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”
Simply two words “Inspirational blog”
good morning.. and thank you and it is all so simple really! c
Good deal that your neighbor came to the rescue of the unsold asparagus. We used to siphon our bath water out the second story window with a garden hose to water the backyard. Now we use a bucket to use bathwater to flush toilets. We have never rigged our washing machine up to anything.
I like alfalfa haha I hope it’s as nutritious for people ;)! Tonton looks he was having a grand old time!
What a good news post (and I didn´t look at Mama staight on, just a little sideways glance). TonTon is learning to levitate, the asparagus will be sold (three cheers for The Matriarch) and the water all gets used. I like days like that 🙂
Our hosepipe ban starts at midnight. The fun begins. Not. We’re putting a bucket in the shower stall so it collects the majority of the water rather than it running down the drain. I also pour water from the dishpan into my sprinkling can,and when it’s full I water flowers. It will be all very interesting. We’ve not had one of these bans for 3 years.
The bucket in the shower is an excellent idea, one year we did that and used that water to flush the loo.. years ago, and you will not have slaters in your pot plants using dish water for the watering.. I like that idea! c
Is that Daisy in one of those shots above? I think so :). And just look at TonTon. He always seems so hyper. I can just look at him and feel like I;m getting a workout LOL. Great solution for the asparagus
Morning kay, TonTon will not wear out! he has an ever ready battery! c
Drought preparations are also underway, the tough one is the allotment as I can only collect water from the greenhouse and shed, but it’s better than nothing. Our local resevoir is only 40% full – scary stuff.
Wonderful news about the asparagus!
Oh, and I’m not looking
I’m so glad to hear about the asparagus, Celi! Great problem-solving! We have had drought seasons where water was severely rationed. I was so concerned about how to keep things alive, and we used gray water a lot! I actually took buckets into the bath and scooped water from the tub…carted it outside and used it. I don’t really want to get to that point again, but I will if I have to. You have made me think about what we could with the water from the washing machine, though. Very resourceful! Debra
That’s good news about the asparagus sales and I am sure the rain is very welcome.
I always smile when I see TonTon photos!
Great post, and love the photos. Very cool blog!
Thank you and Welcome! c
Those are great news Celi! I’m happy for you 🙂
I’m so glad to hear you’ve found a way to sell your asparagus. Our bunny loved alfalfa, but I had to keep the amount low that she consumed for that reason. Glad you and TonTon found a few minutes to play!
For TonTon all life is play!! Such a lovely way to live! c
Man that last shot of TonTon alone was worth the price of admission. Oh wait….
Yes that is right you never paid, you were hiding in the boot I mean trunk to get into the drive-in! c
I’m reminded of how at the bach we use every bit of water over the summer. Being on tank water keeps us conscious. So glad your delicious asparagus is finding homes!
Tank water collected from the rain at home is so sensible, here NO-ONE does it! maybe because they have no hill for the gravity feed but really, all that lovely rain water going to waste.. morning juliet! c