Cécile Stelzer Johnson

I had 15ducks in just short of 8000 gallons and when it warmed  it had to be partially emptied every 2.5 weeks.
By partially emptied, I mean I had to remove about half of the water, and replace with fresh.
Since your area is much wetter than mine you might be able to change the water without having to use electricity, but I would not count on it. If your ducks are the "not flying" kind, you could use a barrier to keep them out. ( it doesn't take much to keep them out when all they can do on land is waddle. A 1ft barrier should be enough)
If you add small fish ,some milk crates, upside down will keep them safe. They will add to the muck
That roof is only 2ft high.
If I had to redo it, I would double the size to catch more rain..

Larry A Elvidge wrote:I've had a duck pond for a couple years, around 12,000 gallons, and I can say that ducks do make things messier pretty quickly, but it's totally manageable if you're using water as fertilizer for your orchard and have some sort of rainwater top-up. You’ll notice the water start to cloud and get a bit green especially if the ducks are in most of the day, but just how gross it gets depends on rain, your soil, and how much you’re swapping out. With 10 ducks, you’ll probably want to move some water out every week or two in the warm months, more often if we get a heat wave or less rain.

The pond that I dug (in sand) contains about 7-8000 gallons but I won't put ducks in it this year. I did 2 years ago, and yes, 15 ducks can get it pretty messy. The main reason I don't have ducks this year is that I'm going to have a knee replacement, and already, hubby is grumbling about having to take care of the chickens when I'm out of commission.
Well, that and plucking these critters. I bought a bunch of suckers and other minnows this time, and I'm raising watercress. At the end of the season, I plan to pull all the fish and dry them for chicken feed. (Our winters are long in Wisconsin, and I can't justify pumping water through the filters and changing the water in the cold... Nope)
Because I'm in sand, I put a liner in it but I didn't want to shell for an EPDM so I got the thickest tarp that I could get, and I must say, (Cross my fingers  and knock on wood), so far, it's holding. No leaks!)
What I built to save myself a bit of work and sheltering the ducks from predators at the same time is a 6 ft wide roof on the 2 long sides of the pond, angled to collect all of the rain water in the pond. (I was inspired in that by the Roman rooves slanted inward in a patio on all 4 sides)
These 2 rooves are very efficient: They each measure 20 ft by 6ft, for a total surface of 240 square feet.
According to the formula I found, a 240 square feet on which only 1" of rain falls will get me...149.61 gallons.
So yes, I'll still have to pump water from my well to fill it up. We average 40-60" of rain a year, so  (4,488.31gallons to 8,976.62 gallons total for the year) Of course, you don't quite get that much because of evaporation, but it is not negligible either... The ducks will get shelter, maybe lay eggs under the rooves, or in the cabin I built for them. (The cabin was for when they were too young to go in the pond.)
That pond is in the center of my orchard as I had the same thought you did: The partial changes of water once every 2 weeks work out quite well. (I pull out only half of the water each time to not kill the fish. (These little buggers are really tough: Koi fish just could not make it. I would love to raise grass carp, but it is illegal here, so I'm screwed.)
I operate 2 sump pumps simultaneously, that I have in 55 gallon barrels to keep them a bit cleaner so the change happens pretty fast: I didn't time myself, but I can partially empty and then fill it all back up again in an afternoon. I can walk away and check on the progress every hour.
Since you are raising some ducks, and I heard that in Laos, they eat a lot of ducks, have they found a way to pluck them clean pretty fast?
I love ducks and would much prefer to raise ducks: They don't tear everything in the garden and they stay pretty much together, but plucking them!!!...

I'd go with Jay's suggestion. I have a "wealthy" apple tree to which I did that. I leaned only a little, but there was such an apple crop that I feared the branches would break. I sunk 3 posts on the heavy side, which I then connected to a couple of 2X4 so as to take most of the weight off.
The trick is to place them far enough apart that you could still run the mower under if it needed, although you can also use a weed eater...
It doesn't lean quite as much, but I left the supports just in case.
Depending what branches are growing on the 'light' side, you might want to start doing some light trimming on the heavy side to encourage the light side to pick up the pace?
Is it still potted? When you place it in the ground, you might be able to correct the imbalance if that's the case.
I hope you can save that tree since it's giving you good apples.
Supports will also save your tree in case of high winds, heavy snow fall and other foul weather events.

Jordan Holmes wrote:Hey everyone,

To cut to the chase, I’ve read that after rehoming a honey bees hive, they should be locked in for 24-72 hours until they adjust/acclimate themselves so as not to attempt to return or get lost. But then I’ve seen other replies on social media pages saying this angers the bees and is unnecessary. Wanted to come here to get the scoop from the Permies.

As always, I appreciate any advice. I got the lucky chance to take a colony of honey bees (Italian) plus accessories for too good a deal for me to resist. It’s always been an aspiration of mine to keep bees so I decided to take the opportunity. I understand this comes with a lot of responsibility that I don’t take lightly. Coming here to get some insight from the community.

