"Violet Ducklings"

On 20th October, we had two lovely, soft fuzzy bundles of yellow duckling arrive overnight, much to our delight. They had been hatched by a very generous broody hen, named Violet. Until we had a home to place them into, Phoebe and Kade thought it best they get as many human cuddles as possible...A few days later and they were suddenly much bigger and more active...cuddles are still the number one activity here...and still small enough that Phoebe was able to have double cuddles...just!
Big enough to step out for a walk...to the pond in our Mandala Gardens...with 'Nana' in tow (Luke!)Like...'ducks to water', they took to the pond... and still 'Nana' must make sure his(?!) babies are fine :)

Pond update

as you can see, we now have a few plants softening the edges of our pond - calendula, borage, chamomile, red day lillies, red cabbage trees, a few bromeliads and a passionfruit vine beginning it's travels over a rustic Manuka frame work and a selection of rocks and driftwood which are added to each time we return from an adventure... ... a work in progress...

first frost and a pond update...

Crunching across an icy-crisp lawn on a regular basis is something I'm just not used to, being a more Northern Lass until last year. I am still in the novelty stage with it, enjoying the beauty of the effect. I know this won't last as being a gardener, I'll soon be ruing it's presence as it slowly hamstrings what I can get to grow through the Winter.

It was a mere 3 degrees as we ventured out on our animal-feeding rounds on Friday morning. Phoebe has made sure her pixies are very snug in the basket, complete with coats, blankets and pillows...

...and here is an update on the pond...slowly taking shape. The piles of rocks, driftwood and other wildlife dwelling materials is gradually building up. We have been encouraged by the rare appearances of a bright green frog...and have installed a family of fish, a red spider-lily variety of water lily and plenty of oxygen weed. Around it we've planted red daylillies, some red and some green cabbage trees (tiny at this stage), some red-splashed bromeliads, calendula and chamomile. In the Spring we'll add as many companion-type plants that encourage beneficial insects into our garden - and hopefully control some of the beasties we had finding it way too easy to get a decent meal in our gardens this last Spring and Summer!

The beginnings of a New Pond in the Mandala

Here's a blow by blow of the creation of our new pond in the central bed of the Permaculture Mandala Garden.

We've simply (he he he! - I mean "Aaron! simply") dug out our shape and after removing rocks and sharp stuff, placed a 2m square piece of pond liner - the heavy-duty stuff over the space, filled it with stream water (innoculated with all the goodies that come out of stream or dam water!) et voila!

In a later blog, I will update with pics of the further aesthetic beautification of the pond - we are currently sourcing and accumulating various logs, and rocks, boulders (small!!) and driftwood to create potential dwelling spaces for frogs, lizards and all manner of hungry prey in the hope that they will gobble up our unwanted insects of the non-beneficial kind.

And, of course, Luke, our faithful friend looks on, approving the plans...

Where Splishy and Bubbles live...

This lovely Waterlily specimen has been growing beautifully all through Spring and Summer now in our 'bath' pond out in the orchard.

It has been busy providing us with these lush crimson blooms every week or so as well as protective cover in the form of many lily pad leaves for our 2 newest additions, Splishy and Bubbles, a pair of vermillion goldfish.