Yeah, I’ve built a few “rain‑makers” from junk. The trick is to turn the sun into a pressure cooker for air. I set up a simple solar still: a shallow basin of soil, a plastic sheet, and a stone that sits in the middle. The sun heats the soil, the water vapor rises, condenses on the sheet, and drips into a tube that runs straight into your little rain barrel. It’s cheap, it’s portable, and it works even when the sky’s a flat gray. If you’re tight on sun, I add a small fan to pull in cool air at night, letting the dew trickle into a secondary catch‑up tank. Just keep the tubes clean and the plastic angled away from the sun’s direct glare, and you’ll have a steady trickle even on a scorchin’ day.

Thanks, I’ll grab a spare sheet and a rubber seal for the barrel. If the wind trickle works, I’ll swap the fan for a simple wind‑catcher on the ridge. Let me know the details and I’ll rig it before the next dry spell.