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Old 11-29-2015, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,513 posts, read 40,253,021 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reed067 View Post
We have heard that collecting rain water in Oregon is illegal & that some how they believe that own the rain. We looked at Silverton when we starting thinking about Oregon it's VERY beautiful we want to check out that garden once we get out there!
In Oregon you can collect rain that runs off your roof so a rain barrel is totally fine as is a small underground cistern that collects rainwater off your roof. You can't collect surface water in Oregon without a permit. So you can't, for example, create a pond whose purpose is to collect rainwater for irrigation. Water rights are a big deal here and it is important to understand how they work if you want to use them for irrigation. You can irrigate up to 1/2 acre of lawn/home garden from a domestic well though. Do you plan to grow more than 1/2 an acre of veggies and herbs?

You need to understand that the Oregon economy is heavily dependent on agriculture. Rainwater permeates the soil and becomes groundwater which people use for domestic and agricultural wells. So while you might feel that Oregon thinks they own the rain, what they are really trying to do is ensure that farmers can grow crops and that ranchers can water livestock. If everyone takes the rainwater, it will never run through seasonal creeks, nor enter the ground and replenish the aquifers as needed. Oregon is very focused on the hydrologic cycle because we need to make sure our agricultural economy is supported. So yes, Oregon stipulates how you can collect rain water because we care about our farmers and ranchers.

Edit: I do need to edit that if your wife grows herbs for commercial purposes it won't be covered under domestic use and that would require water rights to irrigate those as crops.

Last edited by Silverfall; 11-29-2015 at 06:36 PM..
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Old 11-29-2015, 07:10 PM
 
Location: oregon
899 posts, read 2,933,829 times
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Yes this is the garden they Christmas in the garden runs on weekend from now till Christmas..They have large crowds and from what I understand its
pretty neat to see..
Go to the Oregon Garden web page for more information.
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Old 11-30-2015, 10:16 AM
 
Location: Just outside of Portland
4,828 posts, read 7,420,357 times
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The problem with rain barrel collection is that you can't save enough water to irrigate during the summer unless you have a gazzillion full rain barrels.

In this area, it rains until July and you don't need to save that much water.

When you really need water during the summer, it's not raining and let me tell you, a 55 gallon barrel of water disappears fast.
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Old 11-30-2015, 12:49 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,596,896 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nell Plotts View Post
East of the Cascade Mountains the temperatures tend to extremes and the climate is dry, west of the Pacific Coast Mountains is very wet.

The best farming can be found in the Willamette & Tualatin Valleys and north to Olympia. There are greenhouses, I haven't inquired about the crops grown within but likely crops with significant margins.
That's not relevant during the growing season, which is as dry as most deserts. There is a flush of green in the spring, but then it quits raining and everything drys up and dies. If you want something to grow in the summer, you have to irrigate. Deep rooted fruit trees and some vineyards survive without irrigation.
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Old 12-01-2015, 06:44 AM
 
Location: Homeless
17,717 posts, read 13,450,693 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall View Post
In Oregon you can collect rain that runs off your roof so a rain barrel is totally fine as is a small underground cistern that collects rainwater off your roof. You can't collect surface water in Oregon without a permit. So you can't, for example, create a pond whose purpose is to collect rainwater for irrigation. Water rights are a big deal here and it is important to understand how they work if you want to use them for irrigation. You can irrigate up to 1/2 acre of lawn/home garden from a domestic well though. Do you plan to grow more than 1/2 an acre of veggies and herbs?


Edit: I do need to edit that if your wife grows herbs for commercial purposes it won't be covered under domestic use and that would require water rights to irrigate those as crops.


She won't be growing herbs for commercial use more for her use only. I posted some news about a man going to jail in the Green living section for collecting rain water.








http://www.city-data.com/forum/green...eing-seen.html


Looking back at what I posted it's not all about Oregon it's about the West in general.
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Old 12-01-2015, 09:00 AM
 
Location: Salem, OR
15,513 posts, read 40,253,021 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reed067 View Post
She won't be growing herbs for commercial use more for her use only. I posted some news about a man going to jail in the Green living section for collecting rain water.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/green...eing-seen.html


Looking back at what I posted it's not all about Oregon it's about the West in general.
If it isn't for commercial use, then she is fine. You can use a domestic well for 1/2 an acre, or if you are on city water, you can use that. Washington doesn't allow rain barrels, but Oregon does.
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Old 12-01-2015, 09:42 AM
 
Location: The beautiful Rogue Valley, Oregon
7,785 posts, read 18,759,101 times
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The case frequently sited about "illegal rainwater collection" comes from a man up in the hills above Medford who built huge ponds on his property to collect rainwater coming downslope. He was in the head of the watershed that the city of Medford gets water from and was involved in a multi-year fight with the city and county over his huge (millions of gallons). His ponds and the dams that retained them were ordered drained and breached and he refused to do it, eventually (after about 7 years) resulting in jail time.

