Guns and Water don't always mix very well.
This was a productive day for both of us going in different directions. Kevin was out of the house at 7:30am and I followed an hour later. He left for the Pima County Fairgrounds and I stayed more local, ie the UA-South campus where the first class of the 2009 Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) class began. It was a chilly morning and the dogs had the house to themselves, with access to the backyard that I know they only used when nature called. The skies were blue.
I recognized many faces and chatted with Mary again. Most of us were Master Gardeners and would acknowledge each other's presence with a wave or nod of the head as we glanced across the room. But there were also new people there, curious newbies from points further East and North who recently moved to Arizona and who want to learn the desert ways of doing things.
The class began with a quick introduction of each of us (and I'm sure everyone paid attention to all the new names...). One older gent introduced himself as "George W Bush and I'm glad to leave the White House!" to which some of us cheered in agreement. Luckily this man looked nothing like GWB and even was a sweet and funny man throughout the class. In fact, he looked more like a Dwight Eisenhower. I'll just call him Ike from now on.
Cado from the UA Extension office led the class. She's in charge of all things water-related in the county and she knows her field very well. I've chatted with her throughout the summer of 2008 whenever I volunteered at the office as a Master Gardener. She began the hour with the latest news (mostly concerning Sierra Vista) on what the city has done to promote water conservation. The city is still behind the moon when it comes to conservation (The city council predominantly Republican and has always been pro-business over conservation).
Cadi informed us of a few new businesses in town and rated them according to their willingness to conserve water and be more "green." The new Wal-Mart Super Center that is being built at the end of this year will not be a "Green" building. Wal-Mart refused to add water-harvesting cisterns to irrigate its own landscape. Castle and Cooke, a big developer here (and one of the top employers of Cochise County) that hires a lot of illegals for its construction work, also has reluctantly added a FEW rain water harvesting cisterns on its property throughout the county. Still, this area is a bit behind the rest of the state. Sometimes it's embarrassing how closed-minded the city government is.
Cado also reminded us of one fact we all are aware of: setting up a home to be water-friendly (and solar friendly) is not cheap. The expense to set up a 3000-gallon tank, complete with pump and filters and the appropriate pipes and hoses is quite shocking: it can cost at least $5000. Who has that kind of money now in this sickened economy? And who's willing to shell out this kind of money when many people need the cash for more important things, like education and healthcare.
Surprisingly, some of the best ideas for what this county is starting to experiment with comes from an extension office out of Menard, Texas. Cado passionately told us the story of how our county was able to cooperate with Menard County in Texas with its manuals. Who would have thought a Texas county would think so progressively? What Menard County has done within its city with water conservation is impressive.
We drove to three sites within easy driving distance and looked at three different ways to harvest water, build irrigation ditches and plant native plants. What some people have done here is commendable, including one retired teacher, Rich, who has converted his 2.5 acre land into a water recycling and harvesting area. His tanks of water provide water for his landscaped yard, his garden and his native shrubs. (He also has a beautiful cactus garden). He'd been landscaping his property every year for the last 17 years.
I was so inspired to garden today that after our class I went to ACE Hardware and bought a Quince and a Jujuba tree, two Century Plants AND an ocotillo, all that were on sale for 50%. I have been wanting to replace the beautiful ocotillo ever since the original one was blown over in a violent November storm in 2007. And one of the century plants grew a long flower stalk this past summer and subsequently died, as all post-flowering agaves do. My garden this summer will focus more on cacti and succulents as I slowyly remove all the non-natives from the front yard.
This was a productive day for both of us going in different directions. Kevin was out of the house at 7:30am and I followed an hour later. He left for the Pima County Fairgrounds and I stayed more local, ie the UA-South campus where the first class of the 2009 Rain Water Harvesting (RWH) class began. It was a chilly morning and the dogs had the house to themselves, with access to the backyard that I know they only used when nature called. The skies were blue.
I recognized many faces and chatted with Mary again. Most of us were Master Gardeners and would acknowledge each other's presence with a wave or nod of the head as we glanced across the room. But there were also new people there, curious newbies from points further East and North who recently moved to Arizona and who want to learn the desert ways of doing things.
The class began with a quick introduction of each of us (and I'm sure everyone paid attention to all the new names...). One older gent introduced himself as "George W Bush and I'm glad to leave the White House!" to which some of us cheered in agreement. Luckily this man looked nothing like GWB and even was a sweet and funny man throughout the class. In fact, he looked more like a Dwight Eisenhower. I'll just call him Ike from now on.
