If you want it done on the cheap, what about drip irrigation tubes just running on the ground. It's definitly a DIY sort of project, and pretty cheap. Not to mention that I would think you would want drip irrigation for a garden.
Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure drip irrigation would be the right fit, though, as these'll be raised beds, 13 in all, with different folks, dealing with different and varying sun conditions, growing different veggies and flowers at different times (or, sometimes, growing nothing, or growing cover crop). You know, mongrelized community garden stuff. Also, personally, speaking as the guy who's nominally in charge of coordinating this whole thing, I confess that I have absolutely no experience with drip irrigation whatsoever. At the community garden I gardened at last year (before I moved to this townhouse complex and stupidly opened my mouth and suggested that we start up a community garden here) I became accustomed to the simple irrigation system they used there: a hose bib and a hose placed strategically at the nexus of every four garden plots. That system seemed to work okay, so that's the system I've envisioned for this new community garden. Maybe I just gotta broaden my mind some.
Anyway, any additional wisdom would be more than welcome!
Patrick Meighan
Culver City, CA