It's been a mild winter, not much rain, and we've had a couple of weeks of lovely sunshine. Temperatures were up to 22C here in the week. The heatwave has ended now, temperatures down to 12C. No rain in sight just yet - the BBC website showed rain due on Monday, but that's now moved to Tuesday and could well move again.
Several water companies in the South East have announced hosepipe bans to start next week. That means we can't use the sprinkler to water the veggies.
I have 5 water butts and hoses set up to transfer water from the back of the house, downhill to the water butt in the greenhouse and the sprinkler in the veggie patch. As I can't use the sprinkler, the sprinkler is being replaced this year with soaker hoses. These will be laid on the surface, which will then be mulched and covered with weed sheeting. Hopefully this will minimise watering and water evaporation.
I am also going to "water directly to roots" for some plants. It's simple enough - cut the bottom off a small drinks bottle and bury the neck end down close to the plants, then pour water into the bottle. The water goes straight down into the ground close to the roots of the plants. I've done this for the currants, will need a lot more bottles for when I plant other fruit and veg out.
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