Wichita Rain Barrels

2012 Energy & Conservation fair

2012-01-29T07:55:00.000-06:00

Here are some pics from the 2012 Energy & Conservation Fair that was held on Jan 27th & 28th. There was a good turnout with some great displays of eco and energy saving gadgets. Our booth was particularly busy, we even added a new sales associates, Chenoa and Claire.

Chenoa in Action

The Raffle winner!

Come see us at our first 2012 show!

2012-01-19T17:33:00.000-06:00

We will be offering a GREAT deal to our customers but you got to come to get the deal!

Mark your calendars, indeed! The 2012 Kansas Preservation, Energy & Sustainability Conference and Fair is a perfect opportunity for you to experience locally what many around the country have access to on a regular basis. Covering a wide range of topics, from spec writing and window restoration to energy efficient gadgets and sustainable landscaping, the 2012 conference and fair has something for everyone. (Check out photos from last year's Regional Energy and Sustainability Conference and Fair here and on the 2011 Summit and Fair Photo Gallery.)

Interested in seeing a documentary subtitled "the world's first toxic comedy"? This conference is showing it.
Need to learn about new technology to improve energy efficiency for your company building operations? This conference will showcase it.
Ready to network with individuals, organizations, and companies that share your passion for preserving the historic while embracing a sustainable future? This conference is the place for you.
Eager to learn how to effectively winterize your home? This conference will help you through it.
Want to showcase your products and services for energy effiiciency, environmental compliance and sustainability, historic preservation, and LEED architectural design? This conference is for you as an exhibitor or sponsor.
Interested in finding out about new fuel efficient vehicles? Visit this conference for a close-up look at new models inside Century II at the Fuel Efficient Car Show. Wichita Area Auto Dealers, Westar Energy, and other community members will be showing off their vehicles including electric, natural gas, hybrids, others.

So if you are interested in attending the 2012 Kansas Preservation, Energy & Sustainability Conference, use the links to the right to View each day's schedule, to register as a participant or become a sponsor or exhibitor.

Painted rain barrels in the works

2011-11-19T21:22:00.000-06:00

Time to think about WINTER and your RAIN BARREL

2011-11-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year again to start to think about winterizing your Wichita rain barrel. We recommend emptying your rain barrels now and then leaving the spigot in the open position with a short piece of hose attached to keep any runoff away from the foundation of your home. As always we will be testing and stressing our duel rain barrel set up again this year. It is already filled and we will let it freeze to see what happens. So far it has not broken, I will post pictures as things develop.

My gift to you!

2011-10-28T06:41:00.000-05:00

I have a gift to give you, its not so much a thing you can own but an excellent resource to share. If you have never her of "TED" then here it is. Explore the conference, absorb the videos, they are free and the presenters are the "creme della creme" in the particular subjects.

Here is the link for the pod cast

http://itunes.apple.com/podcast/tedtalks-audio/id160904630

Here is the link to the site:

http://www.ted.com/talks

Rainwater as Drinking Water in Guatemala with a rain saucer

2011-10-19T09:18:00.001-05:00

Here is some great video of the rain saucers at work. Originally these were made for third world countries that do not have a good source of water. This video shows them hard at work!

RainSaucers have arrived here in Wichita but only at WICHITA RAIN BARRELS

2011-10-10T15:07:00.001-05:00

After months of testing and doing some trial and error modifications the RainSaucer makes its debut. This is a great tool for any gardener that does not have access to a regualr water supply and needs to supplement what they have access to. The placement of this RainSaucer was chosen because we had just put in a new vegetable guardian, the RainSaucer does not receive any water form our neighbors garage, it is a free standing water collection unit.

This side picture shows that we have not attached the overflow hose yet, we did this to check its capacity, after it is placed we will go ahead and slip the overflow hose into it.

Here is another side shot of the rainSaucer mounted to the Wichita Rain Barrel. One of the modifications we have done is attaching the cord from the RainSaucer to the Wichita Rain Barrel stand. This stabilizes the RainSaucer and keeps it in place during the wild winds we get here in Kansas.

Here you can see that we have also used the eye bolt to secure the rain barrel to the stand.

Click on the title and you will be redirected to their website. They have some great video on how the RainSaucer is being used around the world!

Officials decide to end Wichita Garden Show after 44 years

2011-05-25T08:50:00.001-05:00

This is a very unfortunate turn of events. I owe a bit of my success in the rain barrel business to Alex, she opened a door for me that I never thought would happen. The year we decided to start making rain barrels she let me in to the Garden Show, gave me a prime location, and the push I needed. She has been there when we called and was a friend when I needed her to be one. Wichita is going to miss this event!

Below is what was in the Eagle.

A local institution that heralded spring — the Wichita Garden Show — is shutting down, it was announced Tuesday.
The show, which had taken place for 44 years, was going to have only one centerpiece "great garden" next year, garden show manager Alex Lingg said. Board member Cathy Brady of Brady Nursery said the board thought that people expected elaborate gardens and that if those gardens were not in the show it should just as well end.
"I never expected this to happen," Brady said. "But kind of the consensus was it had to stay huge and grandiose or nothing."
Smaller businesses that relied on the garden show for a large percentage of their businesses will be hurt, Lingg said.
"We're concerned because many, many vendors at the show get 30 to 80 percent of a whole year's work out of the garden show,'' she said. "That's going to be devastating to them."
Board president Gary Hackbart Jr. said he was not in favor of ending the show.
He said he and Lingg were in the midst of changing the concept of the show "to fit with the times," but the majority of board members "didn't want to deal with that."
Il Sik Hong, owner of Hong's Landscape & Nursery, was among five or six garden centers and landscaping companies that spent $50,000 to $140,000 each to stage the elaborate gardens in Expo Hall the first weekend of March each year. For various reasons, none of those businesses but Hong's was planning to do a great garden next year, Lingg said.
"How do you continue to ask these... people to keep putting this money out when times are tough?" Lingg asked. "I didn't mind it when I thought people were making a healthy living. Now it's a whole different story."
Hong said that the expense was worth it for his company. But Hong, a board member for 30 years, said he supported shutting down the show while it was at a high point rather than watch it decline over the years.
The show was a success this year, with 40,000 people attending over five days. But the trend over the past six years had been declining attendance, Lingg said.
"The people of Wichita did not buy into the show as a big event," retired extension agent Norman Warminski said. He moved the show from its original small meeting place in the old 4-H Hall to the Kansas Coliseum and eventually to Century II. He said a lot of the attendance came from out of town.
Warminski was the show's treasurer and blamed increasing costs and regulations associated with having the show at Century II for contributing to the show's demise.
As the costs have continued to rise, it would have been hard to keep ticket prices and booth fees in line with what the market could bear, Lingg said. Tickets were $11.50 this year.
The end of the show will bring many layers of loss.
Various garden clubs and destinations used the show as a way to introduce themselves and their plants of interest to the public.
As the years have gone by, "we tried to make it as educational as we could but we found out that people don't want to be educated, they want to be entertained," Warminski said. "That aspect is going to be gone.
"And the camaraderie of the (garden) industry will be gone."
Hong said that the garden show helped him stand out from the pack.
"It motivated me to be creative," he said. "Also to educate the public to be the better gardener.... It was one way to pay back to the community for all the loyal customers.
"It is a great loss. Not only the loss in the green industry alone, but millions of dollars were generated because of this."
Warminski said he expected some elements of the show, such as the Amateur Flower Show to live on, but in a different venue.
"I've run it for 28 years, and I know how much people love this show," Lingg said. "We're all kind of in shock."

Compost tea in a WICHITA RAIN BARREL?

2011-04-04T11:05:00.000-05:00

We have been playing around with an idea for a few years now and I think we have gotten a bit closer. Take a look at the video and let me know what you think!

" ECO HERO" Awarded to Wichita Rain Barrels

2011-02-28T20:09:00.001-06:00

I would like to thank our friends at RETRO ECO for making us an ECO HERO! We made a commitment when we started making rain barrels that we would make the best rain barrels we could, but also make them affordable to every gardener and conservationist but also to the environment. That is why we only use food grade barrels that have been salvaged and saved from the land fill! Our commitment today is the same as it was when we started, we will make the best rain barrels we can and continue to put OUR customers & OUR environment first!

THANKS AGAIN TO RETRO ECO....keep up the good work!

Convention encourages green living - kwch.com

2011-01-30T20:31:00.002-06:00

We would like to thank all of our old and new customers for helping kick off the 2011 Energy and Sustainability Fair & Summit. We had a GREAT time and enjoyed talking with all of the fairgoers. Take a few minutes and see the video, did grandma Marion really say that? Yes she did, and she still is saying it today!

