Winterize a Vegetable Garden - Shutting Off Water Sources

Kathy Jentz: I am Kathy Jentz showing you how to winterize your vegetable garden. Now, we are going to be turning off our water sources for the winter time to prevent freezing and breakage of your hoses and your water sources.

So, first we will turn off your spigot, then we will unscrew the hose and we will drain it. If you have a really long hose you will probably need it up hang it up on a fence or ladder to get all the water out of it. Then you will coil it up and store it away either in your garage or in other protected area for the winter time. Next you will go inside and turn off the valve for your outdoor water sources. That way the pipe between the inside and outside valve won't freeze on you.

Now, we are winterizing your rain barrel, but first we will talk a little about the benefits of having a rain barrel. So, rain barrels are a terrific addition to any garden. They are a great water management system. What you will do is hook it straight from your gutters and just drain it into a barrel where you can pick these up at any soda bottling or vegetable drums could be used as rain barrels or you can buy one from a gardening catalog. So what it is, it's collecting the rain water from your roof straight into a barrel system, you can dip in it with a garden bucket or watering can or you can hook a hose up to it.

So, for the winter time you will definitely need to drain it and then turn it upside down. The important thing for draining and turning it upside down and getting it completely clear of any water or moisture inside is that it will freeze-thaw, freeze-thaw and crack your barrel if you do not do so. So let's unhook our hose, make sure the spigot is turned off and we will drain that, coil that and store that inside, and then you will drain the barrel itself, turn it over and you can store that either inside or in a protected area of your yard. So, those are some tips for winterizing your vegetable garden, thank you for watching.