10 Essential Pond Building Tips

Full sun. Did I let it get overgrown?  Ya think?

But on to the ten rules to follow that make pond keeping easy.

• • You must have one bunch of anacharis (underwater grass) per square foot of water surface area. This serves as a natural filter and as food for the fish. It grows faster than the fish can eat it.
• • 50 - 60% of the surface of the water must be shaded with floating plants. Water lilies are great, as are water hyacinths, water lettuce or water poppies. Just be sure to compost them as they multiply and not allow them loose in a natural waterway.
• • You must have fish to complete the balanced ecosystem. I recommend common goldfish. Do not put Koi in your pond unless you have built a koi pond. They will eat all of your plants.
• • Do not feed your fish. They will become too big for the pond and upset the ecosystem. You will have an overpopulation problem and all of your fish will die.
• • Put in one linear foot of fish for each 25 square feet of pond surface area. If you have 100 square feet of pond, you may have 4 foot long fish, 8 six inch fish or 16 three inch fish and so on.
• • Do not allow turtles, crawfish, alligators, ducks, geese, dogs, raccoons, possums, muskrats, nutria or your children to swim in your pond.
• • Do not use chemicals!!! EVER! Add a dechlorinator when you first fill the pond and then when you add more than 10% water afterwards.
• • Do not worry about pH. It will take care of itself.
• • Remove any dead or decaying vegetation regularly so that ammonia does not build up and foul your pond.
• • Relax. Your pond will generally take care of itself. I recommend benevolent neglect as the best approach to pondkeeping.

Do not even try to seam large pieces of butyl rubber liner together at home. It won't work. If you need an extra large piece, the factory will seam it for you, usually for free or very little money.

Read this and 200 pages more of great pond building and keeping advice in my new book "The Practical Guide to Building and Maintaining your Pond."  Get it from Amazon

For more info, pond questions, photos, ideas, problem solving, visit us at pondlady.com

Thanks for visiting.

PIckerel Rush

PIckerel plants were plentiful in the Nature Wildlife Center's trail in Mandeville, LA last weekend.  It's another shoreline plant that loves to have its feet in a few inches of water. Not only is is pretty during it's spring blooming season, but fish love to hide in it and bees and other beneficial bugs love its nectar. Spreading by rhizomes, it stabilizes shorelines. 

If you don't keep it contained in a pot in your pond, it can be invasive as most aquatic plants are.

It is a soft plant, so when you are potting it up or putting the pot in your pond,   be careful not to break the leaves.  The soft blue flowers will put on a show for you in the spring.

I also feature pond plants in my pond how-to new book available here: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Building-Caring-ebook/dp/B00785EXXA/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329153290&sr=1-2 It's dropped to number two on Amazon.com in Landscaping this morning. C'mon people. Buy the book and keep me in first place. It's only a buck. So join us at http://www.pondlady.com and share your pond stories with us. Thanks for dropping by for a visit this morning

Lizard's Tail, a Pond Plant

We took a walk along the Northshore Nature Center trail near Mandeville, La over the weekend.  I thought Louisiana irises would be in full bloom, but didn't see one.  I did see Lizard's Tail in bloom tho. 

Lizard's Tail grow in the water in the shallower parts of the swamp where the water is maybe 4" deep or less.  You will usually find it at the edges of ponds or marshes.

Of course, the Lizard's Tail rush gets its name from its bloom.  It grows from the end of a 6 inche stalk and droops into a tail about 3 inches long.  The leaf is heart shaped and about 5 inches long. 

It spreads using rhizomes that grow sideways under the water or the mud and pretty soon, you have Lizard's Tail everywhere. If you are going to have them in your pond, keep them in a pot.

I also feature pond plants in my new book available here: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Building-Caring-ebook/dp/B00785EXXA/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329153290&sr=1-2 It's number one on Amazon.com in Landscaping this morning. Yippee. So join us at http://www.pondlady.com and share your pond stories with us. Thanks for dropping by for a visit this morning

No More Stinky Pond Goo

POST FROM PONDLADY.COM

I just finished cleaning out one of my ponds and for the first time ever there was no stinky gunk or dead critters at the bottom! 

I am attributing this good fortune to the advice received at pondlady.com about using an aerator during the winter months when the pump is taking a sabbatical. I was really happy NOT to find any dead frogs or fish and no nasty smell meant I could stick my hands in for those last few bits and bobs on the bottom. I even found two very large tadpole-looking critters even though there was no evidence of eggs or other little tadpoles. Not sure how they got there! 

The only sad thing is that the one large fish that was a few years old disappeared. I can only guess that nature did what nature does and either a raccoon or big bird got her.  She left behind 4 offspring... 

I just have one more pond to clean out. Unfortunately the Microbe Lift PL I ordered arrived empty - it burst en route and I feel bad about the packages that it leaked onto - that smell is really awful!

REPLY AT PONDLADY.COM Oh dear, MicrobeLift stinks. Like rotten eggs. They actually brag that if a product does not stink like theirs, it doesn't work. I have found that to be true.  Glad your pond clean out was easier.  Those tadpole critters could have arrived on birds' feet or perhaps some indiscreet frogs had a rendezvous in your pond when you were not looking. My website is full of people who are experienced pondkeepers.  They share their expertise willingly. We have lots of fun there talking about ponds.  Get great design ideas from photos. I also feature pond questions and answers in my new book available here: http://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-Building-Caring-ebook/dp/B00785EXXA/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329153290&sr=1-2 It's number one in Landscaping this morning. Yippee. So join us at http://www.pondlady.com and share your pond stories with us.

Tidbits from my website, pondlady.com

I have decided to feature a post from my website at http://www.pondlady.com today.  

Most of you who read this blog have a pond, but don't necessarily read the pond info on my website.  The folks who interact at pondlady.com are from all over, usually have ponds or want one and freely share what they have learned or ask what they want to know.  It's a great way to learn how to solve a pond problem, to share photos of your masterpiece or to tell us how you overcame your pond problem.  

The following post showed up this morning, complete with photos of the beautiful, but hungry pond visitor.

From the poster:

I'm in Tennessee this week visiting my brother. While I've been gone, the pump in the pond went bad and my wife had to install my smaller backup. After having just talked about not having predators visit my pond, my wife sent these pictures of a visitor that showed up today. This is a Little Green Heron, about 17 inches tall, so it can't wade in my pond to get fish. It can, however, dive into deep water in an attempt to get fish, but must do so from a high perch and it is often not successful. I could use some culling of the fish from the pond, but I don't want this guy getting used to coming to my yard for his meals. I wonder what green heron tastes like?

And my answer:

He is beautiful! Instead of saying 'Law of the jungle', maybe, we need to start saying 'Law of the pond.'

There's an ugly thing called 'gator guard'. It works. I think Bird X makes it. Here it is

http://www.bird-x.com/gator-guard-products-49.php?page_id=61

Wow, it has gotten expensive in the past 2 or 3 years. Ouch! But it does work here in Louisiana. Maybe that's cuz we have gators.

Putting ceramic roof tiles in the bottom of the pond so the fish can hide under them can work. I have even put a couple thick rocks with a flat rock on top to make a little bridge in the bottom of the pond so the fish can hide beneath it.

Did you know I wrote a book about ponds?

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Our Barred Owl

Where we live, just north of Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans, we have owls.  I can hear momma owl every morning. Or maybe it's papa owl looking for his girl friend.  Perhaps it's momma celebrating a successful night of hunting and reducing our mice, rat and snake population here in the rural part of the world we live in.  

Occasionally, momma cannot find enough to feed her babies, so she has to hunt during the day. At those times, we can see her, not just hear her whoooo, whooos through the bedroom window just before dawn.

And see her we did.  She is a barred owl. Her nest is in a snag across the street.  We cannot see the nest, just as she wishes, but it's a perfect spot for an owl nest and she knows it.

Here she is on a tree branch mid afternoon. She is being greatly annoyed by a local mockingbird who claims that part of the world as his.  In fact, he claims this entire acre as his. As you can see, she is deliberately avoiding him and looking for food in our ditch or our garden so she can bring it back to her nest.

That flutter of feathers at the lower left is the pesky mockingbird trying to make our owl get off his branch.  He failed.

Did you know I wrote a book about ponds?

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Springtime Delights

Here in the South of the US, specifically just north of the Great Free State of New Orleans, there is not a day that we cannot garden. That's not to say we do garden every day, but we could if we wished. 

So in November in between getting the cold weather veggies in, we get the petunias, pansies and snapdragons in the ground. We get some color during the winter, but in the spring, we have displays that stop passing cars.  

By the way, we used to put winter color in in October, but about 10 years ago, I had to start planting them in November because it was too hot in October and they would melt from the heat.

So without any more delay, here's what we see in our delicious springtime garden.

It's worth a little more work in November, isn't it?

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

How to Build a Waterfall

Sometimes when the day is busy or the mind is on vacation, I find it a good idea to rerun a post that was widely read the first time.
Today is one of those days.
So here is a post on how to build a waterfall from way back in 2006.

Building a waterfall is either simple or difficult depending on the point of view of the builder. We want them to look natural, like they just started happening in the rocks of our gardens, never mind that we had to buy the rocks because we live where no rock has ever been found like New Orleans where I live.

The easiest way to have a waterfall is to use a weir. A weir is a box that collect water that the pump has pumped into it. One side of the box is lower than the rest and has a lip on it so water will go over it.
These can be effective when building a waterfall. Simply elevate them above your pond, usually positioning them level on the dirt you have dug out to make your pond, put tubing from your pump in the weir.When the weir fills up, a sheet of water will fall over the weir and into your pond. You can hide the weir with rocks so no one can see the plastic box. Also, if you have a biofilter, you can put it in the weir. As an aside, if you do have a biofilter and use lava rocks in it, put them in several mesh bags, not just one. It takes several strong men to lift just one bag out, so use at least three. I usually float some hyacinths or other floating plants in the weir to further camouflage the plastic box.


Another, and my favorite way, is to start with a semi level surface, slightly raised in the back, starting at the same level as your pond. From there build the waterfall using the same kind of rocks you used in your pond construction. Start with large, flat and thin rocks. You can’t build a waterfall with round rocks or little ones either. After you put the first large rock down, run a hose over it to make sure the water flows into the pond. If it does not, shim up the back of the rock. If you don’t start on a slight angle, water will fall off the back and drain your pond dry in a few hours. Next, stack two or three thick and chunky rocks on each end of the bottom rock. Those rocks can be as much as 5 or 6” thick. Make sure they are flat on two sides because you are going to build the rest of your waterfall on top of them. If you have two large flat rocks on the ground level, you need more chunky rocks to rest the second level on. 

Next place the second level of flat, thin and large rocks on the chunks. Again run water over to make sure the flow is going in the pond and not over the edge. Continue making levels until you like your waterfall or run out of rocks. Make your waterfall as wide as you wish, remembering that you may need more than one pump.

I have found that the easiest way for me to build the falls is for me to be in the water and have a couple of strong helpers placing rocks for me. 

The back of the falls is equally important. Shimming must be done to keep the angle toward the pond and proper placement of rocks is most important to ensure stability of the falls. 

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Blog Traffic Secrets

If you are a blogger, you already know what I am gonna talk about, so you can go back to knoshing on potato chips and drinking beer now.  Enjoy.

If you are not a blogger, you don't realize that we have a page on our blog that you, the reader, can't see.  Once we click there, we can see how many folks have read yesterday's post or last week's post, for that matter. We can see what topics are the most popular. We can also see where you came from and how you got here. 

Most bloggers want lots of traffic because, well, just because that's how we are.  We want you to read what we write.  And lots of bloggers have ads on their blogs or write product reviews for money.  There are bloggers who have built their blogs into $150,000.00 a year businesses.  I am not one of them.  

So when we are writing our posts, we try to include words that we know people look for. Sex is a great word to entice people to come over for a read.  Drugs, especially cocaine is another one.  I get lots of traffic these days from sex toy companies.  Why? Damned if I know, but I do.  Uncut cocaine is probably the best set of words to use.  Again, why?  Is the population of the world so interested in uncut cocaine that they enter those words in Google so often, they end up at this tiny blog written by a little old gray haired lady. What gives with the uncut cocaine, people?  Does it go well with sex toys?  I guess you would have to ask an in-the-news celebrity with more money than sense about that.  Or the US Secret Service.  Wait, they are in trouble for hiring prostitutes, not using drugs or sex toys.

Wonder what kind of traffic this post will garner?  I do know that whoever comes here because of an Google search for sex toys or cocaine is going to be extremely disappointed. I will keep you posted.  

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Cleaning your Pond

I know, I know, pond cleaning is disgusting. The clothes you wear to clean it out have to be treated as hazardous waste when you are finished.  However, it's spring and if you didn't clean your pond last fall, you gotta do it now.  It's full of rotting debris from leaves, the fish poop is at least an inch deep and the weather is getting warm so the pond doesn't smell all that great either.  So take a deep breath, put your boots and gloves on and clean that pond.  Here's an article I wrote that tells you what to do and how to do it to make it a little easier.

How to Clean your Pond

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Gay Groceries

I just put a check in the mail to pay my yearly income taxes. Most folks get money back, but self employed folks have to pay. A lot.  I also went grocery shopping yesterday and both of us had a look at our veggie garden to check for critters that perhaps should not be there.  All is well.

Why do I mention these things?  Everybody does them, right? They sure do.  Do I do them differently? Nope. But I put the words here, didn't I?

I paid for my government to continue passing laws keeping me from enjoying the same civil rights that the most of the rest of the country already takes for granted. The rest of the country seems to think that those civil rights belong to them and they can choose to keep them from us. That us is my partner and me.  Two women who have enjoyed a partnership for years and years.  We cannot marry, we do cannot get any social security payments that are attached to the other as most married partners do. We are denied those same rights that you have and never even think about not having them. Think about that next time you, in or out of your church are shouting gay slurs or demanding that the 'perverts' should be jailed or worse. That we destroy your families or marriages and corrupt your children.  You seem to be doing a good job of that without any help from us.

I find it strange that although denied basic civil rights, I must still send a check to the IRS.  It's not a gay check, just a check. I didn't shop for gay groceries,  just groceries.  I don't have a gay vegetable garden, just a garden. I don't drive a gay car or own a gay house. I don't have a gay dog or mow gay grass.  

Does anyone else wonder about these same things?  Probably not. You enjoy your privileged status….and just keep hating.  Does it make you feel better?

You say you learned to hate us from your parents when you were a child.  Have you learned anything since then?

I wrote a book about building and caring for your pond. It's not a gay book.

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping. 

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Almost Water Lily Season

Those of us who live in subtropical climes and New Orleans certainly counts as one, are now looking forward to our first tropical water lily blooms.  Usually in May the first leaves reach the surface and we can start fertilizing.  I use Aquatabs, one per gallon of pot size. Yeah, I know there are special water lily pots that look something like dish drainers, but I'm lazy and still use the 3 gallon pots I transplanted them into years ago.  I put them on the bottom of my 18" deep pond and leave them there year round.

Those of you who have hardy water lilies don't have to worry about them surviving the winter, but most of use love the tropical ones, so we sink them to the bottom of the pond and hope they survive the cold. Most of the time they do, especially this past winter which really wasn't winter at all.  And for those of us who are water lily addicts, the new ones will be on sale in a week or so. Be still my heart!

So I wait for the opportunity to take these sorts of photos again this summer. And maybe get a  better photo.

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping.  Yippee.

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Incipients

Is incipients a word? Well, it is now because I have just used it.  My recently planted veggies are budding and flowering. And that means we have incipient food coming from the plants.

We always know that spring is really here when our veggies are up, green and budding.  We know that there will be fresh tomatoes, green beans, squash, okra, cucumbers and eggplants soon.  And when the beans are finished, I yank them out and put them in the compost heap.  The empty spot gets filled with more eggplants cuz they are a staple in a vegan's diet. At least this vegan.

I love the flowers on veggies. Most are yellow because that is the most common flower color, but the eggplant flowers are light purple just like the veggie itself. I am growing green ones, white ones, fingerlings, but the flowers are still that light purple.

Our New Orleans weather has been absolutely glorious. It's been a long spring, warmer than usual, but we take what we can get in this subtropical climate.

Green Beans

Tomatoes

Eggplants

You can buy my Pond how-to book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping.  Yippee.

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Feeding your Goldfish

Occasionally, feeding of pond goldfish becomes a topic of extreme concern to the keepers of ponds.  Do not feed goldfish. This does not apply to koi. If you have koi, you have an outdoor aquarium and must deal with it accordingly. But not goldfish.


Here's why:


If you have a balanced pond, with underwater vegetation, your fish will be happy without unnecessary and artificial food introduced into the pond. 


If you feed them, they will grow bigger than the pond can handle, they will eat all the vegetation, so you will feed them more and more...and soon the bioload will be too big for the pond and all the fish will die.

If you have sufficient filtration, you can feed fish, but not without it. And overfeeding leads to foul and green water.


You must have enough submerged vegetation for the goldfish to eat and the submerged vegetation grows faster than the fish can eat it. 


Do not introduce more fish to your pond than 1 linear foot of fish per 25 square feet of pond surface.  


If you feed fish, they will be easily attacked by predators because they do not know the difference between you and a raccoon or a heron, so will come to the surface thinking they are going to get dinner and end up being dinner.


If you have grandchildren and they MUST feed the fish when they visit, make some chopped, cooked carrots and feed them sparingly, perhaps once weekly, no more.


And for all the science behind a balanced pond and to make your eyes glaze over:

Plants and fish benefit each other in two ways. First, fish and plants contribute to the successful functioning of the nitrogen cycle. As the waste products excreted by fish are released into the water, they are converted to ammonia and then to nitrites and nitrates by 

nitrifying bacteria. Nitrates are a food or fertilizer for plants and algae. As they are absorbed, plants and algae become a valuable food resource for fish, thus completing the nitrogen cycle. 

This ongoing biological cycle ensures healthy pond life. It is important to realize that if plants are not thriving, algae will take over and the water will become murky. 

A second important way fish and plants complement one other is through the process of photosynthesis. Fish require oxygen for their existence and they release carbon dioxide. Plants in turn require carbon dioxide for their successful existence and emit oxygen. 

During sunlight, plants will consume the carbon dioxide released by fish and in turn emit oxygen required by fish. 

A constantly functioning nitrogen cycle and photosynthesis are the key components to a successful and beautiful garden pond. 

Plants to use for best results:

The most beautiful type of pond plants are lilies. Water lettuce and water hyacinths are also excellent additions to the pond and submerged plants such as Hornwort, Vallisneria, Sagitarria, Cabomba and Anacharis are also excellent. 

The ideal pond fish are common or hardy goldfish. 

Now you can refocus your eyes.  Do not feed your goldfish. It's only common sense. 

In my book, I advocate not feeding fish, just as I do here.

You can buy my book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping.  Yippee.

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

And no, I don't know why the font keeps changing in this blog lately. Gremlins, maybe?

Questions.....

Do you ever think about people you have known during your life, maybe even known well, but now they are no longer in your life?  Do you wonder where they are or what they are doing?  Do you think about why they are not around anymore and what happened?  Do you ever wonder if they think of you? And if they think of you at all, do they do it with fondness, with good memories or with disgust and glee that you are gone, no longer bothering them?  

I wonder about many folks I have known throughout my 70 years on this planet. I may have known some in school or at a job. Some may have been neighbors, friends, even good ones, traveling companions or co-workers.  But now they are absent from my life and I wonder why?  Did they get angry and leave on purpose?  Did they move away? Did they just drift away and move on to other people and things?  Did they want to move on or did it just happen?   

With all the ways to find people these days, one would think that rekindling a friendship would be easy.  But it is not necessarily so. My generation is not as comfortable with the electronic miracles we have, so often are not in online data bases. And if they are, do we get back in touch? Or do we not?  Is our fear of rejection so great that we dare not reach out again after, often years, of not being in touch?  Do you wonder if that person ever looks for you and thinks the same thing?

Lots of question marks in these sentences and not one question answered…….

Bits and Pieces

There is a website devoted to President Obama haters.  And they visit this blog. I have no idea why and to you haters who visit me, stop now!  If I knew how block you, I would.  Anybody out know how?  Hating my president is not allowed around here. I didn't hate the bumbling idiots you put into power.  So go away. And don't come back.

Changing the subject to a more pleasant one.


We drove to a farmers' market yesterday put on by 9 and 10 year old kids. As part of a school activity, they had grown an organic garden and were selling their winter harvest.  I know they meant well, but a yellow squash was $3.00 and a head of purple cabbage was $5.00.  They had two of each.  We just donated some money and left.  I wanted to volunteer to teach those kids gardening AND marketing and sales.  Oh dear.

And even more pleasant.  Our front garden is loving the full flush of spring.  The irises are in bloom, the knock out roses are flourishing and OMG, the daylilies are starting to put on a show.  Wow.

Red daylily

Irises

Roses and irises

Don't forget to buy my book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping.  Yippee.

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Thank you for stopping by this morning.

Pelican Bark Park

We often visit Pelican Bark Park in Mandeville, LA so our year old pup can run, roll and play with her doggy friends. 

Bella, far left, meeting a new Dane friend at the pool

I have noticed that all of America, perhaps the world, could learn much from dog parks.  All the dogs share all the space. Aside from a space set aside for tiny dogs, all the dogs, no matter their size, ethnicity, color, sex or country of origin play together freely. They soon sort out who is who and how things work.  With no human intervention at all. They run, they wrestle, they tussle, roll in the mud, then run some more. They jostle for space in the pool, jump out and run some more.  They stop occasionally and lie in the shade, but are soon up and running again. 

Oh and they come over to their human companions just to check on them and make sure they are safe. Then the tearing around starts again.

Humans are different in the dog park.  They talk about their dogs. They compliment other humans on how pretty their dogs are, asking doggy names, petting others' dogs for the pleasure of it.    Conversation is centered around dogs, but often strays to other things equally fun and pleasing. You never hear religion or politics discussed in a dog park. There are too many more important things to talk about.

I often bitch about taxes, especially  this time of year, but I gladly pay taxes if it results in more dog parks.   They are great places in so many, often unrealized ways.  

St Tammany Parish, LA has lots of problems, it's share of crooked, racist, bigoted politicians, but they have done one thing that works for everyone: Pelican Bark Park in Mandeville, LA

Don't forget to buy my book here

It is consistently in the top ten best sellers in Landscaping.  Yippee.

It's on sale now for a buck.  Get it before the price goes back up.

And for pond info visit us at pondlady.com  You will find knowledgeable folks there who are glad to answer your questions.

Milk!

I am a vegan. That means I eat no flesh, nor do I eat/drink any dairy products. Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?  Well, it isn't.  The no flesh part is easy.  If it had parents, I don't eat it. Yes, that includes fish.  So many people think that fish are not flesh.  Oh well.  Meat is not sneaked into other products that much either, so avoiding flesh is easy. Meat can be used in hundreds of ways, so using it as a filler in other foods is too expensive.

Milk is another story.  Milk is everywhere.  If you see the letters lac in an ingredient, it means there is milk in it.  Casein is another milk word. Means milk protein.  You will find some form of milk in most commercially made bread, most all prepared, frozen foods, even the ones that say vegetarian on the label.  Our government subsidizes milk farmers, so companies use it as much as they can as a filler. 

The worst offenders are pharmaceutical manufacturers.  Lactose or milk sugar, is in 99% of all pills or tablets.   It's a cheap filler. If you can't have milk, then  you must have your medication made by a special pharmacist called a compounder.  Wanna talk about how much that costs?  And of course,  insurance does not cover it.  If you do ever find a medication without lactose in it, it will invariably be in a gelatin capsule.  What's gelatin?  Well, a meat product, of course.

Vegans just can't win. Good thing we are healthier in most ways because we are vegans and don't need to wade through the morass of modern medicine.