Country Lore: June/July 2018

By Mother Earth News Readers
Published on June 1, 2018
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The backyard pond halfway through the building process.
The backyard pond halfway through the building process.
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Basking in the fruit of our labor, the pond set up is complete and waits to be filled with water.
Basking in the fruit of our labor, the pond set up is complete and waits to be filled with water.
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I use craft sticks to label my mint while it’s drying. I love craft sticks because if I need to move the mint to my dehydrator, I can move the sticks with it, placing them on the dehydrator trays to keep the herbs labeled.
I use craft sticks to label my mint while it’s drying. I love craft sticks because if I need to move the mint to my dehydrator, I can move the sticks with it, placing them on the dehydrator trays to keep the herbs labeled.
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Bruce’s rodent-proof boxes, completed in preparation for spring.
Bruce’s rodent-proof boxes, completed in preparation for spring.

Building a Backyard Pond

Guided by a friend with pondbuilding experience, we were able to complete a backyard pond in just three hours with the help of a seven-person “worker bee” team provided by Reno’s Permaculture Northern Nevada group.

Through this pond, we sought to add the soothing qualities of water to an area of our homestead where we spend time hosting guests and eating meals. We also wanted to add another habitat that would diversify our land’s ecosystem — supporting birds, aquatic plants, and insects.

Building Steps

We began digging the dimensions of the pond, roughly 7 feet long by 4 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. We kept the edges as vertical as possible. The size of our pond was in part determined by the size of the recycled pond liner given to us by a friend. We made the pond a bit irregular — with one end wider than the other — to give it a slightly more natural look. We also added about 2 feet to each measurement for the liner, knowing we’d have to cover additional length over our sandbags.

We used sandbags filled with the extracted soil to raise up the sides of the pond. We stacked them two bags high to give us about 8 inches above grade. Sandbags are great for this, as they’re malleable, smooth (no sharp edges to poke the pond liner), and easy to maneuver into place.

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