Beautiful weekend outside albeit a little chilly. We spent most of it cleaning up the yard and the pond digger worked on one of the equipment pits. We never got around to covering the pits so we have all winter to decide what we’re going to do. He also has started cleaning up the ponds for winter. We drain the pond and scrub down the algae from the walls, clean up stuff that has fallen into the ponds and drain the lines. Once it’s cleaned up, the pond will be refilled for the winter. The water will ensure the pond holds its shape through the freezing and thawing temperatures.
For the last month, it’s been raining oak, maple, birch and lilac leaves everywhere. Everything drops its leaves at different times. While most of the oak leaves are down, there are always a few stubborn clumps that hang on until after the first snow. We usually get all the leaves cleaned up before winter but when spring rolls around, we’re still cleaning up leaves.The lower pond this weekend. Pond digger has drained and cleaned out a lot of algae off the liner. He’s also putting in concrete blocks into the equipment pit. He’ll put it all back together, and fill the pond back up with water for the winter. We haven’t thought too much about the decorative covering for this equipment pit but will ensure the equipment stays protected over the winter and tackle it in the spring.The upper pond still needs to be cleaned and we’ll have to protect its equipment as well. I’ve started wrapping up some of the plants that get winter burn and/or destroyed by the deer in late fall.My Giant Sequoia tree from California is ready for winter. I have a little greenhouse where I always try to start some little edibles for the winter and invariably give up by January. Maybe this winter I’ll be a little more dedicated. It’s not like the greenhouse is that far – about a 100 feet from the back door, but it’s uphill and the snow can get deep 🙁
Meanwhile the koi are still eating in the 55 degree water. I only feed them a little because my water parameters are trending a little on the high side for nitrites and ammonia. The karashigoi, T2, is getting the lion’s share of the food. Some of them have not had a single nibble for two weeks now.
