Garden shed 'holds rainwater storage'

11:07:20 12th July 2010

A garden shed that collects rainwater is being used by American students as part of a gardening project in self-sufficiency.

Concordia College has created the Cornucopia garden to demonstrate to people how they can grow their own vegetables in a sustainable manner.

One of the accessories to this is a small garden shed with a barrel to collect rainwater. For every inch of rain, the barrel can store 50 gallons of water for gardening purposes.

Shane Sessions, co-president of the Student Environmental Alliance at Concordia, told Inforum that the students have established "a self-sustaining system".

The garden is being used to grow crops such as tomatoes and onions, to be sold at farmers' markets.

Squash, beans and corn are also being grown together in a traditionally Native American manner.

The students are keeping a blog of the garden’s progress, called Fresh Dirt.

According to the most recent entry, the gardeners are using an Echinacea plant, or purple cone flower, as part of a perimeter garden to help keep water in and encourage pollinating insects.

Find out more information about garden sheds