Growing Vegetables

Saving rainwater is a great way to reduce your need for municipal water. It is useful during those dryer summer months especially if your area experiences drought conditions. A single inch of rain falling on 1000 square feet of roof can add up to over 620 gallons.

The amount of rainwater you wish to collect will dictate which system you decide on. If you want large volumes you will need to go with a large storage tank or cistern. Cisterns are often made of concrete and be expensive and time consuming to construct.

If you have a smaller home garden then a simpler alternative is a rain barrel. You can find many for sale or construct one yourself from plastic drums or even garbage cans. If one doesn’t meet your needs than you can hook up several or more barrels connected with pipe with an overflow drain on the last barrel. When constructing your own system remember the following guidelines.

–Use a tight lid to block light and keep out animals. This will also stop the development of algae

–Add a screen to the intake to keep debris out of the water

–Use an overflow device to drain excess water away from your homes foundation when the tank is full.

–Monitor your system at least weekly to check for blockages

Related posts:

1. Growing Garlic - Harvesting
2. Vegetable Garden Plans
3. Rainfall / Water for your Garden
4. Soil Drainage Test
5. Growing Parsley