Watering and leveling garden beds

> I water with the system through a garden hose (one hose per two 30 foot
rows
> until I tie in to the water main for the sprinkler system I hope to finish
> this week) for 5 minutes twice a day (5am and 3pm), and feed regularly-
> every Friday. One thing I noticed with the garden hose pressure is that
the
> far ends don't get nearly as much water as the water source end does, but
I
> thought that once I get the system hooked up to my sprinkler system off
the
> water main it would remedy that. Also, having the water source at the end
> that is slightly low (off level) doesn't help. Perhaps I should move the
> source to the other end while I have trenches dug for the sprinkler pipe?
Or
> perhaps just do a better job of leveling next year? Or wait for better
> pressure through my water main? Still, I would think 5 minutes twice a day
> would be sufficient, but than again, it is 5 minutes at a time on two 30
> foot zones from a garden hose. On the water source end it appears the
plants
> get too much water, as the dam breaks regularly. Surely a good lesson on
> proper leveling, I guess. But I wonder if the water pressure has more
impact
> on the varied end to end water amounts. The end you see that looked dry to
> you is obviously the far end- in respect to the water source. However,
they
> always look moist to me- at least on the surface. Deep down in the root
zone
> may be another story.

Answer
You should by all means move your hoses to the high end of the beds. There
is no way to fight gravity, and your plants are suffering for water. I'd
also put 1-2" dams across the planting area every few feet, to try and keep
the water from all going to the low end. It does, indeed, graphically
illustrate the importance of leveling the beds.

You all will find that every one of Dr. M.'s instructions are like a part of
the Baker's recipe. And you just can't replicate the bread if you don't
strictly follow the recipe.