Tell me about rain barrels.

[wildeyed]

We are in a furious drought right now, but I would really like to start watering my plants again. Would a couple of these be worth the investment?

http://www.gardeners.com/Deluxe+Rain+Barrel/Watering_Cat2,06-323,default,cp.html

[NMDemDist2]

1. wow that's a very nice one

and has the price tag to prove it :rofl:


I'd love about four of those for where the rain sheets off my roof

one thing I read that makes sense is you'll want to build a frame to get them off the ground so you can use gravity feed for the water, otherwise you'll be hauling water everywhere

that's a nice hose on there, you can connect it to a standard hose eh?

[wildeyed]

2. They are expensive, but I wish I'd ponied up last spring.

When I tallied what I had lost over the droughty summer, I almost threw up. We had a hand water-only rule by August, as in no hose, only allowed to use buckets, and I couldn't keep up.

So this year I may just bite the bullet and purchase some rain barrels. I think I can source them locally, save some on shipping.

[NMDemDist2]

3. that's probably a good idea if it fits in the budget

hopefully you guys will get a break this year...

[plantwomyn]

4. This is what we're doing this year.

http://www.uri.edu/ce/healthylandscapes/howtorainb.html
A town by use got city water and everyone got rid of their water softeners. I salvaged all I could and will use the salt tanks as rain barrels. Food grade 55 gallon drums work great too, I've salvaged two. I'll set mine up higher that the picture shows so it gravity feeds and over flows into another drum as my runoff will fill one drum quickly.
Good luck.

[NMDemDist2]

5. awesome!! I have a dead water softener

:woohoo:

thanks so much!!

[wildeyed]

6. Excellent resource.

Where do you get the used food containers?

[NMDemDist2]

7. check with your local soda distributors (Coke or Pepsi)

or even a big fast food place might have some....

[plantwomyn]

8. Check out food factories in your hood.

Pepsi or coke plants, anyplace that uses liquid and mixes it to make food. Go on your freecycle page in your area and beg some. the cheapest I've seen are around $15 but beats the commercial prices! Lots of farms and ranches have these things around too. Scrub them out good using Dawn and rince well.

[wildeyed]

9. So how many gallons would you estimate a small garden will require?

I have 2 3x6 veggie patches, some raspberries and a small flower garden that I want to water over the summer. Is 55 gallons enough, or do I need to double up to 110?

I found a local supplier that does the 55 recycled drums fitted and ready to go for $75. If I only need one, that is probably the easiest way to go, but if I need multiple, it might make sense to go out and hunt down the supplies on my own.

[plantwomyn]

10. 55 gal. should be enough.

But $75 wow. For me too much. A drum could go for as much as $20 and the fittings maybe another $10. If your not at DIY I guess it's ok but it isn't rocket science. If it's close to the garden, run a regular hose to the garden. Attach a soaker hose on the end and lay it around the garden. Soaker hoses will water about a 1' wide area so plants on either side of a row will do fine if you lay it every other row. Mulch the hose and your plants with grass clippings, chopped leaves, straw ..ect. to hold in moisture. You can even put a battery powered timer on the faucet and the whole thing will water automatically, you just have to make sure there's water in the drum. You can always put a Y splitter on and attach a hose from the house so if your drum is empty you just switch to the house hose. Run a test by putting a container under the soaker hose to gage how much water is getting to your garden. Also dug a hole after watering to check how far the water penetrates. The deeper the better since deep roots help your plants make it through drought and bring up nutrients. Your soil prep before planting is important here. Check you drainage before you plant.