Last winter, in the Edible Schoolyard garden, the 6th and 7th grade students installed a rainwater catchment system that can hold up to 6,000 gallons of water. From October to May, which is our rainy season in Berkeley, we captured and stored over 5,000 gallons of water. Our students calculated that for every inch of rain that falls we will have 200 gallons of water.

The rainwater we collect is used for irrigation purposes during the summer and fall. This process helps us lessen our dependence on municipal water sources and also decreases runoff into the San Fransisco Bay. Currently we are using the rainwater to irrigate our Oyster Mushrooms (the mushrooms have their own story that must be told, but that will have to wait until the next entry). They are fragile and prefer non-chlorinated water, so the rainwater couldn’t be a better match.

We are so grateful to the Alameda Countywide Clean Water Program for providing the grant that made this program possible! The rainy season is just beginning this year and we have already captured 1,000 gallons of water.

We had to dig a great big hole to make room for the water catchment system

It took a lot of hands to move the container

We had to push from many angles to get the right position

This is how it looks today, collecting water to feed the garden