10 quick water saving tips

Around the country we are watching the horror of living in a drought. We have friends who farm in the Free State whose water supply is nearly done. On Facebook we are seeing pleas from people in Colesberg and Aliwal who have no water - imagine that - turning on a tap for a drink and having NOTHING come out...Groups are springing up asking for water and money donations for stricken farmers...it is very sad.

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit friends who live on the edge of the dam that brings Cape Town its water and I was shocked to see how low it is.

Theewaterskloof Dam

Some may blame global warming, others El Nino, others the sin of the government or whatever else...but the facts are simple: WE HAVE A DROUGHT PEOPLE and what are YOU going to do about it?

Driving back from this weekend away I was on high alert...I saw school fields being watered with sprinklers in gale force winds - most of the water blowing away. I saw sports grounds watering at 12 o'clock in the day...I even saw neighbouring houses using automated sprinklers where the one was shooting water onto the tar, not even the grass verge. And then there are the folk who say "I have a borehole/well point, so I'm ok!" Um...No!

I think many people suffer from the complex that they can get away with unscrupulous watering methods because everyone else will be watching their usage...thats just wrong thinking! Everyone should be doing what they can...I know I need to do more. 

So here are 10 things we already do (10th point in progress) that can help you if you are uncertain what to do to save a bit of water. 

1. Collect water from your shower in buckets and use this water on your non-edible plants. 

2. Buy plastic containers which fit into your washing basin and do all your rinsing catching the rinse water in this container which you can then put onto potted plants. Do the same when rinsing vegetables - save the water and give it back to the garden. I do assume with this that you are using natural soaps...

Basin within a basin

3. Make sure the last bits of water in water bottles from school; gym or outings are emptied into plants not down the drain. This also goes for dog water bowls – but choose non-edible plants for this water.

4. Mulch with a layer of compost then a layer of wood chip, newspaper (although this blows around and is perhaps better under the compost), straw or well rotted manure. Do not clear up leaves that fall – use them as mulch.

5. Water deeply less often.

6. Do not use a sprinkler especially on windy days. We installed drip irrigation but now need to connect it to the borehole system...when we have the money...so for now its buckets or bust.

7. Water first thing in the morning or last thing after the days heat. With the exception of squashes which tend to get powdery mildew if the soil is wet at night.

8. Collect tea in the kitchen from your left over bits in your pot and use that on all acid loving plants like berries, hydrangeas and camellias.

9. When planting new seedlings, keep the ground wet until they have germinated and then slowly taper off watering unless they are wilting. This forces the roots to go deep and you will eventually not need to water more than once a week if you have mulched.

Despite being watered once a week these heirloom tomatoes are doing very well.

10. If you have the financial ability, plan to install water tanks on your downpipes during the next rainy season. If you can’t, a cheaper alternative is what my mom did during their drought a few years ago which was to use big black bins with lids, cut out the lid for the downpipe to fit into, cut out a circle for a tap to fit on the bottom and put it on bricks under the downpipes. She was able to even collect dew this way for her garden.

I hope this gets you kick started - please feel free to add any more ideas in the comment section. 

Drip irrigation for the Urban Homestead

To say that dragging around a very long hosepipe attached to a semi working borehole every second day for the last 7 years, has become tiresome, is a serious understatement.

It gets snagged.

It gets twisted.

It waters paths, not beds.

It gets hooked.

It gets punctures (in the wrong places).

It is messy.

I eventually had enough but knowing the price of installing drip irrigation I had to keep going.

Then it ran dry.

Superman took notice as the municipal water bill started to climb....and climb...and climb...and climb...and climb...

I sent him a little video made by the GrowVeg team which got him thinking.

Then being the number cruncher of the family he crunched his numbers and found that once the cost of the drip irrigation was paid for we would save and save and save.

So overnight he made up his mind and off he went to buy what we needed then gave up two days of his very busy work week to install it along with the help of a friend.

