1. Two Saturdays ago I attended the Extension Service class on Water Harvesting at the Little Village Farm here in Tucson. It was presented by the University of Arizona, of course. We are determined not to go through another summer monsoon season without capturing as much water as we can. Most of the class was centered on using cisterns and also on harvesting the water for landscape watering purposes, which had less pertinence to our needs. But it was very interesting, in all respects. They had a great packet of handouts, and I left there knowing what I wanted to do to collect the water we need. (Will share more of that when we get it all set up). I am joining in with Amy's
Five on Friday. I am also joining in with Monica's
NF Trees & Bushes.
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| The young man in the light blue shirt was our instructor. He took us outside briefly to talk about gutters, rain spouts and to show us a cistern they have there, but most of the class was held indoors. |
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| While outside I noticed these wonderful shade trees. They are Arizona Ash. It has a male and female tree, is heat tolerant and uses moderate water. It is native to Arizona and New Mexico and can grow to 30 feet tall. |
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| A view of the leaves and fruit (seeds) |
Water harvesting isn't always legal, as evidenced by the map below. Obviously it is badly needed as a viable resource in the Southwestern states....
Not sure what's going on with New Mexico, Nevada...and California!!!
2. Those of you who were very interested in the agave plant photo I posted showing the plant blooming, and explaining about it's single blooming season followed by it's demise, will be interested in this. Here is the photo I posted...
and here it is, dying now. We drove by a week ago to see it fallen against the house.
Here is a look at the root of one that bloomed and fell in a different yard last year. They have chopped off the leaves, and now just the root is left. After they cut the leaves it would have been larger and fleshier, but now the root has gotten old. It can give you an idea of how huge they are...they take up half the front yard!
3. Our son-in-law who is the corporate chef for the restaurant complex here in Tucson, The Hub, The Playground, and the Ice Cream Factory, 266 East Congress Street (I need to post soon about a few historic things about downtown Tucson!) was asked to do a food demo at Willam Sanoma a week ago. We went by to see him at work, and to enjoy a pork belly taco!
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| That's my hubby and grandson at the top right of the photo, watching intently as Jack slices the pork belly. Jack explains each step of the process. |
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| Serving the tacos. Our grandson and great-nephew are waiting patiently while a customer is served. |
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| Our daughter, grandson and great-nephew. |
4. Have you noticed you can't buy loose tea in the grocery stores anymore? I usually use tea bags, but there are times when I love a good pot of loose tea, brewed in a warmed pot! They had some Earl Grey at William Sanoma and I snatched it up...a bit pricey (like most things in that store) but I couldn't resist! The only loose tea I normally get are small packets from Chantilly Tea Room here, which is a lovely place to go "have tea." I've posted about the tea room before, but will again soon....
5. Finally, we had the great delight of visitors this past week. My husband's sister and our niece were here for three days. We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed them so much! It was an amazing blessing. Summer isn't the best time for people to come to Tucson on a visit, but our niece just graduated college and they were doing a Graduation Celebration tour, going from Oregon down to Yellowstone, on to Alabama and Georgia toward Florida, and then across Texas toward us here in Tucson, and then on toward home via Yosemite! On the road for nearly three weeks! If I haven't gotten by to make comments on your blog yet their visit is the main reason I am behind...but I'll catch up as soon as I can! While they were here, our niece got to see the Cooper's Hawks in the back yard, and was so thrilled. Here is a shot of her taking pictures from inside the house.
Saying our goodbyes...
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| Brother and Sister |
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| Uncle and Niece |
28 comments:
Water harvesting - what a great word (I'm still learning English and I often wonder)!
I like lose tea too and make my own ceremony. In our markets cannot find it often... only in the Russian shop are big pockets of it. Or my sweetheart brings it from Berlin, there it is in Turkish ans Arabian Shops. Seems, most of the people with us don't ask for it.
Have a nice day
You're way ahead of the game since today is Thursday. :) You always manage to post something that makes me think and do a little research. The rain harvesting issue is something that I would have never considered to be a problem. This article was interesting: http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a11758/4314447/
I just find it so amazing that humans always think they can control everything. Surely, not enough homeowners would be harvesting so much rain that it would be detrimental to the environment or anyone else. Lord knows, way too many waste water each and every day without thinking of the consequence. Thanks for always giving me something to ponder. Best wishes, Tammy
We often have droughts and have to be careful with water. I'm not sure what you mean by water harvesting. Is it using grey water or collecting water from the roof? We do both.
You must have had a great time with family visiting.
The water harvesting class sounds interesting. But, I do not understand why it would be illegal to collect rainwater in your own yard anywhere. The Ash tree is pretty, glad it is heat tolerant. The son looks like he enjoys his work, nice shots of your family! Have a happy day!
My grandparents had a cistern right near the back porch of their house. It had a bucket that we kids loved to let down and then hoist it full back up to get a long, cool drink in the summertime. I remember the water having a wonderful taste.
Very interesting post, Marie. We have an agave just outside of town that seems to me to be the largest I've ever seen. Wonder how it will fall?
