#Thegreatpoolpondconversion - 191208
We’ve mostly stopped counting; shovelfuls, cartloads, wheelbarrow runs, even bags.
We do know we just laid 50 bags. It was the last bundle of bags in the original 500 bag order. That was our estimate - 500 bags.
We actually ‘only’ laid somewhere closer to 460-470. We didn’t account for using bags for rocks to hold the tarp down so we’re a bit short.
We need about 40 more so we’re gonna scavenge some of the rock bags and try to eke it out. It’s the principle not the dollars!
(Our other estimate was 40 yards of sand. that turned out to be 60.
After we ran out of bags we moved into some back filling of the top wall. No raking or tamping; just dumping. It’s going much faster now as the upper wall is only half the width and we’ve got way more efficient at everything (now that we’re nearly done). In 3 weeks we’ve almost gone ½ way through this last 20 yard sand pile.
It threatened to rain just about lunchtime so we moved the rafters and covered up and again forget to take pix. When a friend stopped by Monday to see the progress, we uncovered and had a great opportunity to take pix then. Unfortunately we didn’t think of that till Tuesday morning.
Even with our good planning and good luck, we have avoided predictions and timetables because there is too much out of our control. We know we are 40 bags from the end of the top wall - that should surely be next weekend. That would complete the 3rd part of phase 2, leaving just the back fill, some of which we can also do the same day. If we don’t finish, then certainly the following weekend will end this phase - the heavy lifting of the project.
Then we start prepping, procuring and installing the liner.
Looking ahead past that, and while there’s still a loooong way to go and a lot of details (the entire waterfall, rock borders, identifying and buying plants, the ‘seascape’), and certainly curve balls, we may possibly be looking at a pond filling party around late Feb/early March. Maybe. Everyone’s welcome. Mark your calendars.
After the pool pond is filled, it has to sit for about 3 months to settle before we can add ‘canary’ fish. During that time we have the raised perimeter beds to build and fill, plus two fences, paint and seal the deck, etc.
Meanwhile, about 5 years ago we bought a papaya from the grocery store. We dried a bunch of seeds and eventually planted them. 30+ seedlings turned into 15 sturdy plants, into 7 hearty plants, into one tough enough to be planted outdoors and take care of itself. It looks like this and has been making papayas for about a year.
These are the first ones we ‘harvested’. We’ll let you know.