Summer 2016. Our little plot of land seemed to be squarely positioned in the middle of this dry, droughty, rainless, hot, blistering, did I say hot?, parched summer. This part of New York State is on record as the driest, with every storm passing by either to the north or to the south.
The well has churned out mightily and so far has not let us down. But when we asked for house water while filling greenhouse tanks, it could not keep up….and so begins the story of the pond….
A pond has always been on our list of ‘wants’, for swimming, beauty, wildlife…but now it seemed to be a possible solution to our greenhouse watering problem. We had a pond builder (our neighbor) come over to look at the wild thickets that might be good pond sites. Within hours we had a test hole dug, and voila! water appeared at the bottom.
A whirlwind of decisionmaking ensued, estimates and sketches were discussed. Every last penny would be forked over. In return we would have a quarter acre pond with a pump and pipe to carry water to the greenhouse. Aesthetically pleasing, and functional.
The machinery arrived. The huge backhoe and the bulldozer. Devastation.
It’s a pretty deep hole.
Mina is the pond dog…never missing a chance to cool off. It is filling slowly and is already home to frogs and dragonflies….
The Great Blue Heron visited and reduced our frog population.
December 2016. The drought has been downgraded from Severe to Moderate. Still dry but the water level is rising slowly, slowly and the shape of the pond is being revealed to us.
2017 begins and the pond is filling with each rain, each snowmelt.
Magic Garden Fun 