Late Night Rain Harvest

Tonight in Tucson was pretty rare. Why, you ask? Well, out on the Eastside, where I live, it rained and stormed for about one hour and a half. Now, as I sit at my computer, my hair is still damp. It smells like rain. I was probably out in the rain taking photos and videos for about ten minutes. I came back inside completely drenched to the point where I had to put on sweatpants. Yes, I am not joking, I put on sweatpants in September.

As cold and as cough-inducing the rain is for me, I can't stop thinking about how much plants love it. After writing a story about "green" gardening, I learned information the their relationship I was unaware of. One of the things I found most interesting it was that plants yearn for rainwater (I guess this is an obvious fact, but I had never really thought about it before). The rain revives plants and allows Tucson come alive again. It releases her from her bland and arid climate. Judy De La Ossa, the certified permaculturist who I had interviewed for my gardening story, explained to me that plants love rainwater because of its acidity. She continued to tell me about harvesting rain water. Harvesting rain water is a great way to garden "greener" because you are using a natural resource from the sky.

By harvesting rainwater, you save groundwater, which is a luxury here in Tucson. I discovered that the best part about harvesting rainwater is how easy it is. Just get large containers, place them directly under your rooftop drains, and voilà! De La Ossa has large plastic garbage cans that she fills. She uses the collected rainwater to water her plants.


So tonight, when the rain fell, I put a plastic storage bin, which was probably two feet high, under the drain and watched it fill up. I was overjoyed and drenched at the same time.


In a few days when it is time to water my plants, I will use the harvested rainwater. I'm thrilled because this was my first rainwater harvest! I know the plants will love me for this.

This is a video of the rain harvest. It is not quality, but the sound of the rain is intense.


For more information on harvesting rainwater check out these informative Web sites:

http://rainwaterharvesting.tamu.edu/index.html

http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/water/az1052/

http://www.portlandonline.com/osd/index.cfm?a=bbehfa&c=ecbbd
(this site gives you a rainwater calculation formula)