Xref: news7 rec.gardens.edible:52140

In metro Denver.......No watering except for trees and shrubs. Fines to
$500 apply. Reservoirs are at 43% capacity and dropping. There goes my
garden for this year. I'll set out a few tomato plants and hope for
rain, but if it's anything like last year, it's futile. Reminds me of
1933.

What about "gray water"? Can you save the water from your washing
machine and/or bathtub and irrigate (carefully, to avoid contamination)
with that? Mulch heavily and set up some kind of makeshift gravity-fed
drip system. Tomatoes and peppers ought to love it.

Best regards,
Bob

--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join
the search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

Gray water is not legally owned by me. The water thet splashes off of
my body during a shower is owned by someone downstream. That's the
law......however impossible to enforce. The mayor was distributing
buckets until this legality was made known via the news media.

in article , George
at wrote on 3/14/03 7:52 PM:

In metro Denver.......No watering except for trees and shrubs. Fines to
$500 apply. Reservoirs are at 43% capacity and dropping. There goes my
garden for this year. I'll set out a few tomato plants and hope for
rain, but if it's anything like last year, it's futile. Reminds me of
1933.

I hear that hydroponic gardening is easy on water usage. And I believe that
it should be. Nevertheless, every time I have to top off my reservoir when
transpiration take my water, I become doubtful. It happens about once or
twice a week depending upon how hot it is. Maybe I use about 20 gallons each
time for a 6 by 8 foot greenhouse.

Has there been a definitive study on comparing hydroponic water usage
compared to drip irrigation?
\
Bill

I don't think that would hold up in court. (Of course, who wants to be
the test case?) They charge you for sewer service, don't they? At
least where I live, sewer rates are based on *winter* water usage only,
because it is assumed not all water used in the summer ends up in the
sewer. Therefore, water and sewer are somewhat independant. I pay for
water, and I pay to have the waste water taken away; I don't just pay a
"usage fee" or rental. Maybe yours is different, but I doubt it.

I'm not talking intentionally generating artificially vast amounts of
waste water to water your lawn, I'm talking about a few gallons a week
to keep a few plants alive.

BTW, you have my condolences.

Regards,
Bob



George wrote:

Gray water is not legally owned by me. The water thet splashes off of
my body during a shower is owned by someone downstream. That's the
law......however impossible to enforce. The mayor was distributing
buckets until this legality was made known via the news media.



--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join
the search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

Can you put a 55 gallon drum that has been emptied, under your down spouts
on the house and save your rain water (when you get it). Rain water is
better for your plants anyway. They can be fixed up with faucets or other
ways to get the water out when you need it.

Good luck. Dwayne



"Repeating Decimal" wrote in message
...
in article ,
George
at wrote on 3/14/03 7:52 PM:

In metro Denver.......No watering except for trees and shrubs. Fines to
$500 apply. Reservoirs are at 43% capacity and dropping. There goes my
garden for this year. I'll set out a few tomato plants and hope for
rain, but if it's anything like last year, it's futile. Reminds me of
1933.

I hear that hydroponic gardening is easy on water usage. And I believe
that
it should be. Nevertheless, every time I have to top off my reservoir when
transpiration take my water, I become doubtful. It happens about once or
twice a week depending upon how hot it is. Maybe I use about 20 gallons
each
time for a 6 by 8 foot greenhouse.

Has there been a definitive study on comparing hydroponic water usage
compared to drip irrigation?
\
Bill

You have my sincere sympathy.....we went through a severe drought last
summer, and I wouldn't want to face that again.

For what it's worth, my tomatoes folded early last year, but the peppers
hung in there, especially the Hungarian semi-hots. Even the bells survived
, though, and they were about the only vegetables I was able to harvest. I
mulched *heavily*.

The other surprise was the asparagus. I didn't get much of a crop, and the
fronds didn't get very tall, but it didn't die off, and it got no
supplemental water. I was glad I had taken the time and effort to dig deep
and amend heavily when I planted them, and again, I had a lot of mulch on
the bed.

Are you allowed to water containers? That would be a way to get a few
tomatoes.

Good luck, and I hope you get some--no, lots--of rain.

