Category: Rainwater harvesting

water conservation – “Heart of Dryness”

I just read Heart of Dryness by James Workman about the plight of the Bushmen in the Kalahari desert when the Botswana government cut off their water supplies and how they adapted and how we can learn from them. I was interested in the book because I am originally from South Africa which abuts Botswana, and also here in Georgia we are engaged in legal water wars with neighboring states.  Workman interlaces the story of the Bushmen with a narrative on the use and abuse of water worldwide and his Read more [...]

contour ditch construction

My land slopes and since I rely entirely on rainwater for irrigation, I catch the rain however I can - in storage tanks or directly into the ground with contour ditches.  Contour ditches are similar to swales - built on contour or dead level survey lines to intercept and hold water and to let it infiltrate the ground, therefore they are not compacted or sealed.  While a ditch is narrow, a swale can be broader like a basin and, according to the permaculture bible by Bill Mollison, trees are essential Read more [...]

hand watering

All my irrigation is from harvested rainwater.  I used to pump the water from the main storage tanks to an elevated tank near the growing area but since this tank was only  a few feet off the ground and the water was moved by gravity, it trickled slowly from a hose.  And so I gave up and installed water lines and bubblers and let the water do its own thing at its own pace.  An unsatisfactory result, since I wouldn't notice when individual bubblers clogged and, more importantly, I missed out on Read more [...]

the beginnings of spring

The next couple of days I shall be at the Georgia Organics annual conference held this year in Columbus GA, south of Atlanta. This shall be my 5th year of attendance - my first few years I learned a lot and with each year there is less new information but I enjoy meeting other growers and learning from them. I was torn between doing a permaculture design course or the conference and have not ruled out a PDC for the future. Shiitake mushrooms I picked about 15 mushrooms today.  Just as well Read more [...]

water

I think we take water for granted but should not. Friday's Financial Times (Feb 17, 2012) reports that "Chinese officials have issued a stark warning over growing water shortages saying the situation is worsening every day and that more than two-thirds of cities are affected". Texas last year had the driest year on record, but the good news is that the drought may be receding and only 14% of the state is now in "exceptional drought" compared with 41% 3 months ago. In Georgia we continue with intrastate Read more [...]

some winter tasks

Vegetable growing in winter I know it is still early days and we may yet have blizzards and really low temperatures, but I am much encouraged with the growth of my greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, collards) and the protection provided by my row covers, so I have been growing more vegetables for transplanting in a few weeks. I googled winter hardy vegetables and bought Rapini Broccoli Raab seeds and Mache Corn Salad seeds - very reasonably priced and very quick delivery from Hirt's Gardens.  They Read more [...]

new growing area and contour ditch

In a previous post I mentioned the repercussions experienced from locating my muscadine grape plantings too close to my vegetable beds.  Just as the vines of the muscadine grow interminably so do their roots and the raised beds, tomato planting sites and other vegetable sites were mined by muscadine roots.  I relocated half (6) of the muscadines earlier in November and have now prepared a site for relocating the remainder. The site is on the slope of a small hill which has blueberries at Read more [...]

water, water, water

I had a lot (for me) of visits to my site yesterday but not many comments - if you visit and would like to add or question, please do.  I think a number of visitors were interested in rainwater harvesting and this is one of my passions. I read a review in the FT (Financial Times) for Wednesday August 31 titled "Water is the new weapon in Beijing's armoury".  Apparently China is the source of cross-border river flows to the largest number of countries in the world, including Russia and India, Read more [...]

rainwater harvesting – making every drop count

Blockages in the rainwater harvesting system With rainwater harvesting whatever can go wrong does.  After fall I cleared my gutter of leaf debris and left it at that.  Silly me!  I didn't consider that the 2" pipe from the downspout outlet to the storage tank might be clogged with leaves.  It was only when rainwater collection by the one tank was less than expected and when, during a downfall, I saw rainwater cascading over the gutter, that I figured I had a problem. Clearing the blockage Read more [...]