Crickets Greenhouse Part 3

I thought my pond would attract the coons too but instead-----birds.
I still have alot of fish in the pond. So many that I cannot tell if any were eaten but saw some eaten by a few birds. Thats nature for you.
As far as convincing your hubby of making a pond; insects, birds,reptiles, and rodants are all a part of nature and nothing we build or grow is goin to be free of any of them. It is impossible. ANd besides.
I like asking for my husbands opinion too but I normally do what ever it is I want to do cause--well---I need a life too. And I normally do what ever it is I want to do on my own. My idea, my project, my labor til I aint strong enough to finish it then i yell for some help. No offense intended.
I just made up my mind along time ago before i ever got married that no man was goin to bind me down like my mother was. ( thats a whole differant story and getting off the subject LOL)

If anything, try starting out with something small, a deep fountain birthbath or something that you can let small gold fish live in and still enjoy the fact that it is a pond. Ponds come in so many designs and sizes. Or an indoor fish aquarium. There are alot of underwater plants that look great in an aquarium. Then gradually move up to a pond. I use to have an aquarium and the gold fish and koi got so big----it was either flush them or make them a bigger home.

Some ideas for coon country.
YOu can put a 4-6 inch pvc pipe in the bottom of the pond weighed down with bags of sand so the fish can have a place to hide from the coon.
Or you can build a rock cave under water for the fish to hide in.
Just use your imagination.

Happy Gardening

CRicket

I have an old barn sink, i am thinking of using. I thought it woud be cute one side a bird bath fountain and the other iwth some plants hanging over the side. I just have to get it to where it would work out , I don't have a idea for a stand yet, it is heavy .
Thanks for your inspiration :)))))) and ideas :))))))))))

My cousin built a long traugh down the side of his barn. Inside the traugh he lined the wood with pond liner, filled the bottom with soil, and put bog plants in it and stores his baby gold fish for easy catching when someone wants a gold fish. The imagination goes along ways.


Its barely Fall and I wish it were Spring already. Its goin to be a boring Winter. Starting on some compost bins and piles today. I have never made compost before. New Experience. Making some compost bins out of Pallets. Making some out of hogwire. I have 10 acres of cut hay-grass-weeds. Neighbors have all the manure I could want. And I have a book called " Let it Rot" on making compost.

Happy Gardening.


Cricket

Hey Cricket....
Something ate ALL my mosquito fishies....if you have any to spare drop me a line. I also noticed I no longer have any frogs in the ponds, and only have about 10 little gold fish left. I did find a 1/2 eaten goldfish on the deck.
I set up the hunting camera for a week...got some great shots of the Canadian geese decoys blowing in the wind...lol but that was it. I guess whatever it was (a troop of coons maybe) ate all they could get ahold of and moved on.
Your New room looks great. Guess our hubbies are good for something after all , huh?

Blkwolf256

thanks blkwolf, yep they good for something.
Charles is suppose to help Alvin put your greenhouse poly up Next Saturday.
When Charles comes over next week-----I will send some baby gold fish. What ever we can catch.
I have alot of baby gold fish. (30) And 10 good size gold fish.
I have 3 large koi and 2 small koi. I was hoping they would have babies by Spring. I do not know how old they have to be to breed. But the gold fish spawned like crazy this past Spring and they are young.

Papa told me to put a large water pipe in the center of my pond and weigh it down with a couple bags of sand. Says this will give the fish a place to hide but I have not done it yet. The birds eat my fish. The way I see it, if the fish are swimming near the surface, the birds are goin to eat them anyway. I don't think I have a coon problem here like I did at the other house.
We also had some bullfrog tadpoles but I think the birds ate them too.


Cricket

blkwolf made a bog plant traugh too down her workshop sun space wall.
I dont think she put fish in hers.


I started my first compost bins this week. So far so good--heats up good.(150*) Hope that kills the seeds.
THe compost is for growing very tall tomato plants and trying to grow the largest tomato. Its fun trying.

Hi Blkwolf256,
Do you know of any Blue Herons in your area? We are in a town of of about 35,000 and we had a Blue Heron that did some damage all over town. Peoples fish were disappearing from their ponds or they would find them dead on the edge. He was caught in the act many places. We lost many from our pond to that bird, we would run him off. People were ready to shoot the bird, but couldn't because it is a protected species. We know he has to eat, but he just had a 24 hr buffet on Koi and goldfish. As far as we know it was only 1 Heron bird. We haven't seen him in a couple of years. They are not common here,. Or shall I say that was the first time I ever saw one in my life. I thought it was a Teridactyl. LOL
Teresa

WINTERHAVEN
We do have those STUPID birds, and King Fishers too. About 8 years ago it wiped out a small pond full of fish. I guess it saw a free meal from 500 feet above...it just didn't occur to me. Thanks for reminding me. I am seriously thinking about putting a shade cloth about the pond...if I can afford one big enough.

