Monday, August 6, 2018
Thursday, August 2, 2018
BABY HUEY THE GIANT BLUE HERON, JULY 5TH, 2018
HUEY (AKA MR. CLEANHEAD) LOVES OUR FLOATING POND PLATFORM
We made this platform by stuffing a pallet with swim noodles from the dollar store. Many animals have enjoyed floating on the platform but none have ridden it more than "Cleanhead" Huey the giant blue heron.
Huey rides the platform and fishes off the side. We have several giant herons that have visited but this one has a long white upper neck and head which earned him the blues moniker of "Cleanhead".
This heron is less scared of humans, he often rides the platform nearby while Mary feeds the panfish in the big pond. Huey adds a unique and wonderful personality to our pond (unless you're his fish dinner in which case he's a big meanie).
We made this platform by stuffing a pallet with swim noodles from the dollar store. Many animals have enjoyed floating on the platform but none have ridden it more than "Cleanhead" Huey the giant blue heron.
Huey rides the platform and fishes off the side. We have several giant herons that have visited but this one has a long white upper neck and head which earned him the blues moniker of "Cleanhead".
This heron is less scared of humans, he often rides the platform nearby while Mary feeds the panfish in the big pond. Huey adds a unique and wonderful personality to our pond (unless you're his fish dinner in which case he's a big meanie).
THE DUCK FAMILY, OUR FIRST
ON JULY 3RD A MOMMA DUCK BROUGHT HER SIX BABIES TO P2, THIS IS THEIR STORY
We could barely believe our eyes, a mother duck and six tiny baby ducks landed on our large pond and took up residence the day before the loudest noises of the year, the 4th of July. We wondered if the duck family would stay or move on as all the others have, they stayed.
July 5th, Duck Family photos
We could barely believe our eyes, a mother duck and six tiny baby ducks landed on our large pond and took up residence the day before the loudest noises of the year, the 4th of July. We wondered if the duck family would stay or move on as all the others have, they stayed.
July 5th, Duck Family photos
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Anna Flapping Like Crazy
"I need to dry off my wings so I can fly home!" Anna is very animated tonight!
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Saturday, July 14, 2018
Friday, July 13, 2018
Roll Tite Shutter Installation Complete! JULY 13 2018
The Roll Title "roll down" shutter installation is complete as of yesterday, exactly nine weeks after initiation of the order. Amazing!
Tuesday, July 10, 2018
One Week Old Baby Ducks
The Florida Mottled baby ducks are growing up - here's a shot of them swimming and darting around this morning. They are getting fat on good American corn and delicious pond dabble treats :)
Friday, July 6, 2018
Florida Cooter Turtle Visited Today
We love visits from the local wildlife - today a Florida Cooter (like the one below) crossed in front of the pond... he crawled across the grass and dove in the pond.
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| Picture above from Wikipedia "Coastal Plain Cooter" |
Thursday, July 5, 2018
Huey with Devil Horns
Huey, our Great Blue Heron, doesn't like raccoons near him when he's fishing at night. This was a lucky catch, to grab this video of him yelling at and attacking a mama raccoon while it was still daylight. We hear the "yell" of the wild Huey every evening as he polices the pond. Scary! :)
Mom and Baby Ducklings
Mama Florida Mottled Duck has had her crew here for three days, and we've been enjoying the magical guests while they're here. They stayed through the fireworks show, which is a surprise, but I guess our pond was relatively safe compared to the rest of the city!
The six ducklings are so amazing to watch, swimming in formation or clustered together playing and eating. Amazing closeup photos are coming, but here's a snack time video to start.
The six ducklings are so amazing to watch, swimming in formation or clustered together playing and eating. Amazing closeup photos are coming, but here's a snack time video to start.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Wild Weather
We broke an all time high temperature record today (for our weather station which is about 2 years old).
An hour ago we hit 114 degrees F as a high temperature; now, after 45 minutes of rain, it's 75 degrees outside.
