Happy Earth Day everyone! (And Happy Birthday to Sherry’s little brother, who’s also known as Almost-Doctor-Dan <– warning, very cute baby Clara pics here). In honor of this eco-tastic holiday, we thought we’d share a story about driving down the street and noticing this sign:
We’d been meaning to get a new rain barrel since we left the old one that we made at our first house when we sold it. Of course we would have been happy to make another one, but we had yet to get to that part of our to-do list (and sign up for a local course to get our mitts on a large food safe barrel). So we took that sign as, well, a sign and pulled over to window shop. Not that the place had windows…
We learned that we had happened upon Carolina Mike’s Produce Stand, but he’s still a week or so away from having produce. And although it looks very out-in-the-boonies, it’s actually on a busy suburban street across from a Target (Richmonders, it’s on the corner of Forest Hill Avenue and Cherokee Road in the Stratford Hills area).
Mike was super friendly and told us the tall black barrels (formerly used to transport jalapenos) were $60 and the shorter blue ones (which used to contain soy sauce) were $40 – even though both were 55 gallons. Coincidentally, $40 was exactly what we spent to make our last rain barrel (through a local class) so we took the easy route and tossed one of the $40 ready-made barrels into the backseat. That is, after I took a trip home to drop off Clara and Sherry to make room for my new blue best friend.
The barrel actually sat unused in our carport for a week-ish while we debated where to put it. But we finally decided that he’d be most helpful near the small fenced garden area behind our carport / next to our sunroom. And yes, I realize this would make more sense had I already written an outdoor tour post for you guys (I promise that’s around the corner – the pics are taken and uploaded, just not yet edited).
This area currently acts primarily as Burger’s restroom, but we’re soon hoping to de-liriope most of it (aka: dig up that floppy grass) and trade that thin brick pathway for a nice big stone patio on this side of the house (since it’s accessible from a sliding door in the living room). But we still plan to leave plenty of plant beds that will need watering around the perimeter of our DIY patio, so that downspout next to the brick half-wall (which is actually the back of the carport) was calling our rain barrel’s name.
First I made sure we could fit a watering can under the faucet (aka “hose bib”) which meant I wouldn’t need to raise the barrel on blocks or anything. Though if I had made the barrel from scratch, I probably would’ve put the hose bib in a bit lower so I could use all of the water in the barrel – not just what collects above faucet level. The good news is that our last barrel has a spigot in around the same spot and we didn’t have any issues with smell or algae from the water that collected below the spigot after years of use (we can always tip the barrel forward to fully drain it).
Anyway, once I leveled the ground where the barrel would sit and figured out where my downspout would need to end, I got out a small hacksaw and began cutting away.
You can see a more thorough breakdown of this process on our original “How To Build A Rain Barrel” post. But basically I squeezed the curved spout back in place after putting down the hacksaw, slid the barrel underneath it, and called it a day. Voila! Infinite rain collecting potential:
We’re still waiting for an actual rainstorm to put Ol’ Blue to good use, but it does feel good to be back in the rain barrel club again. Even if our new barrel is so bright that it doesn’t exactly blend quietly into the landscape.
Once we begin to more formally tackle this area we might take a paintbrush to it (brick red perhaps?) to help camouflage it a bit better (like we did to our utility boxes and propane tank here). Heck, maybe we’ll even plant a few things around it to further obscure it. ‘Til then, we’ll just consider it our not-so-subtle way of celebrating Earth Day.
Is anyone else in the rain barrel club after a lapse in membership like us? Or do you have big patio plans on the agenda? Every day Sherry taps me on the shoulder and says “Wanna go dig up some liriope? Come on you know you want to.” Sheesh. It’s like the adult version of “are we there yet?” Can’t a husband bask in the I-built-you-a-12-foot-console-table-glory for a little longer? No? Ok, I guess I have some shoveling to do…
Layla says
I don’t know anything about rain barrels, but couldn’t you drop some clean gravel or something into the bottom of it? It’ll mean less sitting water, and any sediment would still sink into the gravel cracks, right? Just an idea, I don’t really know what I’m talking about here. =D
YoungHouseLove says
That could work! Although it might make the barrel really heavy (not that it’s not already heavy when it has gallons of water in it!). Ours is sealed with a few layers of mesh netting so mosquitoes don’t get in, so it might be a lot of work to find a way to get that gravel in. Luckily our last barrel had the same space under the spigot and it worked just fine.
xo,
s
ka says
Yay Carolina Mike! I used to visit their old location(near that abandoned house next to the Hyundai dealership on Midlo) almost every weekend until they moved :( Had no idea they were just up at Forest Hill – I’ll have to visit in a few weeks when they have produce!
candace @ thecandace.com says
I’m glad you got a new rain barrel (and left the old one for the buyers of your old house – hopefully they take advantage of it!)! Happy Earth day – I love all things green!
monogrammed mrs. says
What about mosquitoes? ?
