Water

If you've been keeping up with my ramblings you'll know how much my attitude to rain has changed since I became a gardener. Gone are the cries of woe when the clouds roll in. Now I do a little rain dance and welcome them and their wonderful wet bounty with open arms.

Not that much in the way of rain has happened very often recently. This is the driest June we've had for 80 years. Growing my own veg is a very exciting venture but they aren't going to produce anything if they don't get a regular drink.

Because of that my water butts are nearly empty and I experience pangs of guilt every night before using the hose pipe to keep my precious veg alive. What else though can one do?

Thinking about my runner beans etc. has prompted me to look into water in general and the way we consume it.

Did you know that on average an adult in the Gambia uses 5 litres of water per day? The equivalent figure for an adult in the UK is a staggering 150 litres. A family of four can easily use 500 litres of water a day! That amount has doubled since the 60's and is increasing still.

If you times that by the number of households in an average small town that becomes an astonishingly huge amount of water being used each day. Yet when mention of a hose pipe ban is heard we moan and gripe and recall how wet it was last July and surely all that water must still be there to use.

Of course it isn't.

These days I only put my washing machine on once a week, same with the dishwasher and I really do try to be aware of how many times I flush the toilet. Thinking of my water use has made me cut down considerably and I feel I can justify giving what I have saved to my veg.

So if, like the old pre-gardening me, you are hoping for more blue skies and long warm days, spare a thought for us gardeners and also our beleagured reservoirs.

I've been promised rain today. It's overcast and dull but it hasn't happened yet. So if you see a strange person waving her arms around, turning and circles and casting pleading looks to the sky, it's only me doing my rain dance.