Because water is an essential ingredient to a garden, we are always looking for new ways of conserving and capturing rainwater run off.  As well as roof area we utilize our drive and arena to capture run off.  Currently we have 8 x 3000 gallon  and 9 x 5000 gallon tanks from which we pump water to all the gardens around the house via a sprinkler system.

In 2014 we decided to re-do our dam that had never held water. We excavated the dam wall so that it is lower and wider and put in a road from the bush houses down to the wall to enable us to get 3 more tanks down to this site. 
Jim revamped the existing water capture systems to take the water from the No 8 slope directly into the tanks instead of into the dam.  In 2018 we put our first tank into No 12 to feed the Eremophilas.

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THE 10/12
SLOPE

In 2017 we added more paths to the slope below No12 Belah Street and into No 10 (which is adjacent and behind).  We also put in a tank site to get water from the house at No 12 and opened up the path from No 12 to the new paths.

In May 2017, I bought 60 Eremophilas in small pots and planted them one metre apart in the earth that had been moved for the paths.  We then put in sleepers on the downhill side, filled it with soil and mulched the new garden beds with sugar cane mulch.  With good follow up rain, most of the Eremophilas survived.  I did water them over the dry winter/early spring before we had good rain in October/November.

THE LITTLE CHAPEL

In 2020 Jim started work on the Little Chapel, which is the site of our old shed.  The doors and windows are re-cycled and Jim made the cut outs in the front gable.  We are hoping it will offer shelter from rain for any forthcoming weddings.