Monday, November 8, 2010

Rain Barrel Redo

I ended up moving the rain barrels around-again! As I was forced to move this one to the backyard, I decided to place it on one side of the patio and connect the two remaining ones.
I have planted morning glory seeds in front of the trellis. That should disguise it
well enough to keep snoopy Board members at bay.

I had placed the other in the corner of the garden by the pineapples, but since we don't have gutters, it wasn't able to catch any rain water at all. The solution? Add on!
Now the runoff from one barrel will go into the other.


Here's all ya need to accomplish this task.
The other ingredient is silicone.



Drill a small hole in one of the barrels using a drill bit.
After we had completed this step, we realized that it
probably would have been better to place the holes near the top.
We put it near the bottom, so that each barrel fills up
simultaneously. It works, either way. One of our barrels
is directly under the corner of the roof, so it manages to
catch all that precious liquid.
Here's one end. Don't forget to put silicone or some other
type of sealer around the tubing, so it won't leak.

Here's the other end. Being clear, it's hardly noticeable. Added bonus? My lil' guy likes to watch the water make its way around...




The plumbego started here should soon cover these two. I have the spigots off to the side, for easy access. I'm still thinking about adding a drip irrigation system to the barrels, for the veggie garden and surrounding plants. Poor fern here looks like it could use it! It'll come back.

Thanks to hubby for hookin' us up!

2 comments:

  1. I am going to start doing this! and I have also thought about digging a small pond since I have so much ground water...I am so glad you showed me this, it seems easy for a lil hobby farmer to put together... but I think that about a lot of things...and they kick me in the rear while trying to do them! HEE HEE!

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  2. Lisa-You are so good at finding useful things. You may be able to find a food-grade barrel for a song!
    It's wonderful when Mother Nature provides for us.

    I think you've done pretty well so far! So good to hear from you.
    Have a wonderful day!

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Thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts!