Garden pond: Journey to Forever organic garden

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The garden pond at our headquarters at the Beach House on Lantau Island is a bathtub propped on bricks, containing water hyacinth, duckweed, frogs, tadpoles, a small and elegant water snake, and no mosquitoes. The tadpoles eat the mosquitoes, the snake eats the tadpoles.

All we put in it at first was a couple of water hyacinths from a nearby paddyfield, which came with some duckweed. The tub quickly turned itself a balanced environment. The frogs moved in on their own. We've no idea where the watersnake came from.

Sometimes we aerate it a bit with a small goldfish tank aerator, and we throw a handful of compost in it every month or so. It provides a lot of rich pondweed for the compost pile.

Garden ponds can be really beautiful, adding a sense of peace to a garden like nothing else can do. Others can provide you with a lot of food. (See also Small farms, Aquaculture.)
Pond resources

Water Gardening magazine for water gardeners and pond keepers. Current and back issues online, index of past articles, tips & faqs, sources of supplies, pond clubs, discussion forum, pond gallery.
http://www.watergardening.com/

Pondscapes magazine from the US National Pond Society. Practical information on building and managing a pond, large online collection of pond information, with more than 700 web pages on designing, building and caring for water gardens, koi ponds, bog ponds, wildlife habitats, wetlands, waterfalls, streams, fountains.
http://www.pondscapes.com/

Water Gardens -- informative 1,600-word article by gardening writer and
instructor Neil Moran at GardenGuides.
http://www.gardenguides.com/articles/watergardens.htm

The Lure of the Back Yard Pool -- article by Garden Lady Duane Plummer for GardenGuides.
http://www.gardenguides.com/articles/pool.htm

"Pond Doctor: Planning & Maintaining a Healthy Water Garden" by Helen Nash, Ronald E. Everhart (photographer), 1997, Sterling Publications, ISBN 0806906871
Thorough and well-presented guide: selecting a site, construction, building a waterfall, safety and water-quality tips, pumps and filtration, prevention of algae, caring for water plants and fish. Sees ducks and geese as pests, as indeed they are for a look-at pond. For beginners and everyone else too. From Locust Ridge Water Gardens:
http://lrwatergardens.safeshopper.com/12/10.htm?9
From PETsMART.com:
http://www.petsmart.com/fish/shopping/books__
magazines___videos/products/product_15893.shtml

"The Master Book of the Water Garden: The Ultimate Guide to the Design and Maintenance of the Water Garden With More Than 190 Plant Profiles" by Philip Swindells, 1997, Tetra, ISBN 1564651886
Comprehensive guide, detailed step-by-step illustrated instructions on all aspects of water garden construction and maintenance -- ponds, plants and everything else.

"Small Scale Aquaculture: A Guide to Backyard Fish Farming" by Steven D. Van Gorder, 1992, Rodale Institute, ISBN 0-9677732-0-2
Details and plans on how to raise, harvest, prepare, and store over 100lbs of fish in five months. This system is the result of eight years of research at the Rodale Research Center. A simple and efficient way to produce your own fish on a scale appropriate for a self-sustaining household. Makes home aquaculture as practical as gardening for providing healthy food for a family. Features an ecologically sound recirculating system designed for low energy and low water use made from readily available materials. From Rodale Institute Bookstore:
http://rodaleinstitute.org/bookstore/products/farm_books/3.html


The Journey to Forever garden pond (Keith Addison)
The FishBase Global Information System on Fishes was developed at the International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management (ICLARM) in collaboration with the FAO. Web-based searchable information and pictures on over 20,000 fresh and saltwater fish. Common name, scientific name, location, biology, culture, references, more (25,630 species, 72,000 synonyms, 114,000 common names, 29,000 pictures, 24,000 references).
http://www.fishbase.org/

City farms

Organic gardening
Why organic?
Building a square foot garden
Plant spacing guides
No ground? Use containers
When to sow what
Seeds
Garden pond
Gardening resources

Composting
Making compost
Composting resources
Composting indoors
Vermicomposting
Humanure
Composting for small farms

Small farms
Small farm resources
Community-supported farms
Farming with trees
Farming with animals
Pasture
Pigs for small farms
Poultry for small farms
Aquaculture for small farms
Composting for small farms
Controlling weeds and pests

Small farms library

Contact Information

Email: keith@journeytoforever.org

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