Earth Friendly Practices

I haven’t don’t much research on the RR cotton lately like I’d hoped, my time has been spent on other research that I would say falls under the personal “earth friendly” category. Home gardening.

Because of my newly acquired knowledge about the many questionable farming practices around the world, whether its GMO’s or worker mistreatment or non-sustainable practices, I am expanding my home vegetable garden considerably, implementing a rain-waiter storage system and raising chickens.

Buying organic is a start but even that’s not perfect. The USDA organic board states that to be organic, fruits and vegetables need to be grown without using most conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineer seed or plants; or ionizing radiation. I still see room for improvement there.

So my latest research has been into rain barrels. I’ve collected seven 55 gallon drums and am just figuring out the best way to utilize them, I thought I had it all figured out on how to best collect rainwater from my downspouts, pump it to the reservoir and then gravity water my existing and new(in-planning-stage) gardens, when I hear “You shouldn’t use that rainwater for vegetables”.

What? Don’t use rainwater for vegetables? Well, maybe not. It depends on many factors and it’s not conclusive, but it makes you think. It will partially depend on the kind of roof you have for one. If you have cedar shake roofs, then No, don’t use it, because the cedar oil in the water is too strong for the vegetables. Asphalt shingles like I have are iffy. Also depends if you have herbicides or fungicides on the roof for moss and weed control. Do birds or raccoons frequent your roof? Their feces can contaminate the run-off.

There does not seem to be one definitive answer either way if it’s safe to use or not.
The best guidelines I’ve seen indicate to use collected rain water only
-at the root level of vegetable
-do not get it on the edible part of the plant
-do not use this water shortly before harvest

I think it might be wise to expand to this
-do not use for root vegetables.

And don’t use it for watering the animals. Of course, you can always use it for your grass, shrubs and flowers, and this might be enough to offset the amount of tap water you use for your vegetables.

I’ll continue with my rain harvesting and storage plan because I know we’ll be able to use the water somewhere. I’ve also seen homemade sand filters for your rainwater that might be worth further research.

I knew I saved all my old “Organic Gardening”, “Sunset” and “Mother Earth”’s for a reason! I have to go dig them all out so I can peruse them while I plan my new gardens, chicken coop, and irrigation system. I have to start scavenging off Craigslist soon if I want all this in place by spring!