YoungHouseLove says
There’s a few layers of mesh across the top so they can’t get in. Take that mosquitoes!
xo,
s
Katy says
So last night I was at dinner with family and friends. One of my dear friends asked if I saw the latest cute pictures of Clara’s invite project for her one year bday. I was “yes of course! and how cute is Clara and Burger together!!!”
In that moment we both realized that we talk about you guys like you’re our friends and we know you so well. It was pretty surreal/funny.
Thanks for making our work days interesting :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we’re blushing. That’s sweet.
xo,
s
Kristen M says
Yay for rainbarrels! I built mine last year as one of my first garden projects when I moved from an apartment to a rental house here in NE D.C. You can click on my name to go to a picture of it, plus step by step photos of making it.
I can’t take credit for the design though, it came directly from an instructables found here: http://www.instructables.com/id/High-Volume-Rain-Barrel/
I got my rain barrels off craigslist, but they can also be bought from the local pepsi plant fro something like $10 a piece so I’ve been told. Glad to see this project on your blog!
C.R.A.F.T. says
what a great idea :) I always try to collect rain water in my little watering can! Why don’t they make those barrels green to blend in a little better…?
YoungHouseLove says
I know right? Haha. They actually reuse food containers (to make it even greener) so they’re just barrels used to transport things like pickles and soy sauce. So I guess that’s why they come in lots of colors.
xo,
s
Little Brick Ranch says
This has been on my list of things to do since we moved in…uh…a year and a half ago!! I guess I am a bit behind.
Since the hubs is off work today perhaps I will enlist his help to go pick one up and get it installed…it’s even raining today!!
In honor of Earth Day I am giving away a set of reusable totes – I am sure you are too busy to stop by but perhaps some of your followers might? FREE always works for me! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Wahooo! Free stuff = a good time. Thanks for sharing!
xo,
s
Jamie Escola says
You two are just amazing. I have so many projects that I want to tackle (including a rain barrel), but often I’m not sure where to begin and whether or not I can do it myself. And then, “Ta-Daaahhhhh!” Another amazing post on my favorite blog, and everything I need to know is right there. Thank you so much. I’m ready to dive into my next project!
Melody says
Just curious, What do you use the water for? Watering plants? Can you filter it and drink it?
YoungHouseLove says
It’s basically free water from mother nature, so we use ours to water the garden, veggies, and even wash the car or the windows. We wouldn’t drink it just in case something funky got in there (like pollen or bird poo, haha).
xo,
s
Cathy says
Oh how I wish we could have one, but they are illegal where we live in Colorado. All the “runoff” water is spoken for. Water rights are freakishly important here. Because water is such a precious resource, runoff water is supposed to go straight into the ground or down the drain. No saving it, because you’re preventing it from making it’s way into the drainage system, therefore from making it’s way to the river systems that take it to cities south of us and depend on the water for their daily needs. So for people who live in drought-prone areas, be sure to check your local laws about rain barrels. I wish we could have one. I really do!
Heather says
I live in Colorado too and am not allowed to have rain barrel in my water district. Such a bummer! I would love to have one too!
Jessica says
Hmm, I’ve never seen or heard of these rain barrels. I guess they are not as common in So Fla. What is it used for? To water your garden when it hasn’t rained?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, it’s basically free water from mother nature, so we use ours to water the garden, veggies, and even wash the car or the windows.
xo,
s
Candice says
Awesome post guys! TreePeople, the amazing Los Angeles based environmental non-profit started by teenagers in the 70’s has a great Rain Barrel 101 newsletter if people are interested.
https://www.treepeople.org/sites/default/files/images/learn/SustainableSolutionsJuly.pdf
Wom-mom Ethne says
Can’t wait to see some of your yard work.
