Must be our fourth or fifth week without rain? [Updated]

-
[Updated]
The ‘bucket on wheels’ was taking longer than usual to fill so I popped the top of the tanks and had a squiz.
I can see the bottom of the tank, which can't be good!
Not going to plant anything until it rains. Easier to manage them in pots.
The forecast reckons the 'plateau' is going to get some rain this week (and some thunderstorms). Usually I look back and up at the mountains behind Otaki and smile, cause they are getting dumped on, while the beach is dry and basking in the rays. 
Looks like the preverbal is on the other foot :-)

 I've decided to water the non edibles with town water. Save what water I can fit the veg. Really don’t want chlorine in my soil.


Local gardeners have started to complain about dry spell.
Town water is metered, and some of the smaller tanks are running dry.

last month everyone was bitch'n about soggy soil and mould.
The weather flip has been crazy. Bright emerald lawns that demanded to be mown every couple of days, have suddenly become withered and yellow.

I'm watering every second day right now including all of the young trees.
I'm getting a lot of exercise heaving a couple of watering cans all over the property. It’s taking me a good couple of hours so while I’m watering, I'm devoting some major mental energy to thinking that some sort of irrigation for next year.
Buy something or make it?

My water regime:
Fill the big ‘bucket on wheels’ with water.
Fill the two smaller buckets while the hose runs into the ‘bucket on wheels’.
Lug the two smaller buckets all over the property.
I leave a branch of comfrey steeping in the ‘bucket on wheels’.



In the back of the photo there, you might spy my seaweed tank. Stinky stuff has been dissolving in there all winter. I’m a little afraid to crack it open. It’s not going to be pretty in there.


When I moved in a couple of years back and started improving the garden, the first thing I wanted to address was water. Long dry Otaki summer days remind me of Oz.
Underused for the last couple of summers. This year the tanks are justifying the expense.

These tanks were purchased through a scheme the Kapiti council was running. Essentially an interest free loan. They bought the tanks and I pay them off with a levy on my water bill.
I'm told that this scheme has now ended which is a shame. Everyone should has some sort of on-site water storage.


Tall and narrow so don't take up a lot of space, these tanks were pretty much the first thing I added to the property.
There is also the added benefit of providing a clean water source if there is a break in the town water supply.


When I was pear picking, one of the managers told me that he thought rainwater was better than the stuff pulled up from a bore. He reckons that not only is the water softer with less minerals, it's got more nitrogen in it.
I’m also glad I don’t have to dose the garden with ‘whatever treatments’ town water has added to it.


Comments

Post a Comment

You also might like...

Hostel : Glasgow : Night moves

-
I’ve dug up a bit out of an old travel journal.   One night while tucked up in our beds, all eight guys were woken by loud female shouting, out in the stairwell. A truly sublime pair of unfettered bosoms, filled to the quivering liquid brim with booze, burst through the door. She was atmospherically rim lit by light spilling in through the open doorway as she bounced into the room, and planted rank alcoholic kisses on the guy occupying the bed nearest the door. A girlfriend appeared and dragged our invader back to her room. A heavy, round silence closed around us and when it seemed that no more action would unfold, one of the guys on a bottom bunk got up and closed the dorm door. On another occasion, I was woken by someone moving close to my bed. Something must have been up, cause the guy that sleeps below me usually doesn’t interrupt my slumber. A head was moving around in the dark, and I recognised its silhouette as the young guy who occupies the lower bunk across the room.
READ MORE »

Grape update: Jan

-
Image
The grapes have started to ripen.... Which means my competition with the birds is on. The local black birds don't seem to be concerned with how sweet the fruit is. They will happily eat the green unripe grapes. I've noticed them swallow fruit whole so I don't think they care about taste. Word seems to be being passed about. The number of visitors seems to be increasing as the month slips by. I have been protecting individual grape bunches with plastic mesh bags. Ran out of bags so tried to protect the rest with a net.       These birds are diabolically sly and managed to muscled through gaps. I've purchased some more bags and now what is left of the crop has some sort of protection. Found that the birds have now started to pull the bags off, so I'm securing them with clothes pegs.    
READ MORE »

Winter garden established for 2024

-
Image
The first lot of chickpeas in bed one have finished, so in the stubble, I planted carrots, cabbage, fennel, and spinach. The capsicums should be finished soon, and then I'll put the cover back on the mini tunnel house. Tomatos almost done in bed two, planted out some beans and mustard to grow over the winter. In bed three, the soy plants are almost done, and I like the layer of leaf mulch that they leave behind. I've left the stalks and roots in the soil to rot. I've sown some mustard and peas in the soil for green manure. Last of the corn has attracted some sort of black insect so I"m not expecting much from the last couple of plants. The beans I planted among the stalks are still going. I've finished the summer lettuce shade house and I'm hoping to grow snow peas over the winter. In the summer I'll grow cucumbers to block out some of the solar.
READ MORE »