One of the ongoing sustainability concerns for farming in the desert is water. This is a big issue, actually, with many large scale commercial farming practices using older methods of irrigation which often cannot be viable in the long term with the ever increasing number of people using the limited water supply.
Drought is commonplace, and extreme drought has brought frightening pictures and a concern for the future. Some states have outlawed water harvesting in the hopes of recharging dwindling supplies in underground aquifers.
I really feel that we can appropriately harvest water while recharging aquifers and responsibly reducing consumption, though it does require all of to work together and not waste.
We have put lots of research into making a water harvesting system for our veggies, and as we get better, we will also apply this to our sprouting system within the livestock pens, which should also help with flooding concerns in the rainy season.
This is our first prototype. We began with a blue barrel. Even though it was considered food safe, I soaked it three time with water and an ACE (apple cider vinegar) and water dilution before beginning.
While my husband recommended a larger saw, I have issues with my hands, and went for the smaller one! I used twine to set my line for cutting around the top. Despite the two holes already there, I know that I will need access to scrub the barrel out between seasons, as well as access for working on the bulkhead attachments.
Then I got to play with power tools. Off came the top of the barrel. That part was easy!
I had several of these blocks laying around- actually like five of them, so not enough for too much, but enough for this spot. I started off with two blocks- a single thickness, then added the additional since the overflow barrel is supposed to be a bit lower, and because I wanted plenty of clearance around the house bib.
Then it was time for MORE CLEANING. High power with the hose, then three more rounds with ACV, alternated with the hose. ACV is also great for keeping the algae down and the bugs away, so I put a little more in before I reassembled the while thing, too.
I just put the ACV straight in a spray bottle lots of uses for that!
Then I needed something to keep the top of the barrel on, so I improvised a little. I had some wooden dowels left over from another project, so I used roofing screws from yet another project to attached them to the outside. Note for future reference on this one- I put one of them right near a seam, and it is a little close to the lid top seam in that spot, so I have to be really careful putting the lid back on.
Here it is with the lid on, at the corner of the house. That is a pomegranate tree right behind, and there are several other plants along that edge of the porch.
I knew I neened a hole saw for the bulkhead that the hose bib would screw into. What I had was designed for wood. Rather than go crazy and buy another, I tried a test hole in the top first. It came out fine, so it was time to put the bulkhead hole in!
Fortunately, that was pretty easy. The sizes I had for hole saw bits were pretty close, and the first one I drilled was not quite big enough for the threads, so I ended up needing a second go round. That's okay, though, it worked.
The bulkheads are easily found at your neighborhood hardware store. Funny thing, these actually thread left handed. That was weird, but it went in easily, with a gasket to provide the seal from leaks on each side.
The outside was just as easy, too.
Then, with plumber's tape around the threads of the hose bib, it went in easily itself. We chose for it to angle down and away fro the porch to make the hose work easier for me.
Then I needed something in the top to let water in and keep gunk out. That started with a hole around the area where the test hole had gone.
Things were starting to look almost functional by this point!
Here is the close up of the fancy-dancy hose bib and bulkhead work.
Okay, so at that popoint I took a break to actually get dinner on the table, and then came back to work on the screening. I decided to go a little crazy with the caulking. And to keep the mesh down, I went high tech with a plant from the porch.
Pretty fancy, huh?
In the end, that didn't stay very flat, so I may screw it down with washers. We will have to see on that one!
Well, here is the prototype. As I type this, a storm is threatening, so I am REALLY hoping to get to see how it works tonight! On that note, here is to reducing waste and reusing where we can, and farming sustain-ably!
What projects have you tried? We would love for you to share all you have learned so we can all learn together! Have a great night.
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