Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

It was (and still is) he longest day!

I “celebrated” by making a rain barrel out of a 55 gallon barrel in the 95 degree heat.

Here’s the finished product:

The trickiest part was drilling the hole and fitting the hose bib in such a way that it hopefully will not leak. I’m letting it dry overnight and will test it tomorrow.

For inflow, I simply connected the gutter to PVC coupling and pipe which go right into into one of the barrel’s existing bungs.  For overflow, I drilled a 2 1/4 inch hole, then ran a short piece of PVC pipe into the perf pipe that runs into the underground raingarden pit.

A sink strainer in the PVC coupling prevents gutter debris from getting in.

Overall, the whole thing is quite mosquito-proof, and it’s easy to add a couple of minnows as backup.

Coco supervised every step of the way.

MORE: Damn! Right after I put up this post, Tlaloc struck! A sudden rainstorm has half filled the barrel.  So far, no leaks.