Water

With Jorg and I heaving a sigh of relief that, touch wood, we aren't going to get the drought conditions of last year it seems appropriate to consider the importance of water to large and small farmers alike. We, like many, live or die on the capacity and sustainability of our well (the farm's third in around a decade). Our pond filled up nicely after last years drought, with the winter and spring rain, but fell at an alarming rate during June, and is now well on its way to the low of last year. The latest rain will help, but we do need a lot more to ensure our usually steady water supply. With 20 horses, 2 cows, three sheep, chickens and the house pets, plus the usual modern conveniences, we need a lot of water per day.

Did you know that you can save water by putting a brick, or a bottle of water in your WC tanks? Collecting rainwater, and using dish washers and clothes washers less will all contribute to conserving your well. Any other ideas for water conservation gratefully received. Rainbows have been a brilliant feature of the thunder storms we have been having here lately, of course I never have my camera handy when one appears, so I am indebted to the Penn State Climatologist, whose rainbow picture is reproduced above. To illustrate the global water situation, I have linked to the UK Guardian newspaper's environment photo gallery of today, a sobering and thought provoking piece by photo journalists across the world.