I just caught part of the news and no rain in sight...so I was curious..thanks!
Janet
Any updates of the water bans?
Hey Janet,
Cobb County is still on odd/even - midnight to 10:00 am on your day.
If we don't get some rain soon, though, it could go to only on Sat/Sun or even worse, no outdoor watering.
Brenda
Hi Janet .
You may not have heard ,
But we are on Level 5 water restrictions .
140 Liters per person per day .
Check out this link . http://www.ourbrisbane.com/living/gardening/water/
Wonder IF it will EVER rain again . Kell
Our County is getting tough on those that break the water restrictions. We are allowed three mornings per week (depending on house numbers) from midnight until 10 am. There is one warning for violations and then water is turned off (which has happened in about 50 cases). The fine is $30 to switch the water back on. That said, I saw several incidents of people on my street paying no heed last night.
Wow, Kell, I had no idea. It is awful. Do you have a way to collect the rain water for your garden?
I think most of my neighborhood is really doing a great job of going by the rules...unless they are all watering in the wee hour of the night every night..lol I haven't seen many sprinklers going in the day time....
I though our restrictions may have gone to level four because the news people last night kept saying "don't break the rules" etc. about the watering...and I kept missing whatever was said leading up to those comments..lol
Well, have a great day everyone, I am going to try to dig some things up and mail them out today...making room for new things!
The watering ban restrictions are difficult for anyone to record and report. I'm be ^#$%# off if they shut me down. I have a personal food garden which is exempt and the watering police around here have told me like 5 times to stop watering in. I have to get my city print out and show them IT IS EXEMPT! Then I've got my 30 day transplants all over the garden. Again, exempt.
Then I have a business where plants are for profit, so again, those plants and essentially the entire garden is exempt although I have not been watering the rest of the garden, just the containerized plants.
The only reason anyone even notices is that it is all in the front yard. My neighbors out back continue to run sprinklers and stuff as they please.
Although I would not want to be limited to 5 leters of water a day, I would prefer they go by amounts of water used. To save water I have sponge baths every 2nd day, and we don't have a dishwasher to run.
Aw heck! If it would just rain my barrels would get filled...but I'm sure that is how ginger749 feels too!!
GGG
No doubt! LOL We need rain!!!
My DD has just spont 1 week in NZ on a ski holiday .
They have no restrictions at all .
Lucky little devils .
Yes Janet , I bought a 10,000 Gal. water tank . Teeeee Heeeee .
WOW! And how do you fill that? Rain alone? Do you have a rainy season there?
Have quite a large roof that runs into it .
It has never been below 1/2 empty since I installed it .
About 1/2 inch of rain per week here .
We would think it was paradise right now if we could get 1/2" a week! We have only had 5" since March, ( think that's what I heard yesterday). We normally have about 22" by now since the first of the year, but we have an 11" deficit and no rain in sight.
It is so spotty too, some areas all around us get a nice shower every now and then but seems we rarely do. The " water Police" are out for sure, they came by my house this afternoon. What really torques me is when I see Banks, funeral parlers and others running water for hours and it gets wasted in the street. Went by a subdivision entrance yesterday at 3:00 and you could tell their big sprinklers had been going all day, half of it in the street. Our poor little lawn is dying, every year my DH plants grass seed and it nearly always dies for lack of water.
PJ, Did the water crystals that you put out around your ferns and some of your other plants help? I ordered some, but haven't got a chance to put them out yet? Ginger, I read about the snake eating your prize hen. Do you use the water in your water tank to water just your chickens and plants or for general household use? Maybe we will get some rain this weekend.
Hey there Merkat, sorry you didn't make it to our round up.
I'm sure the crystals have helped some, but with no rain, nothing is going to do the whole job. I used to put them in dry, but I have learned that it is better to hydrate them first then you can judge better how many to put in each pot or hole. If you put them in dry and the get really wet, your plants will pop out of the ground. If you just put them on top of the ground the do no good at all, they must be down where the roots are. Some tomes I soak them in MG water, this will give them a slow release boost.
merkat ,
The new watertank is for Garden use and Livestock .
The house uses under ground Water .
P.J. Maybe I can come to the fall roundup. I'm going to plant 4 more tomato plants today. I'll hydate some of the crystals and mix them with the dirt. Ginger, it's good that you're getting 1/2" of rain a week to help keep water in your tank. Linda
I wonder if you can get some large tanks at TSC. (Tractor Supply Co).
