Fruit Trees and Gardening in TV?

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi All,

Instead of starting a new thread I just added the words Gardening into the subject line. Hope that is okay with both of you, Sue and Tom. If not, just remove the word.

In some communities they have gardening plots you rent for the season. In our area it is called Gardens for Nutrition. Perhaps there can be an area like that in TV. That way all tools needed for gardening are shared and no one has to buy their own set.

If we do this, and for those who have planted zucchini plants will know what I mean, how many zucchini plants shall we plant?

There is also an Exotic Fruit Club, a former student of my husband is the President of, where we can get assistance from.

To all of you - a wonderful growing season.

Hyacinth Bucket

[mom2five]

Thanks for starting this thread. I will be returning to TV soon and would love to participate in a garden club. What is the growing season there anyway?

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi,

From what I understand all year round, depending on what you want to grow.

HB

[redwitch]

I have the world's worst (or is that best?) black thumb this side of the planet Saturn. Therefore, I will happily be the taster of anything grown (except eggplant) and, of course, will take surplus fruits and veggies off your hands once ripe.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Red, what can I say? Can I have seconds?

I also have a black thumb so when anything grows I am absolutely in seventh heaven. I have never had a problem with zucchini - or any bug that can kill a plant.

HB

[REDCART]

One of my neighbors is an avid gardener who got an infection supposedly from the grey (irrigation) water. When I heard the story, I wondered if you can get an infection from the grey water, how healthy could it be to use if for edible fruits and vegetables? Am I missing something here or does the tree filter the water on the way up the trunk? George

[Just Susan]

Hi HB,
Just to let you know I think this is all great. A gardening thread is certainly something that I think many will be interested in. The title is fine. I'm not that territorial. I will visit this thread from time to time but probably won't get too into it until I have the ground to plant in TV. Thanks for setting this up, I didn't know we could do this.
Only one correction I would like to make, my name is not Sue. No problem just didn't want to become Sue at this stage of my life.
Did you check out the two resources I mentioned?
Looking forward to gardening with you,
Susan

[punkpup]

gryoung,
From my understanding of the use of grey/gray water it should be used only for ornamental & landscape vegetation gray water cannot be used for food plants (with the exception of citrus and nut trees). Even then filtration is important. Check out these sites:

http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/plant_culture/gray_water_for_gardens.html
http://interests.caes.uga.edu/drought/articles/gwlands.htm
http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/graywater2006.html
www.superiorwatersupplies.com click on products & the click on BRAC Water Recycling

[Hope2b]

There is a garden in TV for a food pantry that volunteers take care of. In the town where we used to live we could get a small plot of land for free to plant a garden. We needed to pay to have it tilled but was not much. It would be neat if TV had some unused land we could plant on. Even if there was a small charge it would be OK.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Punkpup,

Thank you for that info. I had thought to plant some veggies in areas that are automatically watered by the irrigation system. Now I will not.

HB

[PJ]

This is very interesting. And a little disturbing. Does anyone know more about the actual Villages gray water, what's in it, where it comes from, etc.? I didn't realize until recently that our sprinkler systems are connected to a different type of water than our home systems.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

I thought I was told that the irrigation water came from the over flow ponds. Guess that was erroneous info.

HB

[REDCART]

Irrigation water comes from the storm sewers in the street and in backyards, as well as, from surface runoff. So, it has the potential to be contaminated with chemicals people might use to etch their driveways, polish the car, and yes lawn fertilizer and insecticides. While it's filtered before being recycled, it's not potable water by any measure. George

[Hyacinth Bucket]

George, thank you for the clarification.

Hyacinth Bucket

[Hope2b]

We need to recycle water. If not we will run out and really be in trouble. Call and ask about the water so you know for sure what it should be used for. We live north and don't have the gray water so not up on the info.

[punkpup]

I posted this in an earlier thread on November 27th, 2007:
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/smf/index.php/topic,3147.msg20461.html#msg20461


As a service tech for Keyspan/National Grid Energy Delivery (Natural Gas Division) I am often asked about this issue in respect to gas usage and water conservation. Obviously in the day and age of fast rising energy costs and drought any way we can conserve precious resources and save money is a plus!

In my quest to find solutions to offer my customers I've found a few things which may be of interest.

Energy saving hot water recirculating pumps from Grundfos, (newer technology is more energy efficient than older products):

System for standalone hot water tank: http://www.grundfos.com/web/HomeUs.nsf/Webopslag/PAVA-56TMVA http://www.rewci.com/whhohotwaci.html
NOTE: SEE THIS SITE FOR IMAGE OF NEW STYLE VS OLD (SCROLL DOWN) STYLE!!!! :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230085874368&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=013

System for tankless hot water: http://www.bigbrandwater.com/rcp96.html

A great way to conserve water by using bathroom sink drain water to flush toilets: http://www.aridsolutionsinc.com/catalog/item/523392/4156855.htm
http://www.watersavertech.com/AQUS-System.html

More ways to conserve water:
1. A way to use water from showers, washers and washtub:
http://www.greywater.com/treatment.htm
http://greenwoodlands.net/plumbing/greywatersystem.html
2. Some ways to use rain water; I particularly like the NINO multi purpose rainbarrel:
http://www.desertplastics-abq.com/waterharvest3.html

On demand tankless hot water heaters: http://www.stefanoparis.com/efficientliving/aquastar/aquastar.html

[another Linda]

We have a hot tub that we need to drain and clean periodically. Can we use that water for plants? It certainly has chemicals in it.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi Punkpup, this is great info. I plan to pass this onto friends who will read it.

Another Linda when we had a hot tub we did not use chemicals - we had an ozonator.

