One of the down sides to eating as much kale as I do is that my hair and my fingernails grow at a ridiculous rate. My hair stylist has used me for show-and-tell to those just entering the business ~ 'normal regrowth at six weeks would be 1/4 - 1/2 of an inch. This client gets almost a full inch because of how much kale she eats.' I thought it was cool in the beginning, but the upkeep both on the head and the nails is enough already.
My mother told me about a research study that found working with the soil, gloves off, releases seratonin in your brain. I found this article that speaks to a strain of bacterium in soil, Mycobacterium vaccae, that has been found to trigger the release of seratonin, which in turn elevates mood and decreases anxiety. So I tossed the gloves in the name of happiness, but with the length of my fingernails growing by the day, I needed a way to get my hands clean while I was working in the garden.
My first hand selfie. Gross.
So the obvious answer was to design a rainwater collection system, with water flow powered by solar that would run through an antique water pump and into a maple syrup strainer turned into a sink. Simple of course.
I dreamt about this project a year ago and it was finally completed this week. My husband was a saint, standing by my side all along the way researching DC powered battery packs and the most efficient rain collections systems. In my defense, he knew he was marrying a hippie-at-heart years ago so this shouldn't have been all that much of a surprise. Maybe it was the farmer-at-heart that he didn't know he was marrying, but I digress.
So here's the nuts and bolts:
- We put a rain barrel on the south side of our potting shed.
2. We installed a solar panel on the roof that faces direct south.
3. We purchased a DC pump that is powered by the solar panel on the roof.
4. My husband ran piping from the rainwater collection tank to the sink via the pump and drained it through the floor, which dumps into the crushed stone installed when we built the shed.
5. I can now turn a knob and water comes out of an antique water pump as designed. Happy. Another labor of love has come to fruition.
Now having a sink in my potting shed is pretty awesome, but with all this infrastructure in place we have enough solar power for some lights, a ceiling fan and maybe even a fridge to support my new found love for IPAs. The rainwater collection has been so successful and the plumbing is in place to operate a hose off the barrel to water the garden in the future. As my dad so simply said, the plants just prefer the rainwater to the hose water. Totally makes sense and mother nature would approve.
When I first got married my husband claimed to hate home improvement projects. When you ask him today, he'll probably tell you the same thing, but there is a slight twist that makes projects like these enjoyable now. Patience and pride. You work the muscles of patience when you bring old stuff together with new technology. The outcome is usually bound to be pride at the accomplishment. He's got his '54 Chevy and I've got my potting shed. I don't understand why flames flying out of your exhaust pipe is cool, but I know it makes him happy so I support it. He doesn't understand why I like compost under my fingernails, but he'll build me a sink to wash it away. I'm a true believer that a little patience tossed with a touch of pride leads to happiness all around.