Tootfinder

Exhibit A for the "plant basil around your yard to repel mosquitoes" assertion. #mosquitoes #basil #gardening

A diurnal firefly on my parsley - #wildlife #gardening

#garden #garten #gardening

We lost a few sunflowers in last night’s storm, but the Zinnias seem to have loved the rain. Don’t worry, we have plenty of sunflowers left. 🤣
#bloomscrolling #gardening #oklahoma

I've been #gardening this morning, mainly seeing to the veg plus feeding the olive tree. The garden is really putting on a show. It's a shame Mum's not here to see it, as she's the one behind it all. The sage flowers are in reality a glowing violet colour, just gorgeous. #bloomscrolling

#Annabelle #hydrangeas going nuts this year!
#gardening #garden

my least favourite part of our garden is the hedge we share with the neighbour (who are extremely nice).
Thus, when I do maintenance of it... I tend to be a little more brutal.
like say.... cutting any branches on our side down to the stump.
it grows so fast! it also harbours evil ivy and holly bushes
#gardening #portalberni

My men are working in the garden.
#Grandparenting #Gardening #Canberra

I make dark light of my battles with the squash bugs but on mornings when I head out and find such lovely vegetables, it makes it all worth it.
#gardening #oklahoma

The cucumbers are flowering already. It's 3°C tonight. What the heck.
#gardening #climatecrisis

Weeded the front flower beds in the hot sun while listening to the latest Murderbot installment from Martha Wells. Lost a little blood during an engagement with several thornless honeylocusts that had hacked their programming and in fact had plenty of thorns (don’t get me started). #murderbot #books #gardening

spring is nice
#pandemicpond #portalberni #gardening

This feels very much like a Fediverse thing…I’m looking to re-wild my backyard.
Anyone know someone in Metro Vancouver who could help me?
Boost for each please.
#gardening #rewilding #vancouver

Is it too early to plant beans? Probably a little. But I did anyway. I also mixed all the seeds up so I'll end up with a wall of vines with colors scattered everywhere. Hopefully. No guarantees in gardening. #gardeningthoughts

Today's harvest.
#gardening

We sadly missed an egg pod on our avocado squash. We killed a bunch of adults and nymphs, but we will see if the ones we missed can kill it. In the mean time, we harvested all that we could plus some zucchini and blackberries.
#gardening #oklahoma

I'm sitting outside with a coffee, amid the garden Mum planted so skilfully, and which I maybe didn't appreciate while she was alive, and the various things we've stuck in pots - walnut, fig, olive etc - and have just ordered a hazel tree and a cherry tree from The Woodland Trust. Mum had several big ceramic planters that are now empty or full of scrub and they're just right for young trees that are just a twig and a leaf 🌿

One of my earliest memories is collecting cherry tomatoes in my shirt, then walking around the garden eating them. Never gets old. #tomatoes #gardening

Squash Bug War Report:
3 adults, 2 egg pods, 10 nymphs. Total: 15.
Yes, I killed them. The adults were soldiers. The egg pods were weapons caches. The nymphs? The tribunal calls them children. I call them future war criminals in soft exoskeletons.
. . .
#gardening #oklahoma

Traktörden de korkmuyorlar
#garden #garten #gardening

Squash Bug War Report:
1 Adult, 2 Egg Pods
Too tired for story time, a simple harvest report will have to do. Getting some nice zucchinis plus a handful of blackberries daily. Onions are coming off the rack and harvested our first jalapeño of the year in nice purple hue.
#gardening #oklahoma

#raspberry #gardening

Argh, the squash bugs are back after a couple of days of reprieve. Good news is though there are cute mystery melons and blackberries. 🍈
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

'Midnight Snack' has the darkest leaves I've ever seen in a tomato. Not the best tasting cherry variety, I've read, but will definitely add some interesting color to summer salads. #tomatoes #gardening #anthocyanin

