Gardening Without a Hose

I’ve been gardening quite a bit this summer, growing most of the produce I need. To do this I’ve relied on two small gardens, one of which is in a Capital Roots community plot and the other of which is just a bucket garden near my house (pictured above). The community plot has a hose, which speeds up watering quite a bit, but I don’t have a convenient way to rig up a hose for the house plot, so I’ve needed to carry water over to it. Since I’m putting in the effort of lugging water anyway, I’ve decided to use greywater (recycled water from various indoor activities). The plants don’t seem to mind.

This is a five-gallon bucket full of one day’s worth of greywater from showering and rising dishes. It’s nice to find a way to recycle some of this water, but it also makes my significant daily water use more visible to me. It makes me think about strategies for cutting down my usage.

There are more effective ways to capture greywater using pipes, tanks, and biofilters, but for now this is my system. I may improve upon it later.