 | crazygreenthumbs Jan 19 |  I have rain barrels that were made specifically to store water. After several years in our heat and sun the barrels split along the bottom or near the spout. Because you cannot reach down inside of them to caulk around the cracks they are now very large, very expensive wastes of money and space. I really recommend building your own. These can be replaced or fixed if they get brittle and cost nearly nothing compared to a premade rain barrel. Link  When I first started growing fruit I really didn't understand the point of keeping my fruit trees low. I want fruit, right? So bigger tree, more fruit. Except it doesn't work like that. Unless you can totally enclose your fruit trees, you are going to have losses from birds, squirrels and other rodents. I frequently remind myself that nature abhors a vacuum. If you create food, nature is going to send something in to eat it. Sometimes, the losses are total. Keeping your trees low means that you can protect your trees with netting. This example could be used with netting, a pole frame and shower curtain hangers. It would make harvesting, pruning (and any other activities that require you to actually get in next to your plants): easy. Scooting all of your netting to the side is a great idea. Link  Imagine this, with plastic pvc clamps and a rod down the center to hang the netting as in the previous picture. Super easy to work with and easy to move. You could hold the edges down by putting landscape timbers over the ends of the net and it would be completely mobile. Just roll away the timbers and slide the net. Link  Sometimes it's better to think long term. While pvc supports are simple and cheap they won't last forever. Metal plumbing pipes and fittings will last for a very long time and are only a little more difficult to install. I don't have time each year to rebuild supports and beds, so I use strong things that don't decompose like metal piping and cinder blocks. That way I make it once, and I'm done with the project for the long term. I also use remesh and cattle panels. I zip tie them in place, for ease of clean up at the end of the season. Link  It's easy to harvest rainwater with systems like this. Next time you have a good storm blow through: go out and look for where the water comes together and sheds in large amounts. Attaching guttering to those places will give you the best chance at having your water collection at its fullest potential.  Don't have time to mess with a koi pond? Paint it on pavers. This takes some skill, however, if you print off what you want to paint and add a grid to the picture and a grid to the surface you are painting, you can get professional results no matter your skill level.  Do you need water to a part of your yard but don't want to bury or constantly move hoses? Use clamps to tie your hose up and out of the way. Link  The first time I built something like this, was almost twenty years ago, when I lived in the front range, in Colorado. We never got enough heat to ripen tomatoes. They would form, but then you were bringing in armloads of green tomatoes, right before a freeze. The county extension office suggested building a mini greenhouse like this. I also used to bury water bottles next to my melon's roots to regulate soil temperature. I was proud to have created a work around for that climate's cold nights and cool days. See you out in the garden, Crazy Green Thumbs | | | |  | You can also reply to this email to leave a comment. | | | | |
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