droughtiness

DROUGHTINESS
it seems to be everywhere
this lack of water
the life blood of us all


kxan.com
it was interesting to read an article on straws that are put
down into the lakes from homeowners to suck the water
out of the lakes
these lakes supply the water for several cities around this area
the amount sucked out by these straws is 1.6 billion gallons
enough to empty out the smallest of these highland lakes that
sevices austin and the surrounding cities

the regulators only have one person to try to catch these folks
skimming off the water

they are thinking of putting meters on these straws

seems ok to me


we will be in trouble around here waterwise until
this sometimes island in lake travis disappers again
soon i hope

while in san francisco last weekend i read an interesting
article about the drought there in california
after reading it i realized the drought there is going to
affect us big time when it comes to our food we buy
in the near future
since
thats where most of our food comes from

san francisco usually gets 20+ inches
last year they got less than 4 inches
its the same all over the state
you would think with all those roofs in sf they could
do a heck of a job of collecting rainwater
but
it just all goes down the drains into the ocean
theres very little uncemented asphalted land there


whats those farmers out there doing to water their
plants
when i went to the farmers market i talked to some of the
organic gardeners
their usual sources the rivers and reservoirs are drying up
so
they are sucking it out of the ground
like those homeowners here
there sucking it up in giant straws to use it on
their fields
the problem is the aquifers are getting depleted
as they get depleted
the ground collapses so that
in some places the levels drop 3 feet
which of course crushes those straws


what they gonna do when the aquifers are gone
so
they are doing a lot of planning
water conservation
shutting down production
using rainwater collection techniques to keep the water
on their properties
like swells tanks areas to soak the water in to the soil
not planting part of their fields to act as a sink to soak up water
heck we do that in texas already
especially in austin and san antonio where its all encouraged
these
rainwater conservation methods

their crisis is our crisis
they grow our food
we hope they figure it out
well help if we can

no straws please is what we should be saying around here

at your level
conserve water at home like dont run faucets
use first run shower water in the yard
consider reuse of sink and wash water
shorten shower time
do a rain garden
collect rainwater off the roof
build berms in the landscape to slow down rain runoff
xericise your yard
dont waste any water

we are all in this together
the goal
is to survive

the organicgreen doctor

aichtooh

AICHTOOH
thats the phonetic spelling of h2o
or for those nonchemistry folks thats
water

cactus bloom

in the last two weeks we got about 3 inches of rain
and
for those who collect and especially those of us
who rely on rainwater for our water system
that rain came at an important time
as
we head into our driest time of the year
without that rain the country n owners were looking
at possibly buying water which i hate to do

another type of cactus with flower

now i know most of you buy your own water
but
when you have it delivered in a water truck
you pay $300+ for 3000 gallons

the average homeowner in austin texas uses 7,727
gallons a month

we at the country n use about 1500 gallons a month

if it was delivered that would cost them $0.1 a gallon
so their bill would be $772.70

um maybe that would be a way to curb some of the water
use by raising the cost

plant salvaged from destruction from westwood high school

so i got about 1800 gallons per inch x 3 inches =5400 gallons
of water from that rain
thats $540 if i had bought it

the average homeowner in austin would have sucked that up
and out the drain in about 20+- days

native wildflower firewheel

what made me think about all this
is
austin is about to hit a water crisis soon
they are conserving water fairly well but could do better
this conservation has made the price of water climb
since less water is bought
less money in coming into the city
they have fixed water costs that arent being met well

i say raise the prices
let the market control the water use
not sure if that works well though

salvia greggi or autumn sage

i was at a friends house last night looking at his landscape
he is on the austin water system
he can only water the yard and landscape once a week
it still looks pretty lush
thanks i guess to the weekly watering and the recent rains

he has landscaped away a lot of his grass
and more is planned

he rocked that no mans land between the sidewalk and the
curb which covers half the length and width of his lot
he is on a corner lot

the other no mans land at one side of his house where
no one ever goes
you know most home owners have this spot
he is covering it with black plastic and rocks so he can stop
watering it and mowing it and fertilizing it and deweeding it etc

