See the Dairy Mistress field coming up lovely and green! That smoke in the distance is the farmers burning their ditches. This is how they clear out the ditches around here. 
As you know, in preparation for a drought or at least a dry summer we have rain water barrels under every water spout.
Also we will use grey-water to water the young trees and the flower beds. John has connected an ordinary garden hose to the outlet from the washing machine. The hose runs up the laundry wall and out a little basement window and along under the verandah then out into the garden. The pump in the washing machine pumps the wasted water out to the trees. I just move this hose to the base of a new tree every day. I only ever use half of the laundry powder they recommend anyway. 
Do you see that tiny lambs-quarter weed? So sweet. I tried the grey-water for a week on a patch of grass and weeds to see what my laundry powder would do and that patch grew faster than everything else. This is so simple and so effective. And gets more than 100 gallons of water out onto my garden a week. Every now and then I shall put the hose on the drive and do an extra hot wash with lots of vinegar to clean the hose.
The bath-water is next on the list, that might be a little more difficult but Our John has a plan. I said put the whole bath outside, but he is not ready for that yet! The grey-water project is only for flowers and trees, not vegetables.
This is the most dangerous field on the property and the most nutritious. This is alfalfa. 
I use this legume for fattening beef. Grass fed beef will not put on enough weight eating only grass, (grass fed is actually a misnomer) so we need to provide a mixture of good legumes and forbes (forbes is just a fancy word for weeds.. e.g. lambs quarters are forbes and they are very high in iron. I even put them in our salads with the dandelion leaves). Alfalfa is very high in protein. So it is easy for an animal to bloat or get a runny bottom on alfalfa. But they grow beautifully and the dairy cows give rich creamy milk if it is properly managed. So I ration it to one hour in the late morning and one hour in the late afternoon, and padlock the gate so there are no break ins. Do not let them eat alfalfa when it is wet with dew or after a frost.
No looking. 
TonTon and I had a bit of a play yesterday. I still have not finished giving the barn its spring clean but we thought we could do with a break anyway. 
Look Ma no hands, I mean no paws.. ! He looks like he is hovering above the ground! 
Good news about the asparagus sales. The Matriarch read your comments yesterday and took some of your ideas and put the word out around her village that we had fresh organically grown asparagus, and I got an order for 20 pounds almost immediately.
And she is going to set up a table under the tree at the front of her house and we will sell the rest from there. She has an asparagus plant in her garden for the rules. The Matriarch was a school teacher for almost all her teaching life in this village. She grew up here, so it is safe to say she knows just about everyone and will be an excellent vendor. Plus it is garage sale season.
So thank you again wise blog friends. And as a bonus we had a lovely shower of rain yesterday evening. So we are in good shape. It is cool and clear this morning. A great day ahead.
Good morning I bet you find something lovely today, it is that kind of day! It is all about the looking!
c
The Kitchen's Garden 
73 responses to “How to use grey-water to water the garden”
We used to have our washing machine and dishwasher water pipes directed outside too – although I think we had them a little close to the house – too much water in the garden made our housie crack – oops! Well I think so anyway, not too sure.
What an awesome outcome about the asparagus – quickly doing a little happy dance for you!
🙂 Mandy
This is why John connected the machine to a particularly long hose.. he knows i will forget to move it every single time! morning Mandy.. c
Looking good there! We plan to use the grey water from rinsing our veggies for the CSA and markets by piping it to the greenhouse drip irrigation system. So glad you solved the asparagus problem! We are a little behind you here, though things are starting to green up. Our asparagus isn’t quite up yet. Our bees are going nuts gathering pollen though.
That rinsing water would be perfect for the irrigation, will you filter it? So your drips do not get dirt in them and block? Isn’t it grand seeing the bees out and about, truly satisfying.. c
Love the water economy ideas – absolutely brilliant.
If we do have a drought it will be the young trees who get the worst of it, so it sorts out that problem very well! mMrning Roger. c
Hurrah for the asparagus! G’morning, Miss C. t
Morning miss T.. c
My favorite way to start the day. Thanks for another great post!
Love that you are reading every morning too, c
Marvelous (re)use of the water! I remember reading that you have to be careful about the amount of phosporous in the detergent, so it doesn’t build up in the soil and plants… There are some really good articles on the Kitchen Gardeners International website, or at Rodale.
Have a great day, C!
