Collecting rain water for a green garden

Posted by Lisa Gilbride

Last year much of the South experienced severe droughts, so severe that many people were put on water restrictions. My Mom lives in North Carolina, where everyone was asked to water their lawns only on certain days and to limit flushing toilets. Mom has a beautiful garden that she spends a great deal of time trying to keep beautiful. With the water restrictions, she was concerned that she would lose all her hard work. She went and bought two 55 gallon rain barrels for $60/ea and installed them to her gutters on the house to collect rain that falls on the roof. She added spigots to the bottom so she could not only attach a hose and water her garden, she could also use the water to flush the toilets, thus conserving water from the municipality.

I thought this was such a great idea! I looked at the many rain collection systems that are available on the web and they range from simple barrels like my Mom’s to elaborate systems with filtration and water purification. With the more elaborate systems, you can even use the water for other things like bathing and cooking.

I asked my Mom how long it takes to fill a barrel and she said 1/4″ of rainfall fills them both to the top! Think of the possibilities if more people used this simple system!!!

And that is how my Mom keeps her garden “green”.

– Lisa Gilbride