zexmenia

then i looked at all his landscape
he and the person that helped him choose his plants
did a good job
they are mostly xeric natives
and are in the grow green pamplet from the city of austin 

i reminded him which he didnt know that he could get some
reimbursements and credits on his water bill from all the
landscaping he had done
several hundreds of dollars

now i have the same plants he has minus a few that tend to
not do as well here
like indian hawthorne magnolia tree etc

crossvine

he waters his plants
yes they look good
but so do mine
in fact they look the same

my water use on my landscape is zero
his well he is an average austin homeowner

he could cut off the drippers to all of his landscape
and only water them during all the real dry times
or
not at all
he would have to accept some browning of some
of the plants when it gets real dry
but
these xeric native plants dont die

thistle

i have a solution
only xeric natives can be planted
no supplemental irrigation is allowed
unless
its provided from rainwater collected off the roof
a requirement that should be made when homes are
built in this area

heck what if all those big mansion high schools that they
build around here were equipped with rainwater collection
systems to collect water for irrigation and flushing toilets

you know we are paying for them and we are paying their
water bills

eventually the added expense will pay for itself over time
either at home or at school

but
i guess nothing like this will happen until its too late
thats what we always seem to do here in america
crisis management

(note these pictures are a few of the flowering plants i have
planted in our yard at the country n
zero nadda no water has been used on these plants)

well here at the country n
we are well ahead of the curve

the only problem is
i may have to buy new fencing to keep people out
i may have to buy guns to protect my water supply
i may have to get another mean guard dog

sure hope it doesnt come to that
we all could just practice conservation
and
collect rainwater

the organicgreen doctor

its not everywhere

ITS NOT EVERYWHERE
it seems that our climate does a poor job of distributing water
for us to access

like those awful storms that went through arkansas this weekend
fast terrible storms with lots of rain then leaving their paths of
destruction
water is good for us to receive but not when its distributed that way

our thoughts are with those folks


then this last few months around here when the climate dumped 12 inches
on the austin area twice on separate weekends
causing its own destruction with its flooding and drownings that go with it

cruel it is as it made worse our water situation when it didnt fall on the
tributaries to all our lakes and aquifers that provide the water sources
for all the cities around here

and even more cruel here at the country n since very little rain has fallen
here since last early november

we can see it in our wildflowers
they are not as plentiful and they look like charley brown christmas trees
compared to what they look like in previous years
and
compared to some of the areas just a few miles from here where
there has been more rain

our lake levels here are down and the aquifer levels are down to
concerning levels since this should be our rainy season and
since we are about to reach in a month our hot dry time of the year

more severe water restrictions are about to be put in place
im afraid a lot of people will be losing their lawns and plants
this year

one town near here has gotten more aggressive
on new builds
there are restrictions on the size of the lawn
the type of grass you can plant
6 inches of topsoil has to be provided if grass is to be planted
more water restrictions are expected as things worsen

their water source is the river that runs near the country n
water on our acreage flows towards and into the river
we havent been giving them much recently

we of course catch water off anything that has a roof on
our property
we have a lot of berms and increased vegetation that slows the
flow down to the river so it soaks into our property
another form of xericscaping

so this last weekend i went out to check my aquifers
whats happening in mine is whats happening in theirs
its just my aquifers are more visible
yes im talking about my rainwater tanks
all 22 of them
excessive huh

i was saddened when i checked the levels in my tanks
we seem to be down to about 25% of our capacity
which like all the cities around here
is scary as we are headed into our dry season

im sad to say we may have water purchasing in our future
if it doesnt rain

cities cant really do that can they
they would have to buy it from somewhere that doesnt exist

so here we are on severe water restrictions
but that doesnt affect us that much since we already operate
that way

the techniques we use here can be used anywhere
well maybe except for one
you might get a ticket for that one

we plant only native xeric plants that gets no supplemental watering
we have no grass that we care for
although we have 10 acres of pasture land with grass on it

