Rain Barrels Galore
A 55 gallon drum can cut your water bill and water your garden.
A Byrd Park resident is selling rain barrels on Craigslist. This is one eco-trend that has really taken off. There are lots of rain barrels set up on houses in the neighborhood, some of which are pretty sophisticated looking. I’d love to post a collection of pictures of local rain barrel set-ups. If you have one and don’t mind taking a picture, please email them to me at guardjk@gmail.com. Otherwise, I’m just going to have to take pictures from the alley, which might creep you out, seeing a guy with a camera in your backyard. In fact, I’m gonna take that option off the table. So, send your pictures. You know you’re proud.
UPDATE: I emailed but didn’t hear back from the Craigslist rain barrel seller, but I did meet Stu Harnberger, a Randolph resident who sells rain barrels and compost tumbers at the farmers’ market. Check out his blog for lots of great ideas and very competitively priced products. Here’s a bit of extra info from Stu:
I have been making them now for 2 years and I am now on my 5th generation of rain barrel. I think I have worked out all of the kinks by talking with people who have purchased them from me. One important difference is how the barrel connects to your house. Mine have a downspout adapter that simply slides over your downspout, after you have trimmed it to the appropriate height. Also, I have a reinforced spigot at the base with a large washer to prevent the spigot from coming loose. I use a brass fitting for the overflow instead of the PVC pipe (which will wear in time under the sun), in order to easily connect to a garden hose. In addition to the plastic rain barrels, I also sell oak rain barrels for $150 (a lower price than anywhere else).
Lamplighter has at least one rain barrel, too. Perhaps it has been there since they opened, but I just noticed it this morning next to the outdoor seating area.
We have four rain barrels here at our house. I, too, simply cut the downspout and use a flexible downspout from there to our barrels. We use splitters (Pleasant’s Hardware, $3*3) and water heater hoses to connect our barrels at the spigots at hte bottom of the barrel. This allows all barrels to rise and fall equally. I am currently debating whether to buy additional barrels or go in whole hog and get a 500+ gallon pillow for under my deck.
Has anyone found a cheap source for the rain barrels? I don’t mind putting the rest of it together myself.
I saw some blue plastic drums for sale at the flea market off Willis road exit south of the city off 95…can’t remember the name of the flea market off hand but a gentleman there had the barrels only for sale for $5 each…buy your own hardware and make one on the cheap.