In 45 minutes, we got over 2 inches of rain.
I love the afternoon thunder and lightning storms!
An hour ago we hit 114 degrees F as a high temperature; now, after 45 minutes of rain, it's 75 degrees outside.
In 45 minutes, we got over 2 inches of rain.
I love the afternoon thunder and lightning storms!
PERFECT JUNE WEATHER
Last year we had drought most of the summer, it was horrible, we were struggling to keep everything watered.
I worked all this past winter beefing up our irrigation system for this years possible "dry" summer but so far it's been a text book Florida summer month of June, with rain showers almost every afternoon.
Our plants never looked happier.
Since removing 500 fish from our large pond we've had no more oxygen problems and no more fish gathering at the surface of the water, catastrophe has been resolved.
To date we've only seen four total dead fish as a result of all the craziness. That is pretty incredible considering we moved and touched around 500 of them. :D
I worked all this past winter beefing up our irrigation system for this years possible "dry" summer but so far it's been a text book Florida summer month of June, with rain showers almost every afternoon.
Our plants never looked happier.
Since removing 500 fish from our large pond we've had no more oxygen problems and no more fish gathering at the surface of the water, catastrophe has been resolved.
To date we've only seen four total dead fish as a result of all the craziness. That is pretty incredible considering we moved and touched around 500 of them. :D
Monday, June 25, 2018
MOVING FISH!
Rain storms a few days ago left us with some weird thermal inversions in our big pond that caused the water to have a drop in O2 level, this made it very difficult for our panfish to breathe.
Hundreds of fish were laying at the surface of the water, gasping for air. In desperation we rigged up two oscillating sprinklers and ran them 24/7 to add some air back into the water.
TODAY, MONDAY JUNE 25 2018
Our very good friends Jason Werle and Steve Dolbow came over first thing Monday morning, Jason brought his cast-net, in short order we captured 250 tilapia, put them in Home Depot buckets and transferred them to our outer pond as their new home. No fish gave up their lives.
In addition our neighbor David came over with some 55 gallon trash cans, we gave him another 200+ fish for his pond. Tilapia love to eat algae and David was in the market for some of these fish because he had an algae bloom starting. The fish we gave him will take care of that algae in short order, they love it as a food source.
NOW WE WAIT
Was it enough to pull out almost 500 fish from the big pond? Will this help the O2 level for the remaining fish?
Time will tell.
Thank you to everyone for their help with this move. Because all present love the fish we did not lose a single life in the process of moving them.
Hundreds of fish were laying at the surface of the water, gasping for air. In desperation we rigged up two oscillating sprinklers and ran them 24/7 to add some air back into the water.
TODAY, MONDAY JUNE 25 2018
Our very good friends Jason Werle and Steve Dolbow came over first thing Monday morning, Jason brought his cast-net, in short order we captured 250 tilapia, put them in Home Depot buckets and transferred them to our outer pond as their new home. No fish gave up their lives.
In addition our neighbor David came over with some 55 gallon trash cans, we gave him another 200+ fish for his pond. Tilapia love to eat algae and David was in the market for some of these fish because he had an algae bloom starting. The fish we gave him will take care of that algae in short order, they love it as a food source.
NOW WE WAIT
Was it enough to pull out almost 500 fish from the big pond? Will this help the O2 level for the remaining fish?
Time will tell.
Thank you to everyone for their help with this move. Because all present love the fish we did not lose a single life in the process of moving them.
Sunday, June 24, 2018
Baby Dennis's are Here!
Today we spotted two baby Dennis' (actually, baby Heroes) visiting the pond, which means they fledged and left the nest.
To be specific, they are juvenile tri-colored Heron, and they are VERY white with delightful light green legs.
At first, Hero (our regular adult tri-colored Heron) said "Hailll Nooooo" and chased them away repeatedly. Now, he's given up and is just grooming next to them, accepting the fact that they're going to spend the day here with him. Hero, there are plenty of fish here, relax.....
