"Raising Children is Like . . . ."

As a homeschooling father, I have come to see some parallels between raising children and writing letters. In our case we are in the process of raising seven at the same time, which can be a challenge in its own right. They are all like living letters which reflect back the stewardship of the gift of life given by God. To be sure, the apostle Paul used precisely this metaphor to describe his relationship as a spiritual father to the Corinthian believers in Christ. He writes, "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts" (2 Cor 3:2-3).

One thing I have discovered about writing on human hearts--whether through parenting or teaching in higher education--is that you wish to impart those things which you believe most enduring and important. For example, over all things in this life I long for our children to love the Lord Jesus Christ deeply and to have a whole-hearted commitment to Him. Similarly, I also want to impart to them wholesome experiences which focuses their attention on beauty in God's creation. Such beauty is a foreshadow of Christ's kingdom in the age to come.

I suppose one can take several different paths in parenting in order to accomplish this second objective, but the one that makes most sense to me is what was handed down to me by my own mother--a homesteading and farming way of life. Interestingly, she received this same heritage growing up on her parents' 120+ acre farm in upstate New York--a heritage passed down in turn to her father by his own father. All the qualities I love and admire about my mother--her endurance as a widow with three young children, her love and sensitivity to others, and her work ethic, etc. can be traced back in part to her development in this heritage.

Building ponds and raising animals is one of the current chapters I am writing in the lives of these young ones with which my wife and I are entrusted. These are living letters which will never go out of print and, God willing, will be passed on to the next generation long after we are gone.

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Pond #3 Construction Pictures

Ever since I started the first pond, I had in mind precisely where the second one would go--right across the driveway, which I can later excavate away and replace with a bridge. However, the idea for a third pond developed a bit later as I would mow and reflect on the layout of the property. Higher up in our acreage there are some trees in a small and shallow gully area. It always seemed to shout out to me as the perfect place to locate a shaded pond with an island. Moreover, this location is perfect for using the pond as a watering source for goats, chickens, and particularly our ducks, as it is right near the current stable and, God-willing, future location of a full size barn.

The occasion for breaking ground was actually precipitated by the need for strips of grass sod on the second pond's dam. So I took the laser level, shot my lines, and spray-painted and flagged the various water levels. This would be the area from within which I would harvest my grass sod. This layout job was a little trickier than most, since it was my goal to leave all trees intact, close to the water, but not so close as to bring about premature death. I probably reshot with the laser three different configurations before I finally found what I was looking for in this third pond.

The pics which follow pick up on the process after I have already harvested the grass sod and had started to excavate the key trench for the clay core dam. But I think you will get the general idea from what follows.


This pond construction sequence begins with . . . you guessed it, piles of dirt. I did not think to take any pics prior to stripping the grass sod away, as I was simply focused on getting the second pond's dam protected with a grass cover. Oh well:




At the deeper pool end of the pond is the core trench. If you recall from the previous pond construction sequences on this blog (particularly pond #1), to have a successful pond one cannot simply pile dirt up for a dam. You need to excavate down to either hardpan clay, or as in the case of our region, Weikert shale. This core serves two basic purposes: first it locks the dam structure in place much like a keyway. Second, as it is backfilled with moist clay and compacted down, it forms a watertight barrier to water. Obviously the goal of a pond is to hold water, and a clay core is a central aspect of having a successful water-retaining pond:





The core trench can actually get quite deep, as this sequence of pics demonstrate. I actually had to go down ca. 10-12 ft. before I hit the clay for which I was looking. In the past I have used both backhoes and bulldozers to excavate core trenches. Without question the best machine for the job is an excavator, but when on a very tight budget you use what you have--it just takes much longer:








As you can imagine, if all the good clay is 10-12 ft. down, it is going to pose quite a challenge in getting to it in order to backfill the core trench. My approach was as follows: I would use the boxblade to drag away the silt and other materials which hundreds of years of erosion had deposited in this swale. This necessitated pulling it away from the trench and pushing it into huge piles in the center and sides of the pond basin. When good clay material emerged, I would scoop it out and deposit in the core trench in lifts about a foot deep. I would then run the tractor back and forth across the entire area of the dam until it was all firmly compacted. Whenever there was insufficient moisture in the clay to aid in compaction, one of my sons would stand off to the side and spray the whole area down with a hose. It worked beautifully! By the time we got around to taking a picture of it, I had already backfilled and compacted the dam almost to its original ground level:









