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Post by Jaded Green 27th June 2010, 4:19 pm

I'm not complaining about this lovely hot weather, but with the water butt empty we are starting to save water for the garden and I wondered what all of you do?

In the past we have siphoned the bath water and could do it again, although on the whole we tend to have showers now.

So the JGs are currently:

  • running the shower into a bucket while it warms up
  • washing fruit and veg over the washing up bowl and transferring the water to a bucket outside the back door
  • running cold tap for a drink of COLD water into a receptacle and then same transfer to outside bucket

We are NOT cutting down on flushing the loo and I think I may have to talk to Miss JG about this. The Junior Jadeds have aways been rather "I'm SO not doing that" in a teenage sort of way, but now they are both older, reason may prevail

Does anyone have any suggestions to share? I've been wondering about the washing up water?
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Post by Compostwoman 27th June 2010, 7:15 pm

Showering while standing in a bowl, so the shower water gets caught as well.

Keeping a jug of water in the fridge, so you don't need to run the cold tap

Wee into a bucket and tip onto the compost
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Post by Dandelion 27th June 2010, 7:22 pm

Your households sounds similar to our! Our shower is in the bath, so I can put the plug in and save the water. If I don't want a shower I wash my feet at night in a bowl and save the water; I also wash my hair over a bowl and catch the water. I've also been amazed by how much water I use in the kitchen for washing hands, rinsing fruit etc, as I have put an old washing up bowl in the sink to catch it all (though I'm very fussy about no cleaning products in it, or salty water from cooking veg).
We're metered, so I've always been a bit vigilant over water use (especially as we use drinking grade water to flush the loo in the UK, which I feel bad about as many others in the world have appalling water to drink). I did try running upstairs with water in a bucket from the butt in the winter to flush the loo, but i didn't see any appreciable drop in our water use from this (we don't flush the loo every time anyway) and I couldn't interest anyone else in the family in doing this!!
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Post by polgara 27th June 2010, 10:28 pm

Using a 3 tiered steamer, not a lot of cut down, but a bit. Short wash on the washing machine & make sure it is full up. Hit OH over the head with watering can to persuade him NOT to use the hose. We don`t have a bath, so showers are quicker & we don`t use a power shower head.
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Post by Sparhawk 28th June 2010, 3:57 pm

polgara wrote: Hit OH over the head with watering can to persuade him NOT to use the hose.

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Post by Compostwoman 28th June 2010, 4:10 pm

If watering , soak the soil at the base of the plants (rather than a general light spraying) and then cover the soil with a mulch to keep in the precious water.
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Post by Dandelion 28th June 2010, 8:38 pm

Which mulches would you suggest?
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Post by polgara 28th June 2010, 8:39 pm

If all else fails, I think newspaper or cardboard work well.
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Post by Jaded Green 28th June 2010, 10:26 pm

I'm doing the short wash on the washing machine too - saves a lot of time as well as water!

Got stuck when I went to put a jug of water in the fridge. Discovered it was too tall and I couldn't face moving the shelves. I must have used a smaller jug last time!

Have just watered the garden with water from the kitchen tap Saving water Icon_cry
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Post by Compostwoman 28th June 2010, 10:50 pm

Dandelion wrote:Which mulches would you suggest?

As Pol says newspaper or cardboard...I use lawn mowings, but then I have a lot!

leave them to dry out a bit first as they are a bit "hot" when fresh.....
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Post by Chilli-head 28th June 2010, 11:56 pm

Mulching is good.

Also good is hoeing. Not just to stop the weeds using water from the soil, but to create a "dust mulch". Loosening the top couple of centimetres of soil breaks the hydraulic coupling between the soil beneath and the surface, slowing down water loss by evaporation. I've seen this technique used by commercial growers, coordinating so that irrigation is done a day or so before hoeing.
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Post by Compostwoman 28th June 2010, 11:59 pm

Yep

"tickling up Mother Earth" is how I have seen it described

A dust mulch is a good thing, especially if nothing else is available as a top mulch

Good suggestion , there!
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Post by Compostwoman 29th June 2010, 12:02 am

Chilli-head wrote:Mulching is good.

Also good is hoeing. Not just to stop the weeds using water from the soil, but to create a "dust mulch". Loosening the top couple of centimetres of soil breaks the hydraulic coupling between the soil beneath and the surface, slowing down water loss by evaporation. I've seen this technique used by commercial growers, coordinating so that irrigation is done a day or so before hoeing.

CH could you give us an idea of what your knowledge base is? as you obviously know lots about lots...so perhaps a bit of background would be helpful to some?

Only if you want to, of course!
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Post by Chilli-head 30th June 2010, 6:00 pm

Ok, I've stuck a bit of info about myself in the Member profiles bit, if anyone wants to know...

On the subject of dust mulches, I've refined my technique for planting out plants raised in modules, paper pots, loo roll cores etc. Inspired by the idea of watering the bottom of a seed drill before sowing, and the method of planting leeks in holes. I dig the planting holes, set the plant module/block in there, and then carefully water round the block to wash some soil around the roots and settle them in (try not to hit the block/rootball itself lest it collapse). Then I fill in the soil. This seems to me better than what I used to do - put the plant in, put the soil back and then water - because it has the "dust mulch" effect to trap the water in, and avoids creating a damp patch as a slug and snail haven right by the nice tender seedling ..
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Post by Compostwoman 30th June 2010, 6:13 pm

That is exactly how I do leeks as well, and it works for us!

Ditto the "anything in tubes /rootrainers" as well
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Post by polgara 4th June 2011, 3:44 pm

Think this may be a good time to BUMP this thread for any new ideas.
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Post by Mike 4th June 2011, 9:49 pm

Jaded Green wrote:......
We are NOT cutting down on flushing the loo and I think I may have to talk to Miss JG about this. The Junior Jadeds have aways been rather "I'm SO not doing that" in a teenage sort of way, but now they are both older, reason may prevail

Does anyone have any suggestions to share? .......

Or humor .........

Post the classic sign
"If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down."
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Post by Dandelion 5th June 2011, 2:26 pm

....and be prepared to sprint upstairs for an emergency flush if a visitor arrives and wants to use the loo!!!!
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Post by Kristy lee 6th June 2011, 1:25 pm

You can get little sand timers that stick on the wall to put in the shower for teenagers.
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Post by polgara 6th June 2011, 3:32 pm

Now that is a good idea Kirsty. Saving water 506122
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Post by polgara 30th June 2011, 3:03 pm

For indoor plants, use the leftovers from the tea pot, again not a lot but every bit helps.

Water the garden in the evenings so less evaporates

When defrosting fridge or freezer, save the ice in a bucket & use to water plants.
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Post by Chilli-head 30th June 2011, 3:15 pm

I slop the waste aquarium water when I do a water change onto the compost heap. I figure that the reason I'm doing the water changes is to remove nitrates from the aquarium, so thay may as well make themselves useful as a compost accelerator !

Edited to add: Coming back to the issue of mulches, I've had great results this year planting cabbages and broccoli through a layer of brown paper - I have lots of it from work because it seems to have replaced polystyreen chips as packaging material. As well as conserving moisture, it keeps down the weeds and hopefully helps deter root fly. Really clean healthy crop this year Very Happy
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Post by Compostwoman 30th June 2011, 4:50 pm

Water you have boiled an egg in is higher in disolved calcium from the shells so I use it on houseplants - they seem to love it.
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