So, the land is cleared, flat and ready for my house to go on top of in the spring.  We’ve had a drought here in the Interlake up until a week ago so I was getting a little scared that the land would not settle as it should.  It needs rain to help compress it, fill in the cracks, allow the clay to merge with the sand and so forth.  Then it needs snow to weigh it down and compress it further.  It has rained here quite a bit in the last week and it looks like we will have some more, so that is a good thing.  My grass and fields are green for the first time all summer.  It is also a good thing to help fill up my pond.

My wild pond (right now, a hole in the earth filling up with green water, surrounded by clay and sand) is starting to take shape.  It is about 75′ x 110′ and 16′ deep at its deepest.  It is smaller than I originally wanted it to be, but it is quite large and lovely.  I have decided to fill it in with my hose and water from the well.  I am still not sure if that is an ecological choice.  I am pulling a lot of water from the ground, but I am making it accessible for all the critters and perhaps the land or plants in some way.  It is my hope that it will add to the bounty of the ecosystem and be a benefit for all.  My fear is that I am being selfish and ‘wasting’ water because I want a pond.

It is my hope that the pond becomes a home for a thriving ecosystem, that it creates a place for many different species of all forms and sizes of life to live in balance.  I am not sure how much ‘planning’ I am going to do with it.  I am torn between having to undo some of the effects of the more harmful invasive species and allowing it the time it needs and the natural processes it needs to create a healthy system.  I realize that nature can work slowly (if the desired end is beauty and production) as the plants that recover the earth are usually considered weeds and that process takes some time.  I did spread some bull rush seeds around the outside and I’ve ordered some pollinator friendly ‘lawn’ seeds to spread on the banks, my ‘lawn’ and my new hill.

There are a lot of beautiful pond flora that I can introduce, but I am not sure how heavy handed I want to be.  There is a balance between the amount of energy I want to output and the benefits to the environment.  I can go around next summer (if we are not in a drought again) and collect water plants from the area and transplant them in my pond.  I am not sure yet of what I want to incorporate and why.  I like the idea of weekay growing, but I am not sure.  I will be spending some time this winter planning this.

I am assuming that most of my time and energy will go towards building, decorating and planning the house as soon as the build starts in the spring so I’d like to have some of the planning for the pond done by that time.

In the meantime, my dad and I built a ramp from rock and patio stone so swimming can happen (top right of photo).  The water should be 3 feet deep there when full.  I’m not that hopeful that I’ll get swimming this fall as it is very chilly right now, but at least it will be possible.  The earth is very thick clay and sand.  When we were building the ramp we got stuck in the muck a lot!  I figured that before the ramp if we wanted to swim, getting out would be something akin to mud wrestling 🙂 The future hope is a floating dock with a ladder, but for now, this will work!

Right now, I am enjoying watching the water (which I can finally see from my current house).  Sitting on the boulders placed around the pond, listening to nature, watching the birds discover it, seeing the clear green water, being enticed to go in, until I touch it and feel how cold it is 🙂 and just soaking in the process.

Next time I will write about the well decision I’ve made and hopefully have something concrete to share.