Now came the precise question of the island in the middle. There just happened to be a spot where a tree was located, and while the tree had obvious signs of disease and woodpecker damage, it was still alive. The average tree on an island this close to water would likely die anyway, so this would do fine. When it dies, I will simply fell it and plant something like a river maple or weeping willow in its place. Working around the island and sculting it within the bounds of the basin did prove to be something of a challenge:








Just as everything was going well, two structural engineers showed up unannounced to inspect the process and converse among themselves. Although I knew everything was sound, I was nevertheless a bit nervous:






Although there was posturing and attempts to mark out their territory, in the end they had no substantive complaints and went on about their business. I had the feeling though that I had not seen the last of them. But for my part I just stayed focused on my work:






The job was now a matter of sculpting around the island and removing the top burden down to the clay so that I could compact it around the entire pond basin, thus forming a water barrier. I was also aware that I was in a not-so-subtle race against the clock, since rain could potentially fill what I had already excavated, forcing me to rent a generator and pump as I had to with the second pond twice. That is expensive and no fun, so I put my head down and put in some long hours:







The pond was now really begin to take shape, and I was reminded once again that for all our planning and design, we are ultimately at the mercy of where the soil, clay, and shale are located. In other words, to some degree you have to "discover" where the pond is at and how deep it is going to be. In that way, it is something of an art. One surprise along these lines for me was the final water depth. I had no idea that I would end up with a pond that would be 12-14 ft. deep at full pool (though it tapers back to a shallower end):






At this point I thought it wise to set up the laser again and recheck my work, and I am glad I did. While the dam and the sides were spot on, my readings indicated that most of my island would be submerged at full pool! That would not do, so after using some marker paint to provide layout, I went to my topsoil pile and brought in dirt with which to build the island up as needed. It was a bit of a trick getting the tractor up on that island (due to height) to smooth things out, but I managed. I will have to replant grass on it, but that is not a problem since it is all rich topsoil:








Now for the finishing touches and last bit of work throughout:








I carved out overflows on each side of the dam (into the hillside), and smoothed out all the surrounding area which will be grass around the pond (that portion of land had been marked by depressions, holes, etc.). The last thing to do is plant some grass, mulch it with straw (my sinuses hate that part), and then wait for the winter rains to come and fill the pond:





All in all I am exceptionally pleased with the outcome. The ducks will love the pond (especially the island), and I will fence it off for the goats as well. It is very picturesque and peaceful among all the trees, so I will likely put a nice bench on which to sit and contemplate. The water level will allow me even to stock it with some fish.

I suppose the final picture should be of my trusty 790 4x4 John Deere tractor, which is as nimble as it is powerful. I am thankful to God for the blessing of having it.

The Second Pond is Full!

Yesterday we were hit with a storm which carried a deluge. It is without doubt the most rain I have seen fall at one time in this area. To be sure, I have not seen this kind of rain event anywhere in many years. Within 20 minutes the entire second pond went from a mere puddle to full brim and overflowing. I had not anticipated it to fill this quickly, but knew I was about to find out if the emergency overflow would work as planned. It did, but it was nerve-wracking to stand by and watch it tested in this fashion.

Anyway, below are some photos of this now-full second pond. I have also included a pic of the siphon overflow system which I had already added to the first pond over the summer. This was the first occasion that I was able to see it in action. There is also a little diagram at the end of this post which will hopefully help illustrate how the overflow/siphon system works.


This view of the second pond is from our driveway, with the first pond immediately to one's back. Notice how much driveway gravel was moved by the storm out of the driveway and deposited in the grass. I am thankful for the tractor's box blade, as it makes repairing and redressing the driveway considerably easier. Nevertheless, it is still going to require some raking by hand. Those of you who have moved gravel in this fashion already know just how slow and tedious this task can be:



Same perspective, but back a little bit:



This perspective is from the opposite side of the pond looking toward the driveway. You can see the dam for the first pond in the far background:



Looking toward the second pond's dam and beautiful trees gives you a sense for how high the water was:



From the backside we see the flow from the surrounding watershed into the pond. You can also make out where my emergency spill-way is flowing:



This is the siphon system I installed on the first pond. I still need to drop a pipe vertically to mark the water level I wish for a full siphon to begin. As it currently is, I was able to induce a full siphon by closing the ball valve in the pic--this action cuts off the air supply and a self-sustaining siphon process from the pond through the pipe commences. Once initiated, one could empty the whole pond if the valve were left closed:



Here is the outlet of the overflow/siphon system at the base of the dam. This is the average flow rate when the water is simply passing through it without a siphon action. When I closed the ball valve and created a full siphon, the water blasted out of this 4" pipe like a torrent and went about 4 feet into the air! In the future, when the pond rises to a level which covers the (to-be-installed) vertical pipe, the air supply is blocked and a siphon begins until the pond level drops below the pipe and air is reintroduced--thus breaking the siphon:



Below is a diagram which is very similar to the siphon system I installed. I found this diagram on the Pond Boss forum and, again, it is the closest thing I have found to illustrate what I actually installed. Rather than 6" PVC, I installed 4" (the price difference is considerable), and my angles and pipe depths are different:

Second Pond Near Completion

Although I haven't posted in a while, I have been very busy getting things done this summer. In addition to getting ducks and chickens squared away, my goal was to complete the second pond. Earlier I showed where the second pond would be located, right where an old hand-dug well was located:






Quite a bit of soil was removed and I am pretty much down to hard pan now. I packed the backside of the bank with wet clay, which I will later sculpt to match the contour of the ground:



Here I excavated down and compacted a clay core trench and then tied a dam into the side hill. The drain pipes which run under the driveway are behind the dam. Water will flow around an overflow area and back behind the dam:





Here is the topsoil which I laid aside at the beginning. This will be put on the dam of pond #1 and the dam of this pond when I plant fescue seed in the fall:



Here is a nice shady spot for a bench. I had to take out the tree second from the left, but it was small and there is still plenty of shade:



This shale pile was the result of excavating a large swath of weikert shale out of a quarter of the basin. I ran into the same material on pond #1:



Here the JD is straining to pull a full scraper load of clay:




Dumping, spreading, and compacting. The dozer I rented last year is much faster at excavating, but the tractor does a great job of climbing up and down the dam and compacting:



A final pic for now. I will post more when I enter the finishing stages. I am strongly considering using this smaller pond to raise and harvest fish for the freezer and for sale:

A Video Montage

Here is a video montage I recently did of the family, pond, etc.

Video Montage

First Fish Contact

No pics lately, as I have been too busy (really). The spring rains came and did what springs rains do--they filled the pond to overflowing again! However, I am very pleased with how the spillways are working out. I created two; one I shot with the laser a bit lower grade than the other. When the one can no longer handle the inflow, the pond rises ca. 3 inches more and the second spillway engages. It has been working beautifully, so I am glad.

Although it has not rained in nearly a week, the wet weather spring which is at the head of pond #2 (the one under construction) is still running strong. This means that not only is the large pond staying full, but that all activity on the second pond will have to wait until the spring stops flowing. Then I will pump pond #2 dry and complete it.

Over spring break, my mother and brother came down for a week. We had plenty of opportunity to fish for trout in the mountains (we are in the Shenandoah Valley, so the Blue Ridge are right nearby). In the process I was able to catch around five bluegill which I have released into the large pond. They are formally the first fish to be placed in there, and the kids have sighted them on several occasions since. I had caught a number of largemouth bass which I was going to put in, but later decided against it and let them go. My reasoning is that I am getting ready to buy some channel catfish fry around 2" long. They would be nothing more than food even to a small largemouth bass. I hope to also catch some bullhead and put them in, as not only are they fun to catch, and they reproduce well in ponds, but they are very tasty--even better than catfish.

More later . . . .

Some Final Touches

The weather was remarkable this weekend, peaking over 70 degrees. It was very enjoyable to spend nearly the entire time outside working on the the ponds. As I excavate more dirt from the second pond, it provides the needed material to produce the finishing touches on the first ponds back slope. Anyway, here is where I am now at with it:


I should have little difficulty running a mower on that angle, so I will probably wait until the last frost and then lay down my stockpile of topsoil, seed and straw it. It will be nice to see the bank green once again.

