FREE WATER!!!
By Montana Grant

Posted: May 24, 2020

When you talk to a farmer, water is for fighting for! Water rights are always a big deal and have been allotted for over a century. The need for water during a Montana Summer is always a challenge.

So much of Montana waters are seasonal. Snow is the primary source for many areas water supply. Too little water or too many people means problems. Many reservoirs offer outstanding fishing but, if a drought occurs, water is needed to support the people population and not the fish. Farmers need the water to grow their grass and crops. Irrigation is a priority in Big Sky Country.

I once read that the snow, that falls onto our highest mountain peaks and soaks in, takes 100 years to percolate into the valleys. The well water we use today is 100 years old!!! Once the aquifers drain, it will take Nature a long time to refill them.

Recently I purchased a water barrel for my green house. The roof of my greenhouse/ shed was custom made by the Montana Shed Company. I am completely satisfied but do not have a water line hooked up. Adding the water barrel means more year-round water, for free. I am adding a rain gutter with a down trough directed into my water barrel. The barrel will be a few feet above the ground so I can fill my water jugs to irrigate my greenhouse with a potential 50 gallons of runoff water.

Rainwater is pure and clean, perfect for plants. I use old plastic milk jugs to water the plants in my greenhouse. I use trays that I can fill, so that the plats roots are forced to grow the bottom of the pots. Rainwater is free! Later, I will start playing with direct watering systems, or hydroponics, using my Free Water.

Inside my greenhouse, I also added 4 huge black trash cans filled with water. During the day, these water tanks absorb heat and keep the greenhouse warm at night. No plants have been lost thanks to my free water!

Go with the flow!

Montana Grant

For more Montana Grant, find him wet at www.montanagrantfishing.com.

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