>The lovely Mir: I always think of her as my source for tasteful bargains. Recently she was showing off her container garden, thriving despite the Georgia drought and watering restrictions. Reading through her post’s comments reminded me that water for a garden doesn’t have to come from a tap. The technical term is “greywater.”
- Leftover coffee. In my logic, coffee grounds are good compost. Coffee itself, once it’s cooled and no longer delicious, must be okay for my plants, right? Right.
- Let the water cool after cooking pasta, and use it to water plants. The mums love it. The petunias would, too, if I could reach them with the heavy pot.
- Fill a bucket with dishwater from the sink. Even with a dishwasher, there are a few items that need to be hand washed. In fact, a couple of wine glasses sit beside the sink awaiting that chore right now, as does my wood cutting board.
- The somewhat-dirty water from rinsing the coffepot. Mainly water, with a little “flavor” added, and it goes in the herbs that grow in the cappuccino mugs on the deck. Appropriate, yes? Yes.
- Leftover ice from a fast-food drink. I don’t like to admit that I buy these, but I’ll state for the record that the ice cubes do not land in the garbage. They melt quickly over the rhubarb or raspberries.
- The final ounces in a sun-warmed water bottle from a road trip or baseball game.
I still covet a rain barrel. Family, maybe next Christmas? Buy it now, though, for the best deal. You can hide it behind Husband’s model train layout; I never mess with that. Or behind the lawnmower and snowblower; I haven’t used those since I hurt my wrist tendons on the pull-start, embarrassing but true. That’s okay; I’d rather weed the garden or stir the compost than mow the lawn.
>I don’t do heavy machinery either. Great list on the water sources!
>Thanks for dropping by my blog.
🙂
We have a water butt (rainbarrel) in the backyard … and plan to get another one for out front. My boys love to fill up their little watering cans at the spigot and water my potted plants and flowers.
>I never think of these things, but they’re all good ideas. Fortunately here in northern Illinois, we’re not in a drought situation so everything’s pretty much taking care of itself. But I’ll keep these ideas in mind!
(Have you ever taken the leftover coffee grounds that Starbucks sometimes provide for customers, for compost?)
>I’ll admit it. During really hot weather, I find myself cleaning out the ice cubes more frequently (because after a while, they just taste yucky!). Those made but stinky ice cubes make a great cooling mulch for the plants on my deck during said same heatwaves. The ice melts slowly enough to give the plants a nice soaking drink.
>Here I am!
via twitter, via blog her…you are rockin cool!
>Boy, I never realized how much water I waste… Thanks for the tips!
>I keep meaning to get pics up of my garden. Things are going well, and we’ve had our first harvest (5 cherry tomatoes and one strawberry!).
Definitely good ideas on the water recycling. I have a friend in Virgina who lives “off the grid” and gets his water supply from rainwater and a small creek.
Joe
>Cool ideas! Water from steamed veggies is also good, as long as there’s no salt or butter in the water.
>I also use the water left over from steaming/boiling veggies and potatoes.
>Thanks for stopping by! I really want to get rain barrels too….
I have buckets up in my bathroom that I use to collect the H20 while it is getting hot for the shower. I use this H20 to water my plants throughout the house and outside in the summer.