Our first water garden

Our tubs, buckets and pails of Lotus plants are getting to be like cry babies, always looking for attention. Not that they make shrieking noises when they need something, they just look sad and limp when they need more water.

Since their roots are confined to small and shallow containers, their water requirements need to be checked often especially during hot and sunny days. This situation was brought to my attention months ago and we had to come up with a quick solution if our Lotuses are to survive in the garden.

Ideally I would have opted for a ground level pond complete with water features and landscaping for a more  natural look. Eventually this is what I'll shoot for, but for now the well-being of the Lotus plants must be addressed as soon as possible.

Thus, we decided to build a bigger container in the form of an above ground pond. This is cheaper, easier to build and easier to maintain than an elaborate, natural-looking pond. So, Dad and his crew went to work and built the pond adjacent to the "mother" garden.

The Lotuses are now happily residing in the pond. Since there are room for more aquatic plants, a Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) and another yet unidentified plant were added. There are also Duckweeds (Lemna minor) which hitchhiked with Lotuses and began to float only after the Lotus containers were submerged in the pond.

We have Umbrella Papyrus (Cyperus involucratus) growing in a place where they don't get any attention so I asked Mom to put some in the pond too, but that's after they've been quarantined to make sure they don't harbor snail eggs. Currently they're in isolation at the back porch. It will be a disaster if aquatic snails get into the pond as I mentioned in my older post "What lies beneath..."

To solve the potential problem of the pond becoming a breeding ground for blood-sucking, virus-carrying mosquitoes, we added some fishes as well. There are a few Tilapias, young Kois and Comets contently living in the pond.

To keep the color of the pond from turning completely green due to algal bloom and the water healthy for the fishes, fresh water is added daily delivered by a hose connected to a spring-fed source.

A pond can be classified as a fishpond, koi pond, wildlife pond or a water garden. So, is this structure a fishpond or a water garden? Definitely a water garden. Although fishes can be added in a water garden they are not the main attraction of the pond but rather the various species of aquatic plants. The plants take the center stage while the fishes are just extras.

Someday, if the forces from above are willing, there will be more ponds and water gardens in different parts of the farm.

Teach a man to fish

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
Chinese Proverb

If you've been reading this blog for a while then by now you're familiar with the series of ponds right in the middle of the small farm. Pockets of garden are being developed on selected spots around these ponds to dress up the area and obscure the fact that these are just big holes in the ground filled with brownish-greenish water collected from the rain and from few sources of spring waters.

A visiting friend having a fun time feeding the fishes.

The ponds are stocked with several fish species, mainly tilapia and catfish. There are also other uninvited residents like mudfish and snails. These two are considered pests but are nonetheless edible.

In one of the ponds, the kois seem to be out of place for a pond that houses edible fishes. But for now they share this space since they have no permanent location yet where they can have a pond of their own. They are however peacefully coexisting with the other fishes and just happy to swim with them.

Kois, catfish and tilapias in a frenzied state gobbling up fish pellets.

In my last visit it amazed me that these fishes seem to know when it's feeding time. Mid-morning and late afternoon are the usual schedules for this. As soon as someone stands at the shore of each pond, you would immediately notice ripples on the surface of the water moving toward the person. The fishes begin to surface and congregate at the edge of the pond waiting for the precious dole outs.

A good friend who came with me noticed this too that he found enjoyment in teasing the poor fishes. He would go to the edge of the pond and as soon as the fishes congregate he would leave. After the fishes disperse he would come back and the fishes would once again swim toward him, only to be left high and dry (no pun intended) again.

Fishes beginning to congregate near the edge of the pond. It must be feeding time.

Our ponds are not big enough to commercially produce fish for the market. But it does help provide alternative and nutritious source of protein for the table. The rest are sold locally whenever possible.

Any caught koi is immediately pardoned and released. Although edible, their main function is to entertain. Good thing the other fish species don't know about this preferential treatment.

Our helpers netting some fish for lunch.

On our last day at the farm, my father asked if I would like to sample some tilapia. Being a fish-lover, I immediately said yes. Our helpers lured some inside an open-ended net half submerged in one of the ponds. The open side was then raised trapping the unsuspecting fish inside.

Picking Tilapias that are big enough to be harvested.

After choosing those that are big enough, the rest were released. Those that were chosen were grilled. Nothing beats a freshly caught fish for lunch.

Bridging the gap

The farm has a very uneven terrain. It's like a miniature version of a geological land formation called a "valley". The lowest area of the farm is where the series of fishponds are located. To go from one side to the other, one has to cross what I fondly call "land bridges", which are in reality just embankments to hold water for the ponds.

The main "land bridge" is wide enough to allow vehicles to cross one at a time. It has been reinforced to support the weight of a passing vehicle. After construction, both sides of the embankment have been landscaped with dwarf Heliconias.

After the construction. Heliconias lining the edge of the embankment. The surrounding areas are still being improved by planting more tropical plants.

They were wondering why the Heliconias on the left side are not growing as lush and thick as the ones on the right. My only conclusion was because the ones on the right have direct access to the water seeping from the nearby pond while those on the left are dry because the water level on the other pond is about a meter below the level of the plants.

I suggested that they diligently water the ones on the left since Heliconias love to have wet feet and use the water from the pond for added nutrients. We'll see in a couple of months if there will be improvements.

During the construction.

Before the construction.

My father is the one supervising the improvements on the embankments. There are two other "land bridges" which are not as wide as the one above. They have begun sprucing up the looks of the second embankment by planting along its edges. The third may have to wait since I gave my Dad another project to work on. That  should keep him occupied for several weeks. More on the new project in my future posts.

What lies beneath...

There's a ghost in my house. I saw her in the water...
(from the movie "What Lies Beneath")

One of the fishponds in the farm, the biggest and lowest in the series of ponds that divides the farm into what I call "lower" and "upper" gardens.

Beneath that still and murky water, life is teeming. There are several species of fish: catfish, carp (koi) and tilapia. Even an unwanted (but tasty) mudfish (snakehead) finds its way into the ponds from time to time. The water buffalos too would sometimes wade in to ward off pesky insects or to cool down.

Our dog Tintin enjoying a morning swim in one of the fishponds.

But other creatures too are lurking under that calm and turbid water. They have been there all along, silently growing and multiplying out of sight, stealthily moving about. They announce their presence only when the ponds are drained of water. Although they can be harvested as a food source, they are not completely welcome guests. While their presence was thought to be benign, their voracious appetite became apparent when I told Mom to put the young Lotus plants in one of the ponds so they could start to grow bigger.

Young Lotus plats growing in separate containers.

It's a good thing that Mom submerged just one container of young Lotus plants into the shallow side of the pond. After a few days, all the leaves of the young plants were gone and the remaining stalks were covered with eggs of these rapacious culprits.

There are snails in the fishponds! Mom said their eggs also cover the stalks of the now gregariously growing Red-stemmed Thalias. The Thalias however, are unharmed. The snails have not ravaged them. Maybe they find the Thalias not appetizing or too tough for them to nibble so they just deposit their eggs on their stalks.

Up until Mom broke the news to me, I didn't know about the existence of these pests in the ponds. Now I have a problem. How can I put water-loving plants into and around the ponds if there are creatures that are more than willing to devour them. My options will be limited now to those that can withstand attack from these snails.

Waste away

A few days ago, I came across an old but established technology of sustainable food production.

In a closed-system method of aquaculture, fish waste accumulates in the enclosure which, if not treated, pollutes the very water the fishes swim in. This unclean environment adversely affects the growth and health of the fish. Coincidentally, the dissolved wastes that pollute the water are the same nutrients that terrestrial plants need to grow healthy. This is where the science of aquaponics come in.

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. In essence, water from the fish tank or pond is pumped into beds of edible plants growing in a soil-less media (like pea gravel or other suitable materials). After the plants absorb the nutrients from the water, the filtered water is then returned into the tank or pond. This cycle is repeated at regular intervals.

As a result, the plants and fishes benefit from each other, grow healthy and in no time ready for harvest.

A sketch of possible aquaponics set-up in the farm.

