Overpopulation - The Exponential Function

Why is finding solutions now for future problems so important?

Maybe this video will help people understand why we cannot wait for solutions. We simply cannot afford to wait. Pay special attention to the last part where he gives an example using bacteria in a jar.

Be one of the bacteria that sees the problem ahead of time.

One Year...

April 2009 to April 2010...

It was April 15th, 2009 when I started the removal of the swimming pool on my way to creating this "one of a kind" system. All things considered it has gone fairly well. At the end of summer last year I had hopes of getting the fish for the large pond. As things turned out I was unable to obtain the type of fish I wanted without jumping through more hoops than I was willing.

So, I just bought a hundred goldfish and I will let them breed for the next few years until it is fully stocked. Goldfish get pretty big, much bigger than I would have imagined. The bad thing however, is that I will never eat one. So no fresh fish for dinner.

April Showers...

Bring May flowers, so they say.

Well, it's not May. but April showers have brought out many April flowers. Here are some of my flowers that either are in bloom or will be in bloom this April. If this is what I have in April, I can't wait for May!

Almost all plants you see here were grown from seed.

Alyssum. A minty ground Cover that has been in bloom since February


Aptenia. Beautiful groundcover when in full bloom


Azalia. Hanging on for dear life because of disease, but it hasen't died yet. Nothing I treat it with has worked, so I have decided to leave it to it's own fate.


Bachelor Button. This plant has tried to take over my yard. It spreads seeds at a rate too fast to keep up with. Fortunately, they are easy to pull as weeds where I don't want them.


Blanket Flower have been in bloom all year, but starting to really take off now.


Borage. The bees are loving this plant here in early spring.


Calendula(Pot Marigold). A very flowery plant in early summer. Supposedly good to eat also.


Continue to see more...

New Life

It just amazes me how a new life starts. Whether it be a human, another animal, or a plant. It is all equally amazing to me. This is the time of year where so much new life is finding an opportunity to be among the living. On a daily basis it pops up everywhere.

The first wildflower in this garden

Adding A Planter To The Pond Edge

When constructing my pond, I purposely made my pond edging "soft". What I mean by that, is that the edges were not permanently bound to any kind of structure, making them flexible and easy to work with. There is a problem with that, and it is exactly that, they are not permanently mounted and are flexible. So a soft edge is good and bad for the same reason. Having an edge that is easy to "redo", gives you ability to easily change the pond shape or easily modify the edge at any time.

Springtime Is On It's Way

So much to do to get ready for spring. There are new plants sprouting everywhere. The goldfish seem to be getting ready for mating season. The days are getting longer. The weather is warming up. I am excited to get this project finished. With nothing left, as far as the system goes, except to get the fish for the large pond, I am doing a lot of landscaping to get the yard nice for show this summer. If all goes well, I will be able to start showing it in July. As long as the system cooperates by growing some big vegetables and healthy fish, all will be well. I am confident everything is ready to happen.

My lens to my camera got a little fogged up and it made for some nice effects for these photos last week...

DIY Pool Removal Too Easy To Believe!

1.

2.

3.

As Easy as 1-2-3.

Checkout this post on the step-by-step blog for complete instructions.

Calculating Swimming Pool Volume in Cubic Feet

This article will quickly show how much dirt is needed to fill a moderate size swimming pool.

I am going to use the following backyard as an example.

Thinking about it?

If you are thinking about getting rid of your swimming pool and/or a natural pond is an option you want to consider? I have just finished a few articles that can help you with your decision. They are on my step-by-step blog and part of the "Thinking about it?" section.

Here are the links:

Thinking About It?
1. Should I Get Rid of My Swimming Pool?
2. What Can I Do With My Swimming Pool?
3. Why Would I Want a Natural Pond?
4. What Will I Need and How Much Will It Cost?

Global Climate Change

A great way to look at the global warming "debate"

Stormy Weather

Hail, rain, and wind are wreaking havoc on Northern California and have been for the last few days. With no end in sight I will have to figure on being indoors for a while. I'll take the only positive I can see for having to stay indoors for 2 weeks: I get to spend more time on the PC doing my blogs. We need the rain, so I am not complaining.

The rain has been very intense, which has made the ponds so murky that I can not see the goldfish a few inches below the surface. This is a natural occurrence in any natural body of water, so I am not worried. It will clean itself eventually.


Palm Tree leaves have been pummeling down from the sky.No damage as of now.

Normally you could see the goldfish in a shot like this, but it is too murky.

 The entire yard is beginning to flood.
There is standing water and puddles everywhere.

Instructions For Grow Bed Construction

My step-by-step instructions for building your own grow beds are complete. They consist of ten separate instructions with images and full details. To read them and all of the step-by-step instructions for converting a swimming pool to a "Natural Pond" go to my blog dedicated to that purpose HERE.

Feel free to comment on anything about them. Problems and critiques are welcome and will be helpful.

Thanks!

DIY - Replace The Battery in a Dog Collar

This has absolutely nothing to do with anything on this blog. I just like showing people ways to save money. Plus I hate it when companies design things solely for the purpose of taking your money. So here I will show you how to save money by deconstructing an unnecessary battery pack that was designed for one purpose, to take your hard earned money. There is NO reason to design something like this other than greed. They could have just as easily designed it to easily replace each battery inside the pack. In fact, they recently came out with their new pack, in which this can be done. But now you have to buy the new pack, and at a much higher price. This should have been done with the original purchase, but they wanted to sell you something "new" at a later date. These greedy pigs deserve no more of our money. Anyway, enough with the ranting.

REPLACING A DOG COLLAR BATTERY PACK

If you have ever purchased an electronic dog collar for training purposes or maybe for excessive barking, then you know that replacing the battery is expensive. Instead of paying $25 plus shipping you can do it for about $3 and 15 minutes of your time.

I am one of those who likes to know how things work. The last time I had to replace my dog's training collar battery, I decided, since I was just going to throw it away, I might as well take it apart and see what is inside. To my surprise, this is what I found...

Yes, that is right, two common CR2032 watch batteries. Well, happy to see this, I picked up a couple for $3 at Wal-Mart, put it back together and saved the other $25, I was going to spend, for a rainy day.

Here is the quick DIY procedure for replacing these.

The Water is Crystal Clear

The pond water can not get any more clear than this. Compare this system to one that employs all the expensive, unneeded equipment that the "experts" would have you unnecessarily purchase. This pond is equipped with one pump, home-made biological filters in the form of grow beds, and nothing else. You need nothing else, and I have all the proof you could ever want right here...

Google Sketchup...Nice!

If you have seen my last couple of instructionals on the step-by-step blog you probably noticed the cool 3D images. I used Sketchup to create a 3D model of a grow bed and it was pretty easy. I watched 2 short videos as an introduction and played around with it for about 20 minutes before I jumped right in and started creating the model. Try doing that with AutoCADD(which I spent 2 days playing with and still couldn't easily make a drawing of my house).

So if you don't want to spend any money and don't want to spend a lot of time learning a new program, I recommend SketchUp.

And while this may look like a plug for them, it's not. I really do like it. And it's free!