Rain Barrels in the Garden: Harvest Your Water

We have a large rain barrel that collects all of the rain water that comes off of our wood shed roof. In the spring, we set up a gutter system to gather it into a 50 gallon drum at the bottom. This drum sits up on some wood to get it up off of the ground.

We put some screen at the top of the downspout to catch any leaves or twigs that have landed on the roof. There is a spigot at the bottom of the rain barrel which can either be attached to a hose or used to fill a watering can.

It’s a good idea to clean out the rain barrel periodically with a garden hose. Bits of shingles can sometimes get dislodged and end up there. I don’t use this water for drinking or giving to the chickens for drinking but I do use it for cleaning up messy nest boxes and to water the garden.

If you have an engineering degree, you can build a cistern. Lacking that, think of ways to save water in large containers that can be covered.

For more tips on how to keep your garden green while saving water, see our water-wise garden article.

How’s your garden growing? I’m going to include some colorful summer pictures here. Enjoy!