So now every second or third day I simply walk outside, turn on a tap and it drips away.

Our next step will be to link the borehole to a Jo-Jo tank and then use that to pump the water into and from there connect it to the drip irrigation. We also hope to include in our backyard renovation, which is currently happening,  rain water tanks for the same purpose.

Then it will be free....free...free to water the garden and this will make my number cruncher happy.

So for those of you who understand the numbers this is what I am told...

A normal rose sprinkler uses 27 litres per minute on one spot. It runs for about 6 hours to water the whole garden.

Drip irrigation uses 25 litres per minute over the whole garden and runs for about 4 hours. The holes in the pipe are at 15cm intervals and with the calculations it should give a diameter of 30cm which will overlap with the next 30cm circle.

So while the per minute usage is similar the coverage is vastly different.

How do you water your garden?

Giving mulch a try

So this post starts with a gardeners confession...I have never mulched like other water wise gardeners.

I have always added layers of compost which can form a mulch layer until it breaks down in the soil, but it will not last the whole summer as a true mulch.

So what's mulch meant to do?

It has three main functions:

- to keep the weeds down through suffocation (Oh yeah!)
- to keep moisture in by creating an evaporation barrier layer
- to protect the roots from heat or cold

Mulch is typically a layer of organic matter, but some people also use shredded newspaper to function as a mulch. Ultimately the mulch will breakdown and provide further nutrition to the soil, but we chose straw which should last a season or two.


The reason I have never used mulch is two fold - laziness {blush blush} and not being true believer. I mean I know that all the experts do it and I once tried with freshly shredded garden matter but it just became such a mission I didn't see it through.

The reason I am reapplying my mind to this is that we have water problems....And weed problems....and when a woman is desperate....yeah, you know!

There are lots of us in our suburb all drawing water via boreholes or well points and by December the water pressure is so low that we can barely get enough water via the sprinkler. The weed problem is another thing I hope to control. We picked up a terrible little weed through some manure I got from a stable a year ago and it has been such a prolific grower that it is everywhere.

We have pulled up all the plants that we can find and now I hope to at least reduce the germination of any seeds that are in the soil.

So yesterday Superman went to buy two bales of straw from the local pet shop. It was the cheapest option that I could find at R48 per bale.

Then the kids and I spread the straw around all our newly planted seedlings. Beans, tomatoes, corn, marrows, pumpkin and cucumbers all got the same treatment.

When placing mulch on the beds it is important to not put it right up against the stem. This is to make sure that the plant still gets the water and that moulds and other diseases do not attack the plant in the super moist conditions.

We watered everything quickly so that the Cape Doctor that was blowing through our little town did not just lift it all and carry it away. (For those internationals - the Cape Doctor is the South East wind that blows in spring and summer. Called this because it blows away the city smog and pollution.)

So now we wait and see if mulch is the answer to my dilemma
of water and weed issues.

Do you mulch? What do you use?

Water, water everywhere!

Pictures from yesterday....

Thanks to a very vigilant Superman supervising the whole process there was minimal damage. We have wonderful water, pumping full taps....what a good result.

Harvest in a hurry

I should be shouting: "Houston, we have a problem!!" but I will rather look to the blessings than the troubles...but just so that you know what is going on here...
Last year around Dec/Jan we noticed that our wellpoint was loosing pressure. Without "free" water, everything we are doing here is pointless! We cannot afford to water on municipal water and I don't want that water on my crops anyway.
About 3 weeks ago we noticed that there was not even a square meter of water being spurted out of the sprinkler with the pump going full taps and Superman and I looked at each other and said: "Houston, we have a problem!"
Well after all the experts came and went this week we have no option but to sink another well point, and this well point is going to be in the veggie garden right next to my beloved much nutured asparagus.

This caused a hurried harvesting session for all of us this afternoon - in the rain and then blistering humidity. We had to dig out all the potatoes as this bed will be used as their slurry pit, then we tied back the asparagus (I am praying it will not be damaged) and then we harvested all the tomatoes around and about.

