I want to alert anyone wanting to use so-called food grade plastics for growing vegetables or for the collecting of rain water, that these containers are very toxic and grow deadly strains of black, red, orange and green molds. Watering plants with the 5 gallon buckets that came from Chinese restaurants that contained soy sauce are especially toxic if used over a period of time, as the minerals from water wear down the plastic and make it more and more porous and toxic. The toxicity is both from the leaching of the plastic and mold into the water. PETROLEUM BASED PLASTICS ARE TOXIC We have to take our health into our own hands, as few; (not all)in business have any sense of morality when a profit can be made!

Pricewise, it's hard to beat making your own, but we already have so much on our plate I ordered some made from recycled food-grade shipping barrels - found them on Ebay for $40 each, already fitted with a brass spigot, plastic overflow, and insect screen. Shipping wasn't bad, even though they came all the way from Louisiana. They're about 50 gallons, terra cotta color, with a black top. I just checked Ebay and it looks like prices and shipping have both risen. I may try painting one a forest green to see how it holds up - solid terra cotta is certainly better than green-flaking-to-terra-cotta. Placed against the house, though, behind some larger shrubs, they really aren't too noticeable until you're right up on them. The insect screen should keep mosquitos out (though I don't know about these tiny new African "Tiger" mosquitos), but if that should fail there's always the Bti (bacillus thuringiensis israelensis). It's deadly to mosquito larvae, but harmless to people, pets and wildlife and can be found in most stores that sell pond and gardening products. It's available in a solid form (like the "Dunks" that look like little donuts) or granular, which is what I bought for the bog adjoining my koi pond. I never found the stored water to get funky, but do empty them, rinse out, and store upside down when freezing weather sets in.

For a reddish rain barrel on Amazon, see link below. One of the reviewer described well on how to use a rain-barrel: http://www.amazon.com/Upcycle-Gallon-Terra-Cotta-Rain-Barrel/dp/B005U6EU1Y "Kenneth L. Willitts says: It has three outlets, two of them one at the top and the other at the bottom are for hose connection. The other outlet is at the bottom and is fitted with a spigot, which can be shut or open and also has the ability to be connected to a hose. I keep the very top outlet connected to a soaker hose that goes into my garden, so if there is an overflow, it will go into the garden. I have three of theses and they are very easy to connect to any gutter system. The other important thing to consider and it is a good and bad problem, it has a nice screen on the top to keep dirty and trash out of the tank, but if you have heavy foliage the trash can block the screen, so about one a month, I just brush off the top and that solve that problem. Hope this helps. PS by the way if you were to connect two or more, use the top outlet connected with a standard hose with two female adapters, if you need help let me know. Ken" See below link for a reddish rain-barrel different from Amazon, it's 50 gallon Terra Cotta Snap Lid Rain Barrel, sold for $79.95, free shipping. Here is a link that might be useful: 50 gallon Terra Cotta Snap Lid Rain Barrel This post was edited by Strawberryhill on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 11:28

Hi Kandm - For the rain barrels - I went to a local oil shop place. Many oil shops will also top off fluids - such as windshield wiper fluid. These are the barrels I use - those that held windshield wiper fluid. Clean them out real good. At the top of the barrels, there are two holes - hopefully you get them with the caps. Both are 2"-size. One has coarse threads the other has fine threads. Make sure the cap with the coarse threads is on good and tight so water won't leak. You want to remove the cap that is on the fine threaded-hole. Also, if lucky, it will come with a rubber O-ring on the cap. Keep that as you will need it. Now, you need to get a 2" PVC male-threaded adapter to fit into that hole. Use the O-ring. You then need to either get 90-degree elbows (if only connecting two barrels) or you will need to also get T-connectors (if hooking up more than two). You'll run a 2" PVC pipe to connect the barrels. Use PVC cement to glue all the parts together. You'll have your 2" male-threaded adapter, then cut a little piece of 2" PVC pipe to put between the male-threaded adapter and either the 90-degree elbow piece or the T-connector. I would also recommend getting a 2" PVC union. They are expensive at about $8 each, but this will allow you to take the barrels apart from one another if you need to store them. The top of the barrels with the holes will effectively become the bottom - so you turn them upside down. The water will flow in from the bottom (top now) of the barrels by a gutter. You'll need to cut a hole in the top of the main barrel that will receive this flow. All of the other barrels need to have an air hole drilled in them as well (opposite side of the two big holes, of course!). This allows the air to escape as the barrels fill up in unison. You can then cut a hole in your main barrel that will receive your flow on the side at the top - for overflow. This way if all of your barrels get full, the overflow allows the water to flow out correctly. Then - you need a method for delivering the water. I had to basically make a custom piece for this. I used a 1/2-inch drill bit and drilled a hole right in the side of the 2" PVC 90-degree elbow. I then used a 1/2-inch male threaded adapter and threaded it into this hole - and used a lot of cement to ensure it was water-leak free. This way you can then connect a 1/2-inch PVC pipe to this adapter and send it down to a faucet or irrigation pipe. I have two other videos that detail everything about the barrels on YouTube. My YouTube name is 'bsntechdotcom' so search for me on there and look at the other two videos. Here is a link that might be useful: BsnTech Gardening Blog