Another birthday come and gone. 7/11 is, besides being a chain of stores, also a date and a time to mark yet another year on the planet. So I turned 49 and close family and friends stopped in to say hello. The day had been one of hard work despite the anniversary of changing my personal life trip odometer. I did get a couple of nice gifts and enjoyed myself immensely.
I rose at 8:15, much later than normal and immediately set to a fast breakfast and then to mending the deer ravaged fences in the northwest corner of the property. Deer, despite their poor intelligence, have a fascinating capability of exploring and then taking advantage of any weakness they find with a barrier. In this case, then had become used to scooting under the fence by pressing on loose sections or simply taking a running leap at sections not reinforced at the top level, simply using their body to bend the fence during a running leap.
One section to the east was totally destroyed with the deer having pulled the fence down and using brute force to re-establish their normal trail. So, with a garden-way cart full of fencing tools, re-bar and long fence poles, I began a 5 hour session of reinforcing the fence. At 2:00, I stood back and admired the new fortress and watched as a buck tested the line and snorted his displeasure at my birthday-engineering. Too bad. The alternative would be me turning him into dinner. I'd rather use sanctions and hard-fencing as a personal preference.
A new set of solar lights was picked up later in the day at Ace-Hardware. I've totally revamped the property with literally dozens of these things and the place glows with orange, multi-color rainbow lights and ultra bright white LED varieties. The property literally is dazzling at night and it can be rather unearthly to look at sometimes as one walks by globes that turn multiple colors in some psychadellic displays as the night begins.
My new pond has one of these sets now installed. The pond went online in late June. An old duck pond with rotting concrete was patched after having it's center dug out of old oak litter and dirt. I installed old carpet padding, then old carpet and finally a large plastic liner for ponds from Home Depot. Worked like a champ and I was surprised when the next day, as I filled the pond to begin seasoning the water, that my next door neighbors gave me all the river rock I needed to construct and finish the waterfall and edging I needed. I'm always amazed at how the universe responds to such needs when the project hits key points of "need". I happily carted over a ton of rock to place all over the sides of the pond and installed the pumps to circulate the water. My order has gone out for a 50-watt solar panel to run the pumps during the day and get off the grid with the new setup. A 5 watt panel runs one smaller pump to help aerate the pond, but a 300 gallon per hour model currently takes center stage with the waterfall and the main aerator. I'll have the entire thing solarized by August.
I was somewhat amazed when the I came home from work 4 days after the pumps went in and to find fish mysteriously swimming about. My theories immediately involved divine intervention, a tornado dumping fish from miles away or, more likely, my helpful neighbors getting rid of their goldfish.
I spent a few bucks to get Shubunken goldfish to fit the pond along with a few feeder fish as sacrificial starters to get the biological cycles started. At this point, with the hot weather, the algae have really taken hold and I'm resisting the urge to use chemicals to control the bloom. I'm doing water change-outs and using patience to let the system find it's balance. One cannot simply throw chemicals at a problem as the automatic response to Nature's needs. So, I'm really monitoring the situation and acting with minimal interference for now.
Life has descended on the pond in the few short days of it's existence. A skunk has taken to surprising me with sudden appearances as I enter the main garden to tend my pumpkins, gourds and tomatoes. We've decided to trap it before we end up smelling up the place in a new and interesting way. Dragonflies dip in the water and the fish are now practicing running assaults to nail insects that get to close to the water. I see small animal tracks and also note birds dropping in for a drink at the waterfall.
We put plants around the perimeter of the entire pond. I've got all manner of flowers and perennials going. A major feature is the butterfly seed mix of bachelor buttons, asteriums and other unknown varieties that are fast on their way to blooming this month. Coupled with the daisy seeds tossed haphazardly and a wide range of other annuals like Black-eyed Susans and Marigolds, I think it will make an excellent late summer and fall garden.
I'm spending tomorrow to reinforce the edging, fix the solar pump that quit a couple of days back and to hit the plants with the deer repellent that works quite well. I'll take a few shots to share with the new Nikon and also document my Sunflower and pumpkin patches. Hope to hear from other gardeners and perhaps trade advice and war stories...
Until next time... Jon
Copy & paste to friend: (Click inside box; Ctrl + C to copy; Ctrl + V to paste)
|
|
read more blogs!
Blogs by Spirit76:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Ponds, Fences, 49 and Deer |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|