we reuse our gray water from the washing machine from showers
from our sink when we hand wash our dishes and rinse them
saving the rinse water for our edible plants
the first water you run when you take a shower
that stuff that goes down the drain
its pure water and can be used on edible plants
the other gray water is used on the landscape

we turn the water off when we brush our teeth or
when we shave

we take quick but effective showers

we use drip irrigation to our vegetable garden which is covered
thickly with mulch the leaves you folks have given me
which keeps the ground from drying so fast
that anthill garden bed method also helps to hold the water in

im afraid if in the future if you and the folks who live in the cities
around here dont adopt what we are doing here at the country n
that this area is going to be in trouble
as the scarcity of water continues

dont wait until the levels are dropped severely
thats called crisis management

there needs to management before the crisis hits

make people and encourage people to conserve now

just ask those folks in california how important all this is
as they run out of water there

yes its not everywhere
not anymore

lets save what we got

the organicgreen doctor

new house new yard new owner

NEW HOUSE NEW YARD NEW OWNER

this is the second year that ive helped with the
williamson county habitat for humanity home builds

since ive ruptured my disk and am still in recovery mode
ive been limiting what i do when it comes to heavy lifting
and ladder work
but have continued to do the landscaping since i can do that
without doing a lot of lifting since i get help with some of that
with my wife shes help and with other volunteers who help

this house we just finished will be owned by a mom with
four kids who is the first ever homeowner in her family
she and her family are quite proud of her
she and her family put in a lot of hours helping build this place
and
will get the home at 0% loan for 20 years at about half the price
the house would sell for
since the materials and labor are donated mostly

when the final calculations are done
its as cheap to have this house then it is to rent an apartment
or house in this area
where those rates are starting to escalate a lot

for this house  i talked to the home owner who wanted
to do the yard as low maintenance as possible
especially saving on grass and its care

since the budget is limited i try to be creative and use
whatever is available from the build like left over broken
concrete left over limestone bricks left over landscape timbers
soil and sand that are left over from the slab build and the
driveway build
this dirt and sand are scattered and leveled around the place
since most of these sights dont have much soil

for this sight lucky for the home owner
a friend db/kb had planted 4 large arizona cypress that the
hoa you know those guys right the hoa
said those arent central texas native so they had to remove them
after they had recently planted them around their new home
so
when they had them dug up i then transplanted them to the back of the
property along the property line

the new owner plans to put up a privacy fence also
good thing as the deer have taken a liking to the first tree on the
right and has been rutting it a lot

then
a local nursery mcintires nursery in georgetown has given me trees
to use
ones that they were going to discard
ive kept them at the country n and resuscitated them
i planted 6 nellie stevens hollies along both sides of the back yard
to provide a nice visual break for the owner when they reach
their height of about 15 ft

on the right front corner of the house a beautiful weeping yaupon holly
was planted that will not get too much taller but should
fill in nicely with its drooping limbs and red berries

4 dwarf yaupon hollies that will get 3-4 ft wide and tall were
planted in the front bed on the right
these were bought very cheap from an wholesale nursery that gives
me a big discount on plants since they are used in the habitat for humanity
landscape

on the left side a viburnum spring blossom was planted in an area
that was heavily mulched
this viburnum will gow 6-8 ft x 8 ft and will actually fill up this space
and block the view of all the electrical boxes

a spineless cactus from the country n was placed as shown
in the first picture surrounded by crushed limestone bricks
it will grow to 6 ft x 10 ft
no watering or care needed

the area around the live oak was heavily mulched with
texas native hardwood mulch at about 3 inches over a
layer of cardboard to suppress weed growth
this cardboard will soon disappear over time
the temperature of the soil in the summer around this tree
will be a lot less and will be warmer in the winter
the mulch will also hold a great deal of water and keep it on
the property

on both sides of the front yard river rock was brought in and placed
over thick black plastic to keep grass and weeds from growing

the new homeowner will be putting decorative containers in this area
we also placed some blocks of concrete that look like native rock
leftover from construction

also concrete rock was used to line the mulch beds and left over
limestone bricks were used to line the front bed on the right

the area that was to have sod laid had an inch or more of landscape mix
of dirt and compost placed before the bermuda sod was laid

