DIY Pocket Pond: Catching Water on the Homestead
Greetings!
Today we circled back around to a homestead project that we are both stoked to work on:
A Pocket Pond!
Aligned with the permaculture principle Catch and Store Energy, the goal is to slow water (and other resources) down as they cycle through your system. A pond is a simple yet powerfully effective and often beautiful habitat and water storage.
Now that the High Tunnel is Finished, we’re getting to show some love to other projects around the homestead.
Today we finished excavating the pond and shaped the edges how we want them.
Then Ini pounded the bottom and sides and we applied metal wire that will act as the form for the application of concrete plaster that will act as the pond’s liner.
This will be the first of many niche ponds spaced through the gardens.
We hope to provide habitat for aquatic life and water for many species! Stay tuned as we cement the bottom and sides and then build an artistic rock wall around the circumference and create a spillway that will channel into swales in the garden.
▶️ DTube
▶️ IPFS
If you put a pond in your pocket your pants will get wet. 🤣
We have a fishpond too. We clean it out twice yearly and the water, full of fish shit and algae, is rocking on the plants and compost.
True - we always use the water from aquarium changes on our plants, and they love it!
@mountainjewel Ini and Wren...
Ooh, looks dreamy. What are those clumpers in the background?
A type of iris, Spanish I think. It has little white flowers, iris like.
Will watch this later and try myself. Saved as bookmark.
Awesome!
:)
Looks like a great little side project. Glad to see you using concrete where it makes sense. I think practicality is important.
The only thing that is missing, are some catfish, and seaweed and you have the best pocket pond.
Wait for the rain...
I admire all the hard work. The soil looks as if the going could be quite tough to dig out.
Oh yes! That is our ozark rocky soil! It is a small pond and it is already all dug out- surprisingly working together it wasn’t too hard. Feels harder to dig post holes ;) lol thanks!
the pocket pond returns!!!!! cool update ya'll! can't wait to see it evolve. mmmmm...crystals in the pond!!!!! i love that land ...i love ya'll!!!!!
It's in process. We seem to be co-evolving with the land. Crystals are a part of that i'm sure... We're needless to say SUPER excited.
yah...you two blow my mind! i'm super excited!!!!!!!!!!!
We have a low water table. So on the right spot on the land we can dig down 10-15 feet, and we will reach the natural water table. Last year we brought in an excavator and dug a hole. In the spring such a large area was flooded.It was amazing but now after our dry summer it is but a wee spot.Hoping to improve upon it this year and turn it into an actual pond now that we see how it filled and lowered for a year. Ponds around the property are an amazing habitat and mini eco systems for a homestead. Thanks for sharing.
I thought about doing that on our place in Florida, where the water table was literally from four to six feet, depending on the time of year, but the ground water is sulphur water, so no thanks.
Here in Tennessee, we're on a ridge, and our river is roughly thirty feet below the house, so nope. Though we do have water rights, and a year round spring that traverses beneath our land, so we can actually irrigate from the river if it comes to that, and we could fill the pond(s) periodically from the spring.
Having a self filling pond is a great asset to any landscape. Best luck with "pondifying" the whole hole. It's an exciting process for sure.
YOU'RE both amazing
Thanks! We put our hearts and souls into this land.
Your soil looks a lot like mine. Lots of rocks and very difficult to dig down. Man that's hard work for sure! I have been thinking about doing the same thing so I can provide a different environment on the homestead for more diversity. Can't wait to see it working.
Ya, i've become quite proficient with the mattock and digging bar. Who need a gym right? The diversity is key and a rewarding element of being stewards of the land.