I’ve done my basic internet research, I’ve got a yard full of a clover trio and in the process of getting a more robust pollinator garden of native (North East US) plants.

Anywho, thanks in advance!

If by "rehoming" a beehive you mean taking a fully functional hive (supers, boxes and frames) from one location to another, you should not have any difficulty.
In a full hive, you have a queen and her workers, frames with some honey and a couple of frames with packed pollen. That makes it unlikely that they will take off: They will protect their queen and will settle down in a few hours. If you are worried, move the hive in the evening, which is a better way to do it anyway. After they have gone back to the hive, they will stay put.
Your queen, once she is fertilized and starts laying will stay put, and the workers will congregate around her. If you get the queen in a queen box, you need to make sure that she can get out. Usually, the workers will spring her, but sometimes, you need to give them a hand. I had several where the queen box wasn't really closed and the queen got out in 2-3 minutes. It didn't make any difference: they put a group of bees with the queen to take care of her, and in the couple of days that they travel to your place, they get acquainted and won't leave her.
Where folks get into difficulty is when they attempt to move a hive a short distance and leave a number of workers in the field. Those poor workers look for their hive, and the ones that were in the hive will go out, looking around but it does take a couple of days before their location system is final.
Leaving workers in the field can cause the hive to fail because they will die looking for the hive, and your queen may not be able to replace these missing workers fast enough.
Sometimes, I've had to move a hive like 20 ft, to a sheltered area. That's more confusing to them than moving them several miles, because in a short move, they will recognize that they are 'near', but they do not see their hive.
I only installed my hives in the evening. Also, I placed a panel, or some obstruction in front of the hive: When they leave in the morning, the panel tells them that there is a major change, and they will take a couple of tentative flights and come back until they have the area figured out. I've had good success with a panel loose in front of the entrance.
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Riona Abhainn wrote:

I've found that the only thing I need to water every day was the pumpkins last summer, not there yet this year, I should probably get some chips for them to see if that fixes that problem.

In the Willamette valley, it gets fairly dry in the summer, so yes, a nice layer of woodchips or straw should help against your drought.
As a bonus, it will keep your pumpkins off the  ground so you will get cleaner fruit.
The only time when mulch might not be a good idea is if you have a very wet season or if your pumpkin is in a low spot, where rain pools.
Good luck to you.

In Central Wisconsin, we are blessed with great water (no need for water softener) and our first water is at 10 ft, so you would think that watering my veggies is no sweat, right? Well, we are in 35 ft of sand, so any water you give your plants drains as fast as you can apply it.
Our well water is absolutely frigid, because for the house and the crops, we pull pretty consistently, to the point that giving some of that water to the cukes makes them unhappy.
I solved my double problem by using 55 gallon barrels all over the garden: I pump my ice cold water to them, then I let them sit until I need it. I have 6 such barrels, and there 's no problem with clogging because I use a garden hose without any restrictions. (I just have to be careful with freshly planted beds as I risk losing the seed)
Using barrels like this also allows me to fertilize (with comfrey tea) whenever I want to.
Also because of the sand, I have created bed (4X8'), bringing the little bit of top soil from the alleys on top of the bed. I immediately doubled my 'good' soil to 3" ... which still isn't much.
So I do my best to mulch heavily. Eventually, the chips I use to mulch the alleys rot and I take it and top the bed with it. I now have close to 12" of top soil that's pretty good.
The barrels save me from watering the leaves, and I don't need to sit with a hose in my hand: I just open the tap, place the hose in the bed and walk away while I do something else. When a bed has had a half barrel or thereabouts, I switch to a different bed.
The underground watering system I'm afraid would not work: you have to make sure to drain the system at the end of the season or you might bet busted hoses...

Radishes can be planted in fairly cold weather and will give you an edible root in 21 days, so it would be hard to find better for an early crop that you plant in the spring.
My first vegetables that sprout out of the ground in the spring are my asparagus and my rhubarb: It's hard to beat perennials because they are already planted, so they come out as soon as they are ready.
In that category, I'd put also garlic chives: They come out early and can be harvested all the way through fall. I prefer garlic chives/ Chinese chives to conventional chives that flower pink in the spring: (once chives flower, the flower stem is hard, so no so good). The garlic/Chinese chives flower white in the fall, often after the first frost.
Otherwise, we can eat sunchokes all through the winter, so I'm not sure when to draw the line. I picked some from an old patch that I want planted in something else as soon as the ground allowed.

Seeds are alive, and in their stored state, they have different longevities beyond which they cannot recover (and germinate).
Some seeds will last almost indefinitely while others won't come up beyond a year .That's why you have a year on the packet, stating "Packed for 2026").
(I don't really buy into the specific year, though: I think it's also a selling gimmick.)
I store my seeds in little party favor boxes and I do not add a desiccant: That costs money, and I'm cheap. I'll plant more, just in case. Once the seed is dry and winter comes upon us, you can also place it in a cold place, like an unheated building but away from mice.
I believe the cold will be a more natural way to keep the seeds fresh. Just make sure that you allow the exchange of air: again, seeds are alive, and they breathe.