Rain barrels are easy to make and to use.

When lane grew up in the sixties and seventies she remembers how important every drop of water was to the family’s garden from which they, in large part, depended upon for eating. Her grandmother would set her wash tubs under the drips of the house to catch all the water she could so they wouldn’t have to carry the water from the creek.

We/lanes family had no well and only a spring. You didn’t use spring water for watering plants as it was sometimes limited in quantity. They depended on god to supply rain so when it didn’t rain there was water in the wash tubs to water the garden. So lane learned early in life that every drop of water matters. So now lane has her own garden to care for she has two rain barrels with one on each end of the house. There is a spigot in the bottom of the barrel so it’s easy to use. Lane says “believe me it’s easier than carrying water from the creek”.

We used five gallon buckets until random chance brought us two fifty five gallon plastic ones. I used pieces of wire lath for screenage to keep out leaves or other unwished for items. Lowe’s supplied plumbing parts; a lever operated gate valve with washer and nut for attaching to the barrel. I drilled the appropriate sized hole, put the washer on the outside with silicone caulk and did the same on the inside including the caulk. No leaks, no leaves and the cats sleep on the screenage.

In WVA we called water we carried “walking water” when our running water from the well or spring went dry. As lane says rain water in a barrel is much easier than walking water.