Convention encourages green living - kwch.com

2011 Regional Energy Sustainability Summit & Fair

2010-12-01T10:59:00.001-06:00

THE 2011 REGIONAL ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT AND FAIR IS BACK!
We have been asked to participate again this year in the Energy Sustainability Fair and will have great deals again on our Wichita Rain Barrels. We are still waiting to find out about the great deal the City of Wichita has gotten for you but I do know it will be well worth the time to come on down and participate in the Summit and Fair. We are also do a presentation on rain barrels this year and will have some great hand outs to distribute. We are really excited and hope to see you there! Click on the title and go check out the cities "Green Wichita" page!

Winterizing your Rain Barrel

2010-10-25T10:25:00.000-05:00

I received my first question last week about winterizing a rain barrel. It was kind of a weird question and became apparent to me quickly that this person had purchased a rain barrel from a competitor when they said that they could not get all the water out of the rain barrel. WICHITA RAIN BARRELS are made to be left in place all year, even in the winter. As long as a short piece of hose is connected to the spigot AND the spigot is left open you will have no problems. I have left mine in place for over 4 years now and have had no problems.

Last year we performed our first long term winter experiment. We let one of our Wichita Rain Barrels filled all winter. We let it freeze and then every day for a week would go out and break the ice up by hitting the side of the rain barrel with a hammer. We did this for a few reasons, first we wanted to test the integrity of the rain barrel in extreme weather, and second we wanted to make sure that it was frozen solid. The water did freeze solid and the barrel did expand but nothing broke. We do not recommend treating your own barrels this way.

Our recommendation for winterizing all WICHITA RAIN BARRELS is to keep them in place all year. In November when the temperature begins to creep toward freezing, empty the rain barrel and make sure to keep the spigot OPEN for the winter. Attach a short length of hose to the spigot, making sure that the end is pointed into an area of your yard that will not be effected by some extra water. I have ours go to a bush and a tree. We recommend doing this to make sure on any drainage from your roof does not end up in your basement, crawlspace or near any place that it could create damage.

Mrs. N's Duel Wichita Rain Barrel Setup

2010-10-22T10:58:00.001-05:00

Mrs "N"'s son called us up last weekend and wanted some information about our systems. After consulting with them at there home we determined that one of our Duel Rain Barrel set ups would be ideal for the situation that they had. Here is a picture of the set up, and the awesome metal stands made by RED FENCE FARMS in Hutchinson KS.

Another Customers set up

2010-10-11T09:14:00.002-05:00

I almost forgot about Miss "J"s Wichita Rain Barrels set up. She purchased these after seeing us at the Harvey County Garden Show. As you can see she also picked up a couple of our Rain Barrel Stands.

Here is what she has to say about her set up: "I have used my rain barrels for two months and really like them. Our city bills water in 100 unit (about 750 gallon) increments. My last water bill showed ZERO use (that means I used less than 750 gallons that month, because of the supplement of the rain barrels. Ordinarily I use around 1500 gallons and the previous bill, I used more than 3000 gallons. Also using the rain barrels made me think about my water consumption and I did water conservation in other ways, just to do a test to see how much I would use. And I did it without feeling like I was "deprived" of water. "

Whats a RAIN SAUCER?

2010-10-07T11:28:00.001-05:00

About a year and half ago I was contacted by Tom Spargo, one of the inventors of the Rain Saucer. We started talking about some alternative options for collecting rain water other than using the standard roof from your home or shed. Tom and a few other people began experimenting with some designs and have now moved into the experimental phase of production of their Rain Saucer. The goal for Tom was to collect rain water for people living out in the world that have very limited access to it and that are dependent on it to survive. Here is the blog: http://www.rainsaucers.com/blog.htm

Check it out! There hard work will be life changing for a lot of people around the world!

Are you needing something to do over the lunch hour?

2010-08-31T12:30:00.000-05:00

Are you needing something to do over the lunch hour? Botanica has lunch time lectures AND Wichita Rain Barrels will be there tomorrow! We will talk about our history of how we got started and what we are doing now! It is sure to be a riveting lecture! We will also be offering a special deal for anyone in attendance! Click on the link above to get to Botanica's website, check out what else is going on here in WICHITA.

Two more AWSOME custome painted Wichita Rain Barrels!

2010-07-16T12:57:00.000-05:00

Here are two more Custom painted Wichita Rain Barrels. This customers some did these for her and I have been told he is ready to do more. I can pass along contact info to him if any my customers are interested in having theirs painted up.

Here are several shots from customers this summer.

2010-07-16T12:27:00.001-05:00

The first 2 are from Mr & Mrs P. They have a very unique rain barrel set up on their second floor balcony. We were able to do a custom Wichita Rain Barrel for them. We used a 35 gallon barrel and had a custom made stand too.

These next several shots are from Mr & Mrs W. Mr W. bought his first one as a anniversary gift and then wanted a second one! Here is what they wrote me, "While others may have been sad about the rain over the 4th of July, we rejoiced because of our new rain barrels. We love them. It makes us feel like responsible environmentalist, in addition to our composting and recycling efforts".on to our composting and recycling efforts".

Wichita water supply lines are at their limit Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/27/1379485/city-has-rights-to-water-but-no.html#ixzz0s9TSwWL6

2010-06-28T07:57:00.000-05:00

Wichita water supply lines are at their limit

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

Photos

If Wichita were to enter a drought this summer, it couldn't provide enough water for all the thirsty plants, dirty cars and loads of laundry out there.

The city is permitted to draw 240 million gallons of water a day from Cheney Reservoir and a local well field, which is plenty.
But its aging and underdeveloped infrastructure can process and deliver only a bit more than half of that — 130 million gallons a day.
That's not enough to meet demands of the city in a long, dry summer, much less during a prolonged drought.
"If a drought were to start right now, we've got the water rights to handle it with the population we have in Wichita," said Deb Ary, Wichita's superintendent of production and pumping. "We don't really have the infrastructure to handle it safely."
Wichita has had several years of wet weather — including the record-breaking 53.8 inches of rain in 2008. Climatologists say drought is nearly impossible to predict, but that from a historical perspective, Wichita is due.
"Historically, we have had patterns of wet and dry and they tend to run on a 20-year cycle," said state climatologist Mary Knapp. "We've had our wet period and we've had our dry period. So the question is, do you want to have the expectation that you'll continue in a wet pattern when you have historical evidence you'll have a dry pattern?"
Wichita also has to worry about those hot summer days when the city often has its peak demand for water.
A recent study by the city's water consultant, HDR Engineering Inc., found that the city is 4 million gallons a day short of being able to supply local water customers on the highest water use day of the year.
And by 2041, the city won't have enough water for even average days.
If the city thinks it is close to running short, it would likely ask people to voluntarily use less water. If that doesn't work, it would likely impose mandatory restrictions.
The potential for shortage highlights a complicated and frustrating dynamic as Wichita hikes its water rates, effective Thursday:
People are using less water, but the price of water will probably continue to rise.
Supply and demand
Wichita once drew most of its water from the Bentley and Equus Beds well fields north of the city.
But in 1993 it began using Cheney Reservoir more because it had drawn down groundwater levels in its well field.
The aquifer recharges during a rain. But the city was pumping water out faster than nature could put it back in through rains.
That created another problem.
A salty plume of groundwater caused by oil exploration is slowly moving toward the Equus Beds Aquifer. As the groundwater level dropped, it accelerated the flow of contaminated water toward the city's water wells.
The city devised a $550 million recharge project to pump water out of the little Arkansas River, treat it, and put it back into the aquifer, hoping that raising the groundwater levels would push the saltwater away from the city's wells.
Today, Cheney provides 65 to 75 percent of the local supply and the Equus Beds contribute 25 to 35 percent.
Farmers, industry and other cities also draw from the aquifer. The state has issued water rights that allow people to take out more water than nature can put back in.
It's simply overappropriated, said Tim Boese, manager of Groundwater Management District 2, which includes Wichita's well fields.
About 550,000 people depend on the groundwater in District 2's 1,406-square-mile area.
Here's how it's split up:
* Irrigation of crops: 50 percent
* Cities: 24 percent
* Industrial use: 13 percent
* Recreational and other uses: 3 percent
About 10 percent is pulled away by river systems.
For the moment, there's plenty of water to go around, mostly because of several rainy years, Boese said.
"But eventually the city will have to pump their entire rights out of the aquifer," he said. "Eventually, we'll have another drought."
Boese is part of the Wichita Water Utilities Advisory Committee that recommended that the City Council go ahead with the next phase of the aquifer recharge project that can pump 30 million gallons a day back into the ground.
That's water that can be used in the future.
But it's also essential to stopping contaminated groundwater leftover from salt mining and oil field production from flowing into the well field and farming wells.
That appears to be working — the salty flow has slowed by about a third, according to HDR's report.
But the plume is still inching its way near the edge of the well field.
Not everyone agrees that the city should press forward with the next step in the recharge project given its affect on water rates.
HDR recommended the city reduce the size and cost of the project, at least initially.
But City Council members recently approved the rate hikes based on the full-scale aquifer recharge, noting that the difference came down to only about 11 cents a month for average residential users.
Vice Mayor Jeff Longwell opposed the hike, which will cost the average household about $2.91 more a month this year and $4.19 more a month next year over current rates.
He said continued conservation and more-efficient irrigation and industrial cooling systems may drastically reduce the city's long-term needs.
"It seems we're setting ourselves up for future burdens for the rate payers," he said.
Fixing pipes
A few fixes could help Wichita meet its projected needs in the short term.
One is installing larger air valves in the pipe that carries water from Cheney Reservoir to Wichita.
It was made to carry 80 million gallons a day — but undersized air valves limit its use to 72 million gallons a day.
Another is replacing the pipe that runs from the Bentley well field to the city so that it can carry up to 30 million gallons more a day.
For example, average daily consumption is expected to grow from about 67 million gallons today to 101 million gallons in 2050.
Peak demand, which usually happens on a summer day, is expected to climb from 133 million gallons to 201 million gallons in 2050.
Many ideas for new water sources have been proposed. The most prominent lately has been the potential to pipe water from El Dorado Lake, a reservoir about 30 miles northeast of Wichita.
City Manager Robert Layton said leaders from both cities are trying to arrange a meeting to discuss possibilities.
"I'm not so much concerned about what would happen today under (drought and maximum use days)," said Layton. "You're just barely short today. And you can handle the worst-case scenarios with conservation."
But he said the city needs to focus on the trends and make sound decisions so that enough affordable water is available for years to come.