My son has put up herb drying hooks for me in the utility room! I'm beyond delighted! He's also put up the plastic greenhouse we got weeks ago so it is now filling with things that need potting on and generally sorting out. I'm also hoping to sort out a small raised veg plot and a pond, so my garden mojo is well and truly back. It's nice to feel enthusiastic again. #gardening

The first of our onion crop is off the drying rack (though we’ve been stealing from it daily) plus our sad garlic crop for the year. Don’t feel bad for us though, we got dozens of heads from a single bed last year. 🧅 🧄
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Squash Bug War Casualty Report:
Adults: 0, Egg Pods: 0
I know I’m lacking on Dad humor missives, but it seems we’ve come to a cease fire in the war. Two days now and only one egg pod to show for it. Going to go quiet until they return. I know they are out there somewhere.
#gardening #oklahoma

We’ve been getting a handful of blackberries everyday now, but it appears after last nights rain, we may soon be on track for a blackberry explosion. Jelly and Jam time!
#gardening #oklahoma

While we were chatting about putting the doors on the shed… two doves flew down for a drink at the #poolpond!
I think they thought we were gone? As soon as we moved too much, they flew away! But we were happy to see them! ❤️ 🐦 🐦 ❤️
#doves #birds #gardening #wildlife

Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults 0, Egg Pods 0.
No enemy contact, but I know they are out there, it’s like they are taunting me . . .
“Hallo, you tiny-brained gardener! You frighten no one! Today we did not come, because we did not feel like it!”
#gardening #oklahoma

Good morning Oklahoma.🌻
#oklahoma #gardening #sunflowers 🌱

Silly gardening tip: before using a hose on a hot day, purge the superheated water into a container for later use. #watering #water #garden #gardening #hose

this Azalea has a mind of its own. All of the other bushes finished flowering a month ago. Meanwhile, this one is like hey where is everybody?
#Gardening #PortAlberni #bloomscrolling

Upon learning that we had harvested the very last cabbage for the summer, an overwhelming, undeniable Teutonic command came welling up from within me demanding immediate fermentation activities.
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Squash Bug War Casualty Report:
Adults: 1, Egg Pods: 2
Too tired to attempt dad humor tonight, but feels like we have reached a equilibrium. Great news is the it’s in our favor, we got 4 more squashes and zucchinis tonight.
#gardening #oklahoma

We had a leek escape our notice and we are letting it go to seed. They make such an interesting flower structure.
#bloomscrolling #gardening #oklahoma

Had a productive morning in the garden. Got all the beds weeded. Said bye to some old friends. Harvested the last cabbage. Pulled our garlic crop which was pretty much a failure this year. Started harvesting the onions, which did great this year. Out with the kale too. 🧅
#gardening #oklahoma

Dove #2 was keeping a close eye on us. 😂
#poolpond #doves #birds #gardening #wildlife

Hot peppers are on their way. The Thai Chilis are the first to appear this year. 🌶️
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

you can cone if you want Rain! i have beaten you!
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

Our Espresso Gladiolus have started blooming.
#gardening #oklahoma

SQUASH BUG WAR CASUALTY REPORT
KIA: 0, Egg Pods Destroyed: 0
No contact with the enemy today. Not one bug. Not one egg. The leaves are still. TOO still.
This is not a victory. This is a TRAP.
#gardening #oklahoma

when a picture is truly worth a thousand words..... or in this case.... screw caps. 😭
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

BATTLE REPORT: 2 adults eliminated, 4 egg pods destroyed, 1 enemy escaped.
Comrades! Today we struck at the squash bug bourgeoisie — even catching two saboteurs in the shameless act of expanding their counter-revolutionary forces! They were dealt with accordingly.
#gardening #oklahoma

I finished caging my peach tree to keep the squirrels and catbirds away. Each fruit is also bagged to keep flies and moths from ovipositing. #peaches #prunus #fruit #trees #gardening

aaaaaaaaaaaand done!!!
It only took about 10 hours of solid work. 😝
And thats with prior knowledge from assembling one 2 years ago!
@… is happy.
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