CRICKET
Thansk a bunch!! I will keep them inside in the pond in the sunroom until I figure out what I need to do to stop the mystery of the dissapearing fish. If you think of any plants you need while he is up here, just let me know I will send them back with him.

I did have mosquito fish in the trough, but they also disappeared within a week or so. Not sure what got them either. It sure stinks to have them for YEARS...then one day notice they are all gone.
Your place is looking better and better every day. Keep up the good work!!!

The bird I saw eating my fish was blue with black and white ring around neck. was that blue heron? the other bird was one of those long legged birds---light brown, the color of dry hay.

Here is a couple links as to what the Blue Herons look like.

http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1940id.html

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Great_Blue_Heron.html

Teresa

The price for a 20x100 ft shade coth was about $300. If yours was 40x50 it should cost about the same plus shipping.
http://www.atlasgreenhouse.com


I have a dozen projects---and none get completed when they are started. They get completed out of convience.

Making a rose garden down most of the front deck. STill landscaping too. Will add more roses and finish landscaping by Spring. The ground is hard as rock---what am i saying---the ground IS rock. Seriously--it use to be a parking area so its 6 inches deep in rock.( churt and gravel ) I have to dig it out and fix the soil a little at a time.


for those who havent seen anything-------
IN THE BEGINNING: NEW LOCATION
Moved in FEB 1st----------No deck No underpinning.

We built a deck in March

Between growing veggies---Painted the deck rails---and underpined the trailer and deck---planted some roses---put in the Elephant bird bath.

Now for opnions :)
You know I painted the new sunroom Rubber Duckie Yellow.--------Should I paint the trailer same color with gray trim?

A canna bed in front of the sitting area on deck.

And another project that will not be completed until Spring.
A canna bed 180 feet long across the front of the property.
I just dug up the ground and removed the grass today. Have to fix the soil and put concrete blocks around the bed by end of this month..
Yep , 276 concrete blocks. And 400 canna rhizomes.

Hey Cricket, put me down for an advance copy of your book! Another great thread from you filled with very useful ideas and stuff on how to garden. Wish I had your energy.

1. Why did you change your soil mix to include two different composts (baryard and composted manure)?

2. Why did you exclude wood chips?
3. Did the old truck liner mix not work well?
4. Why the grow beds and not the bags?
5. What size concret blocks do you use for your beds?
6. How many holes per bag with PVC pipe?
7. I'm glad you're still posting!
8. Why the Pro-Mix BX? How do you amend it (lime, fertilizer, etc)?
9. I'm not a Market gardener nor do I sell veggies. But I do know it took me about 5 years to get the right product mix, target the right cutomer base before my net income started to increase annually. You are working at things you love doing! Pond and water plants, giant pumpkins, etc.
10. You love growing plants and you inspire others by barreling along fearlessly on your gardening journey.
11. When you do your book put it on CD too.

Bernie

wow, lotta questions.

We have very hot summers, mostly heat dry droughts.
Grow beds hold more water than grow bags. Lower water bill.
When growing in containers, the promix holds more water than the manure and peat.
Mixing soil in the truck liner was fine but I got tired of shoveling the dirt several times just to get it to my bags or containers so I mixed it in my mower trailer for easier transport to its final destination.
I only put one hole per bag on the pvc.
Right now I am using that same pvc watering system in my garden.
Using 8x16 inch blocks for beds.

This was a very old thread.
I have newer ones.
Some of them is in the Vegetable Gardening Forums.

see now you have time to write a book Cricket . !! hmmmm
you could call it
One tomato Two Tomato , Three Tomato, Four
How to build a greenhouse business
hmmmm pretty good huh
I have been wrinting children books for several yrs , I have trouble finding and affording a illistrator. and my books are about kids and gardineing
I really wish I had time to get one idea on paper !! some day. lol
Good luck with your decision and best wishes to you
i learned so much from you thank you so much for all the teaching and your words of wisdom
sue

I would love to write a book, but I really dont have enough knowledge to write one in my opionion. I wouldnt know where to begin or how to set it up. There is so much that goes through my head all the time that I even confuse myself. I get lost in my own thoughts. So putting it on paper would be a challenge and then some. I have hundreds and hundreds of pictures. Pictures are no problem. Putting those pictures into words will be the problem.
I have noticed some big businesses made their own books that didnt even look like a book when it arrived in the mail. It was just a stack of papers with black and white pictures all stapled together and I paid good money for it. I put holes in the papers and put them in a folder. wala=======a book.

happy gardening


cricket

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/729033