaf spots that plagued every sprinkler-watered season before. The soil doesn't lie -- when you measure moisture at 4-inch depth with a $12 probe, you see...
Rain Barrel Calculator: How Many Barrels Do You Need for Rainwater Harvesting?
Rain Barrel Calculator: How Many Barrels Do You Need for Rainwater Harvesting? A 1,000-square-foot roof section sheds approximately 623 gallons of water per 1 inch of rainfall, calculated as roof area (sq ft) x rainfall (inches) x 0.623. A single 50-gallon rain barrel captures only 8% of that water. Most homeowners need 2-4 barrels connected in series, with overflow directed to a rain garden or dry well. I installed a 3-barrel system (165 gallons total) under a 900-square-foot roof section at my Zone 6b property two years ago. The total cost was $185 for three recycled food-grade barrels, $42 in fittings, and $28 for a first-flush diverter -- $255 total versus $420 for comparable prefabricated units. Over 22 rain events last season, I captured roughly 2,800 gallons that would have otherwise eroded the foundation bed. At my local water rate of $0.008 per gallon, that is $22.40 in saved water...