Water on an Allotment with no water

[Leedsgirl]

I have just got a new allotment. My first ever. The allotment does not have any water. Now I could put up a shed with drain pipes and attach a water butt but I can't afford a shed at the moment. Is there a way to collect water without attaching it to anything please?

[Aberdeenplotter]

if you can get hold of a barrel or similar, a sheet of corrugated iron with one end on the barrel and the other propped up on a fence should give a good run of rainwater. A sheet of polythene will do the same if it can be anchored.

[Alison]

My shed was free off Freecycle

[Bigmallly]

Try & pickup an old bath & block the plughole.........Let it fill with rainwater.
P.S. Welcome to the Jungle from an ex Leeds Boy.

[Kristen]

1 inch or rain on something 2 metres / 6' square will collect 100L of water. So you need a decent collecting area to catch a nice Summer thunderstorm.

I'm always impressed with people that manage to do this as I have the luxury of growing at home, and all the downpipes from my house are connected to my waterbutts so I have a, relatively, huge collecting area.

[Nicos]

When my daughter worked in the Amazon,they collected rainwater with a tarp.
Have you got trees or posts or something solid you can attach a tarp to?

Bit like this....



It might flap about a lot in the wind, but a few smaller ones might work....as would AP's idea of a corrugated metal sheet.

We had a lottie with no water , and used to fill empty bottles with water from home ( better still if collected in a waterbut from your roof!)

[Jay-ell]

Let's see if I remember my maths. A 1m x 1m x 1m cube is 1000 litres. 1m is 1000mm. therefore 1mm over a meter square would be 1 litre. An inch is approximately 25mm so an inch would be 25 litres.

A 50 cm wide barrel would have a surface area of 0.2m so for an inch of rain it would collect about 5 litres without anything feeding it.

A 6x8 foot area would collect about 100 litres I think.

On my new plot the polytunnel on the neighbouring plot uses the boundary fence as the wall. There is a gutter on my side of the fence. The polytunnel is about 4x10 meters so that's 40 square meters. Assuming half of that would direct into the gutter that's 20 square meters which could mean an inch of rain giving 500 litres - more than the blue barrel it drains into can handle.

[Kristen]

A 1m x 1m x 1m cube is 1000 litres. 1m is 1000mm. therefore 1mm over a meter square would be 1 litre. An inch is approximately 25mm so an inch would be 25 litres.

Mr Google will do the maths for you (in case of interest ... the mental arithmetic may be more satisfying, but in my case probably less accurate!)

1 metre x 1 metre x 1 inch in litres =

choose numbers / units to suit (the equals sign on the end can be important, as can spaces separating units, numbers and operators)

[Jay-ell]

My old science teacher would have had a fit mixing metric and imperial like that.

By the way Leedsgirl, what type of soil does the plot have? One of the best places to store all the excess rain water is where it's going to be used (not so easy if it's sandy soil). Can you do anything to improve the storage capacity of the ground, e.g. adding compost (check with your council to see if they can supply it in bulk). Hoeing and mulching will help reduce evaporation so reduce the amount of water you need to use. Putting plastic bottles with their bottoms cut off nect to the plants when planting out means you can direct the water to the place it's needed.

Take a few large bottles of water with you every time you go - even when it's raining. If you don't use the water store it for future use in a butt or barrel.

[Leedsgirl]

Thanks folks. great tips and advice

No trees etc close enough to tie anything to.
Absolutely Jay-ell, we are on heavy clay soil. It is a brand new site, so I need to de weed and de grass it, as well as digging in manure/compost. I know in the long run this will help with watering. My dad says he hardly has to water on his allotment but his is a well established place and he's had his for years.

I'm thinking of a wide open barrel with mesh on top. Might be a while to get it full though. When I can afford / find a free shed, then I attach a water butt to drainage.

[Bigmallly]

I have a 3 bin composter made from pallets, along the top I have attached a sheet of tarpaulin which runs into an old barrel, works fine when it rains..............

[Kristen]

My old science teacher would have had a fit mixing metric and imperial like that.

People who come to interview here, straight from Academia, are always amazed and fascinated with how we do stuff - and it usually provokes "Why didn't my teachers teach me that?"

I'm thinking of a wide open barrel with mesh on top. Might be a while to get it full though.

I think your real problem will be in the Summer when the barrel becomes empty ... an inch of rain is only going to give you an inch in the bottom of the barrel - which won't be enough to even scoop out into a watering can.

My pond evaporates at about 1/2" per week, in high summer; dunno if that would apply to a water barrel too, but if so your evaporation rate may be more than you replenishment rate in Summer

[cheapskate chaz]

There`s your answer...build a pond! doesn`t have to be round, any shape that`ll fit with whatever space you`ve got, need to get hold of some plastic of course.