Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, ya’ll! I’m the first to admit that I was all talk and no action on going (even ever-so-slightly) green before I became a Whittaker… Jeff, on the other hand, really walks the walk. Admittedly, he does his part mostly to save a dollar… But either way, it’s also helping save the earth.

My jaw literally dropped when I saw this post on Young House Love awhile back. Why? Because months earlier, my hubby (he is so ahead of the curve) built these in our backyard:

Two eco-friendly rain barrels. Our friend (and ultimate green-guru), Tyson, got the barrels from a place that sells used food containers, pretty cheap. Jeff bought a standard valve to let water out, connected one barrel to the downspout, then added a hose at the top of that one to connect to the second barrel. He then added an overflow hose from the second one out to the yard, in case both were full. Lastly, he added a screen to the first barrel to keep dirt out and built a platform to keep both elevated and close to the downspout… And ta-da! We had a rain barrel system for the yard.

We’re currently using them to water our newly-planted veggie garden (and soon-to-be-planted flower pots).

Fingers crossed for a harvest of tomatoes, cucumbers, black beans, and blueberries!