My husband did clean it on a regular basis, we have a solar hot water system so he emptied it and cleaned it when the sun was shining brightly.

HB

[another Linda]

Another Linda when we had a hot tub we did not use chemicals - we had an ozonator.

My husband did clean it on a regular basis, we have a solar hot water system so he emptied it and cleaned it when the sun was shining brightly.

HB

An ozonator? What I don't know could fill books, what I learn on TV could fill even more! I'll have to look into an ozonator. Any suggestions about where to start?

[Sidney Lanier]

I use an ozonator to considerably lessen the need for chemicals, because I have eye problems and can't chance being splashed with water treated with chlorine and/or other chemicals. The technology of ozonators is not new, and any dealer in hot tubs can provide information and sell such a unit. They are not particularly expensive. Mechanically it's pretty simple: As the water circulates in a hot tub, it goes past the ozonator, which contains a blue light that creates the ozone and treats the water. I pulled the following out of a link I just picked up in a Google search for "hot tub ozonator how it works." Hope this helps.

-----------------------

"This ozonator sanitizes your hot tub water. This means you don't have to constantly use chemicals like chlorine. Ozone water purification is up to 3,000 times more powerful than ordinary water sanitizers and doesn't have that 'chemical smell' normally found in pools and hot tubs. An ozonated hot tub will also last longer between water changes. Wondering how it works? It's simple. Ozonators create ozone gas, then inject it into the water, killing bacteria."

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Thanks Sidney for the explanation.

HB

[punkpup]

gryoung et al,

Here is a definition of Gray Water excerpted from this site:
http://www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/plant_culture/gray_water_for_gardens.html

First, what is gray water?

Gray water is all the non-toilet wastewater produced in the average household including the water from bathtubs, showers, sinks, washing machines, and dishwashers. Although gray water does not need extensive chemical or biological treatment before it can be used in the garden as irrigation water, it still must be used carefully because it usually contains grease, hair, detergent, cosmetics, dead skin, food particles and small amounts of fecal matter.

Basically what comes out of the faucet is potable (drinkable) water, what comes out of the sprinklers is non-potable water. Non potable can be filtered and purified to become potable water as well as gray water; obviously turning gray water into potable water is rather involved and costly.

Black water is what we flush down the toilet and into the sewer.

[Hyacinth Bucket]

We use a laundry detergent that is earth friendly - wonder if there is a way to divert some of the water leaving the washing machine into a large garbage pail, so it can be used when we water veggies.


HB

[another Linda]

Sidney, thank you so much. I will definitely look into it. Makes so much sense.

[punkpup]

I know that Hot Tub/Spa water is an issue/concern for many of us. I use the water from my Hot Tub to water my landscape as it is technically considered graywater/greywater whenever I empty it.

I also have issues with chlorine, it's harsh on my skin and aggravates my asthma so I chlorinate mostly right after I've used the Tub. I've been looking for alternate ways to sanitize the water and ways to neutralize chlorine and found these sites:

http://www.rhtubs.com/cgi-bin/bbs/config1.pl?noframes;read=70390
http://www.exit15.com/vitabath-effervescent-vitamin-dechlorination-tablets-p-1307.html
http://www.rhtubs.com/chemical-free-index.htm

NOTE: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) powder can be substituted for tablets and is cheaper.

As to setting up ways to use the waste water from the laundry, shower and sink there are a number of products available.

You can't use waste water from the kitchen sink because it contains food particles and grease unless you filter it extensively but here is an option that makes sense, as unattractive as it may be, lol.
www.envirosink.com

This one recycles waste water from the bathroom sink to flush the toilet. I like really this.
http://www.aridsolutionsinc.com/page/page/522317.htm

I particularly like this system and plan to use it for the shower and washer waste water when we buy our house in TV.
http://www.greywater.com/index.htm

[punkpup]

Hyacinth et al,

Since we live in Massachusetts and love tropical foliage I started searching for cold hardy varieties of tropical plants.

I found these two sites. The Seedman actually carries seeds of bananas and palms which grow in extremely cold climates. I'm not so sure about Top Tropicals but they are in Punta Gorda, FL so I'm betting that they can help you with Mangos as they seem to have a zillion different varieties.
www.seedman.com
www.toptropicals.com

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Sorry for the delay in responding to you. Just found the info you requested.

There are no annual contracts for weeding - cost is $10 per month

Pest control is $20 per month

Pruning, trimming and clean up is billed at $40 per hour, but you are charged in 15 minute increments.

Fertilizer application is based on actual quantities used.

They all sell trees and plants. I found the cost of there plants lower than in some of the nurseries I visited while in TV.

Fernview Farm - Sandra and James Harrison
352 245 7905 email fernviewnursery@aol.com

Like I said, I was extremely impressed with her, They will be doing our lawn care while we are away.

Hope this helps.

HB

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi, I accidentally deleted an email I received. The question was about the Lawn and Garden service that we have.

We do not have a contract with her for any of the services she does. When we are in TV we do, what she normally does.

There are no annual contracts for weeding - cost is $10 per month

Pest control is $20 per month

Pruning, trimming and clean up is billed at $40 per hour, but you are charged in 15 minute increments.

Fertilizer application is based on actual quantities used.

They all sell trees and plants. I found the cost of there plants lower than in some of the nurseries I visited while in TV.

Fernview Farm - Sandra and James Harrison
352 245 7905 email fernviewnursery@aol.com

i think she has been invited to speak this November at the Garden Clubs - one in Hacienda Center.

Hope this helps.

HB

[Hyacinth Bucket]

Hi, I am just saying "Hello" so that I get all new messages on this thread.

HB