Rain Barrels for Free!

I love my two bright blue rain barrels. They collected enough rain water last year that we did not use the hose even once to water the garden!  Not only does this lower our water bill, it saves the resources used to clean the water through the sanitary sewer system.

There's a great opportunity for people who leave in Clintonville to install rain barrels for free in a small geographic location sponsored by Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed.   From FLOW watershed coordinator Heather Dean, "Eligible households who agree to participate in the program will receive 1-3 free rain barrels to install on their property. The target area is:400-500 blocks of E. Tulane, 400-500 blocks of E. Tibet (south side only), 400-500 blocks of E. Crestview (north side only), 400 block of Kelso, 2700-2800 blocks of W. Kensington Pl., and Indianola Ave, between Olentangy Blvd. and Tibet. Rd. (east side only)."  We live two houses from the 400 block of E Tibet, sadly out of the zone.

FLOW is holding an orientation meeting with Mayor Michael Coleman on March 9 at 6:30 PM at Overbrook Presbyterian Church at 4131 N. High St.  I plan to attend to show my support for this type of program and home gardening in general.  Heather Dean is collecting RSVPs at hdean@olentangywatershed.org or 267-3386.

Columbus residents not in the targeted area who would like to obtain a rain barrel may do so through the FLOW cost share program, which allows you to purchase a barrel for a discounted price of $30 when you attend a rain barrel workshop.  You can register for that program on-line at www.olentangywatershed.org. Reports are that the workshops are filling fast!

My favorite source for barrels is the friendly folks at Rain Brothers.  I chatted with them at the OEFFA conference where they showed off their newest barrel, the Rain Station pictured at left.  It holds 60 gallons and hooks directly into your gutter through a clever insert.  At $109 for the whole setup, it is a great decorative addition to any garden.  I'm also attracted to the culvert rain catchers.  We are adding some beds this year so a new barrel might be useful.

There are places where catching water is not legal.  We're lucky in Ohio to be surrounded by resources that enable rain collection.  Let's show them our support!

Prevent Damage by Winterizing your Rain Barrel

We love our baby blue rain barrels.  They collect rainfall and we barely had to use city water for the garden this summer.

If you live in a place where winter weather dips below freezing frequently, like Ohio, it's important to winterize plastic rain barrels.  When water freezes and expands, it can crack the plastic walls or spigot joints.

Here's how:

1) Drain the barrel by opening up the spigot.

2) Remove the hose and store it in a garage or basement.

3) Turn rain barrel upside down to prevent winter rain from refilling.

4) Use flexible hose or reattach gutter to direct any winter rain away from your home's foundation.

If you have the space, you can move your barrel into the garage or a sheltered area, but most of us aren't that lucky.

My personal debate is whether to empty and flip them today or wait.  There's a vicious wind storm coming this afternoon that might blow empty barrels around the yard.  Of course the wind is also dropping temperatures, so water in the barrels will potentially freeze and crack them.  What would you do?

Thank you, neighbor Jan, for prompting this post!

Rain Barrels!

We spent a lot of time outside today.  18 mile bike ride, chalk on the sidewalk, cleaning up the garden. I brought out my camera to have a record of this

and realized that right around the corner was our beautiful blue rain barrel.

Ours is a standard barrel from Rain Brothers.  If you live in Columbus, seek out these cool dudes.  They have a store with limited hours on Arcadia and Calumet and you can order by phone or email.

We have our barrel mounted on a stand made from wood scraps we had.  The stand allows the water to develop a little head so it will better flow out of the hose at the bottom.  A few plastic elbows later and it was attached to our downspout.  The black tube is a runoff so any excess water flows into the existing drain.

We had another rain barrel out back purchased from that big online gardening shop for almost twice what the rain bros barrel cost.  It cracked all around the bottom this winter, so we will be replacing it soon with another baby blue.

Amazingly, our two rain barrels kept the gardens watered all summer last year.  We only turned on the city water hose to fill up a swimming pool a few times for the girl and wash the dogs.  We saved the energy used in city water treatment and also the cash we pay for water with these simple cisterns.  If you garden, rain barrels are definitely the way to go.