Ruth Stout also inspired me! She has been gone for decades now but her books and ideas live on in gardens across this whole country and probably around the world. She questioned the accepted ways of doing things, for instance, if the seed packet says plant one seed every 6 inches in rows 2 ft apart, she wondered why the seed would care if it had neighbors 6 inches away in two directions and nothing the other way for 24 inches. So she experimented and learned that the seeds didn't care. Oh yes, she got a lot of flack from other gardeners, and then they saw the results of her crazy methods and started questioning their own.
Drip tape, yes! I use it. It saves a lot of water and once set up, it is easy and efficient. I have to replace the tape every year because we have so much lime in our water.
