Rain Water Collection

Though my garden is a simple and small container garden, my husband and I felt it would be wise to try and collect natural rain water to water the garden with.  Not only would it help to save money by not running the hose, but my understanding is that the rain water is actually better for the plants. There isn't chlorine and other added chemicals which can, in the long run, make for a less healthy plant.

I started by sticking some extra 5 gallon buckets at the base of a couple rain spouts. HAHAHA!  This was hilarious because after one small rain they would be beyond overflowing. We realized we needed something bigger.  My husband did some searching and followed several instructions for creating a rain collector out of a garbage bin.

We bought a cheap, fairly large garbage can.  It is 38 gallons, I believe.  Then, we took a roll of window screen and attached it around the top (lid off) with staples. Next, we cut a little section out of the lid so the gutter would fit down into it.  Finally, we attached a spout at the base to be able to drain out the water.

The screen is to keep bugs from getting down and into the water and drowing.  The water will be clean of buggies when we pour it out. As for the spout, it is just high enough to attach a garden hose.  However, we have plans to lift the whole bin up either on a built stand of wood or with cinder blocks.

While it is 38 gallons, this baby filled up with ONE good rain!  And it is only catching the water from half of my roof. I would love to have a second one because, well, DOUBLE THE RAIN WATER!  For now this works, though, because I only have a small container garden.  As I expand in coming years, I will expand on this as well.