Well folks, it seems as if winter is off to an early start. Just as the snow melts away from the last storm, another one is on the way. I was so hoping for a longer autumn. However, the snow is good for the water shed, so I guess we cannot complain because we certainly don't want to get back into drought conditions. But when autumn is your favorite season, it seems a shame to have it cut short.
As a reminder, please turn your water off at your customer valve anytime you leave your mountain home. It is the single most important thing you can do to prevent a leak or a frozen or broken pipe.
Each winter, several of our customers face high water bills and damage to their homes due to pipes freezing and breaking and leaks going undetected. If your water is turned off, you can avoid all of these problems. Turning your water off at your customer valve is quick and easy. If you do not know how to do it or if you are unsure where your customer valve is, give us a call. We will be more than happy to come out during normal business hours and show you where your customer valve is and how to turn it off.
Remember, it is like the old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!" Another incentive for turning your water off when you leave is the fact that should you develop a leak, you will be responsible for paying for all the water that runs through your meter. People seem to think that when they have a leak, their water bill will be forgiven or reduced. However, that is not the case. Each homeowner is responsible for paying for all the water that runs through their water meter. While we can work with you to make a payment plan should you find yourself in this situation, we cannot just forgive the bill. We don't want to see any of our customers in this situation, so take a minute and turn your water off when leaving.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Board Meeting
The monthly board meeting is this morning at 10 a.m. if you care to come. It is open to the public.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Olla Update
As you all know, I put ollas in my garden this year around my tomatoes. However, I made one crucial mistake. I didn't allow enough room to get to them easily. As the tomato plants grew bigger and bigger, it quickly became like crawling through a jungle when trying to get to the ollas to fill them with water and developed into quite the unpleasant chore.
Since I was still harvesting tomatoes, up until last Friday, I have not yet dug them up to see if the roots of the plants had grown towards or around the ollas. Unfortunately, they are now buried under all this snow and my tomato plants are goners. So when I am able, I will go out and dig them up and try to see how the roots were growing and try to get a few pictures for the blog. You dont' even want to see my poor frozen tomato plants.
What I learned this summer was that if you make ollas out of clay pots like I did, it would be wise to to do a couple of things differently than what I did. The first thing you could do would be to place them along the edge of your garden where they will remain easy to access for filling. Don't bury them in between lots of plants that are going to get very big in a couple of months.
The second thing you could try is to enlarge the hole on the top pot and install a piece of PVC pipe up to a height that would be easy to fill. Not sure on the specifics of this, but you could probably drill some holes in the part of the PVC pipe that will go down into the olla to allow the water to come out and fill the olla. They you could just walk around and fill them from the top of the PVC pipe. Of course, I have not tried this yet, so it is all theory at this point.
The third thing you could do is to purchase ready made ollas that have the the tall spout on the top that sticks up out of the ground making them easier to fill. This is really the only problem I have found with using the clay pots. Since they are flat and at just about at ground level when buried, you have figure out a way to fill them easily. Each year is a learning experience and eventually I will get this down pat. If anyone out there has any ideas or knowledge about watering with ollas, I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences or ideas.
In addition to the above mentioned improvements, I also plan to try them in some raised bed gardens. I have decided that raised beds and container gardens will replace my in the ground gardens as I did not enjoy crawling on my hands and knees through the tomato plants with a hose to fill the ollas. Plus they are just so hard to work in with all the bending, stooping, kneeling and digging there is to do. There has to be an easier way and I am going to find it!
But using smaller, raised beds, I may be able to keep the ollas at the perimeter of the raised bed, thereby making filling them much easier. Or at the very least, eliminating the crawling on my hands and knees part. It would not have been so bad getting between the tomato plants had I not had to get on my hands and knees to do it.
I feel that gardening should be an enjoyable past time. While it is hard work and challenging at times, why not incorporate things that make it easier and more pleasant, like raised beds. I will be making mine tall enough that I can sit on the edge of them and do my gardening chores either standing or sitting. I think that will make gardening much more enjoyable and much less of a chore and perhaps some water saving methods, such as ollas, will be easier to incorporate into raised bed gardens than they are into the ground.