Morning Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults 1, another adult was able to escape. Egg Pods: 0
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Dispatch — Squash Bug Front
Casualties: Adults 0 | Eggs 4
After last night's slaughter, both sides withdrew to their lines. No sentries crested the trenchline. Scattered egg fire at 0600 — harassing only, a reminder they still hold the zucchini salient.
#gardening #oklahoma

Evening Squash Bug War: Casualty Report
10 adults KIA, 4 egg pods destroyed.
O cursed stinkèd foe, thou crept upon my vine!
But lo — my thumb of justice, swift and firm,
Hath crushed thy copper eggs and broke thy line.
The Union garden stands. Begone, thou bug.
#gardening #oklahoma

back at it this morning after sleeping in a little. got a bit of a sunburn on the neck and back yesterday! But all good today.
weather is perfect. Just a little wind and nice partly cloudy cool day.
the roof is happening! this is the easy part... the most annoying is yet to come, the sliding doors 😂
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

The onion crop is getting close, very excited. #gardening #oklahoma 🌱

Evening Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults: 9, Egg Pods: 3.
After several days of light contact, the enemy returned in force. Much squishing was inflicted and some good leaves were lost. But we survive to harvest another day.
#gardening #oklahoma 🌱

I’ve been neglecting my duties in the garden and it shows. Had to say bye to two zucchini due to vine borers and another has a bad infestation of squash bugs. That said, the garden is producing nicely. Best harvest tonight of blackberries yet this year.
#gardening #oklahoma

Tonight’s Squash Bug War Casualty Counts: 6 adults, 2 In flagrante delicto. 4 egg pods. #gardening #oklahoma

Morning Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults: 0, Egg Pods: 1. Suspect enemy has retreated into hiding to regroup and resupply.
Will need to increase our sentry duties in preparation for the next attack wave. #gardening #oklahoma

Evening Squash Bug War Casualty Report: Adults: 0, Egg Pods: 6. This is starting to feel less like a war and more like a scene from Alien. On the plus side, we did get to harvest our first squash, albeit a small one. #gardening #oklahoma 🌱

I gave away some fig treelets yesterday and boy did they go fast. If you have one that gets pruned I urge you to do the same: just throw the stems in a bin, cover with moist sand, and ignore in your basement during the winter. In the spring, just pot them up. Easy peasy. #figs #ficus #plants #gardening #swarthmore

This transplanted arbutus tree has established itself and is reaching for the sky now!!
#arbutus #madrone #gardening #portalberni

I had a mad idea this spring to allow all of my volunteer sunflowers to grow in the yard. I hope this pans outs into something magical because right now mowing is difficult and I am afraid I might get lost in my own yard.
Music by the genius Kristy Kruger. #gardening #oklahoma 🌱

I had to rearrange the cane fruit in my garden but failed to transfer the identifying stakes. Anyone have an opinion on what this might be? Options are Prime Ark blackberry, Jewel black raspberry, raspberry, tayberry, and boysenberry. The fruit should resolve it in several weeks but I'm dying of curiosity. #berries #rubus #garden #gardening #flowers

My Sisyphean battle with the squash bug has begun. I face this battle with resignation in my heart. On the plus side though, there are blackberries. #oklahoma #gardening 🌱

Princess pumpkin watch continues.
#oklahoma #gardening

Starting to get a little spicy in the garden. Squash bug war is heating back up, but still no plant casualties. 4 adults tonight, but 2 in flagrante delicto.
#gardening #oklahoma