While we were going we picked the corn that is ready and the pumpkin and butternuts.

I suppose I should be grateful that this weeks shopping :-) has been done!

Dear Readers, think of us tomorrow as they start to dig....

When good things in life are free!

It takes me by surprise when I find something pure and good for my family - and its FREE!

A while ago I decided to only use distilled water to drink. The distiller is great but it uses electricity and it's therefore not "cheap" water so I have not been using it for cooking or the kettle.

A few weeks ago a friend and I decided we were going to rectify this situation and we bought ourselves the correct type of plastic 25l bottles so that we could store water for use in cooking. It cost R155 with 25l of Oasis Water.

This 25l was quickly used up in my kitchen...but I had a plan. Another friend of mine has been going to the "Newlands Spring" for years to collect her own pure spring water - for FREE!

Today I took my son with me (to do the heavy lifting - I am so grateful for this boy) and we filled our bottle. Expecting to be the only weird "greenie" there ,I was surprised and delighted to find an assortment of wonderful people there QUEUING for the water :-)

The one man was an old Islamic man who used to play there as a child before Group Areas Act and still comes weekly for his water, there is also a religious significance for him. Another man, in his 70's has been using this water for ages too - and he distills his own beer and whiskey from it. And yet another gent arrived in his Mercedes SLK with his bottles for his water.


This spring is used by SA Breweries for their beer and they say: "it has the perfect PH 5.6 like rainwater, correct mineral content and is free of contaminents." The water has been tested and is pure for my cooking needs.

The little retaining wall was built around it in 1841...cool hey?!? Anyway, it was a delight to find this good thing for free. Here's a map for you if you would like to get some yourself - Capetoneans that is :-)It wouldn't be free if one of my faithful internationals came - du-uh!

Water water everywhere...

The other day I was standing watering my now vast vegetable garden and I thought: "What if we had water restrictions? How would I keep this all going?"

To be honest I had a little shiver up my spine :-(

Keeping veggies growing well in a drought time is no joke.

Where my mom lives, they have had a long standing drought and she has successfully run her home and garden on very little water. I asked her to send me a list of things she has done to reduce water usage, but also how she kept her garden thriving in this tough time.

1- Train your domestic worker if necessary as to what changes you are going to make.

2- Keep a plastic basin in the sink and wash basins to collect the water from hand washing, vegetable rinsing which can then be used to flush toilets or water pots and garden. Make sure they are the right size to fit in the basins and sink without restricting water flow. Obviously can also be kept in basin throughout the day for regular hand washing.

3- When bathing, shaving, showering, turn off water while soaping, brushing teeth or shampooing etc.

4- Keep buckets in bathroom to collect water from basin, bath and shower for garden and toilet.

5- If doing the "yellow/brown thing". Keep the lid down to dissuade flies.

6- Hygiene is most important at this time.

7- Cut down on electrical usage.

8- The water used for cooking veggies is also good on the garden.

9- I do not agree that showering uses less than a bath. Depends on how you do it. My bath is 2 buckets max and washes everything necessary, using a hand shower every 3 days for hair washing.

10- Mark the bath at 10cm and dont fill any higher. As the children get older they may prefer to have individual baths and this way you will still use less.



11- Catching rainwater from the gutters is the greatest help for me. Aunty R has now got a large tank and Uncle D has connected a pump to the outlet tap so she can use a hose and doesnt have to carry buckets. The tank is obviously on a plynth to enable all this.

12- Use a steamer (3 tiered) for vegs as this uses less water and electricity.

13- Use a plastic cupful of water per person for cleaning teeth instead of running water.

14- Get 2 sink strainers that rest over the plughole to catch all debris. This helps the water purification plant use less water in the cleaning process. We must all think beyond our own immediate area of use.

15- Fill a 1litre plastic milk bottle with sand, clean exterior and seal. Place in toilet cistern to reduce amount of water used to flush.

