While every month is special, September can be a stand out. Some of my favorite people are born in September, the autumnal equinox, humidity tends to drop, and we have some really beautiful days on the farm. In fact, work just gets in the way of things I want to do. 😂 Kind of a…
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Late Summer on the Farm
Life seems so much easier now that the pond is running and the koi are out of the garage. We still have a gazillion tasks like finishing off the last wall of the equipment house, pergola, wood cladding around the pond, landscaping – basically years of work ahead and nothing is ever totally finished. However,…
Projects
The new pond’s nitrogen cycle is finally measuring perfect after twenty days. Between time, a good UV light, and some bacteria, the pond has cleared up and parameters are great. The only icky job of maintaining this pond is emptying the skimmers each morning. We have at least four frogs every day caught in the…
Not loving the green pond
Pond builder has finished installing the last piece of equipment for the pond – UV lights. Our original light did not function so we had to wait for a new light to arrive. Meanwhile, the pond became quite green under the hot sun. Visibility is less than 8 inches from the surface and we are…
“I’m getting close to retirement” says my favorite pond builder.
Not from his day job, just koi pond building. This past weekend our koi finally moved to their new outdoor pond. It’s been about a two year process getting this pond built. While there are a number of tasks left to do, it’s a relief to have a real pond again. The new pond is…
Japan 2023 – Gardening Lessons
We visited the three great gardens of Japan this June: Kenroku-en (Kanazawa), Kairaku-en (Mito), and Koraku-en (Okayama). My takeaways are: (1) My farm does not have the same climate and we really could use a running stream somewhere in the middle of the farm. (2) My dream garden would require a full time gardening team…
Japan 2023 – Visiting Konishi Koi
A trip to Japan doesn’t seem complete without a specific koi-related activity. When we were planning our cancelled trip in 2020, we were doing a full koi day in the Hiroshima area. Fast forward to 2023 and our trip was slightly shorter and I made no plans to see koi except in castle moats and…
Judging an International Koi Show
If only every show was like Euregio 2023! I had a wonderful time in the Netherlands this past weekend as a member of the judging team. The judging team included US judges Larry Gill, Michelle Gravenish, Ray and Teri Alexander…Dutch judges Ruud Besmes, Richard and Anja Albertsboer…British judges Kieron Burns and Gary Hillier…and Indonesian judge…
Still not done
We had a goal to move the koi into the pond by May 15th. That would be about two years after we started cutting down the first privets in this area. Unfortunately life interferes and we do have real day jobs. When I pout, the pond builder pointed out that our jobs fund the pond….
Staying busy with koi, pond and the farm
I feel this spring we are racing around, busier than ever. My “to-do” list keeps increasing. I’m taking advantage of a long plane flight to catch up. Japanese Black Pines and Japanese Maples. Japanese black pine, matsu, symbolizes endurance and eternity in Japan. These pines are featured in kabuki and noh theater as background scenery…
Black is my new favorite color
My painting shirt has a lot of flat black exterior paint spots now. We have made a lot of progress on the pond equipment house. I have been painting rafters, battens and trim on the water pump house. Our idea is to make these little structure look a little on the boring side so that…
Two steps forward
A lot of progress has been made on the equipment house for the pond. I was really hoping to post a photo with a completed roof but we had some very rainy weather that our contractor wanted to avoid. If he had not decided to skip one of the sunny days earlier in the week,…
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