I thought of two more ways to capture (essentially) free water for your garden that I neglected to mention in at my Carolina Home and Garden Show water-wise talk.
I hope you found some useful nuggets in the nine different strategies we covered together. I can just imagine your happy garden plants nestled in healthy mulched beds. Lush green leaves, blooming like crazy soaking up the southern sun. And you snapping photos of happy butterflies and bees sipping nectar from your Carolina Jessamine or other native plants.
Steady Kim….I kinda got carried away for a minute….
It’s true that you can have a beautiful yard without a lot of fuss and expense if you use some effective water-wise strategies.
If you h
ave pets, a simple way to salvage usable water is to empty their water dish into the garden.
We have two cats, each of which has a water dish. Instead of just dumping that sort-of dirty water down the sink twice a day, toss it out for your cat nip or other favorite plants outside!
If your soil has compost mixed into it, then that water will not only soak right in, but you will also get a bonus. Compost is in large part humus and it is humus that acts like a sponge to hold the water just where the plant needs it. Simple steps like adding compost pays off by making the plant happy while it efficiently sips water, and ultimately that makes you happy!
Another easy place to harvest water for the garden is in your kitchen. Think about it -Minute one: you are standing at the sink waiting for the water to get hot. Minute two: The faucet is open full blast and water pours down the drain unchecked….
Aren’t there plenty of times when gallon after gallon of just-about-clean water goes streaming away from us?
Take making deviled eggs for instance. Can you guess how much water is used just to get the eggs ready? (I think, you are going to be amazed)
Step 1: Fill pot with 12 free-range eggs. Cover with water and heat just to boiling.
Step 2: When boiling, turn off heat – turn on timer for 10 minutes.
Step 3: Pour out hot water* and ‘shock’ with covering eggs in cold tap water.
Step 4: Pour out water** and crack/peel each egg.
Step 5: Fill each egg half with spicy hummus and enjoy!
My photo shows you just how much water in Steps 3 and 4 would normally be ‘lost’ down the drain. Over a half gallon of water just in those steps alone.
Now will these two ideas work for you? Maybe, and maybe not.
It is my hope though, that they have gotten you thinking about the possibilities of capturing water.
Our planet is covered by about 70% water. Of that 93 parts of 100 is salt water. That only leaves 3 parts fresh water for us to use. We can’t survive without it, nor can plants.
Let’s try and be the best stewards we can be by conserving and harvesting throughout our daily lives.
Who knows, maybe this summer you can grow a watermelon and the water inside will find it’s way back into the kitchen where it came from!
Got any other handy water-wise ideas for inside or outside your home?
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I agree with all that you are saying. But many people are lazy and I suggest collecting condensate water from air conditioner units, showers and extra kitchen water. This useful clean water can go via a specific drainage system into storage tank with a filter and then they can water the plants and green grass.