Show Transcript
0:00Hi guys, Jonathan here with Farmers Friend and we're at Bountiful Blessings Farm again with my dad, John. We're going to be talking about rain and water
0:07management on your farm. Uh first of all, we're going to start with just working in the rain and systems that they have and uh tools they have to get
0:17the jobs done even on a rainy day. And then I guess we'll move down to more of the drainage and topography for managing
0:26lots of rain. Obviously, there's there's a lot of options when it comes to rain gear and
0:34um you know, from from cheap stuff up to super expensive, you know, hundreds of
0:41dollars of rain gear, we've kind of settled on something kind of in between.
0:48Um, a couple names I would recommend, Grundons is is a is a good name and um,
0:58Hely Hansen. They've got kind of a in between line. You know, obviously if if
1:05money is not an option, I mean, if if money is not an obstacle, um, get the best stuff you can afford.
1:15But having said that, well, let me just say I I like the bibs for for a couple
1:22reason. Well, the main reason being that when you're cleaning bins or pressure washing anything like that, um, these
1:32work great to keep you dry even when you don't need the coat. So, so I think bibs
1:39are good and a good coat. But the downside to rain gear is that the
1:48the really waterproof stuff is so hot.
1:55And so in the summer, you're going to be sweating a lot inside your rain gear.
2:02And so the question is, why am I wearing this? I'm getting wet anyway.
2:07So, in my opinion, rain gear is really more of a winter thing when you really
2:14don't want to get wet. Um, and the summer you're going to get wet. That's just the way it works.
2:21Yeah. Or wait until the thunderstorm passes. Yeah. Yeah. If if you can do that,
2:28that's helpful. Or kind of,
2:32you know, if you have covered growing space.
2:34Well, yeah. That's the covered growing space solution um for for wetness is invest in in covered growing area.
2:44That's huge in my opinion because Yeah.
2:48you've always got somewhere you can work when it's raining. Yeah.
2:53Yeah. And I think it's ideal not to have to be out working in the rain, but if you have uh deliveries that you have to
3:00meet, you know, harvesting that's got to be done and there's a rainstorm coming through, you got to do what you got to do. Yeah.
3:06Um but it's just like Yeah. You don't really like you you're not going to be out prepping beds and planting in the rain if uh under most circumstances.
3:17Under most circumstances. We we definitely have planted in the rain,
3:24but um yeah, it it's uh covered growing space is huge. We've had a super wet
3:32spring this year and it's still fairly wet even into the summer. Um without our
3:40covered growing spaces, we would have been toast this spring, honestly. Yeah.
3:48So, let's move on to talking about covered growing space and then more managing drainage, which because of the
3:56lay of land here, I think we naturally don't have as much of a drainage issue,
4:00but we've still had some issues to deal with, and you can talk about that a little bit. Yeah, we we're blessed to have
4:09um most of our growing land on on a slight slope. You know, you obviously
4:16you don't want too much slope because then you get into erosion issues, but if
4:23you can run your fields with the slope and then have space between the fields for water to to run down. The other
4:32thing you'll notice, hopefully you can see from here, um, is between our field,
4:40you know, we have two plots in line and we've got a section of grass in between.
4:47So for that occasional time when you may have bare soil and you get a a
4:54torrential downpour, that grass is going to catch your soil and it's not going to just run off Yeah.
5:02the farm totally. So having some grass buffer kinds of places is helpful. Yeah.
5:10Yeah, for sure. Well, let's walk down here and show people how you have the some of the high tunnel pads set up.
5:18So, I I feel like a lot of people don't pay enough attention to slope and and drainage when it comes to their tunnels.
5:29And uh we we spent a lot of time and effort up front um leveling off our pads for our
5:37tunnels. And I have no regrets about that. You know, if if you put a tunnel
5:44on any kind of slope, you're going to deal with water running through it,
5:50which is not something you want to deal with. You know, I I would say if you run your tunnels on a slope, which you know,
5:58we do have these caterpillar tunnels here on a slope, but it's with the slope. So, as the rain comes off the
6:07tunnel, it's going to go downhill rather than across the tunnel.