One thing I will report is that I was shocked at how often the ollas went dry. I was filling them daily until the last 6 weeks or so when I gave up and just watered the tomatoes normally. So I feel that they must have been doing their job superbly. The water was definitely seeping out and I am pretty sure I am going to find lots of tomato plant roots around each one once I can get to them.
All in all I would say that my olla experiment was a success and with some tweaking next year, I think it can be even a greater success. I will also work on some posts on raised bed, container and window box gardening in the near future.
Since I was still harvesting tomatoes, up until last Friday, I have not yet dug them up to see if the roots of the plants had grown towards or around the ollas. Unfortunately, they are now buried under all this snow and my tomato plants are goners. So when I am able, I will go out and dig them up and try to see how the roots were growing and try to get a few pictures for the blog. You dont' even want to see my poor frozen tomato plants.
What I learned this summer was that if you make ollas out of clay pots like I did, it would be wise to to do a couple of things differently than what I did. The first thing you could do would be to place them along the edge of your garden where they will remain easy to access for filling. Don't bury them in between lots of plants that are going to get very big in a couple of months.
The second thing you could try is to enlarge the hole on the top pot and install a piece of PVC pipe up to a height that would be easy to fill. Not sure on the specifics of this, but you could probably drill some holes in the part of the PVC pipe that will go down into the olla to allow the water to come out and fill the olla. They you could just walk around and fill them from the top of the PVC pipe. Of course, I have not tried this yet, so it is all theory at this point.
The third thing you could do is to purchase ready made ollas that have the the tall spout on the top that sticks up out of the ground making them easier to fill. This is really the only problem I have found with using the clay pots. Since they are flat and at just about at ground level when buried, you have figure out a way to fill them easily. Each year is a learning experience and eventually I will get this down pat. If anyone out there has any ideas or knowledge about watering with ollas, I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences or ideas.
In addition to the above mentioned improvements, I also plan to try them in some raised bed gardens. I have decided that raised beds and container gardens will replace my in the ground gardens as I did not enjoy crawling on my hands and knees through the tomato plants with a hose to fill the ollas. Plus they are just so hard to work in with all the bending, stooping, kneeling and digging there is to do. There has to be an easier way and I am going to find it!
But using smaller, raised beds, I may be able to keep the ollas at the perimeter of the raised bed, thereby making filling them much easier. Or at the very least, eliminating the crawling on my hands and knees part. It would not have been so bad getting between the tomato plants had I not had to get on my hands and knees to do it.
I feel that gardening should be an enjoyable past time. While it is hard work and challenging at times, why not incorporate things that make it easier and more pleasant, like raised beds. I will be making mine tall enough that I can sit on the edge of them and do my gardening chores either standing or sitting. I think that will make gardening much more enjoyable and much less of a chore and perhaps some water saving methods, such as ollas, will be easier to incorporate into raised bed gardens than they are into the ground.
One thing I will report is that I was shocked at how often the ollas went dry. I was filling them daily until the last 6 weeks or so when I gave up and just watered the tomatoes normally. So I feel that they must have been doing their job superbly. The water was definitely seeping out and I am pretty sure I am going to find lots of tomato plant roots around each one once I can get to them.
All in all I would say that my olla experiment was a success and with some tweaking next year, I think it can be even a greater success. I will also work on some posts on raised bed, container and window box gardening in the near future.
Board Meeting!
Tomorrow is our monthly board meeting. It will begin promptly at 10 a.m. and is held in the board room here at the water district office. The public is welcome to attend and the agenda is always posted in the box outside the front door here at the office in accordance with the Brown Act. You can read the minutes to past meetings on our website at www.pcwd.org. We hope to see you there!
Monday, November 7, 2011
Turn Off Your Water
Well folks, it is time once again to remind everyone to...
Turn off your water at your customer valve when you leave you mountain home.
Every winter people experience leaks, broken and frozen pipes and a lot of it can be prevented by one simple act. We cannot emphasize this strongly enough. When you leave your mountain, take a minute and turn you water off at your customer valve. It is that easy and that simple and will save you a world of headaches, not to mention money.