BUY A RAIN BARREL AND STOP WORRYING ABOUT NOT HAVING ENOUGH WATER!

Remember 1 inch of rain on 1000 SQ FT roof equals 623 gallons of FREE water......

Wichita Rain Barrels will be at Johnson's Garden Center this weekend for a DEMO and SALE!

2010-06-23T19:10:00.000-05:00

"Save Water in the Garden"*

Sat. June 26, 10:00 AM - All Locations
Eco-friendly ways to save water and money! Learn the benefits and how-tos of drip irrigation, mulch and collecting rain water. Special guest, Peter Daniels of Wichita Rain Barrels, will be at our 2707 W. 13th store only!

*Advance registration is appreciated.

To sign up for our seminars you may either call the location you plan to attend, or email us at signup@johnsonsgarden.com and let us know what store you'll be attending and how many are in your party!

In order to get in on the BIG SALE, you have to be there,

sorry no call in orders!

WRB will be at LIV FEST 2010! Great music and RAIN BARRELS

2010-06-11T12:21:00.000-05:00

WRB will be set up and rocking out on June 19th at LIV FEST.

Wichita water rates may increase

2010-06-03T09:03:00.000-05:00

Wichita water rates may increase

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

Mike Hutmacher/The Wichita Eagle
Screen filters in the Little Arkansas River lead to pipes that carry water to a treatment plant, after which it is introduced to the Equus Beds, which supplies more than a quarter of Wichita's water.

Wichita's water outlook

Current water supply:
124 million gallons a day
Average water use:
67 million gallons a day
Maximum amount needed in 2025 during a drought:
157 million gallons a day
Possible future sources of water
* Buy water from El Dorado Reservoir
* Expand well field near Riverside Park
* Ask industry to use treated sewage water for manufacturing and cooling
* Increase amount taken from Cheney Reservoir
* Pump water out of the Arkansas River
* Require more water conservation to reduce demand
The city proposes increasing water rates by 7.5 percent and sewer rates by 10 percent this year and 8 percent on water and sewer rates next year.

Wichita water and sewer customers could see a nearly 9 percent rate increase on their monthly bills later this summer, an 8 percent hike next year and smaller jumps in years to come.
For average residential customers, that translates to $2.91 more per month this year and $4.19 more per month next year over current rates.
Meanwhile, the city is exploring ideas to find cheaper sources of water long-term, like buying water from
El Dorado Reservoir and having big industrial companies use treated wastewater for manufacturing and irrigation.
The proposed rate hikes come from a report released Wednesday by HDR Engineering Inc., which the city hired earlier this year after learning its water utility was headed toward financial failure.
A major part of the problem is that the city isn't selling enough water to pay for the $550 million Equus Beds Aquifer recharge project meant to ensure a long-term water supply.
In addition to rate hikes, HDR proposes slowing down the city's recharge project to put off about $35.8 million in expenses over the next several years.
If the city doesn't expand its water supply and find a way to pay for it the area could face water shortages by 2040, or much sooner if a severe drought occurs.
And if the city drops the aquifer recharge project, it runs the risk of having one of its main sources of water contaminated.
A salty plume of groundwater caused by oil exploration is slowly moving toward the Equus Beds Aquifer that the city relies on for more than a quarter of its water.
Putting river water into the aquifer to raise the groundwater levels around the city's wells is supposed to keep the saltwater from reaching the water wells.
While a steep rate increase seems inevitable this year, a lot could change before additional hikes start.
City Manager Robert Layton said he'll recommend that City Council members approve the increases on June 15 on the condition that the city conduct more thorough rate analysis.
Layton said that could lead to a new rate structure that charges heavy water users more and encourages conservation.
It could be months before any new rate structures emerge, but they will have to avoid pitfalls of the past.
Though the years, the city has tried encouraging conservation through water rates and public education.
But the city didn't properly account for the declines in water use for the past three years that stem from a combination of exceptionally rainy weather, the recession and consumer conservation.
A new rate structure "addresses what we keep hearing from the public," Layton said. "And that is: 'I conserve water and then the city's projections go south and therefore I'm being penalized for conserving.' "
Among other possible changes outlined include:
* Rehabilitating and expanding water wells along the Arkansas River near Riverside Park.
* Skimming water off the Arkansas River after heavy rain and treating it with reverse osmosis.
* Reducing water pressure to cut down on pipe breaks, leaks and the amount of water wasted when people leave faucets running.
Even more drastic changes could be on the horizon.
El Dorado connection
Mayor Carl Brewer said that he's withholding judgment on the rate increases and other proposals for the moment.
He said only: "I want to do everything in our power to keep our water rates down."
But he's confident in the Wichita area's long-range supply.
He and Layton plan to meet with El Dorado City Manager Herb Llewellyn and Mayor Tom McKibban within a month to talk about possibly tapping into El Dorado Reservoir about 30 miles northeast.
That idea was explored in 2000 but was never acted on.
Llewellyn said the reservoir supplies about 75 percent of Butler County with water and is "very underutilized."
"There is lots and lots of water just flowing to the Gulf of Mexico," he said.
In 2000, Professional Engineering Consultants examined the possibility of El Dorado treating and piping water to Wichita.
The study showed a start-up cost of $32 million to pump 10 million gallons a day.
Llewellyn said El Dorado already has plans for a pipeline and water tower to distribute water to parts of western Butler County and that it could be expanded to serve Wichita.
But both Wichita and El Dorado officials say the idea is very preliminary, and they haven't yet had any serious discussions.
Brewer said he is interested in exploring it.
"At the end of the day, it's not about how much the city of Wichita is selling or how much El Dorado sells," he said. "It's about the future, 50 years from now. Do we have enough water to be able to meet the needs of Kansans and people within this region?"

Garden Wars 2010!

2010-06-02T17:57:00.000-05:00

OK,OK this has nothing to do with Wichita Rain Barrels but I couldn't resist! Check it out and let me know what you think! there are 2 links one to an acquaintance of mine from high school (GO EAST HIGH) who is blogging this link:http://strangesgardencenter.blogspot.com/ and then the link from the title will take you to the Richmond Virginia HQ site.

SALE! SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE

2010-05-16T17:10:00.005-05:00

Wichita Rain Barrels is having a sale! All of our duel rain barrels are on sale and ready to go. We have 4 sets to choose from. The white set is 150.00 and the 3 painted sets are 175.00(thats a 75.00 discount) It is a first come first serve kinda deal so drop us a line and reserve one today!

oh yeah............... have you seen our composter?
It makes compost in approximately 15 to 20 days! It heats up to around 120 to 130 degrees!

Photos of some new Wichita Rain Barrels!

2010-04-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

Here are the three painted ones the the artist, Michael Hunter has done. He is about to move to Alaska for some crazy reason (has to do something with a woman) So when these are gone......there gone!

L.A. recycles rain to protect its ocean

2010-04-12T09:13:00.000-05:00

L.A. recycles rain to protect its ocean

Los Angeles is encouraging residents to recycle rainwater to prevent runoffs from polluting the ocean. The city also wants to impose fees on developers who fail to utilize the rain. Jennifer Collins reports.

