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!

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 .

http://www.ecolandscaping.org/04/ecological-maintenance/rainwater-harvesting-a-general-tutorial-on-the-components-involved/

I’m still building rain barrels here in Philadelphia if anyone wants to get a jump on the springtime rush! See you soon.

http://phillywatersheds.org/storage-wars-philadelphias-green-infrastructure-takes-lee-and-irene

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’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.

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!

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!