17- Report any leaks seen when walking or driving around. the council really appreciates this.If nothing is done nag, nag, nag.

18- If you have taps with the lever type handle wrap an elastic band around the handle and tap which then forms an automatic shutoff while soaping etc.


Other water saving ideas are here.

Irrigating the garden

For a while now I have been wanting to try another way of irrigating the garden. We have borehole water but I have to schlep the hosepipe around and the sprinkler we use does not only cover the beds, but the pathways too.

I have tried a variety of sprinklers over the years and have not yet found anything that is direct enough. I have thought of an Olla but it would cost too much to buy them, or make them. I also thought of drip irrigation but the pressure from the borehole is too high and it would not work either. Superman (did I mention that all homes need one of Them) has been trying to think of a way to do it for me at the lowest cost and effort. We have one big problem here in Cape Town - WIND WIND and more WIND.

Last night we rigged up an idea to see if it could work and as the wind was blowing hard it was a good time to test it. Unfortunetly, while this will simplify my watering time dramatically, the wind makes it only good for windstill days.

We used a simple frame with irrigation piping attached to it with cable ties (that one is for you Sean - I know how you like your cable ties!) and then had 2 360 deg and 2 180 deg sprinklers attached to it. Two beds are connected and all I have to do is plug in the hose from the pump and turn it on. On windy days we will need another plan...

I also just need to share what the Smallest Super Hero did today...when we cut down the trees he was devastated. He was rehousing nests and chameleons left right and centre. He then asked about a pond and we got that in. As he was filling it (see post below) he had tears in his little eyes and said: "I am so happy I could cry". Then he asked how else we could get birds back...and the feeding station came to life in his mind. This is what he made all on his own today:

The apple and pine cone feeder are stuck onto nails he hammered through from the bottom and he is making suet blocks for the other two nails. We already had the little green seed feeder and my father in law had bought the nectar feeder for us a while back. It is filled with a sugar water solution, a dab of marmite and some red coloring. The White Eyes love it.

And this evening we were rewarded with a dragon fly sitting on our asparagus. Nature will return....

Here we go again!

Today we made a start on the last area of our garden that we are going to convert to veggies and fruit trees.

On Thursday we will be getting some labourers in to dig the trench beds (I will explain what we are doing in another post this week) so we have to get the trees out before they get here.

Today the Plumbago and Hibiscus were marked for removal. Superman bought a new toy for the job!


We placed all the smaller branches through the shredder for mulch.

The mulch is part of my "save water this summer" campaign. As we chop the rest of the trees out (3 more to go) we will store wood for winter, use leaves for the trenches and the branches for mulch so that the whole garden will have a good layer on top of the soil.

Learning from Grandma

No matter where I go I always like to learn and find a better way to live. We have just got back from a wonderful peaceful time with my mom and dad and we have learnt alot.

Where they live on the Garden Route they have been plagued by a severe water shortage for the last 18 months. The dam that serves their town is only 23% full. There have been a variety of water by laws passed to make people more water concious.



Even so, people continue to flush at will, wash cars and paving with hoses and waste water in general. Not my mom who is a hero for the environment!



As her garden is small she has no place for a big water butt, so has resorted to using black bins at her downpipes to catch any moisture - even dew! It is estimated that overnight dew will eventually fill a bin which can be used in the garden. She had the hardware store cut a hole and insert a tap.



My parents live on the forest line in the Outeniqua mountains, the picture above is from their front steps.



We enjoyed walking int this forest even in the dry heat as there was still lots to see.



Most of us are dependent on water from a dam, I will share with you another visit we made while away where this family "milks the clouds" in another post, but as I watched my mom going through her routine of collecting water each day from showers and baths in buckets and in a basins at sinks and in the kitchen I realised how much more I can do in my own home, even though we are not in a drought situation.

Each household in her area is allowed 15 000 litres of municipal water per month and my mom manages to run her household on 1 000 litres...that's a feat to be awarded. Well done Mom!