Pawpaw (Asimina triloba) flower in the female phase, with anthers still packed into a ball that looks like an osage orange. Mostly pollinated by beetles and flies attracted to the unpleasant odor. I'm hoping for fruit this year. #pawpaw #fruit #botany #flowers #tree #nature #pollination #annonaceae #gardening

a little double pipe action?
i was originally going to use IPEX white solid pipe for this part of the plumbing, but it stuck out like a sore thumb and was difficult to conceal.
Luckily, I got a bonus 50ft of flexible 2" black pipe last year after Amazon sent me it even though I had cancelled and refunded the order. I thought I might sell it but never got any bites. So here we are!
#poolpond #pond #gardening #diy #electrical #pandemicpond #backyardProject

I love a huge harvest as much as the next guy, but I really enjoy the variety picks during the seasonal transitions. Finding little surprises hidden around the garden is a such pleasure.
Had some storm damage, may have lost a zucchini, but I never regret rain in Oklahoma.
#gardening #Oklahoma

frame down. first wall next! pray for calm air! 😝 🙏 #poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

If anyone needs a gift for a vegetable gardener, I just love my folding Opinel harvesting knife. It's especially useful when the zucchini plant is crowded with stems, flowers, and fruit. #garden #gardening #allotment #zucchini

four corners!
getting that first corner myself was....... time-consuming lol.
going pretty quick now, though!
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

My local arboretum had a plant swap for members and I scored four perennials and a bunch of seed packets from Burpee. It was a mob scene, with numbered admittance so that nobody got into fights about being first. My contribution was nine fig trees, and they went fast, I think. #swarthmore #garden #arboretum #gardening #flowers #plants

they changed the forecast. no wind and we have a wonderful layer of fog keeping the sun at bay! If this can just last for the next four hours I should be able to get the second shed built!!
wish me luck!
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

the walls are up! it is (mostly) wind proof now so that's comforting. unfortunately the sun has emerged and it's hot.
taking a break.
Not sure if Ill get the roof on today but we'll give a good college try!
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

For probably the 100th time I've pruned the neighbor's border privet (Ligustrum obtusifolium) that was planted right along the property line. Always makes me grumpy. #invasive #noxious #privet #gardening #ligustrum #oleaceae

It’s the first long stretch of warm weather of the spring and summer! #pandemicpond #bloomscrolling #gardening #pondlife

My 12 tomato plants are now in. Each gets a deep hole filled with compost, plus a root waterer made from a cut-off wine bottle and some PVC pipe that has holes drilled along one side. Now hoping weather cooperates. Zone 7b. #tomatoes #allotment #garden #gardening #watering

alright, reached my 2:30 time limit.
might have had the roof on but realised the back too support was inverted so had to flip that. Everything is a million screws 😂
Not sure what super humans can put this together in 3 hours. But I will have to come back to it tomorrow morning hopefully befoee the rain!!
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #home #portalberni

Quick update on my quest to rid my yard of plants I dislike. Bamboo, privet, and English ivy are 100% gone, though latter still tries to creep in from neighbors' yards. Hosta, wisteria, garlic mustard, and unidentified invasive bulbs are next on the list. #garden #gardening #weeds #bamboo

I completed a checklist item for the #pandemicpond this morning. Retrieving some of the rocks that had fallen into the pond over the past couple winters. Since I upgraded to the rain barrel filters I had made a larger waterfall out of a blue water carrier and the original store-bought waterfall. (See historical pics). But I really wanted to embed it into the rocks and have the water flow out onto flat stones like the ones that line the edge.
Mission accomplished. Here’s some of the evolution.
Short video in next reply.
#gardening #home #pondlife

Around the #pandemicpond today. The marsh marigolds are flowering in the filter barrels! The rhodo will pop soon. The tinker bell lilac is so pretty and the Japanese maple has finally established itself and gained some height and foliage. Providing good morning shade to the stream and top pond.
#bloomscrolling #gardening #pondlife

If you grow milkweed to support monarch butterflies, spring is the time to pot up all those volunteers in your yard and to gift them to neighbors without asking them whether they want them. #monarchs #butterflies #milkweed #asclepias #plants #flowers #gardening #garden #pollinators