6:12Yeah, makes sense. Um, so here, you know, we've got, you just have to keep in mind that there's a lot of water coming off your tunnels.
6:24Uh, so we've got these swailes, so the water coming off is directed away from
6:31the tunnels and you're not dealing with with water just running through the tunnels.
6:40Yeah. And I know that doing this much much excavation uh can be challenging
6:48because you're taking top soil, you're digging way down into subs soil in the case of like this top pad here. And
6:56hopefully you can bring back some of the top soil on the pad, but you're still dealing with very disrupted soil that in
7:04a lot of instances can take, you know, a while, a few years to really kind of reconstruct it. So, that's a downside,
7:11but you know, if you're planning on doing this longterm, it's probably worth paying the price for a few years to get a really dialed in setup. Yeah. Yeah,
7:22it's a good point. You you definitely it's kind of a one step back, two steps
7:28forward kind of thing. Um you you can get into soil issues where you know one
7:37end of your pad is is down in subs soil and yeah you just have to work a little
7:43harder and it does take some time but again I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
7:52Yeah. Cool. Well I'm trying to think if there's anything else we can touch on.
7:55Do you have any other Yeah. The the other thing I would say is just talking about the actual soil. Um,
8:03you know, obviously sandy soil is not an issue because it drains so quickly.
8:11Um, and and the the big issue is with with high clay soils, which of course we have quite a bit of here in the south.
8:22Um, that's where you get into trouble if you're work trying to work in the soil or with the soil when it's very wet.
8:30But again, I think I've mentioned this before, the the solution is increasing your organic matter cuz if you have high organic matter, you can't compact it.
8:43Mhm.
8:44Um so anything you can do to increase your organic matter is actually going to make your soil much more workable
8:52um in wet weather. And then again, you know, you've got your pathways and
8:59you've got your beds. And as long as you're staying in your pathways when it's wet, you're not messing up anything
9:08in the beds. So, just try to stay out of the beds as much as possible. If your
9:14soil is not the ideal organic matter content, you know, it's best not to work it when it's wet.
9:23But again, um the more organic matter you get in there, the more you can
9:30actually plant or whatever in the rain and it's not a big deal.
9:34Yeah. Cool. Well, I think it's a lot of good tips. The last thing that comes to mind that uh that I think we could share is um the use of silage tarp. You know,
9:44there's a lot of uses for silage tarp,
9:46but one thing that that I've seen a lot of people do is use silage tarp to cover a field plot. Like say you you have crops that have to go in in the next
9:54couple of days and you have a big storm coming that's just going to drench it.
9:58If you have tarps that are ready to be quickly deployed, you can just put the tarp down and that'll protect the field
10:07plot and once the rain passes, you can just pull it off and you know, you know,
10:12you don't have muddy soil that you have to work with. So,
10:14yeah. And and again, you're you're back to drainage issues. You know, if if the
10:21water is just running under your silage tarp, that's not doing much good. But if if you've got good drainage away from your fields,
10:31then yeah, that's that's a good Yeah. Yeah. And you know, if if somebody has to do a lot of excavation like we
10:39have in this area here, that can be quite costly. But if you just had a relatively flat field like this and you just want somebody to come in and cut
10:48some some swailes between, that's pretty inexpensive, you know. So, that's a that's a good place to start if you need
10:56just some drainage swailes along the top side of your fields and maybe between your field plots to control water flow.
11:03Um, just get somebody with a with a bulldozer out there that can just cut those for you and it'll save you a lot of headache down the road for sure. So,
11:11yeah, I think the the key here is just think ahead. you know, have a master plan and um don't just be throwing up
11:21tunnels or whatever without a real thought about where is all this water going to go. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well, I
11:29hope this information has been helpful to you all as you are maybe uh working on developing your farm or working on
11:37figuring out ways to improve it. So, if you have any questions that you would like us to consider answering in a future video, reply to this email with those questions and we will do that. Uh,
11:47until next time, happy growing.
