Happy Earth Day everyone! (And Happy Birthday to Sherry’s little brother, who’s also known as Almost-Doctor-Dan <– warning, very cute baby Clara pics here). In honor of this eco-tastic holiday, we thought we’d share a story about driving down the street and noticing this sign:
We’d been meaning to get a new rain barrel since we left the old one that we made at our first house when we sold it. Of course we would have been happy to make another one, but we had yet to get to that part of our to-do list (and sign up for a local course to get our mitts on a large food safe barrel). So we took that sign as, well, a sign and pulled over to window shop. Not that the place had windows…
We learned that we had happened upon Carolina Mike’s Produce Stand, but he’s still a week or so away from having produce. And although it looks very out-in-the-boonies, it’s actually on a busy suburban street across from a Target (Richmonders, it’s on the corner of Forest Hill Avenue and Cherokee Road in the Stratford Hills area).
Mike was super friendly and told us the tall black barrels (formerly used to transport jalapenos) were $60 and the shorter blue ones (which used to contain soy sauce) were $40 – even though both were 55 gallons. Coincidentally, $40 was exactly what we spent to make our last rain barrel (through a local class) so we took the easy route and tossed one of the $40 ready-made barrels into the backseat. That is, after I took a trip home to drop off Clara and Sherry to make room for my new blue best friend.
The barrel actually sat unused in our carport for a week-ish while we debated where to put it. But we finally decided that he’d be most helpful near the small fenced garden area behind our carport / next to our sunroom. And yes, I realize this would make more sense had I already written an outdoor tour post for you guys (I promise that’s around the corner – the pics are taken and uploaded, just not yet edited).
This area currently acts primarily as Burger’s restroom, but we’re soon hoping to de-liriope most of it (aka: dig up that floppy grass) and trade that thin brick pathway for a nice big stone patio on this side of the house (since it’s accessible from a sliding door in the living room). But we still plan to leave plenty of plant beds that will need watering around the perimeter of our DIY patio, so that downspout next to the brick half-wall (which is actually the back of the carport) was calling our rain barrel’s name.
First I made sure we could fit a watering can under the faucet (aka “hose bib”) which meant I wouldn’t need to raise the barrel on blocks or anything. Though if I had made the barrel from scratch, I probably would’ve put the hose bib in a bit lower so I could use all of the water in the barrel – not just what collects above faucet level. The good news is that our last barrel has a spigot in around the same spot and we didn’t have any issues with smell or algae from the water that collected below the spigot after years of use (we can always tip the barrel forward to fully drain it).
Anyway, once I leveled the ground where the barrel would sit and figured out where my downspout would need to end, I got out a small hacksaw and began cutting away.
You can see a more thorough breakdown of this process on our original “How To Build A Rain Barrel” post. But basically I squeezed the curved spout back in place after putting down the hacksaw, slid the barrel underneath it, and called it a day. Voila! Infinite rain collecting potential:
We’re still waiting for an actual rainstorm to put Ol’ Blue to good use, but it does feel good to be back in the rain barrel club again. Even if our new barrel is so bright that it doesn’t exactly blend quietly into the landscape.
Once we begin to more formally tackle this area we might take a paintbrush to it (brick red perhaps?) to help camouflage it a bit better (like we did to our utility boxes and propane tank here). Heck, maybe we’ll even plant a few things around it to further obscure it. ‘Til then, we’ll just consider it our not-so-subtle way of celebrating Earth Day.
Is anyone else in the rain barrel club after a lapse in membership like us? Or do you have big patio plans on the agenda? Every day Sherry taps me on the shoulder and says “Wanna go dig up some liriope? Come on you know you want to.” Sheesh. It’s like the adult version of “are we there yet?” Can’t a husband bask in the I-built-you-a-12-foot-console-table-glory for a little longer? No? Ok, I guess I have some shoveling to do…
I actually really like the blue (at least in the picture). It’s bright and cheerful! (And kinda matches Sue the napkin?)
so i’m curious, how does a rain barrel work with mosquitos? i know i live in mosquitoville(basically, i’m around swamp land, the dismal swamp to be exact. ugh.) and to help keep mosquitos to a minimum you’re supposed to make sure not to let water stand for even more than a day. running water, or water with fishies are ok but how does the rain barrel tie in. i know richmond has mosquitos too after all, i’ve been bitten by them too.
There are layers of mesh screen on all the top openings for water so those suckers can’t get in (and predrilled drainage holes in the top to eliminate standing water). Those seem to keep things under control (never had mosquito issues with our last one after years of use). Whew.
xo,
s
I actually like the pop of bright blue, and would be inclined to do some seasonal flower urns or containers of some sort around it that can be moved in and out and respositioned as needs arise.