El says
If you are worried about not using the last of the water you could always put another spigot at the very bottom and attach a short piece of hose to it. The short piece of hose is to later easily be able to screw your normal garden hose on to use, unless you water uphill you can then lay that down or attach a soaker hose to it.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that idea! Maybe someday we’ll adapt ours!
xo,
s
Ashley @ DesignBuildLove.co says
totally awesome! I’ve been wanting to get one for a while… I wonder if they sell them somewhere around here… off to do an internet search…
Thanks for sharing and happy Earth Day!!!
Shannon says
Thanks for the location info! We’re in Church Hill and have been thinking about setting one up for a while now.
Ashton says
What a great Earth Day post! And thanks for the great tutorial. I have been wanting a rain barrel for quite sometime. Thanks for the reminder!
Amanda says
So, I really like the idea of a rain barrel, but given all the heavy rains we’ve had in Northern Virginia lately, I’m wondering what happens to the run off after the barrel is full. I don’t want to flood or erode my house so I was wondering if you all had an idea for a detour for the rest of the rain water after the barrel fills.
YoungHouseLove says
Only once in the course of a few years of use did ours fill completely (65 gallons is a lot of water!) so we just opened the spigot of our barrel and some water drained out into our garden (since the barrel was placed to face the garden and driveway, it wasn’t directing water back at the house or anything).
xo,
s
Julie says
I live in Missouri (sorry about sending those storms your way after we’ve had them!) and we’ve had tons of rain. Tons. I have 2 65 gallon barrels and both were full last Friday from the rain. We have drip hoses hooked up to ours and they emptied over the weekend…just in time for Tuesday’s rain. It hasn’t really stopped since then so I’m on overflow.
For overflow, we’ve hooked up an overflow hose to ours and it points out into the yard. We just have a short one right now but our long-term plan includes gravel, rock, and directing the rain water to a rain garden as a collecting pool. Another option is to put two rain barrels side-by-side and having your gutter run into only one of them. For the overflow, have a hose connecting the one barrel to the other and you have plenty of water to go around.
gk says
you can get a diverter that connects your gutter to the rain barrel. water goes into the rain barrel until it gets full, then it goes back down the butter like usual. i’ve seen them online – you can probably just google rain barrel diverter.
Mary says
This comment has nothing to do with the earth day post, though I did just start a compost bin using your tutorial! Going well so far!
Anyway, saw this http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Lionheart-Wheely-Bug-Small/dp/B000GX0B3M and I think Clara *needs* it for her birthday. The bumble bee one of course! =)
YoungHouseLove says
So cuuuuute!
xo,
s
suki says
We are getting a rain barrel once we finish up with the backyard. They are pretty pricey, so we might wait until the next subsidy from the city. :)
Rebecca @ the lil house that could says
Hm a bunch of posts in a row by John? What do you guys have up your sleeve over there! Slipcovers?
I’m just teasing you guys, but you are phenomenal at switching roles to get things done! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, we were just joking that John has been the post phenom this week. It’s the most he’s ever written to date. Meanwhile I’m just on baby duty more. Wish I had something more exciting going on, except Clara is kinda exciting in her own right. Haha. This week I taught her to clap, give kisses, and give high fives. Such a fun age!
xo,
s
Rebecca @ the lil house that could says
Haha since I’ve been busy with grad school work the past couple of weeks, Mike’s been posting like twice a week. He told me he was going to change the name of my blog to Mike’s Lil House That Could when I wasn’t looking. I’ll have to rub it in that John posted here all week and didn’t threaten to change your blog name to John’s Young House Love ;)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, if he did I would change Clara’s name to Sherry’s Clara. Haha.
xo,
s
Rebecca @ the lil house that could says
Best comeback ever. Unfortunately I don’t have children, and my degree will indeed have just my name on it haha
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, better luck next time!
xo,
s
Adam says
I know several people who ended up putting a small pump in the bottom so they could more easily get water to their multiple gardens and flower beds by attaching a garden hose.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s smart! Maybe someday we’ll try that.
xo,
s
gk says
we’re scheduled to get a rain barrel in june. we had been debating sourcing food safe barrels and making our own, but then we discovered that the dc gov’t sponsors a program called riversmart homes (http://ddoe.dc.gov/ddoe/cwp/view,a,1209,q,499740.asp – apologies if i’ve missed any dc folks mentioning this in the comments). basically, if you live in dc they’ll come do a stormwater run-off assessment on your home and will recommend a variety of improvements (they’ll pay for up to a certain amount). our lot is so small that we’re not eligible for much, but we can get a rain barrel installed for $30 which we’re excited about since who knows when it would have made it to the top of our to-do list otherwise.
still need to source some food safe barrels so we can make a composter, though!
