Why I Love My Rain Barrel
My name is Debbie ~
and I’m a sucker for suffering, drought stricken plants.
I had made a decision last night after yet another afternoon of watching the Weather Channel and witnessing the big, green blog which typically indicates rain on the weather map disintegrate as soon as it got to my area. Yet another afternoon of no rain. I discovered this past weekend that we are in the grips of a moderate drought but they assured us that would be relieved to a degree after a Saturday of soaking rains. Well, the soaking rains went everywhere but here. We barely got a shower. So I made a decision….I had to let the plants fend for themselves or go bankrupt using city water to keep them alive. While my rain barrel should be able to offer some relief…it hadn’t rained in weeks…….so it was basically just a barrel with a spigot.
I’m an earth sign so this decision was incredibly hard for me. I love plants ~ I have many in my home and in my office as well as outside. To let any of them wither away in this heat was not a decision I took lightly. Imagine how I felt when I came home today to this…..
I couldn’t stand it….I went inside and filled a watering can with water from the bathtub. I swear I could almost hear the soil sizzling as poured the water on. After I watered these, I knew I had to do the others as well. As I walked around to head back into the house, I looked hopefully into the rain barrel….not really expecting to see anything. Imagine my surprise when I realized it was 3/4 of the way full. And then I remembered….a 1000 square foot roof can accumulate 625 gallons of water from an inch of rain. That little bitty rain shower we got this past Saturday almost filled my barrel.
Drinks all around guys…..we have free water! 🙂
3 Comments
Gina
That is an unbelievable transformation in such a short time. I have heard of a grey pipe that you van buy that attaches on to the “water out” part of the washing machine and lets the grey water run to wherever you place the other end. Most people who use it place it in a flower garden.
Our rainwater tank is buried under our front yard and holds 10,000 litres which equates to 2,641 US gallons! We love to know that in the summer we are watering our plants and grass with the water that came from the roof. I’m so glad we built our house at a time that the building regulations made it compulsory to have a rain water tank. I know we love ours now but it may not have been high on our list of priorities when we were trying to build our house within our budget a few years ago.
Magikal Folk
I have heard of using grey water from the washing machines by purchasing the attachment. I don’t think it is possible for me due to the location of my washer…but a fabulous idea. I think it would be fantastic if more housing developments were required to install rain water tanks similar to yours in the US. The benefits to the homeowner would be lower water bills and greener lawns.
It is a pity that all the things that can help homeowners save money in the long run (like large rain water tanks or even solar panels) tend to be a bit pricey in the beginning. I would love to have something like your tank at my house! I have also discovered my plants do so much better when I use the rain water versus the chemically treated city water.
Sandy
Hi Debbie, forgive me for not stopping over sooner. I really have no excuse except to say I have been really busy. But one should never be to busy to stop in and say hello.
Your sunflowers are so beautiful. I have a soft spot in my heart for them. I love the bumble bees but I know what you mean. Anymore I think I can safely photograph them too and they look so lovely on flowers collector all the nector to make some sweet honey.
The pictures at the beach are wonderful. Your daughter is so beautiful. Oh, to be able to wear shorts like that! lol
You need rain so bad. All you have to do is wash your car ! lol
I don’t want to make you feel bad and tell you how much rain we’ve gotten. We’ve had over 15 inches since June 1st, I think is what they said. It seems like almost every afternoon around 5 or so we get a tropical rain with thunderstorms, which I love and it makes life exciting. So we get to cool off just for a bit. Like a half hour lol. I will be thinking of you and next time we get rain I will send it on up there! That’s a shame. I really do hope and pray you start getting rain! The rain barrel sounds really nice to have. I want one too.
p.s.I would LOVE to know how you edit your photo’s! They are very professional looking !
LOL when you wrote about the construction men: It is like listening to a huge dentist drill…..All. Day. Long!
I could handle living at that Beach House you stayed at ! Wouldn’t that be heaven?
Have a great week-end. Wish you could go to the concert with me tomorrow night ! Come on down and bring your lawn and plants with you lol