The storage and keeping of water for all the things here at Wicked Raven Farm has always been a conundrum! It seems that no matter what I do, or what fashion I set the water barrels up - there is either never enough water when it's dry, or something doesn't work quite right to hold on to the water!
Yes - We are "weird water people" and we drill holes (aka water wells) for a living (at least hubby and his brother do - I mostly do paperwork for that part) - one would thik we coouold figure out a way to hold onto some water!
Above is a blue "soap" barrel that I got from one of the car washes in town. They are full of soap that I presume gets poured into the car wash machines to get your car clean, and then I can bring them home to clean out and use as water barels - or grow bins! Both are good! Don't get one if it has had any fuel or oil in them or chemicals other than soap - you can't get them clean enough to use on food plants!
Here is a white one that I had under the down spout of the "brown shed".
It had a chip out of the top and I was able to cob together a little secondary downspout for water to go ito a bushel tub (Rubbermaid style) for extra water storage. One of the things that this helps with on the farm is that I don't have to haul around huge lengths of hose - we have 4.5 acres here and it takes about 400 feet of hose to get adequate water to some of the outlying orchard areas and to the "far garden"! That stuff is heavy even if you do it 100 feet at a time!
This barrel was in the greenhouse, but it got a hole in it because I was not able to ge all the water out of it last fall before it froze. When water freezes in these barrels, you have to turn them upside down so the ice does not break your barrel. Upside down the ice falls out as it thaws, but if you just leave as is the water re-freezes and expands the plastic in some way, breaking it. Bummer!
This barrell has now been put to use to grow potatoes - I was able to cut it inhalf and have two rounds that work great for potato planting.
This 5 gallon bucket has been a perfect go-to for taking water in the greenhouse! I can carry it (now that my hiphas healed enough) and it can either be used directly on plants or poured into one of the other water tubs in the greenhouse. I feel like hose water is not always the best for the plants - i think they like rainwater better?
This barrel has a crack in the side but its at the top of the barrel so it doesnt lose too much water - I figured I would nurse it through this summer and replace it next year in the Spring. The one out by the garden had a large crack aslo in the top and that barrell is about 40" tall. I should have replaced it this Spring!
There I was - being efficient - both arms in the barrel scooping water into little 1 gallon buckets (because I was having a day where 5 gallons was too heavy for me - its a thing....) when all of a sudden - BAM! The whole side caved in and my face bashed right into the far side of the barrel!
Whoop! There it is! The reason you wear glasses or eye protection in the garden too! It's no light work! I almost always have on glasses of some kind, either sun glasses, seeing glasses, or safety glasses....which are everywhere at my house - because.....weird water people! This one day I was just going to water a few things that needed extra out at the far garden and then I had office work I needed to do! Needles to say, I did not get any of my things done!
The water barrel is now in the pile to go to the dumpster, along with a length of hose that wore out, and some tangled wire that is not salvagable!
And....now I have short water barrels at all points in the yard! No more halfway in the barrel to get some water out and the dogs can get a drink from them too! Bonus!
This bushel tub works great and actually looks a little nicer. I have a couple of plastic half whiskey barrel looking tubs that will replace these - I just can't go without the bushel tubs in the actual greenhouse! I use them too often!
Here I am a week later - healing nicely! I had texted a picture to my mom and sister, and the next day I had to come home from work early because I didn't feel good - I thought I had flu like symptoms, but when I called my mom and told her about what I was having happen - she said - "Well.....I think you have a concussion!" Sure enough, all the symptoms were concussion symptoms other than scaring the life outta the cheer group who were working out at the school at Cheer Camp! I kept forgetting that I had the gash and it really freaked some people out! I got a lot of "Are you safe at home?" lines of inquiry. It's good to have people who care, and who will cover for you when you concuss yourself on a plastic water barrel!
I hope all your rain makes rainbows, and you can easily water with it!
Blessed be!
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