CM
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Post by CM on Apr 19, 2009 17:22:24 GMT -5
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Post by Jack on Apr 19, 2009 18:19:58 GMT -5
Snakes I’ve met. Rattlesnake season is upon us, last week was my first kill of the year. I have been bit twice so I have zero hesitation chopping of a head; I average 9 kills a year. I intentionally blurred my face. CM, Nice snake. With your culinary skills I'm sure you have a recipe that will do it justice. Generally, I like snakes and like the job they do controlling some of the nasty vermin. I used to catch garter snakes when I was a kid back in Illinois - didn't hurt them, just kept them around awhile and let them go. When he was about 12, my stepson had a gorgeous pair of gopher snakes that he caught in a canyon by Mira Mesa, but he let them go after getting tired of buying pet shop mice for their dinner. Rattle snakes are a different story and in over 35 yrs. in San Diego, I've only encountered one. I stepped on a baby rattler when I was helping paint a relative's house in Alpine. Luckily it was early in the year and the little guy was not very active.
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CM
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Post by CM on Apr 30, 2009 18:05:12 GMT -5
The event at my property is thankfully over. We don’t have a final paid attendance number but it is very close to 380 and we fed almost 200. Given the economy and the traveling distance to our property we raised a pretty good sum, 100% of the money is donated to children’s education (God forbid public education.)
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CM
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Post by CM on Apr 30, 2009 18:06:59 GMT -5
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Post by Jack on Apr 30, 2009 19:52:36 GMT -5
CM, Gorgeous pond. Why so deep?
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CM
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Post by CM on Apr 30, 2009 20:59:39 GMT -5
I wanted to create an environment for trout; their high temperature tolerance is 72-74 degrees, thus the depth and structure. The next challenge was to maintain highly oxygenated water at that depth. I setup a windmill and attached an air-compressor to the blades; the wind blows and pumps air via 3/8” tubing into air-stones throughout the pond. There is sufficient oxygen to support life everywhere in the pond and is achieved without power and all renewable resources. Collateral benefit; algae eating microbes survive in water with very high oxygen levels, algae is in balance without the use of chemicals. The pond is in perfect balance with life.
I’ve mentioned before school groups visit the property, I’ll talk about the above as a topic, but there are many topics disgusted another favorite is fish spawning. Bream spawn ever day (lucky guys) and a nest can always be found. In the early spring bass can be found in the swallows building huge nest. Bass spawning is a very interesting topic I’ll talk about.
What is really cool, is when school kids 3rd – 6th grade catch their first fish, the smiles and laughter is priceless and my reward, not to mention it was one of my life goals and I accomplished it. I can check that one off the bucket list.
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Post by Jack on Apr 30, 2009 21:23:23 GMT -5
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Post by nikki on Apr 30, 2009 23:28:52 GMT -5
CM,
What a beautiful property you have. Because your awsome pond looks very secluded, I was going to ask if you ever go nature commando in there. But after seeing Jack's videos of the pond monsters, I am guessing not.
One little nibble could be life-changing!
BTW, I roasted some garlic tonight, and I am going artichoke shopping this weekend. Thanks for the reminder. Yum.
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CM
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Post by CM on May 1, 2009 14:20:11 GMT -5
Nibbles I can handle it’s the big bite that scares me.
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Post by Tired in CV on May 1, 2009 17:32:40 GMT -5
It looks like you have a very nice place there. I wish I could have been there for your open house but I was out of town (Palm Springs). I am curious about your pond though. What process did you use to "seal" the pond from seepage? It seems to big for concrete or plastic so would I be correct that you used some sort of soil additive?
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Post by jdredd on May 1, 2009 22:03:55 GMT -5
Very impressive, CM. You are one ambitious dude. There are pills for that, you know.
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CM
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Post by CM on May 4, 2009 16:32:53 GMT -5
Our soil is mostly clay the first 3-5 feet is very heavy clay as you can see in the picture the clay is peeled off. We set the clay aside; the next 10-30 feet consisted of DG then 5-10 of silt followed by hard-pan granite. My goal was to create a natural sustainable environment, which ruled out any type of lining although liners up 5 acres are available. We did hit ground water at 20 feet adding to the challenge. Returning to work the next morning the volume of water was substantial but it was quickly dispersed in the DG. After the bowl was created 1-2 feet clay was returned, and compacted. I could have mixed with benitonite but chose not to do to the heavy clay. These pictures were taken mid September 2000, the first drop of water to hit the pond was October 1, 2000. Initially I stocked the pond with 700 goldfish, ultimately to be a food source for predator fish. Bream, bluegill, crappie, bass, trout, and catfish were added shortly after. I rarely see a goldfish today most have been consumed. The pond took about 2 weeks to create at an unbelievable price of $20,000. it helped feeding the guys everyday with a gourmet meal and all the beer they could drink. 8 ½ years later it is my pride and joy.
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Post by Tired in CV on May 5, 2009 2:01:12 GMT -5
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CM
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Post by CM on May 7, 2009 13:09:14 GMT -5
The guys bask in the sun all day with an occasional spat while the ladies nest in the reeds. The spats are interesting there will 3-4 male mallards sleeping on the rocks suddenly for no apparent reason they’ll begin fighting fly off only to return a few minutes later and back asleep. I'm guessing someone insulted Obama
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Post by johng on Jul 21, 2009 19:22:27 GMT -5
Check the time on that "fly by daily" it may coincide with some Obama News Flash and the boys are out for a dive bomb - one can hope anyway!
Beautiful place so can you adopt me now? I still have a few years of hard work left in me...
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