If you develop a leak or a break on your side of the meter, you will be responsible for all the water that runs through your meter and this can add up to quite a large water bill depending on the size of the break or leak and the length of time it runs. Many people are under the misconception that if they have a leak, they do not have to pay for the water used. This is incorrect. If the water runs through your meter, no matter the reason, the home owner is responsible for paying for that water. I am not sure why people think they don't have to pay for the water when they have a leak, but every time someone has a leak, we hear over and over again that they thought they didn't have to pay for the water lost.
So please, do yourself a favor. Just turn off your water when you leave. That way when you come back to visit your mountain home, you won't be hit with any unpleasant surprises or bills.
If you do not know where your customer valve is or how to turn it off, please give us a call at 951-659-2675. We would be happy to come out during regular business hours and show you where it is and how to turn it off. It is way better to be safe than sorry and no one wants to deal with broken, frozen pipes or leaks when they come up to visit they mountain home.
Turn off your water at your customer valve when you leave you mountain home.
Every winter people experience leaks, broken and frozen pipes and a lot of it can be prevented by one simple act. We cannot emphasize this strongly enough. When you leave your mountain, take a minute and turn you water off at your customer valve. It is that easy and that simple and will save you a world of headaches, not to mention money.
If you develop a leak or a break on your side of the meter, you will be responsible for all the water that runs through your meter and this can add up to quite a large water bill depending on the size of the break or leak and the length of time it runs. Many people are under the misconception that if they have a leak, they do not have to pay for the water used. This is incorrect. If the water runs through your meter, no matter the reason, the home owner is responsible for paying for that water. I am not sure why people think they don't have to pay for the water when they have a leak, but every time someone has a leak, we hear over and over again that they thought they didn't have to pay for the water lost.
So please, do yourself a favor. Just turn off your water when you leave. That way when you come back to visit your mountain home, you won't be hit with any unpleasant surprises or bills.
If you do not know where your customer valve is or how to turn it off, please give us a call at 951-659-2675. We would be happy to come out during regular business hours and show you where it is and how to turn it off. It is way better to be safe than sorry and no one wants to deal with broken, frozen pipes or leaks when they come up to visit they mountain home.
What the heck?
OK, who ordered all this snow? Not me, that is for sure. I am not ready for winter. I was highly enjoying our brief autumn season. Some of the trees hadn't even turned colors yet and now they are flopped over heavy with snow. That is the funny thing about living here in the mountains. The seasons can sure trick you. So ready or not, here we are with a pile of snow to contend with and it is only early November.
Last night was quite the show as well with the thunder and lightening. I always find that strange to have thunder and lightening with snow. I am not sure why, but I think it is weird. Snow fall always seems to be a quiet type of weather. So many times when it is snowing up here, it is so very quiet. I love that. No cars on the road, no snow plows noisily flying down the road. The animals all seem to have disappeared, hopefully taking shelter somewhere dry. The world just seems to go to sleep while the snow silently falls. Thunder and lightening is not part of my snow picture and I find it somewhat unsettling.
The snow also presents a challenge if you have animals that you keep outside. Please be sure to give them fresh warm water, clean, dry, fresh food and make sure they have a shelter out of the wind, rain and snow. Remember, they can't self cater and rely upon us for their needs. If you take on the responsibility of an animal, please be a responsible owner and see to their needs.
Also use caution when driving because as we all know, the roads here can be treacherous and many times it isn't the road conditions so much as the other drivers on the road. Beware of people who don't know how to drive in the snow. I have had many near misses due to inexperienced drivers coming up to the mountains unprepared. Go slow and leave a large distance between you and the cars in front of you. As always, if you don't have to go out, then don't. No sense risking life and limb for something that can wait until another day.
So stay warm, stay dry and stay safe. Hopefully it will warm up and most of this snow will melt away and autumn will come back and give us a few weeks before we settle into winter for good. I am so not ready for winter.
Last night was quite the show as well with the thunder and lightening. I always find that strange to have thunder and lightening with snow. I am not sure why, but I think it is weird. Snow fall always seems to be a quiet type of weather. So many times when it is snowing up here, it is so very quiet. I love that. No cars on the road, no snow plows noisily flying down the road. The animals all seem to have disappeared, hopefully taking shelter somewhere dry. The world just seems to go to sleep while the snow silently falls. Thunder and lightening is not part of my snow picture and I find it somewhat unsettling.
