Collecting Rain

 Remember how I thought that because it was humid in these parts, plants wouldn't need watering?  Well, I was wrong.  When it's hot down here, the plants really feel it.  It's like they can't get enough water.  (Just like me) I was told that in the heat of July and August I should be watering the ferns twice a day.  Really, two times?  That's more than we watered in the desert.  I'm a little worried because Dean will be in charge of the watering for most of the summer.  I love your guts, babe, but I know your track record with my plants and it's not great.   It will already be hard enough without any sprinklers or "free water" like we had in Utah.

Part of our solution was to start collecting the rain.  I've collected a lot of things in my life, but never water.  It's not tricky, obviously.  The biggest problem I encountered was finding a storage unit that was large enough, had a double spigot, and was attractive without being too pricey.  I got most of what I was looking for in this model from Home Depot.  I wasn't willing to pay shipping on some of the lovelier models online.  Keep in mind we have yet to do much landscaping so hopefully they'll look better with plants and grasses around them.

Dean was ambitious and got them installed just in time for the severe weather that affected the Southeast the past few days.   

Here's another idea I found online that will be handy when we leave our plants for extended periods of time...

We collected 100 gallons of water in a 6 hr period.  Hooray for free water!!