Putting in the solar aeration system keeps me thinking more about the pond itself. We constructed the pond back in 1988 at the site of 2 conjoined sinks. With a little dozer action and managing to seal the basins, I had a receptacle for water to fill. The pond has 1.5 acres of surface, about 14 feet deep, and holds about 4 million gallons of water. Once full, it was barren. So I hauled in buckets of water and muck from surrounding natural wet places and streams. This I hoped would seed the water with all the lower life forms to support higher fish and animals.
After a while I stocked both small prey and smallish predatory fish. Over time I stocked minnows, blue gills, channel catfish, large mouth bass, and a few species caught in the Greenbrier river. All was going well except for the few Northern Pike I put in. I had to remove them because they ate EVERYTHING that moved.
After a couple years, I noticed cattails growing. At first I freaked out, surely they will overrun the place and will not match my image of the perfect pond (human version) It took a little while but I realized they could not grow in the deep part and by now would be a monumental task to remove them.
Then one Spring some Red Wing Blackbirds showed up and they stayed to nest. Apparently they prefer last year's dead cattails to build their nests. They are a joy to have around with their song and antics. Swifts and Swallows also came to nest nearby and show off their superb flying skills skimming bugs off the water in dive bomb raids. While that was happening bats flew high above them eating more insects. They live in our caves but come to the pond to eat. I suppose that is why we have only 3 or 4 mosquitoes a year that bug us.
Since then the pond is now used as a layover during migrations, we've identified a swan, black ducks, loons, buffleheads, wood ducks, mallards, geese, and some water fowl we're just not sure of. We also get visits by green and blue herons, osprey, and egrets. I believe they live on the river and come up to fish.
Soon I discovered mussel shells on the banks along with coon tracks. I wonder how the mussels would taste, so far, I don't know.
Animals come to drink like deer, coyotes, possum, and last week a fairly stout black bear during the dry spell.
Maybe this will be the best thing I ever did for the planet. Its certainly equal to the 70 acres of recovering future woodlands I have. Before there was just cows farting methane and a few species of grass and weeds. Now there is the habitat to support a very rich biodiversity that could otherwise not happen except for the pond. Making a small carbon footprint is to be encouraged, but actually adding something to the earth is the most satisfying thing one could do.
The mussels do not smell very good, but somebody is eating them and littering the banks of the pond with the broken shells.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember the day we resolved to really eat local? We explored, gathered and prepared food found only on the property. Some of it was wonderful, like the ramps and the catfish, and the lily buds. The fiddlehead ferns looked good, but as I recall they were the wrong species and tasted a lot like moldy hay. We dug cattail roots and roasted them. They are starchy like a potato and have excellent flavor, but they are tough and stringy. I bet eating them often would result in very worn teeth.
Certainly one's diet would be varied throughout the seasons if we ate this way; unlike shopping in the supermarket, where everything is available almost all the time.
That eat local day was satisfying because we were physical all day. Just gathering and preparing one meal took the whole day, and when we sat down tired and ate it felt very good.