I recently sold to a new customer who needed help installing a rain barrel. They hired Main Line Gutter to do the install. Here are some great pics! Thanks Mark!
I’m pleased that we are already into the second week of April and Spring is here. I’ve been building rain barrels to ring in this years gardening season.
I recently found an Associated Press article encouraging rain barrel use as an ” easy way to go green “. True, but how else can we continue this use as motivation to go even further with out greening? Composting kitchen scraps is another way to be more sustainable while reaping some great rewards for your garden. It may even be easier to compost than using a rain barrel!
Anyway here’s a link for the rain barrel article, we will leave the composting alone for now!
I’m gearing up to begin building my rain barrels for the upcoming season. I will still be building with white re-purposed food grade HDPE #2 plastic closed top barrels and brass fittings. I’m looking into different avenues to advertise in the coming year, and looking into continuing to offer a couple barrels to non-profits for use in their fund raising efforts. I’m happy to spread the love of rain barrels around!
These are pictures from the Philadelphia Public School Juniata Park Academy. Last year they bought some of my rain barrels to install in the garden they were building. The garden was to become an outdoor classroom for it’s students. Each grade section was given their own raised bed. As you can see they have done a great job in setting up this 
.
Stormwater runoff is a major problem in metropolitan areas. Philadelphia Water Department is taking steps to change it’s aging infrastructure for the better!
http://phillywatersheds.org/storage-wars-philadelphias-green-infrastructure-takes-lee-and-irene
As the height of gardening season slows down and fall sets in I’m selling less and less rain barrels. I still have a small number in stock for those sales that happen from time to time and will still be building rain barrels as needed throughout the winter. I told myself last winter that I’d make a good amount of stock to have ready for spring. Needless to say it didn’t happen. I’ll try again this winter, buying rain barrel parts to let stock sit idle may not be the best idea, and they do take up copious amounts of room in the garage. We will have to wait and see.
In the mean time I have been invited to Philadelphia International Airport. They want to buy one of my barrels for their annual auction event and get my perspective on managing rain water. I don’t know if I’m enough of an authority on rain water management to officially consult at a facility like the airport, but I’m also very happy to talk to them about it and get a tour!
Last night I attended the launch party for the new book “Where to Bike: Philadelphia” written by Julie Lorch. She contacted me last winter to talk about the bike rides I have taken my son on and wanted to get my take on bicycle riding in Philadelphia. It’s a great book for our city, especially now since so much positive change is happening for cyclists in Philadelphia. Great job Julie!
I have been invited be an exhibitor at the 6th Annual Greenfest Philly on Saturday, September 10 at Headhouse Square here Philadelphia, PA. Showing off the rain barrels I make and talking with people about the benefits of collecting rain water.
I’ve donated a rain barrel to the event that will be part of a special promotion, and will have a couple on-site for sale. See you there!
Here is a rain water calculation made by someone who has purchased a couple rain barrels from me. He calculated how much rain water he collects from his roof.
Philadelphia’s average annual precipitation is 41.4 in or 0.11 in per day.
A row house roof 20′x30′ = 620 sq ft = 89,280 sq in
On average it will capture 89,280 sq in x 0.11 in = 10,127 cubic inches or 43.8 gal a day. In short it doesn’t take long to fill a 55 gal barrel.
Yes it was a hot day today, but I had to make a delivery. So I loaded up the bicycle and headed to East Passyunk Ave with a custom rainbarrel. Of course since I was heading south of Washington I needed to stop at Taco Loco for a snack.
Since summer is in full swing our gardens are in need of water more than ever. Tomatoes especially need lots of water, and I know they are number one on everyone’s list for the backyard garden. It’s easy to maintain your garden and keep your costs low. Try to harvest rain water from your downspout into a rain barrel. You’ll be glad you did!
I delivered two rain barrels out to the Germantown section of Philadelphia ye
sterday. I met Jacques who writes a blog called Philly Eco City. He has a great garden and needed a way to water it without turning on the tap. Enjoy those barrels Jacques, and thanks for the press!
Tonight I’m headed to the Bike-In Movie hosted by the Bicycle Coalition and Whole Foods. I’m looking forward to watching this classic cycling movie while eating wood-oven pizza on the roof. Summer is here!
Local artist Zoë Cohen will be using two of my rain barrels for her project along the Schuylkill River this week between 10am and 6pm. Be sure to see what’s happening along the Schuylkill River Path during the Art in the Open Festival here in Philadelphia.
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