As I said, the way water laws work in the west, because a stream crosses your property does NOT mean you have the rights to the water, someone downstream may have first right to it.

Man Gets Prison Sentence for Collecting Rainwater on His Own Property : snopes.com
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Old 12-01-2015, 10:06 AM
 
1,054 posts, read 1,419,085 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by reed067 View Post
My wife and I have narrowed down the area of the country we are wanting to live in and it is the Pacific Northwest Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Now what we are trying to decide which area would be the best for us. We are currently living in Southern Ga and Zone 7 for gardening.
My wife is a Herbalist and is an avid gardener both vegetable and medicinal herbs. She is use to working with a season of growing from late April-middle end of October. How does this compare to out there in Oregon? Do you feel it is comparably similar? Are other areas of Oregon better than other areas of Oregon? I am sure with most areas, starting most of your seeds indoors for early start of your plants is important.
Do folks also utilize greenhouses to extend your growing season into winter? Or are winters too cold?
If you're looking for a growing zone with similar dates to Georgia, in the PNW your only options are Western Oregon and Western Washington. Idaho, Eastern OR and Eastern WA get quite a bit colder in winter and get earlier freezes. First freeze in lower elevations of Willamette Valley is generally sometime very late in October although this year it wasn't until November. Last freeze is generally sometime in March although I wouldn't plant most vegetables until very late April/early May.

In Western Oregon, many people plant winter crops in their gardens - I haven't done it myself yet so I'm not sure what they plant but Google could tell you. There's still lots of green stuff here all winter long so I'm sure there's some herbs and vegetables that would survive all winter.

Coming from South Georgia, the high prices and relative lack of options for real estate with acreage (at least in the Willamette Valley) will probably be a real eye opener for you. Hopefully you have a big budget if you want to move to the PNW.

Last edited by patches403; 12-01-2015 at 10:20 AM..
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Old 12-01-2015, 01:57 PM
 
Location: Myrtle Creek, Oregon
15,293 posts, read 17,596,896 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patches403 View Post
If you're looking for a growing zone with similar dates to Georgia, in the PNW your only options are Western Oregon and Western Washington. Idaho, Eastern OR and Eastern WA get quite a bit colder in winter and get earlier freezes. First freeze in lower elevations of Willamette Valley is generally sometime very late in October although this year it wasn't until November. Last freeze is generally sometime in March although I wouldn't plant most vegetables until very late April/early May.

In Western Oregon, many people plant winter crops in their gardens - I haven't done it myself yet so I'm not sure what they plant but Google could tell you. There's still lots of green stuff here all winter long so I'm sure there's some herbs and vegetables that would survive all winter.

Coming from South Georgia, the high prices and relative lack of options for real estate with acreage (at least in the Willamette Valley) will probably be a real eye opener for you. Hopefully you have a big budget if you want to move to the PNW.
Winter gardens are pretty limited, but plants like chard are freeze resistant. Chard is also the original form of the beet plant, so beet tops and chard are actually the same food. Root vegetables rarely freeze, so you can dig turnips, parsnips, onions and such all winter long. In the spring you can plant early crops like peas and potatoes as soon as the ground is dry enough not to make mud pies, usually around March 1. Creamed peas and new potatoes is one of the traditional pioneer delicacies in Western Oregon. It's the first fresh garden crop every year.
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Old 12-01-2015, 05:57 PM
 
Location: Homeless
17,717 posts, read 13,450,693 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by patches403 View Post
If you're looking for a growing zone with similar dates to Georgia, in the PNW your only options are Western Oregon and Western Washington. Idaho, Eastern OR and Eastern WA get quite a bit colder in winter and get earlier freezes. First freeze in lower elevations of Willamette Valley is generally sometime very late in October although this year it wasn't until November. Last freeze is generally sometime in March although I wouldn't plant most vegetables until very late April/early May.

In Western Oregon, many people plant winter crops in their gardens - I haven't done it myself yet so I'm not sure what they plant but Google could tell you. There's still lots of green stuff here all winter long so I'm sure there's some herbs and vegetables that would survive all winter.

Coming from South Georgia, the high prices and relative lack of options for real estate with acreage (at least in the Willamette Valley) will probably be a real eye opener for you. Hopefully you have a big budget if you want to move to the PNW.


This is just temporary moms have some health issues. We are used to high prices though having lived in Asheville, NC We've have done some online looking & for what we want the prices aren't to bad. I don't expect to really find any there like it is here when it comes to the growing zone.
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