11:50[Music]
How to Manage Rain and Drainage on Your Small-Scale Farm
By Jonathan Dysinger and John Dysinger
Updated on
The key to managing rain on a market farm is thinking about drainage before you build anything. Level your tunnel pads so water doesn't run through your structures, dig swales to direct runoff away from growing areas, and leave grass buffers between field plots to catch eroded soil. For working in the rain, covered growing space is more valuable than any rain gear — and building organic matter in your soil means wet weather won't stop you from planting when you need to.
Rain is both the lifeblood and the nemesis of a market farm. Too little and your crops suffer. Too much — or too much at the wrong time — and you're dealing with flooded tunnels, eroded beds, muddy paths, and a schedule that's falling apart.
At Bountiful Blessings Farm, this spring was a reminder of how important water management is. Weeks of nearly continuous rain would have been catastrophic without their covered growing spaces, leveled tunnel pads, and drainage swales. My dad, John Dysinger, has spent years developing the water management systems on this farm, and the investment has paid off repeatedly in wet seasons.
Here's what he's learned about managing rain — from the gear you wear to the earthwork that keeps your farm functional.
How Do You Keep Working When It's Raining?
Covered Growing Space Is the Real Solution
Rain gear gets a lot of attention, but my dad's honest take: covered growing space matters more than any jacket or bib.
When you have tunnels, you always have somewhere productive to work when it's raining. You can harvest, transplant, cultivate, and do bed prep inside while it pours outside. Without covered space, a rainy day becomes a lost day — or worse, you're out in it getting soaked and making a mess of wet soil.
This spring, without multiple tunnels, Bountiful Blessings Farm would have been "toast" — my dad's word. The covered growing areas kept the operation running through weeks of rain that would have shut down an all-outdoor farm.
Rain Gear: Winter Priority, Summer Optional
For the times you do need to work outside in rain, my dad recommends Grundéns or Helly Hansen as solid mid-range rain gear brands. Bib overalls are his preference over pants because they double as protection when pressure washing bins or cleaning equipment — you stay dry from the chest down even without the jacket.
But here's the reality: truly waterproof rain gear is hot. In summer, you'll be sweating so much inside your gear that you're getting wet anyway — just from the inside. So my dad treats rain gear as primarily a winter tool, when getting wet in cold temperatures is genuinely miserable and potentially dangerous. In summer, you either wait for the thunderstorm to pass or accept that you're going to get wet.
How Do You Set Up Drainage for Tunnels?
This is where most of the real work — and the real payoff — happens. A lot of growers don't pay enough attention to slope and drainage when siting their tunnels, and they regret it every time it rains.
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Level Your Tunnel Pads
If you put a tunnel on a slope without leveling the pad first, water will run through the inside of the tunnel. That's not something you want to deal with — it erodes your beds, soaks your pathways, and makes the tunnel nearly unusable during heavy rain.
At Bountiful Blessings Farm, they invested significant time and effort up front to level the pads for their high tunnels. My dad has no regrets about that investment. Yes, it disrupted the soil — the excavation pushes topsoil aside and exposes subsoil, which takes a few years to rebuild. But it's a "one step back, two steps forward" situation. The long-term benefit of a level, well-drained tunnel pad far outweighs the short-term soil disruption.
If you're doing this long-term, it's worth paying the price for proper pad preparation.
Run Tunnels with the Slope
For structures on sloping ground — like their caterpillar tunnels — orient them so they run with the slope, not across it. When rain comes off the plastic, it flows downhill and away from the tunnel rather than pooling along one sidewall.
Dig Swales to Direct Runoff
A tunnel sheds a lot of water. All of that rain hitting the plastic has to go somewhere, and if you haven't planned for it, it's going to run right into your growing areas or pool against your tunnel.
Swales — shallow ditches — along the uphill side and between tunnels direct that water away from your structures and growing beds. At Bountiful Blessings Farm, swales route tunnel runoff downhill and away from the production areas.