I believe this is one project worth looking into. Incorporating this system into the farm would be a blessing to the fishes in the ponds and would provide a healthy source of vegetable produce.

My only concern is that the system requires a pump to constantly circulate water from the fish tank (or pond) into the plant beds. This would require the use of electricity and unfortunately electricity in our location costs more than gold [exaggeration fully intended].

For a brief discussion into aquaponics click here to watch this short presentation in YouTube.

Construction update #8 --- the access road

The reinforcement of the embankment between two fishponds is almost complete. This procedure is a must to allow vehicles to pass through safely when access to the back side of the farm is needed.

Before:

Earthen embankment before fishponds were drained of water.

After:

Fortified earthen embankment after fishponds were drained of water.

Last thing to do is to backfill the embankment with soil up to the height of the retaining wall and spruce up the general area before it vanishes under water. After that they can let the ponds fill with water and then finally restock the ponds with tilapia fingerlings.

Eventually the embankment will be landscaped and footpaths will be installed on either side for people to walk on. But that will be, if the Lord wills it, in the (near) future.

Like a fish out of water

In my first construction update, I mentioned about the draining of two fishponds to strengthen the embankment that runs between them so that it will be able to support the weight of heavy equipments needed when construction on the back side of the farm begins.

Before the ponds were drained, the fishes were transferred to the adjoining ponds including the vigorously growing water lily.

Left and right fishponds before they were drained of water.

The ponds are still dry (but muddy after a heavy rainfall) since no work has been done yet. While dry, they're using the exposed soil as a source of nutrient-rich medium for the plants in the 'nursery'.

Right fishpond with no water.

Left untouched for over a month now, grasses have begun to grow rapidly on the left pond. How quickly did they cover the exposed earth. A few more months and you would never know there used to be a pond there. But that is not the plan. After reinforcing the earthen mound, the ponds will be excavated to make them deeper, then water and fishes will be reintroduced.

Left fishpond overgrown with wild grass.

For now, work is on hold since they are concentrating their efforts to finish the wall on the front part of the farm. There are just too many things to do but too few laborers. Alas, this is the negative consequence of having a limited budget to begin with. In such a case, we have to prioritize the projects and work on those that need to be done first.

Dull as ditchwater

Used to be, excess water from our neighbor's fishpond would drain into our fish ponds. On any normal day this is not a problem since the water flows like a small stream... until a heavy downpour comes. As water rushes through, the strong current erodes the banks of the fishponds causing significant damages.

To solve this perennial problem, they dug a ditch to permanently divert this flowing water away from the fishponds. This ditch traverses the entire width of the farm in almost a straight line, safely directing the water into another neighbor's pond. But due to the sloping terrain, some portions would drop at a steep angle a foot or more high, causing water to cascade down like little waterfalls. The unintended but delightful result is this soothing and calming sound of water falling and running, which is impossible not to hear when you're strolling nearby.

The ditch, which runs almost forever, however is somewhat of an eyesore. We could bury it like an underground drainage, but then we'd lose the view and sound of running water. There is no danger to health anyway since technically it's clean, coming from a pond full of fishes.

While walking alongside this long and narrow excavation, an idea dawned on me. What if (in the future), we widen the ditch, make it deeper and let the water accumulate to a certain depth. Then throw in plenty of aquatic plants and landscape the surrounding areas with bog plants, other water-loving plants, ferns, moss, pebbles, rocks, etc. Voila! We have a water garden!

Just thinking about the potential of this plain ditch makes me salivate like a child gazing at all the sweet treats in a candy store.

Soilent Green

"Soylent Green is people!"

The problem with the type of soil we have in the farm is that its mostly clay. It may be good for something else, but it's quite a challenge for gardening.

Since we have all these plants that require good soil to grow healthy, they have been importing this precious commodity from another garden. Good thing is, it's free. The only catch is that they have to travel several kilometers and haul it back to the farm themselves.

After a few weeks the mound of imported good earth was getting used up. Then mom realized that there is a great source of fertile soil right within the farm. Remember the two drained fishponds? Well up to now they're still dry.