Bob Moon: As we speak this morning, rain is drenching us here in Los Angeles. Much of the water usually runs into the ocean, but officials want to get individual developers to catch the water and recycle it. And L.A.'s effort is becoming a model. From the Sustainability Desk, Marketplace's Jennifer Collins reports.

Jennifer Collins: Sherri Akers has a secret weapon when it comes to her garden:

Sherri Akers: I'll just take water from the rain barrel. Take a bucket.

Akers shows off a 55-gallon plastic barrel in the backyard of her L.A. home. The city gave it to her as part of a pilot program to use more of the rain that falls.

Akers: To water my potted plants. This is a dwarf blood red orange tree.

Normally, when the clouds open up, rain falls on her orange tree. But it also washes off streets and driveways and gets channelled to the ocean. The city wants to prevent that.

Paula Daniels: It's the number one source of pollution to the ocean.

Paula Daniels is a commissioner on L.A.'s board of public works. She says the city is considering making developers build in a way to catch rainwater, and among other things, redirect it to the water table below.

Daniels: It's about trying to change the way we work the landscape and keep the runoff on the property as much as possible.

Daniels says developers could easily do that with planted areas, cisterns or pavement that filters water instead shuttling it to the drains. This could help recycle water in the drought-stricken area.

Daniels: We will take the burden off of having to import water from Northern California.

If developers can't catch the water, the city will charge them a fee, that on a large construction site could total more than $200,000.

Bill Davis: They're looking for money.

Bill Davis is with the Southern California Contractors Association. Davis says the city's desperate for money, and this is a sure-fire way to raise it. He says the contractors he works with aren't trained to meet these kinds of requirements.

Davis: We know how to handle the water, what we don't know is how to keep it on a job site instead of sending it someplace.

Davis says the additional fees will cripple an already battered construction industry. Still, Philadelphia and the state of Maryland are forging ahead with similar requirements.

I'm Jennifer Collins for Marketplace.

Show Schedule to find WICHITA RAIN BARRELS

2010-04-06T09:07:00.000-05:00

We have had a busy spring so far and its not over yet. We have already had the Garden Show and TREE FEST but we are doing two new shows this year outside of Wichita. We are going to be at the 2010 Harvey County Home and Garden Show April 10th and 11th. It is set up inside the National Guard Armory at 400 N Grandview in Newton. And then two weeks later we will be set up at the 8th Annual Gardens in Bloom Event in Wellington at Raymond Frye Complex 320 North Jefferson. We will also be set up May 1^st at the Sedgwick County Extension Center for HERB day.

Harvey County Home and Garden Show- http://kansasvirtualtours.com/gardenshow/
Annual Gardens in Bloom Event- http://www.sumner.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=58
Herb Day- http://www.sedgwick.ksu.edu/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=449

We will be participating in several presentations so please come out and ask us some questions!

Another Hydroponics set up!

2010-03-12T10:49:00.000-06:00

Here is an email I received not to long ago from the hydroponics guy.

Hey Peter,
I just wanted to shoot you an email, my wife and I dropped by to say hello Sunday at the Garden Show (if you can remember, HA). I'm also the guy who wrote you all the DIY hydroponic stuff for your blog last summer.

Well.. long story short, my wife and I started a little home gardening business. We are selling tomato and pepper transplants,and an auto-watering gardening container (which is why I'm writing you). It's similar in size and shape to the "earthbox", but it has something that the earthbox hasn't thought of yet - a TRUE auto-watering container, no manual refilling required. You attach the container to a garden hose, either supplied by a rain barrel or wall spigot, and a valve in the container shuts the water off automatically when it's full. It also has a couple PVC tubes that run horizontally through the soil compartment (with holes in them) that help to aerate the soil and reduce water logged soil. With a splitter at the supply end, and a few extra garden hoses you could do up to 4 (maybe more?) containers on one supply (rain barrel).

I think what you are doing is great, for the environment and the economy, and I'd like to work with you to create some synergy to help both of us out. I was thinking about adding a link to each others pages, maybe special deals (example: if someone bought a container they'd receive a coupon for a barrel and vice versa), or a joint venture at a flea/farmers market. Please email me back at grow@happynessgardening.com and we can talk about some of the specifics.

Oh and if you want to check out our site it's www.happynessgardening.com.

Talk to you soon,
Joseph Nestelroad

Need a stand for your Wichita Rain Barrel

2010-02-05T08:16:00.000-06:00

Need a stand for your Wichita Rain Barrel? Well here is a good one to take a look at. I met Tom at the 2010 Energy and Conservation Fair earlier this month. He has shown a great entrepreneurial spirit and has assembled a sturdy stand. He came over and showed it to me when he picked up his two Wichita Rain Barrels and I was very impressed. I will have some on Display at the 2010 Garden Show March 3 through the 7th at Century Two. Look for us in EXPO hall, by the food court.

Follow the link to look at his stand!

http://tpkouns.blogspot.com/

WRB on KNSS Radio with Johnson's Garden Center

2010-01-16T12:05:00.002-06:00

Johnson's Garden Center has graciously supported Wichita Rain Barrels from the beginning. Marty asked me to swing by so that we could chat about WRB and the 2010 Regional Conservation and Energy Fair.
Click on the Title and sit back and enjoy!

Wichita Rain Barrels for sale for $25.00 2 days only!

2010-01-10T09:17:00.000-06:00

The City of Wichita and Wichita Rain Barrels have teamed up for a Rain Barrel EXTRAVAGANZA!
On January 22 and 23rd I will be selling my Wichita Rain Barrels for 25.00! For 25.00 you will get my standard white rain barrel with the gutter attachment and the regular overflow hose! This is a great deal for anyone that is even 1/2 way interested in gardening...........

Heres how it will work. On the 22nd and 23rd of January at the 2010 Regional Energy & Sustainability Conference I will have a booth set up. The city will be handing out vouchers. The public can come down and pick up a voucher swing by my booth, hand me 25.00 and set up a date for delivery and then when I deliver the Rain Barrel you will give me the voucher. It is as simple as that......

Remember this is for 2 days only

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS----------GIFT CERTIFICATES------------

2009-12-03T15:19:00.001-06:00

WICHITA RAIN BARRELS now offers Gift Certificates!
Want to get you favorite gardener a GREAT GIFT?
Get them a gift certificate and let them choose the color this spring !
Just email me and we can make all the arrangements!

Here is a VERY CREATIVE hydroponics setup using a WICHITA RAIN BARREL

2009-09-17T13:55:00.004-05:00

Below is a great hydroponics set up that a client of Wichita Rain BArrels has done. He has had great success with it. Here is a bit of info he sent me.

" These pics are a few of my proto-type gardens I built myself. Not prettiest things in the world but they save on maintanence (weeding, daily watering, etc.). I never have to do anything but look under the lids and make sure the water level is up to par.

I'm in the middle of building another one that I plan on selling in the next growing season, the one that auto fills itself and is simular to the "earth box". I might try to grow some winter crops like lettuce or brocolli just to see what happens.

A few quick tid-bits about the gardens, the large "stand up" one is called a NFT (nutrient film technique) system and is great for pretty much anything as long as you don't mind the roots traveling down the hoses, but my pepper plants got a little top heavy late in the season (maybe something smaller next year). The tub looking one is a aero system in which the roots of the plants are suspended in the air and a sprinkler system mists the roots. The Aero is best for your larger plants, see the picture of the roots of my 2 tomato plants under the lid. I built a 2 tub system, but never filled the whole thing up (too late in the season), maybe next year. Both systems need nutrients (macro AND micro nutrients) put into the water which I get cheap online, cheap for hydroponics that is, and I use a TDS/pH combo meter (these get REALLY expensive) to measure the correct amounts about 1 time a month. I have only filled the Aero up once this summer (about 20 gallons, and the NFT about 4 gallons every 2 weeks since the supply is smaller and it evaporates. Anyway, if you have any other questions feel free to call/email me. I LOVE TALKING ABOUT IT.

Joe Nestelroad

Thanks Joe for ALL THIS GREAT INFO! If anyone wants to send me a request I will forward it on to him.

NFT (nutrient film technique) system

Wichita launches a new project to clean up the Arkansas

2009-08-14T17:13:00.002-05:00

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City of Wichita launches WRAPS project

The City of Wichita Environmental Services Department is launching a new project aimed at improving the water quality of the Arkansas River and its tributaries that flow through the city.

The Wichita Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy (WRAPS) will help identify water quality priorities and actions. The initiative is funded by a $50,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) as part of its Kansas Watershed Restoration and Protection Strategy. KDHE has assigned a high priority for restoration of the river basin in the Wichita area.Wichita WRAPS will focus on restoring the Lower Arkansas River Basin watershed.

