The Garden Takes Shape! (Rainbarrel Project)

As I've bemoaned before, so far it's been a tough year for the garden. Everything came along beautifully until the Easter frost, which was followed by drought. Well, things are looking up!

We've had some rain in the last week or so, enough that I'm not hauling as much water thither and yon. I casually mentioned to Husband that the rainbarrel on the Secret Garden side of the house was not sufficient for my needs and his vegetable garden, and that in studying the problem, I'd concluded that we could have a rainbarrel on the east side of the house. It wouldn't cost anything as we had a redundant garbage can. We both regret using the water we pay for for watering the gardens, particularly mine -- for different reasons. He pays the bills: I have to haul it.

So I pulled a few weeds and relocated some stones while Husband got his hack saw and the designated garbage pail. We made a reasonably level place for the can under the downspout. Husband determined the height for the hacking of the downspout -- which was loud enough to wake people in the graveyard a quarter of a mile away, but was over soon. The downspout was freed of its lower strapping and the end was covered with a double thickness of plastic screening and secured with -- you guessed it! -- Duct Tape! With a minimum of precision, a hole was cut on the edge of the lid to accommodate the downspout and the rainbarrel was in
business! Just in time for a little rain.

I drew the barrel down as far as I could last night, because we were promised rain in the night. Two-tenths of an inch filled the barrel to overflowing. We'll put a quarter cup of household bleach in it once a week -- not enough to kill the plants but enough for kill mosquito larvae, maybe. But we'll be using the water often enough to keep an eye on any uninvited guests.