Snail In The Pond

There are 3 ponds outside, 2 are old containers with lots of bladder snails. The 3rd and newest is the brick pond. I have been very careful not to introduce any snails, but today I spotted this on the kangkung stems...

Looks like a ramshorn but tiny. I think they are ok for the pond... will have to keep an eye on this. If the kangkung roots look like they are suffering, then sorry snails, but I'll be coming for you!!! Another source of live food for the fish.

Daphnia ok but not thriving

The few plastic containers I have with daphnia are all still going after a couple of weeks, but they are not thriving.

Currently feeding them yeast every alternate day. Need to start some green water to see if that helps. 

Waterproof and automating pond water top up

I won't be building a loop aquaponics system in the immediate future. So for now, I see 3 auto systems needed...
1. auto fill the reservoir from the mains
2. auto fill reservoir water into the fish pond
3. auto water the veges with the fish pond water

I have all the parts for number 2 so...
First task was to insulate the power outlet better. Then to create a waterproof housing for the extension cord. Lastly add a timer to the water pump in the reservoir. That will periodically feed dechlorinated water into the fish pond.

This is 2 pics pasted together to show the whole setup. I didn't have to use a single new part :)

Harvest - curry leaves

We have 2 curry trees and quite a few little shoots spouting in random places. I cut off one tree because it was in a bad position, blocking access to the compost. Today's harvest was the top part of that chopped down curry tree.

The chopped tree had a little of the white stuff that damaged previous curry trees... think it's called mealybugs. Youtube is full of videos on how to get rid of them but I havent seen one that says how to protect them, which makes me wonder why these creatures were put on this planet. I might test feeding them to the fish one day.

Fish Food - Earthworms

It was tough killing the earthworm. Hopefully it gets easier.

Compost Harvest

This pile was left for about one or 2 months. The bin reduced to this...

Another month would have been perfect, but still good enough to use...

For future, we need at least 3-4 bins. Start one each month, and harvest the oldest. 

Air Pruning

Went for a short course on home vege gardens last month, and 'learnt about "Air Pruning". Never heard of it before. Here is a random video on it...

Starting small with a wastepaper basket and some leftover mosquito netting.

Out in the garden later...