Our garden is a destination

Twice in the last week people actually came by to show off my garden--people we  did not know! My husband was working out in the garage when a man and his son came into the yard. The man was pointing out the different types of vegetable to his small son--that is a cabbage, that is carrots, etc. Quite interesting to observe. The second time a woman brought her mother by in the car to see that the garden was in the front yard. We are managing to share more growing information than we otherwise could. Every day someone walking by stops to comment on the plantings. I have the tomatoes out now and am ready to start taking cabbages in. Most of the kohl rabi are already pulled but there are quite a few yet to bring in.

There is also a fair bit of interest in the rain barrels and how to build them and use them. So much fun!

Construction of Greenhouse no small task

With the weather being a bit more favorable this fall the tomatoes and peppers were setting like crazy but not quite ready to pick. I put them into much larger containers which probably helped with their growth but presented a real problem moving them into the sunroom area for the winter. many were very heavy and there would be no space for seed starting. So off we went to Lowe's for 6 mil plastic sheeting and to the garage for scrap wood. We managed to make the entire 6'x7' structure with what we had on hand or could re-cut. I even made a door out of the old sliding door we do not use any more. I didn't move the water barrel out as it is full with 55 gallons and should help keep the temperature a bit more stable this winter.
 It heats up pretty good radiently which may be a problem on warmer days (not many scheduled any time soon!) but isn't keeping much over ambient by the end of the night. I pulled the oil radient heater and the red Xmas lights out of the sunroom and was able to keep the greenhouse about 10 degrees over ambient at 40-42 so we'll see how it does. I have put in more buffer (cardboard) around the pots too. My reading says to add bubble packing wrap to trap more heat from sunlight but not sure how much it retains over night. 
We did get the frames for the last 2 rainbarrels built and installed last week too. They are now full too. George is building lattice type screens for them as the blue is not as attractive as we would like along the front walk.

Rainwater harvesting and rain barrels with Hari Krishna

Is collecting rain water worth the effort? Is it hard to do? What do you need to do this? How much water can you collect and how do you use it? Where do you get equipment to harvest rainwater? Does it need any treatment?

On Saturday, February 5th the Wells Branch Garden Guild will host guest speaker Dr. Hari Krishna, noted expert on this topic. We'll explore the ways to collect rainwater and to effectively reuse the water we collect, how to find and pay for the systems (rebates available?) and more. 

"At one time Wells Branch probably had more Rain Water Reuse than any other neighborhood.  We still may, but I'm not sure. The one thing I can add to the conversation is how every single drop of treated water we save helps lower the whole neighborhood's water bills." per Donna Howe, WB MUD.