The Australian website, Save Time Online, has had a listing for Precious Water for some time. But now we have also joined in one of their seasonal promotions which we thought might interest many people.

The promotion is called May Madness and (not surprisingly) runs between 1st and 31st of May. A number of Australian businesses are making special offers available during May so you can get some great deals - and there’s no charge to access the deals, either.

So go Mad and see what bargains you can find!

Posted: April 29th, 2008 under general.
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All of those prunings can be used directly on the garden as mulch - saves trying to break it down or add it to the compost!

The big prunings may not be what we are used to seeing in our gardens, but they are very good for muclhing trees:

• like all mulch, they reduce water evaporation and loss from the soil
• the prunings also shade the soil and roots
• being large, they make it harder for chooks, birds and other animals reaching the root area and scratching away your soil
• they will slowly break down to provide nutrients for the soil and trees

However, if the prunings are too dry, they could provide a fire risk in dry periods so this is better done in Autumn than spring…

Posted: April 4th, 2008 under gardening.
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We were recently visiting and saw someone using cold water to help defrost some meat from the freezer - it is so long since we have seen someone do this that we had forgotten it as an option!

Of course, using water in this way is not a constructive use of water - and it really doesn’t speed the process that much. Warm water is faster, but also wastes water.

A microwave is a quicker and more effective means of defrosting food - it doesn’t use water, but it does use energy.

The best option is to plan ahead and defrost things slowly in the fridge overnight. You could also leave it on the bench overnight to defrost but that has the potential for bacteria and toxins to flourish in the food.

Posted: April 2nd, 2008 under general.
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