While the pond is too cold to swim or play in, the kids are still finding ways to put it to the test:

Latest Pond Updates

There is not a huge amount of work I have been able to do of late. Being February, the weather alternates between freezing and thawing temperatures. I did, however, notice that given a full month of water run-off on the overflow of the dam, the soil was quite saturated. On one of the warmer days I attempted to build up the back section of the of the dam right near where the water had been over-flowing, and noticed that I was getting a "marshmallow" feel to the dirt. What this means is that saturated dirt underneath is getting covered with dry dirt--and this is not a good thing. The only way such dirt underneath will dry out is if it were to become saturated all the way through, or if you excavated it out, set it aside to let it dry, and then repack it. I chose the latter option:


Yesterday it was just above freezing, so I spent several hours packing this moist clay in real good and compressing it down with the weight of the tractor. I would just do about 5" lifts of dirt between packings, and the moisture content seemed to be just right. Anyway, it worked out nicely:


My next goal is to trim the side bank down further around this overflow and replace what stones I do have there with rip-rap (large stones):



I need to continue filling the back portion of the dam to the slope I desire so that by spring I will then be able to put the topsoil back in place and get some grass seed down. Moving the dirt across the property by tractor loader sure does take a long time, and I am thinking of some possible alternatives to speed things up. Anyway, here are how things are looking at present:

Diversion

Well, the second pond excavation has been a bit of a seasonal challenge. I had planned to complete it during Christmas break, but I had a feeling the weather would not cooperate (we had been having such nice warm weather prior). During the last couple weeks, it has alternated between raining and then freezing. Frozen soil can be as hard as concrete and, though I knew better to even try, any efforts to work this soil have been something of a waste of time.

I did, however, manage to get a little bit accomplished on some of the warmer days. My goal was to get things to the point where when the ground thaws a bit the standing water will not be a problem. Previously, I was allowing water from the watershed and wet-weather spring to just empty into the basin I am currently excavating. Obviously all this water will need to be pumped out in order to proceed:



The question on my mind has been what to do about further inflow while work is still in progress? I finally decided to temporarily divert the flow from its two main sources. Where water flows in during rains from the adjacent property, I built a berm preventing its entrance into the work site. It now effectively flows around the basin and back out. I did something similar where the wet-weather spring emerges. In this instance I created something of a trench which empties into the same spot. My new potato plow (middle buster) was great for making a very exact ditch:




You can get an idea of the where the two water sources meet in this pic:




I also finally bought a nice 1/3 hp Water Ace utility pump from Lowes (I am thankful for Christmas gift cards!). The pump was only $88 and it will work nicely in removing the water that is currently standing as well as any that manages to collect again before the project is complete. The pump is rated for 2200 gph, so it should be more than adequate. Here is a pic of it, except mine is black and has a nice handle to grip on top:




These last two pics give something of an idea of the size the second pond will be since they are taken back a bit further:




It should be interesting trying out this utility pump. I will be running it from a power inverter in my truck, and take some photos of it in action later.

Strange Geology

I honestly cannot figure the watershed surrounding our property out. The wet-weather spring and watershed have been flowing non-stop since December 12th (though the rate of flow has diminished). The strange thing is trying to answer the question of how a day of rain prior to the 12th can result in that much continuous water flow since. From where is this water coming? We have had prior rains that seemed comparable, and the watershed and spring did not respond in the same manner. It really has me baffled.

Before starting the pond project I ordered a soil survey for this county. It mapped out soil compositions pretty good and has elevation maps. It is written so that laymen like myself can get an idea of what is going on.

My best theory is that the Weikert shale is uniformly present across the watershed (which the survey supports), regardless the depth of silt, clay, or soil above it. This shale is largely impermeable--something the locals call "black shale" (i.e., it turns black over time when water sits on top of it). There must be a tipping point for soil moisture saturation in the soil above this shale, and once it is reached, the water flows until the whole thing drains. That also explains why previous rains were not resulting in any activity, and then all of a sudden it let go and has continued for two weeks straight. That is the best I can make of it anyway.

While it did result in a full pond, the down side is that I have not been able to do any more work on the second pond excavation during Christmas break. I had hoped to finish it during this time. Oh well. I learned long ago that with this type of project it is best not to get attached to a definite time schedule since the weather has the final say. Otherwise a fun and enjoyable project becomes stressful--the exact opposite of the entire point in doing it.

The full pond, however, looks good and continues to flow the incoming water right back out:



The excavation-in-process of the second pond is full of water that will need to be pumped out before I resume work. Once the water stops flowing, I am debating whether to buy a 1/3 hp electric utility pump (as I may have more occasions for pumping it before I am done), or just renting it this one time. They are $80-$100 depending on which model. Either way, I will probably need to run it off an inverter from the truck, which should be able to handle it (ca. 10 amps).

