On the home front, we've got summer toys all over the yard, so when M isn't interested in finding worms and helping me with garden projects she's got plenty of distractions so I can get my work done! Unfortunately Charlie isn't fully convinced the livestock tank is a good idea, so I bought him (read: actually for Mabel) a $30 inflatable pool that's pretty big. We fill it with water, play in the water a couple of days and then use a basement pump and garden hose to empty it, watering the gardens with the old pool water.
It's actually a kind of brilliant solution (I can call it that because it was Hi-C's idea) because it allows the water to de-gas before it goes to the veggie bed. I might be over-thinking it, but have been mulling over the complexity of bacteria in the soil and how it mimics the flora of our own gut. With the popularity of probiotics in food, we're all becoming more aware of replacing the beneficial bacteria in our gut, something depleted by what many suspect is the chlorine in water, used to treat stray bacteria from our drinking water. (See how this is all connected?) The chlorine is meant to kill off bacteria that can harm us, but it doesn't discriminate so it takes out all the bacteria...in our guts and in the soil. All of that blabbering is to say I'm interested in seeing if there's any difference in the garden with this new watering method.
Any hypothesis out there?
1 comment:
That's such a great idea for recycling the pool water. I'd love to set up a grey water system her for showers and baths, but until I win the lottery I'll have to do with just watering with my dish rinse water.
I wouldn't be surprised if you'd see a difference for seedlings in particular. Established plants probably not so much. We're on a well and judging by how stinky our water can be at times it probably has some bacteria still in it. I'm not sure if it makes a difference with the plants - it's been so wet I've only had to water twice all season.
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