The three 'R's (SBC#31)

I try to keep Gurneyland as self-sufficient as possible through recycling, re-purposing and re-using as much as possible.  We have a large garden for the size of lot that we have, we also have a greenhouse and several planters that all require watering several times each day during the spring and summer months.  A few years ago, we decided to switch our watering system from the city water to collected rain water and installed water barrels to collect the rain.  In doing so, we have reduced our water bill to save money and conserve energy by using rain water to water our plants.  This year, Environment Canada declared that our area is in a drought and that water should be conserved.  So we have stopped watering our lawn (which I would like to dig out and put in more sustainable gardens) and have watered our plants exclusively using rain water.  Since doing our conversion, several of our friends and neighbours have also switched to rain barrels.  We have made our garden fertile using compost from our home and yard.  This year, we have planted Snow and Snap Peas, purple Pole Beans, Corn, Acorn Squash, Big Beef, Early Girl and Roma Tomatoes, Purple Haze Carrots, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, dill, radishes, lettuce, watermelon, sweet million cherry tomatoes, onions and stringless green bush beans.  I am hoping to have enough to can, blanch and freeze and have fresh to last us until the spring.  We also have an indoor garden with more dill, lemon basil, Genovese basil, Globular basil, oregano and thyme.  I am hoping to expand the indoor garden this coming winter to include some bell peppers and cucumbers but I haven't found the right strains of plants for that yet. 

HAPPY CANADA DAY  for those in Canada!  Enjoy the holiday weekend!