Winterizing drip irrigation system and still be able to use it in early winter

[part-time-Farmer-NC]

I'm in Southern Indiana. We have a patio system and one that runs in our garden. I have never done anything to the system in the winter other that disconnect the house supplied water. The one in our garden is 1/2 inch pex

I have seen on my back porch when the temps got down to low 20's the pipes didn't freeze. Pex to the hot water heater out there. My neighbor's outside spigot (pex) withstood the temps as well seemingly ok. I get nervous when it gets into the early 20's, coming from an era where pipes froze often.

 

[MossRoad]

That makes sense. I've had my 5hp Quincy so long I forget it isn't really a "home owners" model.

I did make an adapter for my system and tried it out just to see what would happen. There just wasn't enough CFM to make all of the heads hiss. The air took the path of least resistance and exited many heads, but not all of them.

On that note, I never take the drip down in winter. I leave it all up. About the only thing I do is take the little 4 zone timer into the house and remove the two AA batteries, roll up and drain any garden hoses and store them in the shed, shut off the basement valve to the outdoor spigot, and open the spigot until all the water drains out. Then I close it to keep the wasps from making a nest in there.