If you have a relatively flat field, having someone cut swales with a bulldozer is pretty inexpensive and saves enormous headaches down the road. Full pad excavation and leveling is costlier, but basic swale work is accessible for most farms.
Leave Grass Buffers Between Plots
Between their field plots, Bountiful Blessings Farm maintains sections of grass. This serves as a catch strip — when a torrential downpour hits bare soil (which happens occasionally between plantings), the grass intercepts the runoff and catches the soil before it washes off the farm entirely.
It's a simple, low-cost erosion control measure that requires no infrastructure — just leaving grass in strategic places rather than cultivating edge to edge.
How Does Soil Health Affect Rain Management?
This ties back to a theme that runs through almost everything on a market farm: organic matter solves problems.
Clay soil — which is what Bountiful Blessings Farm has plenty of — becomes unworkable when it's wet. It compacts, it sticks to tools, and cultivating or planting in it when it's saturated does more harm than good. Sandy soil drains fast and isn't an issue in the rain, but clay holds water and turns to mud.
The solution is the same as for compaction: increase your organic matter. Soil with high organic matter content drains better, resists compaction, and can actually be worked in wet conditions without damage. My dad can plant into beds with good organic matter content during rain and it's not a big deal. Try that in low-organic-matter clay and you'll create a compacted, brick-like mess.
In the meantime, while you're building organic matter, stay on your pathways when the soil is wet. Don't step on your beds. And don't try to cultivate or prep beds when they're saturated — you'll do more damage than the rain did.
Don't Forget Silage Tarps
One more practical tip: if you have a planting window coming up and a major storm is in the forecast, throw a silage tarp over your prepped beds before the rain hits. The tarp sheds the water, and when the storm passes, you pull it off and your beds are still dry and plantable.
This only works if your drainage is in order — water running under the tarp defeats the purpose. But with good swales directing runoff away from your beds, tarping before a storm is a simple way to stay on schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
Level the tunnel pad before construction so water flows around the structure, not through it. Dig swales on the uphill side to divert runoff. If you're placing tunnels on sloped ground, orient them with the slope so rain sheds downhill rather than pooling along one sidewall.
For a permanent high tunnel, yes — the investment in leveling pays off every time it rains. The excavation disrupts topsoil and you'll spend a few years rebuilding soil quality on the pad, but it prevents chronic water problems that are far more costly and frustrating over time.
Leave grass buffer strips between your growing plots. These catch sediment from runoff during heavy rain and prevent topsoil from washing off your farm. It's a free, low-maintenance erosion control method that only requires leaving grass in strategic locations rather than cultivating edge to edge.
It depends on your organic matter content. High-organic-matter clay can be worked in wet conditions without significant compaction. Low-organic-matter clay will compact into a brick-like mess if you work it wet. Build organic matter over time through compost, cover crops, and mulch. In the meantime, stay on pathways and avoid stepping on beds when the soil is saturated.
Good rain gear (Grundéns or Helly Hansen bibs and jacket) is valuable in cool and cold weather when getting wet is uncomfortable or dangerous. In summer, truly waterproof gear is so hot that you'll sweat through it anyway. Covered growing space is ultimately more valuable than any rain gear — it gives you productive work to do during rain rather than just keeping you dry while being miserable outside.
Cover them with a silage tarp before the rain arrives. The tarp sheds the water and keeps your soil dry and plantable. This only works if your drainage is in order — water needs to flow away from the tarped area, not pool underneath it.
The Takeaway
Rain management starts with planning — and the earlier you plan, the less you'll struggle. Level your tunnel pads before you build. Cut swales to direct water away from your growing areas. Leave grass buffers to catch eroded soil. Build organic matter so your soil handles wet weather gracefully. And invest in covered growing space so you always have productive work to do when it's pouring.
As my dad puts it: have a master plan. Don't throw up tunnels without thinking about where all the water is going to go. The growers who think ahead about drainage are the ones who survive the wet springs that break everyone else.