Hmm, I have done quite a bit of reading on it, this is why I only use it on the trees and wild flower beds, though My must check out that Kitchen Gardeners website anyway.. c
So happy you get to sell the asparagus! Love the picture of TonTon hovering above the ground. Those babies are far too comfortable in Mama’s tummy. Maybe you need to take her on a long walk. 😉
Ha ha ha .. good thinking .. poor mama, maybe a gin and a hot bath!! c
Now I’m going to sound precious: I never knew you could use ‘grey water’ on things! I shall be evangelical about it this Summer!
And that’s the first time I’ve seen alfafa, Celi. Why can’t the cows have it after dew or a frost?
frost concentrates an acid in the leaves that will make the animal sick and evidently if it is dewy there is a higher risk of bloat.. and bloat is nasty you do not want it! I do not use a laundry powder with bleach in it so this grey water is good. and really a good two thirds of it is rinsing water ! c
Inspired now. Off to check my washing powder to find if it has bleach in it.
That is fantastic Kate, maybe just use less .. they always tell you to use more than you need anyway! c
Thank goodness for The Matriarch, great news! I’ve often wondered about the grey water thing although water isn’t particularly an issue here! Do you use the eco-friendly, bio-degradable detergent?
Christine
I use the cheap buckets full of very old fashioned laundry powder. A) because i reuse the buckets B) because it is bleach free.. and i only ever use less than half of what the instructions say to use, after all I figure they want you back as soon as poss buying more!! c
We use grey water in the garden by putting a dustbin beside the washing machine and hooking the outlet over the side instead over the drainpipe. It helps if you use “ecover” washing liquid, because it is very low in phosphates.
Hooray for the asparagus sales. Hooray for the Matriarch. How is Kupa today?
Excellent Viv, this is the info we need to get out, it is easy to do if you think about it.. and good to use the eco stuff too.. c
Well, isn’t that cool that your followers devised a plan? Great idea!! Well, you must tell your hubs that I’m disappointed.. I was already visualizing a claw-footed tub.. an outside shower with one of those huge rain-shower heads that look like a giant bending sunflower.. wooden slat floor-boards and barn doors… all open above to the sky for an outside bath and shower… sigh.. back to reality xoxo Smidge.. not looking… well, maybe peeking a bit…
Oh Smidge you have the same dream as i do except the walls are lilacs (they are planted!) and I have the BATH! already.. but we have to wait until the plumber is ready, he is busy on fences at the mo!! c
Love the grey water idea from the washer as ours is in the basement and easy access to out of doors. Will have to investigate that. I’m so happy you found a way to sell your asparagus. I know it wouldn’t have gone to waste, but prefer the idea of it being eaten and enjoyed! Good morning, celi!
yes we are on the right track now!! have a great day betsy! c
About moving that bath outside, which sort of combines with the running the hose outside: When I was a child, my dad would string a garden hose through the porch window so we could take a “shower” on the side lawn using the garden hose. We did not have a bathroom, only a tin tub for Saturday night baths in the kitchen. And we lived in the country, so no worry about watchful neighbors. Just sharing this little story that you might want to pass along to your John.
You had the most amazing upbringing.. so so soo old fashioned. I would LOVE to have one of those old tin tubs now.. we have to blame the war for so much of that stuff being melted down and turned into bullets! c
My middle brother has that old tin bath tub. I thought it would make a great container to hold icy beverages for my son’s high school graduation party. I’m quite certain, though, that my brother would give me one of those “looks” if I asked him to haul it 120 miles to the party.
I never thought of my upbringing as amazing. But I suppose, compared to others, it was that. We were a poor farm family (in material possessions), but certainly not in love. And we always had our food, raised or grown right there on the farm.
I do think your upbringing will have brought a very different perspective you your adult life.. There is a lot of Knowing that comes from loving struggle especially when you were not struggling as such, just living! c
Inspiring me once again, celi, to be more eco-brained. Thank you, I was having a blue morning and as always, your post and pictures cheered me. TonTon ever on the fringes of Mama’s whereabouts makes me smile. And smidge’s dream of the outdoor tub matches mine though I will incorporate your lilac walls.
My lilacs are planted, and they are growing fast, should not be too long!!! I am glad you are feeling better i must zoom to your site and see how things are coming along.. c
What a great solution to the asparagus problem! Your using gray-water is a great idea and tailor-made for your needs, too. The shower that graced your property missed us completely. That’s OK. You guys need if far more than we do.
yes we do and often you get what we don’t as well.. now back to my bread making!! Your bread looks amazing this morning! c