Joshua Brangenberg

I have a pond that I put 15 goldfish in to manage mosquitoes and 3 years later I have dozens of fish and I’ve never fed them. I’m hoping to expand the pond capabilities by adding bluegill or other food fish.
In an effort to minimize effort and feed costs, I have an idea for a bug attractor, but wanted to see if anyone has done something like this before. My idea is a 5 gallon bucket with 1” holes drilled at the bottom. Flip the bucket over and put a pool noodle over the rim, or some other flotation devise. Somehow (haven’t figured this part out yet), put a floating crisco candle under the bucket.
The idea is the candle in the bucket would act as a floating carbon dioxide emitter and attract mosquitos. The mosquitos would hopefully lay more eggs in the pond and the fish eat the larvae.
Thoughts? Ideas to make it better?

Flora Eerschay wrote:This is mine! It now contains one female betta, four baby crucian carps which reproduced in the garden pond, and some guppies. And shrimps. Lots of shrimps hiding in the "bushes"! There are floating watercress and mint, of edible plants.

I’ve got to add some edibles to the tanks. Looks great!

The problem is the solution! This is my favorite way to compost. Cold piles are nutrient bombs and hungry trees, vines, and plants will take advantage of it if you don’t. Replace the nightshade with cherry tomatoes. Replace the Virginia creeper with passionflower.
If you are worried about aeration, stick a pole in the middle and wiggle a hole open. I use a drill auger to open up holes periodically.
Ants, worms, and black soldier flies find the pile eventually and the also do a lot of turning and aeration.
Happy composting

One year ago, I set up our first outdoor pond in an old above-ground pool. I let the gutter drain into the pool, put 15 goldfish in to take care of the mosquitos, and just let it go. I've used the pond water to irrigate the garden, and enjoyed the wildlife that now calls my rudimentary pond home. The success of this pond is another post altogether...

I absolutely fell in love with this pond, but I've always wanted an aquarium to teach the kids about the underwater world. I started researching how to make a natural aquarium that required few inputs, and finally set one up a few months ago. I followed the Father Fish example:

-2" of dirt/compost at the bottom
-Covered by 2" of sand
-Sprinkled decomposing leaves on top of the sand
-Plant the aquarium with a diversity of flora
-Just a few small fish (smaller aquarium)

At first, since I started the aquarium with rain/pond water, it was pretty cloudy. My wife kept expressing her concern, but I kept reassuring her, "trust the process."

After one month, the water started showing significant changes in clarity. After two months, the water was completely clear. We are now into its third month, and the fish are living their best life. All I have had to do is occasionally top it off with water (usually from the pond, make sure it is non-chlorinated). I have yet to put any food in the tank. The fish get all their food from the tank itself, their waste gets transformed into nutrition for plants, and the plants feed the fish. A perfect ecosystem in a 10 gallon tank.

I'd love to try a larger tank one day (when we have the space). Let me know if anyone else has experimented with natural aquariums. I'd love to see what I could do differently, or what others have done.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Yh16_cfcjxs

Here's a mid-summer update on the cassava experiment (started from nodes vs. cuttings). Most of the plants started from nodes are not doing as well as those started from cuttings. I do have a few started from nodes that are 6-7' tall, however the majority are 3-4' tall. Those started from cuttings are 8'+ at this point. Here is a short video I filmed a few weeks ago to show the progress.

Here is an update on the cassava propagation. So far I’m getting lots of roots. It’ll be many months before I’m able to assess the tuber growth, but roots=tubers!

https://youtube.com/shorts/_adYvDQGbO4?feature=share

I'm not completely sure they would be able to grow out to full size at that close proximity, but you could start seeing small tuber yields at a couple months, and slowly harvest out the bed instead of waiting the full 6-9 months for full size roots.

This past winter I came across a video (https://youtu.be/O1XH8FoU_60) that showed a new technique to propagate cassava, yielding dozens more plants from the canes than the traditional foot-long cuttings. I have begun experimenting with this technique and have experienced some success thus far. The plants are sprouting and putting out small roots. I will keep providing updates as this progresses. Here's to hoping! Let me know if anyone else has tried this technique and/or if you have had any success.

https://youtube.com/shorts/RxUEWl18_pA

I had incredible success growing papayas from seed. Now I have papaya weeds all over my yard. My own North Florida landrace.

Another favorite of mine is buying malanga from the grocery store and propagating a dozen plants from a single root. You can eat it and plant the peelings (have your cake and eat it too!).

I don’t have any punny ideas, but I use whatever trash I can find. Yogurt containers, salsa jars, plastic milk jugs, juice cartons. It all gets saved from entering the waste stream, and saves me money!