I like it. ❤️ 💧 🐠 🌴 🌺
#video #pandemicpond #gardening #home #pondlife

There's a single strawberry ripening in the garden and you know I'm checking on it twice a day. 'Eclair', a June-bearing variety that per one site has "notes of raspberry and orange." #strawberry #strawberries #fragaria #berries #garden #gardening #fruit

2/2 Along the same plumbing lines... I am also preparing the pumps themselves.
One major thing to do was to splice in an extension cord to the cord for the pump. Obviously this is a "break the warranty" situation, but there is no way around it really. The included cord is only about 6ft to the electronic controller unit and AC/DC transformer. It needs to be much longer to reach even just the shed beside the intake bay where the main pump lives.
I do have two of these pumps so I am holding off extending the second one until I know this first one is successful and happily pumping away in the pond.
The second one will take water directly from the bottom of the main pond as opposed to the intake bay, but it is only additional capacity and isn't critical. Ideally I will have both on at half power normally. But for now, we start with this one!
Need to get butt connectors and heat shrink tubing tomorrow. Ill probably do this electrical work on Thursday or Friday night so I can test it out hopefully Saturday!
#poolpond #pandemicpond #backyardProject #portalberni #gardening #diy

1/2 #poolpond update since my last post got unintentionally deep-sixed and now there is further progress!
on Saturday and Sunday we got supplies and I installed the irrigation box. It involved digging Yet Another Hole, plus small trenches on three sides to accomodate pipes from the main water areas.
Convincing the valves/manifold to fit into the box was a chore, but we got there!
Also fed the main pipe line through the box which yes, involved disconnecting it from the filter pond end, and basically feeding the filter box along the pipe, back to the hole.
In all it turned iout well. I will be removing/rearranging the stream near the tree and adding another layer of liner just for that doversionary stream so I can contain/isolate it fully if I want and also feed the two pipes exiting toward the big pond under the stream so it is less visible in the end.
Sometimes I feel like as this goes I think up more things to do and it makes it all interminable, but really, it just makes it better!
but wait there's more after the pictures...
#pandemicpond #backyardProject #portalberni #gardening #diy

My fruit enclosure. On the left side along the back is a raised bed with strawberries, plus aerial baskets with even more varieties. Four blueberry bushes are on the back right but still too small to really provide much this year. In the front are blackberries, raspberries (normal and black), tayberries, and boysenberries that I put in last year (and also a bit small). In the corners are grapes that are being trellised to grow along the back in a single vine. Spanning the width (27 feet) are several galvanized wires onto which the berries and grapes will be attached when they get bigger. #berries #strawberries #garden #gardening #fruit

Well, this was a chore I have been kind of dreading since last fall! Cutting, splicing, crimping and ultimately connecting and lengthening the cable for the water pump for the #poolpond. I did it, but I am tired and my hands hurt. 😂 😭
It’s a pretty straightforward thing… you cut the ends off the extension cord, cut it to length, cut the part of the pump cord you want to extend in two, and then set about stripping, crimping, heat shrinking, and taping, the two cables together.
But I knew it wasn’t going to be one and done. I started this at 4PM. Thought I had it almost done by 4:30 and then realized I forgot to thread the heat shrink tubing on first. 😣 doh
So I started over.
Then I got half way through try#2 and had to leave….
Came back to it just after 9PM… and spent the next two hours doing, and redoing, it. Until it was, I hope, good.
Won’t know for sure until I plug the pump in tomorrow.
Slightly nervous. 😬
I’ll update you tomorrow! Probably first thing! 🤞
#pond #gardening #diy #electrical #pandemicpond #backyardProject

Inside view of my fruit cage. The blackberries and raspberries are too new to produce much this year but the strawberries (raised bed and hanging baskets, upper right) have hundreds of developing fruit and I can't wait. When everything is ripe it's very satisfying to watch the birds and squirrels try to break in. #fruit #garden #gardening #blackberries #raspberries #strawberries