A large tank would probably be good for a lot of landscape plants but to do a large lot or lawn would quickly deplete even a 10,000 gallon tank. One inch of rain over an acre is over 27,000 gallons.
I have set up two four station timers (Orbit brand) and 7 hoses using the high rise whirly gig sprinklers so far. I have the first timer go off at midnight watering 4 zones one hour each. The second timer goes off at 4 AM and waters 3 zones. I then move two hoses for an additional 2 zones before 8 AM. I have bought 4 more high rise sprinklers and 3 more valves with the intention of buying more hose and repair kits (splitting a long hose with repair kits is cheaper than buying 3 shorter hoses) and one more timer. I set up my zones the evening before our watering days based on need. A permanent irrigation system is becoming more a reality as our landscape plans become known.
I went to Catalina Gardens which is sited on 26 acres this past weekend and they water from a very large pond but even it is down 2 foot (don't know how large or deep it is). In the mid 80's ponds were running dry across the southeast. Let's hope it doesn't get to that level.
Ginger..that's one big tank, but I'm just wondering how it got loaded and how you unloaded it!
I was at Tractor Supply just yesterday for my cattle panel fencing I'm doing for roses. We also got some for tomatoes.
G, we are sitting ducks. Our front yards are planted to the hilt and one of my nosey neighbors strains her neck out her assault vehicle to see if I'm watering in the side back garden so she can call the water police on me. I, like you have tons of newly planted stuff and veggies too. The watering police were coming down my street twice a day that I could see for about two weeks. I finally got to where I'd wave and smile at them when I was out gardening and they've quit coming that I've seen.. Never got a warning, as I was always legal.. But made me feel uneasy even during my legal times....and I made sure the water was off at 5 till stopping time in the front yard. Thankfully, when we started this garden adventure we did have front yard irrigation installed and I just had it upgraded to more coverage so that I wouldn't have to get out the hose for any areas in the front. That irrigation system is my saving grace. We are already in contact with a well guy and he told us he is slammed right now.. for those of you that don't know, (like Australians!!) wells are exempt as our city water comes from Lake Lanier.
And another time a neighbor called the real police on me a few years back for growing "marijuana" plants out front. The cops got here, walked up the drive and I cart out a baby on my hip and another small one and immediately knew what they were up to when they started inspecting my plants. I told them there was no way someone called and they said yes, they did.. I told them I would never grow pot plants out front and that the pot plants were in the basement under grow lights. They told me not to joke at which point I offered a full garden and basement tour which they declined. So.. now, of course I have an affinity for growing plants with leaves that resemble that!
My goal is to get this weight off and get my body back to the way it was when I was married and garden in as little as possible and have that bitty get mad at me and call the police on me for indecent exposure! My DH said I'll never do it.. I said, Just you wait and see.. Desperate housewives isn't just a show on TV. Keep calling the police jealous lady with nothing but time on your hands.
Susan
This message was edited May 31, 2007 6:32 PM
LOl, go for it Susan!! I think you should have some big Texas Stars growing in your front yard tho, just for the heck of it!!!! More power to your diet project.
PJ
I DO have two Texas stars from the RU!! Will grow more from seed too!
Yes.. I'm working toward a body that can be used for ulterior motives.
:)
Susan
Hi Susan .
The tank was rolled on at the Pump Shop .
Then I rolled it off next to the stand I had made .
It only took two people .
I had a similar problem with a Suspect looking plant .
This one .
oh dear... did someone call on you??
Yes , A VW combi van full of long haired young men .
They left empty handed . lol
LOL
Susan, you are a hoot. You need to plant lots of Texas stars in the front yard. Don't you hate nosey bittys?
This message was edited May 31, 2007 11:07 PM
In this close up .
You can see it IS a weed , NOT weed .
The LOL was on them all right .
merkat123 ,
Has just won first prize for the LONGEST POST that says almost nothing . lol
Ginger, you're right. How do I get rid of all the extra lines. I can't let my sister, Jackie, see this. She already thinks I'm totally illiterate.
I would try to go into Edit .
Then select everything below your last word .
When you select it , IT should go blue ,
Then press delete .
Then press Send .
Give it a try .
Edit to try it out .
thumbs up .
This message was edited Jun 1, 2007 12:52 PM
Yeah, I got all the extra lines out. I got my sister's cell phone today and took a picture of the dog and changed her wallpaper on her cell. She blamed my niece for it because she didn't think I would be able to figure it out.
You done good merkat .
