Winterizing the rain barrel (or not)
I meant to drain the rain
barrel last fall.
But we were still using it, and every time I let the water run out Mark
came along behind me and closed the spigot. I never remembered to tell
him that it's good practice to leave the rain barrel empty for the
winter, and at some point I just shrugged and let it ride.
And here's the deal ---
nothing froze and broke. Now I'm wondering if winterizing the rain
barrel is just one of those tasks people tell you to do that aren't
really necessary. In fact, we enjoyed having the easily accessible
outdoor winter water for goats, chickens, and for the aquaponics setup.
So maybe next year I won't even put that task on my to-do list.
How about you? Do you
drain your rain barrel for the winter? If not, have you had any
problems as a result?
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Hi Anna and Mark,
My first one did also. Not the rugged kind you have, but an old trash can.
Your periodically draining it a little now and then may well have reduced the volume enough so it did not crack?
Last year I put a large children's swimming pool there. It seems to have lasted. I dip water out of it. No spigot though.
I hope one day I get as organized as you both are.
warm regards, John