One Simple Thing-Cleaner Birdbath

This concrete birdbath graces the shadier part of our backyard.

Found on Craig's List a few years back,

it was a great deal at $10.

We enjoy watching the birds partaking in preening rituals

and using it to quench their thirst.

We clean it with a simple scrub using water from our rain barrels.

It's recommended to be cleaned every week,

but sometimes I just don't get to it.

Our farmer friends Faye and Lynn told us about this lil' trick.

Pennies circa 1982 or earlier added to the birdbath 

will keep the algae from recurring as quickly.

We thought we'd give it a go.

So, Lil' Guy helped me sort through our penny collection.

That led to a discussion of wheat pennies,

buffalo nickels and a general history lesson.

We found one as early as 1916!

We added about 5 to our bigger birdbath.

This bowl had a big crack in it, so it was retired to the garden.

A few pennies were tossed into that one too.

We'll do an update to see if it keeps the algae at bay.

Seems like an easy solution to spend less time cleaning

and more time enjoying the visiting birds.

***Update: We've been keeping the pennies in the birdbaths
for well over a year now, and they are working fantastically!

One Simple Thing