Martha Retallick's Monthly Newsletter | October 13, 2026

Epic Fail!

So, there it was, my YouTube channel, with a growing library of water harvesting education videos.

The channel was tooling right along, with video views and subscriber counts increasing.

Then came Tuesday, September 29, the penultimate day of our monsoon season.

The remnants of Major Hurricane Polo came stomping into town.

The storm started quietly during the overnight hours. Just .05" in my rain gauge. Meh.

Then ex-Polo got motivated. He dumped another .95" on my place, and...

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There was flooding in the backyard, water flowing the wrong way in the front yard, and...

It was obvious that this water harvesting educator had some major problems to address.

The solution? Get help!

Having been in this space for two decades, I know who the best local water harvesting landscape contractors are.

In my outreach email, I included the aforementioned video link and asked:

Interested in helping me get my yard back into shape?

Note: Even though I now have a YouTube channel, I'm not one of those social media influencers who expects free goods and services. I’ll pay what you charge.

The good news? The helpers are responding, and I'll have more to say about this on the channel and in future newsletter issues.

In the meantime, I'm working on possible solutions to my yard issues.

For example, here's the top of my front yard drainage swale...

Will this rebuilding project get the downspout water to behave properly?

With the remnants of Hurricane Rachel coming our way, we won't have to wait long for a beta test.

Here's what I've done so far...

Rainstorm mischief notwithstanding, this has been a lovely fall in Tucson.

Step into my backyard and enjoy a bit of it...

$150.00 Water Harvesting 101 Consultations Got water harvesting questions? Get answers in a one-hour consultation! Get started!

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