Watering Your Herbs & Vegies on Water Restrictions

Gardening with water restrictions is always a challenge, and given the thirsty nature of most edible crops this becomes even more of an issue for anyone growing their own fresh produce. Don't despair though, there are a number of ways you can ensure your herbs and vegies survive even the harshest water restrictions.

What you CAN do!

Firstly, make sure you take advantage of mains water supplies to water your edible garden deeply and thoroughly whenever you are allowed to water.

Other Water to Collect

Vegies like lettuce, silverbeet, spinach and rocket or root crops like potatoes, carrots and beetroot are not ok for watering with most grey waters however there's plenty of water you can still collect from the house that's fine to use.

Under every tap and shower head, put a container to collect water that would otherwise be wasted when:

• waiting for water to get to the right temperature

• washing vegies

• rinsing hands of fruit juice, dust or soil (or anything not oily or germy)

• rinsing glasses, mugs and bottles (again, anything not oily or germy)

• catching the last drops of water from the hose after use

Have a container under the tap that is not so big that it makes using the tap inconvenient, and that you can easily move aside if the water to collect is unsuitable. Then when it's full, empty it into a larger bucket nearby for later transport to the garden. This could save a lot of walking as well as water! A bucket is fine for under the shower rose and under outside garden taps.

Water that is left over water from cooking and herbal teas are ideal for the vegie patch once it cools down.

You can also use water from soaking pots and pans, provided the food residue is vegetarian and non-oily. Don't over-load any one spot in the soil with too much uncomposted food residue or the beneficial microbes in the soil will struggle to compost it down. Try not to get this type of water on edible plant parts.

A perfect place to put this type of water is in your worm farm or compost bin that has a leachate catchment on it like the 'Aerobin' The reason for this is the food residue will stay in the compost or farm whilst the water will filter through and collect in the leachate tank at the bottom as compost tea. This liquid can be diluted down to the colour of a weak tea and used as liquid fertiliser in the garden.

Get a water tank

Any size is better than nothing but it's preferable to get one big enough to collect the maximum amount of water that your roof area can collect with Melbourne's average rainfall in it's wettest month.

Greywater

Greywater from showers and laundries are suitable for your fruit trees, vines, ramblers and plants where edible parts are grown above ground and are held up off the ground so will not get splashed with grey water. (eg, staked tomatoes, eggplants and beans ok, lettuce, carrots and beetroot not ok) Never consume plants that have possibly been in contact with greywater.

Make sure to use eco friendly suitable detergents and soaps (are biodegradable, low/no salt and phosphorous) like one of the safer washing detergents we have available.

See one of our water experts to help choose the tank that's right for you. Check out our rainwater / greywater display out in our driveway, ask at the front desk for brochures on water tanks and water rebates and don't forget to check out all of our water factsheets... Greywater, Rainwater & Rainwater Tanks, Watering Systems, Water Saving Products and Water Saving Tips.

Make sure you keep it there!

You put so much effort into getting water to your vegies: Now keep it there!

Use plenty of organic matter in the soil like composts and manures to hold moisture in there. Mulching is a must to retain moisture in the soil and for pots. Consider adding a moisture retention agent (like hydrocell, see our hydrocell trials or ask for a demo at BAAG) to soil when doing new plantings. Retrofitting with a water retention agent is not as effective but still beneficial.

What Else You Can Do!

Sign our petition!

There is a hard-copy petition located in our shop near the front desk, or alternatively you can sign the online version at www.gopetition.com

We are running a petition to ask the government to acknowledge and establish that home produce gardens deserve different consideration from purely ornamental gardens because...

1. According to a study done by David Holmgren, co-founder of Permaculture, backyard growers use only a fifth of the water compared to commercial growers per $ value of produce.

2. Growing your own eliminates food miles, saving up to 25% of greenhouse gases, according to Clive Blazey, CEO of 'The Diggers Club'. This means your goods don't get machine harvested, transported to sorting sheds, stored in cool rooms, transported to market, then to supermarket, lit up by fluorescent lights and then transported again to your home to be then stored again in your fridge. Using excess energy all the way whilst losing vitality and freshness.

3. Helps the environment in other ways like reducing the use of biocides like herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.

4. Frees up agricultural land to be converted back to it's natural state meaning more trees and therefore more water catchment. This means more biodiversity and wildlife and less strain on our valuable water supply. This means returning our country to having more ecological stability, with more of Australia left to wilderness and parks to be enjoyed by us, our wildlife, our children, our tourists and many more generations to come.

5. Brings people and families together outdoors to gain healthy organic produce, fresh air & exercise and an awareness to our strong connection with nature.

6. For more sustainable gardening advice and information on Low Water Use gardening visit Sustainable Gardening Australia's (SGA)website at www.sgaonline.org.au

Click here to return to the list of garden factsheets.