going blonde again this summer

it's summer... and they are forecasting hot hot hot and dry dry dry for victoria, bc.

so... for the seventeenth year in a row, our lawn is going blonde.

we have been in our home for 18 years now, 
and i know for sure that we've watered the front lawn only twice 

(our first summer here and the summer we built the front porch) 
and then we quickly smartened up.

in the summer months, outdoor water use accounts for almost 50% of water use 

around the average home in victoria.  

we are on water restriction before the summer even starts.  

i believe odd numbered addresses are allowed lawn watering

 thursdays and sundays between 4-10 am and 7-10 pm,

 in effect may 1 through to september 30.

it's CRAZY to be wasting good clean drinking water 

for maintaining a plushy, green carpet, especially since the grass comes back, 

ready for weekly mowing, once the rainy season starts.

we've come to love the blondeness of our lawn because it complements 

the wild sweet peas that seem to thrive in such an arid environment.

i will give this plant top prize for being truly drought tolerant..

(that's from 18 years of personally testing their tolerance !!)

did you know that this wild sweet pea is also edible ?!?

i was watching a video on wild edibles and found this out.

since this wild edible is related to store bought peas, 

you would think it would be natural to harvest the pea pods.

but the wild sweet pea pods are tough to chew and quite bland tasting.  

instead of eating the pods, the curly tips (called tendrils) or the brilliant pink flowers 

are suppose to be incredibly delicious.

 i would love to propagate this wild sweet pea 

so it grew and spread to cover the majority of our front lawn.  

but for now, it will remain blonde and crispy for the hot and dry summer season.

and in this case, i can attest to the fact that blondes do have more fun...

because they don't waste time, energy and money 

watering ornamental, inedible grass !!!

erica

xoxo