[Annie]

I`m with Wellies on the watch what you water bit,I have parsley and various bulb flowers in pots and during this dry spell have not watered them and  they`re all healthy,you have to poke down a way to  moist soil but if I watered them it would pour out the bottom.I`m just watering seedlings at present ,at this time of the year getting that right is enough.

[richyrich7]

We can only use hosepipes to fill water butt's and for only half hour at one time, eviction offence watering direct with hose pipe.

[GrannieAnnie]

Sorry Richy, re your signature at the bottom, in our house its the other way round, at least that's what OH keeps telling me!!!  wE were down the conservatory place this mornign, and I saw something behind a pallet, look I said, they've left you some wood.

That's not wood he says, ok I said, that's not wood.  So I went to get in the car and he said open the boot for me so I can put this wood in!!!!! lolol  But he left the pallet there, as its a rather long one, but they've siad we can help ourselves to the pallets as they only give them to the house next door for their woodburner!!!!

Sacrilege, you don't burn pallets!!!!  I'm having some for my compost heap insstead of the paving blocks I've got now and OH could finish of the fence around my veg patch with some.  The bit he's already done looks good!!!!

[acetaria]

Thanks to all for your replies, I can see this is divisive subject and it seems for some it may be an 'elephant in the corner of the room' issue.  Although now I want to know more about the issue from different perspectives so I need to do some more reading but my own conclusion is that I will do my best to try as many of the tactics suggested as possible to conserve water but this year I intend to plant what my family like to eat and I am *not* going to let it die through lack of water ;-)

[wellingtons]

... a west country farmer, for those that don't already know ... his answer was that it was best to water well once a week for everything other than seedlings and salad crops.

He did go on to say which crops drew water from which level ... a few inches, a foot or 2ft ... but he lost me at that point.  However what he was saying was that crops that draw water from the 2ft point need to be watered to that level, hence one heavy downpour with the hose a week.  

I think ...  :?