Drip Irrigation

Good morning. I’ve been out searching for a rake (found it right where Seth said it might be; wondering why he and Cedric couldn’t put it away) and moving water in the garden. Plus washing dishes, making a smoothie, and blowing my nose. If I limit outdoor time at this point I might be able to avoid a full-scale itch-and-run fest. I was going to finish planting stuff but the small amount of time spent outside kind of changed my mind.

However, watering the garden started me thinking about drip irrigation which started me thinking about our garden in New Mexico (the big one out at Escrito). No one had a lot of money to spare then. No one. But we managed to get a LOT of drip irrigation supplies. This was due in part to being able to get a discount from Construction Supply where Dan was employed but it was due mostly to basketball.

The gang in New Mexico. Daniel, Laura, Joanna, and Freckles our goat. She went walking with us all over the place. This was Church Rock.

Where we lived in New Mexico, if you needed money for something worthwhile, you could host a basketball tournament. I don’t know what any real figures were but I think we can come up with an idea of how it worked at least.

You advertise. This is almost free, the only cost involved is time involved making and distributing fliers, and the cost of printing. There is the rental of the gym or whatever it was called where the games were played, say $100. There are entry fees from each team, say $25 (that’s $5 per person). Food must be purchased (think Navajo tacos, frybread, and soda) as well as plates, utensils, etc. Everyone is willing to buy Navajo tacos and frybread and soda. Lastly, there is a fee to watch, maybe $2 per person, under 12 free.

Say ten teams enter. That’s $250.

Say 100 people come to watch each day (and it lasts two days). That’s $200 per day or a total of $400.

Say food service costs are $200 and your food sales are $500. That’s $300.

Minus $100 for rent.

That’s a total of $850. Not bad, even if my numbers are way off, and I think they might be. That will buy a few drip irrigation supplies as well as seeds.

Not to mention, there is this sense of community that is so completely lacking everywhere else I’ve lived. It really is an awesome thing.