I was gonna say "well that went downhill fast" but I figured I should just keep it to myself!Rough crowd hanging on this pond forum
Alternate Pond Uses?
- Thread starter Timothy
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peter hillman
Let me think for minute....
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I didn't see nuttin...
tbendl
T
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Right!Be careful what you say, you may end up under tbendl's liner!
You all do know I'm planning to reline the pond this summer. I have room for extra's.
Meyer Jordan
Tadpole
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'Forgetaboutit'
DC1346
Culinary God
Hmmm ... well, I'm the chef instructor of a rural high school Culinary Arts program and I use my pond to grow edible plants like water mint, cattails, water chestnuts, and my personal favorite - watercress.
Everyone at work who knows me knows that I stock dried tea leaves and honey ... so when people start getting sore throats, they'll drop by Culinary Arts and I'll brew them a cup of mint tea with honey. Honey as you may know is a natural antibiotic.
I LOVE water cress soup. I make both vegan and non-vegan versions. The vegan version features a mushroom broth that I simmer with fresh ginger. I pour it over fresh water cress and add cubes of extra firm tofu. The non-vegan version is similar but uses chicken broth with a dash of oyster sauce. I like eating both versions with steamed long grain white rice on the side. I'll use a Chinese style soup spoon to scoop up the rice and to dip it into the broth. YUM!
And fresh water chestnuts ARE SO GOOD! They're much better than the canned variety.
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Please tell us more about your pond! We love pictures too!
I'm familiar with the mint, water chestnuts, and watercress as everyday fare from some time I spent in SE Asia. What parts and how do you prepare cattails?
DC1346
Culinary God
Whoops ... I got some of my verb tenses wrong. I HAVE water mint in my kitchen pantry, both at work as well as at home ... but I'm currently between ponds. I had to give away my pond equipment and have a landscaper fill in the pond for my home in southern Arizona after I lost my job 3 years ago due to state budget cuts. The new owner didn't want a pond in the backyard. I harvested as much water mint as I could process through a dehydrator in a week's time. The pump, flexible PVC piping, and mechanical/UV filter were given to a local pond enthusiast along with the koi and goldfish. I also managed to give away most of my bog plants, several boulders that I had spent YEARS collecting and embedding around the pond, and some of the mosquito fish.
Since I couldn't bear to do this myself, I had some friends drain and fill in the pond. The EPDM liner was BURIED because no one wanted it ... and since I was moving to an apartment in Vegas, I had no room to store the liner otherwise I would have taken it with the pond equipment.
To make matters worse, two days after the pond had been filled in as per the buyer's request, the buyer forfeited his earnest money deposit and backed out of the deal! What a waste!
My home sat empty for two years and after two people asked my realtor about leasing it, I decided to turn it into a rental property which unfortunately required the replacement of the swamp cooler with a central air and heating system. As the old adage goes, you have to spend money to make money. (SIGH)
On the brighter side, I'm closing on a new home on April 7th and will begin excavating a new pond by the end of next month.
In terms of cattails, here's a link to a really neat 6 part series on youtube about the cattail.
Rather than tell you about how to harvest it, you can watch this on the above link.
Cattails are one of my favorite water garden plants.The Native Americans made extensive use of this reed. The stalks were used to make thatch or to weave baskets or mats. They could also be used as fuel for fires. The fluffy cattails were used to insulate clothing over the winter or to stuff pillows.
Jelly made from young leaves was used to treat wounds. When the brown flower heads were burnt, they produced a smoke that repelled insects. In terms of food - read on!
1) As with potatoes and carrots, cattails store their starches in their roots over the winter, so rhizomes should be harvested in the fall or early winter. Rhizomes are horizontal usually underground stems that send out roots and shoots from its nodes.
2) The rhizomes may be peeled and cooked like potatoes BUT since they have 10 times the starch of potatoes, they can also be used to make flour. You can do this by mashing them into a pulp. Boil the pulp and let it dry. I like drying mine in a dehydrator. The dried pulp can then be ground into a white flour and used like rice flour or potato flour.
3) When Spring comes around, harvest the young shoots and peel them. The young shoots are known as "Cossack asparagus" because they taste like asparagus when cooked. I actually think they taste more like zucchini. When eaten raw they taste more like cucumber.
4) When cattail shoots mature around mid spring, the base of the leaf blades is full of nutrients. You can harvest these just like the tender young shoots but you'll find that the texture is more crunchy and the flavor is more pronounced. The texture is somewhat like a bamboo shoot and the flavor is more like a rutabaga. This can be boiled or pickled.
5) The immature flower spikes (also known as kitten tails) may be harvested in the early summer. Boil or steam them or better yet, cook them in butter over medium heat. You eat them just like corn on the cob. They TASTE just like sweet white corn and best of all, you don't have to shuck them or remove any silk.
6) You may also harvest pollen from a mature flower during the early summer. The pollen can be used to thicken sauces or you can add it to flour as a vegetable protein and vitamin supplement.
peter hillman
Let me think for minute....
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Hmm, I've heard stories about collecting rocks in AZ. on this site..
I'm excited for your new pond!
I'm excited for your new pond!
DC1346
Culinary God
Hmm, I've heard stories about collecting rocks in AZ. on this site..
I'm excited for your new pond!
Hmmmm ... yes ... well this time around, I may save time by simply PURCHASING some of my boulders. There's a local supplier who will sell me any size or amount I need. It's not as fun as rock hunting but it's far less time consuming ... plus you never know what you're going to find when you're prying up a boulder.
"What's that rattling sound? Is that a rattlesnake?" Hiss ... CHOMP!
And then there are the scorpions.
And you have to be careful about whether or not you're taking rocks off someone's private property.
And it gets ridiculously hot in the summer ... and since I live near the Colorado River, it's not a dry heat like the heat I spent 7 years enduring in Saudi Arabia ... oh no ... the heat is a great deal stickier because of the humidity ... the sort of heat where you step outside and your sunglasses fog over and your t-shirt is plastered against your body ... which might not be such a bad thing if I was a younger guy with abs instead of being somewhat potbellied and on the wrong side of middle aged.
(sigh)
If I purchase my boulders, I get to choose the color, shape, and size ... and the local company will deliver them AND even PLACE THEM precisely where I want them. No back breaking labor (at least on my part). No sweating in a hot sun. No rattlesnakes or scorpions or highway patrol asking potentially awkward questions ...