because of the beds and mulching we eliminated over 50% of the grass
and it will not ever have to be watered fertilized mowed or cared for

in the back 2/3 of the backyard the thunder turf from native american seed
was seeded
its made up of the native grasses buffalo blue gramma  and curly mesquite

once established it doesnt need care unless the homeowner wants to
no watering no mowing no fertilizing
it goes dormant when its dry but comes back to life when it rains
i have this planted at the country n around my barn and in my yard
its the grass that use to be here in this area before we destroyed it
you know when the buffalo use to come around

also in the back yard i made small berms of soil across the yard that
will slow down the flow of water as it runs off the house
to help keep the water on the property
the rock and mulch in the beds around the trees there will do the
same
i also have placed a row of rock on the lower part of the yard
that the homeowner will move against her fence that will also
slowed down the water flow
this will make her backyard native grass do much better and also
the trees

so what we have for this homeowner is a xeric yard
none of the plants or the native grasses will need any care once
they are established well after a year or two
saving her a lot of water and expense

sure hated to put down that bermuda but its a compromise we made

lets all do this xeriscaping stuff at our house

the organicgreen gardener

goin green

GOIN GREEN

since green is in the name of my blog its obvious im for everything

thats green

im always looking for ways to do green stuff

i started working on habitat houses and it didnt take long

for my green to come out in their projects

ive recovered rocks and cement to use in landscaping in the

houses that are being built

then any excess rocks and cement i bring back here to the countryn

to use in my landscape projects

ive also recycled lumber landscape timbers and plywood to use

in projects

all this use to go to the landfill

then i started watching and helping with the landscaping

it was painful to be involved with that part

my feeling was that the habitat does such a quality job of building

the houses 

stuff just has to be done right or it gets redone

heck ive worked with contractors who said yall build these houses

better than we do

then when its done the landscape is quickly done to finish the job

the same quality wasnt being done with the landscape

as i told someone do the landscape like they were doing was like 

building a house without putting insulation in it

the homeowner who is already on a limited income

has to water their whole lot and its grass

fertilize it and upkeep it

in the summer half of their water bill is from irrigating the yard

and water is getting more expensive around here

and will continue to do so as there is more water shortages acoming

so i suggested xeriscaping

you know what happens right when you make a suggestion 

it becomes your project

so my goal was eg in the front yard was to eliminate as much grass 

as possible working with a limited budget

real limited budget

here are some pictures of the front of the house before it was landscaped

remember before it would have been all covered with grass sod

or seeded grass

which the owner would have had to water like crazy in our hot dry 

summers here in central texas

on the left side of the yard an old dead trash tree the arizona ash was

removed

the tree trunk was left in place

the ground was covered with packed hard soil that probably wouldnt grow

anything

we built an area of mulch that we obtained from a local landscape facility 

real cheap

they bag it and we all buy it at nurseries around here and at lowes and home depot

