Red Shoulder Hawk

Red Shoulder Hawk

Monday, March 27, 2006

Permaculture - Aquaculture

Lydia Nielson has herself some mad water skills. She's who turned us on to Viktor Shauberger. Here she's showing her plan for her water system at her home. It ends up in a 3' deep pool! With fish! She says a great heron harvested some of her fish for her. How cool is that? She reports that she wishes she'd made the reedbed larger. I'm hearing that from many of the greywater advocates. It seems as though your reedbed can never be too large. To my way of thinking, it seems reasonable to overdesign by a factor of two (the space required might be a consideration) because I bet the reeds will fill out to 50%, 75%, or 100% of the space depending on the water's availability. I guess I value water that's full of plants more than open pond water.


All man-made ponds will require some maintenance. We've had 4 inches of rain recently, yet all it took was one look at the pond at APC and Lydia knew something wasn't right with it. I'd been to it during the rain, so I was able to report to the group that the water sluiced right past the channel that led to the pond. We re-dug the channel, re-set some pond liner, attempted to design for getting the water all the way into the pond, pulled a bunch of plants from the pond, and planted new starts all around. We rebuilt the path that crossed the channel (you know how pedestrian love to cut across corners!) and we re-set the rocks to make it look a little more natural.

One really fortuitous aspect of the pond's placement is a large shade tree to protect it somewhat from the sun. Not that on a very cold day in March there was much sun to worry about, but Lydia explained how heat is the enemy of water. Hot soil will reject the rain, while cool soil welcomes it for nice deep infiltration (for example). Rivers with overgrown banks have cleaner water, and don't carry a silt load (for another example).

Today it rained, so Nick and I went out to see how the classes' work was holding up. He noticed right away that we still had standing water in the diversion channel (I suppose we could have played with an A frame when we reshaped the channel), but he also noticed that water was definitely making it to the pond. "The water is making mushroom shapes!" he said, noticing the turbulent flow as the silty water (we didn't wash the stones) from the channel entered the pond. "Is the dirt going to be a problem?" he wanted to know. I'd seen how much plant matter got pulled out of this wetlands, and so I told him I was pretty sure the plants would enjoy the dirt. I also noticed that even with the light rain we were getting, the pond was full, and water was making its way out the far end.

All in all, I think we did a pretty good job on pond maintenance, and I really like that I got to share the space with my son.

12 comments:

  1. What's up to all, how is the whole thing, I think every one is getting more from this website, and your views are pleasant for new users.
    My weblog ; windsor chiropractor

    ReplyDelete
  2. Touche. Solid arguments. Keep up the great spirit.
    Also visit my blog post Technomate

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm really enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It's a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come
    here and visit more often. Did you hire out a designer to create
    your theme? Exceptional work!
    Also see my site - click through the up coming web page

    ReplyDelete
  4. I seriously love your site.. Great colors & theme.
    Did you build this site yourself? Please reply back as I'm hoping to create my very own blog and would love to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Cheers!
    my page - neucopia review

    ReplyDelete
  5. What's Taking place i'm new to this, I stumbled upon this
    I have discovered It positively useful and it has helped me out loads.
    I am hoping to give a contribution & assist different users like its helped me.
    Great job.
    Also visit my web page : massive systems propagate

    ReplyDelete
  6. You can certainly see your skills in the article you write.
    The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you
    who are not afraid to say how they believe.
    All the time follow your heart.

    Check out my page hakukonemainonta

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's a shame you don't have a donate button! I'd definitely donate to this excellent blog! I suppose for now i'll settle for book-marking and adding
    your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to new updates and will talk about this site with my Facebook group.
    Chat soon!

    Also visit my weblog careers
    My web page :: careers

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm curious to find out what blog platform you're using?
    I'm experiencing some minor security problems with my latest site and I would like to find something more secure. Do you have any recommendations?

    Here is my page - laser printer cartridges

    ReplyDelete
  9. I for all time emailed this blog post page to all my associates, as
    if like to read it afterward my links will too.

    Here is my weblog; 18630
    Also see my webpage > 20552

    ReplyDelete
  10. First off I want to say excellent blog! I had a quick question that I'd like to ask if you don't mind.
    I was curious to find out how you center yourself and clear your head prior to writing.

    I've had a difficult time clearing my thoughts in getting my thoughts out. I do take pleasure in writing but it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes are lost simply just trying to figure out how to begin. Any suggestions or tips? Appreciate it!

    Also visit my homepage ... Spazio-kovan

    ReplyDelete
  11. If some one needs expert view regarding blogging and site-building then i advise
    him/her to visit this website, Keep up the fastidious job.


    My weblog: Sheikh Zayed Mosque

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ι was pretty plеased to find this great site.
    Ι need to to thank you for your time for thіs
    partіcularly fantastic read!! I dеfinitely enjοyeԁ еvery little bit of it anԁ i alsο havе you ѕaved
    as a favoгite to see new thingѕ in your webѕite.


    my site: diamondlinks review

    ReplyDelete