This spring, after the garden was planted, I brought out all my garden hoses. They were uncoiled and I inspected them for any visual damage. After hooking them all up and checking them for leaks they were coiled up neatly in various spots in the garden. And that’s where they have sat until now.

All the rain earlier this season has eliminated the need for the water hoses until now. The spot watering I have been doing has all came from my rain barrels. It is a good way to put the water exactly where I want it. If you only water the plant, only the plant benefits from the water. If all the garden is watered the weeds get watered too.

Today the spot watering was courtesy of the water hose. A watering wand replaced my bucket and the whole garden received a much needed drink. I may have had enough in my rain barrels for the job, but the hose was much quicker. The water in the barrels will be used for continued spot watering.

Here’s a quick tip: Put shut off valves on your hoses. It saves time and water when disconnecting hoses. It is also handy if you have to drop the hose for any reason. A great deal of water can be wasted when dropping a hose “just for a second”. They’re also handy when disconnecting a hose in one spot or to add a hose elsewhere. Water not just running on the ground is water saved.

Here’s another tip, this one for the rain barrels: If you’re using individual barrels that aren’t connected together, try to use the water equally from the barrels if you have more than one. One heavy rain may not fill one completely, but could be enough to top off multiple barrels.

I’ll see you in the backyard!

I’m very glad I put out my rain barrels when I did. In the last twelve hours 1.2″ of rain has fallen in my rain gauge. The four barrels are at least half full. That’s 100 gallons of water that won’t cost me a dime. None of the plants will be too thirsty for a few days anyway. It’s still raining now.

The storms of the past few days, mostly wind up until last night, didn’t cause much damage. A few sticks and limbs down was the worst of it. I don’t think any plants here will show any adverse effects.

My only concern is for a few rows of late planted seeds. My hope is the ground will dry out enough that they will germinate. If the ground stays saturated for too long the seeds may rot in the ground.

Now I’ll just wait for everything to dry up. Those sticks and limbs can be chipped and shredded and used as mulch for the raspberries.

I’ll see you in the backyard!

I now have four rain barrels to assist me with summer watering.

I was fortunate to get the 55 gallon plastic drums free. Their previous contents were not harmful. A quick rinse and they were ready for use.

The barrels are being used on a roof without gutters. I used a jigsaw to cut the tops out of the barrels. Hardware cloth was used to make a cover for the barrels. This helps to keep debris out of the barrels. The barrels were then lined under the edge of the roof to catch the runoff.

I plan on just dipping the water out of the barrels and use it for spot watering. I’ll still have to use the water hose. It just won’t be as often.

It wouldn’t take much to drop in a small submersible pump to empty the barrel. This could pump to the water to the garden or used to fill a bucket.

I could have made them with a drain valve at the bottom. But I was trying to keep costs minimal.

Adding a valve is usually easy. Most barrels have two openings on top. these are generally two inch pipe thread. Using reducer fittings will allow you to add a drain valve. The barrel would then be turned upside down and supported off the ground on blocks to allow space for the valve.

The second opening could be used to connect a second barrel and so on. This system would allow multiple barrels to drain from one valve.

This approach would work very well for connecting to a downspout. All that is needed is one hole cut in a barrel to allow the downspout to be redirected to the barrel.

Quick tip: I try to save as much water as possible. Whether it’s saving the water you rinse vegetables with or the water left from the ice that melted in the cooler. It all can be dumped into a rain barrel and be used on your plants.

I’ll see you in the backyard!