I will report on more progress as soon as this bizarre watershed stops flowing water.

On a different note, we recently had a large flock of turkeys come through. It was the largest group I have seen to date--I counted 20 in all. Anyway, they entered our property at the base of the pond dam, came across the side hill, and then flew across the road. I was a little surprised that almost all of them decided it was best to fly instead of walk across the road. I imagine that somewhere in their bird consciousness is this image of colleagues exploding in a burst of feathers under similar circumstances:

A Surprise!

On the 12th day of the 12th month--on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

Yes, I know those words are strikingly familiar. I write them in keeping with the language of Genesis 7:11f., because this morning was a complete surprise to me. I walked out the door to go to work and the first thing I saw was this:


It had rained so hard yesterday and particularly last night that the entire pond went from ca. 1/8 full to overflowing! I stood there shocked, as that is thousands of gallons of water in under 24 hours. I was also quite pleased to see that the overflow I had designed into the earthen dam was functioning quite well, since a great deal of water was continuously flowing into the pond:







The other side of the dam has a similar spill-way, but I noticed the water was not yet going over it. I will shave it down so that it matches the same level as the other side.

Here are some other shots of the full basin from other angles:




Here is an indication of the volume of water that is continuously pouring into the basin through the culvert:



Of course, this water is emerging from the other side, which looks like this going in:


Notice that on this opposite side, I am still in the middle of constructing the second pond when this rain struck. Here are some photos of my progress up to now:




The source of all this water is a saturated watershed--just as I had hoped for and anticipated. A portion comes down the middle of our neighbor's lawn and enters the head of this second pond (when it is completed):




The second source emerges from an underground wet-weather spring. Here you can see its outflow:


Of course, given the level of water now in the second pond-in-progress, I will have to wait until it dries up some to make further progress in excavation. Still, this was a wonderful and unexpected blessing which I had not anticipated until spring. More photos to come as I do further work . . . .

Phase Two -- The Second Pond

I have done all I can for now on the large pond. I will put more soil on the backside of the dam, and then in the spring I will lay down top soil on the dam and plant grass seed again.

I have now turned my attention to the second pond, which I have long referred to as phase two (out of three phases). I broke ground for this pond on the other side of the culvert, where the old hand-dug well is located. The first step was to burn the large wood pile just up from where the pond will be:



As we watched the pile burn, you can observe here the pond location in the background. Note also the fenced-off well. It took a full day for the pile to burn down:



With the pile burned, I finally break the top soil for the new pond. I used a potato plow (middle-buster) which I found for $70 new at a tractor supply store. It was the only one left of that model, and it works very well. Anyway, here are some photos of the sod and top soil initially being stripped away. The area with the tuft of high grass is the location of the wet-weather spring, which I will leave undisturbed. It brings much of the water from this watershed to this focal point above ground:





These are the drain pipes that go under the driveway and will distribute water overflow from the first pond to the second. Phase three will involve removing these culverts and the driveway above it and constructing a bridge across the chasm:


It took me quite a while to get all the stones from around the well removed (I will later use them elsewhere). This is what the well looked like with no stones prior to serious excavation. There is no telling how old this well is, but it goes back a long way. I have since kept much of the soil I took out of it separate, in the hopes of perhaps borrowing a metal detector and finding things former generations had tossed down into it (old coins, etc.):



I have more photos of my progress to publish in my next post. It appears one of my challenges is going to be in determining where to dispose of much of this dirt excavated from the basin. Much of it can go on the backside of the other pond's dam, but I am somewhat at a loss what to do with the rest. Perhaps I will post it on Craigslist for anyone to come get.

More Clay, No Straw

As the pond has filled with rain water, I noticed that some of the clay on the sides had eroded down into the basin. This left me a bit unsettled, as the silt left behind it was capable of absorbing and transferring water out of the basin.

After a good deal of reflection on the problem, the fix was pretty straightforward: excavate the shallow end of the pond deeper and place that dirt on the backside of the earthen dam. Not only is it a good place to put this extra dirt, but it also builds up the backside which will make mowing easier. It looks as follows (I have since leveled those dirt piles):


The reason for excavating that shallow end was evident when I finally got down to some clay which I knew was there from my initial excavation of the pond. Consequently, the back side of the pond is no longer shallow:


Next, I excavated the silt out of the sides of the basin bringing it down about 10". I then placed loads of moist clay along the entire length of the the sides, smoothed it out with the tractor bucket, and then proceeded to drive over it systematically until it was packed down good and solid. I even placed clay along the inside portions of the earthen dam:



I have done a few hours more work since these photos, and am very pleased with the results, confident it will provide a much better seal when the spring rains come and fill the basin:



The next post will begin my chronicle of the excavation of the second pond on the other side of the culvert.

