There are a lot of rain barrels at Sunnyside Farm. At last count about 80 foodsafe barrels.
All summer Homer has the barrels in position to gather water from gutters he added to the hoophouse. He calculates that one inch of rain fills all 80 barrels. Each barrels holds 50 gallons..so one inch of rain yields 4,000 gallons of water in reserve.
We don't need the water right away, as our vegetable beds have been soaked by the rain. It is best for the vegetables to get watered again 6-7 days later, and to empty the barrels dry.
In that amount of time the mosquitoes can get busy and breed in the standing water. We certainly don't need those growing here, and needed a toxic free, season long solution.
Pet stores sell a goldfish they call a feeder fish. Not certain what feeds on them, but they are usually $.11 each or so, cheaper with a coupon. We put 2 into each open tank at the beginning of the season, and they eat the mosquito larva all year.
The ducks take care of the mosquitoes most other spots on the property. Even with record setting rains this year we have managed to keep mosquitoes to a minimum and very rarely end up with any mosquito bites.
And the fish are just fun.
All summer Homer has the barrels in position to gather water from gutters he added to the hoophouse. He calculates that one inch of rain fills all 80 barrels. Each barrels holds 50 gallons..so one inch of rain yields 4,000 gallons of water in reserve.
We don't need the water right away, as our vegetable beds have been soaked by the rain. It is best for the vegetables to get watered again 6-7 days later, and to empty the barrels dry.
In that amount of time the mosquitoes can get busy and breed in the standing water. We certainly don't need those growing here, and needed a toxic free, season long solution.
Pet stores sell a goldfish they call a feeder fish. Not certain what feeds on them, but they are usually $.11 each or so, cheaper with a coupon. We put 2 into each open tank at the beginning of the season, and they eat the mosquito larva all year.
The ducks take care of the mosquitoes most other spots on the property. Even with record setting rains this year we have managed to keep mosquitoes to a minimum and very rarely end up with any mosquito bites.
And the fish are just fun.
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