To be specific, they are juvenile tri-colored Heron, and they are VERY white with delightful light green legs.
At first, Hero (our regular adult tri-colored Heron) said "Hailll Nooooo" and chased them away repeatedly. Now, he's given up and is just grooming next to them, accepting the fact that they're going to spend the day here with him. Hero, there are plenty of fish here, relax.....
Friday, June 22, 2018
The Southgate Seabreeze Bamboo Wall is Born!
Last week, I got very ambitious and, in spite of the heat and humidity, decided it was time to start to grow the south bamboo forest. We had the holes dug and ready to go so it was time to either 1) buy 15 3 gallon bamboo pots, or 2) do some digging in the current Seabreeze bamboo from 2016 and pull out some nice clumps.
I've been very very anxious to do a "proof of concept" and pull out some very healthy clumps from the Seabreeze wall. When we planted those 3 gallon Seabreeze bamboo plants, we placed them right next to each other rather than leaving 1 foot or 2 feet between them.... which means, there was PLENTY of bamboo to share. I knew if I just picked a nice spot and began digging, I could pull out enough to populate the south gate with very little impact to the existing nice fluffy Seabreeze wall.
It took probably 6 hours total of digging, pulling, and sawing with the Makita reciprocating saw (bamboo rhizomes are a healthy bunch!)... but I did it! Here's the first pictures of the new Southgate Seabreeze wall.
(add pictures soon!)
I've been very very anxious to do a "proof of concept" and pull out some very healthy clumps from the Seabreeze wall. When we planted those 3 gallon Seabreeze bamboo plants, we placed them right next to each other rather than leaving 1 foot or 2 feet between them.... which means, there was PLENTY of bamboo to share. I knew if I just picked a nice spot and began digging, I could pull out enough to populate the south gate with very little impact to the existing nice fluffy Seabreeze wall.
It took probably 6 hours total of digging, pulling, and sawing with the Makita reciprocating saw (bamboo rhizomes are a healthy bunch!)... but I did it! Here's the first pictures of the new Southgate Seabreeze wall.
(add pictures soon!)
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
BAJA 200 MINI BIKE, POST CLUTCH REPLACEMENT
It was easier than I thought it would be, our first Baja 200 mini bike has now received a full clutch replacement with an OEM part from Amazon. It has the same pathetic "grab" as the original but it's working and should last through Paul's vacation visit.
Monday, June 11, 2018
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
AND THEN THERE WERE EIGHT! EIGHT CHINESE CLONE ENGINES!
OUR LATEST CHINESE HONDA CLONE ENGINE, PREDATOR 2" WATER PUMP
Our eighth Honda clone engine came attached to a 2" semi trash water pump from Harbor Freight. I'm not a fan of Harbor Freight tools but their Predator brand engines from China have been very high quality and easy to start. This influenced my decision to buy this pump a lot, if these engines were hard to start I would not have bought this many of them. This new one literally started on the first pull of the rope, amazing.
We could not acquire enough of the 2" red output hose so I bought 2" PVC pipe at Home Depot and glued together the new drain pipe.
Overall I like the 2" pvc pipe much better than the flexible hose which can flip around and be pretty unruly due to the extreme pressure this little pump can deliver.
The pump in action viewed from the house.
As the pump ran it seemed to pump better and better.
The 2" pvc pipe from Home Depot got excess water all the way over to the drain that feeds the canal.
The output from this pump is pretty amazing, that's a 2" column of water that will arc 12-feet into the air.
The pump spec's say it pumps 158 gallons per minute.
At 150 gallons per minute we're talking 9000 gallons per hour. We ran the pump for 4.5 hours, it runs 1 hour and 10 minutes on a full tank of gas. We estimate that we pumped 40,000 gallons out of our big pond, it lowered the pond about 2" total. Wow, that pond holds A LOT!
