Ponds and polytunnels

(The presentation room)




Another trip to West Cork, and outside the town of Ballingeary we found John Dolan's site. John specializes in designing and building ponds and constructed wetlands for domestic sewage treatment, aquaculture, frog production (read below), recreation, irrigation, and interestingly - as a frost deterrent. The picture above is of his yet to be completed house and the main pond on it's south side. He has just increased his solar uptake by almost 2x's. Below is his current quarters.





Here is John's polytunnel. Yes he does grow vegetables, but he also has a crash pad-loft, a functioning kitchen, and a meeting space. It's warm through the winter and the air is alive with flavor.





In a fit of creative thought, he increased the height of the structure by taking advantage of the rock outcrop behind the tunnel. If you look closely, you'll notice that the polytunnel is propped up and rotatated (circles don't lean?) towards the south.








This is John. Over the past ten years, he has been gardening on this naturally wet site and, as with many gardeners, he had a slug problem. They thrived in the wet environment and feasted on his young transplants. He pondered... and in time began noticing a few things: a predator-prey relationship, slug feeding behavior...He surmised that there was little chance of happening upon a single slug eliminating trick, he didn't feel that lucky. So he began to apply several tricks. He built raised beds and constructed ponds, together lowering the effective water table thus drying out the garden a little. He knew that frogs prey on slugs, and there were a few frogs on the land. So he set about about creating a tadpole-boom by mimicking and multiplying their floating spawning mats. He grew raptor-protection cover plants at pond's edge, and built pond edges that allowed frogs to escape if necessary. And for the slugs that escaped the frogs, just before and during the transplanting of his young food plants, he feeds the slugs what he calls "junk food balls," crumpled up balls of semi-decomposed kale and comfrey. The slugs turn out for the event and feast. It makes slugging easier, and importantly, they leave the young plants alone. Finally, for those slugs that have weaved their way though the hurdles, John probably offers a hearty congratulations, and let's them be, adopting the theory that plants when nibbled upon produce antioxidants, which makes them healthier to him and his friends.