But, then, I am fond of liriope, too…
according to this, you can dye it with pvc primer…might have a better application than just paint…
http://makeprojects.com/Project/Stain-PVC-Any-Color-You-Like/296/1
I wish they sold a barrel to you with a much lower spicket so you can use all the water.
Amen. But we did get tons of ideas from commenters to adapt ours if we’d like down the line (our old one had a high spigot and it worked well anyway).
xo,
s
What is that GORGEOUS tree (with the magenta flowers) next to the new rain barrel? Is it a bougainvillea? If so, I’ve never seen one so free-standing… Would love to know how it was trained.
It’s a rhododendron I think (spelling?). So pretty!
xo,
s
Maybe this is a dumb question but is it only important to use food grade containers if you are watering veggies? We don’t grow anything edible so I’m thinking that any old container will do?
Hmm, I guess if you’re just planning to wash your car you can use something less than food grade? I think the thought is that chemicals from not food safe barrels might kill plants and be bad for the earth, which is obviously not ideal. Haha.
xo,
s
need a finer screen or it will become a mosquito mating ground, even with pellets.
We thankfully had no issues with our last one after years of use (this one has more layers of overlapping screen mesh so we think it’ll be even better).
xo,
s
Will you do any prep on the barrel before you paint it? I read your past camoflauge post and there was no mention about preping the surface of the metal things, but since that is plastic I was wondering what you were planning to do before paint (if anything). We have one that needs painted, too!
We’ve heard of others who had luck spray painting theirs with spray paint made for plastic, so we might go that route. Details when we do!
xo,
s
Happy Earth Day indeed!! Awesome!
Happy Earth Day to All!!
I can’t wait to one day have a place where I can put a rain barrell to good use. They make so much sense!
Totally off the rain barrell subect but, Michael’s has a 50% off coupon on their website for today only!
Have a great weekend!!
Sweet. Thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
You inspired me to finally get a rain barrel. I found one on line that actually looks like a larger rock so it will blend a bit more. Either way- very excited to put it into use. Our water is very expensive and I like recycling the water.
Phewwwww! Thank goodness you are planning on painting it – I was a bit worried. You see, my backyard neighbors have a blue rain barrel out behind their garage. It is blocked by my forsythia in the spring and summer, but I have to stare at that blue plastic-ness all winter long from my kitchen window! They also cover stuff with a bright blue tarp. I’ve always wondered why they make tarps hat color (something to do with boats and water, perhaps?). I generally buy brown or green, to try to blend in a bit better with the outside world. Will want to see/hear how the paint job goes- maybe I should paint my neighbors for them! They might not eve notice, and it would make my endless hours at the kitchen sink a bit more pleasing!
I so need to look into a rain barrel. Our square foot gardens are nowhere near either of our two outdoor spigots and watering them is a huge pain. This would solve my problems! Thanks for sharing and happy Good Friday to you in the name of the Lord!
you’ve got to love the roomy back seat of an Altima! Last week we brought home THE LARGEST BBQ EVER, from Portland, OR to Bozeman, MT. Seriously, we couldn’t see out the rear view window, but that honker (45 burger capacity!) fit in the back of the Altima.
Props to the Altima. Haha. Love it.
xo,
s
I am the proud owner of a Versa sedan… I fit an IKEA loveseat in my backseat! And the seats don’t even open to the trunk. Nissan FTW ;)
I’m in the planning stages of a new patio right now and I’m almost over the sticker shock of 400 sg/ft of pavers. However, I’m still not sure what to do with all the dirt after I dig out the patio area 8 inches deep! Do I just add it to the rest of the yard to “re-grade”?
Hmm good question! I think we were planning to wheelbarrow it back into the woods behind our house (one perk to a big acre lot is a place to dump stuff in the back, haha). Maybe you can offer it up for free on craigslist if people want to grade low spots in their yard and they’ll do all of the hauling for you?
xo,
s
I saw something about using pvc primer to color plastics, because it “sticks” better than paint. it said you could buy clear pvc cleaner and tint it yourself to get any color you wanted. the article was on http://makeprojects.com/
Have you seen this? Someone painted the light in your bedroom.
http://blog.effortless-style.com/2011/04/customized-maskros-light/
Oh yes I looooove it!!!!
xo,
s
When you finally get ready to dig up the liriope, let me know. I would love a clump or 20.
