Kitchen Garden Forum

Primrose wrote:I've read that apparently putting disposable nappies in the the bottom of a hanging basket on top of the basket liner, or putting them at the base of patio pots is good way of retaining moisture. They're apparently quite cheap in pound shops and they work more effectively than water retention crystalss. I imagine they decompose over the course of the season.

If you use a used one it would have included feeding as well.......................lol

This years challenge then by the looks of things! I have 2 butts on the allotment but 1 is empty, but now we have the water turned on I can hose. I want to fill the empty one from the tap, but it takes too long and wouldn't be fair to the others waiting to water, so I have extra buckets & watering cans I do have time to fill. I have acquired another barrel but need to set it up with some more down pipe & a tap etc but too much else to keep on top of currently.

This discussion has made me realise that I rather shamefully have no idea how much water our hisehold actually uses on a daily basis. I'm sure I would know to the last drop if I had to lug it in a water pot on my head from a well somewhere in Africa.

An elderly Scottish gentleman I knew used to keep the same bowl of soapy washing up water in his sink all day. Everything was washed in it and it wasn,t thrown away until the end of the day. I once gained his stern reproach for doing some washing up for him after lunch and throwing the water away. "Nae lass, you wasted that water. It would hae done the rest of the day!"

I would agree with desalination i delivered a couple of loads towards a desalination plant in dubi (UAE) in the seventies, you would not think that place was a desert now would you?

We are told to rinse cans out before putting them in the recycling bin.

Wonder how many tins full of water is used?

ALso I hear Scotland has lots of water how about the export it?

Barcelona had a big problem with water shortage caused by three years with no rain they temporarily shipped water in three tankers a week the then had to build a ten mile pipe line to the first reservoir from the docks in the meantime they started construction on a desalination plant this was opened around two years ago

My partner's 96 year old mother suggested towing ice bergs to countries with severe water shortages. Nothing wrong with a bit of lateral thinking is there so long as they hadn't melted by the time they got there.

It might confuse the polar bears

Colin2016 wrote:We are told to rinse cans out before putting them in the recycling bin.

Wonder how many tins full of water is used?

ALso I hear Scotland has lots of water how about the export it?

Not on the East side, we haven't had any rain for weeks

I'm not keen on ice in my whisky

Desalination is energy intensive, so in the long run might well make the problems worse.

On our allotments we've been banned from using hosepipes this year, probably more for financial reasons than anything. But aside from germinating seeds, lots of things will grow with rather less water splashed around than many seem to think. Mulches and weed control help.

Hi,

Great thread as I think it's really important to think about ways to minimise water use. We all have responsibly to think about this and use resources carefully, so any tips are appreciated. Good tip tony about the mulching!

I'm afraid I'm in the camp who thinks that having a green lawn is a luxury. Ok, it'll turn a bit brown and patchy if you don't water it but it'll grow back. Car washing - it doesn't need to be washed weekly - keep your windows clean and wash off the bird poo - a bit of dust isn't going to hurt it.

Water the things that need it and matter and keep those bird baths filled!

Fingers crossed for some rain soon.

Pawty

I'm all for the 'share a bath' method. Well subject to certain conditions I am

"Car washing - it doesn't need to be washed weekly "

Car I got last July has had one wash, guess it's due another but hey there is more important things to do like sorting the garden out, plus what's the point it only gets dirty again.

Our garden is always dirty