FREE SEEDS and PLANTS -- GARDENING and HARVESTING IN A TIME OF DROUGHT - GLEANERS

There are so many people here applying for money to let their grass lawns die and instead plant drought tolerant plants, along with putting down gravel, stone, and wood chips, in order to save water, that our Water and Electric companies have closed the list for lack of enough essential funding.

Some people are still allowing some or all of their properties to go unwatered, thinking that if God intends there to be rain it will rain and save what plant (and animal?  and human?) life He intends to let live, others are praying for rain as a kind of Mass-Mind-Metaphysical experiment (and we keep thinking pray for just an inch or so at a time so that we don't have landslides, house slides, and road slides!).  When a sprinkler extends over the sidewalk and into the street and a pond forms, we think what waste, but we also see that the birds, especially crows, are landing and making use of it as if it were a pond.

While we have cut our shower time and are flushing not as often, we are still watering our small flower and herb garden, much of which exists because of FREE SEEDS, every other day.

Seems every time we go to a mini convention about LIVING GREEN, be it about drought tolerant gardens or solar panels, or whatever, some booth is giving out packages of free seeds.  Some of these seeds are from NATIVE PLANTS, and we're having some success with those.

It's not just that the blooming plant is a reward, it's that our little garden has been found by bees, hummingbirds, crickets, grasshoppers, and various caterpillars (which we hope will become butterflies) that are dining out on our plants, probably because they are desperate.  Other yards have been more lush in the recent past, and are now dead or dying.

The other day, one of our neighbors decided to uproot his decorative bulbs, because he is going to plant some version of a Victory Garden.  While he contemplates what vegetables will love his naturally sandy soil, we wonder if his water bill will make planting one's own vegetables an act of reason.

Here in California the lack of water resources is being blamed on two crops - almonds and medical marijuana.  But citrus trees have always taken a lot of water to grow and result in fruit and most yards have one.  Many yards have one grapefruit, one lemon, one lime, a cumquat, an avocado, and some have olives or apricots.   These trees were planted back in the day when people from colder climates moved to California and imagined having their own orchard, never having to buy from a store again.

AND NOW A LOT OF THESE YARDS GO NEGLECTED, so a volunteer harvester group is willing to come and take away the fruit to food banks!  A wonderful idea, wherever you are, so that food (and water) do not go to waste.

VILLAGE HARVEST ORG  is one such organization.

FREE PLANT NET is another organization that intends to spread plant life around FREE.

ARE YOU A CITIZEN ACTIVIST IN YOUR OWN TOWN? CONSERVING WATER IN DROUGHT IS PATRIOTIC!

We consider to be Citizen Activists here at PATRIOTIC PURCHASE.  We wonder how many of our readers also consider themselves to be Activists for their own town.  Besides attending City Council Meetings and so on, there are always little things you can do to support your community that don't take as much time or responsibility.  Like most people, especially with children, you may find yourself always trying to catch up, weeks behind on your lists of things you should do.

We find RECYCLING to be an activity that contributes to the well being of our country and our planet, as is COMPOSTING, having a small vegetable "Victory" garden, and CUTTING BACK YOUR WATER USE IN THIS DROUGHT.

  This video mentions desalinization as a very expensive possible answer.

In our area the public swimming pools are filled, but most of the water fountains are shut down.  People are reporting their neighbors who are wasting water by hosing down driveways and sidewalks and are letting their grass lawns die off.

You can still have some green around you for we and the insects and other animals still do need water - or they will come into your house seeking it.  We can water plants in pots and trees around their base.

Using Grey Water to water outdoors is a great idea.

Grey Water is rinse water that has biodegradable detergents or just a small amount of detergent left in it. 

When we rinse out or coffee or tea pot we take that water and pour it in one of our outdoor plants in pots.  When we change out the water in our dog's bowl, we take that outside as well.  We are hand washing more since the clothing can dry out easily in the summer heat.  We don't want to leave the clothes soapy but the 3rd rinse goes out under the lemon tree.

Try not to flush your toilet each and every time you use it.  There's an old saying, "If it's brown flush it down.  If it's yellow let it mellow."  In our house we flush the yellow down after three uses.  The plumbing pipes do need to be flushed out with water.

We aren't taking tub baths.  Since it's hot out we have lowered the temperature of our hot water and when we shower we get wet, shampoo our hair and rinse it, shut the shower off, put in the conditioner, soap up, and then turn the shower back on to rinse off.

We are also resorting to sink baths also known as "Washing the smelly parts," more often.

Sometimes shampooing your hair in the sink and washing your face, hands, and feet is all it takes to feel refreshed.

We are using our public swimming pool, grateful to have it available to us.

We are also drinking MORE PLAIN WATER to stay hydrated, or adding lemon juice or fruit for an infusion rather than buying soda.

ANY OPINIONS?  IDEAS?  Let us know!

DROUGHT IN CALIFORNIA - BUG INFESTATION EXPERIENCE

Spring has come weeks earlier than usual here in Southern California, and some of our Native California plant seeds have sprouted which we are very excited about after last years failed attempt to use Native Seeds to create a butterfly garden and habitat. 

We have also experienced our first bug infestation indoors, which we have been valiantly if not aggressively trying to combat with the least poisonous means.  We believe that the bugs are coming indoors in record numbers in search of water.  We found mosquito hawks hanging out on the walls of our bathroom waiting for mosquitos and what seemed to attract them was that we had socks presoaking in a small tub.  We also found fruit flies, roaches, water bugs, and other unidentifiable little insects, possibly babies.  These bugs quickly made it into our refrigerator where they seem to have frozen to death, into our stove, though we keep cleaning it, and into our microwave.  Although we know that West Nile Virus has been detected in the area, like anyone what we are most concerned about is the roaches. 

We have a dog who is very curious and loves to taste things.  We felt that, by making our own traps with boric acid powder and powdered sugar and putting them in places that would be difficult for the dog to get into, we would succeed.  It has been about a month now and our entire kitchen is closed off.  We think we are beginning to win but we do not want our dog to eat a dead roach full of poison.

Admitting to roaches is kind of embarrassing.  Reading about them, we know that they will eat anything, including the paste that keeps your wallpaper stuck to the walls and soap.   They are not an indication that you're a slob or have a filthy house.

But they don't have to eat much or that often and what they really do need is water.

What this means is that we cannot ever have any dishes drying, any water laying, any spills not cleaned up, including spills beneath the cooking surface of our gas stove. 

To be dramatic, one day I spilled some water, and before I could mop it up four bugs came running and were drinking at the edges of it as if it were a pond!

So when we change our dog's water, we started  taking her water bowl outdoors and throwing that water into the weeds rather than into the sink, in hopes that some of the bugs will stay out there!  As is, we already try to reuse very mildly soapy water, such as water from the third rinse of handwashables, to water our lemon tree.

If you're having the same problem with bugs...

The potion of boric acid powder, a poison, mixed with powdered sugar was suggested to us by an apartment building manager down the street.  She said that was what the Building Inspectors suggested.  Online there are a number of recipes and the suggestion that plain old baking soda can work too without the poison.  The idea is that it should be spread finely such as with an old toothbrush, in areas where the bugs are going to walk.  The idea is that some of them will eat other dead bugs or take it back to a "nest" where it will then kill  others.  Eventually the bugs get a heavy hint, give up, and take a hike?

But to where when they want water?