If you’ve been following this blog for awhile now, then you know how eating well is important to us, which has led to us growing our own veggies and now our own fruits (with our mini backyard orchard culture). Well, we’ve been working on this garden for about 4 years now and it just dawned on us that we weren’t using a hose safe for drinking, thus not safe for watering our fruits and veggies! Our previous hose was not lead or phthalate free (probably filled with that junk!), so our water was running through those dangerous substances.
We garden because we want to feed our bodies and our kids with good things (and we really enjoy it) and here we were watering our garden with something that might not be so good. It was such an oh-my-goodness-we’re-such-dingbats moment. Ben immediately did some research (he researches everything!) and ended up finding a hose that is safe for drinking (and lead and phthalate free), therefore safe to use for our fruits and veggies. He ordered this Colorite Element hose, this Dramm sprayer, and this Dramm valve shut off to go along with it, and we like them all so far! Ben likes it so much that he will now drink the water from the hose when we’re outside working on the garden.
If you’re wondering, this isn’t a sponsored post (I’d tell you if it was), nor contain any affiliated links, but I just wanted to share it in case it might be an oversight on your part too. It’s something we just honestly overlooked and we want to be confident that we’re feeding our fruits and veggies with good things because those same fruits and veggies feed our family. We’re glad we finally got our hose on the right track.
P.S. If you look on the sidebar, where the categories are (right under our photobooth picture), I now have a category up for gardening! It’s a big part of what we do together as a family, so I thought it was about time it got it’s own section. Thanks Joy for helping put that up!
Thanks for the tips and insights. We’re in the process of moving so this summer’s garden is a no-go, but we did plant some containers and I’m hoping for some fall goodness.
Thanks for sharing! We grow some veggies also and had not thought of this either. I am totally going to replace my garden hose asap.
Thanks for sharing! I hadn’t thought about this! We have raised beds and a lot of containers – so I’ll definitely be checking out the one you got!
Thank you for sharing this, I guess I am a little slow in that I don’t really understand how changing your hose all of a sudden makes the water safer to drink?
Yes, you’re totally right it does sound off. Actually, we do have safe water to drink, but it’s the hose that was making it unsafe as the previous one wasn’t lead free or phthalate free, so our water was running through those dangerous substances. Maybe I should clarify the post a little. Thanks Christina!
wow, i totally would not have thought about the hose!!
xo,
Sandy
Sandy a la Mode
I’ve never even thought about the safety of the hose! I’m definitely going to look into that now. I’m enjoying your gardening posts so much!
Just last week I told my husband we needed a safe hose for watering. Please thank your husband for doing the research and thank you for sharing it. I love your garden posts. I just watched a gardening documentary last week that got me very excited as it shares how to easily amend your soil and how using some kind of mulch( shredded wood waste with the leaves, grass clippings, leaves, hay, anything) on all gardens and orchards will enable you to have to water less, weed less, and the mulch itself will break down and feed your garden as it breaks down. Here’s a link. I actually watched it twice, once alone and another time with my husband. http://backtoedenfilm.com/
Yikers, cannot believe you did not know better! Shame on you guys!! These products have been available for 5+ years on the East Coast. Too bad, hopefully no harm has been done. Sad face!!
Right?! We’re such dingbats. It was just an honest oversight. I’m sure they have been available here, but we failed to think about it. Hopefully all the anti-oxidents we get from fruits and veggies can help fight off those free radicals!
“Shame on you”? As though she is a terrible person or something? She (like most of us) are doing our best, and learning new things as we go. I don’t think any shame is in order here. I found your comment to be quite rude and high and mighty, though as usual Ruby handled it with class and didn’t get roped into your snarkiness.
Thank you for sharing the info Ruby, I hadn’t thought about the hose issue either! Thanks for inspire me to grow my garden!
*inspiring
WoW!!!! I wonder how any of us old folks have lived for so long!!!!!!!!!!!! Why do you young people worry over such things?
my mom would say the same thing!
Are you worried at all about BPA in the lining of canned foods? Since you guys seem to care a lot about these things (as do I), I was just wondering if you limit the amount of canned foods you eat. I stopped buying canned food completely, and am trying to find substitutes for some things that certain recipes call for. Just curious what your thoughts are on that. Thanks.
Yes, we are! We do have some canned goods in our pantry, but we really try to limit the amount. Our main canned goods are spicy chipotles, which are for Ben and me. I know Trader Joe’s have some BPA free cans, but I think their tomato sauces still have them. Not sure which else. I try to stay away from canned items most times, but I will in admit in a pinch, I’ve succumbed to using them. Sorry to reply so late!
Love your gardening posts! Keep ’em coming 🙂
good post. i realized last summer that our chickens (who we pay $$$ for organic feed) were getting their water though a lead based hose. not good. we made a change to a spigot that we have in our yard without any hose attached. i feel much better about their heath and the eggs that we are eating on such a regular basis. glad you brought this topic up to share with your readers!!!
Well, people used to also have lead based paints, and a lot of people got sick, especially children. People also used to load up houses with asbestos, and look at how sick people got from that too. Having lead in anything is very dangerous and to argue “why do you worry about that” is well, because we don’t want to give lead poisoning to our children or pets or ourselves. At least the plants don’t absorb the lead, but the soil will, and if you have soil loaded up with lead and the kids play with it, they can get very very sick. I know in some areas at the 1 year old well visit for kids they do blood test for lead levels since lead from gasoline fumes years ago got deposited in the soil, and yes, some kids had poisoning, and the thing is it stays in the soil! Lead poisoning is very serious, and should not be taken lightly. Very minimal amounts of lead being absorb in blood and skin can cause all kinds of damage. So thanks for sharing this.
I just planted my first batch of food plants and decided to read up on your garden. So glad I came aross this post! I didn’t even think twice about the water.
Hi! I have always remembered this post, and I finally had room in my budget to buy two Element ELIH58100 hoses. But I notice that this product has rather poor reviews on Amazon. What has your experience been, now that it two years have passed? Are you still a fan of this hose, or should I look for something else? Thank you!!
Also, if you use it with a hose reel, were you able to find a lead-free leader hose? I can’t seem to find one.
Two years later and we aren’t so wild. It worked well the first year, but it’s been kinking and warping now. I should do an update post. Thank you for that idea. We don’t use a reel, we just have a zinc barrel we wind it into.