They turn wine into water (barrels)

It doesn't hurt, Tonya Baker admitted, that "Minnesota is such a wood-loving state."

But the success of Baker and Elena Kotowski's Barrel Depot business goes well beyond an interest in oak furnishings.

In just two years, the Shakopee-based entrepreneurs have sold used wine barrels to everyone from theme-park operators to home sauerkraut-makers. They've seen them used as props for wedding ceremonies and the Guthrie Theater, and recycled them into lazy Susans and candleholders.

But most of their local customers are ponying up $199 a pop for well-seasoned, eye-catching rain barrels.

That was the original idea, Kotowski said. "I didn't like the blue and gray plastic rain barrels I was seeing. I live in a Victorian house and wanted something beautiful that went with it."

The novice gardener said she "wanted to use a rain barrel to help me garden better, because I needed all the help I could get."

So, when she had no luck obtaining a used barrel from local wineries, she looked into buying one from California -- and learned that it would cost $140 to ship one. Finally, she and Baker decided that "we might as well bring in a truckload" of 200 barrels, said Kotowski. "We just thought 'There's got to be a lot of people who want a pretty barrel.'"

The pair also have become barrel brokers for wineries, "doing more wholesale ... from coast to coast," Kotowski said. "We're always networking, because barrels are so hard to get."

But locally, about 90 percent of their sales are the rain barrels.

One hole out, one in

Virtually all wine barrels are made with white oak and weigh around 100 pounds. New ones from France can cost as much as $1,200. Wineries generally use them for two or three vintages to impart color, texture and flavor, then look for buyers.

To make a rain barrel, Baker and Kotowski plug the bung hole on the side and drill another hole near the bottom for a hose to disseminate the accumulated water. To catch the downspout flow, a large hole is cut in the top and fitted with a screen to prevent leaves and other debris from fouling the water.

With the use of natural wood products and rainwater and the "recycling" of the barrels into wine racks, planters and the like, this is quite the "green" enterprise. That makes it a natural fit at the upcoming Community Eco Fair in Alexandria, Minn., (April 22, www .alexandria.k12.mn.us) and the Living Green Expo (May 1-2, www.livinggreenexpo.mn) at the State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights.

They also will have a booth at Plymouth's Yard and Garden Expo (this Friday and Saturday, www.ci.plymouth.mn.us) and Lakeville's Home Improvement and Design Expo (April 17-18, www.mediamaxevents.com).

Meanwhile, Baker and Kotowski have bigger plans, in the form of larger vessels such as cisterns holding 400 to 2,500 gallons.

"People are realizing a barrel is just a start," said Baker, 37, of Hopkins. "They don't think the barrel will fill up and are amazed when they see how fast that happens. So we're getting into large-capacity water collection."

That's quite an accomplishment for someone who just wanted an attractive rain barrel in her garden. Ironically, Kotowski hasn't managed that yet.