The snow also presents a challenge if you have animals that you keep outside. Please be sure to give them fresh warm water, clean, dry, fresh food and make sure they have a shelter out of the wind, rain and snow. Remember, they can't self cater and rely upon us for their needs. If you take on the responsibility of an animal, please be a responsible owner and see to their needs.
Also use caution when driving because as we all know, the roads here can be treacherous and many times it isn't the road conditions so much as the other drivers on the road. Beware of people who don't know how to drive in the snow. I have had many near misses due to inexperienced drivers coming up to the mountains unprepared. Go slow and leave a large distance between you and the cars in front of you. As always, if you don't have to go out, then don't. No sense risking life and limb for something that can wait until another day.
So stay warm, stay dry and stay safe. Hopefully it will warm up and most of this snow will melt away and autumn will come back and give us a few weeks before we settle into winter for good. I am so not ready for winter.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Heads Up! Weather change coming
Well it is that time of year again folks. The weather can change on a dime and while we have been enjoying nice weather these past few weeks, there is change afoot. There is snow in the forecast for tomorrow.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of rain after 11pm. Increasing clouds, with a low around 32. West wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday: Rain showers likely before 11am, then snow showers. High near 34. West wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
I guess 1 to 3 inches isn't too bad for the first storm of the season, but I am enjoying this fabulous fall weather and would prefer to keep it at least until December. However, moisture is always needed and welcome, so should we receive some, I will not complain.
So make sure you are ready for snow. It is better to be safe than sorry because the weather can be unpredictable at this time of the year. As always, remember to turn your water off at your customer valve when you leave your mountain home. This is the single most important thing you can do to prevent leaks. Please take a minute and check the side of the blog for more cold weather tips.
Also, if you have animals outside, please be sure you provide for them in this colder weather. A warm, dry shelter out of the elements is essential as is fresh food and water, no matter what the weather is. Remember, they depend on you to provide for all their needs and it is your responsibility as a pet owner to provide what they need.
We also have a link to the weather forecast on the left hand side of the blog as well many other helpful links and phone numbers. I continually add to the list any websites or phone numbers that I think may be useful to the residents here in Pine Cove. If I have missed any, please drop me a line at Vicki@pcwd.org and let me know.
Tonight: A 20 percent chance of rain after 11pm. Increasing clouds, with a low around 32. West wind between 5 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday: Rain showers likely before 11am, then snow showers. High near 34. West wind between 15 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.
I guess 1 to 3 inches isn't too bad for the first storm of the season, but I am enjoying this fabulous fall weather and would prefer to keep it at least until December. However, moisture is always needed and welcome, so should we receive some, I will not complain.
So make sure you are ready for snow. It is better to be safe than sorry because the weather can be unpredictable at this time of the year. As always, remember to turn your water off at your customer valve when you leave your mountain home. This is the single most important thing you can do to prevent leaks. Please take a minute and check the side of the blog for more cold weather tips.
Also, if you have animals outside, please be sure you provide for them in this colder weather. A warm, dry shelter out of the elements is essential as is fresh food and water, no matter what the weather is. Remember, they depend on you to provide for all their needs and it is your responsibility as a pet owner to provide what they need.
We also have a link to the weather forecast on the left hand side of the blog as well many other helpful links and phone numbers. I continually add to the list any websites or phone numbers that I think may be useful to the residents here in Pine Cove. If I have missed any, please drop me a line at Vicki@pcwd.org and let me know.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
November Board Meeting
Our monthly board meeting for November will be held on Wednesday, November 9th at 10 am. The public is welcome to attend. Our board meetings are open to the public and always held on the second Wednesday of each month. They are held in the board room of our district office located at 24917 Marion Ridge Road. We are located right next to the fire station. We hope to see you there.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Discover Mountain Gardening
Saturday the Idyllwild Garden Club presented two speakers at their Discover Mountain Gardening program at the Caine Learning Center. Dr. James Nieh from UCSD gave a presentation on The Dangers of Being a Honey Bee. Joe Walker of Obra Verde Growers in Valley Center then spoke on Australian Perennials: Water-Wise Beauties for Your Landscape. Both speakers were very informative and I think the many people that attended learned a lot. We hope you were able to be there as well. They also had a wide variety of bulbs and plants available for sale on the deck. Hot cider and yummy home baked goodies were made available as well and everyone received a free packet of seeds to plant in their garden next spring.
