It is so dry in South Africa right now, they say the worst since 1992. 5 of the 9 provinces have been declared disaster areas. Although my town doesn't have any water restrictions yet I feel to guilty to water my poor grass. And this year for the very first time I attempted a vegetable garden. At this point it gets watered once a week when the gardener comes around, and I must say that despite the intense heat wave and lack of water those butternuts are growing like champions! I guess they don't need much water because they are seriously not even phased one little bit. The midday soil is to hot for me to stand on barefoot yet they grow.... Well done butternut, well done!
Sorry to hear about your drought. Wish I could share our water surplus. It just runs down the mountain side and into the sea. I'm amazed to hear about your butternuts though. I guess I won't try to grow them here. They'd probably drown.
Glad you can keep the squash growing. Do you have access to a dehumidifier? The reason I ask is because it will pull humidity out of the air (assuming there is any). Then, you can use the water on your plants. It might not be feasible for you, but it would help if you could do it.
No I don't have a dehumidifier but up to now it was VERY hot and dusty and windy so I don't think there were any humidity available. Not at all what November usually looks like for us. But it drizzled a bit yesterday and according to the weather guys rain is coming
Congratulations on a good crop of butternut. Most veggies require more water than I can give them anymore. We have had drought conditions for 5-10 years but they have eased up some this year...no guarantee that the drought is over for more than a few months though. But at least the watering restrictions have been lifted for the time being. This past summer was the 3rd driest in the last 100 years of record keeping. My daughter's dehumidifier was one of the things that saved some of my plants this past year, a large amount of free water once a day was great. That and saving the shower water that ran while heating up for use outside. I use biodegradable laundry detergent and the gray water empties into a large barrel out back. That one and 5 rainwater collection barrels for when we do get a bit of rain has kept my garden almost green the last few years.
Like Toni, we use several sources to harvest or save water. We have large containers that harvest water from the barn and garage roofs, 55 gal. barrels that get water from the house and workshop, and we save the water we rinse dishes in and the water from the shower while it's heating up. We also have a bucket under the outflow pipe from the air conditioner. We use the rainwater on the vegetable and herb gardens, and water our hens with it. The "town water" (which has chlorine in it) and air conditioner water we use on the flower beds. The chlorine dissipates withing 24 hours, but I'm not sure what other chemicals might be in it. Drought is a terrible thing, but we can fight back!
Toni & MG I am impressed with what you all do to deal with the drought. Christa--I do hope you got that rain.
