With Rain in the Forecast

Scooping out coffee for a second pot, I noticed the interesting little factoid printed on the side of the bag that over 98% of coffee is water.  It was, I initially thought, an unnecessary statement of the obvious, but I appreciated its service to a larger point:  the water is important.  However precious and perfectly roasted and ground may be the beans we select, the water that drips through them may well hold the trump card.  Water, I'm guessing, deserves more of our attention.

Beyond my cup of coffee, what about the rest of my tiny little world?  I read that up to 60% of my body is water -- the brain sloshing around as 70% water, while the lungs, in an apparent echo of amphibian genes in our heritage, are nearly 90% water.  In the plant world, most are anywhere from 90 to 95 percent water.  Which is to say that H2O isn't only critical to my morning brew.

I have no particular reason to believe that the water spilling out of my faucet is in the least bit tainted, never mind the potential implications of whatever chemicals are used to purify it.  I have a hunch that my seedlings have no particular use for extra flouride, however, and though averting costly water charges might have played some part in our decision we did purchase four rain barrels shortly after moving in.  And the natural purity ought to count for something.  The water splashes off the roof of the barn and garden shed, down the spouts and into the barrels.  From there we filled every receptacle we could find around the house for storage and use throughout the winter.  The spinach, lettuce, mustard and arugula we have eaten these past few months owe their turgor to that collected rain.  Gallons of that harvest remain in the greenhouse, but since the seeding project began I have been going through it like...well, water. 

So, with rain in the forecast, along with warmer weather, I decided to move the barrels from their winter storage in the barn and relocate them to their respective stands beneath the spouts.  Rain being unpredictable at best, readiness seems the prudent course.