I feel like we have been behind about three weeks from last year but the upper pond is finally open and some of our koi are swimming around. We intended to have only female koi in this pond but I may have a male or two in this bunch. I like the balance of colors with these koi. I have two more koi joining them so there will be a pleasant mix of reds, whites, blacks and a splash of yellow. My newest Kohaku, Mio, is staying in the garage just a little longer while I monitor a bruise she got in transit. She will most likely join the group later this week. We also measured the koi and think that most of our koi did not really grow over the winter. Their length is about the same as when we measured them in October. Some of them look a little rounder though.
Another project finished yesterday was the new herb garden. I’m using a portion of the old waterfall this year. Eventually we are going to have to tear down and re-landscape the waterfall but for this year a small herb garden might make it less of an eyesore. Maybe if we’re really motivated we’ll do something later in the summer. I’ve planted culinary herbs and the pond builder thinks I’ve just created a prettier salad bar for the rabbits and deer. I’m hoping that its location closer to the house will discourage the pests.
Pond Builder finished staining the lower pond shade feature for me. The small sprayer made the job a lot easier and less mess. It probably wastes a little more stain but it does a good job. Today we will be moving the top piece forward into the position over the lower pond. Last fall we had to move it back to accommodate the digging and concrete pour. We should not have to move it anymore. (Of course I’ve said that about many things and we always seem to end up moving stuff at least three or four times.) I have my spectator seats ready to supervise some of the lower pond work. We hope to move the new RDF in place and work will start to open up the lower pond.
The chickens are oblivious to all the happenings in the yard. I think they’re bored in their coop and they do peck at each other. There are little harness that you can put on chickens to walk them. Maybe I can get one and put them outside on a long leash for variety.
One of the nicest times of the day is when the sun sets and the solar lights come on – I’ll have to get a better photo of the evening pond but it was so nice to see the koi in the pond and know that 99% of the upper pond work is finished.