We’ll hopefully make a big blog announcement when we put up our craigslist ad.
xo,
s
Do you guys have any suggestions on how I might be able to use a rain barrel when my house doesn’t have gutters? I have loved the idea since you guys first posted about it, but I don’t have gutters and the rain mainly funnels down in a corner right by the front door, where I obviously can’t put the rain barrel for aesthetic reasons…
Hmm, maybe you can add gutters just where rain collects to divert it to a barrel? Or look into things like rain chains that carry rain like a downspout (although you might still need to add a gutter or two to make it work). Good luck!
xo,
s
We have big patio plans too. We live in the Pacific Northwest so we have this one spot in the backyard where we get a huge mud pit in the winter and no grass in the summer, so we want to put a patio there with a walkway around to the side yard.
I was just going to comment on the legality issue, but I see a poster above already touched on it. for years and years it was illegal to collect rainwater here in Colorado due to some arcane law about precipitation being the property of the state, and that all water must be sent downstream for irrigation. it was just reversed in 2009, I believe, so we can now legally collect water from our downspouts and gutters and use it to water our lawns and gardens. gray water systems were/are also illegal, not sure what the status on that is now, so you couldn’t legally use your dirty bathwater to water your plants, for example.
For those of you wanting rain barrels, check with your local Coca-Cola bottler. The concentrate we use to make our products comes in large plastic drums, which are perfect for making rain barrels. In Grand Rapids, where I work, we host neighborhood workshops where we teach people to make free rain barrels. I know other branches in other states do this as well; it’s all a part of a corporate-wide commitment to sustainability. It’s a win-win-win proposition. You get a free rain barrel, we keep recyclable material out of the waste stream, and it conserves water!
Just a thought: you could paint it with Krylon Fusion spray paint for plastic. I know you are into the whole low VOC and this doesn’t exactly fit the bill, but most paint doesn’t bond to plastic, especially outside and I have had excellent results with the Fusion paint. Just thought you might want to know.
That’s a great suggestion! We might just go that route (after taping off things like the spigot to keep the inside food safe).
xo,
s
My fiance and I followed your tutorial on rain barrel making and made ours last weekend. It’s rained twice and our 55 gallon barrel is FULL! Do you find yours fills up that fast? Maybe we just have a bigger roof that others? We’re already talking about adding a reservoir for it to flow over to.
Wow you must have a huge roof! Or we just had a small one. Our 65 gallon barrel only filled up once in the few years we had it and it was after weeks of rain! A reserve tank is a great idea though!
xo,
s
Great post. But More importantly then Earth day today is Good Friday.
Just curious – when do you plan to turn the carport into a garage? Is that still your plan?
Yup that’s one of our long term plans (we like to think hard about big projects like that so we have time to figure out what sort of door we want and how many windows and all that stuff). We want to be confident about what we choose.
xo,
s
Hmm-m-m, a rain barrel…OK, I may have to add this to the to-do list for our house!
You could always paint it with that Krylon spray paint for plastics. I’m sure that the difference in price was because it was bright blue, versus black!
We should have a rain barrel at our house…put this rainy weather to use!
we’ve got a big black rainbarrel (former use, who knows?). We just had an open top collecting the runoff from the roof. We just added a spigot/hose attachment and screen on the top to keep out the mosquitos. my husband said you can throw in some silverware (actual silver) to keep the water fresh. Still have to figure out how to make it pretty! Maybe morning glories?
Great project! No rain barrels allowed here in northern Colorado, unfortunately. The farmers don’t like us taking water that would otherwise go into the water table. But it looks like there’s no shortage of moisture in your region, judging by that lush green yard of yours. :)
speaking of liriope…this wouldn’t happen to be y’all, would it? hahahahha
http://richmond.craigslist.org/zip/2340191874.html
Haha, nope but that’s funny! We’re in Chesterfield (not midlo) and we have to wait a bit to get an ad up (Miss Utility is coming to make sure there’s nothing underground before we invite strangers over to dig, haha). We hope to post about the ad when we get it up though, just so everyone has a shot at some monkey grass if they want it.
xo,
s
My husband’s uncle used an old whiskey barrel for their garden’s rain barrel. Not sure how it’s holding up, but it looked amazing in their front-yard garden.
Maybe this is a feature of a rain barrel, but do you not have problems with mosquitoes? I see the mesh over the collection holes, but is it fine enough to keep them out? Just wondering!
Oh, nevermind about the mosquito question! Dangit – I control F’d to search the page for the word mosquitoes so I wouldn’t be a repeater… I guess it didn’t work! So sorry! :)lol
No worries! We know there are lots o’ comments to go through.
xo,
s
Any idea if Carolina Mike has a website or some info on the produce stand hours? I have been on the hunt for a good produce stand on the Southside.
