You cannot depend on the rain to water your garden for you; this is unfortunate, because rainwater is free and requires no effort on your part. However, it's possible to do the next best thing and harvest rainwater, storing it for use when you need it most, such as during water restrictions amid a drought. Once you have a gravity drip irrigation system in place, you won't need to do anything more than watch the rain fall. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Lay down a 1/2-inch-wide PVC pipe that stretches from the end of your first garden row to the end of your last garden row. Make a mark on the pipe at every row, using a permanent marker.
2. Drill a 1/4-inch hole at every mark on the pipe. Keep the holes in a straight line.
3. Apply PVC cement to the inside of a PVC cap for the long 1/2-inch-wide tube. Slide the cap onto the end of the pipe that is furthest away from your house.
4. Coat one end of a water valve -- sized to fit a 1/2-inch pipe -- with PVC cement and slide it into the end of the long PVC pipe that is closest to your house.
5. Drill a 1/2-inch hole into a 50-gallon barrel, near the bottom. Position the 50-gallon barrel underneath a gutter downspout.
6. Insert one end of flexible tubing 3 inches into the hole in the barrel.
7. Fit a 1/2-inch washer-type filter over the end of the tube in the barrel. Apply silicon caulking to the joint between the tube and the barrel.
8. Apply PVC cement to the free end of the water valve that is in the long PVC pipe. Slide the end of the tube from the barrel over that end of the valve. Your rain barrel is now connected to the long PVC pipe.
9. Insert drip irrigation tubes into the holes in the long PVC pipe and caulk the joints. Run the tubes down each of the rows.
10. Insert a 1/4-inch-wide terminal dripper into the end of each drip tube. When it rains, the water will collect in the barrel. When you turn the valve on, the water will slowly leak out to keep your garden watered, even when it's sunny outside.
Tags: long pipe, pipe that, 50-gallon barrel, Apply cement, barrel Apply