Irrigating Tobacco

It is HOT!!  We have had four days of temperatures around 104 degrees with another 10 days forcast with high 90's and low 100's.  Add to that a rainfall total that is woefully below average and you have the beginnings of a major drought.  At a time when we should have grass in the pastures we are already feeding hay we had hoped to save for the winter months.  The view from my kitchen window these days is brown and crisp.  All I can say is that at least we have air conditioning--although I may have to moonlight as a greeter at Walmart to pay the bill.

As miserable as the temperatures are, the frustrations that they cause farmers as they watch their income shrivel up in the fields, is the worst.  The fall hay crop is burning up , the corn is curling into little pointed spikes, and the tobacco is beginning to get yellow leaves and some is even beginning to bloom from the stress.  This means that at a time when everyone else is running for the indoors and air conditioning the farmers are running to their fields to try to save their crops.

Just as the temperatures peaked, Murphy's law kicked in.  (If anything can go wrong, it will!)  My son left for Wyoming with his family (although 30 hours in a car with four kids may have him thinking that being in the fields is better) and his partner's wife was admitted to the hospital with an emergency gall bladder surgery.  For three days hubby and I looked at each other and watched the thermometer and wondered how we could set up an irrigation system by ourselves.  Just when we had decided it had to be done, the partner returned home and the friend system kicked in.

With temperatures hovering around 104 degrees hubby, the partner and a friend gathered in the tobacco patch to start laying out the pipes for the irrigation system.  The pipes were run down the row of tobacco with tall sprinklers sprouting up.  These would shoot sprays of water in a circular pattern covering about 7 rows at a time.  When these were adequately watered, then the pipes would be moved and another section would be watered.  The water would be supplied from the creek bordering the tobacco patch.  A tractor is set up to run the pump and push the water from the creek to the sprinkler system.

Of course, Murphy's law is still in effect.  After laborously priming the pump (it takes a lot of water to prime a 5 inch pipe), the pump begins to push water into the pipes.  All is well for a minute then the men are rushing around in a geyser!  The seal has broken and the five inch stream of water is drowning everyone.  Finally they get it turned off and rescue the seal from the middle of one of the pipes and start all over.  Soon water is shooting in glistening arcs over the thirsty plants.  Now, all there is to do is sit and watch to be sure that the tractor doesn't overheat or something break down.  Of course, at 104 even sitting in the shade is hot. 

It doesn't take long before the pipe has all but drained the deep hole in the creek.  In just an hour and a half they have dropped the water level by about 18 inches.  The creek is low because of the low rainfall, so there is nothing to do but wait for the water to fill the spot back up.  The plan is to water morning and night and hope the creek will run enough to fill the hole up in between. 

If you know a rain dance, feel free to join in!