I hate the idea of watering the lawn. We wouldn’t do it if our landlord didn’t ask us to (and it’s her house and property value, so we oblige). It’s a waste of water, just to keep up appearances. So this year, we’re going to do everything we can to avoid watering the lawn, without killing all of the grass. I’ve started to look out for seeds and plants that we can put in to slowly take over the grass and we’ve started the process of cleaning and redirecting the eaves to smarter locations. We also tend to let the weeds grow throughout the summer (some of them are fantastic ground cover). I also ordered a rain barrel about a month ago to take advantage of as much of the spring rain as possible. I found a great company, Rainbarrel.ca, that partners with local not-for-profits to hold truckload sales. My husband picked it up yesterday and was sweet enough to set it up this afternoon, out by the garden for easy access when watering the plants. We still have some work to do (and make some adjustments), but it’s starting to come together. I also managed to divert some of our “garbage” this past week to use with the rain barrel. I’ve converted a plastic ice cream container to a watering can…I’m not convinced it will work as well as a store bought watering can, but it will do until I find a watering can at a garage sale.
The rain barrel and start of the garden plot
between nature and culture 