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| Big green hose is intake, red hose is output |
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| I wire tied a piece of plywood so it sits over the engine to protect from sun and rain |
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| At first we just pumped water towards the drain but quickly created a swamp |
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| The swamp, in process |
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| Look at the arc on that water output, don't get in front of it LOL |
As the pump ran it seemed to pump better and better.
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| 100 feet of 2" PVC |
The output from this pump is pretty amazing, that's a 2" column of water that will arc 12-feet into the air.
The pump spec's say it pumps 158 gallons per minute.
At 150 gallons per minute we're talking 9000 gallons per hour. We ran the pump for 4.5 hours, it runs 1 hour and 10 minutes on a full tank of gas. We estimate that we pumped 40,000 gallons out of our big pond, it lowered the pond about 2" total. Wow, that pond holds A LOT!
Friday, May 25, 2018
COLEMAN CT200UA MINI BIKE
AND THEN THERE WERE THREE!
The new Coleman mini bike arrived yesterday in a very dilapidated carton. In spite of the damage to the carton the mini bike itself was basically undamaged except for various small scratches and scrapes. For enduring the minor damage Amazon refunded me $100 toward this purchase to buy a replacement footpeg and touch up the paint job. This lowered the entire purchase price to under $390.
Mary took the Coleman for a ride and named him "Titan" because it blasts off like a rocket, of our three mini bikes Titan is by far the fastest and most powerful. Do to the seating position it's easy to pop wheelies on the little red Coleman. After riding Titan around for an hour today I can't imagine even greater power and acceleration from adding a torque converter CVT transmission but we're going to find out.
Mary took the Coleman for a ride and named him "Titan" because it blasts off like a rocket, of our three mini bikes Titan is by far the fastest and most powerful. Do to the seating position it's easy to pop wheelies on the little red Coleman. After riding Titan around for an hour today I can't imagine even greater power and acceleration from adding a torque converter CVT transmission but we're going to find out.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Lunch!
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| Fresh from the P2 garden: Cranberry Hibiscus, Okinawa Spinach, and Malabar Spinach (plus a few Cherry Tomatoes). Mark and I are eating "leaves" now, chopped into a salad for a delicious lunch. |
Thursday, May 17, 2018
BUGS ARE BITING
THEY'RE HERE......THE BUGS HAVE RETURNED
The month of December brings much cooler nights and the bugs crawl into tiny little houses where they curl up on little soft blankies where they'll sleep quietly for months. Outside blistering cold winds may blow with low temperatures regularly dipping into the upper 30's but in there little houses the bugs are warm and safe.
Finally after months of restful napping the little buggers wake up, they stretch this way and that way, and finally, they venture outside for the first time to bite ..... M E and M A R Y !
Bugs, we hate you now!
Middle of May is the time of their return..... . . . . . and they're H U N G R Y
The month of December brings much cooler nights and the bugs crawl into tiny little houses where they curl up on little soft blankies where they'll sleep quietly for months. Outside blistering cold winds may blow with low temperatures regularly dipping into the upper 30's but in there little houses the bugs are warm and safe.
Finally after months of restful napping the little buggers wake up, they stretch this way and that way, and finally, they venture outside for the first time to bite ..... M E and M A R Y !
Bugs, we hate you now!
Middle of May is the time of their return..... . . . . . and they're H U N G R Y
Monday, May 14, 2018
P2's First Alligator - May 14, 2018
It was bound to happen eventually.... today we had our first alligator sighting. He is probably 4-6 feet long, and right now a member of the P2 pond. He's got to go - we made the phone call.
Thursday, May 10, 2018
TODAY ON PALLET FUN, FLOATING TURTLE ISLAND
HOW TO MAKE AN ISLAND FOR TURTLES OUT OF AN ORDINARY PALLET
We made this attractive floating island for turtles in our pond out of a standard shipping pallet. We stuffed it full of ten $1.00 swimming pool noodles, lashed them into place with wire ties, attached a piece of twine for an anchor and SS Turtle Island was set afloat.
