permaculture

["John Schinnerer" <john@eco-living.net>]

Hey Claude,

>> Just on top, or does the 'scum' fill the whole volume?
>
> Just on top. I thought that would be clear in my explicit use of the
> technical term 'blech"...

Actually, I took that technical term to imply the whole volume had turned
to goo... :-p

What's the water like under the surface 'scum' - clear or cloudy, sweet or
smelly, anything alive in there (plants, critters; under, on, above the
surface), etc.?  Local critters ever drink there or bathe there now?  More
assessment assessment assessment may be in order...I'm thinking of Rick's
comment about what most of us consider "nice" vs. "nasty" water compared
to what actually is "nice" vs. "nasty" in a biological sense.  Maybe the
green carpet is healthy and maybe it's not...

> What kind of tweakage ? I've tried yelling at it to no avail...

...as if your neighbors weren't worried enough before about what you're up
to - "oh dear, now he's out there yelling at his pond scum..." ;-)

But seriously, I don't know what tweaking exactly, other than to let it be
for a while in case it's just a(nother) phase it's going through.

Unless it's nasty-anaerobic-dead-smelling though, in which case I'd be
inclined to take some more immediate action, like restart the experiment. 
I can't recall if you had any fauna in there (snails, guppies, water bugs,
etc.) or just plants...?

cheers,
John S.


John Schinnerer, MA
-------------------------
- Eco-Living -
Cultural & Ecological Designing
People - Place - Learning - Integration
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net