Can You Dig It?

We're getting closer and closer to realizing our vision.  A 900 square foot house sitting on a 9000 square foot lot -- you can see by our purchasing decision where our values lay. 

Anyway, the creme-de-la-creme of our little project, the capstone, as it were, will be our 500 square foot, four-to-five foot deep fish pond.  We've finally got the 500 square foot part down; the depth is another matter.  We're planning on waiting for this August to dredge the portions which are currently underwater, but this weekend we managed to reach a milestone.  We have put up a bank around all 100 linear feet of the pond's perimeter, and have established where to plant the pine trees which will form the erosion barrier.  this week, we will be planting our mosquito-repelling herbs (basil, catnip, and anise) and we will begin research in earnest for our aeration project -- a windmill, hopefully from an engineering design circa 1850 or so.

There are a lot of other goodies to show you this upcoming week, but they will have to wait.  Friends have invited us over for grilled shrimp and yummies from their winter garden.

Happy farming!

Micro Aquaculture - Backyard Catfish Farming

So, we got to thinking a while back.... what crazy idea have we not yet actually tried?

Because, hey, this is us we're talking about.  If we haven't tried it yet, we're going to do so soon, right?

Anyway, the answer is... backyard catfish!

We had this discussion a couple of years ago, after clearing the underbrush on the back corner of the lot; frankly, when we bought the house, we had to just accept the realtor's word for the validity of the most recent survey.  See, the yaupon holly had grown so thickly under our 150+ year old oak trees that you literally could not access fully 1/3rd of our property.

And after we had cut most of it to the ground, we obviously had to next begin the laborious process of removing the stumps.... which left some gaping holes in the ground... which then filled with water the next time it rained.  Between that and the size of our water bill the first year we planted corn.... the wheels started turning.  Why not have a pond back here from which to water the vegetables?  And if we're going to have a pond, why not keep fish in the pond?

This crazy idea is actually not so crazy as it sounds.  On a somewhat larger scale, my grandfather did the same thing on his land back in the 1970s.  Of course, his land was several acres on the Llano river between Llano and Castell, and if you've never heard of those places, you aren't alone.  It's not exactly urban, like our little plot of land is.  But just because we're in the middle of the city doesn't make our pond any less fish-friendly.

So, like all other great ideas, it started with a bit of laziness and a bit of imagination.  Throw in a little internet research, and we found that we were not alone.  In fact, there's even handy video footage available for those whose research skills tend to fade to test-pattern levels of attention when faced with wordier "how-to" manuals.

We're not sure we'll be naming the catfish, though.  We may never plan on eating Big Myrtle, but fried fish with hush puppies is bound to become a 4th of July tradition at Myrtle's place.

This is a long-term project, though.  I've got to dig the pond a lot deeper, figure out how to line it cheaply and in an environmentally sensitive way, control mosquitoes, and build a windmill-driven aeration system.

Any ideas would be appreciated.  Drop us a line if you have any suggestions!

Happy farming!