With this hot weather, we’ve pretty much got to the end of what is in our water butts… which means it is time to get on with plumbing in the second 350l so we can capture even more next time it comes onto rain. However, this one is going to be down at the far end of the garden so it needs a long line with a gentle fall.

Drawing such a line is tricky. Even if we had a laser level, there are a number of obstacles in the way that make it tricky. The same goes for the less high tech approach of a long string. Our solution was a spirit level and a long piece of wood. That was enough to mark a roughly consistent line on the fence posts. We have bought some ‘fence pins’ (lengths of rebar with a crook shaped at one end) so we can bang those in, run the hose we picked up a few months ago and then gradually hammer the further ones down more until we have established a sufficient drop to ensure the water goes where we want it.

We will also build an overflow from the last butt into the canal as a safety measure. However, with the polytunnel in need of watering even deep into winter, I don’t think we’ll often reach the point where all parts of the system are full enough to need it (and, if we do, I’ll probably consider hooking more storage into the system).