PONDERING.
The other day I was walking through our woods and stepped over a very wet, almost swamp-like piece of ground. It was about 5-10 feet of elevation, and about 100 yards above where our blueberries are growing and where our high tunnel lives. These mushy spots are common, especially in the wet days of winter, but it occurred to me in that moment that it might be a good spot for a small pond. In fact, with its location, and with our predominantly clay subsoil (good for holding water), it might be ideal.So I brought the shovel up and dug a hole. I'm a fan of digging holes. I love the physicality and the results. I love owning property so I can dig a hole wherever I want, because sometimes you just need a hole, or want to dig one. When I was done, I let it fill with water and kept an eye on its level over the next few days. Although a small rain the next day might have tainted the results a bit, it held the water and I felt this might indeed work as our first, small pond.The idea is to have a little extra water source for irrigation and for livestock (when we get them). The pond will be located near the middle of what we're calling our first pasture, which right now looks more like a cedar forest than grass, punctuated by all brand of rose bush, briar and honey suckle, but we're working on that. With the aforementioned elevation, however, we should be able to get enough pressure from the drop to run the water through a sprinkler or drip-irrigation system in our high-tunnel (when we fix it). Digging this pond will be a fun chore when our minds are cloudy, or when we can't think of a particular project to work on, or for me when I just get the urge to dig a hole––which is wont to happen. Because sometimes, that's where ponds come from.- Jesse.