We installed our first rain barrel a few weeks ago and we watered with it for the first time this week. We bought it used from someone here in town and she had all the hardware to go with it. Then we had to figure out how to attach it to our downspout. We thought it was going to be really complicated because we had to cut into the downspout, but it was remarkably easy! We thought we were doing pretty well for a couple of suburban intellectuals!
It is a good feeling to water the garden knowing that you are using rain water you have collected yourself. This summer has presented us with days of practically torrential rain and then long, hot, dry periods during which the plants really start to wither. Before we installed the rain barrel I watched the rain run out of the downspouts basically going to waste because it was only watering the grass. Green grass makes for a nice lawn, but you have to keep mowing it and you can't eat it!! I kept thinking about how nice it would be to collect all that rain for the garden, and now we have started doing that! We are planning to attach several more barrels to this one and also to utilize our other downspouts in the same way. There are larger rainwater catchment systems that are possibilities in the future, but we've started with one rain barrel and that's an accomplishment for us!
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