Good day to empty rain barrels!
Short post this week but I wanted to get it out before we ran out of daylight if you're in the central Iowa area. That way you'll have time to empty those rain barrels with your super powered rainwater into your planting areas or even lawns.
Although we've had a pretty wet year so far we have had a stretch of drier weather now. Rain is also in the forecast on Tuesday for central Iowa. That being the case, now would be an excellent time to use up your captured rainwater to water plants. We can use this great water that we've saved, instead of the municipal water with the chlorine and other chemicals that could interfere with your plants vigor.
Good rule of thumb (depending on the size of your system) - if rain is in the forecast in a couple days, use that nitrogen-rich rainwater you have stored to water your plants. Then you will have the storage capacity to catch the new rain water. Ideally you also have an overflow system to divert and store the water in your organic material rich soil of your garden beds.
When I went to empty mine today I found quite a surprise. The dill that grows around our rain barrel had quite a number of black and tiger swallowtail butterfly larvae. Eleven!
Hopefully you'll find a surprise in your yard, too!
Have a great week!
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