“We’ve known for a long time that the Lower Arkansas River Basin does not meet surface water quality standards and have taken actions for improvements”, said Kay Johnson, Environmental Services Director. “However, this grant permits us to engage citizens in determining the interests and needs of the community for watershed protection. We’d also like to find partners to help implement water quality improvement actions.”

The project will begin with a developmental phase to identify community interest, followed by three additional phases of assessment, planning and implementation.

The City will use the grant funds to retain Geotechnical Services, Inc., (GSI) to gather citizen input and hold informational community meetings. The project also includes launching a Web site for posting local Arkansas River water quality information and an online survey.

For more information about Wichita WRAPS or upcoming community meetings, visit www.wichitawraps.org . E-mail questions and comments can be submitted to info@wichitawraps.org.

Project funded by an EPA Section 319 grant

Could You Be a Stakeholder?

Anyone with an interest in the watershed's resources is a stakeholder. In reality, everyone who lives in a watershed is a stakeholder in the restoration and protection of that watershed.

Examples of stakeholders include urban and rural residents; local, state or federal government agencies; elected officials; agricultural producers; recreational users and wildlife enthusiasts.

If you are interested in participating as a stakeholder fill out the stakeholder information form and someone will contact you within 48 hours.

Take the Stakeholder Survey

click here

You're receiving this newsletter because you signed up for the Wichita WRAPS e-mail list or you have attended a meeting about the Lower Arkansas River watershed.

Unsubscribe JLMiller@wichita.gov from this list.

Our mailing address is:

Wichita WRAPS

4503 East 47th Street South

Wichita, KS 67210

Add us to your address book

New Custom Painted Rain Barrels

2009-08-08T14:28:00.003-05:00

Here are three new custom painted Wichita Rain Barrels done by a local artist by the name of Michael Hunter. These will probably be the last three he will do. He is packing his belongs up and moving to Fairbanks Alaska (has something to do with a woman) so when there gone.......there really gone!

If you are interested in one let me know before there gone, go to Wichitarainbarrels.com and email me.

New style rain barrel made with a screen

2009-08-08T14:22:00.004-05:00

The President likes CARROTS!

2009-08-07T13:04:00.003-05:00

I Promise to update soon! I have been swamped with WRB request lately and have also been working on a new variation of our standard rain barrel! Until then eats your carrots!

Water cost is rising in Wichita.......

2009-07-15T07:58:00.002-05:00

Well it was bound to happen....not that I do not want to help as much as I can to get the country out of debt...but IF YOU BUY A RAIN BARREL YOU WILL SAVE MONEY ON YOUR WATER BILL. And now you will recoup your cost even faster. See the story in today's paper.

Wichita eyes increasing water usage rates to close budget gap

BY BRENT D. WISTROM
The Wichita Eagle
If the city raises water rates for its most consistent group of customers by 21 cents per thousand gallons, it could close its budget gap.
But the move would be expensive for some of the city's biggest employers.
Council members asked the water utility to look at increasing usage rates as an alternative to a proposed $2 surcharge and 5 percent usage hike.
Water officials say increases are necessary to continue a project aimed at recharging the Equus Beds aquifer north of Wichita to give the city water through 2050.
The increase is also needed to maintain the utility's AA- bond rating, which affects its borrowing rate on multimillion-dollar projects.
Under the scenario presented Tuesday, "block one" rate users — those who don't sway more than 10 percent above their average monthly usage in the winter — would see their rates go from $1.17 per 1,000 gallons to $1.38.
For many people that would be less than $2 a month.
But for big industrial businesses, it could mean tens of thousands of dollars.
Spirit AeroSystems is one of the city's biggest water users. Under the rate hike, it would pay $86,370 more each year for water.
Likewise, Hawker Beechcraft's bill would go up $31,363 a year, Wesley Medical Center would see a $12,008 increase, and Wichita State University's bill would climb by $978.
Wichita City Council members asked the utility to examine the rate hike, but utility director David Warren said he doesn't recommend it.
Instead, he stands by his original proposal to increase rates by 5 percent and increase the base charge — or surcharge — by $2. That would give the utility a reliable cash flow that's not dependent on how much people use.
The unusually rainy weather the past two years is one of the reasons the utility is struggling financially now.
"Right now, I think it's important that we not do things that would adversely affect our industrial base," he said. "This has the possibility of showing a negative economic impact on the people that provide the jobs in this community."
City Council members came to no conclusions after the presentation.
But they will likely decide on a rate increase when they adopt the 2010-11 budget in August.
The rate increases would start in January.
The utility has already delayed equipment purchases, put off improvement projects and held open 19 vacant positions.
The open positions save $824,000 this year and would save $978,000 next year.
The utility also plans to lay off 19 workers, saving about $915,190 next year. Most of those workers — clerks, engineers and environmental scientists — would fill open positions in water utilities or elsewhere in City Hall, Warren said.
The layoffs probably wouldn't come until October.
Mayor Carl Brewer acknowledged the hard choices the council faces.
"This is difficult here today," he said. "But we're going to work through it."

Spining composter redesigned.

2009-07-05T09:45:00.004-05:00

After playing around with the original design, we have made some changes. We raised it up off the ground so a wheel barrow could be used under it. Here are the pics!
We are also looking at making one using a 35 gallon barrel for an apartment size spinning composter.......pics to follow soon.

It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado, heres another article about the legalities of rain water ! who would have thought!

2009-06-29T18:57:00.001-05:00

It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado

Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Todd S. Anderson used to keep his rain harvesting a secret.

By KIRK JOHNSON

Published: June 28, 2009

DURANGO, Colo. — For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for the catching here, as more and more thirsty states part ways with one of the most entrenched codes of the West.

Skip to next paragraph

Times Topics: Water

Enlarge This Image

Rick Scibelli, Jr./The New York Times

Janine Fitzgerald, associate professor of sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., depends on rainwater and solar power.

Enlarge This Image

Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Tom Bartels of Durango said he had been “so willing to go to jail” for catching water on his roof and watering his garden.

Enlarge This Image

Rick Scibelli Jr. for The New York Times

Watering a lawn in Durango, Colo.

Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western states, making scofflaws of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned a century or more ago.

Now two new laws in Colorado will allow many people to collect rainwater legally. The laws are the latest crack in the rainwater edifice, as other states, driven by population growth, drought, or declining groundwater in their aquifers, have already opened the skies or begun actively encouraging people to collect.

“I was so willing to go to jail for catching water on my roof and watering my garden,” said Tom Bartels, a video producer here in southwestern Colorado, who has been illegally watering his vegetables and fruit trees from tanks attached to his gutters. “But now I’m not a criminal.”

Who owns the sky, anyway? In most of the country, that is a question for philosophy class or bad poetry. In the West, lawyers parse it with straight faces and serious intent. The result, especially stark here in the Four Corners area of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, is a crazy quilt of rules and regulations — and an entire subculture of people like Mr. Bartels who have been using the rain nature provided but laws forbade.

The two Colorado laws allow perhaps a quarter-million residents with private wells to begin rainwater harvesting, as well as the setting up of a pilot program for larger scale rain-catching.

Just 75 miles west of here, in Utah, collecting rainwater from the roof is still illegal unless the roof owner also owns water rights on the ground; the same rigid rules, with a few local exceptions, also apply in Washington State. Meanwhile, 20 miles south of here, in New Mexico, rainwater catchment, as the collecting is called, is mandatory for new dwellings in some places like Santa Fe.

And in Arizona, cities like Tucson are pioneering the practices of big-city rain capture. “All you need for a water harvesting system is rain, and a place to put it,” Tucson Water says on its Web site.

Here in Colorado, the old law created a kind of wink-and-nod shadow economy. Rain equipment could be legally sold, but retailers said they knew better than to ask what the buyer intended to do with the product.

“It’s like being able to sell things like smoking paraphernalia even though smoking pot is illegal,” said Laurie E. Dickson, who for years sold barrel-and-hose systems from a shop in downtown Durango.

State water officials acknowledged that they rarely enforced the old law. With the new laws, the state created a system of fines for rain catchers without a permit; previously the only option was to shut a collector down.

But Kevin Rein, Colorado’s assistant state engineer, said enforcement would focus on people who violated water rules on a large scale.

“It’s not going to be a situation where we’re sending out people to look in backyards,” Mr. Rein said.

Science has also stepped forward to underline how incorrect the old sweeping legal generalizations were.

A study in 2007 proved crucial to convincing Colorado lawmakers that rain catching would not rob water owners of their rights. It found that in an average year, 97 percent of the precipitation that fell in Douglas County, near Denver, never got anywhere near a stream. The water evaporated or was used by plants.