One of the shelling peas grew up on the wrong side of the bird netting. Sad, but a nice reminder that all the effort setting up the structure was worth it. #peas #sparrows #gardening #pisum #birds #allotment

Anyone know what could cause a Japanese maple to suddenly die in the Spring? Leaves are all shriveled but not yet crispy. Not my tree but I'm curious. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. #maple #trees #disease #arborists #garden #gardening

Sharing my solution to squash vine borers (Eichlinia cucurbitae), the larvae of which burrow into the roots and eventually kill the plant: inject Thuricide Bt into stem wherever you see frass accumulating. This is easier to do if you train your plant vertically so that lower parts are visible. I also regularly police for eggs. #garden #gardening #squash #zucchini #vegetables #allotment #insects #lepidoptera #moths

It's Solstice *and* Father's Day *and* the sun is shining *and* Spain is playing at 9AM here on the West Coast of Canada.
This actually all means I need to get out there and mow the lawn before the game starts so I can have a shower, watch the game, and drink the sangria!
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!!
#España #Home #Gardening #solstice

Backlit corn silk to show off the feathery surface that helps snag falling pollen grains. The stigmatic lobes can grow over an inch per day. #corn #maize #pollen #botany #gardening #allotment #pollination #pollen #stigma

4/4 Spent the day today with @… turning the water on and off, and the pump on and off.. watching how the water comes out of the bog filter and down into the poolpond. Pump is only at 25%, which is more like 15% as there will be a second pump as well in time.
Shifted some of the flat stones around and got them in a nice place. I had to do some hand digging under the lining near the tree. I am pretty sure the berm is too low there for when the pumps are at full force, but I am ok with where things are now. There is lots of opportunity to build the edges up if need be.
For now, I am going to work on sealing the rocks along the edge in to help direct the water.
I also need to splice in an extension cord into the pump wiring so that I can run a long enough distance to have the power supply and controller in the small shed and not hiding under the liner at the top of the pond. 🤣
#pandemicpond #PoolPond #gardening #portalberni #home #yard #bloomscrolling #BackyardProject

Stilt roots of maize are really creepy when they are reaching out for soil. #maize #zea #roots #corn #botany #garden #gardening #allotment

PS.
Here are the two outlets. This is probably not how it will look in the end, but just a starting point. Once I have the water flowing how I want it to, I will use pond foam sealant to lock the rocks into place and force the water into its final channels and patterns but as you can imagine there is some trial and error to be done before that big step.
For noe you can see there is a fold of liner sitting vertically betwewn the rocks to split the channel. I really have no idea where the water will get to once at full force so this might be too high, or too low but it should not be too far off.
The main thing is that the water is contained within the greater system around the tree. That's the trickiest part right now.
It is a wonderful tree. We don't want to drown it.
Speaking of which, if you are wondering about water. Yes. This is thousands of litres of water. But at this point I am not worried if I need to fill up and drain the bog filter a few times. All extracted water will go into the rest of the garden anyway, so aside from a little evaporation, nothing will be wasted.
Still waiting on it to fill. Looks like it won't be full before quitting time. oh well! Back tomorrow water experiments!
#pandemicpond #PoolPond #gardening #portalberni #home #yard #bloomscrolling #BackyardProject

