This summer I finally went out and bought my own rain barrel to install on our house. I’ve been looking for a long time for food grade barrels to make my own but they seem to be increasingly hard to find as the idea of converting them into rain barrels is becoming increasingly popular. I found this Fiskars Rain Barrel (Fiskars 5996 Holden 48-Gallon Rain Harvesting System
No products were given to me for this review however affiliate links to Amazon are present.
The installation was fairly easy and only needed a hacksaw to cut into our gutter downspout and a drill with a paddle bit for making the hole into the rain barrel. The kit fit into a 1 inch cut out on the downspout and then hose was easily attached. The water spigot was simple to put together also. I made sure to add a few concrete blocks (that part cost less than $5 for 4 concrete blocks and 1″ caps) underneath the rain barrel to raise it where I wanted the barrel before installation since that would make it easier to get water out either with a hose or a watering can.
I’ve been very happy with its performance this year and I can’t stress enough how much a rain barrel helps in the garden. I don’t use the water I collect in it for the vegetable garden but I’ve used it just about everywhere else! The only thing that bugs me is that it’s actually $10 cheaper now than when I bought it! (currently $54.95 with free shipping at Amazon.) Isn’t that always how it works?
More on the Rain Barrel – 11 Years Later!!!
5 Methods to Propagate Plants!
Here’s a topic I’m a huge fan of: PLANT PROPAGATION! I’ve talked about it repeatedly and those of you who have followed Growing The Home Garden over the years have seen some of my plant propagation experiments. I thought for today’s Friday Five post I…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day September 2010
Thank you for stopping by to see what’s blooming here in TN during September. Also thanks to Carol for hosting Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day each month. Before you look at the pictures below I want to invite you to participate in the Fall Color Project…
Along Came a Spider…
…who sat down and ate the moth beside her. OK maybe that’s not the story you’re used to hearing but that’s what happened. This little guy is a common one in North American gardens. You’ve probably seen him somewhere, Phidippus audux a common jumping spider….
Thrifty Gardening Tips: Think Small Plants
Here is Part 4 in The Home Garden’s series of posts about how to garden on a budget.Often when people go to the plant nursery they look around and see what they can get for that immediate impact in their landscape. They see larger more…
TGT: Layering Shrubs, Trees and Perennials
Part 11 of The Home Garden’s weekly series about gardening on a budget (aka gardening cheap!)Layering is a fantastic way to increase your plants with very little risk and a high rate of success. It is a simple method of plant propagation where roots are…
Wildflowers in the June Garden
Here are some pictures of what is blooming for today’s Wildflower Wednesday post which is hosted by Gail at Clay and Limestone. This June has been unusual in that the temperature has been 10+ degrees warmer than it should be. In fact the weather report…
Discover more from Growing The Home Garden
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
I have two rain barrels and I love them. Now that we have a new garage, we plan on installing 2 more. I'll show my husband this barrel, the one we bought was $75. This one is a better deal. Question for you, is there a reason why you don't water your vegetable garden with the rain barrel water?
Meemsnyc,
I don't use it on the veggies because I'm paranoid about contaminants. 😉 Birds sit on our roof often and we have asphalt shingles which will leach chemicals into the rain water. It might be perfectly OK to do but I have plenty of other things to water!
My daughter has the exact same one. The price has come down a bit. It is a very pretty barrel I think. Look for the food grade ones at the local newspaper, Habitat, car washes or even auto parts stores. You can never have too many.
We call them "water butts" in the UK, which always sounds slightly risque! I tried to find food grade containers to use here too, but due to popularity they are now more expensive that tailour mades ones. I now have 4 slimline ones, three linked in a chain and one for the greenhouse (I've run the gutters together so it collects from both sides). Invaluable, particualry now that we are on a water meter!
It is great to hear the water barrels worked for you. I am building up a garden from the ground up (excuse the pun) and I am keeping an eye out for two reliable water barrels. This past fall was considerably dry so I want to save as much water (keeping up with my goal of sustainability). I am glad to see that it worked well for you. Awesome blog, I will continue to read!