After some marvelous experiments in overfilling my watering can (i.e., spilling it everywhere for minutes on end), I drained my rain barrel this morning. I hadn't realized how low I was; all at once, the water coming from the hose turned murky, clouding up everything in the can. I peeked under the mosquito shield and looked inside the barrel: only a bit of sludge in the bottom and also a roach. I drained the can into a flower bed, then pulled the house water hose around and sprayed into the gunk in the bottom of the barrel. I started to drain it into the can, but it quickly stopped flowing. The hose end was stuffed up. I removed the barrel's hose and poked at the hole with a screwdriver. Gunky water started going again. I repeated this a few times, sometimes tipping the barrel over to keep the water going, then refilling it. Eventually I realized that the sludge was settling too quickly: I'd spray, the water would run dirty for a moment, and then clear. I started spraying more often, hoping to keep the gunk well-mixed, but it was no use. I'd hoped to get the rain barrel clean, but I gave up. Some amount of gunk was going to stay.
"Get better advice by taking notes."
I didn't mean for that love note to sneak in there, I was trying to just brag on the even pour.