Cado from the UA Extension office led the class. She's in charge of all things water-related in the county and she knows her field very well. I've chatted with her throughout the summer of 2008 whenever I volunteered at the office as a Master Gardener. She began the hour with the latest news (mostly concerning Sierra Vista) on what the city has done to promote water conservation. The city is still behind the moon when it comes to conservation (The city council predominantly Republican and has always been pro-business over conservation).
Cadi informed us of a few new businesses in town and rated them according to their willingness to conserve water and be more "green." The new Wal-Mart Super Center that is being built at the end of this year will not be a "Green" building. Wal-Mart refused to add water-harvesting cisterns to irrigate its own landscape. Castle and Cooke, a big developer here (and one of the top employers of Cochise County) that hires a lot of illegals for its construction work, also has reluctantly added a FEW rain water harvesting cisterns on its property throughout the county. Still, this area is a bit behind the rest of the state. Sometimes it's embarrassing how closed-minded the city government is.
Cado also reminded us of one fact we all are aware of: setting up a home to be water-friendly (and solar friendly) is not cheap. The expense to set up a 3000-gallon tank, complete with pump and filters and the appropriate pipes and hoses is quite shocking: it can cost at least $5000. Who has that kind of money now in this sickened economy? And who's willing to shell out this kind of money when many people need the cash for more important things, like education and healthcare.
Surprisingly, some of the best ideas for what this county is starting to experiment with comes from an extension office out of Menard, Texas. Cado passionately told us the story of how our county was able to cooperate with Menard County in Texas with its manuals. Who would have thought a Texas county would think so progressively? What Menard County has done within its city with water conservation is impressive.
We drove to three sites within easy driving distance and looked at three different ways to harvest water, build irrigation ditches and plant native plants. What some people have done here is commendable, including one retired teacher, Rich, who has converted his 2.5 acre land into a water recycling and harvesting area. His tanks of water provide water for his landscaped yard, his garden and his native shrubs. (He also has a beautiful cactus garden). He'd been landscaping his property every year for the last 17 years.
I was so inspired to garden today that after our class I went to ACE Hardware and bought a Quince and a Jujuba tree, two Century Plants AND an ocotillo, all that were on sale for 50%. I have been wanting to replace the beautiful ocotillo ever since the original one was blown over in a violent November storm in 2007. And one of the century plants grew a long flower stalk this past summer and subsequently died, as all post-flowering agaves do. My garden this summer will focus more on cacti and succulents as I slowyly remove all the non-natives from the front yard.
I still can't believe that the only decent gardenshop in the area, ACE Gardenshop, is closing...and Evan the gardenshop manager carried the prickly ocotillo to my Escape and even made sure I had a red flag attached in the back since the ocotillo stuck out over three feet from the open rear window. Ike mentioned in class that one reason why ACE was losing money was because the manager there treats his customers poorly and is "the rear end of a horse" but I've always been treated very nicely by all the ACE employees and managers. It's Home Depot I have a problem with: they hire people for their garden shop who have no knowledge of the plants' specific requirements.
I'm not sure when I'll have time to plant the little guys but I hope it will be no later than March. I've got serious plans for our back garden. Last year we dug up the western side. This year we'll cultivate the more rocky and weedy eastern side. I just need to convince Kevin to help me install gutters so we can harvest rain water easier. A rock garden shaped like a small creek flowing downhill is also in my plans...and with my tentative summer schedule this all means I'm going to have to do all this work in the late spring.
I got home at 3:30pm and took the dogs on a quick run up in the foothills where several pick-ups were parked for a shooting session. The dogs ran right past everyone as I kept them on task and didn't slow down. Kevin came home shortly after 4pm with a present for me from the Gun Show: a rather impressive Stun Gun.
"Use it the next time you go up in the mountains by yourself!" The gun is a small, hand-held device that shoots 650,00 volts of electricity through a body, enough to definitely leave some serious burn marks on anyone thinking of messing with me. Something that powerful would give me a heart attack because of my tachycardia. I have a Concealed Carrier Weapons Permit on me at all times and can use this device. I'd rather carry this device than my Bersa Thunderer. He also got me a Blackjack (ie slap) that looks more like something I'd keep in the bedroom....
Kevin enjoyed the Gun Show. He bought a scope and tripod for his AR-15 and is happy with his purchase. The gun show comes around either Tucson or Phoenix every month and I wouldn't mind attending it once (especially if I can add a hike nearby as well!)
http://www.crossroadsgunshows.com/
http://ag.arizona.edu/cochise/waterwise/
http://www.texaswatermatters.org/pdfs/news_450.pdf
http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/RainwaterHarvestingManual_3rdedition.pdf http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/world/americas/11mexico.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/275348.php
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/01/winter-storm-on-the-way.html
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2009/01/10/news/top_story/top1.txt
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