2/2 Then I moved on to working on finalizing the stream and edges of the poolpond.
After a trial run last fall I realized I needed to do a little more sculpting of the clay at the front of the pond where the bog filter and poolpond meet.
I would like to encourage a long waterfall along the front edge.
So after some peeling back of the liners to reinforce the berm in a few spots near the tree especially, I made a proper ledge at the front and am laying down some of the slate that we also used on the #pandemicpond in the front yard. It'll tie the two in conceptually.
Now I am filling the bog filter with city water (the likelihood of filling from the skies is long gone now) but I will only fill it enough to get a read on where the water is wanting to flow.
Ideally I would like two channels from the bog filter.
The main one will go toward the poolpond, along the front and spill over from there.
A secondary one will go close to the tree to be used if I need to divert the water from the poolpond but still want to keep the filter and system active.
Now I wait... I'm running out of time for today but will be back tomorrow. If I'm lucky, I might be able to get a pump back in and start up the system!
the apple waych strap is hiding a tan line... but it is not just a tan unfortunately lol
#PoolPond #gardening #portalberni #home #yard #bloomscrolling #BackyardProject

Anyone know the name of these tiny chili peppers? A friend brought them back from Sardinia and is curious. I've managed to germinate a few so perhaps flowers in a month or so will help, but maybe their small size and origin is enough for an ID by an expert. #peppers #chili #capsicum #garden #gardening #sardinia #italy #cooking

Had a decent sleep last night after a long day. Got up before 6AM so that I could start the sprinklers on time.
(We are allowed 6-9AM/PM alternating days but I only water in the mornings because watering when it is still 32°C at 8PM is dumb)
While they were going I got going on another dirt-moving session. Over 3 hours! The sun was blocked by clouds for much of it so that helped a lot. Managed to get the space cleared for the 2nd shed. The whole back part of the yard is nearly level. It’s amazing just how much lower one side of the yard was from the other!
Another couple days of moving dirt and leveling and the dirt mountain should be spent!
Lunch and naptime. 2000 calories burned 😝 💪
Started to feel some pains in hands, thumb, back. Body knows… so I stopped :)
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #dirt #portalberni #clay

moving dirt this morning before the sun gets too hot.
It's supposed to be 34°C with a humidex of 36 this afternoon. 🥵
It is only 20°C in the shade right now so time to get a good dent in the pile before I melt.
Current interim goal is to level a space equal to a little bigger than the current grey shed so I can put an identical one beside it either back-to-back or face to face.
The shovel mark in the top of the dirt pile to the left is the width mark that I have to clear to. 😂 We'll see if I get all the way there today! Watch says I have put 73min in so far.
I also need to convince the boy to help move the rocks from around the pond into a central pile. Pile location is TBD tho. 🤔
But it needs to be done so I can shore up a couple of low spots on the edge of the poolpond and in general start landscaping the edge of it.
#poolpond #backyardProject #diy #gardening #landscaping

good morning!
did some early-morning ponding on the #pandemicPond this morning.
The water level was unusually low, so I started looking around for leaks or blocks. I have been wanting to cut down the vertical PVC at the top of the bog barrels to make it not stick out so much and blend in a little nicer and also because it would reduce the height for the pump, so increase flow.
Well it turns out that connection, where the black pipe goes into the white PVC in the barrel, was a little loose and some water was leaking out and adding to the evaporation budget.
So that gave me the push to do the small modifications on the top end of the pipe. It was also a good time since turning off the pump meant the top pond would drain into the bottom pond. When the system is full, that would normally cause the bottom pond to over flow, but since it was all low, no extra water was lost.
I cut the inlet down a few inches under the water in the bog barrel to move the T down and then cut another 6in from the top pipe to snug it all up.
Then I also tightened up the connections for the over flow/air valve and added an elbow to keep water from escaping out the valve outlet. Only took about 5 minutes. I have been wanting to do this for months. 😂
Result:
black pipe doesn't curl as high over the barrel ✅
no more leak from the PVC connection ✅
no more water escaping from the air valve ✅
noticeably more flow over the waterfall! ✅
Pump is back on and water is replenished from the rain barrel ✅
the fish are happy! 🐟 and me too. ✅
oh oh! did I tell you we have a new fish! The top pond fish had babies and it looks like one has survived to be big enough not to be cannibalized. 😂 It is very skittish and is still mostly black so I havent got a good picture of it yet.
#pondlife #diy #gardening #portalberni