Hunt->Gather->Grow->Eat
Country Consultant
Growing Your Grub Podcast
Save Our SkillsOn today’s episode I talk about building a pond for your garden. The garden pond is such a great way to encourage diversity not only in the forms of wildlife it attracts but also in the form of planting surfaces and microclimates it creates.
*Locating the pond. Where does it make the most sense? It needs to be accessible by animals and in a location where the water is easily usable.
*Three ways to make the actual water holding device.
- Straight dig
- Liner – hard or film.
- Gley – either through pigs, manure/paper or bentonite clay.
With all methods you have to dig a little at least to start. Method 3 requires just cursory digging if you use pigs.
*Details on digging the hole, building a dam and making sure its level.
*As soon as is practicable you need to plant on the dam and on the ground around the pond. The purpose is nothing more than to prevent erosion and runoff. Plant something that grows fast but is annual. You want to be able to plant more thoughtfully later.
*Adding organic matter to the water to get things going.
*Plantings – you get into a whole new category of plants.
- Edibles – watercress – a member of the brassica family – spicy green leaves. High in vitamins and a cancer fighter.
- Rice
- Water lily and lotus – both have edible parts. The leaves of the water lily sits on the water, but the lotus rises and its leaves sit up to four feet above the water.
- Cattails
- Duckweed – livestock
*Fauna
- Frogs come on their own as do crayfish dragonflies, water spiders, etc.
- You can add some fish – depending on the size all the way from goldfish (make excellent bait) all the way up
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