Emergency action

This is probably a boring subject to most of you, but the reality is that the drought in the Western Cape, and specifically Cape Town, may cause Cape Town to be the first ever metropolitan to run out of water.  Ever.

https://www.enca.com/south-africa/cape-town-day-zero-moved-forward-by-a-week

There are 5 dams which feed Cape Town:

• Theewaterskloof Dam.
• Wemmershoek Dam.
• Steenbras Dams (Upper and lower)
• Voëlvlei Dam.
• Berg River Dam

The Theewaterskloof Dam is the largest, and it is currently sitting at 16.05% - 10% of which is unusable, so basically that dam has 6.05% water left to give Cape Town.  The combined total of all five dams is 29.1%  When that total hits 13.7% Day Zero has arrived and the only water supplied to the entire city will be by water tanker.  This is predicted to happen on 22 April 2018.  If we have any heatwaves before then, then obviously that date will be brought forward.

So, I have been researching how to "create" water, and this site gave me a few idea's: http://all-about-water-filters.com/awesome-diy-emergency-ways-to-filter-water-in-the-wild/

I tried out # 5, and this was the result.

Empty jar inside muddy water filled glass salad bowl

I took a clear glass salad bowl and added some muddy water to it.  

View from the side

An empty jam jar was placed inside the salad bowl.  

Rock / weight placed in the centre of the plastic wrap

The salad bowl was then covered in cling wrap, with a stone in the centre. This is so that any condensation which gathers on the cling wrap will fall into the empty jam jar and not back into the muddy water.

A drop of water in the making

Placing the salad bowl in the sun I left it for the day.

Small rock / weight placed in the centre of the plastic wrap

Condensation is clearly visible on the inside of the plastic wrap.

Water collected in the jam jar via condensation

At the end of the day, this is how much water was collected.

Roughly 25mls of water

Placing it in a measuring jug, roughly 25mm was collected.

Considering I used a clear glass salad bowl (in order to demonstrate the principle / take photo's), that's not bad.  Had I used a black container instead of the glass, I'm sure that more condensation would've taken place and the yield would've been greater.  To produce enough water to drink / stay hydrated would probably require a number of containers, but I am chuffed at the success of the experiment.

A word of caution though.  This does not produce "clean" water.  It produces clear water, which will still contain germs / bacteria.  Therefore, I would recommend that anyone who tries this method, boils the clear water prior to drinking.

Home made Olla pots

Happy New Year everyone.  Yup - I have been MIA but, unfortunately, family visiting and their requirements takes precedence.

Notwithstanding the extreme weather being experienced in the northern hemisphere, the Western Cape drought continues.

I defy anyone ot tell me that climate change is a figment of some scientists imagination...😈

The people of Cape Town are on level 6 water restrictions, which means they are only permitted 87 ltrs (19 gallons) of water / person / day or 350ltrs / household / day (77 gallons).  That 87ltrs is for personal hygiene, to drink, to flush toilets, to do laundry, etc.  An almost impossible task.  A good percentage of Cape Tonians are catching as much water as possible (standing in buckets in their maximum 2 minute  shower, catching that water and using it as the first wash laundry water.  They then catch that dirty laundry water in order to flush their toilets - but they are employing "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down".  Ditto with their kitchen washing up water - that, too, is either used - by 8 - 10 lt (kg) bucket load - to flush toilets, or to try and keep alive whatever plants in their garden they can.  Lawns - they are a thing of the past.  Those who are fortunate (or should that be unfortunate) enough to have a swimming pool - most have covered their pools however they can, and are also directing grey water from the house to the pool to try and keep them as topped up as they can.  Whatever little rain that falls is also either directed to a rain water storage tank (for those that can afford one) or directly to their pools.

Some people are coping.  Some aren't.

It's heartbreaking. 

The area's main supply dam (Theewaterskloof) is down to 16.56% - or which only 6.56% is usable.  The last 10% is not recoupable.  They anticipate that the available water will be used up by Valentines Day, but, due to the summer heat which is only now letting itself be felt, I think it is more likely to dry up at the end of January 2018.  Thereafter, 4.5 million people will receive their potable water via water tanker - 25 ltrs at a time...

