Thursday, September 12, 2013

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







6 comments:

  1. This would be great....I hope it works.
    I found a really nice birdbath this year but the only downside is it has a million crevises that fill with algae. Scrub scrub scrub!! I despise it. Keep us posted! And keeping my fingers crossed this helps.

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    1. I wonder if you could caulk the crevices, or would it be too obvious?
      I will update and let you know if the pennies did the job! ;0)

      Loved your "winners" post. Your veg and blooms are magical!

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  2. Hmm, that sounds interesting! I've always wanted a bird bath, but not with 4 sets of little hands and rambunctious puppy!

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    Replies
    1. Sounds like you have the army necessary to keep a birdbath well looked after!

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  3. I've heard this from somewhere but wasn't sure if the copper would do anything to the water to harm the birds???

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    Replies
    1. I thought about that too, so I did a little reading. Turns out that it is safe because they drink so little at a time.

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