Attempt at Watering the Trees

Trees galore...soon to be a forest! This weekend Andy plowed with this cute little 32hp John Deere Tractor with a 3-pt hitch; and, then he and Kathleen planted their trees. (The date is wrong on the picture, as I did not change it on the camera.)

With over 300 little trees in the ground, it seemed imperative to figure out a way to water them. The distance is too far for hoses. In Sun Prairie we filled up garbage cans at the water stations and then watered the trees by buckets; but, that was far less than a hundred trees. So, together with Victoria, a decision was made to put a water tank on the pickup. This morning I headed to Big R to get the one on sale.

Hoping to be able to attach a water hose to the tank, I could then blare my radio and happily drive down the rows watering the trees. The fellow at the store found some adaptor fittings for a garden hose. Then Mom's neighbor, Harvey, put the fittings on for me. Next stop, to get a small hose, and THEN the water station.

175 gallons later, the little pickup and I were on our way home. S l o w l y! There was no baffle in the water tank, so fearing a big slosh might tip the pickup over, I went slowly and steadily. No problems!!

I went to the first tree when I got home, all excited to start watering. Pulled the hose through the cab and turned it on----nothing. I pulled the hose out of the cab and put it ground level, thinking MAYBE it can't push up hill---nothing. I opened the top lid to give it air---nothing. Now what?

Time to call the boys. Its really great having three brothers. I kinda wonder at times that they don't mind getting stupid calls for help. They always take me seriously and help!! Thank God for them!

Well, I tried Pete. He thought maybe either the tank was plugged, or maybe the hose. Asked if the hose was below the level of the tank. He then suggested taking the hose off and putting an old one on that I could cut up and see if a shorter distance would help. I asked how I was going to get it back on and he didn't think that should be a problem. That I just needed to "shut the valve off first." ......The valve???? Now why didn't anyone at the store say I needed a valve???? So, I told him I didn't have a valve. My hopes sank when I heard the surprise in his voice when he repeated my words of "no valve."

The final decision was that I was going to make a ditch through the trees and, at the top end of the land, run the water down through the trees. This afternoon Kat texted that they would be here in the morning to help.

The live animal trap wasn't such a huge success, either. I set it up and put a slice of bread in there, hoping to get rid of AT LEAST one gopher. When I came back, the trap had been sprung. The gopher had gotten in, nibbled on the bread, left little gopher droppings and escaped out of the cage. Set it one more time--maybe this next time he won't be so lucky.