Used food grade barrels and drums - Brampton, Ontario (Toronto)
Written on 9 July 2007 by chrisIf you are looking for barrels that you can use and you live in the Toronto area you can try Rin Enterprises Ltd located in Brampton, Ontario (Canada)
They have an assortment of used and new plastic and metal food grade barrels and drums. We have never bought anything from them so we can not vouch for them but judging by their website they seem to have what most people would be looking for. As usual we recommend using the Screw Top Plastic Drums w/ Lids - 220 Litre that they offer as that is the barrel that we have had the most success with.
We are not sure what they charge but anything under $20 is a fair price for a grade B barrel.
Always call ahead. Here is their contact info:
Tel: (905) 790-3266
Cell: (647) 207-3266
or (647) 208-3266
Fax: (905) 790-3268
Brampton, ON Canada
What is a rain barrel good for?
Written on 8 July 2007 by chrisWith the rising cost of municipal water and watering restrictions becoming more common during the summer months many people are looking for new ways to keep their gardens watered and their lawns green. The rain barrel is fast becoming the best solution for rural and urban gardeners. Rainwater can help to improve the health of your gardens, lawns, and trees. Rain is a naturally soft water and devoid of minerals, chlorine, fluoride, and other chemicals. In fact Chlorine is used to rid water of bacteria and harmful biological organisms and it is many of those organism that make your gardens healthy and strong.
Water is not an infinite resource as many people believe. In many areas of North America demand for water is starting to outpace the rate at which mother nature can replenish the supply. Have you ever watched the amount of rain that comes down in your gutters during a heavy rain storm? Now imagine having that water available from your rain barrel for your garden during those 2 week long dry spells. When you do the math we are talking about significant amounts of water being saved every year. For every inch of rain that falls on a catchment area of 1,000 square feet, you can expect to collect approximately 600 gallons of rainwater!
Top 4 reasons why we decided to use rain barrels:
1 - Rain water is good for our garden. It is warm and chemical free.
2 - It saves us money
3 - We had a lot of fun trying out different building configurations using different barrel types.
4 - Good for the environment.
We will be adding as much information to this site as we can. If you have some interesting info about rainwater collection or rain barrels in general we would love to hear from you. If you have pictures or an interesting configuration we would love to post it on this site to share with everyone. Help us spread the word!
Square Foot Gardening and a Rain Barrel - A match made in heaven?
Written on 4 July 2007 by chrisThis year we have decided to do things a bit differently.
We received the book “Square Foot Gardening” by Mel Bartholomew. The basis of SFG is as follows:
“Square Foot Gardening is a uniquely simplified method of gardening that produces 100% of the harvest in only 20% of the space — AND — without all the hard work and drudgery of single row gardening.”
NO WEEDING!
NO TILLING!
NO DIGGING!
NO PESTICIDES!
NO CHEMICALS!
At First we were a bit skeptical, if this method of gardening is so great then how come everybody isn’t doing it? We figured it was worth a shot.
I am not going to go into the detail of building the garden, this topic is much better explained by the author of the book itself on his website www.squarefootgardening.com
All I can say is WOW! Initially it took a bit of work to build the “containers” and mix the special soil (compost, peat moss and vermiculite) but after only about a month of growing we have monster plants that are twice the size of those that we have seen in the gardens around the neighborhood. Any yes no weeding or pesticides!
We firmly believe that we are holding another ace up our sleeves. We only use the water from our rain barrels to water the plants. It has been rather dry during the growing season this year. If we didn’t have our barrels we would have needed to use the hose quite a bit. We have managed to drain 3 barrels each week on the SFG alone.
The plants are loving the water and “fingers crossed” we should have a bumper crop of tomatoes, watermelons, peppers, carrot, radishes, onions and more very soon.
In the beginning
After planting
Now
Protected: Food grade barrels in Wake Forest NC - $25
Written on 28 June 2007 by chrisFound a listing in Craigslist
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/grd/361577738.html
New Plastic Drums and Barrels - Minneapolis, Minnesota
Written on 28 June 2007 by chrisConsolidated Container Company
We found this company online for those of you in MN. They seems to have a wide assortment of new and used barrels made of plastic and metal. If anyone tries to build a rain barrel using a metal barrel let us know, we would be curious to know the results. As always give them a call beforehand to make sure that they have what you are looking for.
http://www.containerexperts.com/plastic.cfm
Earthwork Recycling Inc, Spokane WA
Written on 25 June 2007 by chrisA friend of our wrote us about Earthwork Recycling.
They offer wide range of plastic and metal food grade barrels in Spokane WA (Washington). Go for the screw lid style, we have found that these are the easiest to modify.
http://www.earthworksrecycling.com/prices/index.html#barrels
Make sure to call ahead as stock can vary from day to day.
1904 E Broadway, Spokane WA 99202 (509)534-1638
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Food grade barrels in Ottawa, ON
Written on 7 June 2007 by chrisThis is where we get our barrels. It is a bit of work cleaning out the barrels and getting them home but it is worth the effort. This place has way more then just barrels. You can easy pass half a day just digging through the assorted junk and treasures scattered across the lot.
Cohen and Cohen Reuse Store
1963 Merivale Road
Nepean, Ont
K2G 1G1
55 Gallon (200L) food grade barrels that were used for storing pickles, olive etc. $15.00 each
These are the type of barrels that we use. Inexpensive, effective and promote reuse