Hectic!!

Those who pray - please pray for the Western Cape.  Those who rain dance - dance like no one is watching...

And we are not untouched by this disaster.  Although we are not on water restrictions - yet - as our supply dam is pretty full, the 37 - 39oC heat we had in December, and which we are still currently experiencing, we should only have in mid-to-late February.  I fear that our potable water supply dam, small as it is, will be requisitioned in order to assist in keeping the people of Cape Town supplied with potable water via those water tankers.

So, for the sake of my veggie garden lateral thinking had to be employed.

8.  Ollas: Are unglazed, porous clay pots that are planted underground near plants and deter water evaporation or run off.  Water is poured directly unto the olla and it releases the water to the root system of the plant as needed.

https://permaculturenews.org/2013/08/08/water-retention-landscape-techniques-for-farm-and-garden/

When I was 11 years old I fell off of a swing shaped like a banana (or boat) which was big enough to seat 10 - 12 kids. Falling from +/- 3 mtrs high onto the ground, and then the heavy swing swung down and hit me as well, breaking my right arm and right hip (in the ball joint). A op sorted that out and the injury didn't give me much trouble in my younger years. 

However, the years are ticking by, and 10 years ago it was discovered that not only did the accident break my arm and hip, it also damaged my spine so that the disc between L3 & L4 vertebrae has moved sideways with no hindrance in it's path away from where it should be. Short of a spinal fusion op (which I would rather not have) nothing can be done about it. So, bending down to ground level is not an easy task - it's OK getting down, but getting up again is almost impossible without clinging onto something for support.

Pallets for transporting large floor tiles

Thus our local tile shop came to my rescue when I needed to plant and grow veggies on our smallholding. 1 X 1 mtr tiles come in these enormous pallet like crates, which, once they're lined with gunplas (builders plastic) and filled with soil, they make the most amazing raised beds. But, there are all sorts of cracks and crevices for pests to live in. I counteract that by sowing the vegetable seed, and then covering them with a half a milk bottle - sort of like a mini greenhouse until the plant is big enough not to be that dramatically affected by snails or slugs. 

Being a raised bed means that the water, via gravity, slides downwards more easily than sideways - as would happen in a veggie bed in the ground. And my lettuce and cabbage plants kept "bolting" (going to seed too quickly) - even though the raised beds are inside a 60% shade cloth structure, but I reckon the gravity draining water didn't help either. 

My new Olla pot

A few weeks ago I finally found what I had literally been looking for for a couple of years - some "raw" clay flowerpots (as opposed to pots with a type of "seal" / glaze on the clay) which I found at our local co-op and which I intended to sink into the ground and use as below ground watering containers - to enable the water to reach the roots.

A sideways pic to illustrate the "raw" clay look

A gentleman did a post on the Drought Gardening SA Facebook group recently regarding the beautiful Olla pots he makes and that reminded me that I hadn't put my pots to their intended use yet - the house has been full of family for the last few weeks and their needs came first.

I used pritt multi tack to seal the hole at the bottom in order for the
pot to hold water

But, having been prompted by his posting, I set about experimenting.

I took the 21cm / 3.0 lt pot, sealed the drainage hole with pritt multi tack, filled the pot, and left it for 3.5 hours whilst we went through to Swellies for our weekly shopping. 

A piece of our wood mulch to make opening the lid to check the
 water level easier

Upon my return from town the success of the experiment is visible - as can be clearly seen water has "leaked" through the clay into the bucket.

Water seepage out of the pot after 3.5 hours

Having cleaned our local co-op out of this sized pot I have asked them to order 6 more. This is a definite winner. I believe that using grey water in these posts will also help to filter out a fair amount of "debris" (and maybe to a point some contaminants) in the water too.

The drop in water level is due to:
 1 absorption by the dry clay
 2 seepage through the clay pot - JUST what I was hoping for 😀

To say I am thrilled and excited is putting it mildly. I am sure that the problems I've experienced with the veg "bolting" is now a thing of the past.

My new olla pots in situ

The best thing of all - the pots weren't expensive - roughly R72.08 / pot (US$5.86 or £4.14) with drip tray lid.  Perfect 😀

Not just honey...

