Water

so what am i doing here? basically i am asking descendants of wild ancestors who lived in heterogenious environments to come together and thrive in a more homogenious one consisting of a 184 square foot garden. true they're domesticated, artificially selected for size, color, flavor, etc. , but i'm betting they have some particular needs left over from their heterogeneous, wild roots.

The Gardener's Guide to Growing Organic Food by tanya l.k. denckla gives a general idea of what constitutes high, medium, and low water needs. plants the require heavy watering need one gallon of water per square foot per week, which equals roughly 1.4 to 1.6 inches of water. medium watering is three-quarters of a gallon per week or about 1 to 1.2 inches of water, and low watering is one-half gallon or 0.8 inches of water. using The gardener"s Guide, Growing Your Own Vegatables by carla emery and lorne edwards forkner, and information from the suppliers i noted in a previous blog i have put together a watering schedule for the eleven vegatable and herbs in the garden. (the grasses are not domesticated and so while i will water to ensure germination, after that they're on their own unless conditions get so bad it looks like they won't survive.)

arugula- low
asparagus- high
elephant garlic- rainwater only ( once again, unless it apears that without help the plant won't survive)
fennel- low
jerusalem artichokes- medium
northern tepehuan teosinte-high, once a week.
potatoes- medium until they blossom, then heavy from blossoming until harvest.
spinach- low
tomatoes- medium
welsh onions- medium
winter savory- medium, but it likes to dry out between watering
yams- medium

there seem to be some pretty low maintainence plants in there as far as water goes,and some that need more care. the next question i have ( and i see more research in the offing) is do these special requirements represent holdovers from ancestral genes not selected out during domestication, or are they purposeful interventions by people in the process of domestication to produce a final product that's larger, more nutritious, or tasty?