Eugene, in what area is your farm?

If watering is an issue, get hold of Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond by Brad Lancaster. There are two volumes, I don't think #3 is out yet. They are in the library system. Tons of info.

But one of the cleverest ideas was where a friend of his was planting trees in Arizona, several hours drive from where he lived, so watering was an issue in that dry climate.

He dug oval holes for his trees, and packed half of the hole with old telephone books, junk mail, and newspaper. Then he filled the hole with water and moved onto the next hole. When all the water had been absorbed by the paper (or drained out), he planted his trees and watered them again.

Then he drove away. He returned 3 MONTHS later and the trees were still alive. He dug down to the paper, and it was still damp.

I thought this was brilliant!

Sue