 Large parts of Australia have been in draught for years, The dams are low and we are on permanent stage 3 water restrictions…Some water saving habits, such as shorter showers, are obvious, but I found it amazing just how much water simple changes of habit can save like when I come in from the garden I used to wash my hands in hot soapy water, now I rinse my hands in cold water only using soap if it is something other that soil on my hands…Stage 3 water restrictions mean that we can only water the garden between 7 and 10 am and 7 and 10 pm on alternate days of the week which is worked on an odds and evens system, I have an even house number so I can only water on the even dates.
The watering times are fine for the established plants in the garden but it can get difficult with the seedlings which start to wilt if I go out or miss my watering day for any reason…to help I have a dish in the shower and use milk bottles to catch the water that comes through before the hot water…When we did start getting some rain last month a friend, who drinks a lot of milk, started saving the bottles for me and I collected extra water in buckets left out in the rain so that I have a small supply to rescue plants that need a drink on my off watering days.
When it kept on raining every few days I was catching more water than I could bottle but I still caught as much as I could in buckets and watering cans which I used on the garden in the days following the rain…I had, half jokingly, eyed my garbage bins off for their potential to hold water and when after a few weeks it continued to rain I did wash out my recycle bin (the photo of which started this post) and put it under the hole in the guttering, it holds 300 litres of water which has meant that I havn’t had to turn on the outside tap to water the garden…and I don’t even mind carting the water around, I carry it small amounts at a time so that I don’t hurt my back lifting it and the walking is all good exercise…When I need the bin to put the recycling out I put whatever water is in the bin under the trees and bushes where it can soak deeper into the soil.
Leave a Reply
|
December 22nd, 2007 at 2:24 am
Where I live now we do not water the plants at all but when I lived in Virginia Beach, VA (US) with new plantings and permanent water restrictions, I collected my laundry water and had water barrels on 3 of the down spouts. It was just amazing how much water we collected for the plants. Just 2 loads of laundry almost filled 2 75-gallon barrels! Between every other load of laundry I had to hook up the garden hose and water the trees and shrubs before I put in another load. My plants were very healthy and happy!
December 22nd, 2007 at 9:01 am
This sounds like some of the things we had to do in Phoenix, AZ, and El Paso, TX, over the years, when it got really bad. Are the reservoirs filling up at all?
December 24th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Somewhere (Brisbane I think) I have seen someone selling wheelie bins with a tap (and hose) attached to the bottom of the bin. We have just spent a fortune on water tanks for household use. The garden (except for fruit and veg – they have their own tank) is on its own now……