The pond builder and I are working hard to finish a number of projects around the farm before we host the Charlotte Koi Club meeting on the 14th. I hate to jinx the unfinished projects but I do believe the pond might be truly finished by then. Rodney the contractor has disappointed me a few…
Author: lorivertin
Konishi Karashigoi
The pond builder has always liked the Konishi Karashigoi ever since he watched a Youtube video in 2015 or 2016 about this variety. The koi in the video were 40+ inches long. He would often comment “I just want to grow a little porpoise in the koi pond.” In the summer of 2016, we purchased…
We’re making progress!
Just when I thought our projects were just poking along – we have completed a lot of work the last three weeks. Work on the pond roof started earlier this week and I know it will make a big difference for the koi. The concrete work will be a three feet skirt around the pond….
married to a big thinker
Life is always better when you have a partner who always says “we can do it” and is a big thinker. I was originally thinking about a small 300 square feet Japanese maple garden near the bamboo grove. Pond builder points out the 2500+ square feet cleared area and comments, “we should turn the entire…
Japanese Maples – Peace, Longevity, and Prosperity
Our Japanese Maple tree collection is growing. We also have a new plan which involves more japanese maples, camellias, fern, hosta, moss and other shade loving plants. We have a lot of property to take care of and creating more future work seems to be a trend. Behind our house is a shady stretch that…
Farm tasks
The vegetable garden is poised to go out of control. I always love this time of the year when the vegetable beds look relatively organized and weeded. Lots of fun things to harvest as summer rolls in. We have had plenty of radishes, which we now dislike – you can only eat so many radishes,…
Fatal mistakes do occur
Little tosai in a floating mesh net was a bad decision. My thought was that the little koi could enjoy the benefits of better water quality, could be fed differently, and out of the breezeway quarantine tank for another incoming set of tosai. The larger koi did not seem too interested in the net or…
Koi, Bees, Chickens, Japanese Maples, Gardening – the hobby farm
A hobby farm is defined as a small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. In our case the hobby farm is like a money pit. I saw a video on Facebook that sums up our life perfectly. A man is holding some plant and states “Why should I pay…
Starting Year 4 of Growing Edibles
The Farmer’s Almanac predicted with 30% accuracy that March 31 would be the last date for a spring frost. We have had two frost advisories since but this weekend was definitely one to work in the garden. I am just waiting for three more asian pear trees to be delivered and my garden staff will…
March might be my favorite month this year
Winter work on the farm is mostly cutting down trees and cleaning up branches. It’s a lot of work but not a ton. March is the start of new activities. The weather is much warmer and all the plants are waking up from winter. Farm work seems to expand, mostly around taking care of plants…
The beginning of a busy month
I am very hopeful that this year my older fruit trees will produce more than a handful of peaches and pears. I believe I have only tasted four peaches, one pear and a handful of figs the last two years. The deer have been sampling young fruit and soft branches every year. The new peach…
New Koi
The koi I purchased in late October/early November 2023 finally came home. Two pretty females, about 21 inches long each – Torazo kohaku (red and white), Omosako shiro utsuri (black and white). I purchased them through Russ Peters (PS Koi) on his fall trip to Japan. It’s always exciting to see all the social media…
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