Saturday, November 10, 2012

Rain and Bones

I've always loved the rain. One of our share housing criteria back in the day was a tin roof so you could lie in bed and listen to the patter of the rain. (The other ones were a deck, gas cooktop and a wooden toilet seat) I've also always had an appreciation for water usage. I grew up on tank water, particularly at The Island where you had a very finite amount to use for each stay, so the lessons of water conservation are pretty ground in to my brain.

When we moved to Lantanaland, the water situation is even more real. Waste water and you end up with a bill for a truck to come up the hill. Then we got the cows and I got a little bit obsessive. I started to feel like the soil was part of my body and as it dried out and the grass dwindled I could feel the dryness in me. The last two months as I've been wandering around chasing the cows I can feel the hardness, the dryness of the soil coming up through my boots.

Last night as the first drops hit the roof in what I hoped would be a day of rain to come, the part of me inside that is Lantanaland relaxed a little. Today I can feel the soil slowly rehydrating, the grass waking up, the tank slowly filling. It feels good.

5 comments:

  1. I really do hear you. I grew up on tank water in Far North Queensland.

    The spring here on the property is fantastic, but I'm obsessive about topping up the tank, and checking the pump and the lines, etc. In fact... shit, I think I need to go and pump some water now.

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  2. I've been missing the tassie summer fruits Flinty, so I put in a raspberry and loganberry. Supposed to still fruit here. We will see.

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  3. While I'm in town and not on tank water, I know the feeling, perhaps not with the same degree of risk/commitment, but as a keen gardener I'm just loving today's rain.

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  4. Raspberries and loganberries both need reliable water after flowering. Doesn't have to be a whole lot, but they don't much like drying out. Also: once the fruit has set and is ripening, definitely don't over-water. Regular small doses is the way to go. Too much water goes straight into the fruit, robbing it of flavour.

    I'll be interested to hear how you go with those. The one year we had a run of days of 35C, the berries did not respond well. Many of them bleached, and the flavour changed for the worse.

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  5. I've pretty much set up the day runs for the chooks as a summer and winter run. The berries are in the winter run and will pretty much only get morning sun, full shade in the afternoon. Thanks for the watering tips.

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