Finally broke down and got a $50 rain barrel for my garden

I kept putting it off because I thought it was dumb to spend money on something that just catches rain. But after my water bill hit $85 in July from watering tomatoes, I changed my mind. Grabbed a basic 50 gallon barrel from the hardware store and set it up in an afternoon. Last weekend's thunderstorm filled it up halfway in like 20 minutes. My August water bill dropped by $30 just from using that for the plants. Anyone else have luck with these things or did I get lucky?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyatt_fox6814d ago

My 55 gallon barrel paid for itself in two months flat, same as yours. I hooked it up to my downspout with a simple diverter kit from the home store for like 15 bucks extra. That first heavy storm filled it to the top and I just used a watering can to hit the garden every evening. The water is softer than tap too, my tomato plants actually looked greener after a couple weeks. I've got two barrels now linked together and it covers all my vegetable beds through the dry spells.

milam4213d ago

Did you hook it up to a downspout or just leave it open? @wyatt_fox68 mentioned the diverter kit and that's the key, makes it so much easier to keep it full without messing around.

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