Seeking a Greener Thumb

A few friends recently asked me about my rain barrel, so I figured I should revive the old gardening blog. Although you can purchase a rain barrel online or at a store, I suggest searching for an event in your community where you can buy one at a discounted price. A couple of years ago, I attended a local event called Greenfest and bought a Systern Rain Barrel for only $58.

We first placed the rain barrel in a location where a good amount of rain ran off of the house. This was not very effective. Once we had gutters installed on the back of our house, we connected the rain barrel to the gutter with a rain barrel gutter diverter. This diverts the water to the rain barrel until it is full. Once the rain barrel is full, the water is diverted out of the gutter. This made collecting rain water much more efficient. Well, at least in the rainy months!



A few other suggestions: Raise the rain barrel so you can place a bucket or watering can underneath. We built a simple stand using concrete blocks. Raising the barrel also allows gravity to help you to collect the water. I originally had the rain barrel on the ground and tried using the hose that came with the systern to water plants. This method was very frustrating since it took a long time to get the water to come out.