Let Mother Nature do your irrigation work by capturing free rain water in a barrel. The Miami-Dade Cooperative Extension hosts Rain Barrel Workshops throughout Miami-Dade County approximately every month to teach residents environmentally friendly ways of irrigating their lawn and garden. Participants learn how to build their own rain barrel, which helps conserve water and can reduce residents' water bill.

The 55-gallon barrels provide residents with a free supply of non-chlorinated soft water and store enough to irrigate a 240 square-foot garden space. Lawn and garden irrigation make up nearly 40 percent of total household water use in the summer. Residents who use a rain barrel can expect to save 1,300 gallons of water during peak summer months. By capturing rain water from your gutters, it also helps reduce storm water runoff, which carries fertilizers and other chemicals into local waterways.

For a list of upcoming workshops, visit
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/environment/natural_resources.shtml. Participants must register in advance. To sign up, call 305-238-3311, ext. 230 or email millec4@ufl.edu.

The fee for the workshop and barrel is $45. Additional barrels may be purchased for $40 each. To attend the workshop and receive instructional materials without the barrel, the fee is $10. Guests may attend for free but must pay if they would like workshop materials. Only personal checks or money orders are accepted.

The Miami-Dade Cooperative Extension is a partnership of the Miami-Dade Consumer Services Department and the University of Florida.