We have all been aghast at the recent monsoons which have affected some many people in the east.  And the horrific hurricanes currently pounding the Caribbean / USA.

So much (excess) water elsewhere, and our extreme drought is ongoing.  

Are there still any climate change / global warming deniers out there...?

Thankfully, even though we are seeing higher than normal Spring temperatures, the heat of summer is not yet belting down on my seedlings.  We'll be collecting another few loads of wood mulch this coming week - the beds are in need of a top up.

I belong to a Facebook group called Water Shedding Western Cape.  Some other members of the group - and the membership is diversified - are all trying to afford rain water tanks to help them mitigate the effects of the water restrictions which have been imposed on the City of Cape Town.  Level 5, is, I believe, the highest level, and that state was declared a couple of weeks ago.  Level 5 equates to 87 ltrs of water / person / day.  87 ltrs = 22.9 gallons.  Consider 87 ltrs per day and then think of :

1  showering (no bathing allowed)

2  flushing toilets

3  washing hands after going to the bathroom

4  washing clothing / bedding

5  brushing teeth

6  cooking

7  washing up dishes

8  washing the floor

The members of that Facebook group are becoming very inventive on how to "recycle" their water - via standing in buckets to capture their shower water for toilet flushing, capturing the wash cycle water from their washing machines in order to, again, flush toilets, capturing the water from washing their hands - again to flush toilets.  And catching as much of the reduced rainwater that falls in whatever containers they can lay their hands on - be that pots and pans, buckets or rain water tanks - ranging in size from 500lt to 5 000 lt.  Those that are lucky have pools - they're either covering them with as inexpensive a cover as possible to prevent evapouration, and / or they're attaching flexible plastic "tubes" to the gutter downpipes in order to steer any rainwater to the pool.  We all know that an empty pool is difficult to circulate and the water will, in no time at all, turn green / breed mosquito's if left standing.  Plus, a pool can be used as a massive rainwater tank - to flush the loo / do the washing - if necessary.

But, it's not only people who are affected by the drought.  Never mind the grain / produce farmers, cows, sheep, goats - they all feel the effects of the drought when their local watering holes dry up.

And, the most important workers on this planet are affected too.

Thirsty bees will try and find the smallest
 drop of water they can during a drought

Bees.

They will fly for miles to find a drop of water.

And, by way of thanks for the important tasks they fulfil - for us - on a daily basis, all we have to do is put out some water for them.

A simple sugar water bird
 feeder will not only quench
 the birds thirst, but the
 bees will drink from it too

They are not fussy and demanding, and will happily help themselves to some sugar water from the bird feeder bottles.

Clever - a simple piece of netting in order to save the bees from drowning

The suppliers of these recycled bottle bird feeders now provide a small piece of net to place between the drinking spout and the stopper in order to prevent the bees from entering the bottle and drowning.

Small enough to prevent bees from getting through, but big enough
 to allow the sugar water to freely flow

If you can't afford to purchase a bird feeder bottle, a simple bowl of water, placed in a shady spot in your garden, will suffice.

A simple bowl of water, filled with rocks to allow the bees safe
 access to the water, and placed in the shade.  It is that easy to
 say thanks to the bees who work so hard for us.

On Thursday, during our weekly trip to town, we stopped off at our local honey supplier.  Waiting for the honey to be decanted into our recycled jars, I took a browse, and came across this which was for sale:

Being of an age where any, and all assistance is gratefully received in my quest to assist my skin to retain some level of moisture / slow down (further) wrinkle production, I bought myself a small bottle.  After my shower I applied a few drops to my face and got on with my day.  Horrors - the propolis / beeswax / honey content must've been enough to trigger a signal, for 8 bees decided that the inside of our house was worth investigating.  I reckon I better save this tissue oil for nighttime use only.  I don't want the bees coming indoors fruitlessly looking for a non-existent source of bee food...

I recently came across a advert for a movie which is due for release in November.  

http://www.morethanhoneyfilm.com/

There is a short preview of the movie on the link I gave under the pic.  I can't wait until it is, hopefully, available to the general public...

I suggest you set yourselves a reminder for November 😉