saving water to garden with

gardening, especially container gardening, uses a lot of water! i live in an apartment, so it’s not feasible for me to install a rainwater catchment system. i’ve been trying to come up with other ways to save water that would otherwise be wasted so i can use it on my garden. 

here’s what has been working well for me:

i got two big plastic containers from my mom (they used to hold cat litter and are basically three gallon buckets) and i keep one under the kitchen sink and one in the master bathroom. 

in the kitchen, i save any water without soap in it (usually what i use to rinse stuff and clean veggies) by keeping it in a bowl and then dumping that into the bucket.

in the bathroom, i put the bucket in the tub and catch the cold water that comes out while i wait for my shower to heat up. the bucket is small enough to stay in the tub while i shower, so i also catch the runoff from when i turn the shower off. 

this way, i have clean enough water to use on my edible plants! (it’s not a good idea to use soapy water on edibles.) catching my shower warm up water is especially helpful—i shower everyday and the water i save is enough to water all my plants even in the heat of an early southern u.s. summer. the only added work has been carrying the buckets up and down my stairs, but that’s a good arm workout and it only takes a minute every few days.

what do you do to save water for your garden?

from down to earth by margot rochester

Afristar Permaculture Posters

planning your garden in stages, from the vegetable gardener’s guide to permaculture