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| It was a beautiful fall morning as everyone shopped for bulbs and enjoyed some cider and home baked goodies. |
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| Sign in table. |
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| Joe Walker giving a presentation on Australian Perennials. Approximately 40 people attended this presentation. |
Thursday, October 20, 2011
IGC Discover Mountian Gardening
Don't forget that this Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m., the Idyllwild Garden Club is having their annual bulb sale as well as presenting two speakers. We are hoping that many of our Pine Cove neighbors will take advantage of this presentation because there will be some good information presented on water wise plants as well as some fire resistant plants. I think it will be very informative and the Pine Cove Water District is happy would could be a part of it.
I will be attending and taking notes and pictures and will post here about what I learned. Hopefully the information will help everyone here in Pine Cove who would like to garden with natives or incorporate some fire resistant plants into their landscape or garden.
If you would like more information, you can visit the Idyllwild Garden Clubs website at http://www.idyllwildgardenclub.net/
Hope to see you there!
I will be attending and taking notes and pictures and will post here about what I learned. Hopefully the information will help everyone here in Pine Cove who would like to garden with natives or incorporate some fire resistant plants into their landscape or garden.
If you would like more information, you can visit the Idyllwild Garden Clubs website at http://www.idyllwildgardenclub.net/
Hope to see you there!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
November Board Meeting
The November board meeting will be held on November 9, 2011 at 10 a.m. in the district office board room. The public is invited to attend. We hope to see you there!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Garden Club Speakers
On Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011, Pine Cove Water District partners with the Idyllwild Garden Club to host two special guest speakers. Dr. James Nieh from UCSD will be speaking about The Dangers of Being a Honey Bee. Then Joe Walker of Obra Verde Growers in Valley Center will present Australian Perennials: Water-Wise Beauties For Your Landscape and also touch a little bit on fire resistant plants. They will also be having their annual bulb sale which will feature mountain tested Native and non-native bulbs. They will be packaged with photos and instructions for your convenience. They will be for sale outside on the deck of the Caine Center.
The fun starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes until 1 p.m. We hope to see many of our Pine Cove residents there.
The fun starts at 8:30 a.m. and goes until 1 p.m. We hope to see many of our Pine Cove residents there.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Heat Wave?
The weather forecasters are calling for a heat wave over the next few days. Last week they were talking possible snow and now a heat wave. The weather sure is mixed up these days. My poor tomato plants aren't sure what to do. Some keep growing and some just gave up and died off. Can't say that I blame them. It is hard to figure. And the leaves haven't started changing yet either. Hopefully, they will start soon. It won't feel like October, until they do. We have had winter and summer weather within the past week and that leaves me to wonder, where is autumn?
Board Meeting
Tomorrow, Oct. 12th, is the monthly board meeting. It begins at 10 am and the public is welcome. We hope to see you there. If you want to see what is going to be discussed at the board meeting, we post the agenda the Friday prior to the meeting. You are free to stop by and read it. We hope to see you there.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
October Rainfall Totals
Great rain storm yesterday. The weather station has recorded 1.54 inches of rain for October so far. According to weather.com, our average rainfall in October is 1.22 inches, so we are already ahead of the game. Is this a preview of things to come? No one knows for sure, but it is a good start. Rain and moisture are always welcome here in Pine Cove, no matter what the month on the calendar it is.
It also serves as a reminder that winter isn't that far off and that we should be getting ready for it, if we aren't already. While the weather is supposed to warm up again, there is no guarantee how long it will last, so it would be a good idea to get all those pesky little jobs done that you have been putting off.
It also serves as a reminder that winter isn't that far off and that we should be getting ready for it, if we aren't already. While the weather is supposed to warm up again, there is no guarantee how long it will last, so it would be a good idea to get all those pesky little jobs done that you have been putting off.
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