Water Harvesting 101

Plant the Water FIrst

Starting with a bare lot? Don't plant any plants before you make your water harvesting plans. That's called planting the water first.

That Time I Flunked Water Harvesting

How I tried -- and failed -- to control flooding my property. This is the story of my swale fail.

Passive Water Harvesting Features

Introducing diversion swales, basins, and berms.

Passive Water Harvesting Principles

Getting to know the three principles of passive water harvesting.

Passive vs. Active Water Harvesting: Which is Right for You?

Discover two ways to capture rainwater: passive (guiding water naturally through landscape design) and active (using systems like cisterns and gray water recycling). Learn how each method works, their benefits, and real-life examples—from watering gardens with stored rain to giving fruit trees a drink from laundry water. Tune in to make every drop count! 💧🌿

Recycling "Used" Water

I hate to send perfectly good water down the drain! That’s why I’m a big fan of water recycling. This episode features the greywater recycling system that makes laundry day into watering day for my four fruit trees.

Storing Rainwater

An introduction to cisterns, including what the water is being used for,  and how to calculate the amount of rainwater needed to fill the tank.

Redirecting Rainwater

This episode introduces the first of the three main activities of water harvesting, redirecting rainwater away from where it isn’t wanted to where it is.