Back on June 5, I said I could do better with my garden, and suggested specifically that I could use a rainbarrel. Well, yesterday, I am happy to report that I made a rainbarrel at the Oakhurst Community Garden!
Rob Cleveland, the husband of the garden's director, Stephanie Van Parys, gave the class to twelve participants in the middle of the lush, butterfly-laden garden as the 100-degree-sun beat down on us yet again. We used 44-gallon food-quality plastic garbage cans, drilled round holes for the cute little spigot and its attachments (to which I 'll attach my garden hose in order to use the rainwater to water the garden) and box-cut a hole on the lid for the flexible attachment to the gutter downspout, which I will hacksaw in order to position correctly. Once I got going with that power drill, I decided to add two overflow holes, to which I can add attachments and hoses and run to select trees or other parts of my garden. Making the rainbarrel was easy, fun and fast, and we ended the class at Rob and Stephanie's house where they showed us their four or so rainbarrels at work, as well as their enormous, fenced garden and their gorgeous chickens.
Rob told me that when they bought the house, which is on a double lot, the real estate agent told them the large space on the side of the house was worth nothing because it wasn't big enough for another house. It is now easily the biggest home garden in the neighborhood. Worth nothing? I guess that depends on your perspective!
The Van Parys/Cleveland garden was selected as a demonstration garden for Organic Gardening magazine and boasts numerous new crop varieties as well as heirlooms that the magazine wanted them to try, including a bumper crop of orange tomatoes that were literally falling over themselves in abundance. Stephanie gave me a generous handful of these tomatoes, plus peppers, eggplants, a pattypan squash and more, and I told her that I would honor this garden by featuring it in my One Local Summer meal, which I'm planning to make for tonight (I'll post about it tomorrow).
What's more, she told me I could pick some figs from the community garden--my "secret tree" has been done with its fruits for about two weeks now, so these were glorious words to hear! The fig tree at the community garden is gigantic, with long heavy arms that drape all the way to the ground as if they are going to scoop up small children and carry them away. The picking is easy and the figs are fat, fat, fat.
Ah, life is good. And I feel good that I took a positive step forward yesterday. I'll let you know how things go with Life with a Rainbarrel.
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2 comments:
I love my rain barrel. I made it out of a trash can and it was so easy. I've been able to water my plants all summer with just water from the rain barrel. It has almost gotten empty a few times but it always rains just when I need it to.
I'm really happy to see the use of rain barrels is catching on over there! In Europe it is the way people have watered their gardens for generations. You almost never see a sprinkler system over here, or someone standing out in the yard with a water hose. It was one of the first really big differences between the US and Europe that I noticed when I moved here.
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