But the deeper questions about rain are what really gnawed at rain harvesters like Todd S. Anderson, a small-scale farmer just east of Durango. Mr. Anderson said catching rain was not just thrifty — he is so water conscious that he has not washed his truck in five years — but also morally correct because it used water that would otherwise be pumped from the ground.

Mr. Anderson, a former national park ranger who worked for years enforcing rules and laws, said: “I’m conflicted between what’s right and what’s legal. And I hate that.”

For the last year, Mr. Anderson has been catching rainwater that runs off his greenhouse but keeping the barrel hidden from view. When the new law passed, he put the barrel in plain sight, and he plans to set up a system for his house.

Dig a little deeper into the rain-catching world, and there are remnants of the 1970s back-to-land hippie culture, which went off the grid into aquatic self-sufficiency long ago.

“Our whole perspective on life is to try to use what is available, and to not be dependent on big systems,” said Janine Fitzgerald, whose parents bought land in southwest Colorado in 1970, miles from where the pavement ends.

Ms. Fitzgerald, an associate professor of sociology at Fort Lewis College in Durango, still lives the unwired life with her own family now, growing most of her own food and drinking and bathing in filtered rainwater.

Rain dependency has its ups and downs, Ms. Fitzgerald said. Her home is also completely solar-powered, which means that the pumps to push water from the rain tanks are solar-powered, too. A cloudy, rainy spring this year was good for tanks, bad for pumps.

The economy has turned on some early rainwater believers, too. Ms. Dickson’s company in Durango went out of business last December as the construction market faltered. The rain barrels she once sold will soon be perfectly legal, but the shop is shuttered.

“We were ahead of our time,” she said.

The Rapid Composting Method The author is Robert D. Raabe, Professor of Plant Pathology, Berkeley. and new show dates

2009-06-28T08:07:00.004-05:00

Hello everybody. Wichita Rain Barrels has been accepted to the Downtown farmers market! I will be setting up there for three Saturdays in July. The 4th, 11th and 18th abd then on the 25th will be at the Sedgwick County Extension Center for their annual TOMATO DAY FESTIVALE.

I will be introducing the SPINNING COMPOSTER and of course be selling and talking about the RAIN BARRELS.

The link( double click the title) that is attached to this article will direct you to a paper written at Berkley about RAPID COMPOSTING. It is a short read and VERY informative.

I have also remade the spinning composter, I will upload pictures later today so check back and I hope to see all of you at the DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET next Saterday.

Intorducing the Spinning Composter

2009-06-09T06:16:00.004-05:00

Well everybody, here is the NEW Tumbling composter that many of you have asked for. It is made from the same barrels as we use on our Rain Barrels. The advantage to a tumbling composter is that is can complete a full cycle of composting in a little over 14 days.YES THAT IS 14 DAYS! The trick is that all you need to do is give it a turn every day and that allows the microbes to get sufficient air flow which encourages them to feed and make COMPOST . To the right is the pin that keeps the composter steady for when you are filling it, or when you want to make sure you have it in a different postion then the day before. More information will be forthcoming on our website so look for it soon. Check out Wichitarainbarrels.com!

WRB is in the Wichita Eagle Beacon and on their website with a Video!

2009-06-06T09:00:00.002-05:00

Area residents learn benefits of collecting water

Say, say, oh playmate,

Come out and play with me

And bring your dollies three

Climb up my apple tree

Shout down my rain barrel

Slide down my cellar door

And we'll be jolly friends

Forevermore

My mother taught me this nursery song when I was little, and I recall it every time the subject of rain barrels comes up. Which has been quite often lately: Rain barrels are making a splash this growing season. One Wichita man is selling two to four a week, even Lowe's touts them, and you can learn to make your own at a Botanica seminar on June 14.

It takes only a couple of rainy weeks followed by a few sizzling-hot dry days to show the wisdom of collecting rain. Not only does it save money and resources and reduce pollution, but gardeners know that the water that falls from the heavens is better for plants than what comes from the tap -- it's softer, purer, of the right temperature.

So it's no wonder that what's considered environmentally friendly these days was common-sense necessity in the days when the nursery ditty was written. And the water went not only for plants but for cleaning

I actually have a cellar door these days, but the closest I get to a rain barrel is a collection of watering cans and pot saucers that accidentally catch the rain. They usually don't make much of a dent in my watering rounds.

But some area gardeners are quite sophisticated in their use of rain barrels. Diane Dorsch of Derby, who will be giving the seminar at Botanica as well as a lunchtime lecture next week, diverts rainwater to a rain garden that was once a swamp in her backyard. Peter Daniels of Wichita, who has become an accidental rain-barrel maker, runs soaker hoses from a couple of his barrels to three raised vegetable beds.

Both Diane and Peter had started out looking for rain barrels to buy but found no stores offering them. The rain barrels they found online cost around $200 -- plus $50 shipping. So they got on the Internet and learned to make their own.

Peter, who lives in Riverside, made a rain barrel for himself last summer, and then a neighbor wanted one, and then another neighbor did, too. Peter and his wife had a new couch to pay off, so he made a few more barrels and took them to the farmer's market. One couple bought all three, and the couch was paid off.

"I thought, 'It was fun while it lasted.' I never considered going any further with it," Peter said.

But after local garden and water experts showed interest in buying barrels, Peter's dad mentioned trying the garden show. So Peter set up a booth there at the last minute and ended up selling and taking orders for 60 barrels.

"I've sold two to four a week since," Peter said. "It has been very unexpected."

Peter charges $100 to $125 per barrel (at www.wichitarainbarrels.com) and each comes with a downspout adapter, a spigot and an overflow hose. The new owner has only to supply a couple of cinder blocks for the barrel to sit on and about five minutes of hacksawing on an aluminum gutter to accommodate the barrel.

The barrels start out white, recycled from their use as holders of Pepsi and Mountain Dew syrup. Barrels slated for rain collection should be food-grade because chemicals from other barrels would kill plants. But the barrels aren't pretty.

"People use these around the world, and most people who have them don't decorate them," Peter says. But he painted the one in his front yard green and has another that's been painted with flowers. He can also make a privacy-fence-type enclosure to hide a barrel in a covenant community, but that's a pricey option that kind of defeats the purpose of the barrel. His neighbor's white barrel is hidden on the side of her house by a large, lush bush.

Diane Dorsch notes that now that she and her husband have perfected their barrel-making -- they found 100 ways of making a barrel on the Internet before putting their first one together one cold day in January -- many stores are selling them. But Diane likes the idea of recycling food-grade barrels discarded by restaurants. The restaurants have to pay to have them hauled off by a trash service, and Diane has gotten some of her barrels from a trash service. But she'd like to cut out the middle man and get them straight from restaurants.

Diane says rain barrels are an answer to what used to be constant flooding in her backyard. The Dorsches put in a rain garden year, making it a bit of saucer at the back of the yard. Extension hoses carry water from two rain barrels to a French drain down to the rain garden.

"We've had tremendous success," Diane says. "It'll have 3 or 4 inches of standing water in it, and 24 hours later it's gone."

She taught a seminar at the garden show about making the barrels and has been asked to reprise it at Botanica. She'll give a lunchtime lecture about rain gardens and rain barrels at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday and a workshop in which participants will make their own barrels from 1 to 4 p.m. June 14. (The cost for the workshop is $45, or $40 for Botanica members. Class space is limited; register by Friday by calling Karla Jahn at 316-264-0448.)

Diane expects the Botanica workshop to fill up as quickly as her rain barrels do, and she said she would do a repeat in that case.

"I'd be glad to do it every month as long as we had people who were interested."

Reach Annie Calovich at 316-268-6596 or acalovich@wichitaeagle.com.

Now you know

INSTALLING A RAIN BARREL

Here are some tips for installing a rain barrel:

• Make sure the area where you place the rain barrel is level; otherwise, the barrel tips over.

• Set it on cement blocks so that it is high enough for you to be able to get water out of the bottom.

• If it is in a really windy area, you may need to put a stake on each side of the barrel to keep it upright when it's empty.

• Connect a short piece of hose to the overflow spout at the top of the barrel and direct the hose away from the foundation of the house and impermeable surfaces such as the driveway or sidewalk.

-- Extension agent Bob Neier, Daily Press (Newport News, Va.)

LOW IMPACT WEED KILLER, I wonder is Ed Begley knows about this!

2009-06-05T07:23:00.000-05:00

Here's a simple, inexpensive, organic solution for eliminating pesky weeds that invade those spaces wherever they can find a patch of gravel, cracks in concrete or asphalt, spaces between pavers, bricks and stones:

Simply bring water to a boil in a tea kettle or pot with a handle, carefully tote it to the area where weeds are invading your driveway, walkway, garden path, porte cochere or courtyard. Pour the boiling water over the weeds, letting it seep into the ground. The weeds will immediately begin to shrivel all the way down to their roots. Within a couple of days, you can sweep away their dried leaves and pull out the dead roots with ease.

