Captured in a barrel

Rick Gilbert has been collecting water his whole life.

Growing up on a farm, he was often directed to move the horse troughs under the barn to collect the rain in case the well ran dry. Although, he told members of the Bella Vista Garden Club at their February meeting last week, he doesn't remember the well going dry very often.

When he retired to Bella Vista, he was bored. One day he went outside to help his wife with the garden and realized it was difficult to dig a hole in the yard. Not only was the ground rocky, the rain seemed to wash right over it without penetrating. Then he looked at his water bill, and knew there had to be a better way to keep the plants alive.

So Gilbert and his wife, Laura Lynn, started building rain barrels.

Rain barrels are often homemade with a 55-gallon drum as the base. Gilbert started refining his basic barrel and soon his garage and basement were overflowing. So he moved to a workshop on Spanker Road.

Although a 55-gallon barrel looks large, it fills up very quickly and empties out pretty quickly, too, so Gilbert started looking for larger containers. Now he sells, not only the 55-gallon drums, he also has 250-gallon and 330-gallon water containers, that can act as rain barrels.

All the rain barrels have a screen to keep roof debris out of the barrel, an overflow and a spigot on the bottom to access the water easily. He offers several styles of paint so the barrels fit into the home landscape or he can make a favorite photo into a wrap and put that on a barrel.

Rainwater is good for plants, Gilbert said, but it's not potable.

When people from outside the area came to him looking for rain barrels, Gilbert developed a do-it-yourself rain barrel kit that is much easier to ship than an actual barrel. Customers can find their own barrel and easily turn it into a rain collector.

This year Gilbert, with the help of Luis Gonzalez, is providing a new service. Since gardeners in Bella Vista are often forced to resort to a raised bed garden because of the rocky soil, he decided to help.

He can custom build a raised bed and deliver it with a liner, an irrigation system and the soil. The beds can be any size or shape and are usually high enough that the gardener can sit on the edge to work rather than kneeling on the ground.

Rain barrels by Laura Lynn is located at 14098 Spanker Road or call them at 479-903-0251. They also have a website, http://www.rainbarrelsbylauralynn.com/Home_Page.php.