Thanks Ginger. With only 140 liters of water a day per person, what are you doing to conserve water? You've got the huge tank for garden and livestock. GGG sounds like she is on the right track to handle future shortages of water. Let's face it. With the growing population and a greater demand for water, we're all going to have to think smart about water.
Merkat.. My four and six year olds were taking pictures on my cell before I ever learned how. :)
Hmmm.. I think there should be a category search in the PF's of plant leaves that resemble those of cannabis for those of us who want to freak the nosy neighbors.
Yes, in the future folks will fight over clean water. Fl, GA, and Al already have seen each other in court since the 90's for the same water we are on from Lake Lanier.. The law states that rivers that flow through more than one state give equal access to those states for the water in those rivers. But I guess the fight comes in when GA wants to decide who controls how much water flows down the Chattahoochee. It amazes me that the lakes original purpose and the creation of Lake Lanier was to control flooding downstream and to produce electricity.. Those are now second and third to providing water for the Atlanta area.
A few of my nongardening mom friends didn't understand the difference of pulling water from the ground on my property if we are in a drought and I had to explain that the area pulls from Lanier and not under my property for our drinking water.
I know some of you in S GA got some rain yesterday.. toward Macon.. I saw the green on the online radar and prayed for it to move up directly north to me after it hit there like in a video game.
:)
Susan
What's really bad about the water wars between neighboring states is what happened last year. Lake Lanier had already let over 20 billion gallons go downstream even though the boaters were telling the Corps of Engineers that the lake was really low. The Corps of Engineers said that couldn't be because of their meter reading. It turned out that the meter was 50 years old and was faulty. Then some judge ruled for some mussels down in FL so 2 billion gallons were released every day for ten days.
Years ago, the nuclear plant in AL needed higher water on the Chattahoochee to bring a huge piece of machinery upstream or pay a penalty for non-delivery. The Corps was in a quandry - release water for this delivery with a drought situation looming or hold on to what water was stored. I don't remember how that played out.
Here is a good site about the water wars:
http://www.waterwebster.com/FloridaAlabamaGeorgia.htm
We are really quite lucky. I want to be able to water my flower beds and I gripe about the funeral hame across the street watering lush grass every day. But I do think about those people in other countries and in other areas of our own country where there is one source for drinking water in a village or town.
There was one tiny town in Alabama that basically disappeared when the mines tapered out. There was no money to repair water mains and finally there was one working tap for clean water in the area. People had to go and fill jugs to haul home for cooking, batheing, and drinking. It made the news when the National Guard had to truck water in to the people.
Our states are squabbling over water, and may be doing so for a long time. Yet we are safe and assured that a solution will eventually occur. But, when I look at the Middle East , I expect there to be a major blowup there over water.
Beth
Good morning guys, haven't been visiting DG for few days, was VERY busy with finishing up my frontyard. Apart from 2 plants from the RU still all has been planted and I bought some 20 plants extra. It still looks kinda empty here and there but decided to wait how it fills out. Finish up the rest of the yard in Fall. I almost died on Thursday - in yard from 7.30 am to 3.30pm. I installed two 50' soaker hoses and have them on for 10 minutes each morning at 7.30. They seem to do well, so will go down to 5 minutes as of tomorrow. Not so sunny, so it doesn't burn off that quick.
What's this about the "WaterPolice" ?? Is that serious?? I have a federal judge living across the street!! Evidently I am only one in neighbh. who can call him by his first name, the rest calls him "judge". I guess I am good! What does the water police look like?
Water police is rather misleading. It depends on what county you are in as well. Some counties hire a handful of people to patrol streets and issue warnings/tickets for violators. Other counties just use their water meter readers to do the job. I got cut off last year when the meter reader decided I had a leak (I did not know the sprinkler timers were in error in the back yard at the time he came around making readings). After I found the problem, I reprogrammed the timer and cut the water back on myself - end of story.
Stay within the guidelines and you shouldn't have any problems.
They are simply Water Co trucks (white) that drive around the neighborhoods looking for sprinklers running at the unlawful hours or days. And yes they are serious! They come up our street twice a day. They will fine you or in one countiy they have turned off the water to 50 repeat offenders.
Different counties have different rules, but here in Clayton Co, we are only allowed to water from midnight to 10:am 3 days a week, according to your address, they are talking about cutting it down to one day a week. By the time I get my plants watered there is no time left to water the lawn, so it is dying again this year. The water co can tell when you are running a lot of water, even if they don't see it.
Just this year I noticed on our bill that it has a graph of the usage for the past 13 mos.