Gillian and I realized Saturday that we needed a rain barrel in our garden. No problem, right? Wrong. Rain barrels are not exactly easy to find. Also, the barrels I saw online were kind of pricey. That changed after I discovered the "Barrel Man". Mr. Robert Peary is Maine's Barrel Man. He sells rain barrels, which he makes using spent olive barrels, from a rented trailer in South Portland. Hooking up with Barrel Man is a fun experience. I encourage everyone to give the Barrel Man a call and add some of his handy work to your garden.

If you live in the Portland area, buying a Barrel Man rain barrel takes about an hour. It's far from your standard rain barrel buying experience. It's a lotof fun. The process goes something like this -- first meet Barrel Man in a convenience store parking lot and then follow him to a nearby industrial location in South Portland. Shake hands and climb into an old trailer. It smells like an old trailer, Barrel Man smokes, the area surrounding Barrel Man's trailer looks like a movie set. Once in the trailer you discover how cool this guy is. He's totally laid back. Totally one of a kind.

Barrel Man buys used barrels, cleans them, adds a screen to the top and a spigot to the side. That's it. Then he waits for calls. No ads, no promotions. All word of mouth. According to Barrel Man, he gets plenty of calls.

Barrel man offers two sizes and three colors -- choices are gray, red and black. I chose gray. They come in medium and large, fifty and seventy-five gallons. (I chose large, cost was $80 plus tax.)

You should know that Barrel Man sells more than rain barrels. He has cardboard, plastic and wooden whiskey barrels. His whiskey barrels are from none other than Jim Beam Distillery. Too cool.

Buying from Barrel man is a step back in time. It's a great experience. Forget online, give Barrel Man a call today!

He's at (207) 883-6378.

Cheers.