Just 54 more days until Spring they said, then the bottom dropped out again and it was below freezing for three days with wind chills in the teens. Our poor fish don’t know whether to hibernate or beg for food. I know all of you are suffering the same thing with your ponds and fish. It’s too cold to work out there, trimming any dead foliage that escaped the knife earlier but I don’t want it getting heavy with ice and falling into the water either. Maybe that’s another note to self…”Cut everything in the Fall” instead of selectively pruning. We had some recent moisture that froze on the nets we have covering three of our ponds to protect from leaves and predators. The weight became too much and the supports collapsed. Getting them out and back up was a frigid chore.

We got a call today for fish, not the first time either. I guess some people just don’t get the seasonal nature of acclimating fish to an outdoor pond, especially around here. A five degree temperature difference is a big deal to fish. If they were already in the pond, they have acclimated as the water slowly became colder but to move them from inside to outside would be a certain death sentence. We won’t have any fish for sale until May 15th. Or plants either. We have to wait until the last freeze and that has come as late as first week in May. If you’ve picked up one of our new class schedules, the class in May, “Plants, Fish and Algae” is the first weekend to purchase fish or plants. That gives you something to look forward to for the rest of these freezing days.

We’re gearing up for the annual Water Garden Expo here in Shawnee the third week of February. A couple hundred vendors, wholesalers and contractors from all over will be here for three days of training, networking and learning. This will be my thirteenth one. When I started at WGE 2006, it was to be a three day a week part time Summer job after retirement to stay active, my how time flies.

Always be humble and kind

~~~Mike