Water, taps and other things...............

One of the consequences of the drought in Australia, and in Queensland in particular, is how we manage our water resources. As a grower of flowers in the Brisbane City Council area, we must abide by some new stringent rules in relation to our water management. We have what is now “Level 6“ regulations, and all residents and businesses within the BCC area must consider ways to reduce their water consumption.

There is a service, sponsored by the state government, which offers householders an opportunity to have their taps etc checked by service to ensure that water flow from taps within a household are the type that restrict water flow, to reduce the waste of water.

For a small fee, a qualified plumber checks all the taps and shower heads, and installs the “acceptable” taps and shower heads. He will also check that there is no water leakage from taps etc.

It is a good service, and sends people to look at their bathrooms, and tapware, and other bathroom furniture to ensure that they comply with the regulations.

Home owners and businesses have been given the task to ensure that their tapware, bathroom suites, baths etc fits the new regulations, and those who wish to use tapware other than that offered by the service (which is pretty basic) are visiting bathroom showrooms and websites to see what other products are on offer.

There are many websites – but for up to date information this site is worthwhile looking at. It is surprising how many websites are available offering great services for those who wish to shop for their bathroom products online.

Meanwhile back at the farm, we continue to work to reduce our water consumption and conserve as much water as possible.

Hopefully our summer rains will fill our dams this summer.

Heaps of flowers

While the devastation continues in the hot house with the Rutherglen Bug I can look back on some of my photos of some good days recently when we were picking hundreds of fabulous flowers. There were so many and such good quality that I think we got complacent, and didn't prepare for the onslaught of the Rutherglen.

Life goes on though.

We have had new florists on our books, and we have some others make enquries, but until the production of quality flowers increases there is little we can do to help them.

Bugs, Bugs, Bugs

It has been several weeks now that we have been fighting against the Rutherglen Bug - some days we think we are on top of it all, and then another swarm hits and we end up with lots of damaged flowers again.

It is always a struggle in the farming industries, and we are so fortunate that the Gerberas do rally quickly, and soon are flowering again in a most beautiful way. We hope that by this coming weekend that things will be much better.

It is devastating though, and we often feel quite despaired about it all. I often think of farms whose crops or livestock are devastated by some incident and it takes another year or two to recover - and ofcourse you never do completely recover. You can't replace things immediately!