$1300 is a lot of money but it should pay for itself over the span of yrs. I was just considering a water harvest system myself, the 1/2acre that we bought, has 4 45 gallon drums for water, that I have had stored away as I wasn't using them, but have hauled themout and was going to make some mesquito screens over them...I also saw an ad on craigslist for a 250gal tank for 100. Hmmm, wonder if I could use it off my shed? DH is always on about the water bill, and so this might help my poor garden from his shutting off the watering system just cuz there's a trickle of rain...hmmm. It's certainly worth it to me, I put a lot of hrs into my flower garden, just to see it die of thirst!!! I envy my neighbors down the road, they have a well that they use for just their gardens, and use municipal water for their home...ahhh, their gardens are like walking into a dream!!!! I am recently giving my yard another TOTAL makeover as I had to put deer fencing up so I could have some plants!!! Now I am rethinking the previous owners style of layout and coming up with my own, so this is a great topic for me...thanks for posting!

Like many other similar commercially available products this one is intended to save the user a lot of time researching and making a home made contraption. It is virtually animal-proof, which is good for city dwellers and for country dwellers worried about animal pests. And it is solar in that it works best in direct sun, the green plastic transmitting light so heat collects inside which, as I said above, speeds reduction greatly. It is not a composter, although it does make a small volume. Ours was $90, which seemed expensive, and that was a price subsidized by the county which was selling it along with earth machines, maybe they still do. But it's still in good shape after 8 years. Here's that info. It was written by one of the bright lights on this forum, who's moved on. Not sure why he bothers covering additions with straw - if you don't you get fruit flies and smell which don't matter if there's a cover. Also keep in mind this guy lives on the mild west coast, not the bitter cold in winter cursed rest of the country, so his contraption would work better for a longer part of the year. Home made digester Get a barrel, garbage pail or some sort of cylindrical thing and dig a hole in your utility area a bit larger and deeper than the vessel. Punch many holes into the bottom and sides of the vessel. Many. Put drain rock in the bottom of the hole sufficient to hold the barrel at or just above ground level. Now back fill the circumference with drain rock. Now you have a barrel buried into the ground, surrounded by drain rock. Make a heavy cover, lid for it. I use 3/4 plywood with pieces of 2x4 screwed to the bottom such that the 2x4 sits inside the circumference of the pail and the ply now can't skid off the pail if you tread on it or run the wheelbarrow over it. Attach a handle of some sort so you can lift the lid. Mine is high enough that I can get my rake, hoe, manure fork, whatever under it and flip it up w/o having to bend down. Inoculate the bottom with a handful of working compost. Have a reasonable supply of browns at hand. I use ruined straw bales, just flake off about a third and leave it by the digester. Into which we successfully add and compost chicken and turkey carcasses, any and all cooking oil or fat, cat waste, whatever dog waste is left by thoughtless owners or free running dogs, rib bones, crab shells and guts, clam, mussel and shrimp shells, squid and octopus leavings, fish remains and heads, etc. Understand I live by the ocean and not all of this goes in at once! In short and so as to not have my regular piles need constant attention, I use the digester for any yucky stuff. The odd time it will smell but an extra handful of straw takes care of it. No turning, no issues other than having to weed-whack around it often. The moisture goes quick, the remainder breaks down into, well, compost. Only icky part is when you need to empty it you have to dig out the partial stuff before you get to the done. And with it buried in the ground you are pretty much laying there, using a hand shovel and bucket like a kid at the beach. We are a normal consuming family of four and in three/four years I have emptied it once. Didn't need to, it wasn't full, I just wanted to see what it looked like.

Marcia, these ET controllers are great, IMO. This is how they work as I understand it: data about your specific landscape (actual types/quantities of plants & trees, turf areas, soil types, etc) is dialed in, then the constant data supplied from a local ET reporting station (temps, humidity, wind, et loss/gain) is then dialed up to a satellite that then beams down to yours & other ET controllers that are linked. The clock is activated only to replace what water that is actaully lost through evapotranspiration (et) for a set period (hours?), and it does this not on a schedule, but only as directed by the et data, so your system could come on anytime, or not at all. I think many new municipalities are drafting regs that will require these systems for commercial installs, and they are offering rebates (like your city is doing) to induce residential users to switch over. I went to 2 different presentations in the last 6 months concerning these systems. Both were done by a consultant, Tim Ashe (?) of Hydropoint, in Petaluma, www.hydropoint.com The seminar I just attended last wed. at the Nevada Landscape Assoc. annual wing-ding adressed the benefit$ to landscapers in retrofitting systems with this controller, and all the positive gain$ as a result to owners and contractors alike). There was a detailed portion of his talk addressing a proper water audit and budget, and realised returns on investment for HOA's and individual's. While the initial install price IS a bit hefty, ($500-$700, sometimes w/ a subscription service tacked on) I think the return on investment such as lowered water bills,healthier, more aesthetic landscapes, reduced paving repairs due to H2O run-off damage,less misdirected fert apps, etc. is significant enough data indeed to convince one to switch over. (One documneted example given was property values of some "test houses" on one street in a retrofitted 80's style track development increased 8%-10% w/in 4 mos. over the same type properties on the next street over, after the retrofit). Once everything is "dialed in" the system works very well. But - you still need to be vigilant about the physical aspect of your system, making sure heads are aligned & functioning properly, valves all ok & drip is up to snuff, etc. I have no first hand residential experience, but the Commercial Maint. div. of our company has participated in a program sponsored by TMWA, the local H2O utility here in Reno. 9 commercial properties (shopping centers, industrial parks) were retrofitted, and the results have been really promising...but it is a bit wierd to see the irr coming on at 3pm on a hot July day...

Sounds interesting. Most nitrogen fixing bacteria that I know of have a symbiotic relationship with plant roots, typically legumes. The nitrogen is released when the cover crop is turned under (killed). I'd be curious if Azos is similar and if so, how would it make the fixed nitrogen available to the garlic.