Fall 2008 Newsletter

Creating Abundance with Rainwater and Greywater

Each of our homes has the potential to be surrounded by lush, abundant, and a beautiful food producing landscape.   This is easy.  The trick is designing this garden to provide for its own water needs so that it can continue to thrive even in times of drought.  We can do this with two simple strategies for ecological gardening and landscaping: rainwater and greywater harvesting. All landscapes receive the rain and snow that falls on it in a given year.  However, many landscapes are shaped to send this water away from them so that they only absorb 10 percent of the natural rainfall.  These landscapes are in essence creating desert conditions that require extra city or well water to stay lush.  The logical thing to do is shape the landscape so that it does not lose any rainwater that falls on it.  This step alone can save us thousands of gallons of water a year.  We can take this one step further and direct rainwater from other areas such as a roof, patio, or driveway into the landscape as well.  This step creates areas that get more water than naturally fall in a given year.  In many suburban and urban homes where the landscape is small and the home large, we can create a landscape that gets 2-3 times as much rainwater as naturally falls.  This means that if you live in an area like Sedona with an average rainfall of only 15 inches, a water harvesting landscape can receive the equivalent of 30-45 inches of rain a year! This is about the same amount of rainfall that Seattle gets in a year.  In addition to harvesting rainwater passively in the landscape as described above we have another tool in the ecological toolbox, the perennial spring inside each of our homes: greywater.  Greywater is any water generated from the shower/tub, bathroom sink, and washing machine.  Water from these sources can be sent out to a rainwater harvesting landscape to further irrigate it in the dry warmer months, particularly helpful in May and June, when there is no rain in sight and the temperatures are climbing.  Greywater is a fantastic backup source of water that creates lush gardens without using any extra water.  There are many benefits to using greywater.  One, you are already paying to use the water so you might as well use it again.  This is water conservation at its best.  The typical household might use 50 gallons a day to shower and then another 50 gallons of water to irrigate the landscape.  With greywater, the 50 gallons of water used in the shower is sent outside to irrigate the landscape so in essence the household in this example is getting 100 gallons of use out of only 50 gallons of water.  The ecological mindset says “There is no shortage of water, only a shortage of water cycling.”  How many times can you use the same volume of water?  It is the combination of rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling that allow us to have an amazingly lush landscape that is not dependant on large water bills.  As an incentive to encourage residents to harvest rainwater and greywater, the State of Arizona currently offers tax credits to  residents who install them.  100% Rainwater and Greywater Irrigated Landscape

Rainwater Harvesting Tank Specials

Eden on Earth is excited to offer a diverse array of rainwater harvesting tanks and components for every situation. Whether you are a do-it-yourselfer or not we can provide everything you need to start harvesting the rain. We offer rainwater tanks in many different shapes, sizes, materials, and aesthetics. Fall is the perfect time to start harvesting the winter precipitation to be used in the Spring and Summer. In addition to the $1,000 Arizona State Tax Credit, Eden on Earth is offering $100 off any Rainwater Tank installation. Contact us now for your free Rainwater Tank estimate.  More information about rainwater harvesting can be found in our Rainwater Harvesting Section.

Tips for the Ecological Garden

Fall is here and much of the gardening work revolves around dreams of next years garden. By now in Flagstaff, our gardens are done for the season (Sedona and the Verde Valley still have a bit of time). Our focus is on putting the garden to sleep. In the veggie garden, chop down the remaining produce to ground level. Add a layer of finished compost if you have some. Then top everything with a good layer of organic mulch (leaves, pine needles, straw, etc.) and water it all in. Don't be afraid to add 4 inches or more of mulch and compost. For trees, shrubs, and perennials you can skip the compost and just add the mulch layer. Compost and mulch are the work horses of an ecological garden. They feed the microbes in the soil which in turn feed the plants. Without these soil microbes we would have no plants so it is important to keep those little critters happy. If we want the healthiest plants around then it only makes sense to ensure that they are well fed. This means not raking up and throwing away fallen leaves. Instead just rake them around existing trees and shrubs or into areas where they can at least compost.  Make sure that no organic matter is wasted from your yard.  Better yet collect your neighbors leaves if they are throwing them away and use those in your garden too! I have been known to circle my neighborhood this time of year and collect over one hundred bags of leaves to use in my garden. Organic Mulch has many more benefits including moderating winter temperatures and conserving soil moisture. Adding mulch now also allows the organic matter some time to begin to decay into nutrient rich soil humus before next years growing season. Happy Mulching! Leaves                                                   One Year Later