Jack Johnson and Rain Barrels

2009-06-03T06:19:00.001-05:00

One unfortunately common misconception about "going green" is that doing so means drastically changing ones life or abolishing all luxuries. While a crucial part about living an eco-friendly lifestyle is reducing ones consumption and therefore minimizing ones waste, one thing I love most about trying to live a sustainable life is noticing how doing something the "green" way is often just the smarter way. Using rain barrels to collect rain and reuse around your house is a perfect example of this.

In this TreeHugger Tip, musician and activist Jack Johnson, talks about how he's installed a rain collection system and how he's used it to teach his children about conservation.

The Benefits of Using Rain Barrels
Rain barrels are smart for a couple reasons. They save you money by reducing the amount of clean water you have to buy from the city to water your plants. And they help the environment by reducing the demand for clean water from the city, which requires energy to process.

As you probably know, keeping a lawn requires a lot of resources. A lawn requires a massive amount of water - a third of all residential water use in the United States goes towards landscaping - and many people use gas-powered mowers to cut it. If you're not ready to turn your lawn into a garden, but do want to have a nice green yard without as much eco-guilt, using rain barrels to collect the rain water off your house will help.

We've already covered reel mowers and electric lawn mowers, which work great, save you money on gasoline and allow you to reduce your pollution while maintaining your lawn. Rain barrels are just as sensible. Collecting rain water can help you cut down on the amount of drinking water you waste on your lawn, which will not only reduce your monthly water bill saving you money, but will also help the environment by saving that clean drinking water from the city for your other water needs.

Even if you only use the rain barrel water for a percentage of the water you use around the outside of your house, doing so will help reduce your consumption.

Wichita Rain Barrels will be in the Newspaper

2009-06-02T14:55:00.002-05:00

I was interviewed today by Annie Calovich from the Wichita Eagle Beacon. She is doing a story about Wichita Rain Barrels, it will be published this Saturday. They also did a short video of me talking about the manufacturing process and about how it all started. It will be posted on their website and here when it is published.

Something from NPR today. Its about Colorado and the fight to use water conservation.

2009-06-01T17:06:00.000-05:00

Morning Edition, June 1, 2009 · The West remains one of the fastest growing regions of the country, and that continues to put pressure on scarce water supplies.

So, Colorado recently made it legal for some homeowners to capture and collect the raindrops and snowflakes that fall on their own roofs. That had been considered stealing because the water would flow into a stream or aquifer, where it belonged to someone else; Utah and Washington state have similar bans.

The change in Colorado may seem minor, but this could signal the beginning of a water-law revolution.

Water law in the West is different than in the East. In the West, there's essentially a long line for water rights; those who signed up for rights first are in front. And in some cases around the West, Native Americans are near the front of the line because they've lived there for so long.

For five years, Karl Hanzel "took cuts" in that line because he illegally collected water from the snow that fell on his home outside Boulder, Colo.

"I struggle to understand the argument for these laws. It doesn't really make sense to me," says Hanzel. "The water that I'm detaining here, I'm not exporting it to Mars … We have a leach field; we water the garden; that water is still returned to the earth … We're just holding some of it for awhile."

Colorado takes this sort of illegal harvesting of precipitation seriously. If caught, Hanzel could have faced fines of up to $500 a day. Luckily for him, a law recently passed legalizes his collection system. It's a narrow exception to the ban for people who would have to dig a well or have water trucked in.

But in Washington state, Tim Pope is still breaking the law. He owns Northwest Water Source, a business that has installed about 200 rainwater collectors in the San Juan Islands, north of Seattle. Pope says state regulators tend to look the other way.

He's also president of the American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association, and he's on a mission to get rid of the bans.

"Western water-rights laws were done in the 1800s, and they need some serious overhaul," says Pope. He says the first-in-line basis is inefficient.

"It needs to be based on need — it needs to be based on proper use of water. We don't need to be using drinking water to wash cars and water lawns and gardens and flush toilets," he says.

Those near the front of the line disagree. Western tribes guard their historic water rights, as do municipalities like Denver.

"You have a basic foundation for how water is owned and administered in Colorado, and a wholesale change — to say, 'Oh yeah, take all the water you want off your roof,' — is actually a fundamental change in that," says Chips Barry, general manager at Denver Water.

Barry says he's not upset by Colorado's recent exception to rainwater harvesting — the effect on senior water-rights holders will be minimal. But he says if the practice were to become widespread, that could unwind a complicated system that has long determined who gets the limited water available.

There seems to be little risk that such a wholesale change will happen anytime soon. Recent efforts in Washington and Utah to get even minor exceptions to the ban on rainwater harvesting failed.

WICHITA RAIN BARRELS was on Johnson's Garden Center RADIO SHOW!

2009-05-16T18:05:00.002-05:00

Well Marty Johnson from Johnson's Garden Center has done WICHITA RAIN BARRELS another solid favor. He has really helped me get things going from letting me set up in his stores to now throwing out my name and WICHITA RAIN BARRELS on the air waves. He does a live broadcast every Saturday morning and today he and his son began a conversation about WRB! follow the link to hear it, its about 1/2 way through the show.

sit back, relax and listen, they always have good advice for ALL gardeners.

Those pesky bugs!

2009-05-11T10:38:00.002-05:00

Something that I have been using to help keep the mosquitoes from over populating is OLIVE OIL. No not the cartoon girlfriend of POPEYE but actual olive oil. With just a few cap fulls, it will create enough surface tension to smother the larvae and kill off the existing mosquitoes. Plus with the Wichita Rain Barrels when you begin to irrigate your garden the olive oil is NON TOXIC and there are no unknown chemicals. We live very very close to the Arkansas river and we try and avoid polluting it as much as possible, plus we have a few raised beds for veggies and do not want to add any unnecessary chemicals into what we are eating. When the water level begins to go down the olive oil actually adheres to the sides of the Rain Barrel. When it rains again it will float back up to the surface of the water. Sometimes it will flow out through the overflow hose, but with just a few cap fulls it is a very inexpensive way to keep the bugs out.

Wichita Rain Barrel with a unique set up

2009-05-10T10:00:00.015-05:00

Here are some shots of a Wichita Rain Barrel set up we did not to long ago. You will see in the first shot the WRB (Wichita Rain Barrel) is already set in place on four cinder blocks. What you do not see are the four paver path stones that I placed down before. I did this to give the WRB a bigger foot print. Since I was going into a garden spot where the dirt had recently been tilled I wanted to make sure that the cinder blocks were going to be stable. After getting the cinder blocks put into place we placed the WRB on top and began looking at where we wanted the overflow hose to drain off to.
We decided to cover it up by sinking it down into the ground just a few inches and allowing it to drain in between the steps and the garden edge. We then trenched out a bit of dirt from the left hand side of the WRB making sure not to disturb the footings(the pavers).
In this photo you can see that we were able to cover up the overflow hose with just enough dirt to hide it. Soon we will be planting some vine's like ivy or "vincka" to cover it up even more.

Go Green with an ECO-FRIENDLY Lawn This Summer

2009-05-07T16:45:00.000-05:00

Go Green with an Eco-friendly Lawn This Summer

Article By
Jessica Jensen

Summer is just around the corner, and this is the time of year when we really ramp up our lawn activities– watering, fertilizing, mowing, etc. And all of these can have major negative environmental consequences. Did you know that over 50 million Americans mow their lawns each weekend, and contribute as much as 5% of the country’s air pollution? And it’s staggering to realize that the average American grassy lawn can use over 20,000 gallons of water each summer! So, a major part of any green home strategy should be to embrace eco-friendly lawn and garden care.

Here are 12 ways you can make sure you have an eco-friendly lawn this summer

1. Collect rain water and use it for your plants. Getting a rain barrel or two for your yard is a simple way to collect and reuse Mother Nature’s water. Just put it under your gutter’s down spout and you’ll be amazed how fast it fills up. Check here for more info> wichitarainbarrels.com.

2. Make sure you’re not over-watering. Most of us over-water our lawns. Do you have moss growing on your driveway or sidewalk or in your garden? That’s a sign you’re watering too much. Do you have pools of standing water anywhere? Another sign. You can buy a very inexpensive lawn moisture meter that will tell you if you’re over-watering. You might also consider getting an intelligent irrigation control system that attunes your watering to the weather and your lawn’s needs.

3. Don’t hose down your sidewalks and driveway. That water is a valuable resource and the water you send into the gutter is carrying oil and a host of chemicals out as run-off that go on to pollute our rivers, lakes and oceans.