Swimming Time!

I finally decided to let the kids swim a little yesterday and today after church, as it will soon be too cold. The pond level is the highest it has ever been, due to the good rains we had a couple days back. While they were swimming, a good rain shower came through and dropped even more.

The kids absolutely love the pond.

. . . Still Filling

I took these pics about a week ago and, since we were not getting any rain, decided to run well water into it the evenings. It brought it up considerably and it seems to be holding fine:




I took the kids down this evening with a flashlight to look at the water level and it has risen considerably with today's rain. I will take more pics tomorrow. Oh, and we saw a HUGE bullfrog--bigger than anything previously in the pond. Can't wait until this thing fills up.

First Contacts

I had mentioned previously that the very first life-form which came to the pond was a bullfrog. Unfortunately, I could never find the frog, I would only hear his croak or see his splash into the water when he saw me coming.

I finally decided to try the old midnight trick with a flashlight, and sure enough I was finally able to see him real close. It is strange how a flashlight completely blinds/paralyzes the frog, so that you could just reach out and grab them if you liked. I will try to get a picture of him soon.

The second creature to make its way into the pond is a turtle. I have not yet seen it, but the kids have, and my oldest daughter has touched it (mud turtle, not snapper). Again, I will try to get a picture of it, but first I need to see it for myself.

The third creature, which I have been the only one to see, is a blue heron. I was driving to go to work last week, and a large blue heron was walking the pond. Of course, as soon as it saw me it flew away, but it was still fascinating to see. If the frog is not fleet of foot, the heron will surely pick him off.

Saving Heating and Cooling Costs With a Pond

I have a good friend who owns a portion of river with a continuous flow of a very strong (and deep) water current. I have repeatedly encouraged him to install a hydro-electric generator in this location, as it would result not only in a consistent and year-long supply of electricity for his home, but would likely result in a surplus for which the power company would have to pay him. To my knowledge he has not yet installed one.

I do not own a stretch of river, but a pond can likewise produce significant savings in electricity. Here is how it works: traditional heat pumps and central air-conditioners work on the principle of heat exchange. In the case of a heat pump, heat is extracted (exchanged) and delivered inside the house--even from cold winter air. With an a/c unit, heat (and humidity) are extracted and deposited outside, allowing a cooler and dryer air to be distributed inside the house. The two systems operate nearly identically; just in reverse application.

Anyone who pays heating and a/c bills knows that a good amount of electricity is required in order to accomplish this heat exchange. Fortunately, it is right at this point where a pond can be of significant benefit. In most regions, at depths of 10'+ deep a pond's water remains warmer than the coldest freezing winter temperatures above, and cooler than the warmest summer temperatures above. In other words, the pond's water itself becomes the source for heat exchange--providing warmth in the winter and cooling in the summer.

The process is really pretty straightforward as seen in this pic (found at http://www.waterfurnace.com/):


In the summer, the coils circulate warm fluid (typically a form of anti-freeze) from the house to the pond, which is cooled by the pond's lower temperature. This cooler fluid is then circulated back and, through an air blower, is distributes as lower air temperature throughout the house (i.e., central air-conditioning). The opposite exchange occurs during the winter. This is precisely the same principle for how standard electric heat pumps and air-conditioners operate. However, rather than consuming electricity to affect the transfer, the pond water temperature becomes the medium.

Here is a pic of destination and return trenches for one of these systems going to a pond (as found at http://geothermaldiy.com/gallery.html):


In short, in a year or two (God-willing) when I turn my attention to major changes to the house, this heating and air solution will be at the top of my list to install.

Deere

My wife has posted these pics on her blog, but since they spend a good deal of time in and around the pond basin, I thought it would be good to chronicle it here as well. In these pics they have come to visit the apple tree and get some fruit from our back yard.

The first three are two bucks and a doe. Notice the late summer velvet on the antlers. They will rub that off on trees as rutting season begins. The second set are three fawns that were born just this spring. I saw them when they were really small, so they have put on quite a bit of growth over the summer:

Water Aeration

In spite of having little rain, the pond basin is holding water very well so far. There has been sufficient time for the clay sediment to separate from the water and sink to the bottom. Accordingly, the water clarity is very good.

