..And Will checks in...a scientific explanation

It’s the oxygenation, stup... Let me rephrase. In a closed ecological system with dynamic nutrient inputs, oxygen quickly becomes a limiting factor in the overall health and balance of the system. This is especially true when what you are trying to culture is dependent on oxygen to live (and thrive). Maybe the lights were unnecessary. But if you are going through all the trouble to (hand) dig 160 feet of ditch for buried cable and assemble, wire, float and anchor an aerating fountain, might as well go for broke (literally). It wasn’t THAT expensive. However, counting the price of the pond, fish, fountain, and feed we would probably much better off buying catfish at the local seafood house. Of course, we wouldn’t know where they came from and they would not be as fresh and I couldn’t witness the joy of my spouse as she catches one after the other, which I happily take off the hook and drop into the bucket (and later into the fry basket).

I’ve learned a lot about fish farming. Maybe I take it too seriously (lights excluded), but once I have committed to raising something, I start to worry about whether I have considered all the aspects and am doing what is necessary to ensure success. I hate to fail, though I have on many occasions. But I am in particularly adverse to the stinky evidence of fish farming gone bad. I blame it partly on the fish hatchery guy. I really only wanted a reasonable amount of fish for our half-acre pond, 400 hybrid bream and 150 channel catfish. In cavalier fashion, the fish guy ensured me that 1000 fish can easily be raised in a half acre pond and, besides, fish by the thousand would be much cheaper per fish than buying less. I should have known from the outset that this guy was fast and loose. After I carefully filled clean ice chests with water adjusted to pond temperature, bringing a thermometer with me to ensure no shock to the fry from the hatchery truck tanks, the guy just sticks his hand in the ice chests and says, “That’s close enough!” So now I have 1000 dependents that I can’t declare on my taxes. No way am I going to let them down, nothing too good for them. And all was well until Spring when they started to eat more and grow more and excrete more and now I am watching the pond go through textbook water quality changes. From turbid (adjusted with lime), to clear and pretty, to cloudy again (nitrophilous bacteria converting ammonia to nitrate) to matted floating filamentous algae – yuk, to now a healthy dark green (suspended algae) thanks to the fountain, the physical raking of the filamentous algae, the dry peroxide, and the application of pond microbes (the aqua-sphere Thais referred to). I’m not imagining that I am out-of-the-water on this so to speak, but I am happy with the results and you can indeed raise 1000 fish in a half-acre pond, but it takes a much greater degree of attention than it might otherwise. For those who have farm ponds or are considering them, the best publications I have found that can be accessed on-line are from the Southern Region Aquaculture Center of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service at http://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm?catid=25

a red bush and a fountain

ok. this will be brief. My mother gave us this little tiny stick of a bush when we moved here eight years ago. We put it in the side yard, under the oak tree, thinking, well, how big can it get? Apparently, pretty big. And every year I see some at a local nursery, and I vow to remember the name of this plant, and next year I can never remember what the heck it is. But it is truly beautiful. Plus, its an evergreen, and we all love that. So, here it is this week, in all it's glory. Same color as a true natural azalea, and every bit as magnificent:And, for our other evening fun, I give you the latest in Will's 'POND MANIA'.....wait for it...
the fountain with the blue lights! I tell you, I truly believe this man (who does indeed love his pond) has finally lost his mind. Sorry, Will. And of course I'm kidding. But it hits me at first as excessive. Yeah, yeah, I know. Oxygenization, which is probably misspelled. And the pond scum has been a big problem and the peroxide in a plastic tub (or as I prefer to call it, a tub of 'scum-be-gone') may not do it, as the 'BALL' of whatever, and I cannot keep up and don't remember what THAT is, may not get rid of the scum either. Thus, the argument for the ULTIMATE fix, the fountain! The survey so far says....let the man have his fun, and 'man, that is really great'. So, I will give it time. More later, but here is the daytime pic. Can't get the after-dark one...I must be doing something wrong, but I'll keep trying for that:
You've seen the pond at it's low ebb, before it filled, and you've seen the bird-kite, so this is just the next chapter in what I predict will be many, many chapters of pond excitement.

SPRING......no stopping it now....

When you notice the tops of the oak trees start to get 'fuzzy', and the red flowering trees and tiny green leaves of the willows in the swamp between here and New Orleans, you know it's almost time. But it's when you see the deep green grass and weeds creep up to the edges of the roads, you know there's no stopping it...spring is actually here (!) I tromped around outside to see what's what and look for signs and there are many, many signs of the new season...clover, ah yes. And various other wildflowers...now don't you people from the frozen north get jealous, although I am glad we are not in the land of snow. Come August or so, remember you'll be having the famous last laugh.
In the garden, things are peeking out from way, way underneath. So we never got around to cutting back the 'sticks' from the perennial sunflowers or the tarragon or the bergamot, but now that all sorts of craziness is happening down at the roots, cutting back old growth is rewarding. Here is the bergamot, as an example...
and the peppermint, coming up from the roots as well, although this we 'weed-eated' in the late fall, to get rid of the old growth: well - enough of tiny little bunches of new leaves....I mentioned the 'I Hate The Winter Grass' springtime problem, and digging out from it in the garden. It's kind of beautiful, really, because it is a deep dark green when everything else is brown and seemingly dead...but it is a terror just the same. To make my point, here is some probably wonderful fennel - but you can hardly tell, because the winter grass has taken over completely: and, after nearly two days of hoeing and hand-weeding, here is some of the lettuce that had suffered the same fate, but when you look the lettuce in Whole Foods, and then pull your hand back, thinking "wait. we have lettuce. I'm just lazy"....and now we have lettuce. And , after trying to crank up the mower, and going out for a new battery of course, and it could be worse, so that's good...a little part of the yard is mowed, and one flower bed planted, and we work outward from there. In the meantime, the fish we put in the pond in the late fall are growing like crazy...they expect food every day at 5:00 p.m. Don't try to feed them at 4, or 3, because they simply won't eat at that time. It's getting almost scary, the way they boil to the surface. I'm trying not to think of actually eating them, although I look forward to that...but they aren't as anonymous as some other fish from some other pond. that's pretty silly, i know. This is the best I can do for now, but it gives you a tiny idea of what it looks like at feeding time.More later