Amber says
Have you ever had problems with mosquitoes and your rain barrel?? My hubs is hesitant to get one since he thinks it’s going to be a breeding ground for those pesky guys.
Happy Earth Day…and more importantly Good Friday! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, there are a few layers of mesh to keep mosquitoes out which seems to work!
xo,
s
Erika says
Hey, nice job with the barrel. There is someone on Richmond’s Craigslist selling all different colors too and the prices are decent.
Staci says
so happy you posted this!! We are about to put ours out and need to do this exact same thing!!
Marissa says
I live in an apartment complex across the street from a doctor’s office that has the PERFECT spot for a rain barrel. During a storm it’s sometimes all I can do not to go there and tell them how much I wish they would put one there, lol. Glad yours looks to be working out! :-)
Katie says
Last Saturday there was a city recycling event where I live and they were selling rain barrels, worm compost bins and regular composters for $25 each!!! I already have a worm bin so I got myself a rain barrel and regular composters. So very exciting! There not ready to go yet, hopefully sometime soon though!
Ana Silva says
I want one so bad. I can’t wait to get one. I might have to drive over to Richmond for one of these. When is the sale over, you know?
YoungHouseLove says
Not sure, it seemed like he’d be carrying them regularly for at least the spring and summer.
xo,
s
kelly says
I want one of those!
Kenley says
Thanks for the inspiration! I sent my husband (on his lunch break) to go get one from the same guy you got it from, but he tried to charge us more for the black one, he talked him down. Way to go hubby!!! :)
Jen S. says
I live in Richmond and will gladly dig up your liriope for you :-).
We took the rainbarrel class you mentioned in a post awhile back and just had our 1st water “harvest” this week. (We had a baby in the meantime and just installed it.) Thanks for all the good blog posts!
Laura Lewis says
I felt pathetic that it took me half the post to figure out what a rain barrel was. I’ve never heard of a rain barrel before! I’ll blame it on living in sunny Southern California my whole life. :)
Danielle says
I know how much you guys love Michael’s so when I found these coupons I thought I’d share :) The first one is for 40% any reg. priced item thru the 29th! And the second is for TODAY (the 22nd) ONLY for 50% off! well I must go. I’m on my way to Michael’s to pick up some supplies for my new DIY project!
Enjoy everyone! :)
http://michaels.p.delivery.net/m/p/mich/cpn/coupon.asp?email=kiki.keiko%40yahoo.com&mid=1102820802&cid=12794702948
http://michaels.p.delivery.net/m/p/mich/cpn/coupon.asp?email=kiki.keiko%40yahoo.com&mid=1102820802&cid=12804654292
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much for sharing!
xo,
s
Julia says
Just wondering if you guys wanted to freecycle that liriope! I can have it dug up for you first thing in the morning so you can scratch that off your list. Just saying!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, yup we’re now convinced that we should post a free you-dig-it-you-get-it ad on craigslist or freecycle! It might take us a few days to post it though (we’re waiting for Miss Utility to come out and confirm there’s nothing underneath that we might hit).
xo,
s
Eileen says
We are in the process of building our rainbarrel (per your workshop instructions – thanks!) and ours was bright blue as well! We spray painted it with Krylon Fusion (http://www.homedepot.com/KRYLON/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ5vu/R-202272633/h_d2/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053 – ours was in dark green) so that it doesn’t stand out so much. Worked wonderfully, but alas, the spray paint definitely doesn’t come VOC free!
sistakt says
Cool. We have about 6 barrels right now and our plan today is to get them operating. My boyfriend was researching ways to do it online and I was checking out my blogs…. you two helped the worlds combine!
Aimee@ the Functional Space says
Hey Guys! Can I get added to the list for digging up and hauling away your liriope?? Seriously, I live in Mechanicsville and I am in need of shade loving plants for my yard. I’ve got lots of spots just begging to be planted.
