Drought and Downpour

It's much cooler in the morning and early evening now which comes as a bit of shock after our extended, record breaking summer. It hadn't rained for around forty days and with most of the country experiencing severe drought - farmers have been struggling to feed their animals - water restrictions were finally introduced last Saturday. We were told that we had 21 days of water supply left in the Wellington region - after that, emergency reserves would have to be used. It seems that most people have made a real effort to conserve water and consumption has dropped markedly. I began really thinking about how much I actually use (and waste) on a daily basis. All taps are now turned on and off very quickly, the garden hose is idle, and my garden is watered using grey water (leftover from dishes/showers etc.). It's such a precious resource and a constant supply so easy to take for granted... a lesson learned.

On Monday, it finally began to rain with a vengeance (pouring for two days) which was good for our parched gardens, but not too good for the reservoirs. The soil was so dry and hard, the heavy rain just created dust and muddy, undrinkable water. Fine, dry weather is forecast for the next week or so - we'll need more consistent rain soon to make any real difference.

Garden update - A lot of squash flowers were knocked off during the downpour, but this one survived and is doing nicely.

Squash

Photograph

D I Ryan (C) 2013

 

Speaking of vegetables... My study of a Savoy cabbage leaf- to be finished.

 Savoy Cabbage Leaf

Pencil on Bockingford Paper

Copyright D I Ryan 2013

Have a great weekend - until next time.