I lucked out when I dug the rows for my garden. They naturally slant downhill a touch with the high side closest to both my hose and the place where rain rolls off my roof. I have found with minimal effort I can lay the hose at the top of the row with just a trickle and 5 minutes later the entire row has been watered with no attention from me. This method has both increased the amount of water my soil soaks up and frees up my time to weed. I no longer water the garden twice a day!
Knowing this I plan to dig trenches from the rain runoff point to each row. In time my garden will be able to use rain water and will cut down on my water costs. For the moment I will use large rocks as "gates" or dams to control the flow of the runoff while I contemplate a better and more visually appealing way to achieve the same results.
With my goal of gardening on a budget mostly achieved my next goal is to make gardening nearly effortless. More updates to come soon.