4. Get a push mower for your lawn. Traditional gas mowers are horrible for our air quality and contribute to global warming. They are major environmental offenders. A good-ole push mower is the eco-friendly solution. (Or if you can’t go all the way to push style, get a plug-in electric model– better than gas.)

5. Say no to leaf-blowers! The gas-powered leaf blowers some people use are major carbon emissions culprits. Say yes to a broom! Your waist-line will thank you too.

6. And when you’re done mowing, leave your clippings on your yard. Those grass clippings make great mulch and will help you save water as well.

7. Be sure to compost your other yard waste. If your city doesn’t collect green waste for composting, please get a composter and do it yourself. It’s super easy and the composter will turn your waste into great mulch for use throughout your yard and garden. Find composters here.

8. Embrace native plants. Plants, flowers and grasses that are native to your region are the most atuned to soil, climate and water particularities. They are great water savers and will thrive with less care than tropical and other imported varieties. And they are gorgeous! Learn more about native landscaping here with our book collection. Or contact a green professional landscape designer or maintainance provider from our green services directory. We have eco-minded landscaping experts listed across the United States.

9. Are you addicted to the look of grass but live in a high-drought area? You may want to consider synthetic grass. It uses no water, lasts over ten years, and looks & feels surprisingly real. Learn more about synthetic grass.

10. Why not start your own organic food garden? Nothing could be better for the planet or your health. Learn how to get started with organic veggies, at Johnsonsgarden.com

11. Use non-toxic fertilizers and pest-control agents for your garden and lawn. Not only are these better for your plants (particularly any food you might eat), they reduce the amount of toxins that run-off into our waterways. Find safe alternatives here.

12. Use solar or LED lighting in your lawn. Solar lighting is obviously an energy-saver. If you don’t find solar lights bright enough, check out LED lights—they are very bright and use very little power. They will last 5-10 times as long as standard outdoor lights. Find energy-efficient lighting options here.

For more information visit Low Impact Living.

"Melissa's Ramblings"

2009-05-05T06:51:00.000-05:00

Here is a great blip of the garden show for all that missed it this year
http://urbanhomesteadingintheict.blogspot.com/2009/03/wichita-garden-show.html?showComment=1241524200000#c4548708342765842638

A very informational posting by DAVID

2009-05-04T21:09:00.000-05:00

Just stumbled upon this post by a local guy. He has some very good ideas on container watering. I will be using them very soon in my wooden herb barrels.
http://sewa-ania.blogspot.com/2009/04/again-with-watering.html?showComment=1241489220000#c3236166531203288439

2009-05-04T20:19:00.001-05:00

Its been a busy SPRING!

2009-05-04T19:56:00.001-05:00

Well it has definitely been a busy spring around the Wichita Rain Barrel shop. With almost 100 Wichita Rain Barrels being sold in the last 2 months! I have almost forgotten the whole reason I started to make these things, well it was for my own garden. I took off a week from production and focused on my own little piece a greenery. This year we planted three raised beds. Two of which are made from pressure treated wood purchased from the Sedgwick County Extension sale at the Wichita Garden Show this last month. The other raised bed was made from a combination of native sand stone and a fallen tree. We have planted a combination of things that we like to eat around our house from Roma tomatoes to green beans and some Texas 1015's. We also have 50 or so sweet basil plants that are getting bigger every day as well as lettuce, spinach and some carrots.

For the raised beds we are using a dual Wichita Rain Barrel system. It is set up to collect in one Rain Barrel and when the first one is filled it will overflow into the other. This setup can be used with multiple Wichita Rain Barrels, and has been. The first 4 Wichita Rain Barrels sold at the Garden show this year was to a 75 year old woman that was going to "daisy" chain the four Wichita Rain Barrels to two other existing barrels, for a total of 6 rain barrels. Above is my set up.

Thanks Peter "the rain barrel dude"

Please feel free to post questions/comments/suggestions. All is welcome

Getting Ready for spring

2009-02-15T08:42:00.001-06:00

With spring quickly approaching now is the time to start planning any expansions or "renovations" to your existing gardens. This year here at Wichita Rain Barrels we will be putting together a short video demonstrating how to use one of our Rain Barrels to is fullest potential.

First sale of 2009

2009-01-28T09:17:00.001-06:00

Well it was 20 degrees and snow was falling but that did not stop a sale from happening.

WHY HAVE A RAIN BARREL

2009-01-24T18:18:00.001-06:00

WHY HAVE A RAIN BARREL?

· One-inch of rainfall on a 1,000 square-foot roof generates 623 gallons of runoff.

· In the summer, 40% of a typical household's water use goes to watering gardens and lawns.

· One barrel with a 125ft. of soaker hose attached will irrigate a flower/vegetable garden for over 6 hrs!

· Rain water is usually soft and free of dissolved minerals. This untreated water is great for indoor plans, your garden and lawn or washing your car.

· Neighbors will be jealous of your new garden toy.

· Once the water is collected IT’S FREE!

· According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, a rain barrel can potentially save most home owners about 1,300 gallons of water during the peak summer months.

For more information about purchasing a rain barrel, contact PETER DANIELS pmd1131@yahoo.com.

GARDEN PLANNING

2009-01-24T17:52:00.001-06:00

Its never to early to start your garden planning. I have began to draw out a new plot for planting vegetables. I will use my rain barrel to irrigate it during the hot summer months. The plan will be to use a soaker hose baried in the dirt about 2 inches down. That way the roots will feed off of the natural rain water and the water will not evaporate and I will have less chance of having mildew grow on the leaves.

Wichita Rain Barrels

2012 Energy & Conservation fair

Come see us at our first 2012 show!

Painted rain barrels in the works

Time to think about WINTER and your RAIN BARREL

My gift to you!

Rainwater as Drinking Water in Guatemala with a rain saucer

RainSaucers have arrived here in Wichita but only at WICHITA RAIN BARRELS

Officials decide to end Wichita Garden Show after 44 years

Compost tea in a WICHITA RAIN BARREL?

" ECO HERO" Awarded to Wichita Rain Barrels

Convention encourages green living - kwch.com

2011 Regional Energy Sustainability Summit & Fair

Winterizing your Rain Barrel

Mrs. N's Duel Wichita Rain Barrel Setup

Another Customers set up

Whats a RAIN SAUCER?

Are you needing something to do over the lunch hour?

Two more AWSOME custome painted Wichita Rain Barrels!

Here are several shots from customers this summer.

Wichita water supply lines are at their limit Read more: http://www.kansas.com/2010/06/27/1379485/city-has-rights-to-water-but-no.html#ixzz0s9TSwWL6

Wichita water supply lines are at their limit

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

Photos

Wichita Rain Barrels will be at Johnson's Garden Center this weekend for a DEMO and SALE!

WRB will be at LIV FEST 2010! Great music and RAIN BARRELS

Wichita water rates may increase

Wichita water rates may increase

BY BRENT D. WISTROM

The Wichita Eagle

Wichita's water outlook

Garden Wars 2010!

SALE! SALE SALE SALE SALE SALE

Photos of some new Wichita Rain Barrels!

L.A. recycles rain to protect its ocean

Show Schedule to find WICHITA RAIN BARRELS

Another Hydroponics set up!

Need a stand for your Wichita Rain Barrel

WRB on KNSS Radio with Johnson's Garden Center

Wichita Rain Barrels for sale for $25.00 2 days only!

JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS----------GIFT CERTIFICATES------------

Here is a VERY CREATIVE hydroponics setup using a WICHITA RAIN BARREL

Wichita launches a new project to clean up the Arkansas

New Custom Painted Rain Barrels

New style rain barrel made with a screen

The President likes CARROTS!

Water cost is rising in Wichita.......

Spining composter redesigned.

It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado, heres another article about the legalities of rain water ! who would have thought!

It’s Now Legal to Catch a Raindrop in Colorado

Related

Times Topics: Water

The Rapid Composting Method The author is Robert D. Raabe, Professor of Plant Pathology, Berkeley. and new show dates

Intorducing the Spinning Composter

WRB is in the Wichita Eagle Beacon and on their website with a Video!

Area residents learn benefits of collecting water

LOW IMPACT WEED KILLER, I wonder is Ed Begley knows about this!

Jack Johnson and Rain Barrels

Wichita Rain Barrels will be in the Newspaper

Something from NPR today. Its about Colorado and the fight to use water conservation.

WICHITA RAIN BARRELS was on Johnson's Garden Center RADIO SHOW!

Those pesky bugs!

Wichita Rain Barrel with a unique set up

Go Green with an ECO-FRIENDLY Lawn This Summer

Go Green with an Eco-friendly Lawn This Summer

"Melissa's Ramblings"

A very informational posting by DAVID

Its been a busy SPRING!

Getting Ready for spring

First sale of 2009

WHY HAVE A RAIN BARREL

GARDEN PLANNING