Sue

Zone 6, Southcentral PA


"George" wrote in message
...
In metro Denver.......No watering except for trees and shrubs. Fines to
$500 apply. Reservoirs are at 43% capacity and dropping. There goes my
garden for this year. I'll set out a few tomato plants and hope for
rain, but if it's anything like last year, it's futile. Reminds me of
1933.

Are you allowed to water containers? That would be a way to get a few
tomatoes.

Good luck, and I hope you get some--no, lots--of rain.

Probably not, but he *could* take them in the shower with him. (Might
be a little interesting with a 7 foot tall "Better Boy" monster --
choose the variety wisely, LOL)

Best regards,
Bob

--
Have a Windows® computer that is powered on for hours at a time? Join
the search for a cure for cancer: http://grid.org/projects/cancer/

they'll let you water trees and shrubs, but not your food???? what is going on.?

susan

George wrote:

In metro Denver.......No watering except for trees and shrubs. Fines to
$500 apply. Reservoirs are at 43% capacity and dropping. There goes my
garden for this year. I'll set out a few tomato plants and hope for
rain, but if it's anything like last year, it's futile. Reminds me of
1933.

"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
Can you put a 55 gallon drum that has been emptied, under your down spouts
on the house and save your rain water (when you get it). Rain water is
better for your plants anyway. They can be fixed up with faucets or other
ways to get the water out when you need it.

Good luck. Dwayne


Well, sometimes...

Rain water is NOT guaranteed to be "better" for plants nowadays.

If you live downwind of any major metro area or energy generating plants
(virtually ALL the NE United States) then the acid levels in your rainwater
might be high enough to actually do plants damage.

Collect some and have it tested. That is the only way to be sure.

Tom

Would someone actually be watching you and report you for saving water in
the shower and using it on your garden? The graywater from the laundry is a
great idea.
Does it get to be that "big brother-ish" in times of water restrictions?
Roz
phx, az, usa

Setzler said:

they'll let you water trees and shrubs, but not your food???? what is going on.?

My mother lives in NE Colorado and my brother in SW Nebraska, and the water
situation there is terrible.

I can tell you, though, that if they didn't make an exception for trees and shrubs,
they would all die, as the natural climate there (and in Denver) is a semi-desert
grassland. Trees only occured naturally in river valleys and isolated microclimates.
These treed places were memorable landmarks on the old trail west, with names
like "Plum Hollow" or "Pine Bluffs."


--
Pat in Plymouth MI

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

I placed a barrel near the washer to capture the gray water. The wife
is already salvaging the water from the bathtub for her flowers and
herbs.
By showering navy style (learned how in 1944) I use very little
water......haven't figured out how to capture the effluent.....each foot
in a bucket, perhaps.

(George) wrote in message ...
I placed a barrel near the washer to capture the gray water. The wife
is already salvaging the water from the bathtub for her flowers and
herbs.
By showering navy style (learned how in 1944) I use very little
water......haven't figured out how to capture the effluent.....each foot
in a bucket, perhaps.

I suppose golf courses are exempted, and people are still growing
alfalfa in Colorado. (yes, two different beasts: alfalfa is useful to
society, only it should be grown where water is plentiful. Golf
courses should be the first to go dry when drought strikes).

On Fri, 14 Mar 2003 20:52:09 -0700 (MST),
(George) wrote:

In metro Denver.......No watering except for trees and shrubs. Fines to
$500 apply. Reservoirs are at 43% capacity and dropping. There goes my
garden for this year. I'll set out a few tomato plants and hope for
rain, but if it's anything like last year, it's futile. Reminds me of
1933.

Do you have municipal recycling? Our guidelines say something about
'rinsed' containers. So I filled up my 1-ltr soda bottles with water
and 'rinsed' them on my tomato and basil plants before putting them
into the recycling bin during severe restrictions last year.

see:
http://www.water.denver.co.gov/

It appears that hand-watering of veg and flower gardens is permitted
"(with positive shutoff nozzle or drip irrigation only)" as of
October, 2002.

I'm really curious about the gray-water thing. I don't know about
Denver, but where I live, the sink, toilet, and tub, and washing
machine all eventually go into a common sewer drain. How on earth is
shower water separated from raw sewage?