but when you buy it in bulk it cost about 1/4 as much

we added 4-5 inches of mulch

around the stump we planted in front of it a rosemary that will cover up 

the stump from the street side 

the stump will eventually rotten and actually increase the nutrition of the soil

on the other side of the stump a flame acanthus was planted which will 

provide a red flower that bees and butterflies and humming birds love

and it will grow to a 4ft x 8 ft size

that old stump wont be seen from the street at all

then we contoured the mulched band in curves around to the edge of 

the house edged with rocks obtained from the building site and from 

a relatives donation 

then along the driveway small 1 inch stone was placed between the 

mulched bed and the driveway and was extended along the driveway 

down the side of the house as the side of the house was completely 

shaded and no grass would grow

scattered large boulders were also added to this rock to help with the 

rustic appearnce of this area

then on the right side of the house we started win a area that looked like this

the stump in the picture was a sycamore that was severely damaged by 

the digging of the sewer and water line 

it had begun to lean some and had to removed

thanks they left another stump

this side of the front yard was about 1000 square feet

so we landscaped away 60% of this side and only laid

sod on 40% of the area

in front of this stump we planted another rosemary and added

a spineless cactus on the house side of the stump

both will eventually grow up and cover this stump so it wont be

noticeable at all

heres the final project

good landscape soil was brought in and the sod was laid on top of it

4 inches of the mulch was brought in and was used to cover the ground

on the right side and it was edged with that same rock

the tree on the right is a cedar elm whose roots were partially damaged

with the sewer line placement but i think we were able to resuscitate it with 

good revitalizer compost seaweed and keeping it watered

it is now growing its spring leaves and will eventually shade most of this 

side of the yard

xeric plants are planted along the fence to the right

knock out rose turks cap salvia greggii and 4 oclocks

a strip of rock was landscaped between the driveway and the mulched area

and the sodded area

all of the landscape materials except for the sod was donated by 

two landscape supply places-austin landscape supplies and austin wood recycling

so this home owner a single mom with two chidren will only have to water

and maintain a strip of grass about 400 square feet in her front yard

as 75% of the yard was xerically landscaped

the plants planted were from this free booklet gowing green

which can be obtained at most local nurseries

and even if they arent watered any when they get established 

they will survive

now thats goin green

we could use donations for landscaping

either plants or money

we need monterey oaks or red oaks or live oaks or cedar elms

we need xeric shrubs like salvia greggii dwarf youpon holly turks cap etc

so if you have extras pot them for me and ill pick them up

you can also contact habit for humanity and donate funds for landscaping

thanks again to austin landscape supplies and to austin wood recycling for 

their donation of supplies

the organicgreen doctor

rains needed

RAINS NEEDED

we here at the country n depend on a continued rain supply
in order to fill our 30,000 gallon tanks that we use for our
drinking water and for the irrigation of our gardens

many of the cities in this area including austin depends on
the water system called the highland lakes which are several
lakes along the colorado river that provide reservoirs for
the water

it is gradually or suddenly let out from lake to lake and
eventually if they are lucky to the rice farmers further
downstream

we have been in a drought off and on now for a few years
as we know here at the country n
there has been very little
rain here in the last 3-4 months

our personal supply of water in our tanks is at 50% capacity
which is good compared to people just west of here
some of them have had their rainwater tanks run out again like they
did two summers ago

this area west of here is the recharge zone for the highland lakes
which are not being recharged
lets just say they are like a dead battery

one lake is so low that old towns and farms are now visible
on the bed of the lake

the rice farmers down stream were just told that they probably
wouldnt get any water this year which means
their rice production will be zilch
which will affect the rice supply some

last night and today we are getting rain   finally
over that recharge zone
which should help fill the lakes some and fill those tanks of
those rainwater collectors who have run out of water

my hope is to completely fill my tanks up with this rain
which should keep me supplied with rainwater for months and months

one problem also is water conservation
we here at the country n practice it every day
we wish that those of you who depend on this recharge zone for
your water supply would do the same

it makes me sick to see all the green grass and landscaping in
the towns and watch the water sprinklers dump all that precious water
on to the ground and watch it run down the street into the gutters

it doesnt have to be that way
we xeriscaped our yard and do no supplemental irrigation except
to our veggie garden

but i know thats the way it works
its always crisis management when it comes to the water supply
like when the lakes get real low and everyone is  put on strict
strict water measures
then they loosen the restriction when some water gets back in the lakes

they do that all the time
back and forth

if we dont do something in this area for water conservation
we are going to be up the creek without a paddle
as the population is growing rapidly and no new sources of
water are being located rapidly enough
theres not any

conservation is the answer
and or infection with the rainwater collection virus


so 20 years from now when this area is out of water
i will still have my full tanks and will enjoy life as i know it now
keeping my organic garden green
enjoying drinking clean rainwater
taking rainwater showers
washing clothes in rainwater
while many of those around us will be having trouble
getting water

guess ill better build a fortress around my tanks

i see a reality show idea
the rainwater collectors or
the rainwater hoarders or

(as i was called dr duck by my pediatric patients since i
talked to them like donald duck)

the dr duck rainwater dynasty
starring

the organicgreen doctor