What did you do in the garden today?

MY hens won't set foot in the snow. I can leave the run door wide open, so all my morning farm chores and go back and no one has gone out. LOL. They DO like to eat snow, So I put a couple of scoops in there for them to play with. Nutty birds.

Garden also planned, seeds ordered. Still 3 and a half months before I even start seeds. We don't plant until June 1 here (cabbage I'll put in sooner)
 
Good morning gardeners. I've watered the seeds and filled gravity feeders/waterers this morning but not much else. I've been sitting outside some in the evening with my flock and debating about where to put the next grass frame and what materials to use. I'm waffling between wood or concrete blocks. The wood will rot much faster so the block will likely win. We have a block wall around our yard and the North wall gets sun year round. I'm thinking 20' long and 18" wide should do it and I can use the wall as the back of the planter. I'm also going to revamp the bed outside the West wall of the yard. I have oleanders out there to shade the wall from afternoon sun, but I'm thinking the xeriscape grass would help quite a bit with weed control and runoff. I'm currently in talks with the other half on how to proceed out there. I'm off to take something for a migraine and maybe have a nap. Have a great day everyone.
 
They were swimming in the pond this morning, probably disturbing my koi who are hibernating at the bottom somewhere.
Do you keep a heater in your pond to keep from freezing solid? I know the temps have been mild recently here, but when the Weatherman turns down the thermostat, pond likely to freeze over. I still want to get a small pond for my backyard. No ducks,,,,, just some fish to control the mosquito population, should they decide to multiply too quickly. My second concern, and probably the main reason I don't already have a pond, is green algae. I dealt with it when I had a 40 gallon plastic tub, that I kept a turtle in during summer. Winter, turtle stayed in home aquarium.
 
Do you keep a heater in your pond to keep from freezing solid? I know the temps have been mild recently here, but when the Weatherman turns down the thermostat, pond likely to freeze over. I still want to get a small pond for my backyard. No ducks,,,,, just some fish to control the mosquito population, should they decide to multiply too quickly. My second concern, and probably the main reason I don't already have a pond, is green algae. I dealt with it when I had a 40 gallon plastic tub, that I kept a turtle in during summer. Winter, turtle stayed in home aquarium.
I do not. However the pond is 4.5' deep and keep the water circulating. The ground below the frost line actually heats the water enough to keep it from freezing over generally. I have to circulate it to make that happen of course. I'm using submerged pump fitted to 2" PVC that pulls water from under the gravel at the bottom of the pond and brings it to the surface. Last year it froze over with very thin clear ice only on the night we were -40F.

As for algae, it comes and goes based on available biomass and sun. I'll have a bloom of green algae (green water) in the Spring and then it gets under control naturally in just 2-3 weeks and stays pretty clear all summer. Last year we did a bloom of green beard algae after the ducks got access thanks to their contribution to the pond of mud, poop and some eggs (had to net those out and be careful not to crack them... :sick). I plan to build a DIY bio filter this Spring to prevent that same issue moving forward.
 
I got to and from work with no trouble! However, on the way home my son called to say he thought he needed to go to the hospital!:eek: He was at the junk yard looking for a starter for his Jeep and apparently sliced his hand pretty good. By the time I got home and called him back, he had managed to get it to stop bleeding. He did end up going to Urgent Care and getting 3 stitches in 1 finger.
About 5 minutes after I got off the initial phone call with him, my daughter calls. She is crying so hard I can't figure out what is going on. Turns out she had just been in a car accident. She's banged up, but nothing serious. The ambulance checked her out and then left.
She was driving down a street and saw a car on her right at a stop sign. Then the guy pulled out in front of her. She tried to swerve but he hit her anyway. Both of her airbags deployed, her windshield is shattered completely and the front end of the car ( think where the license plate is) is V'd in pretty good. She was pretty shook up. She has never been in a car accident before other than when she hit the baby deer a couple of years ago ( and that didn't even damage her car at all!).
Her car got towed. Her boyfriend and I both showed up for emotional support (plus the car she drives belongs to me). The other guy appears to have insurance. The state trooper took a report and we have reported it to the insurance company. We only have liability, so hopefully the other guys insurance gives her enough money that she can buy something reliable! Her car was a 2003 Vibe, so my fear is that she won't get much at all. If they don't total it I will be surprised.
The good news though is that she isn't really hurt ( I'm sure she'll be sore) and her boyfriend had just gotten his son from her car when they met up to meet a new pediatrician, so the 2 year old wasn't in the car with her!
I got home around 8PM ( the time I had planned to be in bed on a work night.) Now, I've eaten and am heading to bed. Good night!!
 

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