Water Supplies, Introduction You cannot grow trees without water. Many native edible trees—if properly placed—can grow on rainfall alone once they are established in suitable locations. However, nonnative fruit and nut trees will require consistent, deep watering to produce quality fruit. Use a combination of native and nonnative edible trees to balance water demands and give you a diverse harvest. At the same time, use a diversity of water supplies to increase the resilience of your edible trees. Diverse water supplies that can be used to help support edible trees include rainfall harvested passively, harvested stormwater runoff, rainwater stored in tanks, harvested graywater and harvested condensate water. Support edible trees using harvested water supplies first in order to conserve potable water (drinking water) to the greatest extent possible. Strategies to harvest water are discussed in the following sections of the website: Start with passive water harvesting to capture and infiltrate water directly into the soil. Harvest stormwater to help support trees located in and near areas where stormwater is accumulated in large basins, streets and other areas where rainwater runoff is concentrated. Harvest water in rainwater tanks to store supplemental rainwater beyond the rainy season. Harvest graywater to provide a reliable supply of water year round. Harvest condensate water to help support edible trees, especially during hot, humid months. Develop your water resources strategy to make full use of a range of harvested water supplies and any additional supplies you will need to support edible trees as they grow to maturity. |
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CAUTION: Never eat anything that is not properly identified. It is your responsibility to ensure that all fruits, nuts, seeds, pods and other edible products of trees and shrubs are correctly identified and safe to eat before eating them or serving them to others.
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