Not much growing in the garden now. In the background you see some artichokes, and covered in straw is one of my two garlic beds. You can see little bits of green sticking through in a few places, where the garlic is growing through the straw.
Several bloggers have recently been talking about collecting rainwater. I don’t have any other source of water, and I have to collect all I use. Here’s what I inherited from the previous gardener in the way of rainwater collection systems.
Please ignore the trash piled next to it… You can’t really see but this is connected to the greenhouse gutter with a piece of cut garden hose connected with a clamp. It sits about 30cm off the ground on a small platform. At the bottom of the barrel is a tap, which unfortunately won’t connect to a hose so I can only use it to fill buckets or watering cans.
At the left, near the top, bent at a 90 degree angle, you can see an overflow pipe. An overflow pipe is something not everyone thinks of with a water barrel, but it’s very useful. If you don’t have one, the barrel will fill absolutely all the way to the top, which is usually not desirable. It can be hard to get water out of it or move it slightly without getting yourself wet if it’s filled all the way up. In addition, if you have more than one barrel connected in a cascade fashion, it’s normal they are connected via the overflow pipe(s) and each have their own tap.
In this case the barrel is an old plastic industrial barrel that probably had some chemical in it. It’s closed at both top and bottom, which will make it hard to clean if that’s ever necessary.
This barrel seems to work well enough, and I’ll use it for the time being.
On the other garden structure, the shed, there’s this prize winning setup:
This is just a garbage can on wheels sitting under the gutter pipe. You can’t really see it in the picture, but there is an overflow pipe in the middle near the top. There is no tap, which means the water has to be taken out of the top, and it will have to be cleaned more often because crud will accumulate on the bottom. I would like to have a barrel with a hose connection on it, so I’ll probably replace this with something a little higher tech when I get a chance.
Pretty cool that you have a shed and greenhouse on site to collect water from!
I know that like most gardeners, you wished you had more space, but seeing the space that you have makes me so envious!
I’d love to figure out some water collection system here, but our rain is so seasonal, it seems like it would just turn into a murky, mosquito-ridden, avian-flu breeding mess while it sat around waiting for the dry season to come. Do you have recommendations for a good way to keep collected water healthy for garden use for extended periods of time?
To kind of build off of Christina’s comment; how do you deal with bug larvae in an open container? I like that you have water stationed in various locations in your garden. Can you believe that companies will charge around 100 US dollars for a single 55 gallon harvester? I think the homemade ones are so much more practical.
I’m interested in setting up a rainwater collection and irrigation system next year. At the moment, I try to use mostly rain water for watering, or use water that collects in a small pond nearby.
So many gardening projects.
I wish I could easily grow globe artichokes. They look beautiful.
OG: I’m looking forward to those artichokes! They came from an Italian gardener who has a plot on the other side of the complex. They are the Purple Romagna type.
As far as keeping stored water fresh and free of mosquitoes and other insects, I’ll probably learn some more after I use it for a year or so, but I don’t think it’s as big of a problem as you might expect.
Before standing water becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes I think it has to both be very still, and sit around for a while, at least a week I guess. I think there is enough movement, between the fresh water coming in every time it rains and the occasional use. I may have to empty my containers from time to time as well as clean them.
Also my containers are not in the direct sunlight, and if I keep my garbage can I will probably have to find a way to cover it. These are probably the two most important things, and I think even if you live in a place with a wet and dry season like Southern California, you can easily store it though the winter if it’s protected from direct sunlight and kept in a closed or covered container.
I’ll certainly be on the lookout for my water turning rancid, and do something about it when it happens. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Garbage removal: The grate you see next to the blue wheely-bin fit into our Honda. We left it out on the street next to one of the city trash cans yesterday afternoon. I went out to a concert last night and it was still there. By the time I came home it was gone – picked up by the scavengers.
Amsterdam is one of the easiest cities in the world to recycle your trash! Our neighborhood especially, whatever you put out for collection is just picked over and gone within hours!
Patrick,
I’ve not had much of a problem with bugs or crud building up in my water collection barrels – though I make a point of covering them when full.
As for hose connections – mine have all started to leak in the past and it encourages you to use too much water. Plant crops that don’t need so much and those that do well let them fend for themselves eg potatoes. I spot water instead. OK I’d like more for the tomatoes but it keeps the courgettes in check.
Very interesting post about rain water colection, patrick. I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but I’m not sure this would work in such a dry climate as mine. We only have rain for 2-3 months a year (and this as been a very dry winter). I guess I could guive it a try next year.
Are your artichokes starting to produce flower? I discovered mine are already producing. Isn’t it a bit too early for that?
Everyone should pay more attention to John than me on this, because he’s been doing this for years. But honestly, I don’t ever hear anyone complain about their water collection system attracting bugs or getting rancid, even though it might seem like it would be a problem.
Gintoino: It’s much too cold here for the artichokes to be growing at all. I’ve also never grown them before. January does seem a little early however.
I too have been collecting for about 10 years and never had any trouble with mosquitoes etc. I have 2 barrels (I got a 2nd when the council offered them for £14 each) that are linked and a trip on the drainpipe so that I can use grey water in times of drought. I have a little pump connected to a hose which I can move from one barrel to the other. I haven’t had to use mains water at all.