No idea but I’d bet not (he’s pretty grass roots). Maybe try googling just to see?
xo,
s
Hmmmm, well I would totally be up for a rain barrel, but where we live (right on the ocean in Newport Beach, CA) it like, well, never rains. Oh wait – it’ll sorta kinda mist for a second and that’s basically it. I wouldn’t mind being “greener” but I don’t know how for where we live! (Oh and I guess I just realized that there is nothing but sand and concrete here, so nothing has to be watered lol) So maybe just by living here by the ocean I’m being green? We’ll go with that :)
Make sure you save the liriope to either use around the yard or sell on Craigslist…you easily have $200 in plants!
It’s so little! Hehe. Here in Australia ours are about 2metres tall (7feet) by 1-2 meters wide, if not bigger! tho I guess we are in a drought & do have water restrictions :)
P.s. And I’m talking about in suburbia not out in the outback hehe
Yup, we have rain barrels (actually these 2 huge rectangular things that collect tons of water for our all our veggie beds, fruit trees, etc.), and compost, and vermicompost. We use BT (Bacillus thuringiensis) in the water to reduce chances of mosquito growth (We also throw some in the creek at the back of our property as well, when the spring rains are past and it gets low and slow. Must not encourage mosquito breeding!)(Hmmm, we also use it in our gardens.)
And – ohmigosh! – if I lived near you I would be there right now getting up all that liriope. I love the stuff – we are completely eliminating lawn and liriope is one of the nicest spreading plants ever. GO LIRIOPE! (Too much coffee this morning!)
We have one that fills up with water just from the shed and it’s always got enough water to use for the garden. We’re thinking about adding a couple more at several downspouts.
Hello,
We would love to come and dig up your liriope (monkey grass?) and place it on our major slope in our front yard. We live near the University of Richmond…let me know if you are open to that idea.
I saw your article in the Washington Post a few months/weeks ago and was looking it up to get ideas for a big backyard party I’m giving next month. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas and stories!
Happy Easter.
FHW
Will do! We’re planning to post a “free-if-you-dig-it-up” ad on craigslist and hopefully mention it on the site to give locals a heads up.
xo,
s
I thought that we were the only ones using giant blue soy sauce barrels. It doesn’t smell. It works perfect. We also get to meet a lot a people that we wouldn’t have when curiosity gets them.
Love your green ideas! I just moved to a small apartment and I need some ideas for a recycling bin/container to put in my kitchen to collect aluminum/plastic. Any great ideas for something that is attractive because it will always be seen but will do the job? Thanks!
We’d probably just check out a place like Bed Bath & Beyond or The Container Store to find something cute. A small metal stainless or white trash can with a lift off lid could be cute. Good luck!
xo,
s
Rain barrels. *sigh* I only wish I could have one! Alas, I am in an apartment with a pesky downspout that floods the walkway instead of watering my plants. I have no way of convincing the office that they should re-route all the gutters and put rain barrels behind the apartments. I swear to Jeebus that I WILL have a rain barrel when my husband and I get a place of our own.
*quiet grumble*
Not sure of your exact situation, but if your plants are close by that downspout, HD sells a flexible downspout extension that will redirect that water off the walkway to where you actually want it. About $20. Google to see variations.
I’d love if it y’all were to circle around and talk about your composting again. I did it, successfully I think, for around a year and then one day YUCK — it went from “composting” to “rotting.” You could smell it from the street!
I guess I got the brown/green thing wrong. I’d love to get back to doing it, but maybe y’all have some pointers….
We’re definitely planning to build a compost bin (as opposed to using our plastic container method, which luckily hasn’t been bad, but we’d love something bigger and more built-in) so hopefully we can tackle that in a bit.
xo,
s
Saw this website and thought of Sherry. I am sure she must have seen it before (or something similar) but it just seemed like something she would love.
I could spend hours there. Love it!
xo,
s
I love the rain barrel idea. I think we need to invest in one this summer. We also have patio plans which I’m very excited about! We are getting a new driveway and stamped walkway in front and a stamped patio in back. That way we can have the look of more expensive stone without the hefty price tag. Do you guys have a plan yet for your patio? Will you have someone do it or DIY it? Hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Our big plan is to do the entire thing ourselves (before Clara’s party in a few weeks). Should be interesting (and maybe insane). Fingers crossed that we get ‘er done…
xo,
s
Ooh. I had to share this item I just found! (I was hunting for flexible downspout extenders that someone up there pointed out for me.) It is a diverter that directs rainwater into your rain barrels, but automatically directs water down the downspout if your barrel is full. SO cool.
http://www.gardeners.com/Downspout-Diverter/Watering_RainBarrels,33-991RS,default,cp.html
I know you guys cut your downspout off, but it looks like this kind of thing can work even for that, if a bit of the removed piece is cut off and attached to the diverter.
So very cool.
Love it!
xo,
s