However, this raises another issue that I knew in advance I would have to address, and that is aeration. Left untouched by human hands, ponds eventually fill themselves back in. That is nature's way (I have seen ponds created two generation prior left untouched and they are mere hollows in the ground). The obvious exception to this rule is when there is a strong feeder creek, or springs, etc., but even then over more time you will likely end up with a marsh or swamp area.

But in between this terminal end of ponds is an ongoing invasion of natural plant growth. On the one hand, some plant growth in the pond is necessary for establishing a balanced ecosystem. On the other hand, no one builds a pond just to come and look at scum floating in the surface and weeds tangled underneath. Unfortunately, you can smell it also. Anyone who has tried to fish or swim in these conditions knows exactly what I mean.

My plan is to head this off at the pass by introducing a pond aerator. While there are many different designs and ways this system works, the basic idea is to introduce oxygen into the water as well as rotate oxygen-depleted water off the bottom (thermal layer stale water). The short of it is that this keeps a pond fresh, clear, and minimizes nasty scum (algae).

This type of aerator sits on the bottom and injects or bubbles up (images from http://www.lifountain.com/strata-fuser-series-products.html):


Others sit on the top and introduce an air mix downward:



Other systems, often seen as "fountains," pump water from the stale water below and spray it into the air. It lands back into the water introducing oxygen. There are many different nozzles and spray patterns from which to choose, but I like ones that look the most natural. Among various possibilities are:



I will need to do some more investigation as to which aeration system would work best for our size pond, while simultaneously being economical in energy use. In a later post I will also describe my plans to build a rock waterfall, so hopefully I can incorporate one pump to handle both systems. But more on the waterfalls later.

White Birch

Having grown up in the northeast, perhaps my favorite tree is the white birch. They have a look of purity about them--standing out among the other trees in the forest without being ostentatious. Their bark is like paper and sheds off in rolls. Very nice.

I have discovered that you don't really appreciate these trees until you have lived in warmer regions where they simply cannot grow and are not found. I suppose some southern folks feel the same way about magnolias or palm trees when they come north.

Anyway, my plan is to plant several of these white birch around the pond. They often grow together in groups of two or three, and that is how I would do it--probably a total of three at various locations on pond's edge.

Perhaps these pics will give you an idea of why I like these trees so much:

This is a pic of a solitary tree. From a distance it may look something like a weeping willow, but they are nothing like them (willows are kind of nasty bug-riddled trees):


Here is a pic of how you will often see them in their natural environment in the forest:


A bit closer:


. . . and closer yet:


The birch family of trees naturally do well in moist soil near bodies of water. There is also a variation of the white birch which seems to thrive well in Virginia heat. It's bark is a little more cream colored. I have a bit more investigation to do before I make a final decision.

What Critters May Come

I have not placed any life forms (artificial or otherwise) in the pond. At this stage I am curious to see what shows up on its own.

Technically, the first animals drawn to the pond we typically see in our back yard, but at night they are all around the pond edge. Come morning, I find these deere tracks everywhere:


The first creature I know was in the pond was a bullfrog. In the middle of the day he was hanging out around my fish structure. I could hear him loud and clear, but never did locate him visibly (shifty little frog).

The next critters to show up were also right in the middle of the day. They can sometimes be found wearing shorts, making messes in and around houses, and sometimes make very loud noises. We were lucky to catch them with the camera:




I have a feeling this particular species will take over the pond once it is full, as they are known to love wading, splashing, swimming, fishing, and having fun in water.


My wife was the first to discover the arrival of dragon flies. She caught them laying eggs on the water. Personally I like dragon flies. They remind me of fishing, since they would often decide to land on the end of my pole and just sit there. They are friendly little insects with the most fascinating wing and flight design. More evidence that our Creator loves to design things in various and sundry ways:



I have observed a number of wild turkeys living down the road near a creek that drains our immediate region's watershed into the Opequon River. I began to suspect that they were visiting the pond at night based on the tracks. Today I found a turkey feather in the pond basin. Even more interesting was the adult and baby turkeys which we managed to photograph in our backyard today. Since they require water for eating, I have a feeling we will be seeing more of them in the vicinity of the pond in the future; but you have to be fleet of foot and look quick because they are pretty wary creatures: