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As most of you are aware, a garden takes a lot of water, especially if you are trying to grow beans, peppers, or tomatoes.
While you go about your day, I'm pretty sure you turn the faucet of your kitchen sink on quite often. Rinse a glass out, wet a sponge, or even brush your teeth. All this water that is flowing out of your faucet you pay for, so why not collect it?
When you wash your dishes, typically you'll fill the sink with hot, soapy water. This soapy water, when filtered through cheesecloth and wood ashes, makes an excellent source of garden water. How do you go about collecting this water though? Here's how:
Under your sink is your drain pipe. If you have the room for a 5 gallon bucket, you can simply remove the actual drain pipe, and fit a straight piece of pipe from the sink directly into the bucket. You can then either remove the bucket and pour it directly into a 200 gallon tank, or, if you're inclined enough, route an electric pump hose from the bucket under your sink to a larger tank outside. You'd be amazed at how much water you can collect even in a week.
Alternative:
If you happen to live in a house with the kitchen sink mounted on an outside wall, you can directly route your sink drain through the wall and into a collection tank. If you have a garbage disposal, this will actually help your plants by grinding up unused food particles which will mix with the water and create a slurry of compost ready to be fed directly onto your garden.
While you go about your day, I'm pretty sure you turn the faucet of your kitchen sink on quite often. Rinse a glass out, wet a sponge, or even brush your teeth. All this water that is flowing out of your faucet you pay for, so why not collect it?
When you wash your dishes, typically you'll fill the sink with hot, soapy water. This soapy water, when filtered through cheesecloth and wood ashes, makes an excellent source of garden water. How do you go about collecting this water though? Here's how:
Under your sink is your drain pipe. If you have the room for a 5 gallon bucket, you can simply remove the actual drain pipe, and fit a straight piece of pipe from the sink directly into the bucket. You can then either remove the bucket and pour it directly into a 200 gallon tank, or, if you're inclined enough, route an electric pump hose from the bucket under your sink to a larger tank outside. You'd be amazed at how much water you can collect even in a week.
Alternative:
If you happen to live in a house with the kitchen sink mounted on an outside wall, you can directly route your sink drain through the wall and into a collection tank. If you have a garbage disposal, this will actually help your plants by grinding up unused food particles which will mix with the water and create a slurry of compost ready to be fed directly onto your garden.