Glad to see this reminder about the rain barrels too. The Husband and I have been talking about it for awhile but haven’t actually gotten around to it yet.
YoungHouseLove says
Sure! It seems like a number of locals are interested so it might a few days to get an ad up craigslist and announce it to you guys (we’re waiting for Miss Utility to come out to ensure there’s nothing underground that people could hit while digging).
xo,
s
Sara says
Totally random and unrelated to your rain barrel post, but I came across this site while surfing the interwebs today. http://blogs.babble.com/family-style/2010/08/25/this-gift-will-be-the-hit-of-the-baby-shower/
I am pretty sure they got the idea from you, or vice versa? :)
Happy Earth Day,
Sara
YoungHouseLove says
So cute! Love it.
xo,
s
Andrea says
I started reading your blog when we bought our first house about 2 months ago (we’re on the verge of moving in… like on Monday!) But I read your rain barrel post with a lot of interest. Right after I did, my local co-op advertised a rain barrel making class, and I jumped at the chance to sign up. It’s next Saturday! Our backyard slopes toward our house so it will really help us keep our house dry (until we fix the grade in the back…) as well as help limit runoff. Thanks for all the great posts, I enjoy your blog guys.
Ali says
We need to do this. It would kill two birds with one stone (or rain barrel :)) because we have a smooshed gutter chunk in one downspout and it would be a great place to put a rain barrel. Eco-friendly, addresses gutter-smooshing, win win.
Nancy says
As a county volunteer that has helped at several public rain barrel workshops (one just a couple of days ago), I’m going to say a couple of things that we teach the public.
You didn’t show how you set yours up for overflow, and it doesn’t appear that your barrel has an overflow outlet. It is currently Chesterfield (& surrounding) county policy that all barrels made in workshops must have an overflow outlet. The reasoning is that you never want the water level to reach the screening (or lid) and create standing water for mosquito breeding. It also prevents the down spout from pouring a horrendous volume of water into an area (and creating flooding or erosion issues) when your barrel is full. It’s just a smart thing to have. Having an overflow outlet also allows you to join barrels together for even more storage. If you have an outlet and it just doesn’t show – ignore my rant. ;)
It is not a good idea to have gravel in the bottom. Your faucet is rather higher than we would recommend – but it’s easy enough to tip the barrel and completely empty it during a dry period. Having gravel just makes this harder and messier to do.
Raising the barrel at least one cinderblock in height (use 2 side by side due for proper width) will help increase the gravity flow and allow a wider range of buckets to be filled.
I am concerned that the metal grid on the top of yours has such big holes – but you say there are layers of netting – so I have to assume they are attached to the underside.
You can buy organic mosquito dunks that can be floated in your barrel for extra protection. It goes without saying that never, ever use this water for human or pet consumption. Car washing should be done with caution due to possible grit in the water.
For those wanting liriope – note that there is tame natured clumping types and more aggressive running types!
Drop me a line if you decide to get rid of your oriental style concrete statue – I have just the place for it in my garden!
Melissa @ HOUSEography says
Check out my friend Holly’s painted rain barrel which I think is adorable!
http://www.benellagardendesigns.com/More_Info.html
YoungHouseLove says
Cute!
xo,
s
Corinne says
Oh my gosh, great score! This is such a great idea too. I can’t believe I missed it before! I think I may have to track one down and make my own rain barrel for the backyard.
Sarah says
lol, I saw the exact same sign this morning (live in Westover Hills) and wondered about them. Thanks for the info!
Julie says
I have 2 65-gallon barrels right now but we’re in flood mode so they aren’t enough. I’m looking into making a nice rock path for the rain barrel overflow to go into and have it lead to a basin filled with ferns and a magnolia tree. Our original purpose for having a rain barrel was to eliminate our basement flooding and so far it’s helped but we’ve got a ways to go.
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
Great info, both in the post and in the comments! I learn so much from other commenters here, too! :-)
cassy says
That is SUCH a GREAT idea!!! I am definitely going to have to try that!!
Thanks for sharing.
Amanda Wells says
I always have wanted a rain barrel! Maybe I’ll finally do it !
http://www.amandadovewells.com/?page_id=45