Got the rain barrel rigged this afternoon with some flexible downspout extensions and concrete blocks from Home Depot. Hopefully, the blocks will raise it up enough to provide adequate gravity flow through the hose for watering the garden. The only thing I didn't do was drill an overflow hole near the top. The lid on the barrel fits loosely enough that, for the moment, overflow can just run out underneath the lid and down the sides of the barrel. We'll see what happens. Next will be to install another barrel next to it with a small hose connecting the two so as to capture 100+ gallons instead of 50+.
Here's a view of the front of the house with the barrel on the left end of the porch. Doesn't appear to be too obtrusive:
I stopped filling the bird feeders because of the "weed" problem they were causing in the flower garden below. The birds spill over so many of the "junk" seeds that commercial bird feed has in it that they all sprout in the soil below the feeders which creates a huge job keeping the "weeds" (don't know what they are) pulled. However, a couple of sunflower seeds sprouted so I have left those:
Most sunflowers I have seen before have one large flower at the top of the thick trunk. This one has eight flower pods getting ready to bloom. Is this normal? When I had sunflowers as part of my backyard garden, it was fun to watch small birds fly up and grasp the rough face of a sunflower with their feet and start digging sunflower seeds out of the face with their bills while the sunflower head swung to and fro with the weight of their activity. I have no idea what variety of sunflower was in the bird feeder, but this is going to be a pretty cool sunflower when all eight heads are blooming:
Instead of putting seeds in the bird feeders I sprinkled a pile on the sidewalk. No surprise as to who was Johnny-on-the-spot:
The finches wait patiently for their turn until Squire Squirrel has his fill:
When the Guard Lizard gives the birds the "All clear" from his position on the downspout . . .
. . . they come down to get their share:
The simple pleasures of living on .27 acres in lovely Union County, North Carolina.
Here's a view of the front of the house with the barrel on the left end of the porch. Doesn't appear to be too obtrusive:
I stopped filling the bird feeders because of the "weed" problem they were causing in the flower garden below. The birds spill over so many of the "junk" seeds that commercial bird feed has in it that they all sprout in the soil below the feeders which creates a huge job keeping the "weeds" (don't know what they are) pulled. However, a couple of sunflower seeds sprouted so I have left those:
Most sunflowers I have seen before have one large flower at the top of the thick trunk. This one has eight flower pods getting ready to bloom. Is this normal? When I had sunflowers as part of my backyard garden, it was fun to watch small birds fly up and grasp the rough face of a sunflower with their feet and start digging sunflower seeds out of the face with their bills while the sunflower head swung to and fro with the weight of their activity. I have no idea what variety of sunflower was in the bird feeder, but this is going to be a pretty cool sunflower when all eight heads are blooming:
Instead of putting seeds in the bird feeders I sprinkled a pile on the sidewalk. No surprise as to who was Johnny-on-the-spot:
The finches wait patiently for their turn until Squire Squirrel has his fill:
When the Guard Lizard gives the birds the "All clear" from his position on the downspout . . .
. . . they come down to get their share:
The simple pleasures of living on .27 acres in lovely Union County, North Carolina.
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Great photo montage, dad! Barone and I are currently trying to rig up a rain barrel in our tiny urban space, so I'll try and send some pictures when we're done. Can't wait to see that sunflower when it's bloomed.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dave.
ReplyDeleteRe: rainbarrels. The biggest challenge is getting the barrel. As you know, I got mine from Daniel. You can try the same thing around Philly, but my understanding from talking to folks is that getting them from the soda companies is pretty hard.
Options: You can buy ready-made barrels for <$100 online and probably in-town in Philly. A guy at Home Depot told me that Mecklenberg County has a deal where you can buy a complete rain barrel kit for about half the cost ($40+) of a commercial one. Exact same kit, but the County is selling them at cost to try to get people to conserve rainwater. Check with the Philly city/county government and see if they have any kind of similar program for water conservation.
I noticed on Craigslist the other day that a guy was selling barrels like the one I have -- he had one the same size as mine plus several that were half-size. They were cheap -- about$10-$20 each -- so check Craigslist.
Getting the connections for the spigot was a challenge. But now that I've done it I can tell you where to find them -- most important being the "bulkhead fitting" that provides a sturdy, non-leaking port in which you screw a spigot to connect a hose. Of course, in a small yard like yours you could always just dip the water out of the barrel with a bucket to water the plants instead of using a spigot and hose.
Let me know if I can help.