I knew that you had been busy but now... waiting for that catch-up!! hehe. You posted a very nice Friday Five... I must get busy on mine. It will be here before I know it. Glad the visit went well. Will want to hear about that. And, happy to see the pics of Jack doing demos at William-Sonoma.
glad you enjoyed some family time! that is a HUGE bloom! amazing!
We have been plenty wet here this spring and summer. The heat is on this weekend though. Good luck harvesting!
I collect water for watering the plants but have never considered doing in in a large framework. I know it can be done as we had a cistern on the farm where the rainwater on the house roof went into it. Great visits with family and the places that you explored.
From here in England it seems rather strange that you have to go to such trouble to collect water when we hardly ever have a shortage - more like a glut in most seasons. What a lovely family time you had and to have a chef in the family is a great bonus. I could send you some tea no problem Marie but I'm somewhat surprised to hear that you desire tea so much.
Here in Arkansas they use water like no end to it. They flood field after field for rice they grow.
Hope some how they would harvest it after using it, but your map said they don't.
That was great family time.
Hi Marie, sounds like a fun class to take and learn about water harvesting. So glad you had a wonderful time with family visiting on their road trip. I bet the pork belly was delicious made by your sil doing his demo. How fun.
I too love loose tea when I can get it. We have a Sprouts Market that offers some varieties but I have not tried them yet. I found a tea bag flavor called Breakfast in Paris and love it.
Thanks for sharing your summer fun and for stopping by today.
Have a blessed weekend.
Hugs, cm
Interesting with water harvesting.
Hopefully you will have a good harvest.
Have a nice day.
Mormor
We have water tanks that provide water to flush our toilets - but thats not common in the city. I think water companies have a vested interest in trying to stop people doing this kind of thing as it reduces their revenue! Crazy really.
Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne
And we take water for granted here. Tom The Backroads Traveller
How fun to have company and happy smiles all around for the days they visited with you.
Rain harvesting sounds like a win win job of work!! In the desert especially.
I would love to have one of his tacos. Oh, and the park on Ina...the T'hono Chul had a tea room....I used to go there VERY often. They'd have loose tea...MUCH more flavorful.
this sounds like a really fun event, water harvesting, who knew!!! sharing the time with family is wonderful!!!!
and your header image is gorgeous!!!!
love that water harvesting is encouraged and totally can't understand why some states don't allow it. Learned a lot reading this. Glad you had a great visit with family. And the part about your SIL made me hungry!
Five great things in every way! I was surprised about the states that do not allow rainwater collection, in England it is allowed everywhere. I wonder if it is to do with the rainwater percolating down to fill aquifers perhaps? I am surprised that CA does not support this as it is so dry there right now. Wonderful that you got to spend time with family in different ways, you must have been very pleased. I was fascinated to see the root of the agave, I had no idea it could be so enormous, that will be a big job to remove! Thank you so much for joining in. I hope that you have a great weekend! xx
Hi Marie - we have harvested water here for many years, although our system is pretty primitive - a horse trough connected to the gutter with a hose that runs downhill. It gets very dry here in the summer and we use it for irrigation. I would be very interested in learning more about this! How wonderful that your hubby's family stopped by for a visit. Those visits are so hard when you have to say goodbye! Interesting about the flowering agave - they are so incredible! So fun to see your SIL at Williams Sonoma. I just love that place. I always find something unique there. Hope you have a wonderful weekend! Hugs xo Karen
Hi Marie, it's great to meet you. I really enjoyed reading your post today. I wish we had rain here in southern California to harvest. Our drought is getting worse. I loved seeing the photos of the agave plant; very interesting. I agree with you about using loose tea. It's my choice too and you bought my favorite brand, Fortnum and Mason. I hope you're having a great weekend.
Such an interesting post, I was so surprised that collecting water would be illegal in some states of America, we are alright anywhere in the UK. The roots of the tree were enormous.
Visiting family is just the best thing! That sounds like a fantastic trip she has planned. What a great week, I love the pictures of your grandson and nephew waiting their turn at the demonstration - fab! Cor that tree has done some damage to the front garden! Have a great week xx
Five lovely and interesting things and I've learned quite a bit from your post. The term water harvesting is new to me but I expect it is the way we collect rainwater to use on our gardens and etc? We collect water in a water butt from the roof when it rains. We use it to water the garden when it doesn't rain enough - no problems with that this year - it's raining as I type this. We also top up the pond with water from the butt as it is better for the wildlife in there than tap water. I'm the only tea drinker in the house so I tend to use tea bags but some friends we visit only ever use leaf tea and I love the pouring and straining ritual of it as it reminds me of tea at grandma's house when tea bags weren't even thought of:)
Timely, interesting post...wishing you all the best in your water harvesting efforts♪
harvesting water. Ineresting! But can you get enough? Sounds like a huge thing to, even if it is needed.
Good luck with it.
Your Arizona Ash is a beautiful tree. I like the color of the trunk and the shape.
The info on water harvesting was very interesting.
Making a note to tell my son about the Arizona Ash tree. They have just begun to landscape at their home near Phoenix.
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