Back in Wes Ginny I had the ultimate rain barrel... It was a plastic 400 gallon tanks that I installed under a deck and had all the rain on the back half of the house going to it (with overflow for when it was full)... Then I mounted a pump on top and it ran to an underground hose which ran to my veggie garden... The pump was in a switch and all I had to do is reach down from the comfort of my rear deck chair and flick the switch and the water got pumped to an oscillator which was set up right in the middle of the veggie garden... Worked great!!!
BTW, it is amazing what a 1/2 inch of water equals to on a 60 X 12 pitched roof...
Here??? The two raised box beds are finished and filled with top soil & compost and we have three squash mounds in one and three rows of okra in the other... We'll see???
Lotta shale here so we're planting all out shrubs and trees in larger holes that we are used to to give them a better chance...
Tomrrow I'm going to put in the 8 asparagus plants I brought down in the move... I tilled up a 5 X 10 plot out by the pond where there is better sun and put in a lot of compost and well see how they like it...