With all the fish poops plus other animal poops, uneaten fish foods, dead leaves and other biodegradable gunks all mixed up and accumulating at the bottom of the pond, the soil eventually got enriched by these free nutrients. After years of not seeing daylight the mixture of wastes have decomposed and aged into a rich plant medium. Today, this is where they're getting the soil needed by the ever growing number of plants.

By using the soil in the pond, they don't have to use synthetic fertilizer. Soylent Green is people, but our pond soil is 'green'.

P.S.
"Soylent Green" is a science fiction movie made in the early 70's and set in the year 2022 when the world is burdened by over population and available resources are almost used up. To feed the people, food is rationed and one food being rationed is "Soylent Green" wafers.

If you haven't seen the movie, watch it and find out what Soylent Green is made of.

In the grand scheme of things

A good friend who has long been reaping the joys of farming curiously requested some current pictures of the farm. I hope he won't be disappointed when he sees a sea of wild grasses and weeds growing unabashedly underneath the feet of the few grazing ruminants.





Well, as you can see from the photos above, that is what's currently on the upper side of the farm. Just think of this sparse piece of land as a blank canvass, waiting for the skillful touch of a master's hand to gracefully paint it with hues that depict the colors of life.

The lower, smaller side houses the fish ponds, a mango orchard, a few other fruiting and non-fruiting trees thriving here and there, and the pens for the pigs and poultry animals. The lower part also is where the ornamental plants we have been painstakingly collecting and propagating are temporarily located, safe from the voracious appetites of the grazing animals.

Eventually, a part of the farm will be transformed and dedicated to organic herb and vegetable gardens. We will also keep the small orchard of mango trees. The grass feeders will be corralled in one sizable area, and the rest of the ground will then be landscaped into a lush oasis of tropical plants, complete with water features and structures where hopefully, one can find temporary respite from the elements or rest from the daily grinds of life.

Just thinking about the enormity of this plan, this may be a grand scheme and quite ambitious at that. But hey, as long as imagination is still free, why not imagine the possibilities.

Icing on the cake

Whew!!! Bring out the cake and party hats!

Who knew? I could not believe that its been a month now since I started a chronicle (in short, blog) of our 'little grand' project. And hopefully (knowing myself), I will be able to sustain this blogging project until the very end, when our 'little grand' project is finally a working, breathing entity.

Since we have a long, long, loonnngggg way to go before the project is completed, let's get back to business. Unfortunately though, I don't have much information to update you with for now.

Once again, I called home to get the latest update and I was told the process of erecting the fence on one side of the farm is moving along nicely but its not even halfway. Finally all the chain links have also been delivered. So apart from acts of men or acts of nature, there should be no reason to stop or even slow down.

That's it. Told you there's not much to update you with. But...

My quest to find garden design ideas prompted me to visit one of the garden attractions here in Salt Lake City. It is called the Red Butte Garden and Arboretum. And I would say it was a fun, interesting and enjoyable experience as I strolled around this sprawling and beautiful city garden. Aside from that, I was also able to get some pretty cool ideas I could certainly use in our own garden.



Wisteria arbor


Modern water features that separate the Herb, Medicinal and Fragrance gardens



Herb (top) Fragrance (bottom) gardens


Entrance of Children's garden



Views inside Children's garden


Waterfalls (top), Koi fishes (middle) and Water Pavilion at the creekside



Other cool water features and foot bridges




Decks and garden patios

If you noticed that there are no close-up pictures of plants and flowers, you are right, there is none. It's because I am more interested with the structures and design concepts. But it doesn't mean I didn't take any, maybe they'll appear on some other posts.

I'm pretty sure though that the designers of this garden did not include this particular creature as an added attraction. Snake!!!!

While we were leisurely strolling and taking pictures, one of our companions suddenly shrieked in fear. There was a rattlesnake slithering its way across our path. And we knew it was visibly irritated because it was vigorously rattling its tail as if saying 'get out of my way!'

I took a snap of it after it found an empty crevice where it thought it can safely hide. Although we ran into a sign that says there may be snakes on the premises, we never thought we would encounter one. Now that's the icing on the cake to our stroll in the garden.