Painting a Few Rain Barrels

From In the Garden

Rain barrels are a must for recyclers and avid gardeners who may want to conserve water, or maybe just use rain water instead of tap water to water their plants. Rain barrels are something I have wanted for a very long time. My grandmother used to have a rain barrel. It wasn't fancy. Just an old metal barrel placed in a location to receive rain water. She would dip her watering cans in the barrel to fill them with water. I remember her telling me rain water is so much better for the plants than tap water. I am not sure how true that is, but the benefits of reusing rain water rather than letting it all drain away is much better for all of us. On that note I have been planning to make some rain barrels for Tiger Gardens for nearly three years now (shhh-a bit of procrastination on my part but hey). Anyhow, we are nearing completion and I thought I'd share one part of making my rain barrels with you today. I am not finished making them but have all the parts and need only to drill the holes and figure out a way to tap into the gutters then I'm set. Sounds easy right? Not really. The easy part is the painting so let's look at how I painted mine.

From In the Garden

The first thing I did was procure three 55 gallon black plastic food grade rain barrels from a local auto parts store (Frogue Auto Sales). The cost was $12 per but the Clarksville Re-Store has white ones for $10. There are other sources around as well if you are interested in other sources just email me. I prefer the black barrels so the water can soak up all the sun-what little my home gets here. Once I had the rain barrels my next step was to clean them well and to coat them with Fusion plastic paint. I wanted a subdued color and one that would blend with the surroundings. I settled on a brown textured paint as you can see in the picture above. I only painted two of the three barrels because one of the barrels will be my water source inside my greenhouse and I preferred for it to stay black and simple. I may add something to that barrel later but since it will be tucked into an already space starved greenhouse it need not be fancy because I doubt anyone but me will see it.

From In the Garden

My first rain barrel with the words 'Tiger Gardens' on it and a beautiful sunset was pretty easy. I used good quality acrylics and patio paints. In my high school years I used to paint a LOT. My grandmother, who was an excellent artist, passed on her oils and acrylics to me. I treasure them and recently found them and decided to start painting with them again. I had stopped painting once I had my twins just out of high school but they are grown now and I have more time to spend outside of the garden so I might start painting again.

I spent a lot of time on this sunset trying to get it just right. You know how you have a picture of something in your mind and the reality doesn't always translate well? Painting is like that for me. I was not happy with my sunset until my teenaged son came and asked me, "Did you paint that sunset?" I replied, "Yes." He said, "All by yourself??" I said "Yyyeeesss." He then said, "You are a pretty good artist!" I know I've arrived to a great place when my teenager likes something his mother did! That doesn't happen too often.

The second rain barrel did not go as well. I had a clear picture in my mind of what my rain barrel would look like with an iris (Tennessee's State Flower) on it. Unfortunately, what that picture in my mind looked like was not translated to my hand all that well:( Sometimes that happens. Nonetheless, I'm happy with my newly painted rain barrels and have their spots picked out already. Now to drill those holes....

in the garden....more to come later.

I forgot to say I coated the final paintings with a clear coat of polyurethane spray paint and I'm hoping that makes the paintings last!

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden