July 2007

One Love Farm goes solar!

sort of

One Love Farm has installed solar panels to power the waterfall and water fountain in our water garden. We used a heavy duty liner to hold the water and stones to finish the edge of the pond. Many of the rocks you see in the pictures above were taken out of the ground at One Love Farm when we put in our raised beds and planting areas. The pond has attracted an abundance of wildlife. Birds (orioles, finches, swallow and robins among others) often are seen walking on the stones to get a drink of water. Thousands of tadpoles are in the water now. Few will survive to maturity, but we currently have 3 frogs calling our pond home. We saw an egret yesterday flying overhead. Maybe he will stop by our pond later for a drink. We also have seen a snake slithering among the rocks.

It is amazing how the sound of falling water can be so tranquil. The water flow ebbs and recedes with cloud cover. As the sun goes behind a cloud, the force of the water retreats. When it reappears, the water goes more forcefully through the fountain and down the waterfall.

We also added several water plants to pond. Some are upright, while others are close to water level. Some are in pots while others float on the water. Some are winter harder while others are tropical. We will let you know how they progress as time passes by.