The First Day of Spring

It is hard to believe that tomorrow is the first day of spring. Usually, in our humble little part of the Mitten State, the first day of spring is marked by either snow or freezing rain. Tomorrow, however, is forecast to be much like today, near or a little above 80 degrees.

Which means it is time to put away the snowblower stuff, and haul out the stuff needed for the summer. The lawn mower is out and running, snow shovels put away, but close by because I still don't trust Michigan weather, and the first of the rain barrels has been put out.

This year, the plan is to water the gardens using only accumulated rain water. So the number of barrels will increase from one to four. Possibly five or six, but I am content to see how we do with one.

Rain Reserve 

When I went to re-attach the barrel to the Rain Reserve diverter, it was cracked along the bottom edge, where the light orange stain is located on the bottom right-hand corner of the unit. The repair was easy, with a little pvc cement.  I thought this thing was bomb-proof, as it has seen many winters in sub-zero temperatures.  This year, it looks like it got clogged with the little asphalt particles from the roof, which then froze along with the left over water, and the thing cracked.  Here is information on how the Rain Reserve system works.

Even though the thing cracked, I am still a happy customer.

We bought ours, and the barrel, from Sustain Dane in Madison, WI.  Sustain Dane is a pretty amazing organization, and one of the early leaders in using rain barrels to water urban gardens.  If I remember right, one of the members of Sustain Dane developed the Rain Reserve idea.  The barrel is a recycled Mountain Dew syrup container.  If in Madison, check out Sustain Dane.  But if you plan to buy a barrel from them and take one home in your car, make sure you have a way to get it home.  They take up a lot of space in a car.

More on the barrel system as it progresses.