During initial testing we're just evaluating ease of boarding and float-ability. In future updates we'll locate the island using long twine which will hold the island in the center of the pond for easy viewing.
We've also read that ducks like these sorts of islands, we'll see, time will tell!
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Bugs 2018
Just a quick post to note that our perfect weather with no bugs is over... yesterday evening Mark and I went for a walk, and we each have 20-30 bites on us, from whence we know not. Could have been flying or crawling, but we now need to "suit up" for our evening walks of bravery.
TODAY ON PALETTE FUN, FENCES!
HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE STURDY FENCE TO KEEP OUT DEER
MADE FROM ORDINARY SHIPPING PALLETS
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| THIS FENCE WAS EASY AND FAST TO ASSEMBLE |
Finally we came up with the ideal rugged protection, a heavy wood fence made out of those pesky wood pallets that big shipments of lawn products inevitably bring to the yard.
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| DEER SNACK INSIDE HIS PROTECTIVE DECORATIVE FENCE MADE OUT OF PALLETS |
CHILI A GREAT SOURCE OF PROTEIN EVEN WITHOUT BEEF
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| HERE IT IS BEFORE COOKING |
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| READY TO EAT WITH A BIT OF FRESH RED ONION ON TOP, YUM! |
Sunday, May 6, 2018
R A I N . . . .F I N A L L Y
CHECK OUT THIS RAINFALL
It mainly all fell in an hour, it was a downpour. After it ended we walked the entire property and all the plants were rejoicing and singing, their leaves lifted up unto the heavens, and there was happiness among them.
It mainly all fell in an hour, it was a downpour. After it ended we walked the entire property and all the plants were rejoicing and singing, their leaves lifted up unto the heavens, and there was happiness among them.
Friday, May 4, 2018
TOMATO PRODUCTION IN MODERN-DAY FLORIDA
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| 16 feet long x 8 feet high x 8 feet deep, it's strong enough for Mark to climb on |
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| Note the difference in sun brightness, the closer side is reduced by 30% shade cloth overhead |
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| The drip irrigation system can flood all the pots in just five minutes |
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| Each pot is fed directly by the water source so waste is minimized, so is time spent watering LOL |
Here's a great story about commercial tomato production in Florida. Read it and learn why tomatoes in the store have no flavor, also why they're covered in toxic chemicals.
https://grist.org/industrial-agriculture/2011-06-20-the-indignity-of-industrial-tomatoes-florida/
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| Newly expanded water distribution system |
Planning for Tropical Tuesday
I read on a blog (I'll add the reference some day....) about a lady who once a week on a particular day only eats what she grows in her garden. I am planning now to do that soon. Lets just say its motivation to grow some type of delicious food variety that's harvestable all year, every day of every month!
I'm waiting for the tomatoes to start to ripen before I start... but I'll be doing Tropical Tuesday.
I'm going to keep this post updated with the foods available on P2; when the list is big enough, I'll start Tropical Tuesday.
As of 5/4/2018, foods available are:
Not enough food quite yet!
Future foods: Sweet potato, and all of the fruit from the fruit trees
I'm waiting for the tomatoes to start to ripen before I start... but I'll be doing Tropical Tuesday.
I'm going to keep this post updated with the foods available on P2; when the list is big enough, I'll start Tropical Tuesday.
As of 5/4/2018, foods available are:
- Okinawa spinach (daily)
- Malabar spinach (daily)
- Katuk (daily)
- Calamondin (one a day)
- Bean sprouts (daily)
- Seminole Pumpkin (rarely)
- Bananas (rarely)
- Papaya (rarely)
Not enough food quite yet!
Future foods: Sweet potato, and all of the fruit from the fruit trees
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Banana Fertilizer - Potash
All banana plants got potash (potassium fertilizer) this week. I have been reading about how banana trees have high potassium requirements, so my generous feedings of manure have provided lots of nitrogen but not enough potassium. I'm going to supplement every couple of months with Potash from now on and see if I get bigger, happier bananas!
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